God Guiding Trump!

 

      When we look around at what is being done by the various heads of state, the impression is one of insanity, wrapped up with greed and power. Rationally you think this can't be, surely the mass of people could not vote in the insane to govern our world. I believe the evidence says, yes they can, and have done so. 

 

       JERUSALEM — When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down for an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network in a hotel in Jerusalem earlier this month, he made a remark that was perhaps the most revelatory of any in his nearly one year in office.
       An evangelical Christian, Mr. Pompeo had just returned from tours of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the ground where Jesus is said to have been crucified and buried, and of tunnels beneath the Western Wall, by the holiest site in Judaism. The interviewer posed a question around a biblical tale about a queen who saved Jews from slaughter by a Persian official: Did Mr. Pompeo think President Trump had been “raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace?”
      “As a Christian, I certainly believe that’s possible,” Mr. Pompeo said. “It was remarkable — so we were down in the tunnels where we could see 3,000 years ago, and 2,000 years ago, if I have the history just right — to see the remarkable history of the faith in this place, and the work that our administration’s done, to make sure that this democracy in the Middle East, that this Jewish state, remains. I am confident that the Lord is at work here.”

       The above statement was made by one of the most powerful men in the world, Mike Pompeo, American Secretary of State, he is a fundamentalist evangelical Christian and helps to shape American policy to the rest of the world. He is a outspoken believer in the "Rapture"

        TheRapture, in Christianity, the eschatological (concerned with the last things and Endtime) belief that both living and dead believers will ascend into heaven to meet Jesus Christ at the Second Coming (Parousia). The belief in the Rapture emerged from the anticipation that Jesus would return to redeem all members of the church. The term rapture, however, appears nowhere in the New Testament. In his First Letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul wrote that the Lord will come down from heaven and that a trumpet call will precede the rise of “the dead in Christ” (4:16). Thereafter, “we who are still alive and are left will be caught up” (in Latin, rapio, the standard translation of Paul’s original Koine Greek) “together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (4:17). The Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) mention Jesus’ return to earth from heaven; e.g., The Gospel According to Mark cites Jesus as foretelling a “ ‘coming in clouds’ with great power and glory” (13:26).

     Evangelist Pompeo also has strong views on China, views that should make us run for the nearest nuclear bunker, or stand up and destroy this insanity.

July 31, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - Quick. Somebody tell Mike Pompeo. The secretary of state is not supposed to play the role of court jester — the laughing stock to the world. There was no sign that any of those listening to his “major China policy statement” last Thursday at the Nixon Library turned to their neighbor and said, “He’s kidding, right? Richard Nixon meant well but failed miserably to change China’s behavior? And now Pompeo is going to put them in their place?”
       Yes, that was Pompeo’s message. The torch has now fallen to him and the free world. Here’s a sample of his rhetoric:

      “Changing the behavior of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] cannot be the mission of the Chinese people alone. Free nations have to work to defend freedom. …
     “Beijing is more dependent on us than we are on them (sic). Look, I reject the notion … that CCP supremacy is the future … the free world is still winning. … It’s time for free nations to act … Every nation must protect its ideals from the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party. … If we bend the knee now, our children’s children may be at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party, whose actions are the primary challenge today in the free world. …
      “We have the tools. I know we can do it. Now we need the will. To quote scripture, I ask is ‘our spirit willing but our flesh weak?’ … Securing our freedoms from the Chinese Communist Party is the mission of our time, and America is perfectly positioned to lead it because … our nation was founded on the premise that all human beings possess certain rights that are unalienable. And it’s our government’s job to secure those rights. It’s a simple and powerful truth. It’s made us a beacon of freedom for people all around the world, including people inside of China.

      A quote from Ray McGovern on Mike Pompeo’s latest rant of China.

    A lack of experience or intelligence, though, may be too generous an interpretation. More likely, Washington’s behavior stems from a mix of the customary, naïve exceptionalism and the enduring power of the U.S. arms lobby, the Pentagon, and the other deep-state actors – all determined to thwart any lessening of tensions with either Russia or China. After all, stirring up fear of Russia and China is a tried-and-true method for ensuring that the next aircraft carrier or other pricey weapons system gets built.
   - "Source" -

        How can we trust our lives to people who believe that they will be lifted into the clouds by an invisible man in the sky. How can we allow such people to determine who is our enemy and who is our friend in a nuclear armed world. This is surely insanity on our behave if we persist in accepting this  system that allows such people power over our lives. Do you think that such people as Pompeo will listen to reason and consider the well-being of all humanity, before the beliefs of his invisible man in the sky?  

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Human Experiments.

           I'm an admirer of John Pilger and just wish he had more publicity for what he writes. He is a voice in the wilderness, instead of being embraced by the mainstream media for his detailed honesty, his truth sounds so alien to them, that he is shunned by the mainstream media.
         For those who wish to see the true picture of our western world and its dangerous ruthlessness, he is a "must read". 

       The following is an extract from his article,  Another Hiroshima is Coming… Unless We Stop It Now

      Unlike Bikini, nearby Rongelap atoll had not been evacuated during the H-Bomb test. Directly downwind of Bikini, Rongelap’s skies darkened and it rained what first appeared to be snowflakes. Food and water were contaminated; and the population fell victim to cancers. That is still true today.
      I met Nerje Joseph, who showed me a photograph of herself as a child on Rongelap. She had terrible facial burns and much of her was hair missing. “We were bathing at the well on the day the bomb exploded,” she said. “White dust started falling from the sky. I reached to catch the powder. We used it as soap to wash our hair. A few days later, my hair started falling out.”
       Lemoyo Abon said, “Some of us were in agony. Others had diarrhoea. We were terrified. We thought it must be the end of the world.”
      US official archive film I included in my film refers to the islanders as “amenable savages”. In the wake of the explosion, a US Atomic Energy Agency official is seen boasting that Rongelap “is by far the most contaminated place on earth”, adding, “it will be interesting to get a measure of human uptake when people live in a contaminated environment.”
     American scientists, including medical doctors, built distinguished careers studying the “human uptake’. There they are in flickering film, in their white coats, attentive with their clipboards. When an islander died in his teens, his family received a sympathy card from the scientist who studied him.
      I have reported from five nuclear “ground zeros” throughout the world — in Japan, the Marshall Islands, Nevada, Polynesia and Maralinga in Australia. Even more than my experience as a war correspondent, this has taught me about the ruthlessness and immorality of great power: that is, imperial power, whose cynicism is the true enemy of humanity.

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Belfast Glasgow.

     As usual, folks at Spirit of Revolt have been busy even although the pandemic has curtail our activities somewhat. Covid19 has forced us into the virtual world, and I think we can say, with some success.

      Because of the Covid19 pandemic, Spirit of Revolt’s most recent Show and Tell had to be a virtual affair, but never the less exciting for that. We were very fortunate in getting anarchist, writer, historian Máirtín Ó Catháin as guest speaker. Máirtín lead off with a talk, taking questions and then a general discussion. All extremely interesting and informative. So despite the handicap Covid19 threw at us this Show and Tell was a great success. the video is also available on Spirit of Revolt Audio/Video Section

So have a look, enjoy and send us your comments.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

John Heartfield.

         We can always learn from the revolutions, insurrections and revolts of the past, our opportunity will come, all we have to do is organise, we have the numbers, the imagination, the intelligence and the dream in our heart. One such revolution that is not too distant in the past, the Spanish Civil War. This was a time when ordinary people across a large swath of Spain learnt that they could run society the way they wanted and to the benefit of all. They worked out their strategies as the problems arose and done it a democratic and horizontal manner. The enemy was not a flawed dream, it was the reactionaries that surrounded them.
      Artists and poets have always played an important part in the fight against this corrupt and exploitative system. The list could fill a large volume, of course not all were anarchists, but they shared a hatred of the economic system that delivered poverty, inequality and injustice for the many, and privileges, wealth and power for the few.
     One such artist was John Heartfield, activist, artist and publisher whose graphic work, quite a portion on the Spanish Civil War, is well worth remembering and is still relevant to day as it was when he produced his many works.

A couple of my favourite John Hearfield works:

      The following article is from Spanish Sky:

       John Heartfield was a highly productive artist, especially in his young adult life. He is perhaps best known for his 240 photomontages, but he was also an accomplished scenographer and editor and the co-founder of a magazine as well as a publishing house
     You’ll probably recognise many of Heartfield’s photomontages. We have selected a few works relating to the Spanish Civil War and some of his more rarely shown works.
      John Heartfield is born in Berlin, Germany 19 June 1891 as Helmut Franz Josef Herzfeld. In 1916, he changes his name to John Heartfield in protest against the anti-British sentiment in Germany, expressed, for example, in the manner of which people greeted each other: ” – God punish England – May he punish it”.
       Heartfield studies art at the Royal Bavarian Arts and Crafts School in Munich from 1907 to 1913 and at the Arts and Craft School Berlin-Charlottenburg from 1913 to 1914.

        He joins the circle of artists associated with the magazines Der Sturm (‘The Storm’) and Die Aktion. The group’s central members are publishers Herwarth Walden and Franz Pfemfert. Artist George Grosz (who has changed his name from Georg Gross) is also part of the group. Grosz and Heartfield soon develop a close friendship and engage in a longstanding collaboration as fellow artistic rebels.
        With his brother, Wieland Hertzfeld, Heartfield founds the magazine Neue Jugend (‘New Youth’) in 1916 and the publishing company, Malik in 1917.
      The October Revolution in Russia and the political situation in Germany intensify his political views. As one of the leading members of the Dada group, Heartfield now insists on greater political clarity and commitment in the artistic work.
        Photomontage as a political weapon
      Heartfield comes to the realisation that photomontage is a highly viable approach to the enhancement of a greater political awareness and understanding among the general public, his theory being that photomontage can and must demonstrate what the world is and not what it looks like.
     In 1920, Heartfield, his brother and George Grosz found the political-satirical magazine Die Pleite (‘Bankrupt’).
      During the years of 1920-1923, Heartfield works as a scenographer for theatre directors and producers Erwin Piscator and Max Reinhardt (original name Max Goldmann). Heartfelt creates photomontages for the communist paper Der Knüppel (‘The Cudgel’), which he and Grosz co-edit from 1923 to 1927. In parallel, he creates covers and posters for the Party newspaper Die Rote Fahne (‘The Red Flag’). It is, however, as a staff illustrator (1930-1938) for the magazine Arbeiter Illustrierte Zeitung (‘The Workers’ Illustrated Paper’) that his thoughts and ideas gain momentum.
        Returning to Germany
       Having been denied a residence permit in England, Heartfield returns to Germany in 1950. He settles in Leipzig (then in East Germany) and later moves to Berlin (also in East Germany), where he lives until his death 26 April 1968.

Halt’ stand, rotes Madrid,
halt’ stand, stolzes Madrid!
Das Weltall dröhnt,
die Menschheit glüht,
der Erdball singt dein Heldenlied,
Millionen singen mit:
Halt’ stand, rotes Madrid!

*

Stand firm, red Madrid
stand firm, proud Madrid!
The universe is roaring,
mankind is glowing,
the globe is singing your heroic song,
Millions sing along:
Stand firm, red Madrid!

Lyrics and music: Louis Fürnberg
Vocals and video: Ernst Busch

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Keelie, 1820.

       It's August, and once again the latest edition of that wee radical paper that gives two fingers to authority, The Glasgow Keelie is available online. As usual it is filled with information and criticism of the corrupt system we live under. Sadly because of this covid19 menace it is still only available on line, though we hope soon to be back out and around the clubs, pubs and cafes with hard copies for you to pick up at your leisure.

Download you copy HERE:

      And for a wee bit more info on the radical war of 1820, since this is the 200th anniversary, we can still learn from these past events.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Water Is Life.

      Imperialists are thieving bullies, who stride across their subservient dominions plundering and pillaging, taking what they wish. Anything that will enrich its coffers or increase its power, will simply or brutally be taken. Today the biggest of those thieving bullies is the U$A. One of the most precious resources of to day is fresh water, and in arid lands it is even more precious as it is necessary to farm the land and make it livable for the indigenous population. So the anger of a people who see that water supply being redirected to their rich and powerful imperial master is understandable and is therefore righteous anger, and deserves our full support and solidarity.
      To deprive a people of water is to slowly kill them, it is death by state contract, it is murder authorised by state legislation. These are all aspects of the present day state system bound up in capitalist economics and brutal imperialism. There is a better way.

The following article is from It's Going Down:

        English translation of a report from Difusión Comunista Anárquica about the recent uprising in defense of water in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
      Since Wednesday July 29, self-organized protests by campesinos and community members have kicked off in the municipality of Rosales in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. These coordinated actions have been directed against government buildings and other representations of the Mexican state, like CONAGUA (Mexico’s National Water Commission).
       They are an expression of the refusal by the local population to be denied water from the “Las Virgenes” dam so that the Mexican state can cover a debt it has with the United States. This dam is one of the principle sources of water for the local population, who use it mostly for agricultural activities and consumption. It should be noted that this area, like much of the northern states that border the United States, is characterized by dry and desert-like conditions. The absence or scarcity of water implies a vulnerability to productive activities that bring sustenance and life to the communities in the region.

      In addition, the Mexican state has used both the military and national guard, and has threatened the deployment of more state forces, beneath the pretext of supposedly combating “aguchicoleos,” a term being used to refer to the illicit or clandestine stealing of water from a non-authorized source. However, the only theft and deprivation that exists in the region is that which the state carries out against the people, in order to pay off its debt with the United States.
      This was part of the agreements reached a few weeks ago during AMLO’s visit with Donald Trump. The threats have escalated, along with demonstrations of resistance. There is now the possibility of the massive deployment of the national guard and police to the region. The head of CONAGUA, Blanca Jimenez, has requested the massive deployment of state forces to intimidate and stop the direct action of the people against representations of the Mexican State.
       The theft of water is one of the many practices carried out by international capital. These actions take place in open and shameless collaboration with left sectors and progressives who are no different than the scum of these governmental administrations (PRI, PAN, MORENA, PRD, etc.). Protected by the rule of law and the democratic order of civilization, they try to keep us submissive and quiet, spitting on each one of us as if we decide to get out and take the streets without previous notice, responding when our compañerxs in struggle are arrested and sent to the dungeons of capital.

Immediate freedom for the prisoners of the revolt in Chihuahua!

In defense of water and life, for the proletarian struggle!

For communism and anarchy!

 Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Normal Is Up To Us.

        While we suffer under this pandemic, to hear the political ballerinas talk of getting back to normal, if this statement wasn't so hypocritical and tragic for the ordinary people of this country, it would be laughable. For our lords and masters, getting back to normal, means run out to work, if you have a job, and spend you spare time consuming. They desperately need you to get their tills wringing, they are getting nervous because we are not being able to be milk to their liking, we are needed to get their loot growing again.
      Try to imagine "normal" with mass unemployment a certainty. As the covid19 virus creeps invisibly across the land, unemployment keeps rising. Below is a wee glimpse of what awaits us in the new "normal" that our corporate and political bosses want us to return to. We have to create the new normal, one that sees to the needs of all our people and jettisons the pampered parasite class, that want to risk your health and well-being for the sake of their power, wealth, and privileges. Don't be a sucker.
       The latest job losses to be announced is in the shape of DW Sports, entering into administration this week with the risk of 1,700 job losses.
Other job losses already announced:
Up to 5,000 job cuts at Upper Crust owner SSP Group
Up to 700 jobs at Harrods
About 600 workers at shirtmaker TM Lewin
1,900 jobs at Café Rouge-owner Casual Dining Group
1,000 jobs at Pret A Manger
1,700 UK jobs at plane-maker Airbus
1,300 crew and 727 pilots at EasyJet
550 jobs are going at Daily Mirror publisher Reach
450 jobs going at Selfridges
650 job losses at Alexander Dennis, bus makers
1,200 job losses at Dyson
up to 1,200 job losses at The National Trust
British Airways 12,000
BP 10,000
Rolls-Royce 8,000
Centrica 5,000
Swissport 4,000
Boots 4,000
Restuarant Group 3,000
Restaurant Group owns Frankie & Benny’s and Wagamama
Up to 5,000 job cuts at Upper Crust owner SSP Group
Up to 700 jobs at Harrods
About 600 workers at shirtmaker TM Lewin
1,900 jobs at Café Rouge-owner Casual Dining Group
1,000 jobs at Pret A Manger
1,700 UK jobs at plane-maker Airbus
1,300 crew at Easyjet
727 pilots at EasyJet
550 jobs are going at Daily Mirror publisher Reach.

 

        This list is by no way complete and comprehensive, there are a multitude of small business that are shedding employees, with some closing down completely.
       A fair list of people looking for work with the pandemic far from over, and the furlough scheme ending in a couple of months. That simple action alone, will see employers jettison employees by the lorry load. Now think very hard about getting back to normal, especial if you are in one of the families affect by those daily growing numbers. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Condemn Or Else.

         In today's society it seems that if something happens the state doesn't particularly like and you don't jump up and condemn the action, then your are a suspect. 

The following article appeared on the site, finimondo, 

English version from Act For Freedom Now:

Lecce, Italy: A stupendous thought
August 2, 2020 by actforfreedom
        Some local news. We don’t know when, we don’t know who, we don’t know why, we only know where. And that alone is enough to open your heart, even if what happened seems not to have been very successful. But, as is well known, in some things it’s the thought that counts.
      A thought like the one someone left on the wall of a company in the outskirts of Lecce last weekend. It wasn’t a poster, or a slogan, no, it was a pot full of petrol with a couple of gas canisters attached to it, equipped with a rudimentary, possibly defective, fuse. There was a big blaze, but no explosion. The local media have no idea when it happened. Um, between the evening of Friday April 24 and the morning of Monday the 27th? They don’t even say who it could have been, or for what reason. Um, an act of intimidation or retaliation by some criminal or unbalanced element? On the other hand, they were very precise about where it occurred: in via del Platano 7, in the Castromediano district, headquarters of Parsec 3.26.
       But what is it involved in, this Parsec 3.26? It is a computer company specializing in digital technologies for the local authorities. For example, it created the software that is used by the police and the banks for the facial recognition of those filmed by video surveillance cameras. Ah, that’s all? Could it have been targeted because of, as we learn by browsing the site with the dreadful techno-Anglo-cretinising language, its “passion is E-Government”?
       Just because «it has started a division called Reco 3.26, active in the production of software systems in the field of smart recognition … in research in biometric systems and makes use of interdisciplinary teams that include Engineers and Scientists … The sectors in which it is currently introducing this technology are transport, finance, security (public and private). Growth is driven primarily by governments’ security initiatives. Companies belonging to sectors such as retail and banking are adopting facial recognition systems for identifying customers and monitoring their behaviour. To date, the solutions produced by Parsec 3.26 represent the state of the art of recognition technologies in Italy for public security. In fact, the company has distinguished itself for having created a biometric recognition solution currently used by the Ministry of the Interior – Central Anti-Crime Direction within the SARI system “?
        Is it possible that there is anyone hostile to this “distinguished” society just because it helps the State to fill the prisons and the banks to protect their safes? Whoever would have thought such a thing!
        Here, the fact that in times of confinement, checkpoints, self-certifications, tracking, surveillance with drones and so on … — stuff to shame those weaklings of the totalitarian regimes of the past — someone who had such a thought shortly before, during or after the anniversary of the Liberation from nazifascism, leaves us spellbound. Perhaps it was just a blaze, but how much splendid light amidst the darkness of today’s voluntary servitude.
        Light of revenge, light of dignity, light of freedom.

        Some time after the article was published the writers were paid a visit. The following is their report of the incident, again from Act For Freedom Now: 

Lecce, Italy: A little thought
        This is what the investigators looking into the unexpected blaze at the Parsec 3.26 on April 27, on the outskirts of Lecce in full lockdown, have had. And since Finimondo published a text which did not condemn what happened and were not outraged by it, quite the contrary, and as the animators of Finimondo live not far from the headquarters of that company whose social and economic reason for being is to embody Big Brother, you want to bet that 1 + 1 +
      So today, Monday July 27th, we were dragged out of bed early in the morning. No, it wasn’t the alarm clock, it was the Digos [political police]. They came to carry out a search and to give one of us a notice of investigation. They suspect he was the one who left “a pot containing petrol and two camping gas canisters” near the techno-cop company in Salento. The search, particularly attentive to computer equipment (which allows “understanding of the actual purposes of the act”) and clothing (being strangely attracted to multicolour, black must have gone out of fashion), had a positive outcome. No, but what are we saying, positive is too little, we would go as far as to say very positive. In fact, it seems they have discovered that there are traces of Finimondo’s text on the computer used by the suspect who has fired the Prosecutor’s imagination so much (you don’t say?). Moreover two camping gas canisters were seized (oh really?). Finally – you will never believe it! – they even found pots in his kitchen (seriously?). They didn’t seize them, only photographed them, for everlasting evidence. As we anticipated, 1 + 1 + …

Continue reading: 

 

       So just remember, when you see or hear of something the state doesn't like just whisper, "shame on you", you may be able to sleep longer in the morning.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Changed Patterns.

        The covid19 pandemic has certainly altered the way we live or day to day lives, sadly the remodeling of our daily patterns has not been done by us the public. This remodeling of the patterns for living has been totally orgainsed by the state, which never bodes well for our individual freedoms. Another factor in the way our lives have been patterned has been the link to the life blood of this economic system, the economy, so this has been a major aspect of how the state handles this pandemic. It is never a case of health and welfare of the people above all else. Our lives have had to be juggled with the saving of the economy. The wealth of the pampered and powerful few holds sway over the lives of the public. So "opening up" the economy will be pushed, even knowing that it could, and probably will, cause an increase in public deaths. They would rather have that, than a decrease in corporate profits.

This is the 2nd episode of Sub-Media's "system Fail":

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Quiet Bye-way.

     We live in a world where Covid19 casts a dark and frightening shadow, where the blood of imperial conflicts colour the seas and stain the land, where armies of innocent flee across man made borders to be greeted with cruelty and humiliation, where hunger's cruel claws tear at the young and the old. It is our world, a world we can't escape from but can try to alter. However from time to time I take a walk down another bye-way and seek a little respite in the land of poetry. Today I'll take that stroll.

     Though I like a laugh and a giggle, most of you who have read anything I have written will realise that those features seldom, if ever, find their way in to my written word. 

    The following poems are all from a wee book called, "They say I'm Crazy."

A couple on my mother's death:

The Lonely Wynd.

At the bed, death's waiting room,

the family muster,

with empty words wrapped in thoughts of death,

gaily chatter.

Outside, hungry birds feed, sing and fly,

their chirpy songs seem to call her death a lie,

but summer's sun

reaching through the window pane

sadly smiles,

knowing they'll never meet again.

I wonder,

in coma wrapped, what were your thoughts.

Pleasure,

looking back at what used to be?

Pride,

at how, to this life happiness you brought?

Perhaps it was a welcome rest from pain

a just pause in your long struggle,

alas too late, this enigma with me remains.

So rest, in your rest peace be your gain

for you dear mother, an end to trouble

as love's boundless force could not break

death's firm grasp upon your heart,

passionless devouring cancer 

unmoved by prayer on our part, 

took your hand along that lonely wynd,

death took time

fused the moment on our mind.

In the midst of family

alone dear mother you had to die.

That Part Of My Life.

Everywhere I walk,

she dies.

I walk the leaf covered park alone,

she dies.

In each glen, by each loch,

she dies.

In the midst of each merry throng,

she dies.

With everyone I meet,

she dies.

each time I think of times gone by,

she dies.

When the future I try to grasp,

she dies.

There is no place  can hide from

her death.

There is no act that can obscure

her death.

My life is now marked by

her death.

Her death now shapes my life.

On Western imperialism.

Remember Iraq.

Mammon, God of the New World Order

has spoken:

Any nation who blasphemes 

against the scriptures

of the Holy Free Market economy

shall find its people scorched by fires

that rain out of the western skies

and the people shall suffer perdition

through all eternity. 

All the world shall see

Mammon's hi-tec retribution.

A couple of personal views.

The Illusion.

How frail we are

how tenuous our hold,

what a strange trick of nature

that we should feel so bold.

To life tied by a silken thread

burning youth,

a new world vows to mould,

oblivious, as fate blindly cuts the thread,

without a sigh,    leaves sweet youth so cold.

Middle age with confidence comes,

experience expands the illusion.

We cover the world in words of wisdom

believing we

lead nature to the right conclusion,

but she with ease, a beauty all her own,

shows our naive plans as utter confusion.

At what age will we realise,

we always pay for our arrogant intrusion.

In old age we accept the fact

our time in nature's span is small.

How rich, life in nature's domain could be

if to foul greed we refuse to fall.

Accept, we as beggars in her presence stand,

man can flourish and grow tall,

act as her lord and master,

she'll cast man aside like a cheap rag doll. 

Buried Treasure.

Rich,    man I'm rich,

this life, this treasure chest of mine,

crammed full.

Those moments of ecstasy with forgotten names,

burning loves that broke the rules,

quiet meetings that burst into flames,

short lived loves

sealed with brittle vows.

Passions that sparkled and flashed

bringing warmth,     even now.

Ruby red anguish that shaped my heart,

diamond friendships this world can't part,

a son that changed this world to gold

adding pride to my treasure chest.

A daughter brought radiance beyond compare,

of precious gems,     they gave the best.

These jewels, these precious stones

this bounty beyond belief

all mine,

outshines a prince's throne.

A couple on the death of my dad.

Ten Years.

It's been ten years since, dad,

do you still remember,

how your coaldust cover body

clawed in that dark abyss

for your share of sixpence

to feed your hungry kids?

I do.

Do you still remember,

how each day you descended into

that dark hell, laid your life

on the line, just to clothe

your family and your wife? 

I do.

Do you still remember,

how throwing crumbs from the window,

with skill the blackie's song you imitated;

settling down with a smile,

the humble comforts of our home appreciated?

I do.

Well dad,

it's been ten years since you died,

I still remember this and much more.

Then I always will ------- for a portrait

of your humble courage

hangs on a wall,

somewhere in my heart.

The Gift.

You promised me Jerusalem

a socialist paradise,

I have world

of greed,

brutality and lies.

You promised me Jerusalem

a land of hope and plenty.

I have a world

of want,

fear and envy.

Still,

from the bottom of my heart

I thank you for your gift,

a precious dream. I thank you dad,

for all your life you tried. 

Just a thought:

The Seasons.

When you look, it's plain to see,

spring has crossed these mountains,

--------------many years before;

kissed their slopes, with shoots of hope,

promised so much more.

Then sweeping in, in a blaze of life,

summer saw the promises bloom,

---------------many years before;

bathed the dreams, in bounteous streams,

birds began to soar.

So with stealth, and deceptive charm,

autumn cooled the gurgling streams,

-----------------many years before;

slowed their pace, to one of grace,

quietly closed a door.

Now with vulgar haste, and callous force,

winter assaults those mighty peaks,

----------------of many years before;

as gathering clouds, spread their shroud,

memories start to pour.  

       I hope my little wander down that bye-way brought something to you, and prodded you mind away, for a while, from our Covid19 plagued and trouble strewn world.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Just Anothr Coup.

     We all know or should know, that through the ages, the imperialist powers were no more than bullies. They took what they wanted in the form of riches, resources and territory, from those they could plunder and pillage, and who were in no position to resit the might and corruption of the empire bullies.

     Today nothing has changed except the name of the imperialist power, today the biggest bully on the planet is the U$A. Its power may be slipping on the world stage, but it can still throw its weight around and plunder its less powerful neighbours. Its latest pillaging expedition was in the form of a coup in its backyard in Bolivia. It so happens that Bolivia has one of the world's  largest deposits of that rare mineral Lithium. Its government was developing the lithium and useing it to enrich the country and improve the lives of its citizens, keeping the big dollar boys out of the loop. With U$A trying to capture the electric car market and its need for a cheap supply of that mineral to do so, it then decided to overthrow the elected government of Bolivia, and install a puppet regime that would allow the dollar to develop the lithium to the benefit of the Elon Musk and other corporate bandit residents of the U$A. They feel so powerful and exceptional that they don't even try to conceal the fact that they engineered a coup to plunder the lithium.

        A quote from Elon Musk: "We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”

The following is an extract from Struggle La Lucha:

 Elon Musk with Vice President Mike Pence on May 27, 2020. Photo: WikiCommons

        On July 24, 2020, Tesla’s Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that a second US “government stimulus package is not in the best interests of the people.” Someone responded to Musk soon after, “You know what wasn’t in the best interest of people? The US government organizing a coup against Evo Morales in Bolivia so you could obtain the lithium there.” Musk then wrote: “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”
        Musk refers here to the coup against President Evo Morales Ayma, who was removed illegally from his office in November 2019. Morales had just won an election for a term that was to have begun in January 2020. Even if there was a challenge against that election, Morales’ term should rightfully have continued through November and December of 2019. Instead, the Bolivian military, at the behest of Bolivia’s far right and the United States government, threatened Morales; Morales went into exile in Mexico and is now in Argentina.
       At that time, the “evidence” of fraud was offered by the far right and by a “preliminary report” by the Organization of American States; only after Morales was removed from office was there grudging acknowledgment by the liberal media that there was in fact no evidence of fraud. It was too late for Bolivia, which has been condemned to a dangerous government that has suspended democracy in the country.
Lithium Coup
       Over his 14 years in office, Morales fought to use the wealth of Bolivia for the Bolivian people, who saw—after centuries of oppression—remarkable advances in their basic needs. Literacy rates rose and hunger rates dropped. The use of Bolivia’s wealth to advance the interests of the people rather than North American multinational corporations was an abomination to the US embassy in La Paz, which had egged on the worst elements of the military and the far right to overthrow the government. This is just what happened in November 2019.-----

Read the complete article HERE:

       This is capitalism, this is the rule of wealth and power over the lives of the many by the few. This is the system that condemns millions to deprivation and homelessness. The system of raw power over elected governments, that perpetuates wars for resources and power, this is the cancer that eats at the heart of humanity, destroys justice and crushes freedom.

      For humanity to blossom, freedom to grow and justice to prevail, the cancer that is capitalism must be destroyed, root and branch.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Homeless.

        The Covid19 pandemic has many dark strands that will shade many lives for years to come. The shadow that it casts over America stretches across the oceans with the UK in its perimeter.  When money is the basis of your society you can expect the managers of the system to be completely ruthless in the safeguarding of that particular commodity. Wealth and power are paramount health and well-being are secondary. That's the essence of capitalism.

The following from The Conversation:

        The United States is on the verge of a potentially devastating eviction crisis right in the middle of a deadly pandemic. Federal, state and local eviction moratoriums had put most of the pending cases on hold. But as the moratoriums expire and eviction hearings resume, millions of people are at risk of losing their homes.
      That’s because the court process is heavily skewed towards the needs of landlords and offers few protections for tenants – a problem that has been going on for decades, as my ongoing research on the process of evictions shows.
       Early in the pandemic, as states shut down their economies, tens of millions of people lost all or part of their incomes, with poorer Americans suffering the greatest losses.
        Worried about a wave of evictions, the federal government and many cities and states imposed moratoriums in an effort to prevent a crisis. Some states went further and provided financial assistance directly to renters, while Congress provided aid in the form of economic impact checks and enhanced unemployment benefits.
      Financial assistance to tenants is important because landlords have also been hurt by the economic effects of the pandemic. Part of preventing an eviction crisis and maintaining affordable housing means helping tenants pay their rent in order to ensure that landlords can pay their mortgages and other costs.

       All this aid has helped ensure greater financial and housing stability for people affected by COVID-19. But the federal benefits have now expired, and many eviction moratoriums have lapsed or will do so soon. As a result, as many as 26 million people are believed to be at risk of losing their homes in the coming months.
      This comes on top of the many other economic and health effects of the pandemic that have hit low-income Americans – especially women of color who have children – the hardest.
      Unfortunately, not even an extension of the moratoriums or financial assistance alone can solve this problem. Eventually, tenants will have to pay back their landlords and, if they can’t, will have to go to court to avoid losing their homes. In most cases, they’ll lose.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

WW3

       I'm no lover of the Russian state or the Chinese state, or any state for that matter, as my rants should indicate, but I do think that we in the "West" are on board an ancient rotting old ship in rough seas, being crewed by a bunch of blind, power crazy psychopaths, and it doesn't bode well for the world at large. We would do well to remember, a wounded dying beast can be very dangerous.
An interesting article from Consortium News:

     “There is a slow-motion Third World War underway between the US-centralized power alliance and the nations like China which have resisted being absorbed into it, and that war is being largely facilitated by propaganda. If one doesn’t wish to become a propagandist themselves, one ought to withhold belief from the stories they are told about the terrible, awful things the unabsorbed nations are doing which require extensive sanctions, subversion and interventionism in response.“ (Caitlin Johnstone)

      I have come independently to the same view as the writer Caitlin Johnstone. We are indeed now in the throes of a Third World War against China and its ally Russia. This war has been started by U.S. and the UK, supported by minor Five Eyes allies Canada and Australia. They have chosen their preferred strategic fighting terrain to be information and sanctions warfare, because they know that on conventional military war-fighting terrain they would be unable even to begin to prevail over Russia and China.
      So this is a war confined to hostile rhetoric, sanctions and subversion. It is fought with words by people like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his obedient American and British acolytes such as U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Labour leader Keir Starmer and a myriad of indoctrinated Western news editors.
     It features continued recycling of old discredited anti-Russian and anti-Chinese propaganda myths like the Skripals, Syria chemical weapons attacks, alleged Uighur genocide, and repression of human rights in Hong Kong.
     Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds have obediently joined in the anti-China push, and are now in Washington receiving face-to-face briefings and instructions from their imperial masters. And they seemed overjoyed to be on the big stage:
      The target audience in this Information War is not the Chinese or Russian people. Our new warriors have long given up trying to influence either nation with their obvious lies. No, the target is us.
     As George Orwell foretold in 1984 : in Oceania’s never-ending, un-winnable wars against Eurasia and Eastasia, the main theatre is propaganda aimed at we citizens of Oceania. We are the gullible recipients of false narratives. Remember the inflammatory newsreels, the five minute hate sessions as Orwell described them? We are there now, in much of our mainstream media produced by stenographers of the empire.
      We are being subjected to constant indoctrination at various levels of subtlety. It is unclear now who are the perpetrators, who are the enablers, and who are the gullible recipients: The white noise of false narratives surrounds us and it becomes harder and harder to disentangle as the volume increases. Dissident voices are efficiently marginalised.
      Russia and China are patiently avoiding being goaded by this new kind of world war started by the West into similar retaliatory actions on their part. They know they enjoy superior strategic deterrence, and are quietly sitting tight on their deterrence assets.
     Meanwhile, they are also sticking calmly to the facts, and choosing the terrain on which they wish to engage physically with Western provocations. As China humiliated India with stones and clubs in the Himalayas it will in its own time find appropriate ways to humiliate U.S. and allied navies’ provocations in the South China Sea.
      Iran humiliated America in its telegraphed non-lethal missile attack on the U.S. base in Iraq, after the U.S. had murdered Iranian General Soleimani in Iraq. Russia safely neutralised Ukraine’s foolish naval provocation at Kerch Bridge in Crimea, thereby sealing President Petro Poroshenko’s political demise a few months later. And so it will continue.
     Australia is backing the wrong horse. We should be standing back from this new Third World War. We need to rediscover the art of diplomacy. Present policies will not end well for the U.S. and its military allies.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk