The Glasgow Keelie group are a bunch of beavers, each month they turn out a wee gem packed with information gained through a critical eye. Always well worth a read and always worth spreading around. So now Glasgow Keelie 15 is up there ready to be read and be enjoyed, have a look and let's know what you think, and of course spread the word.
Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.ukWednesday, 3 February 2021
Smoke & Mirrors.
In the bunker courtroom of the prison of Lecce in the morning of Friday, January 15, the prosecutor submitted requests for sentencing 90 No TAP accused, on trial for a number of episodes of struggle which took place between 2017 and 2018. The charges range from violence and resistance against public officials to breaching expulsion orders from Lecce and Melendugno, where the struggle against the gas multinational was most intense. In the first instance trial the sentences requested ranged from a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 2 years and 3 months.
During the hearing a comrade made a declaration concerning the charges against her, here is the text:
In this trial I am accused of having repeatedly breached an order prohibiting me from being present in the territory of Lecce and Melendugno. Some policemen, in the role of witnesses, stated that I would have deliberately and in contempt of their job of observation, neglected to hide or change my appearance. The many photographs that portray me confirm this observation. In fact I always took part in the demonstrations and the various protests without caring about the prohibition and without concealing myself. And I often spoke out, as did many others, to repeat the reasons for those mobilizations, which have involved a great number of people over two years.
I hope the gentlemen of the police station won’t mind, but I’d say the reasons that led me to the prohibited areas, risking the charges made against me here, were quite other than contempt for the digos of Lecce. I won’t expose these reasons in all their length and breadth, also because I think that a courtroom is the least suitable place for such a purpose. Suffice it to say that it is not by chance that the reasons I am referring to are all in the missing link of the statements given by the police here in the role of witnesses, statements that sketch a rather simplified, flat, let’s say bi-dimensional scenario where the police are facing a group of rioters against a backdrop of yards, gates, country roads, olive orchards. Instead, my reasons are all in the third dimension, that of the background. These are places that have suffered the indelible scar of an aberrant operation, the TAP gas pipeline. An operation imposed from above and always rejected by the inhabitants because it upturns delicate ecosystems, puts human health at risk, upsets the local economy. Ultimately, that work represents the voracity of transnational capital to which local communities are being forced to succumb. The impressive mobilization of men in uniform in defence of the TAP Consortium and against the opponents of the works showed everyone the State’s subjugation to those superior reasons. The militarization of a vast territory and the suspension of freedom of movement within it in contempt of the population, these yes, are only some of the reasons that convinced me to take part rather than desist, to go to the prohibited areas instead of complying with the prohibitions imposed on me. I thus decided to respond to my own personal ethical imperative, ignore the injunction of authority and be present in the prohibited places.
If anything, my only regret is effectively not having done enough.
Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Hard Work!!
Introduction
In a Hawaiian resort four well-groomed men puffing on expensive cigars and resplendent in white dinner jackets settle down to a nice glass of Chateau de Chassilier. Thus starts Monty Python’s classic 1974 ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ sketch about a group of men reflecting on their ascent into Britain’s elite. But rather than an exercise in self-congratulation, it is soon clear that this is an exchange of childhood reminiscences – and one in which the stakes revolve around proving one’s purported proletarian origin rather than privileged destination. ‘We used to live in a tiny, tumble-down ’ouse with great ’oles in t’roof’, John Cleese tells us in a distinctly ropey Yorkshire accent. ‘’ouse!’, exclaims Graham Chapman in marginally improved dialect. ‘You were lucky to ’ave an ’ouse. We used to live in one room. All 26 of us.’ From here a ludicrous race to the bottom ensues, with boasted familial dwellings stretching from corridors to lakes to shoe boxes.
The sketch may not be particularly funny (and indeed a forerunner for the now hackneyed comedy trope of the ‘Northerner’) but its enduring appeal with the British public (it has been repeated verbatim by multiple1 comedians since) lies in the fact that it continues to carry a pertinent thread of social commentary. For over 50 years, survey research has consistently demonstrated that Britons tend to identify subjectively as working class, even when – like the Four Yorkshiremen – this often contradicts their ‘objective’ class position (Heath et al., 2013; Savage, 2007). For example, the latest available data – the 2016 British Social Attitudes Survey – shows that 47% of those in ‘middle-class’ professional and managerial occupations identify as working class (Evans and Mellon, 2016).
Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk
Monday, 1 February 2021
State Brutality.
Remember not so long ago the fire that destroyed the vastly overcrowded Moria migrants camp on Lesbos, and left 13,000 extremely vulnerable individuals and families sleeping in streets and waste land, without any real support. no human should be treated in this way. However we don't have to look to the other side of Europe to find these state perpetrated inhumanities, we have them right here in the UK, one of the richest countries in the world. One being the Napier Barracks in Kent, recently partially destroyed by fire. We should know by now, that the state will always see the "foreigner" as something to be suspicious of and to fear, it will always claim its borders are sacred and must not be crossed without their blessing. All borders must fall for a free and civilised society.
Can you imagine the building you live in burning down and everyone being rushed outside with sirens and smoke everywhere? It sounds frightening, but what would you expect to happen next?What you wouldn’t expect is for everyone to be told to go back inside, but all the lights and the heating are turned off so it’s cold and dark. And as the night goes on it gets colder. But all the staff have been evacuated so only residents are left alone, with no information or care. Many have Covid and are very sick.
There are people left outside as one of the buildings is unusable after the fire. No one has done anything to help these people so you self-organize to share your bedrooms with them, although you have no spare bedding and it’s freezing with no heating…Some men are refusing to sleep indoors and are outside in freezing temperatures in sleeping bags…
Dozens staged a protest at the gates of the barracks, shouting “freedom” and hoisting banners
One refugee told : The situation at Camp Folkestone is very bad He said: We wait in line for hours. We are in a prison and one room that sleeps 40 people.
There is no food or drink at all. Because the people who are supposed to look after you have done nothing. The police bring in and in a riot vans.. As there is no one else. You have to use your torch to see.
One of the people who are sick turns bad so we you ask to phone an ambulance….
Solidarity with the immigrant’s and refugees Destroy borders and nations States they are the real criminal’s !
Your Data.
Read the full article HERE:
#1 Signal
Handles group chats, SMS, voice, video, documents and picture messages
Offers disappearing messages (with a timer)
Signal protocol
Open source
Doesn’t store user data or metadata
Advocated by Edward Snowden
Needs a phone number to register
Signal is the overall winner for both iOS and Android users. Signal created an encryption protocol that is now recognized as the most secure messaging app protocol out there. It offers everything most users need – SMS, video and voice calls, group chats, file sharing, disappearing messages, etc – without stuffing the app with ads and collecting user data. It’s also an open source platform so anyone can check it for vulnerabilities (though no one has discovered any yet). Even Edward Snowden, the (in)famous NSA whistleblower, endorsed this app.
The only flaw we found is that you can’t use the app anonymously and need at least your phone number to register. However, we still think it’s the perfect choice for the average user.
New Depths.
Saturday, 30 January 2021
New Order.
The world's resources will be firmly in the hands of the small band of corporate/financial billionaires, the term public ownership is a word that will be destined for the dustbin of history. Of course there will be handouts to placate the population, to dampen discontent, they will be society's paracetamol, to make you feel better but having no effect on your real problems. The serfs will be used as needed, to keep the gushers of wealth flowing in the direction of their masters, then discarded when no longer needed, those who can't be used by the new corporate serfdom, will have to get by as best they can. It will be a totally privately owned world,
Friday, 29 January 2021
Prying Eyes.
I know I keep blaabing on about moving away from the big tec giants and their messaging system, and I throw up suggestions in the hope that those better versed in the technical side of these things than I, can throw some light on what I post. I think it is very important that we get out of the grips of these gigantic all powerful data syphoning machines and their tracking endeavours. They have the power to, and will, close down all that they don't want to receive any publicity. They are not on our side, they work for the status-quo and the corporate world.
I previously mentioned Signal as an alternative to the Facebook-twitter messaging brigade, I still think it is a great alternative. The more knowledgeable could point out the pros and cons.
Browsers are another arm of the big-brother brigade, sucking up your data and tracking you on the internet for commercial purpose, but data that can also be used by the various state organisations.
The Brave browser seems to be an interesting alternative. Again I await the verdict of the more knowledgable than myself.
Sooner or later we are going to have to choose, if we wish to have freedom of expression and be free from the prying censoring eyes of the big tec giants, who are one of the guardians of the state/corporate world of power, wealth and privileges for the few. Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk
Thursday, 28 January 2021
State Savagery.
The following is an extract of an article from It's Going Down:
An interview with anarchist political-prisoner Eric King with the Seattle-Tacoma chapter of Black and Pink.
In this time when authorities refuse to keep people safe from COVID-19, when rebellion is a fresh on our minds, and when the abolition of police and prisons is becoming a clear necessity to more and more people, we’ve got something to learn from an anarchist political prisoner like Eric King. Eric vandalized the office of a government official in Kansas City, MO, in solidarity with the Ferguson uprising, was arrested in September 2014, and then was sentenced to ten years for the window he broke in June 2016. Such a sentence is horrible, but not shocking. Prisons, after all, do more to keep hierarchies safe than people.Eric is now facing a bogus charge of assaulting an officer that could land him another 20 years inside. At the time of writing this, he has been hit with a mail restriction and can’t receive letters of support. But we can make ourselves aware of his case and learn from his words.
The following is an interview with Eric conducted through snail mail by the Seattle-Tacoma chapter of Black and Pink, a queer/trans abolitionist group that focuses on building community across prison walls.
Black and Pink Seattle-Tacoma: How would you characterize FCI-Englewood’s response to COVID-19?
Eric King: Dreadful! At least in the SHU. People were brought in without being tested, staff was never tested. Our tiers were not cleaned more than once a week, we were only given 3 showers a week. No bleach was used anywhere. We were given masks, but staff/admin was so slack with their usage. Now we have a massive outbreak. The entire SHU was ill and staff refused to acknowledge or test us, until on Thanksgiving when things were so bad a med officer had no choice but to test 3 of us… all positive. A few days later they test everyone else, ALL positives. Then, AFTER we all are very sick, they institute a SHU lockdown, they start bleaching the showers between use, etc. Warden Greilick failed. None of us have been given anything for it, not even info about symptoms and how to make it less. Greilick failed, 600+ cases, all preventable.
B&P: What’s something about being in prison that you feel like people outside don’t understand, and need to know? Were there expectations you had about prison that shifted once you were incarcerated?
EK: I’m not sure people realize or care about the amount of psych games these people play. It is violent. Withholding mail for weeks or months claiming you don’t have any, searching your cell and vandalizing your family photos. Placing you intentionally around people who wish to harm you. I’ve seen cops lie and tell a group a certain person is a rat just to get that person fucked up. Happens all the time and isn’t limited just to unit cops. Medical will see you on your death bed and say you just need more water. People die because of this gaslighting. You file your grievances as you’re supposed to and get told they never got filed, that YOU are lying. It’s a miracle there aren’t staff murders every day. Instead people internalize this bullshit and give up, or turn anger on fellow convicts instead of toward the system baring down on them. It’s an effective spirit breaker. I honestly thought in prison it’d be “us vs. them” … it isn’t… it’s us vs. us while they laugh and manipulate us. Devastating.
B&P: What do you notice about how different populations in the prison are treated? How has your position affected your treatment?
EK: Different groups get treated different for sure, usually to stir resentment and violence. Gay and transgender people get treated abysmally by all races/gangs AND staff. They are demonized and treated as less than scum, often left vulnerable to attack or staff harassment.
My position as an anti-racist / anti-fascist person has been used to create divisions and separation. At USP-McCreary while in the SHU, staff mocked my “Antifa” face tattoo and assured me they were going to get me jumped… and they did. Mail is ALWAYS horribly delayed and often arbitrarily rejected, email has to be read and approved before being sent out – which can take days. I’ve been denied phone calls for 2 years after a website posted about me and my wife was denied visiting access due to her “ideology.” Staff talks big shit trying to instigate violence, subject you to a large amount of searches and property confiscation… you get targeted.
B&P: What sustains you while you’re inside? What support are you getting that is really making you feel supported?
EK: The support that feels the “most,” is when people/groups do things outside of me, on their own. Things like banner drops, fundraising, getting writings or info published to various sources. Being kept relevant and alive. In the near future it will be trial support: either showing up, posting about it, encouraging others to come, things like that. I have an amazing family who is outlandishly loving and supportive, I am very present in their lives. I have great friends and supporters who look out for me super tough. These things sustain me. Also, I am very secure in myself. My ethics and my belief in myself, in my future. These things carry me throughout the day. They won’t beat me.
Be The Revolution.
One of the most frustrating things is seeing where we need to move and not being able to get the collective to come with you. You’re like, “It’s there! Let’s move!”, and they just want to bicker and ego spar. Just blast off into health yourself, and trust that the others will follow if and when they are able.Read the full articlle HERE:
Be your own revolution. You have all the media access you need to help wake the world up with the power of your own inspired action. Reject cliques, factions and sectarianism, and have the courage to stand on your own two feet attacking the machine with your own unique abilities.
This doesn’t mean you can’t organize and work collectively; you absolutely can. If you see people doing something you want to uplift, uplift it. But when you’re done, don’t stay and become a member of the club. Move on and retain your self-sovereignty. If you’re doing something that people want to help uplift and amplify, let them do so. When they don’t want to anymore, let them go. Don’t try to manipulate them into staying.
You are free to collaborate with anyone on any issue at any time. You don’t actually need to be a member of the Blah Blah Whateverist Club to do this. And when nothing is happening that you want to collaborate with others on, you can attack the machine on your own, using your own unique set of tools based on your own inspiration. You are not owned or bound.
All these debates we’re seeing lately over who should be let into and kept out of the Revolution Club, how the Revolution Club should act, who should lead the Revolution Club etc are based on the assumption that there has to be a Revolution Club in the first place, and there just doesn’t. Organize and collaborate on a case-by-case, issue-by-issue basis while remaining sovereign.
Have the compassion to prioritize the needs of the collective and the courage to stand as an individual. Trying to impose your will on exactly how the collective revolution should and should not be moving is a doomed endeavor, because you cannot control the collective, you can only control yourself. So be your own revolution and attack the machine wherever you detect a weak point in its armor.
I’ve avoided all cliques and factions like the plague, and I’ve been far more effective in this fight than I would have been if I’d chosen to glom onto some faction and uphold all its -ists and -isms. It would have killed my ability to move with agility in whatever way is demanded by each present moment, because I would have been binding myself to the movements of a group that isn’t seeing what I’m seeing and can’t move the way I move.
This is just what’s worked for me, and of course your mileage may vary. But if you’re like me and you don’t see the various groups, organizations and factions getting us to where we need to go, consider stepping out of the vehicle, standing on your own two feet, and waging your own revolution.
Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Our Day.
Our day will come, not just by words, but with the crashing of borders, solidarity, organisation and direct action in the name of justice, freedom and peace.
Words.
Just a thought.
I’m a poet with no words to say
wandering a world of sorrow and pain
lost in catastrophes played like a game
short visions rule the day
Mountains of money piles of poverty
lost in a sea of swirling illusions
wars a natural road to walk
death and destruction a way of life
ringing in my ears songs of poverty
melodies of marauding deprivation
I have eyes that see ears that hear
a dictionary in my mind but
I live in a world beyond their reach
I’m a poet with no words to say.
Tuesday, 26 January 2021
GAFSupport.
The following is call for solidarity and support for those caught up in the Greek state's repression machine.
Statement by GAF Glagow
Support a fundraising campaign for Greek comrades under attack!Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk
We stand in international solidarity with the 8 students targeted viciously by the Greek state, accused of having taken part in a direct action in solidarity with squats at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
These students were targeted because of their widespread active involvement in social struggles and within the anti-authoritarian milieu, and especially their involvement with the Self-Organised Students’ Centre of AUEB. They have been the subject of a local media frenzy, and have faced great repressive measures including surveillance, forced DNA retention, and the charge, among others, of “forming a criminal organisation”.
The Greek state is demanding an outrageous monetary amount to post the students’ bail (3000 Eur/person). With the anti-authoritarian milieu in Greece not being able to rely on its traditional fundraising methods, a Firefund campaign has been set up to support the comrades. Please support in any way you can!
Link: https://www.firefund.net/s8a.
ACE Info.
This pandemic has called a halt to so many things in our life and has created so many difficulties for communities and individuals, but as always happens the communities rally round and help each other, by various means, mutual aid being the foundation. ACE in Edinburgh, ever active, are in their helping to brighten up the dull covid Edinburgh days. Below is some of their activities, I'm sure there is something there for you to get involved in or to start in your own community if you haven't already done so.
NEWS FROM THE AUTONOMOUS CENTRE OF EDINBURGH
We are pleased to bring you news of the new food and resources bank open to all at the ACE premises every thursday 10.30am – 2pm : details below.
Other activities in the premises are suspended in order to keep people safe during the covid pandemic – but the groups based at ACE are still active and welcome your involvement. See below plus go to http://autonomous.org.uk/groups-activities/ and information on each of the groups based at Ace can be found on the ‘Groups & Activities’ drop down menu (Plus we recommend the tenants union LIVING RENT)
See also the regularly updated ACE facebook https://www.facebook.com/AutEdinburgh
This newsletter also attached in PDF.
FOOD SOLIDARITY
Food and Resources Bank at ACE every thursday 10.30am - 2pm. Organised by Oficina Precaria / Precarity Office Scotland / PIE – non-perishable food, toiletries, hygiene products and some children’s clothes are available free.
The Oficina Precaria Resource Bank is now OPEN as an emergency service on Thursdays from 10:30am – 2pm at ACE, 17 West Montgomery Place EH7 5HA. No referral or prior booking needed. Please note Covid safety measures in place: masks, hand sanitiser, only one person per household inside the premises please, and only one person visiting the foodbank at a time.
All welcome. You do not need a referral or to provide any paperwork or ‘proof of status’. Oficina Precaria https://www.facebook.com/piescotland https://piescotland.org/en/
More info on food solidarity initiatives and coronavirus support at http://edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk/?page_id=2568
For food solidarity also contact
Mutual Aid Edinburgh https://www.facebook.com/MutualAidEdinburgh
Mutual Aid Trans Edinburgh https://www.facebook.com/matedinburghLEITH CHOOSES 2011 - VOTE FOR THE PRECARIAT OFFICE SCOTLAND PROJECT
Precariat Office Scotland write:
We have launched a campaign to encourage people to vote for us for a project called Emergency One stop shop.
Emergency ‘One Stop Shop’: COVID-19 is causing unprecedented hardship. We serve migrants (mostly from Western Europe, but we welcome everyone) who often work in hard-hit hospitality and tourism, and don’t have any family/social support network locally. Our weekly ‘shop’ will help prevent people falling below the poverty line. It will include resources bank, soup kitchen, information and legal/welfare advice in the person’s own language. Also access to free online English classes (improve job opportunities) and yoga/self-defence classes (health and wellbeing).
We are a volunteer run organisation and the grant money would be spent on resources for the bank, equipment and ingredients (for soup), sessional workers (to run classes). Outcomes will be reducing isolation and improving people’s lives during this crisis.
If you live, work, volunteer, study in Leith (and are over 8 years old) please VOTE!
From 25 Jan till 31 January, vote for PIE Scotland at bit.ly/LeithChooses2021. Help us support people like you with free meals, English lessons, legal advice and self-defence classes in Leith. #VoteAndGetIt
Please help us to spread the word to community centres, schools etc.
Thanks!!!
Precariat Office Scotland - PIE
Oficina Precaria de Escocia - PIE
http://piescotland.org
[SCIO] - SC047145
PLEASE NOTE You are eligible to vote if you are over 8 years old and live, work, study or volunteer in Leith. Voting continues till 31 January.
ECAP SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY
ECAP write:
Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty Tuesday Sessions at ACE are suspended and we are not able to hold Face to Face appointments during the current Coronavirus lockdown. But we are continuing our support for and solidarity with claimants as well as all those up against the authorities – so please do get in touch if you have a benefits, debt, housing or other poverty-related problem. We’re asking people to contact us by Phone, Email or Facebook in order to arrange an appointment via phone – or please email us with your issue.
Contact: Ring 0131 557 6242 and leave a message – please speak slowly and repeat your contact details. E mail ecapmail@gmail.com
PM Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty on Facebook
More info: http://edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk/?page_id=2193
We welcome your involvement in ECAP – read what we are about here http://edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk/?page_id=2 and get in touch if interested.
Monday, 25 January 2021
Rumoer 3.
I love when our literature gets to the streets, this pandemic has put a bit of block on that, but there are still ways and means. However Rumoer is one of those magazines that still hits the streets, thanks to the dedication of the group behind this interesting and informative read. It's there for free download but donations if you can afford a wee financial boost to keep it going.
Yes, finally, RUMOER number three is here!
Besides the global unrest because of the pandemic, lots of things have been going on, like after the police murder of George Floyd but there is also a statement about the fire on Lesbos. In this edition you can read news from far away and nearby, but also a poem, a nice prison escape-story, and more.
The last edition appeared in the first lockdown. Then we spread RUMOER on the street in central places in plastic packaging so they could be easily taken and wouldn’t get wet, and we will do so again this time. Help us out with distributing this publication in your own place by ordering some extra zines, or print your own. Also very nice is that now you can send us some money, if you have some to contribute. Otherwise you’ll just get it for free of course. Send your request to RUMOER at RISEUP dot NET.
XXX and see you soon in the streets,
RUMOER
Free Download HERE:
(Remember the donation if you can afford one.) Here is a short extract from the latest No. 3 Rumoer:
Book Review: With Blood and Words:
EvegenIIa IaroslavskaIa-Markon.
“So, that is my life—
the life of a schoolgirl-revolutionary,
a student-dreamer,
a friend and lover of the great man
and poet Aleksandr Iaroslavskii,
an eternal wanderer,
an itinerant anti-religious lecturer,
a writer for Rul,
a street newspaper vendor,
a thief with a long criminal record,
and a travelling fortune-teller.”
from My Autobiography, E. Iaroslavskaia-Markon)
What a nice little book we got, printed in the summer of 2020 in Marseille. While reading, I often imagined Evegeniia being one of my lovely friends. For example when she tells how much she loves stealing, or the living on the streets with all the crooks, children, sex workers and alcoholics she could find. It is amazing when she describes how her partner wants to go back to Russia, while she got some other plans in mind: “Wouldn’t it be great to get in touch with Makhno, who was also in Paris, we could have embarked on some merry adventure in Ukraine, a reckless adventure, a radical adventure, a bold adventure...Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasghow.me.uk
Truly revolutionary and outlaw!”In her autobiography, Evgeniia talks about herself, her life, her comrade and companion Aleksandr Iaroslavskii and their commitment in fighting ’till their last breath against the tyranny of the Bolshevik power. The story ends miserable in February, 1931, when the author is executed at the age of twenty-nine. The manuscript she wrote was discovered in 1996 in the archives of the FSB and breathes anti-authoritarian strength. Its full of fragments that appeal to the imagination, from the raw reality of an vagabond against the state. In the end of the book are reports from her court cases and execution. Evgeniia resisted untill the end: she was guilty of frequent incitement of fellow prisoners and kicked a guard on her way out with her prostheses. The book is in english, you can get it in the better bookstores or through compass_editions@riseup.net https://compasseditions.noblogs.org/