BUY NOTHING DAY.

     It is coming up again, the non-consumer festival, the buy nothing day. Make it a festival with a difference, take the kids for a walk, fix the kids bike, get on your bike, knock the neighbours door and have a chat. Play games on the street and stop the traffic. Play games at home, the non-electric type, you know the ones, those funny games with boards and pieces, Read that book you bought last summer and never got round to reading, try your hand at drawing, you know you always wanted to. Learn a poem, organise a swap shop in your neighbourhood, sit in a huddle giggling and watch the electric meter stop. Do anything that takes your fancy, just don't buy anything.

     Who knows, you might grow to like the idea and then you can tell the boss to shove his overtime. It is surprising how easy it is with a little enterprise how you can short circuit the consumer juggernaut and have fun at the same time. If you really want to be noble you can get your friends to follow you by telling them that you're saving the planet.

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LEEDS STRIKE VICTORY!!

Received this from Alun Parry, singer, song writter and activist. More details 
It is always good to hear of our victories, especially in times like these.

Posted by alun parry  http://www.parrysongs.co.uk/  November 24, 2009

     Eleven days ago, I played a gig in Liverpool as a benefit for the Leeds cleaning workers who had been on strike since September 7th.They faced pay cuts of up to £6,000 and the workers said no.I’m delighted to report that they have won!!

    This is the power of working people united together in struggle. This is the power of the union. If the workers in Leeds had not fought this then some would have had a third of their wages snatched from them.It took 12 weeks of courageous strike action and a lot of solidarity, but in the best traditions of the labour movement, people stuck together to defend each other and won. From threats of massive pay cuts and privatisation, both threats have now been removed.

    They march back to work tomorrow triumphant. Congratulations to the cleaning workers of Leeds. Your victory gives confidence to us all and will stay the hand of other councils who were hoping for your defeat as a cue to wage attacks on their own workers.

We can make the world stop. And we bloody well should!

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WHOSE LAW??

      The law in most societies says that to kill someone is a crime, yet the same society tolerates killing every day of the week and those who do the killing aren’t even questioned. Of course at the top of the killing tree is the state with its armies and its love of war. However on a much more personal scale we tolerate killers and allow them to walk freely among us. There are those who, for economic reasons, sleep rough, they sometimes die because of the cold while landlords, who are aware of these circumstances, have empty homes and keep them empty. There are children and others that go hungry and in many cases die from hunger. Yet in our streets we have stores bursting at the seams with food. Of course we are complicit in these killings as we are aware of the circumstances and allow it to happen. Our society is a criminal society, as it rewards criminals, its laws enforce and protect criminality simply because the law makers are criminals.

    How else can we describe a world of food mountains, wine lakes and farmers paid not to work their land and at the same time talk of thousands homeless and dying of hunger? If we allow the criminals to make all the rules then we can expect criminality to be the law of the land.

 

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A night at the movies.

Friends, activists, radicals, lend me your ears, or in this case your eyes and read this. Some excellent films coming up in Glasgow, how about;

Sunday 6th December, 4pm

Glasgow Social Centre

66/68 Osborne Street

Glasgow G1 5QH

3 short films on the Visteon, Prisme and Vestas workplace occupations.

600 ex-Ford workers at Visteon auto-parts factories are sacked with 6 minutes notice without redundancy pay. They respond by occupying their factories. After the factory occupations and the threat to picket out

workers at Ford's state of the art plant at Bridgend, Visteon and Ford were forced back to the negotiating table - where they conceded a redundancy package better than the Fords package the workers were demanding. It is the biggest redundancy package ever paid out by Ford anywhere! (25 mins.)

Dundee: Prisme occupation.

Another great response to the shutting down of a factory, as the cardbouard packaging workers refuse to leave and plan to reopen the factory as a workers cooperative. (6 mins)

Save Vestas Wind Turbine Factory.

An unprecedented red, green and black coalition support the Vestas workers occupying to stop the only wind turbine factory in England shutting down. (19 mins).

Followed by discussion on workplace struggles and how next year's cuts will affect workers.

Hosted by Clydeside Industrial Workers of the World, A Union For All workers

Or how about;

 Simon Yuill's film "Given to the People" the story of

the "Pollok Free State" and "GalGael"

showing Friday 27th Novenmber 7:00pm in the Electron Club in

the Centre for Contemporay Arts, Sauchiehall Street.

These film showings are FREE, a rare opportunity to look, listen,learn  and enjoy for free in this profit ridden consumerist society.

Then of course there is the Radical Independent Bookfair.

This ‘Book-fair’ has more in common with a wee bookshop than a large book festival. However there are four or five strands to each RiB... stuff for sale, things to swap, materials free to take away, library stock to view and events to engage in...
Glasgow's RADICAL INDEPENDENT BOOK-FAIR project:

NEXT EVENT:
RIB @ the GLASGOW SOCIAL CENTRE - 11 + 12 December 2009 ww.ribproject.org FREE ENTRY.
stalls, free food, book & dvd launches, film screenings, discussions & talks.
Glasgow Social Centre
66/68 Osborne Street
Glasgow G1 5QT  http://www.glasgowsocialcentre.org.uk/

As well as a full selection of RiB stock there will be guest stalls from...
Glasgow Chiapas Solidarity Group, Mute Magazine, Unity & No Borders.
FRIDAY 11th DEC. stalls 12.00 - 9.00pm
Book Event / Film Screening / Public Debate 6.30 - 9.00pm

Cathy McCormack
The Wee Yellow Butterfly is Cathy McCormack’s inspiring story of how, from unpromising beginnings, she has spent her life committed to seeking justice and finding fulfillment. This book is a grassroots analysis of the social, economic and psychological world war waged against the poor under Thatcher, New Labour and the American administrations. At the Sharp End of the Knife - a screening of the documentary film that Barbara Orton and Cathy McCormack made in 1999. “An 'eye-level' view as we go with Scottish activist Cathy McCormack into the township heartlands of South Africa to see how fellow activists are faring, in building the 'New' South Africa. She may be dodging bullets, but in the people she meets, finds energy and inspiration, making intriguing parallels with her own life in Easterhouse and theirs” As well as a relaunch of this book and a rare screening of this film there will be a discussion and public debate around the issues, hosted by Cathy.
Cathy McCormack poderuk@hotmail.com  http://www.argyllpublishing.com/

Note - this film and a selection of related films from Document 7 will be available at the RIB videotheque.
http://www.docfilmfest.org.uk/

SATURDAY 12th DEC stalls 10.00am - 7.00pm Refreshments 12.00pm onwards, BrothMix- Stone Soup.
An empty pot and a stone is the starter for this soup... it takes its form with whatever donations of vegetables, herbs, pulses and other foodstuffs are given to the pot. So look in the back of your cupboard for a lonely potato or lentil, dig up some winter veg or bring in some garnish and help feed everyone who is hungry! Home made breads and other baking will also be on offer.

Discussion 12.00 - 1.30pm May Day Open Discussion.
Reclaim the Day! What does May Day mean? What do we want it to be? How can we all work together? This forum isn't just hippy navel gazing; by planning ahead we can be more efficient, more effective (more mischievous?) So come along and let us know what you think, whether you're representing an affinity group or an army of one. Dissent isn't just encouraged, it's pretty much an assumed prerequisite, but hopefully we can all at least agree on a date.

Workshop / Discussion 1.30 - 2.30pm Gender 101.
A workshop/discussion on sex, gender and sexuality. As well as looking at the basics we'll be exploring radical trans/queer politics and the relationship between gender and class. We'll also be discussing these issues within the context of radical communities and how we can avoid reproducing systems of oppression. All welcome.

DVD Launch 2.30 - 3.30pm  John La Rose Tribute.
John La Rose (1927 - 2006) was a writer and activist who founded the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books. This new DVD includes documentation of a tribute event for La Rose held in 2006, and features contributions from Linton Kwesi Johnson, Horace Ove, Jim Kelman, Tom Leonard, Raman Mundair, Alasdair Gray and Roxy Harris.

Forum 3.30 - 5.00pm Glasgow Anarchist Forum.
An opportunity for anarchists of all shades to meet, have a chat, see what others are up to and talk about projects and campaigns we'd like to work on. Ideal for those wanting to get involved in activism in Glasgow to find out what's going on and which groups are active.

Discussion 5.00 - 6.00pm How We Organise.
No game playing, no ranting, no moaning, just "organisation".

Film Screening 7.00 - 9.00pm Zapatistas: Chronicle of a Rebellion.
This film has a history of its own. The documentary's first version, originally entitled La Guerra de Chiapas and released in late January 1994, was one of the first journalistic efforts to present and analyse the Zapatista uprising. Ten years later, in 2004, a second version was released. This third and updated edition includes images of the Zapatistas' most recent campaign, ‘la otra campaña’. It also investigates the role of the Zapatistas in the events surrounding the elections of 2006 and their involvement in the (brutally repressed) social movements in Atenco and Oaxaca. Furthermore, this new version documents the Mexican government's strategy of militarization, accelerated under the current presidency of Felipe Calderón, which is putting the Zapatista communities under increasing pressure.

FREE ENTRY.
Also for this end of year event we have chosen the RiB 'nimble nine' recommended reads / views / wears - all very recent or brand new stock...
FOR SALE.
...from No Sweat - FCUK Sweatshops - a new ethical threads T-shirt. http://www.nosweat.org.uk/

...from Rape Crisis Scotland - Woman to Woman, An Oral History of Rape Crisis in Scotland, 1976-1991 - An important document in the continuing fight against sexual violence today. With testimonials, research and information on various campaigns. http://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/

...from AK Press - You Don't Play with Revolution - This book collects seven never-before-published lectures by Marxist cultural critic C.L.R. James, delivered during his stay in Montréal in 1967-1968. Ranging in topic from Marx and Lenin to Shakespeare and Rousseau to Caribbean history and the Haitian Revolution, these lectures demonstrate the staggering breadth and clarity of James’ knowledge and interest.
http://www.akuk.com/  

FREE ITEMS.
...from the Association of Scottish Literary Studies - The First Men on Mercury - A graphic adaptation by Metaphrog of a poem by Edwin Morgan. As a way to interest children in poetry thousands of these have been distributed across all Glasgow Secondary Schools. We have got our grubby paws on a few hundred so help yourself! http://www.metaphrog.com/mercury

...from Glasgow Games monitor 2014 - The Eastend Eye - A new newsletter produced by a group of residents, activists and campaigners who are concerned about the effects of the regeneration in the East end of Glasgow through projects such as the Commonwealth Games and the Clyde Gateway Initiative.
http://gamesmonitor2014.wordpress.com/

...from the IWW - I don't want scabs touching my mail! - support your local posties with these striking wee stickers - current industrial action may be off, but the new winter of discontent is just starting.
http://www.iww.org.uk/

SWAP BOXES
...as well as hundreds of titles we will also have the most recent issues of Mute, Variant, Black Flag, Scottish Left Review, Burgh Angel, Resistance, Anarchist Critic and the brand new AK Distribution catalogue - perfect for browsing through in between RiB's...

Then there is the exciting RIB @ the RESHUFFLE - Pearce Institute - SAT 6th FEB 2010

This event will include the book launch of - The Rousing of the Scottish Working Class by Jim Young - first published in 1979 and is a story of the working class which resisted economic exploitation and cultural oppression, where industrialisation and subsequent elitist social authoritarianism, mass poverty and cultural imperialism. This new edition, published in 2009 by Clydeside Press, includes a new foreword by the author and 2 new chapters which update the original text.

RiB  "not by the book" http://www.ribproject.org/
The RiB is planned as a long term project to assist others through the ideas of mutual aid and solidarity - if you have materials you would like us to help you distribute and/or if you want to collaborate on an event with us and/or you have or know of a free (or cheap) venue we could use in the future and/or if you would be able to help us with general publicity - please do get in touch. We are always looking for new materials and if we are available are happy to do a stall at your next free event...

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Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune??

I found this on youtube and found it interesting, then gave myself a shake and remembered that this is how the whole rotten system works. Money, gifts and favours called in, it is all a rich man's club and stinks from top to bottom. There is no truth in the political system, it is all spin, smoke and mirrors. What do you believe when you don't know who is paying the piper? Vested intersts, hidden behind "friendships", influence lies in the hands of those with the money, corrupt politicians who sell themselves to the highest bidder as they seek the power and the glory. You and I used to further their insane visions of glory, you and I paying the price every time. We pay in poverty, bloodshed in war and dangerous working conditions etc., we are kept in ignorance as the power greedy and the extremists do deals behind closed doors. When do we bring the temple down and cast the dealers out. It is our world or it is theirs, there is no room for both.

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PARANOIA OR EFFICIENCY?

       Recently my passport expired and I had reluctantly to head to the passport office for a renewal. On my previous visit, some ten years ago, it was a matter of taking your place amidst lots of people and watching monitor screens waiting for your number to come up. This time however, it was somewhat different, I arrived and was confronted with an electronic glass door which didn’t open as I approached. I stood there making movements in a Chaplinesque fashion in the hope that it would respond and let me in, then I noticed a security guy on the inside pointing to the left of the door. What he was pointing at was a large button which when pressed magically opened the glass doors, through these doors and heading to a second closed glass door only to be greeted my more gesticulations from another security guy on the inside indicating that it was the other glass door on the left that I should go through. I was now inside the citadel, and in the presence of two women security guards behind a counter and three male security guards on my side of the counter. One of the women asked if I had any sharp objects, keys, knives, scissors etc. If so I was to put them in the little box plus any mobile phones, then I was beckoned by a male security guard to walk through a scanner, once through I got my keys and mobile back, I didn’t have any knives, scissors or any other type of sharp objects.

       What is this all in aid of? Are they expecting some terrorist, illegal immigrant, alien, undesirable or whatever they want to call them, to rush in with a knife, scissors or other sharp object demanding a passport? If it is the suicide bomber that they are worried about, I have no doubt the said psycho would blow himself up as soon as the young woman asked him to hand over his keys, sharp objects, knives, scissor, mobile phone etc., at that point he is already in the building. Perhaps it is protecting the staff from assaults, if so then why not post offices, council offices, benefit offices, rail station ticket offices, chemists, schools, department stores etc.? Perhaps they have these in mind somewhere down the line, along with the thousands of CCTV cameras on “our” streets, plus a number tattooed on your forearm, a compulsory ID card covers as that, as you can’t go anywhere without it.

       This is obviously one of the many symptoms of an extremely paranoid governing class, part of an extremely efficient control system instilling fear and obedience devised by the governing class or a combination of both. It has nothing to do with the well being and safety of you and I on the street.

       This is the world that we seem to be blindly strolling into, a world of controlled movements, every excursion in to your town or city photographed as you make your way to the bus, the shops, the pub with armed police walking the streets. They will keep telling you that it is all for “your” protection, but you must realise it is for “their” protection, they must know what you are up to, who is going on a protest, where and how, who is acting different from the crowd. Only you and I can stop this and take back our world.

 

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IT’S YOUR LIFESTYLE, SILLY!!!

     Our government is continually telling us that we are unhealthy and die young because of our lifestyle. Never do they mention that the real cause of early death is poverty. What they don’t point out that being born into poverty means that you are predisposed to death from a wide range of diseases. A recent major study of 50 years of data covering Glasgow and Edinburgh showed that people in Glasgow die much younger than those in Edinburgh though the cause of death in both cities is roughly the same.

    I’m not against a healthy lifestyle, but we have to realise that poverty is the real enemy. As we know, under this system of capitalism we still have children born into poverty and that very fact limits there life potential. Focusing on a healthy lifestyle shifts the blame from the system we live under onto the individual. Improving our lifestyle does not eradicate the real killer, poverty. By focusing on lifestyle it does however make the government look as if it is doing something about those who die young.

    If we really want to do something about all those people predisposed to an early death by being born into poverty, then we have to change the system. A capitalist system of dog eat dog, winner takes all and to hell with the hindmost, is hardly likely to mean a decent life for all. We need a mass movement to bring about social change and eradicate the profit motive and replace it with a system of mutual aid, co-operation and sustainability.

    In spite of the gloss, froth and plethora of brand name shops in our city, Glasgow has a large share of the poverty in this country, and eating bananas and going for a walk will not solve that problem.

 

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WORKERS, KNOW YOUR HISTORY.

Tanks and troops with fixed bayonets, Trongate, Glasgow 1919.

      Since the beginning of capitalism the workers lot has been one of continuous struggle against his/her employer. Any attempt to improve our conditions has been met with stiff and sometimes violent opposition, not only from the employers but also from the state on behave of the employers. This is something that the ordinary worker should remember, but these struggles are however, never taught in mainstream education.

     We have to write our own history and add to it the struggles of today. Each generation has to know it is a continuous struggle and they are part of that struggle. If we don’t record our history and learn from it, then it never happened and we will never achieve that society of equality for all.

Calton Weavers Strike 1787, six weavers shot and killed at Drygate near the Cathedral.

1820 Insurrection, Hardie, Baird and Wilson executed.

Cotton Spinners Strike 1837, strikers sentenced to 7 years deportation.

The Rent Strike 1915, grassroots movement forced the government to freeze all rents until the end of the war.

Clyde Workers Committee 1916, members of the committee arrested by military authorities and removed from the city.

Bloody Friday 1919, mass demonstration in George Square, attempting to gain a 40 hour week, attacked by police, resulting in the largest military mobilization of the British state against its own people, with troops lining the streets of Glasgow and guarding the docks.

Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Work-in 1971/72, to save closure, shipyards occupied for 16 months.

       Recently we have had school occupations to stop closures, factory occupations and strikes. These are not new struggles they are part of that continuous struggle to build a society that sees to the needs of all those in that society. A struggle that requires that we are aware that we are all in the same struggle and should support each other in solidarity for that common aim, justice for all. For more of Glasgow’s working class history click here.

 

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PISSED-OFF!? YOU SHOULD BE.

           Throughout history, real social change has happened when ordinary people get pissed off with business as usual, talk to each other, get organized, and take to the streets. We have surely reached the point when we the ordinary people are truly pissed off. We have seen the wealthiest section of society get a wee bit worried and been handed billions of tax payers money. While we have been told that cuts in social spending are unavoidable. We face massive unemployment at the time of these cuts and we get that shit, “We are all in this together”. If we expect the corrupt politicians and the corporate world to sort our problems then we deserve all we get. So, we’re pissed off, can we talk? Can we get organised? Can we take to the streets and bring about real social change?

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MAINSTREAM MEDIA.

                                                           Picture by John Hartfield.

Some everyday headlines,
WE ARE SPREADING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ.
AFGHANISTAN IS A WESTERN SUCCESS.
THE FREE MARKET SPREADS PROSPERITY.
THIS YEAR WE WILL TACKLE AFRICA'S POVERTY.        

     Who so ever reads the bourgeois press will become blind. Slowly the fog rises, lies build on lies, lies spawn lies, lies shape your vision and reality is lost in a false consciousness. Trivia and mediocrity fill the mind, seek reality outside the putrid puss and you are deemed to be mad, a raving lunatic, possessed. The media teaches us all we need know of scandal and sport, crime and sex, who slept with who and where, depicting life as a smutty peepshow. Through the bourgeois press you’re fed your daily dose of loathsome lies, banal boring bromide, cliched crap, trivia and petty pulp. Our leaders are portrayed as heroes, supermen, and so the lies breed lies, and lies stretch back into the distant past, lies distort history until it is lost in a bizarre deformed fabrication. We then repeat the disasters of yesterday because the lies are everywhere blinding us. We can’t relate to reality, reality always takes us by surprise because we have no grip of reality, only the lies.

From ''Mein Kampf''

"All this was inspired by the principle that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the (public) more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation."   Adolf Hitler.

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CHARITY.

     We are all familiar with those can carriers that shake their can under your nose for some charity or other. It could be for a new something at some hospital, or save the children fund, and no doubt, being a caring human being, you are always inclined to give.

     However if we look a little deeper we can see that the only reason we have to have charity funds for something so basic as the health and well being of children is simple because we accept the system of capitalism. We openly allow a system that puts a price on everything, including the lives of all children, to profit from the suffering of children. What other humane and just type society would put a price on the health and care of children?

    So perhaps the next time you drop a few coins in a charity box you could open up a discussion with the can shaker on how we can eliminate the need for such a precarious method of caring for kids by suggesting that we come together to get rid of the profit motive that cripples our ability to give all our kids all the care and attention that they need and deserve.

   Mutual aid, and co-operation should be the basis of any society, not the fat bankbooks of greed merchants in the corporate world. Why should a bunch of parasites get rich because children need help? Why should we gamble with any kids well being in the hope we can raise enough money to achieve a standard we know can be reached if we put enough cash in some corporation’s bank account? It is profit and market share, or it is justice and well being for all, it can’t be both.

 

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BBC poll shows widespread disaffection with capitalism

I could have edited, quoted from or re-written this article but I thought it was worth posting in its entirety.

WSWS By Julie Hyland

12 November 2009

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/bbcc-n12.shtml

     A global poll by the British Broadcasting Corporation’s World Service shows widespread disaffection with the capitalist free market, including a significant opposition to capitalism per se.

       Conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA, the poll interviewed more than 29,000 people in 27 countries, between June 19 and October 13, 2009. These were in the United States , Canada , Mexico , Brazil , Panama , Costa Rica , Chile , Australia , Japan , Indonesia , Philippines , India , Pakistan , China , Russia , Ukraine , Turkey , Poland , Czech Republic , Germany , France , Italy , the UK , Spain , Nigeria , Egypt and Kenya .

       The poll found that more than three in five respondents were opposed to free-market capitalism. Some 89 percent believed that capitalism was not working, with a majority of those questioned in 22 of the countries indicating strong support for government intervention to support greater regulation of business and the market, in favour of a more socially equitable division of wealth.

       Almost a quarter of respondents believed that capitalism should be replaced by a “different system.”

The BBC reported, “If there is one issue where a global consensus seems to emerge from the survey it is this: there are majorities almost everywhere wanting government to be more active in regulating business.”

In only two countries, the United States and Pakistan , did more than one in five people believe the current economic system was working. A majority in 22 of the 27 countries supported greater wealth edistribution—67 percent or an average of two out of three people. In 17 of these countries, a majority responded that they wanted greater regulation of big business. In 15 of these, especially in Russia , the Ukraine , Brazil , Indonesia and France , the majority were in favour of government being more active in owning or controlling major industries.

      Twenty-three percent believed capitalism was “fatally flawed.” An almost equal number of people questioned in France felt that capitalism had failed (43 percent), responding that its inadequacies could be resolved by greater regulation and reforms (47 percent). After France , the highest numbers supporting the replacement of capitalism were in Mexico (38 percent) and Brazil (35 percent). In the 12 countries highlighted on the BBC website, more than 10 percent in each nation supported this position. Those defending the present set-up were a minority in every instance.

      The survey threw up several statistical anomalies. German respondents recorded less support for the view that capitalism had failed than in the US for example. Nonetheless, the majority in each instance—almost 70 percent in the US and more than 80 percent in Germany —registered their disapproval with the status quo.

      Responses as to whether the dissolution of the Soviet Union was “a good thing” were less surprising, with the US, Canada, west and central Europe, and Australia showing a majority in favour (between 73 to 81 percent). In those countries that had felt more directly the impact of the USSR ’s dissolution in terms of their living standards, the loss of political and economic backing or where it was widely viewed as an alternative to capitalism, the trend was the reverse. Some 61 percent of Russians and 54 percent of Ukrainians felt it had a negative impact, as did the majority of those in Pakistan and Egypt . According to the BBC, “Almost seven in 10 Egyptians say the end of the Soviet Union was a bad thing and views are sharply divided in India , Kenya and Indonesia .”

      Overall, a narrow majority (54 percent) of 15 countries polled said the break-up of the USSR was positive, while 24 percent said they did not know.

      The poll was timed to coincide with celebrations marking 20 years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, which saw overturns of nationalised property relations across eastern Europe and the Soviet Union —presided over by the Stalinist bureaucracy, now become the nascent capitalist class, under Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.

       The BBC commented that in 1989 it had appeared that free-market capitalism had emerged triumphant from the Cold War. Now, however, GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller stated, “It appears that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 may not have been the crushing victory for free-market capitalism that it seemed at the time—particularly after the events of the last 12 months.” This is in reference to the economic crisis that is ruining entire economies and destroying living standards the world over.

      It was under these circumstances that leaders of the major powers gathered in Berlin on November 9 for a “Festival of Freedom” to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. But the efforts to revive popular enthusiasm for the overturns of the Stalinist regimes were marred by the fact that all over the world, the supposedly capitalist victor is itself in profound crisis.

     At the centre of this global capitalist breakdown is the United States . Having declared itself triumphant following the overturns in the USSR and Eastern Europe, the US is today economically bankrupt.

     In reality, as Leon Trotsky had warned, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its satellite states was the tragic and inevitable consequence of the reactionary role played by the Stalinist bureaucracy and its policy of building “socialism in one country.”

      As the World Socialist Web Site stated on November 9, “The contradictions between world economy and nation state—between the global character of production that has welded together millions of workers all over the globe in one socially unified process of production, and the division of the world into rival nation states—broke the back of the Stalinist regimes two decades ago. These contradictions, however, also lie behind the growing conflicts between imperialist powers, the escalating wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , the unceasing attacks on the social gains of the working class and the arrogance and greed of the financial elite.”

     Only last month, United Nations aid agencies reported that more than 1 billion people will have experienced undernourishment by the end of this year. An additional 100 million people have joined the ranks of the underfed—which now constitute one sixth of the global population—as a direct result of the global economic recession. Much of the rise is in the poorest regions of the world, such as Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

     Also in October, the World Bank reported on the devastating decline in living standards that has occurred in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe . Predicting a 5.6 percent fall in economic growth for “emerging Europe and Central Asia ” this year, it reported that unemployment now stands at 11.4 million in the region. One third of the population in the region lives in poverty.

    In western Europe, the backdrop for capitalist triumphalism, the situation is no better. The European Union has warned that the public deficit amongst its member states could rise to 100 percent of gross domestic product by 2014 due to the global crisis. Urging “fiscal discipline,” it stated that five countries were particularly at risk of potential bankruptcy. This includes the UK , the world’s sixth largest economy and the third largest in Europe . Only last week, the British government announced the world’s biggest bailout for a single bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, taking the total of public funds handed over to the banks in aid and stimulus packages to some £1 trillion.

      In the US itself, the election of Barack Obama has seen no let-up in the right-wing, big business policies of its Bush predecessor. Some $700 billion has been given to the banks, with an additional $23.7 trillion made available in loans, subsidies and other guarantees to the financial parasites on Wall Street. The price of this subvention to the super-rich is being extracted from the American working class, as seen in the forced bankruptcy and wage cutting in the auto industry, and the continuing wars of aggression in Iraq , Afghanistan and increasingly Pakistan .

     The BBC poll underscores that the realities of daily life faced by workers across the globe are making their impact on social consciousness. Whatever the facile pronouncements of the powers-that-be, capitalism is being discredited by its own actions. At the same time, the leftward sentiment identified in the BBC poll has no outlet within official political channels. Significantly, the poll received barely any coverage in the mainstream media.

    It should be noted that the poll results reflect the start of a process that portends even greater political shocks and upheavals. In the coming period, the turn to an alternative to the capitalist system—the socialist reorganisation of society so as to satisfy social needs, not private profit—will become a conscious political orientation among masses of people.

Work like you don't need money
Love like you've never been hurt
and dance like no-one's watching

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THE MEDIA.

       Though I always scream about the media being the propaganda organ of the state, I sometimes wonder at who does the layout. Quite often you find headlines running one after the other that must raise the ire of the readers or at least must make them think. For example recently there were two headlines one following the other in one of our national papers. The first headline trumpeted, “Unemployment up again.” followed by, “Energy companies say that prices will have to rise.” So not only do you worry about losing your job, but you’ll have to pay more to cook and stay warm. This is not confined to any one paper, they are all at it. The following day in a free paper on the one page, “’Fragile’ economy set to grow faster than forecast.” and facing that, “We could see record home repossessions, says minister.” This is the type of society we have allowed to grow under our noses. It is all subterfuge, smoke and mirrors. The first contrasting headlines are really to instil fear in the ordinary people, hold on to your job at all costs as there will be lots looking for your job and it will be very tough if you get dumped. The other set of headlines is just a little bit of double speak, and can be explained as, recovering economy really means the financial centre is making lots of money again, but you are still up shit creek.

      As the media and all the politicians babble on about recession and recovery, as far as the ordinary people are concerned it has always been much the same. The vast majority have always had to struggle to bring up their families and try to improve their standard of living. In the so called “BOOM” times most ordinary people were just getting by while the “entrepreneurs” were doing very well thank you, and that is how they measure things. In a recession, the ordinary people really hurt and live with the fear of unemployment and deprivation, while the big money mob, weep and sweat because their millions have shrunk a little and there is less opportunities to use their money to screw the workers.

     Why don’t we get wise and dump the bunch of parasites that we carry on our backs, the greed brigade that gamble and speculate with our lives, all in the quest for more money. The profit motive that is only there to feed a bunch of sweaty palmed shareholders who put their profit before the well being of the people. We have the resources and the ability to create a society that is based on the needs of all its people, a society that is both sustainable and fair and also frees all our people from the fear of deprivation. It is just the will that is missing.

 

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CHANGE!

     Most of those with any insight into the political world we live in, would like me, have viewed the euphoria that surrounded Obama’s election as President, with disdain and disbelief. We would have wondered how can the people be so duped. His trumpet call of “Time for change” made us weep and fear for the future. Well, there has been some change, more funding for war.

     On Wednesday 4th November Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, (US), Admiral Mullen stated that the Pentagon would be seeking additional war funds for the Iraq/Afghanistan wars for coming year 2010. Though he didn’t state an amount, some analysts are quoting $50 billion. However the New York Times stated that on October 30th Jack Murtha, Chair of the Defence Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee said he expected supplemental spending 2010 to be around $40 billion.

    This of course would add to Obama’s glories the dubious honour of rubber stamping the most expensive year for war funding since Bush’s much trumpeted “Global War on Terror” though I believe Obama has now given it the much more civilised title of “Overseas Contingency Operations”, now that’s real change capitalist style.

 

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TIME TO RAGE?

     As we look around at a world where poverty is endemic, war is pusued for wealth and power under the guise of protecting "us", the wealthy swan around floating on a sea of deprivation and death darkens every sunset, what do we do? We have created a system where the many struggle to heap privilege on a bunch of parasites and we talk to the parasites asking them to give us a few more crumbs. Isn't it time to change the way we address this world, isn't time to rage and as an old Korean saying goes, "Enjoy the ecstacy of your righteous anger? It is sometimes easier to say in a few verses of poetry what might take a few pages to otherwise say.

TIME TO RAGE.

Time to rage, like a river running wild.

Time to rise, to save the child.

Time to rage, like a mountain flood.

Time to rise, to stop the blood.

Time to rage, with righteous anger.

Time to rise, to point the finger.

Famine, misery, sickness, death,

stretch across these pleasant lands;

war, greed, hunger, blood,

sour the lovely desert sands,

charity, chat, quiet dismay

is not enough,

prayers, thoughts, what M.P.s say

is useless stuff.

Time to rage, like a river running wild.

Time to rise, to save the child.

Time to rage, like a mountain flood.

Time to rise, to stop the blood.

Time to rage, with righteous anger.

Time to rise, to point the finger.

 

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LOST and/or STOLEN??

       From our ever looking, ever listening City Strolls comes this request, and it is one that I feel that all of our country should get involved in. The theft has been going on for years and like a card sharp in a dodgy casino, the Glasgow council shuffles this and that from the common good to the private sector. It is our assets and the corporate world wants it, all of it and the council sleep in their bed.

Questions that need to be asked;
Who has all our public artifacts?
Property for sale, whose propery is it?
Where do all the profits from the Common Goods go?
Who decides our land should be sold or what its use should be?

WANTED

Common goods detectives

The Family Silver of Scotland Scandal.

£1.8 billion or more of land and assets belonging to the public has

been lost due to centuries of mismanagement and corruption.

Campaigners claim this land and assets are being misappropriated

 or even stolen.

Treasure hunt

Where is our Common Good?

The Common Good is all around you ­ see if you can find some.

Send us  pictures. Ask us questions. What about your local library,

your park. Who do you think owns all the pictures and treasures

 in the art galleries?  Lets learn to find and recognise our

 public common good ­ take public ownership of it.

 Because if we don’t someone else will and we will

 never see it again.

www.bridgeweb.info

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FORTRESS EUROPE.

     As the rich countries of the world rip off the continent of Africa and the people of that continent descend into a life of continuous hell through famine, war, and total deprivation, there is that steady stream of brave individuals who try to make the journey to what they believe will be a better life in Europe. Of course Europe wants the riches of Africa and some of its cheap labour but it also wants to pick and choose who it lets across its borders, and is not too bother what happens to those not chosen. As the powers that be in Europe tighten their borders in an attempt to hold on to their privileged position of power and wealth, the deaths of thousands of migrants is the result. The list below is just the tip of the iceberg a more detailed account can be found  here.

     We have a responsibility to all migrants, they live at the harsher end of the same system as we do and are doing what we are trying to do, survive in this harsh and unjust and exploitive system. These figures reinforce the proof that the state is the enemy and all borders are an injustice.

27/10/09 Greece Boat sinks off Lesvos island. Three women and 5 children – all Afghans - were reported to be drowned AP

26/10/09 Italy 300 Eritreans and Somalis landed in Sicily after 5 days in the stormy sea. One man found dead on board Repubblica

07/10/09 Italy Migrants arrival in Gela, Sicily. Three bodies were recovered from the sea. Three other people were reported to be missing Ansa

23/09/09 Egypt Egyptian police shot dead one Eritrean trying to cross into Israel Reuters

19/09/09 Morocco Shipwreck off the island of Perejil. 8 bodies recovered, other 21 people were reported to be missing Reuters

16/09/09 Egypt Egyptian police shot dead two Eritrean refugees trying to cross into Israel Reuters

09/09/09 Egypt Egyptian police shot dead 4 African migrants as they tried to slip across the Sinai desert border into Israel. Here, at least 12 African migrants have been killed since May 2009 Reuters

01/09/09 Egypt Egyptian police shot and killed an African migrant near the border with Israel and seriously wounded an 18 years old women Reuters

31/08/09 Spain Boat landed in Canary island, in Granadilla (Tenerife), one dead onboard El Pais

29/08/09 Malta Body found off Bizzerbugia. It could be one of the passengers of the boat rescued two days before in the same area Ansa

27/08/09 Malta Migrants boat rescued off Malta, the body of a dead man was found in the sea during the operations Ansa

22/08/09 Italy The lifeless body of a man was found off Linosa, 24 miles on the north of Lampedusa Repubblica

20/08/09 Italia Five Eritreans rescued 12 miles south off Lampedusa claimed 75 passengers of the same boat have died during the 20 days spent going adrift in the Mediterranean, between Libyan and Italian shores. Their bodies were thrown in the sea by the survivors. Malta's authorities found 7 bodies in the open sea Ansa

20/08/09 Italy A man hidden under a truck just disembarked in the port of Brindisi, fall on the road and died immediately Ansa

09/08/09 Libya Libyan police killed at least 6 Somali refugees after a fight against a group of refugees who tried to escape from the detention camp of Ganfuda, near Benghazi. Other sources reported the victims would be 20 Fortress Europe

13/08/09 Greece Two bodies were recovered from the sea off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Kos while another three people were reported to be missing Kathimerini

11/08/09 Spain Body found near Cartagena, between Cabo de Agua and the island of Escombreras La Verdad

10/08/09 Italy A boat broke the engine three miles off the island of Pantelleria. Four of the nine passengers try to cover the distance by swimming. One of them is reported to be missing Ansa

07/08/09 Greece Body found at Igoumenitsa port. He sneaked onto a truck believing it was about to board a ferry for Italy and he died after he jumped off when it appears that the truck was headed for mainland Greece Kathimerini

06/08/09 Algeria A migrant died after an Algerian coast guard vessel collided with a boat carrying migrants to Sardinia El Watan

31/07/09 Egypt Egypt police kill African migrant at Israel border. At least seven African migrants have been killed at the border since mid-May Reuters

27/07/09 Greece The Kurd refugee from Iraq Arivan Abdullah Osman who had been severly injured on the 3rd of April at Igoumenitsa port by Port police, while trying to reach Italy, died today at Thessaloniki hospital Reuters

27/07/09 Spain Parts of a body in advanced state of decomposition were found along La Fontanilla de Marbella beach, where one week before a dead body was recovered Sur

24/07/09 Spain One man is reported to be missing after he fell in the water during a rescue operation in front of Manilva coast, close to Malaga Sur

23/07/09 Turkey Three people killed in a road accident of a truck smuggling migrants near Kulp, in Diyarbakır province France Presse

22/07/09 Spain A dead body was recovered on the beach of La Fontanilla de Marbella Sur

17/07/09 Spain Lifeless body found in Cadiz sea, in front of Barbate. It could be the tenth victim of the shipwreck of June 29 Sur

15/07/09 Spain A third passenger of the migrants boat landed in Canary have died in the hospital of El Hierro Diario de Navarra

15/07/09 Spain Migrants boat landed in the Canary island of El Hierro. One dead on board. A second man died soon after his hospitalization Diario de Navarra

03/07/09 Egitto Egyptian police shot dead two Somali migrants on Thursday who tried to slip across the Sinai desert border into Israel Reuters

30/06/09 Spain 8 people were drowned, including 2 women, after a boat capsized in front of the coast of Barbate, near Cadiz El Mundo

28/06/09 Egypt Egyptian police shot dead an African migrant and wounded two others, including a 15-year-old, at the Israeli border Reuters

24/06/09 Egypt Egyptian police shot dead a migrant at the Israel border in the Sinai desert. The victim, thought to be in his 20s, was the third killed since mid-May Reuters

23/06/09 Italy Amir Rohol, a 19 years old Afghan, died after having fallen from a truck disembarked in the port of Ancona Ansa

17/06/09 Spain Migrants boat rescued off Murcia. A man is dead and a second one is reported to be missing Ansa

04/06/09 Spain At least 18 people reported to be missing after their boat capsized 18 km from Tarifa (Cádiz) El Pais

03/06/09 Spain A cargo ship intercepted the corpse of a drowned migrant off Cabo de Gata, in Andalucia La Verdad de Murcia

02/06/09 Egypt Egyptian police killed an African migrant near Israel border along the Sinai. A second one was shot in the back and is in critical conditions Reuters

22/05/09 Italy The lifeless body of a migrant was found in the sea near the island of Cavoli, along the south eastern coast of Sardinia Ansa

02/05/09 Italy One of the 140 migrants rescued two weeks before by the Turkish Pinar cargo ship, died at the hospital of Caltanisseta for meningitis Ansa

30/04/09 Spain One of the passenger of a boat intercepted the day before 14 miles from Tarifa (Cádiz), died in the hospital of Isla de las Palomas El Mundo

23/04/09 Spain Two dead bodies were found in the Strait of Gibraltar by the Spanish Coast Guard Diario de Navarra

20/04/09 Spain One man drowned during the rescue operations of a boat departed from Senegal and directed to Canary islands, 27 miles off Nouadhibou El Dia

16/04/09 Italy 140 migrants rescued off Lampedusa by the Turkish Pinar cargo ship. During the operations, one 18 years old pregnant woman drowned Repubblica

08/04/09 Italy Migrants boat rescued by the Italian fishing boat Cesare Rustico, capsized. 3 people missing Ansa

05/04/09 France The dead body of a migrant was found in the Channel’s tunnel, died after he felt from the train under which he was travelling hidden towards England Le Monde

03/04/09 Italy Two bodies found on a migrants’ boat intercepted 60 miles south of Lampedusa Apcom

29/03/09 Italy An Iraqi was found dead in the port of Ancona, inside a Greek ferry coming from Patras, where he was embarked hidden under a truck Ansa

29/03/09 Libya Migrants boat sank off Said Biilal Janzur, a suburb of Tripoli, from where it had left three hours before. 20 bodies were recovered, while 210 people were reported to be missing Ansa

27/03/09 Spain According to the ngo Asociación Pro-Derechos Humanos de Andalucía, at least 581 migrants have died in 2008 trying to reach Spain: 239 off the Canary islands and 342 in the Mediterranean Apdha

26/03/09 Italy A migrant was found dead in the port of Venice, hidden inside a truck emarked on the Hellenic Master ferry, coming from Greece Gazzettino

26/03/09 Algeria According to the Nigeria’s Ambassador to Algeria, 14 people died in the desert after they got lost, ran out of fuel and water Nigerian Tribune

22/03/09 Spain Two people were reported to be missing after they fell in the sea during a rescue operation Publico

20/03/09 Tunisia A shipwreck on the way to Lampedusa happened off Sfax, near the Kerkennah island. 17 bodies were recovered while around 50 remained missing Ansa

18/03/09 Spain The lifeless body of a drowned migrant was found on La Línea de la Concepción seaside Sur

07/03/09 Spain A migrant was deadly injured trying to overcome the Ceuta border fence Abc

25/02/09 France A baby died few days after his birth near Dunkerque. His parents, Kurdish from Iraw, where traveling towards England and sleeping at the open air, in some barracks near the A 16 hiway Nord Littoral

23/02/09 Algeria According to official figures, the Algerian authorities have recovered from the sea the dead bodies of 261 emigrants since 2005. In particular: 98 in 2008, 61 in 2007, 73 in 2006 and 29 in 2005 Info Soir

21/02/09 Spain One dead body found on a boat carrying 35 migrants, intercepted 18 miles off Motril, near Granada La Razón

16/02/09 Spain 25 drowned and one reported to be missing after a boat capsized 20 metres from the coast of Lanzarote island, in the Canaries. Among the victims there are 4 babies, 4 children 8 to 11 years old, and two women, one of which was 8 months pregnant Abc

02/02/09 Spain Boat intercepted south of Gran Canaria island: 3 dead men on board El Pais

29/01/09 Tunisia 8 migrants were reported to be missing after their boat capsized off Hammam-Lif, 15 km south of Tunis Ansa

29/01/09 Turkey The bodies of 5 have been washed up on the coast of southwest Turkey town of Bodrum Kathimerini

25/01/09 Algeria 12 men are reported to be missing at sea, since they left, on January 2, from the coast of Arzew heading for Spain Quotidien d’Oran

21/01/09 Italy 53 migrants arrived to Lampedusa. One dead among them Adnkronos

19/01/09 Tunisia 26 people were reported to be missing after their boat capsized off La Marsa, near Tunis, trying to reach Italy Repubblica

15/01/09 Algeria 4 men are reported to be missing after their boat sank off Gdyel, near Oran Quotidien d’Oran

13/01/09 Greece The bodies of 2 migrants were discovered on the island of Leipsoi close to a half-sunken plastic rowboat Ansa

13/01/09 Greece An 18-month-old baby drowned off the island of Syros yesterday when a boat carrying 19 migrants capsized Kathimerini

10/01/09 Senegal A canoe capsized off Dakar and 4 women drowned Iht

08/01/09 Spain A boat of migrants landed in the island of Alboran, in Andalucia, one dead were found on board El Mundo

01/01/09 Morocco Migrant shot dead by the Moroccan police when trying to cross the border fence in the Spanish enclave of Melilla. He died after his hospitalization in El Hassani hospital, in Nador

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MILITARY FAMILIES.

    If you have family connections with the military or know anyone who does and is against the war in Afghanistan, please contact the Stop the War office. More and more military families are getting in touch. As Michael Clarke, Director of the Royal United Services Institute is quoted as saying in Today's Guardian 'The cynicism that eventually corroded the morale of US forces in Vietnam is a spectre that is beginning to haunt the whole Afghanistan enterprise'.

Contact; office@stopwar.org.uk

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The paperless workers at ISS fight for their papers.

        I just received this from a comrade and feel that it should be given as great a distribution and support as possible. Perhaps other workers could learn from their tactics, more occupations and then negotiate from strength, less walking out and allowing scabs to walk in 

CNT France : international@cnt-f.org

Hi comrades

More than 2000 paperlesses workers for the cleaning firm have gone on strike; occupying 30 sites in the Ile-de-France region. they are doing so with the support of unions and other groups who have joined with them to denounce the exploitation of undocumented workers and the arbitrary way in which their cases are heard by local prefectures. After having occupied the Cité des sciences in Paris on Sunday 18th October the workers then took over the headquarters of the company in Paris' 12th district (3 rue des meuniers) ISS is a cleaning sub-contractor and one of the leading 'multiservice' companies and has already seen it's offices occupied earlier this month. The company has never respected agreements and has fired undocumented workers after having exploited them for years. undocumented workers are found in great numbers and are indispensable in many sectors such as construction, public works, cleaning, securitty, catering, care work, agriculture, baking, etc. The majority pay their taxes and welfare contributions to health, retirement and unemployment funds. they don't take jobs away from anyone else and they are often forced to work in terrible conditions due to their legal status. Papers for all paperlesses workers, it's good for everybody!

CNT Cleaning union.

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CROOKS AND LIARS.

       With the Glasgow North East by-election, (my home patch) due to take place next week, and a mountain of paper garbage pouring through my letter box and the unusual vistors at my door, I thought that this little piece that I posted in the Radical Glasgow web site prior to a previous election was still valid. It seems that some things never change.

       In today’s society we have lots of strange and bewildering events, festivals etc.. One of the most bizarre festivals is the “Festival of Crooks and Liars”, this comes round every four or five years and usually goes under the odd name of “elections.” This festival starts with the groups and/or individuals wishing to participate in the “Festival of Crooks and Liars” breaking into outbursts of incoherent verbal diarrhoea. These verbal outbursts tend to get loud, more ridiculous and more persistent as the festival date looms ever closer. The event culminates in a mad frenzy of the contestants running around the country trying to prove that they are indeed the biggest crook and the best liar in the land.

        The aim of the “Festival of Crook and Liars” seems to be for the contenders to make every attempt to out do the other contenders in verbal rubbish, hyperbole and deceit. This part is foolish enough, but the part played by the public is much more of a mystery. It would seem that some members of the public believe that if they take part in this trip of insanity and actually vote for one or other of the contestants in the “Festival of Crooks and Liars” this will in some way end poverty and bring peace and stability to their lives. What is more strange is the fact that those who take part in the voting ritual of this festival have been doing so for many years and have seen the results each time to be that the “Crooks and Liars” do very well, but they themselves remain, relatively poor and insecure and their environment keeps going down hill, yet they persist in participating believing that somehow the next bunch of “Crook and Liars” will not actually be crooks and liars.

       Perhaps those “voters” should start to organise among themselves to take control of their own lives and communities and try to shape them the way that they would like in co-operation with others and leave the ridiculous show of insanity that is the “Festival of Crooks and Liars” for what it is, a dangerous illusion, a disempowerment that allows our wealth to be siphoned upwards.

 

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