GLASGOW'S COMMON GOOD FUND.

       Something every citizen in the country can get involved in, though this article is Glasgow specific, but other towns and cities across the country have similar groups of concerned citizens interested in preserving those Common Goods for what they were intend, the benefit of the those citizens. You have an obligation to your children and grandchildren to get involved.

It's oor stuff!!!

What is the Common Good Fund?

        Since Robert the Bruce through the Victorian era to Sir William Burrell, benefactors have bequeathed property and valuables to the people of Glasgow under a uniquely Scottish legal provision. The city council and its predecessors hold this in trust for citizens as Common Good assets. Or do they?

        The land and buildings from this fund should provide an income for the benefit of the community. In the 19th century Glasgow Corporation wisely invested the income in building Glasgow Tramways, later Glasgow Corporation Transport. The dividends meant that money flowed back to the Common Good Fund (CGF) to be used for community benefit. In other areas of Scotland citizens can still apply for money for community projects. But, not in Glasgow. Why?

       The fund which was valued at £9.9 million in 1921, equal to £350 million in today's money - stands now at £13.5 million. A lot of land and buildings which earned money for the Fund have  "disappeared". Examples are, Kelvin hall, Glasgow green, Peoples' palace plus other less distinguished but valuable property. The Council was instructed by the Scottish Executive in 2007 to compile an up-to-date register but refuses to do so claiming it will cost £4 million. Meanwhile there is some evidence that CGF assets have been sold illegally and the money diverted to Council coffers for the wrong purpose. Audit Scotland, the watchdog, seems unwilling to enforce Holyrood's edict. Pollok Park was restored to the CGF two years ago only after individual citizens objected. What can we do?

The Citizen Archivist Programme

      With the co-operation of Glasgow Archives, the Citizen Archivist programme will help address the problem of an inaccurate CG register by offering volunteer assistance to Glasgow City Council to correct the errors and affording legal protection to the assets.

Citizen Archivists will learn:

* How to use freedom of information legislation to list potential CG Assets in your area

* Practical advice on how to use archive material to establish the common good status of land and buildings

* How to present your findings to the Council to support a claim for restoration to the CG Register

     Holyrood estimates CG Assets throughout Scotland could amount to £1 billion so it is essential that Scotland's largest city accounts properly for its share and that the income generated is used only for the direct benefit of Glasgow's citizens.

What's involved? How do I sign up?

Start listing.

     We will organise training sessions at the Mitchell library followed by further group meetings. The results will be recorded on our website which will also contain a blog of your experiences and successes .

Interested ? Go to our website www.glasgowbelongstome.org and join the mailing list.

If you have time this Friday 18th march, come to the Pearce Institute

Common Cood Cay <http://www.citystrolls.com/z-f-page/res-2011.htm>

Email: info@GlasgowBelongsToMe.org Contact: Bill Fraser Tel: 07775 832 461
 

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FRIEND = FOE = WAR,--- CAPITALISM!!!

       This year the 13/14 March marks the 70 anniversary of the Clydebank blitz. This massive air raid on Clydebank during those two days was one of the worst in Britain during the second world. The following information is taken from Tom McKendrick's Blitz story.

      " In total only 7 houses out of a stock of 12,000 remained undamaged. Approximately 4,000 destroyed, 4,500 severely damaged and 3,500 in the serious to minor damage category. In total 400+ high explosive bombs and mines fell in an area of less than two square miles, not including the 96 high explosive bombs that fell on the primary target...the oil tanks at Dalnottar to the north west of the town, or the 190 bombs that fell in the boundaries of the nearby villages of Duntocher, Hardgate, Bowling and Old Kilpatrick. 132 bombs fell in the Kilpatrick hills, aimed at decoy fires west of Cochno. 

        The greatest damage was caused by incendiaries. On the first night of the raid 1,630 containers of incendiary bombs (weighing between 70kg and 250kg) were dropped by the Luftwaffe, a total of 105,300 1kg bombs. On the second night 782 containers were dropped. According to German sources a total of 503 metric tons of high explosive bombs and 2,412 containers of incendiaries were dropped on Clydeside on the 13th and 14th March 1941. A total of 439 aircraft took part in the raids."

        When official figures were given as 500 dead, one commentator remark, “What street are they talking about”.

      

      The horror of those two days and its aftermath will be remembered in ceremonies in Clydebank and elsewhere, but the perpetrators will not be mentioned. It is not the done thing, as Germany is now our ally, and after all its less than we done to Dresden, Berlin and other cities in Germany. It's what states do to each other, It's what America done to Vietnam, what we in the “Coalition of the Willing” did to Iraq, and it's what we are doing in Afghanistan at the moment. Though the state may bomb a city, or a country, into oblivion it doesn't mean that we are enemies, no, it is a very temporary affair. They will soon be our ally and though somebody is our ally, it doesn't mean that the state will not turn round and bomb their cities. In the world of states and capitalism, friend and foe are very transient positions. The states find the reasons to start a war and the ordinary people are the ones that end up being killed in vast numbers and invariably, killed by ordinary people from another country, who probably have more in common with them than they have differences. What causes the transition from friend to foe and back again is the states hunger for power, resources and markets, it is all part and parcel of the profit driven capitalist system. Remember, war is good for business, there's bucks in bombs.

        Until we get rid of the state system and capitalism we will have wars and with modern day weaponry, what Clydebank suffered in two days can be delivered in minutes. Remember “Shock and Awe”.

A POINTLESS CIRCLE.

War it seems, never has an end

even when he who was our foe is now our friend,

once again, we to war a marching go,

for he who was our friend, is now our foe.

 

 

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BULLIES ALWAYS TARGET THE VULNERABLE.

Posted by Wee Sniffer.

         No not the street corner bullies this time but the COSLA/Scottish Government proposals to further decimate conditions of service for those working in Education.

Sick pay reduced to 90% for 6 months and 45% thereafter.

Supply Teachers to be paid on Scale Point 1.

Maternity leave slashed.

Probationer Induction scheme to support new teachers abolished.

Two year pay freeze.

WE NEED TEACHERS.

         A total of £81 million ripped from the most vulnerable education workers creates a two tier workforce encouraging greater casualisation, undermining children’s opportunities.

          These proposals must not be the only thing we reject. Give Swinney at Holyrood , Watters at COSLA and the rest their 90 days redundancy notice! They are in breech of contract eroding schooling conditions where even more children will fail to thrive. Why use energy fire fighting when we can make the sources take the hit for these inhumane proposals that centre on the weakest without a voice. We need to identify these proposals as red herrings and redirect this REJECT campaign to a DESELECT campaign. Give them their P45 at the soonest possible opportunity, loud and clear.

SOLIDARITY.

We know that cuts like these to support Bank Bailouts create cycles of debt further lining the pockets of those same Bankers. Its charades, these proposals are ideological, they are about changing the system for good, not just robbing Peter to pay Paul. Reject these COSLA/Scottish Government proposals but industrial action must target the bullies who are sticking the boot in, in the first place, here and in Westminster.

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PARTY OR CON????

Was it one big billionaires' party, or was it the greatest con in history? Which ever, it's the ordinary people that are being asked to pick up the tab by means of savage cuts in all social services and high unemployment. What's more, we are expected to do it without so much as a whimper. Are you going to oblige???



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COMMUNITY RESISTANCE - NOW.

       It is hoped that such meetings will be taking place in all the districts of Glasgow, now is the time to start to organise your community to defend it against the most drastic cuts ever experienced in this country. Your community will be decimated, libraries will disappear, schools will close, nurseries will vanish, swimming pools, sports grounds, museums and more are all at risk. On top of that uneployment is set to rocket. Each community should be arranging meetings to organise resistance and linking up with all other communities in a joint federated defence of our standard of living. A civilised society is more than a house and a job with charity organisations to help those unemployed.

SOLIDARITY.

Maryhill: Community Resistance against the Cuts!

Maryhill Residents meeting
Saturday 12th March
12 noon-5pm
Shakespeare St Youth Centre, Maryhill
 http://tinyurl.com/65tzhbu

          The government is currently embarking on a programme of spending cuts unprecedented in modern history. With billions to be slashed from benefits, housing, social services and education – not to mention huge job losses – the effect on communities across Scotland will be devastating. This meeting has been called to start asking how we can best organise to defend our local community against the cuts – to save our schools, community centres, jobs, benefits and council services.

Speakers:
- Margaret Bean (Unison, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde )
- John Cooper (Castlemilk Claimants)
- Jack Ferguson (Glasgow University Occupation)
- Alison Kelly & Nikki Rathmill (Wyndford & St. Gregory's School Occupations)
Hosted and facilitated by Maryhill SSP, the Burgh Angel and The Right to the City forum.

PLEASE PLEASE SPREAD THIS INFORMATION AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE.

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RICH SCROUNGERS, EVERY ONE OF THEM.

        The Disability Living Allowance claimants who are having to go through the process of re-assessment are having to face a much flawed system. As far as I am aware, Atos the company responsible for the assessments, does not require staff to have any training in or understanding of mental illness. And as anybody who has any knowledge of mental illness is aware, the condition can vary considerably from day to day. So it is difficult to understand how a one of, one day visit can adequately assess someone as fit for work. Of course the very fact that you are facing a short one of meeting that could affect the rest of your life, only adds stress and can aggravate the condition. There are lots of people on Disability Living Allowance who have physical conditions that fluctuate wildly from one day feeling not too bad, to other days when they are completely incapacitated. How does a short meeting assess this accurately? The Guardian has an excellent article on this subject HERE.

          The whole philosophy behind this unfair, stressful re-assessment system is based on an ideology that all those on benefit are scroungers, and the self righteous pampered millionaire parasites, that is our government, is intent on weeding them out. Who are the scroungers? Those pampered millionaires who have grown up in a cloistered world of unearned wealth and excess, or those on benefit struggling day to day to make ends meet? I have no doubt that a few do work the system and get a meagre living out of it, but the vast majority by far are legitimate claims and those on benefits do not lead a life of luxury, they struggle from day to day. Compare this with the abuse of the system by the over paid MPs with their expenses fiddles, those massive fat bonuses paid to grossly over paid bankers, the abuse of the system by the tax dodging corporations, and the millionaires with their wealth tucked away in some tax haven while prancing about in this country giving advice to their millionaire friends in government.

        This attack on those on benefit is an attack on the working class and they should not have to face it alone. On benefit or not, we have to stand side by side with those who are on benefits. These benefit cuts are only one aspect of a general attack on our class by the pampered parasite class. Deficit my arse, it is all about privatising everything and grabbing public assets into private hands.

 

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BONUSES FOR PARASITES OR JUSTICE FOR ALL???

        

         With the boss of Barclay's, Bob Diamond, being burdened with a £6.5 million bonus, heaped on top of his more than ample salary, while the rest of us face savage cuts to our standard of living, we should be seeing more of this sort of thing. Why does the British public accept the injustice of this system? Those responsible for the financial mess are rewarded with bonuses in the millions while the sick, the vulnerable and the poor are having their benefits cut. The ordinary people are seeing services cut, libraries disappearing, schools closing, unemployment rising as well as fuel and food prices rising at an alarming rate. Meanwhile the culpable parasites still suck the system dry and are protected by their millionaire friends in government. There is an alternative but the rich and powerful don't want you to think about that, just knuckle under and accept the "austerity cuts" leave the wealth and power to the pampered parasites. The choice is ours, take what they throw at you, or fight back for a better system based on mutual aid, justice and sustainability. A system that sees to the needs of all those in that society, not to the pampered profit drive few.

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MORE ON BENEFIT CUTS.

       
       For all those on benefit these are very worrying times as our millionaire public school thugs set about cutting and hacking at any form of social benefits. People on Disability Living Allowance are probably among the most vulnerable of those being targeted. Apart from living with their respective health problems, they now have to go through a worrying and stressful process of re-assessment, a process that is no more than an attempt to get them off benefit, saving the government money, irrespective of the effect on the individual concerned.

        Those on benefit and facing cuts should not have to fight this alone, it is important that they are furnished with as much information and support as possible. It is important that they are aware of their rights in all situations. There is a website set up for that very purpose, where you will find a wealth of information on all aspects of benefits and the intended cuts, and how to handle re-assessments. You can find it HERE.

 Solidarity.

      Please spread the word of the help that is available, come together in support, nobody should be alone in these circumstances, unity is strength.

      Everything you need to know on the benefit cuts situation ; http://antibenefitcutsglasgow.wordpress.com/

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A WORLD OF MUSIC.

       Today more than ever, it is important that we use every means at our disposal to raise people's awareness of the political situation in today's society and the struggle that will be required to hold on to, let alone improve, our living conditions. Activists trying to get people involved in these struggles will use leaflets, meetings and free papers in that attempt. However one medium that I believe is not used to its full potential is music. Songs can tell a story, inspire, inform and unite, participation in music can can, by inclusion, empower. We need those rousing choruses, we need to remember our past, and there is no better way to see to those needs than by the song.

      A website dedicated to the political song and with the aim of empowering people is, Giving Voice Workshops and with the following statement, it is certainly worth a visit. “This mission is achieved by providing a wide range of workshops delivered to diverse groups across the life long learning spectrum, as well as facilitating access to a large collection of relevant resources, and consultancy and support for researchers and the media. The work of Giving Voice Workshops is inspired by a belief in participatory learning, empowerment through inclusion, and an ethos of social justice for all.”

       I'm sure you will be encouraged and enriched if you delve in and participate.

 

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ANTI-BENEFIT CUTS LEAFLETING.

It isnae' fair, let's dae sumthin!

ANTI-BENEFIT CUTS LEAFLETING
GLASGOW
THURSDAY 10TH MARCH     1.30-2.30PM

ATOS HEALTH CARE
CORUNNA HOUSE
29 CADOGAN STREET
GLASGOW
G2 7AB

Followed at 3pm by:
       Group organising meeting including a go round of problems with benefits, services etc, other ways of promoting the public meeting and discouraging medical professionals from working for ATOS.

The Free Hetherington
The Glasgow University Occupation
13 University Gardens
Just off University Avenue,
Glasgow University Campus

http://freehetherington.wordpress.com/find-us/
 

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 2011.

“Women need not always keep their mouths shut and their wombs open.” Emma Goldman.

     

      March 8 is celebrated across the world as International Women's Day (IWD), a day when we can come together to honour women world wide. In 1910, the Second International held the first international women's conference in Copenhagen and an 'International Women's Day' was established. It was suggested by the German Socialist Clara Zetkin, although no date was specified. The first IWD was observed on March 19, 1911 in Germany.

       It is a day when we can pay homage to all those women who selflessly fought to improve the conditions of not just women, but all humankind. Women who struggled to improve working conditions, for justice, for peace, for unity of all ordinary people.

      Every country, every city, has its role of honour of such women, perhaps not publicly displayed but it will be there, in folklore, in song, in theatre and poem. Glasgow can be proud of its list of women who fought injustice where they saw it, some struggled away in obscurity, some in the limelight of publicity, all paid their part in improving our lives. Today more than ever we need our women heroes, we need the unity of all men and women to combat the savage onslaught against our living standards. Today more than ever people have to stand up and join hands in solidarity with all people's across the globe.

     Here are just a few of Glasgow's women from our recent past that are worthy of being honoured today.

Mary Barbour,   Ethel MacDonald,    Helen Crawfurd,    Agnes Dollan,    Jenny Patrick,  who would you add to this list, there are hundreds from which to choose. Where are our modern Mary Barbour's, where is today's Ethel MacDonald? Can you name them?

 

 
"It is not by changing ministers - such guilty men! - or issuing declarations that fascism will be conquered. The problem is more complex than that. We do not intend to add our voice to those who delude the workers that their 'leaders' will get them out of the mess. The problems need a complete transformation in the present attitude of the working class."  Marie Louise Berneri From; War Commentary, December 1940.

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TWO FACED LIARS AND ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE.

  

        How anyone can believe a word that comes out the mouth of the our big society millionaire Cameron, is always a surprise to little old me. When the Middle East protests started, he, like the rest of his political cabal, sat silent until he thought he saw the winners emerging, then loudly called for democracy in the Middle East. One of his recent statements, and I quote, “When Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, this party stood by those who wanted to reject Communism and embrace freedom, and today, this party stands by those reaching for that same freedom in the Arab world,--” So we should now hear from him an unequivocal condemnation of the brutal autocratic Saudi dictatorship, which has now banned all protests and demonstrations in their authoritarian Western petrol station. He has also been completely silent on the protests in Iraq, where the people have been protesting against government corruption, unemployment and dreadful conditions. But then again, that's a Western installed puppet government that does business with the West. Like all politicians, their support for democracy depends on how much our Western corporate world can make out of it. Dictators are fine if they're good for business, dictators are bad if they're bad for business. As for the people and their aspirations, well, quite frankly they don't give a shit.

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INTRODUCTION TO ANARKY, PAGE 4.

    With this, page 4, we continue with the wee booklet "Introduction to Anarky" by the teapot collective.

People with power don't want to give it up and the laws reflect that. But throughout history people have tried to do just that. to live freely. Sometimes on their own, sometimes in small groups, sometimes in great popular movements. From the peasants revolt to the Poll Tax people have come together in grass roots movements.

Brief History of Anarchy in Action.         History reflects the values of the people writing it, in the mainstream usually the ruling class. Looking at history with an anarchist perspective reveals something more interesting than the Kings and Queens we got bored by at school.
         "Has all this anarchy shit ever been tried at all?" you might ask. Actially about 99% of human existance has been shaped by tribal society, small collectives--- To be continued. It is a small book.

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WHERE TO PLACE YOUR BETS???

      

        For more than a month there have been large protests in a Middle Eastern country and there has been some brutal repression of those protesters taking place. The figures we are give is 16 killed and 130 wounded. The protesters are calling for greater democracy, an end to corruption and better services. The powers that be, are labelling the protesters as having links to Al-Qaeda, just as Gaddafi is saying about the Libyan protesters, The protesters claim no such link, and state that they are ordinary people wanting an end to their poverty, an end to mass unemployment, government corruption and are seeking better services in their communities.

     

        However, our two knights in shining armour for democracy, Obama and Cameron are not in this case, backing the protesters and calling for the leader to step down and accept the will of the people. They remain silent about the protests and offer no criticism of the leader and his coterie. The reason being that the protests are taking place in Iraq. This is the country that is meant to be the shining example of the West building democracy in the Arab world. We bombed the country back to the stone age and killed hundreds of thousands of its people, so that we could bring them democracy and Mr. Nuri al-Maliki is our man in the driving seat.

       

         It must be extremely difficult for this bunch of hypocrites to try to keep up with when to support their favourite dictator and when to dump him in favour of their favourite people's uprising. Dictators are embraced when it is good for business and we have access to their resources, but are dumped when it looks like being their friend will damage our business interests. In this corporate value structure, dictators and the people are expendable, the main criteria is profit for the corporate world. We in the West should be following our Arab friends and en masse be calling a halt to the corruption that festers throughout this type of society. Change may be sweeping through the Middle East but it will continue to be a corrupt system if it continues to do business with the corrupt and hypocritical West.

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FREE PAPER, GLASGOW.

       Every month or so, over the last 7 years or there abouts, ann arky has produced a free paper and handed it out on the streets of Glasgow. It is now available as a PDF HERE. At the moment only the most recent ones are available but I hope to get them all up for downloading if you're interested. Have a look and let me know what you think.

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ZEITGEIST ANARCHISM?

       The following is taken from the Zeitgeist Movement site, anarchists have been pointing in this direction since the birth of anarchism. I don't know much about The Zeitgeist Movement though I find myself in agreement with “most” of their aims. However the vision of the Venus Project looks a wee bit too much like Dubai. Where have the mountains gone and where is the lousy Scottish weather? Do we flatten the earth and control the weather to give us eternal sunshine?

An Introduction by Jacque Fresco, project director of the Venus Project.

          Imagine a world without war, poverty, misery or money. Imagine a world where all people work together in a spirit of cooperation and not competition. Imagine this safer saner world and you are closer to understanding what the Zeitgeist Movement is about.

      

      A close look at our present social systems which are built upon fundamentals which produce war, poverty, murder, crime, violence, compromised healthcare, media monopoly, corporate corruption and indifference for the environment, greed, apathetic self interest and desensitisation from others suffering, obsolete and archaic political systems based on subjective opinion (guesswork) and not on scientific and empirical certainty.

     

     Its abundantly clear that we need to adapt our thinking because it will definitely be to our collective detriment if we do not. If we carry on so carelessly and wastefully into future, our future generations will pay the price for our mistakes.

 

 

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