"TOTAL POLICING".

  

       With the millionaire ConDem's rapid dismantling of the very social fabric of our society crashing along unabated, it is obvious that there will be anger among the ordinary people. People who have been subservient, compliant and hard working as they tried to have a decent life will soon find, that is no longer possible. Anger will turn to action with circumstances forcing people to come together and organise for their mutual survival, the state however, to protect its authority, will do its damnedest to prevent that coming together. The policing will change, dissent will be stifled and protest will be criminalised. On that theme, the following article is lifted in full from that old war horse of the anarchist movement, FREEDOM, the longest running anarchist newspaper in the UK.

Taken from FREEDOM, vol. 72 December 2011.

The graphics are not FREEDOM's.

     When Oxbridge graduate Bernard Hogan-Howe began his new job as Metropolitan police commissioner in September, he brought with him a quaint PR phrase 'total policing' (that he himself coined when chief of Merseyside police) as a way of introducing himself into the new role as top cop. As a sound-bite it ticked all the right boxes for an insouciant media – enticing, unspecific, and unavoidably non-committal. But what in reality does a change at the top of the police pile mean for anarchists and activists especially during this period of economic disintegration and increasingly fractious social unrest, what can we expect in this new era of total policing?

     Already this year we have seen several examples of pro-active policing taking on a more sinister role – the kind of policing that goes beyond public order and preservation of the peace but designed to undermine political expression.

      When education activists did a banner drop at the Lib Dem party conference in September they were remanded for three days by West Midlands police as their “membership of an organisation showed that they could not be trusted not to cause danger to the public”. In Bristol there was a raid on The Automonist radical magazine where police seized phones, computers and paperwork looking for a connection to the August riots, and it was during the August riots that several people received long jail sentences for simply posting messages on Facebook encouraging participation in the unrest. There were also the pre-emptive arrests and raids on squats in the run up to the Royal wedding and of course the arrest of145 people for the Fortnum & Mason peaceful occupation on 26^th March.

       But perhaps the most pronounced indication that we are enterig a new era of political policing was the excessive and overt role of plain-clothes police during the November student demonstration in Central London.

      Despite the tightly regulated route of the march – each side street blocked by a small army of well defended barriers – gangs of plain-clothes police, acting independently of uniformed police, embedded themselves in the demonstration and sought to impose themselves upon the crowd, only revealing their identities when people grew hostile towards them. Whether this was to provoke a reaction or simply target individuals they wanted to arrest, the gang strategy highlighted a new and potentially dangerous example of things to come.

     This new approach to the management of political dissent and public protest will impose itself more and more as the crisis deepens, where the legitimacy of government is constantly questioned and the role of the state relentlessly challenged, where ordinary people, angry and disillusioned with the current state of things, become active political subjects.

      For the state to maintain its authority and control over an increasingly embittered population they must ensure not only a compliant protest culture but the continued separation between political activists and the rest of society. Policing now has taken on a form of dissuading us from expressing a common purpose. This is is the political policing of the future.

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WAR IS THE WAY OF CORPORATE CAPITALISM.

        David Cameron is probably feeling all flushed with success after bombing Libya back a couple of centuries, and is now looking around for another little ego trip. After all there is oil and gas to be got in Iran, can't let a little thing like human casualties to stand in the way of that. The West is in dire fanacial straits, but the expense of war will be far out weigh by all those lovely oil and gas assets to add to the coffers of the Western corporate Mafia.

This from Stop the War.

       The western powers seem to be doing everything possible to increase tension with Iran. Yesterday EU ministers imposed new sanctions on top of those agreed by Canada, the US and Britain last week. David Cameron promised yet another round in January, meanwhile he has expelled Iranian diplomats in response to protests at the British Embassy in Tehran, closing one of the last channels for negotiation.
      A British minister recently promised that further unspecified 'appropriate measures' will be taken against Iran. The recent IAEA report showed there is no conclusive evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, but this kind of western brinkmanship can only antagonise the Iranian regime.
      Stop the War is planning a national campaign against an attack on Iran in the next months. The campaign starts with a public rally in London on Monday.

Public Meeting: Don't Attack Iran
Mon 5 December, 7pm
Speakers include George Galloway, Tony Benn, Lindsey German and Abbas Edalat
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion sq, London WC1R 4RL

Please tweet and share widely: http://on.fb.me/sJqZKg
You can download a leaflet from: http://bit.ly/tYZkXL
Sign the petition here: http://bit.ly/rXkyFZ

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GLASGOW ANARCHIST FAIR.

Glasgow Anarchist Fair

Saturady 10th December

10am - 11pm

Kinning Park Complex.

Workshops: Introduction to Anarchism - Anarchist strategy in Community and Workplace - Ben Franks (author of'Rebel Alliances: The Means and Ends of Contemporary British Anarchism') on Anarchist Ethics - Libertarian Education - Racism - Scottish author D.D. Johnston reading from his new book, Peace, love and Petrol Bombs.

Stalls: Including Radical Independent Bookfair, Anarchist Federation,Solidarity Federation, GU Vegan Society, Glasgow Social Centre, Coal Action Scotland.

Social: In the evening, Films, Music, Chat.

Kid's Space: Please contact us as soon as possible to use the space.

glasgowanarchists.wordpress.com/fair

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WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY - ETHEL MACDONALD & SPAIN.

          In 1936 hundreds of people left Scotland to fight in Spain against fascism. But there is a name of a young scots woman anarchist that will always be linked to the Spanish Civil war, Ethel MacDonald.

Read a short version of Ethel MacDonald's life HERE.

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THE CURSE OF CAPITALISM.

     In Europe all the bankers and their yes men the politicians, are running around trying to find ways to save their billions. They keep coming up with grand plan after grand plan, only to find that it isn't working. Though they can hold their meetings in luxurious hotels and wine and dine their way through a multitude of exotic menus, the people at the receiving end of the grand plans are sinking fast.

    Under the present system of bankers corporate fascism, what has Europe got to offer the people? Country after country is seeing unemployment soar, some countries are at the moment away ahead of the others. At the forefront is Greece with youth unemployment almost at the 50% level, while total unemployment is at 18.3% and rising. Spain is in a similar position with total unemployment running at 22.8% and youth unemployment also approaching the 50% mark. Portugal and Ireland have approximately 30% youth unemployment, here in the UK it running at about 20%. All other countries in Europe have varying degrees of this malaise.

    This is the stark reality of conditions for the next generation of young people growing up in Europe, poverty and unemployment. These figures are an indictment against a system that can pour unbelievable wealth into the coffers of the few, while the vast majority struggle to keep their heads above water. A system that, to protect the unearned wealth of the few, is quite prepared to sacrifice country after country to a life of deprivation.

      Unemployment never comes alone, it has constant companions, the obvious is poverty, less noted but just as cruel is mental health problems, then there is the usual rise in suicides, violence, drug addiction and malnutrition. All this brings about the destruction of our social society, but only at our level. The millionaire class responsible for all this misery and destruction, go unscathed and will continue to take their yacht to the Med. fly to Dubai, and soak up the sun at St Moritz.

CRISIS!!  What crisis?

      As across the continent unemployment and poverty rises to scales not seen since the 30s and the 1% parasite class continue living in luxury on the backs of the ordinary people, it is surely obvious that the system doesn't work for the majority of the people. If the people want an end to this corrupt, unjust and exploitative system, they have to take control away from the financial parasites, remove the corrupt political class, (the parasites' managers) and organise society from the grassroots, creating a society that sees to the needs of all our people. A society based on mutual aid and sustainability, one that is free from the profit motive. Capitalism doesn't work.

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IN PURSUIT OF THE IMPOSSIBLE.

          Over the years I have written many pieces venting my hate of the mainstream media, I see it as dumbing down, sensationalising, and misrepresenting the world we live in, I see it as a tool of the establishment, an organ of the state propaganda machine. Part and parcel of that corrupt body, the media, is the weaver of illusions, the advertising industry, it attempts to shape the world to suit the the corporate greed machine. It uses and abuse everyone and anyone, creating illusions as reality, moulding our kids, into attempting to be the impossible. I like this video as in a clear and amusing manner, it highlights the corrupt and corrosive effect of the advertising industry, and how it insidiously destroys lives for profit.

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GLASGOW'S DAY OF ACTION.

       Glasgow's march and rally, Day of Action, today, November 30, was probably the largest protest march seen in the city since the demonstration against the Iraq war. It was large by anybody's standard. Chatting to people on the pavement as I gave out leaflets I was pleased by the welcome response I was receiving and the eagerness for a leaflet and information. On Glassford street as I handed a leaflet to a woman who was standing watching the march go past, she smiled and said, “That is the most beautiful thing I have seen in years, good on them.” That I believe is the most common response among the ordinary people of our city.

      The public are aware that they are being ripped-off by a bunch of wealth parasites, they are aware that the millionaire government are lying to them, they are aware that the politicians are in the pocket of the corrupt bankers, and they are pissed-off with the lot of them. Let's hope that the public in their anger, come together not just to protect pensions, not just to stop the cuts, but to change the system. Our living standards are heading to the Victorian era, our kids education is being decimated, our social services are being dismantled, our health service is being privatised, if we have to stop all of that we have to change the system.

      The system that this government willing presides over and eagerly pursues, is responsible for callous and cruel criminal acts. It is responsible for throwing well over 1 million of our young people on the dole, stifling their potential for a decent life, and destroying a multitude of dreams and hopes. Their system is responsible for another brutal crime, that of massively increasing child poverty in this country. Their attack on the ordinary people, is at all stages of their life, increase child poverty, massive youth unemployment, soaring adult unemployment, and decimation of pensions. Add to that the wage cuts/freezes, and destruction of social services, while the rich get richer and you see the extent of their attack on the ordinary people and you can only come to one conclusion, they see it as what it is, class war. Only when we see it as the same, and fight back to destroy their power and change the system, to one that sees to the needs of all our people, only then will we eliminate all the problems listed above.

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GOLDMAN SACHS, RULER OF EUROPE!!!

        I have often spouted about the financial coup in Europe. That illusion, our so called democracy, has been replaced by an unelected leader in two European countries, first Greece and then Italy, and in both cases the new "leaders" are referred to as technocrats. As far as Europe is concerned, Greece is a small fry economy, never the less, its elected government was removed because the Prime Minister had the audacity to suggest a referendum on the country's finances, Italy, on the other hand is a major player in the European economic league and it is significant that in the later case it is a Goldman Sachs man that has taken the reins. Goldman Sachs stand to go belly-up if the major countries in Europe default on their sovereign debt, So that can't be allowed to happen, the public will be screwed as every penny of public spending will be re-directed towards the national “deficit”, that must be paid or Goldman Sachs is no more, and with the power they wield over the political classes, they will make sure it is paid. Getting rid of the elected government when there is a risk of them not throwing the taxpayers money at the deficit fast enough, is just the natural step for them, we can expect more Goldman Sachs coups in Europe as the sovereign debt crisis deepens.

You don't need elections -- I'm a technocrat.

You'll find a more detailed explanation than my personal rant, HERE. A short extract follows.

The ascension of Mario Monti to the Italian prime ministership is remarkable for more reasons than it is possible to count. By replacing the scandal-surfing Silvio Berlusconi, Italy has dislodged the undislodgeable. By imposing rule by unelected technocrats, it has suspended the normal rules of democracy, and maybe democracy itself. And by putting a senior adviser at Goldman Sachs in charge of a Western nation, it has taken to new heights the political power of an investment bank that you might have thought was prohibitively politically toxic.

Continue reading

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SOME THOUGHTS FOR TOMORROW'S MARCH.

          Some little bits of information to remember when on the November 30^th. day of action, march and rally. The chancellor has give his autumn budget report this afternoon and it doesn't make nice reading if you are an ordinary member of the public. When this Oxbridge millionaire laid out his first plan to save the bankers from losing the money they had gambled, it was to be a short sharp kick up the backside of the general public. Two years of austerity cuts and then fantastic growth would propel us all into eternal prosperity. Now it seems that the austerity bit for you and I is to last much longer. Public sector workers, who have suffered a two year pay freeze are to be limited to a 1% pay increase for a further two years. That is a helluva drop in wages over a five year period, remember inflation is running at 5%. On top of that, the original estimate of the number of public sector pay-offs of 400,000 has been revised up to 710,000. That's a helluva lot of people being thrown on the dole. So we are supposed to be grateful to this bunch of millionaire public school thugs for wage cuts/freezes, youth unemployment of over 1 million, total unemployment to rise to 3 million+, social services decimated, National Health privatised, education shredded and fuel poverty. All this to save the bankers going bust after their biggest greed feast in financial history. None of the measures being put in place by this millionaire cabal, will in any way impact on their luxurious parasitical ways. They and their millionaire corporate friends are doing very well, thank you, and will do everything they can to protect their wealth and power, sadly that means screwing you the general public. Though that is not a problem to them.

These are hard times, you'll all have to tighten your belts.

        Dwell on these matters as you march and wave your banners tomorrow. We don't want the millionaire Mafia to be kinder to us and spare us the unemployment and gentler with the cuts. We want the parasites to be removed, the system to be destroyed and a fairer and more just system based on the needs of the people to be created in its place. What's more, we don't want their help to create that system, there are poison to any system of justice and fairness. We have the ability and the imagination to do it the only way it can be done, by ourselves, the ordinary people.

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REMEBER REMEMBER - DAY OF ACTION.

       

         Glasgow Trades Councill will be having a March & Rally on the Day of Action, REMEMBER, REMEMBER, the 30th November. Let's make it a Wednesday to remember,  let's put down a marker, we don't like the way this country is run and we intend to change that. The March will start in Shuttle Street (near High St Station) gathering at 12noon and moving off at 12.30pm.
The students’ meeting point will be the Royal Concert Hall steps at the top of Buchanan Street, at 11:30am, to meet the main demo thereafter.

        The main march route will then be, George Street, Cochrane Street, George Square (South), Hanover Street, Ingram Street, Glassford Street, Trongate and then finishing at Glasgow Barrowland.

Speakers will start at 1.15

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CHOMSKY ON AMAERICAN FOREIGN POLICY.

       The voice of reason from America, another interview with Noam Chomsky. Just settled down, listen, think, then act.

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TIME TO WITHDRAW THAT CONSENT!!!

        Isn’t about time we woke up to the fact that national governments are no more than the corporate world’s minders. Across the globe in country after country, the policies are the same, cuts in social spending and privatise everything. These policies are implemented no matter the shape or shade of the government, centre-left, centre-right, it makes no difference. As we look at these policies it is obvious that they don't function for the benefit of all in society, they do feed the corporate world with more avenues for profit, all part of the master plan of the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers). We now live in a corporate society where the corporations control everything, corporate fascism, and nothing will be done that might in any way hinder their progress to amass ever greater profits. Excellent conditions for the corporate world are a pool of cheap labour and low wages, they might not do you and I any good, but the corporate bosses are rubbing their hands at the thought, it is a bonus to the corporate world. You can lobby the millionaire cabal in the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption all you want about more jobs, and all that crap, but basically they don’t need you. The corporate world is not in the least patriotic, the Asian manufacturing is booming and the companies that are falling over themselves to join that bandwagon over there, are all familiar names to the Western workers over here. In the past the booming West sent its affluent workers as tourists to the East, now it is in reverse, the affluent Asians are visiting the poorer West. The corporate world doesn’t much care which way it goes, as I said before, they are not in the least patriotic.

        It is strange that the corporate world and anarchists should have anything in common, however, we both want an end to national borders. We anarchist want to see the end of the state and its borders so that we as people can co-operate and function freely in federation with all other people to our mutual benefit. The corporate world wants an end to national borders but only for capital, so that it can move freely around the globe exploiting any pool of cheap labour it can find, and all for the benefit of that little band of parasites, the shareholders.

        The reality is, we don’t need them, we make and distribute everything in this world, we can do so in a much more efficient, equitable, just and sustainable manner if we eliminated the parasites and got rid of their mantra, profit above all else. They on the other hand do need us, to continue to be exploited, so as they can hold onto their power and maintain their pampered parasitical existence. We are the 99% they are the 1%, we are governed by consent, we can and have the right, to withdraw that consent, isn't about time we exercised that right?

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HOW DO YOU COME TO OWN A COUNTRY???

          Why do we put up with a society that is so torn with unbelievable inequality? We have elderly dyeing from the cold because they can't afford to heat their home. While just along the road a bit, there are those dripping with jewels and finery clinking champagne glasses in jolly merry making. Take our Royal Family, while they bank millions from off-shore wind farms, our elderly are forced to choose between eating or heating. Why does the Royal family make all that money from off-shore wind farms? Well because the own the seabed and most of the coastline around our country. It is all part of the Crown Estates. How did they come to own all that land and sea? Well a guy who went by the name of William the Conqueror, decided that all of England belong to him, future monarchs thought it such a good idea they claimed the rest of the UK. The Crown Estates is now a multi-billion pound, money making empire and and 15% of all its profits go to the Royal family. There is no fear of them ever loosing out if profits fall, if by some weird and impossible event the Crown Estates didn't make any money the Royals would not need to apply for job seekers allowance, their income would be made up from a reserved fund.

         So, first you steal the land and then one of your off shoots, George 3, runs up huge debts, then offers the land back on condition that he and all his off spring, are kept in unbelievable splendour and extravagance for all eternity. Not a bad trick if you can get away with it, but don't try, they'd put you in the nick. Surely the land in any country belongs to the people of that country, not to a bunch of land grabbing parasites.

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THE STATE V MUTUAL AID??

         We have to accept that there is an attack on the living standards of the ordinary people, with social spending slashed communities will have their facilities plundered, it will be almost impossible to keep communities together. We have to look to new strategies that by-pass and short circuit the state apparatus and allow communities to offer social amenities to young and old alike. Empty buildings can be utilised and brought into use for the community. People can come together and by means of mutual aid and networking strengthen their community and allow their creativity to blossom. We don't need the state to provide, we have the imagination, resources and the strength to function outside the state apparatus. A brilliant idea, though not new in anarchist history, is the Bank of Ideas, in London. 

The Bank of Ideas is situated on Sun Street, Hackney in an abandoned office block purchased several years ago by the bank UBS. It is an enormous space complete with a 500-seater lecture hall.

It has been opened to the public for the non-monetary trade of ideas to help solve the pressing economic, social and environmental problems of our time.

There is also room for community groups, youth clubs, nurseries and other public services that have lost their space due to Government spending cuts.

Artists, performers and creatives are welcome to come entertain and to help transform the space. We also encourage games, workshops and skillshares on anything from yoga to yahtzee.

READ ON.

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POWERFUL LIARS.

This might be a bit out of date, but what the hell, it is still the truth.

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