HAS THE ARAB SPRING BLOSSOMED?

CAIRO.

This from The Anarchist International:

          We have all observed the emergence in Tunisia of a vast energy that spread to Egypt. In Tunisia as well as Egypt, unstable dictators were unseated. We distrust the people who helped push for these limited goals. Specific people and organizations (such as the April 6 Movement) persistently agitated and organized to implement technocratic capitalism in Tunisia and Egypt. In Tunisia, elections have been held and a new prime minister elected. Now that Tunisia has a reliable capitalist democracy, the actors that exacerbated the insurrection have mysteriously vanished. There is still rebellion and the population knows how to utilize the tools of the democracy-bringers, but the absence of these actors is very clear. In Egypt we see a similar pattern catalyzed by these same actors, fighting for technocratic capitalism.

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GLASGOW'S MASS EVICTIONS.

         Glasgow has more than its fair share of homeless, so you would think that the powers that be would do their utmost to prevent any more. However, no, due to a change of policy at Ypeople, who house refugees at Red Road flats, they are evicting at least 140 refugees, making them homeless in one fell swoop. We are talking about families,young people and individuals. As a city we can't throw another 140 people onto our streets, we must put pressure on the authorities to stop this insane and brutal treatment in what is a modern civilised city.

       A meeting will be held at the STUC building in 333 Woodlands Road, subject, How Do We Stop The Evictions. This is an open campaign meeting with speakers from, Campaign to Welcome Refugees, Ypeople residents,, Unity Centre and others.

TUESDAY17 APRIL, 7PM.
STUC BUILDING
333 WOODLANDS ROAD
GLASGOW.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

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WE ARE AWARE.

           October 15 may have come and gone, but the anger of the people is still there. The corruption and exploitation is still there, the parasites are still filling there over sized bellies with the wealth of the people. What is more the anger is spreading, the people are joining hands across borders. A message to the army of parasites that inhabit the world of the financial Mafia and to the corporate fascist, we are aware. We are aware of your lies and you corruption, we are aware of your greed and money making tricks such as war, we are aware of your plundering our public assets. Also we are aware of a better world, we are aware of your vulnerability and we are aware of our strength. Change is coming, the people will make that change.

 

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FIBRE OPTIC PARASITES.

        You and I know that the system stinks and is corrupt from top to bottom. It is a system of making money from nothing and those who make nothing make the most money, and have most control over our lives. It is a system of parasites feeding of the daily lives of the ordinary people. Capitalism used to be those with money investing it in making things and making more money, but things appeared. Now those with money make money from thin air and get rich faster than ever imagined and at the end of the day they have produced nothing, except more money for their money making smoke and mirrors trick.

It's  great system, who'd want to change it!!

This from The Drum:

Trade parasites feeding at the heart of the ASX 

By operating at the speed of light high frequency traders can "feel" a buy order coming and can dart in front of them.

        In the Australian Securities Exchange's Sydney data room, which is about the size of a big lounge room, there are six "cuckoos". These are the banks of servers installed by high-frequency traders.

        They sit against the wall opposite the ASX servers and each is connected directly into the host by a fat fibre optic pipe. Each cable is precisely the same length by agreement with the ASX so that none gets an advantage; if one server is closer to the input, its cable is looped around to lengthen it.

      Think about that: one less metre of optic fibre carrying data at 299.8 million metres per second - that is, the speed of light - would give one share trader an unfair advantage over the rest. It suggests that something pretty quick is going on.

        The question is whether it's fair to the rest of us; whether those six parasites with their suckers fastened directly into the heart of the ASX should be allowed to get away with it.

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NET CAUTION.

Use a Dot Com web address? Then you're at risk

      Do you have a website or blog with a .com, .net or .org address? Do you have some responsibility in your workplace for a website that does? Is your website, whatever its address, hosted by a company based in the US?

       Then watch out. The US authorities could take your website down if they think it is breaking US laws. More importantly, they could take YOU down - extradite you, put you in the dock in a US court, and jail you.

         The US claims jurisdiction over websites, wherever they are run from, if they are hosted on servers located in the US - and many of the most popular and cheapest web hosting companies are located in the US. But if you think that by avoiding US web hosting companies you can stay safe, think again. The US also claims jurisdiction over a number of apparently "international" domains, including .com, .net .org, and .tv, because the companies that administer these domain names are located in the US.

         Babar Ahmad and Tahla Ahsan are facing extradition to the US to face terrorism charges arising from their alleged involvement with a website that was hosted, for a short period, on servers in the US. Their connection with the website has yet to be established. You might think it would fall to a British court to decide on that, and to decide whether or not the website was legal. But neither the British nor the US governments want that to happen. Ahmad and Ahsan's application to the European Court of Human Rights to have their extradition blocked was rejected on 10 April, but they still have a right to ask a larger panel of European Court judges to look at their case. Think the US will only do something like that if it thinks its security is at stake? Think again.

          Richard O'Dwyer is facing extradition to the US to answer charges of copyright infringement solely because his site TVShack.net used a US-administered domain name. His website broke no UK laws, but that may not be good enough to keep him out of jail. He has lodged an appeal against the UK Goverrnment's decision to allow his extradition. More cases like this are inevitable. New Zealand based web expert Vikram Kumar says:

"When a government finds a means that works, the range of ends to which it feels justified to apply that means can expand very quickly."

What you can do to stay safe?

        * If you live in the UK, contact your MPs (you can use www.writetothem.com) and demand that they repeal the Extradition Act 2003, which allows the US to seek your extradition without having to present any evidence in a British court. And tell your MP that the extraditions currently in the pipeline must be stopped. The people the US is trying to extradite should be tried in Britain if there is any evidence against them.

        * If you live elsewhere, make sure that your country's extradition laws are French style (French citizens are not extradited to the US), not British-style. If your country has British-style extradition laws, ask your democratic representatives to change them.

        * If your website uses a US-administered top-level domain such as .com, .org or .net, consider changing it to something else, such as .co.uk, .org.uk. With care, it need not cost you web visibility. One day you may be very glad you did it.

         * If you have influence in a business or organisation that uses a US-administered top-level domain, encourage them to consider a change.

         * If you work with such a website as part of your job, ask your trade union to look into the legal risks you may be exposed to. Perhaps your employer thinks the magic of a .com domain is worth the risk. Your union should ask them to think again.

         * If you live in the UK, contact the Director of Public Prosecutions to demand that Babar Ahmad be put on trial in the UK. It's the right thing to do (Ahmad's alleged crimes were committed in the UK, the evidence against him was gathered in the UK by British police, and he is a British citizen). It's what Babar Ahmad wants. And it will set a precedent that makes it less likely that YOU could be extradited to the US. More info about writing to the DPP

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THE DOGS FOR CHANGE!!

   
Probably the most experienced revolutionary in Europe.

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FOR REAL CHANGE, SHORT CIRCUIT THE SYSTEM.

For discussion, from, The Anarchist International.

1: Build and maintain antagonistic infrastructure

        The first priority for anarchists is to build and maintain antagonistic infrastructure. We use this term to mean infrastructure that is inherently conflictual by right of existing. Infrastructure cannot be antagonistic unless its very existence challenges the laws, morals, and equilibrium of the world capitalist system.

         A community garden on land that is purchased by the gardeners merely provides a few lucky people with the chance to grow their own food. But if the garden is planted on land that is stolen from a real estate company, that garden becomes antagonistic to capitalism. While the chances of the garden’s complete destruction increase dramatically, the antagonism also increases the chances of the struggle for the garden to resonate with and attract new people into the struggle against global capitalism. In this way, a garden can stop feeding the belly of green capitalism and contribute to the revolutionary anti-capitalist struggle.

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WHAT IS "THE COUNTRY"?

            It is a fact that governments pass legislation and if you do something that is outside that legislation then you will be penalised. However when that government wants to do something outside that legislation, it just simply changes the legislation. They call it democracy, I call it fascism. They also state that what they do is for the benefit of "the country", what is "the country"? All the so called "necessary" wage cuts, increase taxes, cuts in social benefits and increase unemployment, which drive the people into desperate deprivation, is for the benefit of "the country"! I'll ask the question again, what is "the country"? If not the people, is it the rocks and soil, or is it the rich and powerful? To answer the question all we have to do is to look at who benefits from all this necessary wage cuts, increase taxes, cuts in social benefits and increased unemployment, and it becomes obvious, to them "the country" is the rich and powerful. Well isn't it time that the people took "the country" back and organised it for the benefit of all  "the people" of that country?

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PRAISE THE LORD????

     

         While doing my thing on the internet I came across a short video and with all those God fearin' men and women shouting for military action against one country after another, with Iran, Syria and North Korea the main targets of their present, holier than thou preaching, I thought the video most appropriate. Nothing changes, the so called good and decent in high places, always seem eager and willing to sacrifice other people's lives but never their own, and always dress it up as God blessed. Perhaps we should call it God blessed righteous murder. Though I suppose this God guy is a handy guy to have on your side, sadly though, the other side think like wise.

   
The video is from a fellow Glaswegian at Thumping The Tub.

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STOP THE DOGS OF WAR.

         As the dogs of war start to bay louder and louder at the gates of Iran, with the leaders of the pack, the US, UK and Israel snarling the most viciously, we have to keep the pressure on our "elected" governments to keep the dogs of war on a tight leash. Or better still have them put down.

This from Stop the War Coalition:

MAKE YOUR MP WORK TO STOP IRAN WAR.
       We are asking all our supporters to lobby MPs to help stop another war. Today talks start between UN security Council members plus Germany and Iran over Iran's nuclear programme.
        The US, Britain and Israel are set to take a hard line, demanding the closure of Fordo, one of Iran's main enrichment plants, and an end to uranium enrichment to 20% levels, demands likely to be unacceptable to Iran.
         President Obama has called these talks the 'last chance' to resolve the issue peacefully, signalling that a breakdown in the talks may be used to justify moves to war. (SEE NOAM CHOMSKY on threats to Iran: http://bit.ly/HCXp8s)
         We are asking you to take this chance to lobby your MP to back an early day motion in Parliament against military attack on Iran. We have a highly effective online lobbying system that allows you to email your MP at the click of a mouse. Please put the pressure on now by going to: http://bit.ly/HCX59F

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"THE POLICE DO NOT HAVE A MONOPOLY ON VIOLENCE".

By The Children of the Gallery (TPTG)
Burdened with debt reloaded: The Politics of Devaluation
         In Greece, the initial austerity measures developed into a full blown shock policy of devaluation of capital, which has deepened the recession and increased public debt. A main ingredient of the politics of devaluation of capital is the depreciation of labour power which aims at the weakening of the power of the working class by establishing permanent austerity and disciplining mechanisms, and by the creation of a large reserve army. Furthermore, this depreciation of labour power is facilitated by the institutional abolition of collective bargaining agreements, a process which, to a great extent, undermines the very function of the labour power representation mechanisms…

…The extremely volatile and explosive situation does not allow any safe conclusions for the time being since the inability of the proletarian struggles to have any real and persistent effects (in the production and reproduction spheres of the capitalist totality) is accompanied by a deep, generalized and amorphous despair and anger precipitated also by the destruction of any safety valves for their containment. Therefore, the widespread prospect of a rather prolonged dead-end period looming ahead could be easily reversed by a social explosion that will change more deeply the balance of forces
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WHERE TO NOW, WHERE, TODAY?

      From The Anarchist International:

Thesis:

The majority of the Anarchist International does not reside in the country, in the small town, or on the periphery of capitalism. The majority of us inhabit the centers of global capital and spend our lives close to our enemies heart. One side effect of living in such close proximity to these glowing cores of money and power is a confusion as to what reality is like for those who live far away and near the edge. Military suppression, famines, civil war, and urban guerrilla warfare are commonplace in nation states such as India, China, the Philippines, and Afghanistan. Those inhabiting the interior sometimes trick themselves into thinking they understand what living in these situations is like, but obviously they do not.

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HOW MANY DEAD AND INJURED WILL WE ACCEPT?

        It is imperative that we continually stress the human side of all this financial shuffling being done by the various governments at the behest of the financial Mafia. We get daily reports about how the markets are responding, but little or no mention of the distress and deprivation being heaped on the people.  It seems that the format is for the elected governments to try to gain the confidence of the markets by screwing the people. One would imagine that it should somehow or other, be the other way round, the elected governments trying to gain the confidence of the people by screwing the markets. The fact that it is the way it is, makes it glaringly obvious whose side they are on. In this web of financial re-adjustments, re-capitalisation, increasing banks liquidity, and other descriptions for plundering the public purse, there is no group taking care of the interests of the people. It is up to the people to take care of themselves with the same ruthlessness as the financial mafia take care of themselves. There is no other phrase suits the situation better than "class war". Our people are being injured and dying by the deliberate decisions of a group of people, well aware of the consequences of their actions, for no other reason than personal gain. It is a class that has all the wealth dragging what they can from another class, those who produce all the wealth. That by any analysis is "class war".

 

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NASTY NESTLE.

       An appeal from IUF, a reminder that in some countries to be in a union can be a very dangerous situation. Yes, this is the 21st century.

        As Nestlé shareholders prepare for the annual shareholder meeting on April 19 Nestlé watchers should note that on April 6 a court in Kabirwala, Pakistan issued an arrest warrant for a manager named Jahangir at the labour contractor which has been supplying hundreds of contract workers under abusive conditions to Nestlé's milk factory in the town.

       Abuses by the labour contractor - a crucial component of the Nestlé 'supply chain' - are part of a pattern of lawlessness and lies which have also seen the human resources manager at the plant cited for contempt by the Punjab High Court for repeatedly failing to comply with court orders to reinstate the unfairly terminated President of the Nestlé Kabirwala Workers Action Committee, Ashfaq Butt.

       Throughout the ongoing struggle for employment rights at Nestlé Kabirwala, Nestlé has shown contempt for the courts and for the truth. Nestlé management in Vevey has gone through similar contortions in attempting to explain the arbitrary firing of 53 union members at the Nescafé factory in Panjang, Indonesia, including alleging that the strike by the union was "illegal" (it was not). The handful of union members who survived the wave of arbitrary firings have come under enormous pressure to surrender their rights.

       While the shareholders prepare for their celebration, click here to send a message to Nestlé calling on the company to reinstate unfairly dismissed union members in Indonesia and provide permanent employment to contract workers in Pakistan who have claimed their legal rights.

Ron Oswald
General Secretary, IUF

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)

8, rampe du Pont-Rouge
1213 Petit Lancy, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 793 22 33
Fax: +41 22 793 22 38
website: www.iuf.org

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WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

           As the financial Mafia's plans bite ever deeper into the lives of ordinary people, we all have a choice, which side are you on? You are either with the financial Mafia and the corporate fascists, or you are with the people that are at the receiving end of their master plan of re-capitaising their ill-gotten gains.

 

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MPs' £1.8M IN PERKS REVEALED.

       It seems that our elected representatives are still riding the gravy train. Guardian research has revealed that little groups of our MPs have received bungs, handouts, backhanders, or in parliamentary parlance, donations/contributions to the tune of £1.8 million last year. Of course all those generous givers were doing it out of the goodness of their heart and had no intentions of expecting anything in return. It seems that these "all-party parliamentary groups" are little bunches of MPs with specific interests and they get loads-a-cash and gifts from wealth donors and large corporate bodies, all of course with nothing on their mind but the well being of our poor MPs. Have you ever had cash and gifts given to you by wealthy parasites or corporate bodies? Well perhaps it is because they think that MPs are an endangered species and they want to try to preserve them. Can you honestly believe that all this £1.8 million was given with a smile and then the donor melted into the background never to trouble our MPs again, except perhaps to hand in another bung, sorry donation/contribution. The stench that oozes out of that place, The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption  chokes the nostrils of any honest being.

Can I help you? I'm a member of an All-party Parliamentary Group.

MPs' £1.8m in perks revealed

Guardian research finds that gifts and funding included trips to 27 countries and £32,000 donation to parliamentary choir.
Donations to all-party parliamentary groups: get the data

Businesses, overseas governments and lobby groups have given sponsorship, free gifts and funding worth at least £1.8m to MPs and Lords in the past year through all-party parliamentary groups, Guardian research has revealed.

More than 300 all-party groups – semi-official groupings of MPs and Lords interested in a particular subject – have received funding or support from outside groups, including:

• Trips to 27 countries including China, Morocco, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, Thailand, Israel and Liechtenstein for members of 15 groups.

• A £32,000 donation from BT Global Services to fund concerts for the parliamentary choir.

• Contributions totalling more than £117,000 for "associate membership" – at £8,400 a time – of the all-party group on health, from companies including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and actuaries Milliman.

• Free membership for MPs and Lords of the Slimming World all-party parliamentary group and the Weight Watchers group. Each group has about 20 members who are MPs or peers, drawn from all the main parties.

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A TIME TO THINK, A TIME TO ORGANISE.

St Imier 140th anniversary -

Talk and News On Upcoming International Anarchist Festival.

Public Event By Glasgow Anarchist Federation And Friends

Thursday, 19 April 2012

18:30 – 21.00

Room 407, Boyd Orr Building, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ

       In August 2012 anarchists from all over the world will be gathering in St Imier, Switzerland for a week of events to mark the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Anarchist International- a major split with the authoritarian international of Karl Marx.

     This split represents a fundamental divide between those who believe that communism can be imposed from above, and those who believe that we can only have true communism if we have freedom as well. How we get where we want to go is as important as where we want to go.

      As part of the process of building up to the summer event, the Anarchist Federation is hosting a series of meetings around the country. The theme of the meetings is the struggle against authoritarianism- from St Imier to today.

The following issues will be discussed:

• The background to St Imier and what was involved in the split

• How the struggle against authoritarianism continued in key revolutions such as Russia and Spain

• The debate about human ‘nature’ and why humans do not need authority to flourish

• The role of authoritarian tendencies in struggles today eg the cuts movement, the strikes in the public sector, the student movement and within the anarchist movement itself.

http://www.anarchisme2012.ch/

Facebook Event Page:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/240919052672305/

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THE SHINING EXAMPLE ISN'T SO SHINY.

         It is common practice for one state to play its people up against the people of another state to further its ends. Since the 2008 “crisis” most of the European states have lampooned the Greek people with comments about them being lazy, paying themselves too much, corrupt and avoid paying their taxes. Anything to try to justify the financial chaos that prevails across the continent. It is a case of being self righteous and having to bail-out others, we point fingers at each in turn. Greece, then Spain, Ireland and Italy and so it goes on. Of course Germany is held up as how the others should behave, hard working and prudent with their finances, but becoming tired at having to support those more foolhardy lesser people.

        However though we are told that Germany is doing it right and we should all try to follow its example, not all the Germany people see it that way. There is as much discontent and anger in Germany as in the rest of the capitalist Europe. People are struggling, people feel repressed, people can see through the smoke and mirrors of the system.

       All is not well in the example that is held up to the rest of Europe, poverty in Germany, like the rest of Europe, has been growing. This growing poverty for the majority of the population is matched by a staggering concentration of wealth at the top of society. The number of millionaires in Germany has risen in recent years to 830,000. In Germany in 1965, 1 in 75 children were in poverty by 2007 that had risen to 1 in 6. In Berlin 15.2% of adults receive welfare and 30.7% of children. During the period from 2005 to 2010 there was not a single city in the Ruhr area that did not experience social decline and stagnation. The pattern is the same as the rest of Europe, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, An article in a recent edition of Der Spiegel stated, “Never has the gap been so wide to the general population” and according to new statistics from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) “For the bottom 50 percent of the population, very little has changed in terms of income for decades”.
      Under this system of capitalist exploitation, no matter how rich or how well balanced the books are of a particular country, it makes no difference to the people, they still suffer poverty and an ever widening gap between them and the small cabal of parasites that control all the wealth and power. Until we fix that problem, poverty will always be the lot of the ordinary people. 

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A LITTLE MORE ON "DON'T PAY".

     It seems that the Irish people are about to launch their own version of the "Don't Pay" campaign that is spreading across Europe. Though in truth it is more a case of " Can't Pay Won't Pay" as it is the severity of the cuts that is forcing people  to take matters into their own hands. It is important that the people protesting in one country are aware that the same thing is happening in countries all across Europe and to link up and work in unison and solidarity with each other.

    This from KCUR.org:

By NPR People: Philip Reeves

      House prices have crashed. Banks and businesses have failed. Jobs have been axed. People are struggling to make the mortgage. The Republic of Ireland's 4.6 million people have suffered considerably since the financial crisis began four years ago, forcing their government to turn to the European Union and International Monetary Fund for a $90 billion bail-out.

     Yet the Irish have, for the most part, endured the pain and taken the medicine — a mighty dose of tax increases and spending cuts — compliantly enough to earn plaudits for their country in Brussels as the "poster child of austerity".

Is that now about to change?

      This weekend, Ireland's 1.65 million householders were supposed to register to pay a new tax; an annual household charge of 100 Euros. That's about $133. By the time the deadline expired at midnight Saturday, only about half had done so. Hundreds of thousands now face the prospect of penalties and, potentially, prosecution. Is a tax revolt in the making, that could disrupt the government's strategy for getting the economy back on its feet — and make it still harder to implement future austerity measures?

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ANYONE FOR YOGHURT?

Nice to see these two faced smarmy bastards get their just rewards.
This from eagainst.com.

        Antifascists in Greece attacked with yoghurt and eggs a TV news broadcaster, during a live TV interview, because a week before he hosted an interview with the representative of the Greek Neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn. It must be reminded that the aforementioned fascist party was supported in the “manifesto” of the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, the perpetrator of the 2011 attacks in Oslo, where 93, mostly teenagers, were killed.

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