A LETTER FROM A MINER.

        It is virtually impossible to find anything informative about the miners' strike in Asturias, Spain. The mainstream media prefer to show us that giant cigarette lighter being carted around the country, what was being worn at Ascot, and other vacuous crap. It would be good if news meant, what was happening in the world, but alas, this is capitalism and the media's job is to lull you into a state of subservience.

Taken from Libcom:
        A translation of a letter from a retired miner from Asturias, where miners have been on indefinite strike for weeks, explaining the dispute and giving its background.

       I’ve worked for twenty five years in the mines. I first went down the mine when I was 18 and I would like to say that I am amazed by a lot of comments that I’m reading about mining and early retirement. I’m going to give you my perspective.

Firstly the struggle which the miners are carrying out at the moment isn’t to ask for money. It is that they respect the agreement that was signed last year between the Ministry of Industry and the miners’ unions, and which had subsidies designated until 2018. This money was from the European Community and not from the Spanish government. It isn’t money that came from any Spanish people to help us as many people who are criticising us so much seem to think.

Regarding this money what I, like almost all mining families ask myself is, where is the part of the money from the Mining Funds that was supposedly going to the creation of alternative industries in the coalfields, after the closure of the mines? Well, like in many other sectors, this money has been handled by the politicians and the unions. With part of this money, for example, Señor Gabino de Lorenzo, the ex-mayor of Olviedo, paid for new streetlights in his city, the new Palace of Expositions and Congresses and many other projects. Señora Felgeroso, the ex-mayor of Gijon, spent it on the Technical University and other projects.

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THE WAY OF SLAVES.

THE WAY OF SLAVES.

Politicians living a life of opulence

paid for by other men’s dreams,

add to the lexicon of humanity’s suffering

weaving their selfish grandiose schemes.

Abusing privileges, grasping at wealth

egos blown like a hot air balloon,

preaching our poverty will bring

prosperity for all----------soon.

We tighten our belt another notch

accepting a beggarly slice of the cake,

while they bask in a cherry orchard

surrounded by a fine wine lake.

Pouring words, grand posturing,

as they unveil their latest plan,

assuring they live in luxury

while we struggle as best we can.

Poverty’s the price for allowing

others to plan our days,

when will we finally grasp

this is the way of slaves.

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A GREEK CITY'S FIRST GAY PRIDE PARADE.

        This weekend Thessaloniki held its first ever Gay Pride parade. Naturally the Greek Orthodox Church was in a state of panic, how could this happen in their Greece. The local Bishop from the Greek Orthodox Church, Bishop Anthimo blew his trumpet rallying the faithful to come on to the streets to show their anger. Well about 30 did in contrast to the approximately 2000 who marched in support. The Greek Orthodox Church pokes its fingers into all aspects of Greek life, It's good to see signs of the influence diminishing. Though I personally think there is still a long way to go. Congratulations to the people of Thessaloinki.

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WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE TO SERVE?

That old debate about the individual and the collective from ReoCities:

CHOOSING TO SERVE.

        The more participatory a social system is, the more total its control is because the individual identifies herself with his role within the system. In other words, a democratic structure is the most efficient way yet developed to integrate individuals into a social system, to make them feel that they are essentially a part of a social machine. Partial rebellions, in the form of "radical "issues, which use democratic methods or demand more justice, equality or participation in democratic processes become lubricant for the machinery of social control.
      Those who rebel against the social context in its totality as they confront it in their lives are called hooligans, delinquents, enemies of "the People". They cannot be tolerated in a democratic system (not even the consensus process systems of certain so-called radical and anarchist groups) because their actions undermine the ideological basis of such systems, by showing that individual freedom grows out of self-determined activity, not any sort of decision-making process. Radical groups will merely expel such troublemakers, but within the larger social context, they must be punished, rehabilitated or destroyed if caught.
       Democracy is never anarchic, no matter how direct. Democratic decisions are not the decisions/actions of free individuals. They are merely choices made between the options offered by the social context, choices separated from the actions of individuals and used to control those actions, to subject them to the will of the group, the society. So to choose to participate in democratic processes is to choose to serve, to be a slave to a will outside of oneself. No free-spirited individual would accept the will of the majority or the group consensus as a way of determining how to live anymore than she would accept the will of a dictator or the central committee. I do not merely a want a say in how society creates my life. I want my life to by my own to create as I desire.

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WHAT'S IN A WORD?

ANARCHY

Ever reviled, accursed, ne'er understood,
Thou art the grisly terror of our age.
"Wreck of all order," cry the multitude,
"Art thou, & war & murder's endless rage."
0, let them cry. To them that ne'er have striven
The 'truth that lies behind a word to find,
To them the word's right meaning was not given.
They shall continue blind among the blind.
But thou, O word, so clear, so strong, so true,
Thou sayest all which I for goal have taken.
I give thee to the future! Thine secure
When each at least unto himself shall waken.
Comes it in sunshine? In the tempest's thrill?
I cannot tell - but it the earth shall see!
I am an Anarchist! Wherefore I will
Not rule, & also ruled I will not be!

— John Henry Mackay 

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ASTURIAS MINERS STRIKE.

 This from LabourStart.

      This week, over 1,000 trade unionists representing 50 million workers in manufacturing and mining founded a new global union federation: IndustriALL.
IndustriALL's first online campaign -- hosted by LabourStart -- aims to pressure the Spanish government to negotiate with coal miners who have been on strike, and occupying their mines, for several weeks now.

Please take a moment to learn more and show your support for the miners:

http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1441

Thanks very much!



Eric Lee

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BISHOPS' WEE PERKS.

        In these times of “austerity” it is nice to know that our Christian elite, are being cushioned from the ravishes of the “deficit reduction” plan. In that unelected club for the privileged, “The House of Lords” it seems that there are provisions for 26 “Lords Spiritual” (Bishops) to take their place in that hallowed hall. Of course we couldn't expect them to turn up and give “spiritual leadership” for nothing. These holy men can, and lots do, claim up to £27,000 a year for blessing the place with their presence. On top of that they can claim up to £300 a day for hotel and living allowance plus travel expenses. And guess what, they don't have to produce receipts.

       It is a nice little sideline when you already have a job, Bishops live rent free in their diocese, and along with the provision of a free official car, claiming for entertaining guests, heating and lighting, cleaners and gardeners, they can draw on extra allowances to run their fine homes from the Church Commissioners.

From the Independent:    

During the year from October 2010 to November 2011:

* The Bishop of Chester attended the House on 97 days, claiming £27,600 in attendance allowances and £7,309 in travel expenses.

* The Bishop of Liverpool attended on 60 days, claiming £15,600 for attendance and £4,220 in expenses.

* Other significant claimers included the Bishop of Exeter (£11,550), the Bishop of Leicester (£8,850) and the Bishop of Wakefield (£10,650).

     By the way, the little bunch of Church Commissioners could be called the Wall St. of the Church, as they manage the Church of England's £5billion property and shares portfolio. As well as being firmly embedded in the seat of power in this country, the Church is also a big player in the capitalist world. 

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GLASGOW EARTH FIRST, AUDIO.

          The audio file of the Earth First talk/discussion held in Glasgow on May 20 It is now on-line and can be listened to at Radical Glasgow, Just follow the link HERE and then click on Earth First Glasgow, enjoy. Comments and feed back would be welcomed.

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TIME TO TAKE SIDES.

      The media always shows the world affairs in terms of summits held in expensive locations surrounded by a wall of security. We are fed statements that are supposed to solve our problems but in fact are attempts at cementing their wealth and power. Somehow their decisions taken behind closed doors to smooth the path of corporate greed are supposed to make you and I feel better so that we go back to our daily grind and let them get on with our exploitation. Seldom does the media show what is actually happening on the ground among the ordinary people. Their real problems may become the subject of some future documentary, to make you feel how lucky you are now.

      However, across the globe, people are suffering the consequences of this system of corporate greed, people are angry and people are on the streets. It is an illusion to say that the system works, has ever worked or will ever work for the benefit of the people. There is not a country that does not have poverty, deprivation, protests, demonstrations and strikes, it is all a matter of degree. In Europe at the moment Greece is furthest down this line of "deficit reduction" "bank restructuring" policy, euphemisms for "plundering public assets" than the rest of us, but others are teetering on the edge, which merely means a little less suffering but more to come. This is the best this system can come up with, a continual plundering of the people. Then when the people after fighting and struggling to get some benefits from their labour, the system sets about clawing it all back into the coffers of the financial Mafia.

        Only when we an make the decisions that influence our lives will we be able to create that world where we see to the needs of all our people. As long as we leave those decisions to be made behind closed doors by the millionaire suits, we will continually be screwed. Will a millionaires make a decision that will benefit you and not themselves? They know whose side they are on, DO WE?

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VOLTAIRINE DE CLEYRE.

     A day late, how could we forget, one hundred years ago yesterday, Voltairine de Cleyre died on Thursday morning, June 20, 1912, just after 11 o'clock. She is buried in Waldheim Cemetery beside the Haymarket anarchists. Born in 1866 she lived a mere 46 years, but they were sincere, vibrant and productive years.

       Willie Duff, Glasgow anarchist/communist, who befriended her while she was in Scotland, commented on hearing of her death, 'Voltairine, I am pleased to have been your friend and comrade, for you were one of the bravest, truest, and sweetest women that ever lived. You need no stone nor funeral bell; you are tombed in the true hearts that loved you well.”

Tribute to Voltairine de Cleyre:

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BIG BROTHER WANTS TO READ YOUR TEXTS & EMAIL.

Information from NO2ID:

    On Thursday 14th June, the Home Secretary announced a Draft Communications Data Bill http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm83/8359/8359.pdf (not available other than as a locked pdf) to widen surveillance in Britain. The move had been expected for some time (see earlier newsletters), and was immediately labelled by some press and campaign groups a 'Snoopers' Charter'. It is much more than that. the provisions are complicated with a lot of consequences. We will be producing a full briefing as soon as possible, and making it available to supporters and the public, but there are a few things we can say in the interim:

1. It *weakens* the existing oversight mechanisms

     We had expected a new Bill to leave existing Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act controls in place, and concentrate on defining powers to gather data from telephone and internet companies. That is why we have always emphasised RIPA must change, so that there is NO SURVEILLANCE WITHOUT A WARRANT. But the Draft Bill (in passages that read like a software manual, not legislation) is trying to remove some of the authority of human authorising officers and shift the determination of what is lawful to software. Because the actual surveillance would be done using 'black boxes' built into service-providers' networks, what was being done might never be disclosed to any outsider.

2. It centralises power in the Home Office and/or intelligence services

     Current surveillance powers are used by a wide range of bodies, each of which may apply separately under RIPA to get communications data for its limited purposes. But the real-time filtering of data envisioned by the Draft Bill would mean limiting access to a specialised staff nominally within the Home Office. There's an echo of the Whitehall power-grab in the Identity Cards Act that would have made all government departments dependent on the Home Office for information about citizens.

3. It could be arbitrarily expanded

     The Bill expects all the details of what information is required to be kept, by whom, and how it will be structured and marshalled, to be set out in regulations. Parliament would notionally approve these, but could not amend or challenge them. The Home Office would get almost infinite discretion to extend the tentacles of the database state, not just in cyberspace, but into the physical world as well. Powers are included that would require postal services and couriers to record who sent what to whom; and others could be used to force hotels, guest-houses, libraries or cafés to identify and record everyone who
uses their telephone and internet. 

      This is a Bill that should not be allowed to pass in anything like its present form. If the power-fantasies implied in it are realised, Britain would be as (or more) effectively under surveillance than China, and a single government department would exercise all that power in secret. We will be asking all supporters to lobby their MPs when the time comes. Look out for further information.

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RACISM SUITS THE CORPORATE FASCIST SYSTEM.

        As the suffering and chaos in Greece grows by the day, people are looking for answers. Sadly some are finding the wrong answers and are blaming immigrants, and of course there are those that will encourage this view, if it wasn't for the immigrants there would be more for us type of thinking. In most cases migrants are trying to do what we all do, trying to survive in a repressive exploitative system, some are fleeing from violence and/or for their very life, most it is the same system that is brutally assaulting the Greek people, that is responsible for them leaving their own country, they are in the same boat as the rest of us, but perhaps at the sharper end. It is only by unity that we can all hope to overthrow this system that turns ordinary person against ordinary person, while the perpetrators get richer by the day. It suits the corporate fascists that we should be fighting among ourselves, that way they have less to worry about our solidarity bring them down.

 This from THE GREEK STREETS:

Refugees trying to reach safety in Europe get stuck in Greece: Once in Europe, they have to remain in the country they first arrived in. They speak about lack of basic support like housing, clothing and food and daily racist abuse. Not only by fascists like Golden Dawn, but also Greek people – and the police.
This is a first glimpse into an issue that we are working on. We have just returned from a second visit to Greece and heard many stories and witnessed some of the conditions people face in Athens, including a vicious racist attack. Check back for more, and follow us on facebook and twitter to stay up to date.

Also see: Antifascist protest slideshow and Immigrant Workers Protest video rushes &photo slideshow

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BIG BROTHER, HE'S STILL AT IT.

       As their crisis deepens and our resistance stiffens, Big Brother gets more desperate in its attempt to cut our lines of communication. The exchange of information is necessary for success in our struggle against this latest onslaught from the financial Mafia, hence their eagerness to stifle that exchange of ideas and information.

This from Contrainfo.

Piedmont’s site is now accessible at piemonte.puscii.nl. Replace ‘indymedia.org’ with ‘puscii.nl’ in all links of the address to access its entire contents. Piedmont and Tuscany Indymedia are under preventive seizure, as Telecom Italia has already begun censoring both sites. Note that toscana.indymedia.org has already been down for technical and internal reasons since months. Get the background of this story here.
more updates on italy indymedia / source

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ANARCHIST DOMINO DRIVERS.

        Just when you thought it was alright to order a pizza delivery, along comes the usual corporate bastards to spoil it for you.

This from NewMatilda.com

    Domino's Pizza has just discovered it can cut the wages of its delivery drivers thanks to a wage agreement loophole – and it's the Anarchists who are taking the case to arbitration, reports Conal Thwaite, Industrial disputes are always good for a yarn and the one happening at Domino’s Pizza shops across Australia right now is more deliciously intriguing than usual.
     At 7pm this Saturday night a one-hour weekly roving picket will descend on Domino’s, this time on Grattan Street in Carlton, Melbourne. Nothing will be blocked going in or out. Rather, leaflets and a limited amount of free homemade pizza will be delivered to customers who shun the Domino’s brand.

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PSYCHOPATHS IN POWER.

      Do you think that there are far too many psychopaths in power in this world?

This from Inquiring Minds:

by W. Finnerty Mon Jun 18, 2012 09:37
Motivated largely by a long-standing (and growing) belief that psychopaths (with “Iago” type personality disorders) have far, far too much influence at the present time in places such as the City of London, Wall Street, Westminster, and Washington, I yesterday sent an e-mail to Dr Anne Jeffers (Consultant Psychiatrist based in Ballinasloe, County Galway, Republic of Ireland) which made direct reference to the “Learning to become aware of the dangers of the ‘Iago’s of this world” comment at Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:24.
By “psychopath” I mean the kind of person who fits the following dictionary definition: “A person afflicted with a personality disorder characterised by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts, and with a failure to feel any guilt for such acts”: as, for example, relating to the antisocial “bailing out” of the bankers — at tax-payers expense — in connection with the bankers “derivatives” gambling debts (debts which may be in the region of quadrillions of Euros overall), and, for example, in relation to the “violence” aspect of this particular personality disorder, with all of the ongoing warmongering during the past year or so connected with places such as Libya, Syria, Israel, and Iran: warmongering which has the extremely dangerous potential (it seems to me) to suddenly develop into a major thermonuclear WW3 type confrontation involving NATO countries on one side, and Russia and China (together with some other large nations such as India perhaps) on the other.

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THE ANGER IS GLOBAL

      What seems to be in the spotlight at the moment is the European crisis, but it is not just in Europe that the people are taking to the streets against an economic system that is now seen to be totally unjust and unable to serve the people. It is really across the globe that people are taking to the streets in an attempt to put an end to this continual exploitation of the many by a small group of parasites. What has always been seen, politically, as a quiet backwater, Canada, now has turmoil and anger on its streets. From East to West, the world is in revolt and the anger is directed at the same thing, this exploitative economic system controlled by an unelected, faceless, financial Mafia.

This from  Linchpin:

      Early on the student strike in Quebec adopted the slogan “it is a student strike, and a popular struggle” (in French, “la grève est étudiante, la lutte est populaire"). Over the course of this unprecedented strike, the slogan has become a reality, as people from all sectors of society have joined the students in opposition to the neoliberal government of Jean Charest and his Liberal party.
    As this is written, neighbourhood committees are forming in Montreal and daily protests, including the now famous casseroles (pots and pans) protests, are occurring across Quebec – including in small towns and regions not known for their militancy. The legitimacy of the government and its police force is being called into question as tens of thousands defy its “special law 78”, which criminalizes spontaneous protests among other measures. The student strike has indeed become a popular struggle. While no one could have predicted that the student strike would spill across society, this development is not entirely without a foundation in recent struggles. And this foundation is best exemplified by the Coalition Opposée a la Tarification et Privatisation des Services Publics (in English, the Coalition Against User Fees and the Privatization of Public Services).

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ECONOMIC CHAOS,--NAZI BREEDING GROUND!

     As the economic system in Europe shudders, shakes and splinters, and as the people feel the pain biting deeper and deeper, there is bound to be anger confusion and chaos. This is a perfect breeding ground for the far right, and we are seeing the Nazi scum rising across Europe, they are becoming emboldened. No doubt financed and supported by elements of the establishment. We can mock them and ridicule them, but we ignore them at our peril as they will divide and foster splits among the ordinary people who should be united in their struggle to overthrow the economic serfdom of this capitalist system.

       At this moment in time it is wise to look at what is happening in Greece as they are further down the road of that economic chaos than the rest of us, though no doubt we will follow. There the far right Nazis, though only gaining around 6% of the vote, have seats in parliament and are much more visible on the streets, doing their usual intimidation and scapegoating with a renewed brutality. Meanwhile the police look the other way. This is a formula that the establishment will encourage as the economic chaos increases, it is one way of preventing the unity of the ordinary people from taking hold.

Monday, June 18, 2012

        The district of Ano Liosia, in NW Athens, has a large Roma population; the community’s relationship with the police has often been tense: last year, a DIAS motorcycle policeman ran over and killed a 6-year old Roma girl.

          On Sunday, one DIAS policeman died and another was seriously injured after crashing into a van driven by a Roma man. Both sides claim that the others violated a STOP sign. What has followed since is partly unclear: it is confirmed that the police conducted a large operation in the Roma camp, supposedly in response to the traffic accident, but essentially harassing the camp’s residents. There are also still unconfirmed by very strong leads that the Golden Dawn held a gathering in Ano Liosia tonight, insulting and provoking the locals.

          The local Roma have reacted, took to the streets, set a bus on fire (confirmed) and shot toward the police, injuring up to six of them (number unconfirmed). It appears that the situation has calmed down for the time being.

More information as it comes.

Roma, Asian, anybody that is different from them in any way will do as the enemy, as the shit-heads brutally vomit their poison among the ordinary people. 

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GLASGOW EARTH FIRST FEED-BACK.

         May 14 in Glasgow, we organised an Earth First talk/discussion with two of our American friends, Panagioti Tsolkas and partner Cara. The Glasgow event was one of several they held on their way across Europe to Greece. They following is their report back on their journey.

       The current rate of species extinction is more than 3 per hour, and that rate of loss could reach 10,000 times the background rate in two decades.

The rate of farmers in India committing suicide is now hourly, over 200,000 documented since 1997, with the primary method of drinking pesticides….

Tid bits like these make it hard to view the eurozone clash between privatized and state-run industrialism as an actual crisis. But still, it was encouraging, in that miserably depressing way, to hear so much talk in countries like Ireland and Greece—both dragged into Euro debt-bondage with promises of high-tech modernity—about how shit is severely, deeply fucked.

Maybe the chickens are on their way in to roost for Fortress Europe. And we at the Earth First! Journal were overjoyed to be projecting our slide show off the wall of the coop and peddling propaganda from the eco-resistance to the new barbarians on the fringes, in the hopes that we could be of some help in adding a new set of ruins to the junk piles of civilization.

What follows is a short overview of the stops we made, with a ton of links for further investigation, should you happen to pass through these areas looking to support the radical projects and campaigns who hosted us:

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WE SWEAR TO FUCKIN' GOD---.

          Saw this on Politic in the Zeros, and thought it fitted the party faithful over here, After years of broken promises, greed, corruption, and tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum polices, they still seem to run out and vote for their new party hero.

And so the crap system continues.

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