IN THE UK, IS A GENERAL STRIKE POSSIBLE?

        This year for the first time in who knows how many years, the TUC has discussed the possibility of a general strike. This subject has always been taboo at TUC conferences, this year however, it was there being discussed. Of course with no mass industries, union membership at its lowest since about the 40's and most of that union membership in the public sector, could there be a general strike? If so, what then? Would it be a case of government collapse, new elections and a Labour government voted in to carry on the same polices as the Con/Dem's only with subtle nuances and at a slightly altered pace, with the TUC's blessing?

Listen to this discussion from Circled A:

ann arky's home.

A VISION OF THE FUTURE???

     Sometimes you come across an article and it just slaps you in the face with its facts figures and analysis, it hits you and you don't know how to respond.  This is three excerpts from what to me was such am article. You could say that this is just a stone's throw away from what is probably the richest country in the world.

 1 "If Katrina revealed America’s third world, then the earthquake revealed the third world’s third world. Haiti is by nearly every metric one of the poorest nations on the planet—a mind-blowing 80 percent of the population live in poverty, and 54 percent live in what is called “abject poverty.” Two-thirds of the workforce have no regular employment, and, for those who do have jobs, wages hover around two dollars a day. We’re talking about a country in which half the population lack access to clean water and 60 percent lack even the most basic health care services, such as immunizations; where malnutrition is among the leading causes of death in children, and, according to UNICEF, 24 percent of 5-year-olds suffer stunted growth. In Haiti life expectancy hovers at around 60 years as compared to, say, 80 years in Canada. As the Haiti Children Project puts it:"

 2    "Never fear, though—if anything is certain it is this: There will be more Haitis. Some new catastrophe will strike our poor planet. And for a short while the Eye of Sauron that is the globe’s fickle attention span will fall upon this novel misery. More hand wringing will ensue, more obfuscatory narratives will be trotted out, more people will die. Those of us who are committed will help all we can, but most people will turn away. There will be a few, however, who, steeling themselves, will peer into the ruins for the news that we will all eventually need."

3     "One day somewhere in the world something terrible will happen, and for once we won’t look away. We will reject what Jane Anna and Lewis R. Gordon have described in Of Divine Warning as that strange moment following a catastrophe when “in our aversion to addressing disasters as signs” we refuse “to interpret and take responsibility for the kinds of collective responses that may be needed to alleviate human misery.”

      One day something terrible will happen and for once we will heed the ruins. We will begin collectively to take responsibility for the world we’re creating. Call me foolishly utopian, but I sincerely believe this will happen. I do. I just wonder how many millions of people will perish before it does."

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

SEASOL TALK/DISCUSSION.

       A reminder of the talk/meeting/discussion tomorrow, Thursday evening, 20th. September,  at the Glasgow University in the Boyd Orr Building room 709. Leading the talk will be a representative of Seasol, (Seattle Solidarity Network) the event is hosted by Glasgow Solidarity Network, and the IWW.  In the present economic climate this should prove to be a very interesting and informative evening.

More details HERE:

ann arky's home.

WE ONLY HAVE ONE EARTH.

        One call that is universal from all sane and reasonable people is that we develop the world in a sustainable manner. However our corporate fascists, who control the world at the moment, it is a matter of rape and plunder the planet as fast as possible for maximum profit, it's a case of rip the world apart to fatten greed driven shareholders. One of the worst offenders in this destruction of the wee orb on which we live, for the sole purpose of wealth, is the oil industry and they are determined to take that record further by means of the devastating "tarsands extraction". Fortunately the opposition is growing and in America and Canada, Earth First is leading the battle against this insane greed driven policy.

This is an appeal for support:

Friends, comrades, and allies:

In the heartland of Texas, camped in the backwoods among armadillos and water moccasins and deeply rooted small farmers and ranchers, we at Tar Sands Blockade are engaged in what may be the largest direct action battle of our time. We are mobile, skilled and powerful, and though we number in the dozens, the magnitude of what we face demands a call to action. As many of you know, Tar Sands mining is the most ecologically destructive project on planet Earth, and the Keystone XL pipeline is a major piece of infrastructure that will allow for greater Tar Sands extraction and profit. The pipeline is proposed through over 2100 miles of farmland, forest and prairie in eight states and provinces and likely oil spills from this threaten much of North America’s water table including the massive Ogllala aquifer. For more on the issue visit http://stoptarsands.org/.

       TransCanada is a multi-billion dollar multinational corporation with the government on their side. They have a history of leakages from their pipelines. We are aligned against this enemy in an unlikely coalition of allies: local residents fighting eminent-domain land seizures, forest defense veterans, conservatives concerned about corporate/government intrusion on family lands, liberals concerned about climate change, and radical blockaders directly doing battle with the behemoth.
       Our adversary is everywhere. They are building this pipeline as we speak, in many different places at once. Clearing crews are mowing down swaths of trees, some over a century old, and tearing up farmland right next to people’s homes and water sources. It’s a massive project but we still anticipate stopping them at some key points that can ideally shut down the entire
operation. We can’t fight them everywhere but are trying our damnedest, and need a lot of help.
       We are utilizing a true diversity of tactics in this fight, including community cookouts, lockdowns, public rallies, meme warfare, arboreal dwellings, roving bands of mischief-makers, and more.
We need all skill sets, including: videographers and media specialists, medics, chefs, vehicle mechanics, tree-sitters and riggers, lockdowners, forest scouts, community organizers, welders, carpenters, and badasses of all trades.
       The most important thing is to come down here and plug in, but other ways to help include publicizing the Tar Sands Blockade on Facebook, Twitter etc., donating and/or raising funds and supplies including climbing gear, holding teach-ins in your bioregion, organizing solidarity actions against TransCanada and their enablers, and just generally spreading the word to help us increase our numbers as quickly as possible.
       We are a small crew of Earth First!ers and eco-anarchists engaged in tactical elements of the larger Tar Sands Blockade campaign. We’re requesting help from you, our comrades, to come join us as quickly as possible. If you have questions or want to discuss this at all, please email noneshallpass@riseup.net.
See y’all in the woods!

ann arky's home.

P0LITE LANGUAGE - BRUTAL RESULTS.

     What does "austerity cuts" really mean. We here in the UK still haven't yet had our full dose of financial Mafia medicine. there is more coming down the pipeline. If you want to see what is in store for you just look across at Greece. There they have seen their education system disintegrate, schools with no books, etc. their health service devastated, hospitals and clinics closing, running short on medicines, unemployment stratospheric, with all that, that entails. So it goes on, a sea of human suffering, misery and deprivation, all summed up in those nice sounding words, "austerity cuts". 

       Our shiny millionaire politicians along with the media, (the babbling brook of bullshit), are forever pouring out those nice sounding euphemisms. "Wage freeze" translates into possible malnutrition, foreclosure, or hypothermia in the winter. "Benefit reform", attacking the meager living standards of the lowest paid and most vulnerable. "Capping housing benefit" throwing families onto the street. There is always a reality to their respectable sounding words, words that taken together really mean plundering the public purse for the benefit of the financial Mafia.

      Like I said, we haven't been pushed down as far as Greece, YET, but where is the guarantee that we will somehow be saved from that. Do you think that the compassion of the millionaires and their friends in the financial Mafia will some how see our suffering, and stop stuffing their bank accounts? As far as they are concerned, everything is working fine, we the public are pouring billions into their pockets, in the hope that they will be nice to us in the future.

A report from The Greek Streets:

140 university departments are closing down –

hospital doctors on partial strike

        The ministry of education decided to close down 140 higher education departments including entire institutes. In an effort to keep the society as less educated as possible, and given that a lot of young people are developing a radical political identity and practice within the universities, the government now closes down entire departments while from this year on the free textbooks policy comes to an end, while there are systematic efforts to introduce tuition fees.

        Meanwhile the union of the hospital doctors yesterday announced that they are going on a partial-strike accepting only A&E patients and rescheduling every arranged appointments with patients. Hospital doctors protest because the Ministry of Health does not pay them for work they done, while doctors salaries have fallen circa 40% the last couple of years.

ann arky's home.

STAFF TIPS GOING ASTRAY.

        The over the top opulence that our herd of pampered parasites live, is only possible by an army of low paid individuals trying to earn their bread. No matter how luxurious the lives of the parasites, those that manage this obscenity, still try to fiddle the workers out of their legitimate rights. To them greed is seen as a necessary prerequisite to their way of life and subservience a necessary prerequisite for the workers.

This from IUF:

      Guests at the Hilton Conrad Rangali Islands Resort in Maldives pay 1,000 dollars a night to stay in luxury villas located on two private islands, where they can choose from "seven world class restaurants including the world's first all-glass undersea restaurant serving contemporary cuisine". "For the ultimate dining experience" guests can order a private beach dinner with their own chef and waiter. But conditions are less than luxurious for the workers who serve them.

    Last year, some 350 workers held a peaceful work stoppage to highlight their longstanding demand for a clear reckoning of the service charge which makes up a crucial l part of their pay. Management responded by terminating union supporters - and refuses to comply with a court order ordering the resort to reinstate them.

Click here to send a message calling on Hilton management to reinstate these 22 workers who stood up for their rights and recognize their union!

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
web-site: www.iuf.org

ann arky's home.

EXARCHIA ATHENS.

From Anarchistnews.org

Exarchia — the Hell’s Kitchen of Athens

        Historical stronghold of anarchists in the heart of Athens, the square has become a thermometer of Greek society during the crisis. Among the artists’ squats and trendy youth dropping by to breathe the air of protest, trafficking and violence are growing.

      The Albanian is a legitimate businessman today, and the young girl from the wealthy neighborhood of Ekali has grown into a little troublemaker. The good old anarchist sending the pseudo-revolutionary neophytes back to their studies, the Cypriot hotelier who becomes the best friend of Japanese tourists, and the former prisoner now an organiser of cultural events can all be found around Exarchia Square, a rallying point for the capital’s youth come by to savour the myth of the square, which a PASOK [Greece’s socialist party] chief wants to turn into a parking lot.

       In the heart of Athens, by day the square, like a snake shedding its skin, turns into something else, a mix of races, of shops opening and closing (thanks to Molotov cocktails, of course), watching over its restaurants, the Rozalia tavern and the Floral, and even the Riviera cinema. Not to mention its two kiosks, the statue of the lovers and two or three other things. A visit late in the day can confirm that the crisis has left its marks, but it can also reveal what never changes about Exarchia, the most restive neighbourhood in Greece ever since the fall of the dictatorship and even warned of as such by the U.S. State Department.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

A NEW GARDEN IN THE CITY.

          A city is a desert unless the people cultivate it, one way to cultivate your city is for the people to come together  and create those spaces that allow us to be who we are. Spaces where we can be creative, relax and communicate with each other, speak of our desires and hopes, free from the constraints placed upon us by the rigorous structures of our economic system. In other words, we need "social centres".

Social Centres

      Social Centres, at their best, are at once spaces of disruption and creation. They disrupt the everyday, everywhere, ‘canny get the feck away from it,insidious nature of both capitalist and state relations, by creating alternatives to them. You know the process: say the right things; wear the right clothes; tick the right boxes. All life made knowable: our ideas, our aspirations, our communities inscribed, made stable, mobile, comparable, combinable and ultimately sellable. Social centres are about imperfect experimentations in de-commodifying our lives through listening, learning, agitating, laughing and so much more.

The Glasgow Social Centre

      The Glasgow Social Centre (GSC) is a non-profit volunteer run cooperative, which brings together a diversity of groups and individuals in the creation of a safe, comfortable space, open to all members of the community for the purpose of community education, action and creativity on issues of social and environmental justice and the arts. We endeavor to support and enhance groups taking action to protect and improve our environment and communities by providing a hub of activity in the form of workshops, performance and general meeting space. We strive to benefit the lives of people in Glasgow through our commitment to community education, nutrition and the arts. In short, as active Glaswegians, we wish to take a proactive role in creating a positive, healthy and sustainable city.

Achievements thus far

    The GSC came together in December 2008 as a group of people from a wide range of backgrounds wanting to make a positive impact on their urban landscapes. From the beginning we envisaged a space in the city which would act as a hub for all manner of community group activities: A place where a variety of social, cultural, political and environmental bodies might congregate to share and galvanize existing ideas as well as create new possibilities.

     From August 2009 to January 2010 we ran a pilot project in a space we shared with the African and Caribbean Network (A&CN) in Glasgow city centre for an agreed six months period. This allowed us to gain some purchase on our limitations and plan our project more effectively, based on real experiences. We completely renovated the space from an abandoned factory building to an operational community space in little over one month with few funds other than small personal contributions. For the next five months we hosted and ran workshops, fundraisers, artist and performance events and galleries. In addition we raised funds and promoted awareness on issues such as the Haiti Earthquake and sustainable city living.

    Over the last two years we’ve been doing much of the same in various locations around the city. We call these ‘Pop-Up Centres’. Events have included a Direct Action workshop; a Common Land and Resources Awareness Workshop; a Roller skating Disco and the odd gig or two.

Today

     Beginning this October we embark on a series of workshops and socials in the Basement of the Garnethill Multicultural centre (Rose St) every Tuesday (6-10pm).

  These include a fortnightly film club showing a range of documentaries and movies and a monthly women’s group. We will also be organizing a few wee socials on Fridays at the same venue (we’ll keep u posted).

Current Schedule (More To be Announced):

ann arky's home.

 

A HIDDEN SLAUGHTER.

     A more detailed article on the brutal deaths of thousands of Palestinians 30 years ago at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. We should never allow this savage massacre to be airbrushed out of history.

This from US Palestinian Community Network:

     On this day, 30 years ago, the soil of Lebanon was quenched with the blood of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese. It is said that chrysanthemums burst out of the earth at the place where martyrs’ blood flows. In the year 2012, however, no chrysanthemums are blooming in Sabra and Shatila. This bloody crime on the hands of the Israeli state, its US funder, its Lebanese proxy forces and the complicit Arab regimes that created the conditions for the massacre of 1982, is carefully skirted, quietly spun and wrapped in a cloak of silence. We are asked to forget our people or confuse the events surrounding their sudden disappearance; we are invited to debate these matters as a subject for narratives, disputes and counter narratives.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

MORE BULLSHIT FROM AN EXPENSIVE SUIT.

       As a rule, every time a politician opens their mouth there is a mixture of bullshit, arrogance and ignorance. The flag carrier for a “compassionate capitalism” the Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, is no exception. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph he said he had nothing against the rich, as long as they made their money, “the hard way”. This of course perpetuates the myth that in this society all you have to do to get rich is work hard. Well Ed, my father was a miner all his life and worked extremely hard. He never took a holiday, in those days the mines closed for the “Fair Holidays” but they always needed a crew to go down the mine on a daily basis during the holidays to check on gas, flooding and roof collapses. My dad took that job year after year. I don't know of anybody who worked harder, he didn't drink nor gamble, but we were poor, we never got rich. Get wise Ed, to get rich in this type of society you have to exploit people somewhere along the line, hard work doesn't get you rich. Another bullshit outpouring from Ed, during his interview was, "My dad was sceptical of all the Thatcher aspirational stuff, but I felt you sort of had to recognise that what she was talking about struck a chord. I want to save capitalism from itself," so Ed is one of those, “there is no such thing as society, only individuals” What he and Thatcher considers “aspirational stuff” is just an unleashing of personal greed and to hell with the community. A society of “me” “I” and “what can I screw from this deal”. Ed also wants to “save capitalism from itself”, well, please Ed don't bother wasting your time, it can't be turned into a nice compassionate system where we are all rewarded for our efforts. Don't bother trying to save capitalism from it self, it is a lost cause, capitalism is exploitation, capitalism is corruption, capitalism is injustice. You and your “fairer capitalism” bunch are perpetuating a system the breeds deprivation, corruption and greed, there is no way you can build a fair society on those foundations. Ed you and your bullshitting mob are the problem, get out of the way and let the people control their own communities and society in a non-capitalist way.

 ann arky's home.

YOUR ENEMY WON'T SPEARD YOUR MESSAGE.

     The pattern is the same the world over, they talk of the "free press" but what the mean is that it's free of any really critical political action or ideas. Free press really means state mouthpiece, or corporate propaganda machine. The media is 100% behind the status quo, it is no more than a babbling brook of bullshit. So no wonder the left grouping SYRIZA, in Greece is finding it hard to get a voice, if they have to rely on that cesspool of corruption to promote their ideas and aims, they are doomed. They have to stay on the streets, reach out through networking sites, indymedia, direct action, meetings, mass leafleting and assemblies. Hard work, but there is no other way.

Graphic, by John Hartfield.

This from Teacher Dude's Grill and BBQ:

      For fans of signs and omens the sudden end of summer and onset of rainy weather that accompanied the arrival in Greece's second largest city of the leader of the Radical left Coalition, Alexis Tsipras probably made perfect sense. The sudden chill in Thessaloniki seems to be a fitting metaphor for his relationship with the press as SYRIZA has an uphill battle on their hands trying to get the party's message out in the face of intense mainstream media hostility. With most of the traditional media joined at the hip to more mainstream parties such as New Democracy and PASOK  Tsipras has no natural allies in the media, whose members often play a dual role of journalist and party supporter, an incestuous set - up that has hobbled objective reporting for decades.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

GLASGOW SOLIDARITY NETWORK MEETING.

A Glasgow date for your diary:

• • Thursday, 20 September 2012
  • 18:30 until 21:00

• Rm 709, Boyd Orr Building (University of Glasgow), University Gardens, G12 8QQ

• This is a talk and organising workshop by visiting members of SeaSol, the Seattle Solidarity Network; SeaSol is an all-volunteer network of working people from Seattle who defend themselves against bosses and landlords through collective action and mutual support. Come and learn about what they do, how they do it, and how we can go about organising in the same way to defend ourselves against exploitation in Glasgow. Formed at the start of this year, the Glasgow Solidarity Network seeks to do just this, through the same processes of collective and direct action. Hosted by Glasgow Solidarity Network & Clydeside IWW. For Further Info on SeaSol - http://seasol.net/ Glasgow Solidarity Network - http://glasgowsolnet.wordpress.com/   ann arky's home.

EVICTION OF DELTA SQUAT.

        Delta Squat in Thessaloníki was a large social centre run by the local people and offered opportunities for all manner of social functions, workshops, art, music, dance and discussions. it was a meeting place where people could come together to support one and other, it served the local people well. Disregarding its usefulness to the local people and their desire to keep it functioning, the Greek state brutally closed it down. So you have to ask yourself, why would they want to shut down that which served the people well? Obviously the the state can't let people organise their own lives, if that happened we wouldn't need the state. So it will come down hard on those who choose to organise their own lives outside the repressive system under which we live. The state's life blood is control, autonomy and liberty are its death knell.

 This from Void Mirror:

       letter from the imprisoned comrades before the trial takes part. The trial finished today. 9 comrades released with accusations and 1 probably will be deported from Greece... please send us translations in your languages or links with actions of solidarity.

        We all live in an economic politic system, tightly closed and illiberal, which defends with every way the interests of the bosses, every kind, of overhead.

       On the other side of the scale, there are the oppressed, all who face daily the problem of survival. The biggest part of the society, a few hundred million, are on the limits of poverty, receives daily attack from the small class of the bosses, with their protectors of their wealth, their command applicators, the state and the authority. Especially the last years, with the new economic crisis invented by the bosses, which is nothing but an obvious restructuring and re-accumulation of wealth for their benefit, and an attempt of total control of every aspect of society, more and more people find themselves in a desperate situation and they decide to take their lives in their hands.

      So they decide to create unmediated social structures, away from the coercive logic of capitalism and the relationships which defined by money.

Continue reading HERE: 

ann arky's home.

PENALISED FOR WORKING PART-TIME.

       It would appear that Ian Duncan Smith's own advisory committee, the Social Security Advisory Committee, (SSAC) has stated that his universal credit reforms are unworkable and unfair. It seems that our very rich Ian wants to penalise part-time workers, that don't look for more work often enough, It also is part of his plan to penalise those on part-time work by cutting their benefits, if they don't take up a “better” job, within 48 hours of being told to do so by by a job centre. They could also see there benefits cut if they refuse to take up full time work that is with 90 minutes of their home. It would appear that to this bunch of pampered parasites, one and a half hours travelling to and from your work, for what will probably be a minimum wage, is fair, three hours onto your working day for poverty wages is how they see the plebs living their lives. This country has 8.1 million part-time workers and when asked, almost one and a half million would prefer full time work but can't get it. So those 8.1 million are the ones likely to see their benefit cut in an economic climate where there are no full time jobs to be had. We all know that is “unfair” but to the Ian Duncan Smiths of this world it is all about saving money and to hell with the consequences on the people. This mob of pampered parasites don't know what it is to live under this capitalist system, they have always existed in the rarefied atmosphere of wealth and the arrogance, privilege, security and opportunities that it brings.Who needs them to tell us how to live our lives?

ann arky's home.

AN ANNIVESARY OF STATE SPONSORED BLOOD SHED.

       Anniversaries are usually pleasant things, though some may be sad, but there are those that fill you with anger, disgust and horror. September 16 is one such anniversary. Thirty years ago on September 16th 1982 under the protection of the Israeli Army the Phalange, Lebanese Christian Militia entered the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Chatile. What followed was a brutal blood bath of innocent Palestinians. Three days of rape and slaughter with hundreds of cold blooded executions. To assist their Phalange executioners, the Israeli Army, lit up the night sky above the camps with flares. At the end of their three days blood feast 1,700 Palestinians were dead, and the Phalange walked out of the camps unhindered in any way by the Israeli Army. No international court, no war criminals at the Hague, though the Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, lost his job over the affair, but later was rewarded by being made Prime Minister of Israel. Three nights of rape, killing, terror and brutality, watched over and assisted by a state's military and nobody brought to justice. As you say, "they got away with it", so no doubt that made it easier for the Israeli Army in 2008/9 to invade Gaza and kill another multitude of young Palestinians. Again, "they got away with it". These are just a couple of the fiendish tricks that states get up to in their daily power games, slaughter people all for the great good of that institution of repression. I believe in this case, the word I'm searching for is genocide.

 

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PATRIOTISM.

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,

if truth be known, ‘tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag

held aloft by some foolish hand

inciting worker and peasant to kill

on some green and wooded hill,

peasant and worker from some other land.

Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag

that brings out fools to stand and brag

of brutal deeds painted grand,

deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still

killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation

this man made autocratic creation

that divides my brothers in a world so small,

binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,

bids us follow its drum, sing its song,

then sheds our blood in some border brawl.

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,

have no ear for power oration,

though its iron heel is on my breast,

my back feels its leather thong,

at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

ann arky's home.

PUBLIC ART.

It's nice to see the kids make use of their art lessons after school.

Graphic thanks to Critical Art.

ann arky's home.

THE TIPPING POINT.

       As people across Europe realise that the "austerity" cuts have not yet reached their full intensity and that there are no plans to reverse this direction, what then? As the poverty sinks in and the pain grows in depth and breadth, will it be quiet acquiescence and a grudging acceptance of deprivation for ourselves and future generations, while the millionaire parasites play their frivolous  lives out in opulence? Will there be a tipping point when the people see the injustice clearly and say enough is enough? Will we reclaim the world for our children and grandchildren leaving them an inheritance that we can be proud of, an inheritance of justice and mutual aid, a sustainable world of peace and co-operation. How do we get there? By asking our lords and masters for a handful more crumbs to see us through the winter, or by taking control of our communities and shaping them to our desires in federation with all other like minded communities. Do we negotiate with the financial Mafia who have only one aim, to plunder the Earth for profit, or do we see them as the root cause of our problem and get rid of them? Do work for the total liberation from, and destruction of, this brutal corrupt system of capitalism by whatever means at our disposal, or do we just hope for the best? 

This from ContraInfo:

THE NOISE IN THE STREET #1
       If they asked us in what way we would like the world to work, we would affirm that we would like that we implement mutual aid, collaboration, collectivisation and self-management, but we think that at the moment a progressive change is impossible and will not happen alone. We must create a situation that creates a change. While people mutter, “this is difficult to believe”, in the streets we see that the police, paid by the tax-payers, and already militarised, tortures and kills our comrades. We have decided since some time to amplify our range of tactics to the use of direct action using sabotage, expropriation and the use of force if we need it for self-defence. We do not consider it as the only possible path but believe this radically increases the possibilities of change. We are currently seeing the growth of affinity groups in our city that show there is light at the end of the tunnel, along with attempts to revive various Federations and talks on the best methods for organizing ourself.

Read the full article HERE:

ann arky's home.

PRIVATE OR PUBLIC -- WHOSE WORLD WILL IT BE?

        The latest move by the Greek government to appease the financial Mafia makes it obvious that this whole austerity thing is nothing really to do with debt reduction. The Greek government has a very profitable 34% stake in one of Europe's largest gambling companies OPAP, so one would imagine that it should hold on to that and use the profits to help fund its services. But no, to try to impress their masters in Brussels, they have decided to sell most of its money making share to the corporate greed mongers and allow them to reap the profits instead of the public. More and more of the public assets will be handed over to the corporate greed machine, and this is not just in Greece. It is the grand plan of the financial Mafia, not just in Europe, but across the world, to get its hands on all public assets to swell its coffers, and put an end for once and for all to anything being publicly owned or managed. 

         In this country the privatisation goes on unabated, with Gove breaking up the education system and Lansley being fired for not moving fast enough in the privatisation of the National Health Service. We are rapidly moving into a society where there will be no public assets and no public space, It will be a corporate world, everything will be under the control of those shiny suits in far away places, and their only criteria will be profit. The world as we know it will have gone and we will be mere products to be used or discarded as the various Chief Executives decide the best policies for their shareholders. They'll continue to shuffle their money around the globe in an attempt to keep down wage costs and fatten the bank accounts of the little army of parasitic shareholders.

        Of course there is another world, a world where we share the resources and see to the needs of all our people. a world where we work in co-operation with one and other, creating a rich and sustainable future for our children and grandchildren. A world based on mutual aid where all those involved in that world shape that world, a world free from the profit motive and the greed of those corporate parasites that infest our world at present, a world free from capitalism.

TOMORROW’S WORLD!!

See the fat cat’s grinning smile

as Corporate Capitalism runs amok,

Chasing profit as it goes

firing millions of ordinary folk.

Raping and polluting land after land,

starting bloody wars.

Toxic waste, sweat shop wages

and oil covered sea shores.

Where have all the flowers gone

beneath this ozone free sky?

To join the birds, to join the fox

on yonder plutonium field to die.

Mercury fish, strontium lamb

trees that never show a leaf,

radio active beaches, toxic streams

good lean BSE-antibiotic beef.

In a world of epidemic, plague and famine

it’s bottled water and chemical food.

Of course, it’s all tested on rats and mice

so you know its got to be good.

Beneath a sky that’s always black,

hurricane winds and endless drought,

its oxygen masks for the toxic air,

corporate profit’s what its all about. 

ann arky's home.

IF NOT NOW ----- WHEN? IF NOT US ----- WHO?

THERE WILL COME A TIME.

There will come a time when the hordes remember,

who bound our grand-parents to the yoke of oppression,

who sentenced our parents to deprivation,

who bid poverty sink its teeth into our heart,

who teach our children, greed is a noble art.

Who sent our sons through the gates of hell

to a litany of cambist brawls,

crammed coffers with blood-stained gold

while laughing in Ares' halls.

"Who does these terrible things to us?" they will ask,

and when they remember,

they'll bring an energy that is endless

to drive a fist that is fearless.

Then this merciless market-driven world will crumble

under an insurrection of integrity,

the poor will emerge from the dark husk of capitalism

to live in the light of social justice.

There will come a time when the hordes remember.

        As the states across Europe stride ever further to the right and fascism shows it vile face from behind the tenuous illusion of democracy, and we live the hardship of financial corporatism's actions of plunder of the public purse, do we meekly accept this financial serfdom or strike out for justice and liberty to control our own lives? There are two questions that need to be answered now, and answered honestly and sincerely.

      "Fear and embarrassment should give their position to daring and
decisiveness, anger should give birth to storms of rage and each one
should ask their heart, if not now... when? if not us... who?"
-Excerpt from a communique of the Conspiracy Cells of Fire

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IT IS ONE BIG JOINED UP STRUGGLE.

      The world is rapidly changing, no longer are we involved in isolated struggles in our own backyard. We have a world vision, through the means of modern communication we are a joined-up struggle, it is no longer the boss-man, it is the world corporate system that we see as the enemy. We can support and show solidarity across the planet as we see the struggle unfold, we can relate each struggle to our own struggle, it is one gigantic struggle for freedom, justice and sustainability. Anger and resistance is growing, we gain strength from knowing others are struggling with us for the same aims, that makes victory all the more certain. 

This from AdBusters:

Look at what's happening in Quebec ... the boldness of the media democracy movement in Mexico ... the teenagers leading an education revolt in Chile ... the Pussy Riot inspired art war unnerving Putin in Russia ... and the new post-capitalist ways of living being forged in Greece and Spain. Witness the growing tempo of green riots across China, the South African miner strikes, the corruption protests of India, the freedom fight in Bahrain, the tremors of dissent in Saudi Arabia, the total loss of confidence in America's corporate-funded Coke-Pepsi election show. Then, add to that the crippling droughts, looming food scarcity, the end of easy oil and the tipping points hovering ominously on the horizon ...

Read the full article HERE:

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