THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE V CORPORATE PROFIT.

 

       Do you remember the days when the City Councillors took the time, by means of smoke and mirrors, to weave the illusion of doing the people's bidding? Now however, they are so arrogant that they don't even bother with that thin veneer of illusion, they just ride roughshod over the will of the people in an attempt to appease big business. Today they see themselves as managing our city and its assets to suit the corporate world, the people are a bit of an inconvenience. What does the health of the people matter if there is money to be made for their corporate masters.

25 Years of Pollution and Congestion for Southside Residents

        This from a friend and comrade, C L: 

      It is now known that Glasgow City Council has already signed a 25 year contract with a company called Viridor to deal the City’s refuse, even before planning permission has been granted for the plant. They plan to build a recycling and gasification (yes a big incinerator to you and me) facility at Polmadie; but don’t worry, the planning authority is Glasgow City Council! At a time when other countries such as Sweden are moving away from incineration to deal with their rubbish, it seems the City Council is determined to commit us to having this toxic monstrosity on our doorstep for the next quarter of a century or more. Local people are understandably angry about this and have many valid objections to this scheme including the following:

     As the client and planning authority Glasgow City Council has a clear conflict of interest and must not decide the outcome of the planning application. The contract guarantees a minimum amount of waste that will be provided for the plant. This in itself will make recycling less attractive as it reduces the amount of waste for burning. Recycling is not only less wasteful of natural resources but will create many times more jobs locally than burning the rubbish will. If the Council can’t fulfil this commitment to provide enough waste, it will be liable for penalties or will have to bring in refuse from other areas increasing pollution and congestion.

    Local residents are very concerned about the pollution from the plant including highly toxic nitrous oxide (NOx) and dioxins resulting from combustion at the site as well as disturbance and traffic congestion from its 24 hour operation . Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of extremely low concentrations of these chemicals. There are many schools including Holyrood, the largest secondary in Scotland, in the surrounding area.

     This part of Glasgow already is an area of social deprivation, poor health and low life expectancy. It is also adjacent to the motorway network. To introduce another source of pollution and traffic will only serve to compound these factors and reduce further social and health inequalities.

    There has been no proper consultation by the company with the local population as required by law. Only a small proportion of households have received information from Viridor.

      A number of well attended public meetings have been held and a campaign group has formed. At present the effort is concentrating on written objections to the planning application and lobbying councillors. Whilst that is useful, I'm sure you all, like me, have previous experience with so called elected councillors who ignore the people that they claim to represent. If we really intend to stop this plant being built we must get ready to take direct action to stop it. We the people have the power, not these self-serving politicians and it is about time we showed them who decides these important matters!

   For more information search Facebook for Glasgow Alternatives to Incineration or email glasgowgain@gmail.com

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PAN-EUROPEAN STRIKE, - THEN WHAT?

     There is the possibility of a pan-European general strike on November 14, if so, what then? Will it be a display to show our lords and masters how angry we are, and if they don't throw us a few more crumbs, we will cause them more inconvenience? Or will it be a decision by the people to change the structure of our society, to stop feeding the parasite banksters and their greed driven billionaire corporate friends. Will the people really take control and set about creating a society based on the needs of all our people, and send the party political system along with the profit motive, to the dustbin of history? Four countries, Portugal, Greece, Spain, and Cyprus have already drawn up plans for a general strike on November 14 with unions in France and Italy considering adding their numbers. 

      A pan-European general strike could be a golden opportunity to bring down this system of exploitation, greed, poverty and deprivation, and build that better world of federated communities based on co-operation, mutual aid and sustainability. Of course a one day general strike will be no more than a midgie bite to the corporate beast that sits on our shoulders. At the end of day of marching, speeches and flag waving, it will be deflating to the thousands that took part, as all they will get is promises of perhaps, a slower squeezing, and pie in the sky in the bye and bye, and more of the same for the foreseeable future.

      If this pan-European strike does go ahead, it has to be of an indeterminate time, with the one aim of bring an end to the foul system that has wreak havoc across generations and continents. To expend all that energy for nothing more than a better crust, with the possibility that it could be taken away again when the next "crisis" hits the system, isn't really worth the effort. It is that moment, it is all or nothing at all.

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TAR SANDS OIL.

   Some years ago I visited Canada and went to the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta. It was an awe inspiring visit, the whole area was a wilderness of beauty on a grand and rugged scale. It was probably the most impressive part of the whole visit. 

   However, this is corporate capitalism and that area is just another source of wealth for the corporate greed machine. Tar sands oil, big bucks, so 54,000 square miles of that wonderful rugged beauty is now the biggest shit pan on that continent. This is planet destruction on an unbelievable scale, and it will go on and grow until they suck the last possible dollar out, and what was a wonderland of rugged beauty will have gone forever, transfered into some fat corporate body's bank account.

   Take a few minutes to look at these pictures from Business Insider, this is the money men at work, plundering and destroying the planet that we all need to survive.

    Canada's economic boom depends on tearing up 54,000 square-mile of pristine Alberta wilderness. Development of the world's third largest oil supply is proceeding rapidly. It already represents a $3.5 billion annual paycheck to the Canadian government and 75,000 immediate jobs. But many are aghast at the project, which is also the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas in Canada.

    When you see the pictures, you may feel the same. We're not saying the project is good or bad. We're just saying the scale and severity of what's happening in Alberta will make your spine tingle.

Read the article and view the photos HERE:

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AN ANARCHIST LIFE.

     It is always important to keep alive the deeds and names of anarchists who have lived their life with honesty and a dedication to the principles of anarchy. They make our history something to be very proud of and worth broadcasting far and wide. From them our generation and those that follow can draw inspiration and they add to the richness that is anarchism. For those interested in the lives of anarchists, past and present the DVD of the life of Umberto Tommasino is now available at: An Anarchist Life.

      A documentary film on the life of Umberto Tommasini, an anarchist blacksmith, born in Trieste in 1896, then moved to Vivaro and then back to Trieste, he crossed the 20th century, through revolutions, wars, social struggles with an enthusiasm and a vitalism unique and fascinating. Between Italy, Paris, Spain, the fascist confine, the Catalan revolution, the 68 movements and beyond, a story collected in the book of Claudio Venza and Clara Germani "The Triestine anarchist" now to be republished by Odradek with a presentation of Claudio Magris. An incredible man, from the book you have the impression of vitalism and such a strong irony, a human approach to all issues, and a contagious enthusiasm.
       We will enjoy to cross the 20th century and Europe accompanied by this humble man, that partecipated directly to the making of history, facing the Big Characters of European History with an anarchist attitude, as equal (Gramsci, Di Vittorio, Vidali and so on..) as a simple and direct human being, that risks, gets into action with no compromises, keeping alive his enthusiasm and coherence.
      The reasons to make this film are many, maybe one is to tell about what was the partecipation in politics in the 20th century, not only the image of negativity of the ideological clash and violence that today's post ideologic ideology tries to present us. It will be a film on what we lost and why.

Excerpt from:  Produzioni dal Basso:

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Glasgow Defence Campaign: Hands off George Square: defending democratic righ...

Glasgow Defence Campaign: Hands off George Square: defending democratic righ...: The gloves are off! The time is now! Get organised or get banned from protesting in your own city centre square! A gathering of Glasg...

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BEYOND RESISTANCE.

           I know that I harp on and on about Greece, but I see what is happening in that country as a tide that is coming our way. It is not that Greece is doing something different from the rest of us, it isn't even a self-inflicted wound. What is happening in Greece is being directed by the financial mafia, better known as the "Troika", which as we all know doesn't even sit in Greece. We also know that these policies are the very same policies that are being forced, at the dictate of that same "Troika", on every nation in Europe. We would be naive to believe that somehow these policies will have a different effect on us, than other countries, that somehow the "Troika" will look more favourably on us than it would the Greeks. We are fortunate in so much as by looking closely at what is happening in Greece, we can see the road that the "Troika" is driving the people down. 

    To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Shall we wait for the decimation of our society, shall we wait for the deprivation and then try to pull ourselves out of the chaos and misery. Shall we wait until our children's' futures are destroyed completely, and hope that the financial markets will look more kindly on us? Or perhaps we could do a George W. Bush and go for a pre-emptive strike? Self defence is not a crime.

Another interesting article from A World to Win:

How we can move beyond resistance

     Everyone joining tomorrow’s anti-austerity march in London called by the Trades Union Congress should take heed of what is happening in Greece if we are going to find ways to move beyond resistance to the deepening crisis.

     The Greek trade unions this week held their 20th one-day general strike in two years against the absolutely savage cuts in living standards imposed by governments of the left and the right, as well as coalition regimes. Regarding the strikes as short-lived protests, the Greek state is standing firm on behalf of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and European Union governments – the infamous Troika.

     Their riot police are working hand-in-glove with the fascist Golden Dawn to protect the authorities as society edges towards breakdown. Only just in the background stands the Greek army, whose colonels are not averse to staging military coups and taking power as they did from 1967 to 1974.

      Despite the widespread hatred of the measures that have reduced many Greeks to penury – to the point where many can’t even afford to bury their dead or obtain vital drugs – the misery is scheduled to worsen, with further pay and pension cuts. One in four are already out of work and job losses are continuing.

     Britain’s situation is not like Greece’s, you could argue. But that would be a superficial view. Greece is at the sharp end of a global crisis of capitalism that is driving policy making in every single country.

Read the full article HERE:

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AUSTERITY = CIVIL WAR!!!!

     I'm back from my wee break, and for a few days I lived the idyllic life at a beach in the sun. It was hard to equate the life style there with what is happening across the world. Not too far away from where we were, in a country being lapped by the same sea and bathed in the same warm sun, the people are facing the possibility of civil war or a fascist take over. In Greece where the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers) policies are ripping up the social fabric of the country and driving the people ever deeper into the swamp of poverty, the people are struggling for answers and as usual in these circumstances, the fascist come out of the sewers with their package of vile answers that will bring the people nothing but more misery. The ballot box will not protect the Greek people, it has already given them poverty and deprivation and fascists in their parliament. They have to restructure their society away from the party political system which is driven by power mongers and economic parasites. 

    This extract from a BBC article is worth reading in full and the video should be seen as a pattern that will be repeated across Europe as the financial Mafia plunder their way across the continent.

      Greece's far-right party, Golden Dawn, won 18 parliamentary seats in the June election with a campaign openly hostile to illegal immigrants and there are now allegations that some Greek police are supporting the party.

     "There is already civil war," says Ilias Panagiotaros. If so, the shop he owns is set to do a roaring trade.It sells camouflage gear, police riot gloves, face masks and T-shirts extolling football hooliganism.
On the walls are posters celebrating the last civil war in Greece, which ended in 1949. "Greek society is ready - even though no-one likes this - to have a fight: a new type of civil war," he says. "On the one side there will be nationalists like us, and Greeks who want our country to be as it used to be, and on the other side illegal immigrants, anarchists and all those who have destroyed Athens several times," he adds.
    You hear comments like this a lot in Greece now but Ilias Panagiotaros is not some figure on the fringes: he is a member of the Greek parliament, one of 18 MPs elected for the far-right Golden Dawn in June's general election.

Read the full article HERE:

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A WEE BREAK.

     ann arky will be away for a wee break for 10 days, so there will be no postings on the blog for that period. I'll miss you all.

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THE COUNTRY, LIKE THE STREETS, BELONGS TO US.

 

      Saturday 20th October the STUC, has called for a massive march and rally in Glasgow, to protest against the coalition government's policy of cuts. There will be on in London on the same day. Let's be clear on this, this is not a trade union protest. It is a national protest of trade unionists, unemployed, pensioners, disabled, students, teenagers, unpaid carers and housewives. This is not a battle of trade unionists against the government, it is a people's protest against the cabal of millionaires who are shoving their ideology down the throats of the ordinary people. Nothing in this ideology was ever in their manifesto, they don't have a mandate to impoverish the people of this country for the benefit of the banksters. They don't have a mandate to build corporate fascism in this country at the behest of the financial Mafia, nor do they have a mandate to sell off the people's assets to their millionaire friends in the corporate world. No where in their manifesto did it say we will privatise the National Health Service, we will decimate your education system, we will close libraries and nurseries. The election and their much publicised manifestos were,  no more than a sham, a con-trick, what they say before the election and what they do after, have no relation to each other.

 

 

 

      So let's make this people's protest against this dictatorial elite of pampered millionaire parasites, this cabal of privileged leeches, the biggest and noisiest this country has seen in many a year. We will not accept poverty imposed on us by millionaires who know nothing of our problems, who are products of plundered wealth, tax dodges and privileged upbring.

      While they stand in expensive suits, and preach to the general public that sacrifices have to be made, tough decisions have to be made, knowing full well that such tough decisions and sacrifices, will in no way impinge on their lavish, unearned lifestyle. They can never see the decimation they are deliberately heaping on the ordinary people, as they always have one eye on their shareholdings and another on their bank accounts.

     This protest must shout loud and clear, we the people are the country, we will decide how this country will be run, and it will be run for the benefit of all our people, we will see to the needs of all our people, we will not starve our children nor sacrifice their future to fatten banksters and bond market gurus.

     October 20th. Take to the streets, fill Glasgow to overflow, with noise, and determination. Don't wait for the STUC to contact you or inform you, form your own group, contact other local groups, Clydeside IWW, Glasgow Anarchist Federation, but turn up, be part of this. Let this be the start of complete solidarity between employed, unemployed, pensioners, students, disabled, teenagers, unpaid carers and housewives. It is your world or it is their world, they are not prepared to compromise, under no circumstances should we, we have the the lives of our pensioners and the vulnerable of society and the future of our children and grandchildren, in our hands.

 

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SOLIDARITY WINS BATTLES.

The world is our battlefield, solidarity is our weapon. It is a weapon that can't be beaten. People power will change the world.

 

 

 

This from LabourStart:

       A month ago, I wrote to tell you about Said Elhairech, leader of the dockers union in Morocco. Said was arrested in June on unfounded charges relating to "national security". You responded in your thousands -- to be precise, 5,657 of you sent off messages of protest as part of a world-wide campaign coordinated by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). And last week we learned that Said has been released and all serious charges against him have been dropped. (Full details here.)
     And last week, I wrote to you about the case of IUF representative and human rights activist Yacine Zaid, in neighboring Algeria, who had been abducted by unidentified men. I asked you to support the IUF's global campaign to get Yacine released. Over 11,000 of you responded and the result was immediate: the Algerian authorities decided his crime was "insulting a police officer"; he was fined the equivalent of 100 Euros and let go. (Full details here.)
     Yacine and Said, who are both outstanding leaders of independent trade unions in their countries, are now free men thanks to the efforts of thousands of trade unionists around the world.
       This is therefore an opportunity to remind you of seven things you can do right now to keep up the momentum, and to help us build a global network of activists who can be mobilized at a moment's notice in cases like these.
        If you have the time, please do all seven. But if you can do even one of these things, you'll be helping.
       1. See which other campaigns are still live and show your support. Workers in Guatemala, Pakistan, Swaziland, Turkey and Zimbabwe need our help today. Click here to see the five current campaigns we're running.
      2.  The fastest way to learn about new campaigns like these is by following LabourStart on Twitter,
       3. You can also show your support for the campaigns by liking LabourStart on Facebook.
      4. Encourage your fellow trade union members to sign up to our mailing list.
      5. Make a secure online donation to LabourStart to allow us to continue with our campaigning work. Does your union support LabourStart? Find out and encourage your union to donate as well.
     6.  Get your union to show a list of live LabourStart campaigns on its website. Full details are here,
     Finally, spread the word to your fellow trade unionists -- pass on this message!

Thank you very much!

Eric Lee

 

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LOOKS NICER THAN JACKBOOTS, - JUST AS BRUTAL.

      The "industrial revolution" rolled over the people of Europe and for about the next 250 years or so, the ordinary people of Britain and the rest of Europe struggled to force little increments from the employers to try to improve their meager conditions. Inch by painful inch we won small concessions, and tried to hand those successes on to the next generation who would hopefully carry on the struggle for total emancipation from wage slavery. 

       The conditions that we have at the moment, though far from what we want, were won in hard fought struggles. People went to prison and in some cases were executed, as they fought to improved our conditions. Nothing we have today was handed to us by the employers or the state, it was always our endless battles that brought as what we have. Now this corporate fascist regime of millionaires that sit in the  Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption are determined to claw it all back and remove what little workplace rights that we have won.

       The so called "deficit reduction" is a guise used by employers and backed up by the state, with which to tear up all agreements between workers and employers. The UK's corporate hatchet man, George Osborne, is attempting to bribe the workers with a handful of silver in exchange for all those rights won over the last 250 years of bitter and painful struggle. For a couple of thousand shares in the company, you can abandon all union protection, workplace rights, the right to a tribunal for unfair dismissal, redundancy payments and a host of other things. We don't have the right to give these away, we hold those rights as custodians with the obligation to hand them on to our children and grandchildren. They are not ours to sell for a quick buck. 

     The legislation will be optional at first, though you will, in all probability, be obliged to sign up if you want a job with firms that make it their policy. it will then be introduced to all new firms making it compulsory if you want a job with them. This is corporate fascism by bribery, it looks nicer than jackboots, but the result is still the same, all rights with your employer, to use you or dispose of you at will. Your freedom and self respect are at stake. It should be resisted with the same anger and ferocity as the jackboots on the streets, it is all limbs of the same vile beast.

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SOLIDARITY MEANS SUCCESS.

Solidarity and mass action does get results, a word of thanks from the IUF.

       THANKS to all the organizations and individuals who participated in the campaign in support of Yacine's release by sending over 11,000 messages in response to our appeals. Your immediate and unreserved response helped lead to the release of Yacine. We must now be vigilant to ensure that he remains free and secure and that the right to organize is respected all over the world!

See Yacine sentenced but free


Ron Oswald
IUF General Secretary

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WORKERS KNOW YOUR HISTORY, - PINOCHET.

       In a couple of days it will be the 37th anniversary of the American backed coup in Chile that lead to 17 years of brutality, death and torture across that country. Though Pinochet has gone, nothing much has changed regarding American policy, it still backs dictators and despots as long as it suits the Western corporate machine. The profits and survival of corporatism is more important than the lives of people. 

From Contra Info: 

September 11th was the day that, in 1973, the commander-in-chief of the Chilean army Augusto Pinochet took power over the democratically elected president Allende. Pinochet killed and tortured thousands in his dictatorial rule, until 1990. On the same day, in 1998, anarchist Claudia López was shot dead by cops of the reinstated democracy while she fought at a barricade during a commemoration of the 1973 coup d’etat. Since then, under the slogan of ‘Black September’ demonstrators fight state repression in remembrance of Claudia and all of those who fell in combat

Continue READING:

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ENGINEERING CONSENT.

     There are those who say that advertising has no effect on them, they buy what they want and when they want. Having been a salesman for most of my life I know this to be false. A salesman is probably the most useless job in society. As a salesman selling round the doors, before leaving the depot, I would check what was in stock and what carried the best bonus and that is what my clients would want and get. This would happen even although I got them to look through the entire catalogue if they wished.

      Public opinion, culture and desires are shaped by the avalanche of advertising, (propaganda) that surges over us on a daily basis. The man who put this into top gear was the nephew of Sigmund Freud, one Edward Bernays. With one publicity stunt, he started American women on the road to lung cancer by getting them to smoke. What he did for women is still going on today, to all of us, across the full spectrum of worthless products.

       The extract below is from an interesting article, (Engineering Consent)  on this subject from Iconoclast:

       Bernays was granted an opportunity to experiment on the minds of the public when American Tobacco Corporation president Tom Hill hired him to break the social taboo surrounding women who smoked cigarettes. Bernays consulted with prominent psycho-analyst A.A Brill, who told him that cigarettes were symbols of male sexual power. If Bernays could find a way to connect cigarettes with the idea of challenging male power, then women would smoke. With this in mind, Bernays persuaded a group of rich debutants to hide cigarettes in their clothes during New York’s annual Easter Parade, with the instruction that all at once, they were to light up the cigarettes dramatically. He then informed the press that a group of suffragettes were preparing to protest male domination by igniting what he called “torches of freedom” during the parade. The press was desperate to photograph the event, which linked the idea of liberty to the defiant act of women smoking. The plan was a success; the story broke nation-wide, and the sale of cigarettes to women began to rise overnight. Through this social experiment, Bernays learned that he could infuse powerful meanings onto irrelevant objects. Consumer choices would no longer be based on careful reasoning, but instead would become expressions of individuality; each product would be a personal investment.

Read the full article HERE:

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BARE KNUCKLE CAPITALISM.

         Western governments have now disposed of the thin smoke of the illusion of democracy, as they power through legislation that decimates the living standards of the ordinary people, in order to stuff the banks with money, (liquidity). They proceed with ideological measures that never appeared in any election manifesto, if they had appeared in writing, they would never have been voted into power.

       With one fell swoop, the Greek government has banned ALL public gatherings, in Athens and Athens Airport, on Tuesday, the day of Angela Merkel's visit. At least they realise the anger of the people. They have also made "preemptive" arrests, never mind, "innocent until proved guilty" and all that.

From The Greek Streets:

  

Greek police bans all gatherings and protests during Angela Merkel’s visit to Athens

       In an unprecedented move, greek police has just announced a ban of all gatherings and protests in the wider centre of Athens plus the city’s airport and the main thoroughfares to it. According to the decision, the only areas excluded are Omonoia and Syntagma square. The ban will run from 9am to 10pm on Tuesday, 9th of October.
At the same time, police announced that will carry out preemptive detains today.

18 members of Public Electricity Company’s workers union were arrested for occupying the centre of informatics of the company

     Last night 18 members of the Public Company of Electricity  workers union were arrested. The union members occupied the informatics centre of the company in order to protest to the plans to privatize the company. But they also wanted to gain information about very big businesses with close political tights which were not charged the special property tax that was enforced to the citizens, leading to poor people having their home’s power supply cut off. A couple of hours after the occupation, riot police raided the building and arrested them all.

I call it corporate fascism, dressed up as bare knuckle capitalism.

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SHE'S JUST CHECKING THE BOOKS.

      With the Greek people struggling to survive the financial Mafia's onslaught it would appear to be rubbing salt on the wound when the chief hit-man of that Mafia, Angela Merkel, is to pay a visit to their capital Athens. I have no doubt she will be there to check over the books and see that the subservient Greek government is doing what it is told. Seeing that it is selling off enough of the people's assets to her corporate friends and at the right price. She will also be throwing a bankers eye over the plundering of the public purse to see that all the wee nooks and crannies have been duly emptied into the coffers of her bankster cronies. 

 The people have to tighten their belts to get us out of this mess.

This from Teacher Dude's Grill and BBQ:

    After much consideration I've decided that I'll be going down to Athens to cover the protests planned for the arrival of German chancellor, Angela Merkel to Greece. It's not a decision to be taken lightly as angry protesters are unlikely to be throwing rose petals and messages of good luck tomorrow. Already political organisations from across the entire political spectrum have said they will be calling upon supporters to take part in anti - austerity demonstrations on Tuesday in the centre of the Greek capital.In addition both public and private sector trade unions will be also part of the mix with marches set for 1 pm in Syntagma Square*, opposite parliament and the scene of the many violent confrontations.

     For their part, the Greek police has announced, depending on which media source you use, that 6000, 6500 or 7000 officers will be on duty including the notoriously violent riot units known as the MAT. Also 4 water canons will be on standby, marking an escalation in the arms race between police and protesters in Greece.

     As far as the foreign and local mainstream media is concerned the visit by Merkel is being hailed as a diplomatic triumph for Greek PM, Antonis Samaras and proof that Germany is determined to keep Greece within the Eurozone. On the internet and in the streets and cafes the arrival of the German leader has provoked a reaction of anger and dismay, being viewed as an arrogant act of provocation at a time when the nation's poorest are being hammered by an public service cuts and tax hikes during an economic downturn unprecedented in modern Greek history. 

      Last week's policing fiasco when demonstrating shipyard workers stormed the grounds of the ministry of defence unopposed means the law enforcement authorities and the government will be determined to show that they are in charge of the situation on the streets. In operational terms that means the gloves will be off and a repeat of the violent clashes that marked the mass Indignant rallies last year is a distinct possibility. 

Read the full article HERE:

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VOTING TO HAVE MILLIONAIRES KICK YOU IN THE TEETH.

         As time goes by it becomes more obvious how our coalition of millionaires works. At the Libdem's conference their hapless mealy-mouthed Clegg announced in bold fashion that there will be no £10 billion in cuts. A week or so on, their partners in crime the Tories have their conference and their hatchet man, millionaire Osborne, announces a further £10 billion in cuts to the welfare system on top of the £18 billion cuts scheduled for the coming year. That's co-operation Conservative style. While the Libdems prance around making pleasing sounds, but doing no more than rubber stamping Tory ideology, we the public get hit with more and more cuts to all our vital social services. I shudder to think what will be the harsh reality of £10 billion in cuts to the welfare system on top of £18 billion. We are already seeing disabled people thrown off benefit with drastic effects, nurseries, libraries, and other vital parts of a civilised society being discarded, an education system in tatters and our National Health Service being privatised. Of course with these cuts comes more people being paid off from public sector jobs at an ever increasing rate, adding to that ever growing army of unemployed. All this comes with the promise that Britain will have balanced its books in the distant future. 

    Of course balanced books doesn't mean that you will get back all those conditions and benefits that you lost. They will have gone forever, all those wage cuts and wage freezes will not come hurtling back because Britain has balanced its books. All those libraries and nurseries will not suddenly re-appear, the Health Company PLC. will not suddenly become the NHS. This massive transfer of wealth upwards is for ever, those who bear the brunt of this “deficit reduction” by being pushed deeper into poverty will just have to grind their way through life in the comfort of knowing that Britain has balanced its books. You will of course, from time to time, be asked to vote for this decimation of your standard of living, you will be give the choice of having them administered by your favourite colour of party, or choose by the most pleasing smile. You could of course, screw the lot of them and don't bother voting, there are other ways of structuring society.

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FREEDOM.

"Freedom is a strictly personal cause, not to be begged for but conquered—day by day, thought by thought, gesture by gesture, smile by smile, attack by attack." —Christos Tsakalos.

Sounds like good advice from a very wise person.

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WHY I'M NOT A CHRISTIAN.

     Rather long, but as always with Bertrand Russell, concise but in simple language.

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THE DYING ILLUSION OF DEMOCRACY.

       Next month sees the culmination of the carnival of rich liars, otherwise known as the American Presidential elections. Millions will turn up and make their mark in favour of tweedle-dee or teedle-dum and things will roll on as usual. The rich will bask in the sun, in a lush cherry orchard surrounded by a fine wine lake, while the rest of the public will grind out a living as best they can as the pampered parsites continue to plunder the public purse. It is a process that has gone on for hundreds of years and rich get richer and the poor get poorer, but still the system is accepted by those same poor. Though I do believe that this latest world wide savage attack on the living standards of the ordinary people, is causing more and more to wake up to the fact that they are being conned. More and more people are looking for an alternative way of structuring our society, away from the parasite millionaire elitism that dominates and bleeds us dry. 

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.

       The following is from America but equally applies to any country, as the stench of putrid capitalism chokes the lungs of freedom across the planet. Let's hope that this time they take their occupation to the next step and occupy everything and taking control of their communities and their lives.

This from Anarchist News: 

WHEN: Starts at 5 PM Saturday, October 13th (the first anniversary of Occupy Chapel Hill) WHERE: Peace and Justice Plaza, Chapel Hill, NC WHO: Anyone who wants to change their world directly, instead of through the narrow choices and occasional elections of democracy Anyone who doesn't trust another batch of politicians to fix the mess that the last batch of politicians started Anyone let down by Obama's false hope Anyone sick of choosing a "lesser" evil Anyone who knows politicians just serve the rich

WHY:
        The November election is coming. It doesn't matter. The amount of issues Obama and Romney differ on is nothing compared to what they agree on: unparalleled military domination; a growing prison system, the largest in the world, whose racist policies maintain the white supremacy this country was founded on; earth destroying resource extraction; a capitalist economy that rewards ruthless competition without concern for human cost. Under Bush, the nascent Obama generation could imagine that a new personality in the White House could change the problems the last politician piloted us into. And a new politician realized the shifting calculus, promising us false hope and false change. But after the failure of that experiment, we can be sure that the problem isn't personal, it is systemic. No matter who comes along, voting will never get us out from under our rulers.
      This country is obsessed with voting to an unhealthy degree. Most people don't even vote, but it seems to be the only way anyone can think of changing their world. But voting is not an expression of our power; it only demonstrates our powerlessness: it is an admission that we can only approach the resources and capabilities of our own society through the mediation of an elite, ruling class. When we let candidates prefabricate options for us, we relinquish control of our world and abdicate our agency in shaping it. Real power can never be delegated, nor lived through anyone else. Real power means individual and collective self-determination--our ability to decide for ourselves how we're going to live every day of our lives--not settling between two unsatisfying and irrelevant choices every four years.
    On the one year anniversary of Occupy Chapel Hill, come demonstrate that people power will always be in conflict with with the interests of the ruling class, be they elected or not.

ann arky's home.