Solidarity Against State Repression.

       A call for solidarity against the Spanish government's repressive actions, as it tries to crush and silence all resistance, while it carries out the dictates of the Financial Mafia, forcing "austerity" in the backs of the ordinary people. As has been said before, "First they came for the anarchists------"   Solidarity knows no borders.

Anarcho Syndicalist posted in Friday 16 January - International Day of Support for Anarchist Detainees in Spain


Anarcho Syndicalist 11 January 22:01

Call for International Solidarity Actions against Repression in Spain

http://www.iwa-ait.org/content/call-international-solidarity-actions-against-repression-spain

     Last December 16, in Barcelona, 11 anarchists were detained in what is known as "Operation Pandora". All 11 detainees are anarchist activists. 4 of them were released on December. One of them is a member of the CNT union from Sabadell and is still imprisoned. His lawyer says they are being held because they are organized. They haven't been accused of anything more than being active anarchists that spread and publish our ideas and fight for them.
     It's clear that this operation took place only to persecute and criminalise the libertarian movement and to instill fear in the rest of the population so they don't fight against this system's injustice.
     On January 16 afternoon we ask for solidarity. All that are able, please hold demonstrations or protest meetings to demand the detainees' freedom and against Operation Pandora.

Call for International Solidarity Actions against Repression in Spain | International Workers...
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Anarcho Syndicalist

11 January 20:56

      On Tuesday, December 16th, at 5am, hundreds of cops broke into several houses, social centers, and ateneos in Barcelona, and also an apartment in Madrid. It was part of Operation Pandora, an anti-terrorist initiative carried out by the the highest level of the Spanish court system. Several houses were searched and eleven anarchist comrades were arrested. They did not know what charges they were accused of when they were arrested, just given a vague “anarchist terrorism” charge.
       On Thursday, December 18th, seven of them went to prison and the other four were released under surveillance. All of them are now accused of the participating in the GAC (Coordinated Anarchist Groups), a group of people who held some meetings and edited some books. Earlier in November, 2013, five people were arrested and two are still in prison. They are also accused of the participating in the GAC and also committing some direct actions against churches.
         The coordination between the police force and the media during Operation Pandora was immediately apparent. Together, they created panic and justified the repressive operation in terms of “criminal groups”, “terrorists” and “violent ones”. These police raids happened one day after the enactment of the “Ley Mordaza”, a very restrictive law that criminalizes disobedience and protest .
          We are not surprised about the repression against the anarchist movement because our struggle against inequality through the self organization outside of laws and institutions make us undesirable for the state. They talk about “terrorism” when it is they who create terror and misery: the politicians and their laws, the bankers and their blackmails, the employing class and their exploitation, the cops and military with their repression and wars. Who are the “criminals”? Who is “violent”? Who are the “terrorists”?
        The arrested people are our comrades. If they are terrorists, we are too. We build affinity, create alternatives, and point out who is robbing and exploiting us.

Because they are our friends,
Because they are our comrades,
Because we fight for Anarchism
We demand their immediate release!
We are in solidarity with them and will keep on fighting!

The struggle is the only way

For more information: solidaridadylucha@riseup.net

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Workers, Know your History: We Don't Need A Carpark.

    Another episode in which The Glasgow City Council decided what the people needed, without consulting the people, and the people, by direct action and solidarity, made them change their minds and listen to the people.

     This successful campaign took place in Castlemilk, what was at one time the largest housing estate in Britain. 

Taken from Strugglepedia:

Community Action – Housing; regentrification, greens into car parks, loss of safe play spaces. Injustice/ normal channels closed / bureaucracy /desperation /solidarity with experienced anarchist strategies/ planning direct actions/ increasing the agitation/ use the demolition workers in the struggle, to bring the bureaucrats to the site/ impact on people as activists

John Cooper, John Cooper - taped and scribed by A Rice 17.7.12

I tell it all as if it was a day but it was actually maybe 6 months or a year of struggle.

    Campaign in Castlemilk, A group of tenants had been told that the Council are going to build a car park in their back greens. The back greens being the area in which they hung out their washing and where the kids played in safety. The people in the area were all against it and they had actually got a petition together, taken it up to the Labour club, and handed it into the Labour Club and low and behold the Labour Club lost the petition they said later, or they claimed they lost it. And therefore the peoples’ thing could not be taken any further. So by luck one of the tenants bumped into one of us and he told us about the situation.

      The work was about to begin in the back greens. They had knocked down a couple of the gable ends to allow bull dozers to get through into the backs. And they were going to start digging up the drying greens and the kids play areas to build this car park.

And basically the people says to us ‘do you think there’s anything we can do about this. Nobody in the area wants this. Everybody is absolutely against the idea. We have petitioned the Labour Party through the Labour Club – they lost the petition that we handed in – and can it be stopped? ’.

     I gave the answer that I always give people that ask me that question and I answered ‘How determined are you?’ And they said they were absolutely determined about it so I asked them to get a couple of the families together, we went up and saw them, and we talked to them. We being a group of local community activists in Castlemilk, myself and a couple of the others were anarchists, some of the others had no political affiliation, there might have been one or two people in the Labour party, or some kinda left wing groups or whatever but generally I would describe the whole feeling of the thing as kinda anarchistic.

We went up and seen the people. We suggested to them that they get another petition together – no because there any value in getting a petition - but jist to give us an opportunity to go back round everybody again , talk to them on their doorstep, and ask them if they were still prepared to do something about it. We did that the next day , it was only a quad , a really small area, everybody agreed that they were against it. So we went up to the Labour Club, we said that we had another petition, but we weren’t giving it them in or whatever, and we wanted something done about it. We asked to see somebody – they refused to let us see anybody, so we went back down the road and we made our plans for the next day.

      The next day the bulldozers came and we decided just to block the whole entrance to the back greens, refused to allow the bulldozers through. And I went up and I spoke to the guy that was driving the bulldozer and explained the situation to him and as usual when you speak to other working class people they generally see the point, I will have to phone my gaffer, well that’s exactly what we want you to do, and he phoned his gaffer and he phoned his gaffer and he phoned his gaffer and before too long we had all the relevant people down at the site and that ultimately they sent for the council. When the councillors arrived ( I don’t know if it was that day) but some point in the thing, the councillors arrived in a limo, and so it went from a situation where the councillors refused to see the people but because of the direct action that we took they had to eventually come to us to see us in person. And within a very short space of time they saw that we weren’t going to allow them to build a car park in the back green and they had to cancel the whole thing.

So it was an outright victory for the people.

Stasia; and these are publicity photos?

     This is a wee exhibition that the tenants done at the time. After the victory we done these sheets and people put in their comments and pictures, newspaper cuttings, explaining how we halted the car park and we actually used these in other struggles by putting these up and we explained to people that this is how you can take things on and win the situation.

List of the material

Sheets that you can put up on walls hand made posters (John Cooper Snr Handwriting)

A wee folder of all the newspaper coverage at the time

People writing poems about it

Pictures taken at the time by Charlie Fisher non resident photographer (who helped with the community newspaper Castlemilk Today)

Dept of housing official papers

Minutes of the council meetings

MP letters from Westminster Teddy Taylor

And letters from Glasgow District council

Copy of petition 2 not handed in because previous one lost.

     Initially the people went to the Labour Councillors which is the obvious way to deal with the situation. They went to them, handed in a petition to the Labour Club who basically ignored them and said they lost the petition so the Labour Councillors basically refused to take up their issue for them and they were quite happy to allow it to go ahead. And because they were able to come to us the people that lived there, we advised them on how to deal with the situation and we were there with them and we managed to stop it completely and the backs were all reinstated.

Impact

      Some of the people in the campaign for the most were delighted at the victory, it was something that they thought they could not achieve in view of the fact that they had already started the work so not only did they stop the thing but they actually retrieved the thing from the ashes so to speak. I think a lot of people felt a great sense of empowerment, and certainly some were involved in other campaigns after that.

 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Helped By Taking Your Money Away.

       When on Job Seekers Allowance, you are living on/below the bread line, so life is tough and stressful. To be "sanctioned" (having your benefits stopped) is obviously a very serious event, so you would imagine those caring advisers, who are there to help you, would take the matter of "sanctioning" people as a last resort. However, the reality is they don't give a damn and carry out "sanctions" in an arbitrary, vindictive, callous and very mean low-life manner.

      The following are some of the reasons for people being "sanction" pushed into deprivation, taken from the site DWP Uspun:

Cruel, arbitrary and ridiculous reasons why people have their benefits stopped.

    You’re a 60-year-old army veteran who volunteers to sell poppies for the Royal British Legion in memory of fallen comrades. You’ve applied for dozens of jobs – including the supermarket where you sold the poppies – but without success. You are sanctioned for four weeks.

Source: Daily Mirror

    You get a job interview. It’s at the same time as your job centre appointment, so you reschedule the job centre. You attend your rearranged appointment and then get a letter saying your benefits will be stopped because going to a job interview isn’t a good enough reason to miss an appointment.

Source: Daily Mail

    Your gran dies during the night. The next morning your partner calls the job centre and asks if you can come in the following day instead. The centre agrees, and you sign in the next day. Then you get a letter stating that you failed to sign in and would be sanctioned if you don’t reply within seven days. You reply, explaining the situation. The job centre gives you a six-week sanction for not replying.

Source: Mari-claire M at Netmums

     You’ve signed in on time, been to interviews and applied for work. Your job centre advisor suggests you make a two-line change to your CV, which you do, but fail to give the updated CV to the job centre (you weren’t told you had to). You are sanctioned for four weeks.

Source: nciaw36 at MoneySavingExpert

    You work for 20 years and then miss a job centre appointment because you haven’t had the process clearly explained. You are sanctioned for 3 weeks.

Source: Councillor John O’Shea

     You get a job that starts in two weeks time. You don’t look for work while you are waiting for the job to start. You’re sanctioned.

Source: The Guardian

        You are forced to retire due to a heart condition, and you claim Employment and Support Allowance. During your assessment you have a heart attack. You are sanctioned for not completing your assessment.

Source: Debbie Abrahams MP

      It’s Christmas Day and you don’t fill in your job search evidence form to show that you’ve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas. 

Source: Poverty Alliance

      You are given a training appointment that clashes with your job centre appointment. The job centre is unwilling to rearrange its appointment and tells you to get a letter from the training organisation. The training organisation says it doesn’t provide letters.

Source: Russell Brown MP

     You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week.

Source: Pontefract and Castleford Express

    You miss your job centre appointment due to the funeral of a close family relative. You are sanctioned.

Source: Derek Twigg MP

        You’ve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but can’t afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement.

Source: Caroline Lucas MP

      You have a job interview which overruns so you arrive at your job centre appointment 9 minutes late. You get sanctioned for a month.

Source: jsdk at Consumer Action

      You can’t afford to travel to look for work so you get sanctioned.

Source: Citizens Advice Bureau

      Your job centre advisor suggests a job. When you go online to apply it says the job has “expired” so you don’t apply. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks.

Source: Penny at Yahoo! Answers

         There is more of these cruel, vindictive, callous, brutal actions on DWP Unspun. Though I'm sure if you ask around your friends and neighbours, you'll be ale to come up with a page or two of your own. That's capitalism for you.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Govan, And Common Goods.

      If you are in or around Glasgow on January 13th. there is an interesting event from Bob at Citystrolls:

 January 13th 2015 7:00 
Pearce Institute

      You are invited to a Common Good evening to find out about and discuss the Farmhouse project.

Idea:
     Take an old farmhouse part of Govan’s Common Good Fund and turn it into an independent community resource centre. Use the entire process from planning to building as a learning project and include as much of the community as possible.
      In this our first of many TownHall meeting. We will set out plans for the Farmhouse and discuss ways 
of how folk could become involved. Then open it to the floor for peoples
 input and ideas. 



What we will look at on the night is: 

- A short presentation of the farmhouse and ideas for future developments in 2015. 
- Why independent commons assets are important to our communities. 

- Why it is important to different organisations in the wider context. 

- The commons in helping to create new community models relevant to
 local people.

- How we protect the Common Good Fund for future generations, by 
understanding what it is and using it to empower communities.
Light refreshments and 
some snacks will be supplied during evening 
 



More info?  
Contact: Bob 07811 263 923 
bob@citystrolls.com

Project website: https://commgood.wordpress.com/ 

Short video: http://youtu.be/Oh-LJs6v-B0 



 


Common Good Awareness Project

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Monster FromThe Dark Corridors Of Power.

      The corporate monster TTIP is not yet killed off, but killed off it must be if we want any form of control over our lives. This is the total domination of all aspects of our lives controlled from the boardrooms of the greed driven corporate world. The power shifting arrangements are being secretly discussed in the dark corridors of corporate power, away from the prying eyes of the public, who will be the victims of this coup. Any sliver of the illusion of democracy will vanish if we don't stop this takeover bid by the profit driven greed merchants.

      Are you free on Saturday 31st January? 38 Degrees members in Glasgow are getting together to campaign on TTIP. That’s the dodgy EU-US trade deal that could further privatise our NHS and allow corporations to sue our government. [1]
     On the day, 38 Degrees members will be handing out leaflets and chatting to local people in Glasgow about TTIP. They’ll also be collecting signatures for the EU-wide petition. The group will be able to provide leaflets and petition sheets, so don’t worry about bringing anything!
    If you’d like to find out more about TTIP, so you can feel comfortable talking about it, there’s lots of information here:
http://38degrees.org.uk/ttip
     The idea on the day is to spread the word about TTIP and make sure it’s an issue local politicians can’t ignore. So the more of us that turn up, the more people we’ll be able to speak to, and the further we can spread this really important message.
Here are the details:
     What: Leafleting and talking to local people about TTIP and collecting signatures for the EU-wide petition
When: Saturday 31st January, 11am-2pm,
Where: Meet outside Hillhead library, 348 Byres Road, Glasgow, G12 8AP
      Please RSVP here so that local 38 Degrees members can get an idea of how many to expect:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/glasgow-ttip
Thanks for being involved,
Jen, Blanche & the 38 Degrees team

NOTES:
[1] Independent Voices: What is TTIP and six reasons why the answer should scare you:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/what-is-ttip-and-six-reasons-why-the-answer-should-scare-you-9779688.html
The Guardian: The TTIP deal hands British sovereignty to multinationals:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/14/ttip-deal-british-sovereignty-cameron-ukip-treaty

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Spirit of Revolt In A Capitalist World.

     Spirit of Revolt is an entirely volunteer run archive, it gathers all Clydeside area, non-party, grass-roots material of struggle to improve the conditions of the ordinary people, and makes it easily accessible to the general public. However, like all archives, it requires funding for the day to day running, things like paper, printer cartridges, scanners, computers, pieces of internet equipment, web hosting, etc. In order to keep the cataloguing at international standard, and for training purposes, we also need the service of an archivist on a part-time basis. All this needs funding and we are grateful for any donations, large or small, one-of, or standing orders. So if you think we are doing a good job and would like to see us continue and expand, perhaps you could donate as you see fit, you can get details HERE or contact us at info@spiritofrevolt.info. We would also like to thank those who have set up standing orders and donated one-of payments in the past, it is all much appreciated and necessary.    On behave of  Spirit of Revolt,  John.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Another Look At "Western" Values.

       Not up to date news, and probably seen before, but well worth spreading as a critical look at "Western" values.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Homelessness Is An Indictment Against Society.

      A land of billionaires, Rolls Royce cars, fashionable restaurants and rising homeless, what a display of arrogance and hypocrisy, of greed and self interest in the midst of poverty and deprivation. This is all that capitalism can give us, an ever widening gap in living standards between the controlling pampered parasites, and the ordinary people of this world. Homelessness is a crime against humanity, an indictment against a system of economics that punishes the poor and the unfortunate. There are countless empty houses and still we push people onto the street in a country that has cold damp winters. Why should we tolerate such injustice? We produce all the wealth in this system, then abandon it to the vampire squids of the financial/corporate world, then proceed to try to scratch out a living from the crumbs they throw our way.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Democracy Doesn't Come In a Ballot Box.

     The people of Greece go to the polls on the 25th. January to elect a new governing party, and it looks likely, but not a certainty, that Syriza, a collection of left leaning groups, will win. There seems to be some considerable support from anarchists outside Greece, who are cheering on Syriza, should they be doing so? Is Syriza different, or is it just another contender in the monumental “Crooks and Liars” competition? The same competition that takes place at frequent intervals across the globe, our own home grown one takes place this coming May. If they don't get a majority, who will they go into coalition with? The Greek Communist Party has ruled itself out of any co-operation with Syriza, who else will step forward?

----Given the fact that the only other left-wing parliamentary party, the Greek Communist Party (KKE), has explicitly stated they would never support a “government of the left,” all the other potential allies for a coalition government are flanking SYRIZA from the right. There is no need to mention how a moderate governmental fraction could weaken Tsipras’ position inside the country, as well as during the crucial negotiations with the troika of creditors (EU, IMF and ECB), due to start the day after the elections.----

      Nor does Syriza represent a revolutionary stance, it will be trying to do a deal with the Troika, (EU, European Union, ECB, European Central Bank, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers) to get a more palatable arrangement for the people of Greece, a more moderate and compassionate capitalism, some crusts instead of crumbs. And so the system is perpetuated with a few moderate adjustments here and there.

----- A point that needs to be clarified is that, despite its name, SYRIZA’s program is not radical at all, at least in terms of economic issues. Proposals such as the incentives for “green development,” the relaxation of property taxation, increased public investment and food stamps for the extreme poor might have been dismissed by the European social democratic parties of the 1970s as “too moderate.” In the current European context, though, which is monopolized by the obsession of austerity, even SYRIZA’s neo-Keynesianism seems to represent some sort of radical rupture.------

 

The Obama of Greece??

 

      What the babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media keep pumping out is that this is a major revolutionary event in representative democracy, when in fact it is all about a bit of disruption in the financial Mafia's policy of grinding the people down to a sweatshop economy, an irritant, a nuisance factor, that might upset some profit margins in their bubble of finance. Don't expect the collapse of capitalism in Greece any time soon, when that happens, it will not be through the ballot box in the great “Crooks and Liars” competition.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Prisons, A Tool Of Oppression.

     Prisons, the state's answer to the cry for freedom. A necessary tool in the armoury of oppressors, the club held above your head, to demand you subservience.

An open letter from a Mexican prison, by Fernando Barcenos:

Fernando’s text December 15, 2014

      To free spirits and rebels To the oppressed and marginalized To people in general Today I officially completed one year in prison; on December 10, 2014 I was sentenced to five years and nine months’ prison on charges of breach of the peace and conspiracy to commit a crime.
      These accusations were argued with nothing but mere conjecture and without any real evidence to prove my guilt. As for the crime of conspiracy, the only thing that sustains the accusation is that I had with me protest material and anarchist statements, making it clear that this is an ideological criminalization aimed at defaming and discrediting anarchist and libertarian ideas. Historically, in all eras, a series of ideas, thoughts and information in general are suppressed, not allowed to be thought by the individuals of a given society.
       However there are always people and individuals who refuse to tow the line and who, not conforming to that which one is permitted to do, be and think, decided to risk our lives in search of authentic freedom. And when we have dealt with social ills, product of hierarchy, they have called us authors of disorder and sent us to populate the prisons.
      Without a doubt rebellion does not stop in jail, it is precisely in jail that the rebel is formed completely and any doubts or contradictions that might have existed in his ideas till then dissipate. He ends up strengthening himself and becoming ideologically more grounded. Entering prison ends one cycle of struggle to start a new one, but this time more radical, direct and complete. May the walls come down and freedom continue its inexorable course, until we are all free!

Read the full article HERE:

The Peasants Are Picking Up Their Pitchforks.

     From East to West, from North to South, people are standing up to authority and injustice. Pick your country and there will be trouble on the streets, the system is creaking, more and more power is needed to keep the "peasants" in line. the smoke is clearing, the illusion is fading, and the system is being seen for what it is, a punitive repressive system, held in place by brute force, to protect the parasitic pampered few. The force that holds it together is only temporary, as that same force will be its downfall. The harder you push down on a spring the higher it bounces up, so it is with violence against the people.

 

Here are just a few of the recent actions against that state brutality, look around and you will find many more:

Australia, Darwin: small riot in teenage prison

Algeria: movement against shale gas spreads to 3 towns

Haiti, Anse-a-Pitre: Haitian and Dominican Republic cops join forces to “restore calm” after fishermen attack Dominican Embassy,
India, Mumbai: commuters riot at railway stations “Violent crowds ran amok on Central Railway’s suburban network on Friday morning

Mexico: cops attacked during president’s convocation speech (video)

Australia, Pingelly: how to celebrate the new year, part 1
New Zealand, Gisborn: part 2
France: part 3 – cars burnt in Strasbourg, Selestat, Colmar, Macon, Toulouse and Trappes…but this says car burnings are down 12% due to heavy poicing after mad attacks
US, Oakland: Part 4 – bricks and bottles thrown at cops on New Year’s eve….Part 5 – Pittsburgh: teenage prisoners riot in “adolescent treatment centre”…Part 6: Santa Cruz: anti-cop protesters smash up County Jail vehicles
Germany, Leipzig: Part 7 – Deutsche Bank stoned in solidarity with anarchists in Spain
 US, Oakland: bricks and bottles thrown at cops
 US, …police officers were shot at Tuesday night, as they tried to investigate a burglary call at one of the town’s many buildings burned down in anti-cop riots.
Spain, Canary Islands: solidarity actions in solidarity with anarchists arrested in Spain

Burma: copper mine protesters clash with cops at Chinese embassy over killing of 50-year-old woman

Read in more detail HERE:

Repression,-- A sign Of The State's Power Slipping.

     When it comes to attempting to crush any resistance to the financial Mafia's dictates, Greece leads the way in Europe. It has just started to transfer prisoners to its new super security prison within a prison, Domokos. However that is only because to date, Greece is the European country where the anger and resistance of the people is at boiling point. As the people of other countries strengthen their resistance to this perpetual plundering of the public purse in aid of the financial Mafia, so the state will strengthen its repression. Greece today, tomorrow Spain, Italy Ireland----?

     The conditions in Domokos are intended to isolate those who are most vociferous and active in their resistance, more than anything, the state fears the spread of of freedom of thought and of expression among the people. Such things eroded the power of the state and it will attempt strangle and crush them before they spread to the general public. At this level the state has long since abandoned the illusion that prisons were for reforming, and now openly uses them for their original and real purpose, repression. They are an inhumanity, a scar on the face of any society, a cancer in any community, a symbol of punitive power.

This from Rabble:

     Domokos prison, in central Greece, is the first prison to be revamped and classified as “Type C” under a new law passed in July. Type C prisons are the first Greek prisons that will meet Europe-wide maximum security standards. The regime prohibits day release and rules out parole for those serving life sentences before prisoners have served at least 20 years behind bars. The general operation and supervision of the prison will be tightly controlled and prison access guarded by the police rather than screws. Visits and phone calls will be restricted.
      Type C prisons are specially made for ‘terrorist’ prisoners (urban guerrillas & revolutionaries), and other detainees deemed to pose a serious threat.
The new Domokos wing opens just as more fighters from the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire are handed prison sentences of up to 25 years.
     These are the actions of a state desperate to contain the spread of rebellion in Greece since the explosion of the economic crisis in 2008. One Domokos prisoner, Revolutionary Struggle fighter Nikos Maziotis, has already issued a call for the formation of an assembly in solidarity with political prisoners. Maziotis writes:
“the passing of legislation of the Type C prisons are an expected development in the repressive attack of the State against the armed Revolutionary Organizations and against armed direct action. Subsequently, the legislative changes and reforms that have been under way for about 14 years are directly linked to the political and economic conditions, applicable for years internationally, and none other than the “war on terror” and the neoliberal reforms intended to impose the dictatorship of the markets, and its doctorate of supranational capital.”

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Solidarity Is Our Winning Weapon.

      The Spanish fascist government's Operation Pandora should not be dismissed as something minor and over there in a foreign country. It is the expected vicious reaction from any state that feels its power is being threatened. The greatest threat to the power of any state is from those think for themselves, and encourage others to do likewise. The power of the state relies on a subservient population. Hence, anarchist will always come in for the first and hardest of the state's repressive fight back.

         Over the last few years the Greek state has been trying to savagely crush any autonomous centres, social squats, etc. by a brutal attack on anarchists, and shutting down those centres. Spain is just following the authoritarian rules. If the people start to think for themselves and act accordingly, the repression will be stepped up, and as unrest and anger among the people of Europe grows, so we should expect more of the Greek state reaction and more "Operation Pandora" type scenarios. Solidarity is our winning weapon in this struggle to be free from the cancer of authority.

      On "Operation Pandora" here is an open letter from Brieva Prison, by anarchist Monica Caballero. It first appeared on Anarchist News:

Anarchist comrade Monica Caballero on Operation Pandora from Brieva prison (Spain)

If I were to choose a different life I would not change it for anything.

      I vividly remember the intoxicating feeling that came over me when I began to question authority; I remember the many contradictions and questions. In this discovery of ideas I found many people that made their ideas into practical material in their libraries, publications, social centres, etc. … in their everyday life … they lived their lives in the here and now. It did not take long for me to want to do the same.

     I remember the anxiety I felt when I heard there were comrades imprisoned for putting their ideas of freedom into practise; sisters of ideas in all corners of the world in the jaws of the panoptic beast. That distressing feeling never changed, but is accompanied by gestures of solidarity.

      We are many; the anarchists on the other side of the wall, and after Tuesday December 16 our numbers have grown.

     The tentacles of power dropped into anarchists´ spaces, libertarian social centres, a squatted house and homes of several anarchists in Catalonia and Madrid. The hunt captured eleven companions, of these, seven have been kept in prison, accused of belonging to an armed group of a terrorist nature. It is no coincidence that comrades arrested are part of my immediate circle; indeed, more than half of them frequently visited me in jail. The judicial hammer has punished solidarity.

     I cannot keep silent before such misery, the State´s repressive revenge borders on delirium. The media (spokesmen for the rulers) talks about bosses and subordinates, I stress to them and anyone who harbours any doubts – we are anti-authoritarian, no one is above me, nor am I above anyone!

     The spaces attacked in Catalonia, were not arbitrary, firstly, the Kasa de la Muntanya is an important symbol of the squatting movement, and with its 25 years distanced from capitalist logic they have made their contribution to many generations of dissidents to this system of terror. The libertarian social centres and anarchists spaces that were attacked never hid their ideals, providing fertile ground for sowing the seeds of freedom.

      The costs in this struggle for the recovery of our lives are very high, nobody said it would be easy, but undoubtedly if I were to choose a different life I would not change it for anything. In this fight against domination no cages or walls can silence our voices, but without you, comrades, our voices are transformed in echoes.

    If you, my recently jailed comrades, are ever able to read these words, I tell you that I’m certain you will remain incorruptible and rise to the occasion as you always have.

    I remember every time I read or heard “solidarity is a necessary weapon for anarchists”. Today I hope that those memories come true … making our ideas action.

Brieva prison, December 2014.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Designer Shoes From Blood!!!

         In the coming week, January 6th. two anti-militarists will be in Cardiff Magistrate s Court, for protesting against the 2014 DPRTE arms fair, held in Cardiff, having been driven out of Bristol, its previous venue. What they are charged with points to the type of life style these dealers in death live,  they are charged with damaging, among other things, a £400 suit and a pair of £200 designer shoes. No doubt, all paid for in blood.

          If you are in or near the Cardiff Magistrates Court on January 6th. You could go along and show solidarity with the defendants, though we all know who should be in the dock. 

Details from Radical Wales:
 

     There has been active opposition DPRTE since 2013. The arms fair had previously been hosted at the UWE campus in Bristol, but was subsequently driven out, hence the move to Cardiff. The protesters involved a variety of actions including blockading the UWE north entrance causing queues trailing back along the A4174.
      Having being driven out of Bristol, South Wales Anarchists, Stop NATO Cymru  and others resolved to show the arms dealers that there is no welcome for them in Wales either. Many felt it unjust that whilst ordinary people are struggling and having to turn to food banks or are on the brink of homelessness, these arms dealers are walking around in expensive clothes worth more than most local families’ entire monthly disposable income, all bought with the profits made from mass murder. What does a statistic like 100 000 dead civilians in Afghanistan mean to the arms dealers at DPRTE? In material terms it means a bit of financial security and a couple of nice holidays a year.
One of the defendants said:
       “Arms dealers are complicit in slaughter all over the world. Perpetual war is in this industry’s interest and this is what's become the norm. If the law really was a forum for justice, wouldn't it be them on trial?”
In a similar vein, Elliw from StopNATO Cymru said:
       “What I would like to know is when have the arms dealers ever had to justify their horrific choice of career? Have the arms dealers ever had to look a mother in the eye and explain why their expensive suits, luxury goods and nice big homes are so much more valuable than the lives of their children, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers? These cowards never have to face the consequences of their career choice. It sickens me that we live in a society that rewards such abhorrent and frankly psychopathic behavior.”

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

They are accused of damaging the luxury goods of DPRTE arms dealers and organisers -including a £400 suit and a £200 pair of designer shoes - with childrens play paint. - See more at: http://www.radicalwales.org/2015/01/opposing-dprte-arms-fair-in-caridff.html#sthash.jgOLbDC2.dpuf

They are accused of damaging the luxury goods of DPRTE arms dealers and organisers -including a £400 suit and a £200 pair of designer shoes - with childrens play paint. - See more at: http://www.radicalwales.org/2015/01/opposing-dprte-arms-fair-in-caridff.html#sthash.jgOLbDC2.dpuf