Blek Le Rat.

         Another interesting episode from Circled A Radio:

       Blek Le Rat is a French street Artist known as the father of stencil graffiti. He has earned this title through years of spray painting unforgettable figures on walls across the globe. In the early 80’s he became one of the first street Artists in Paris, known for his iconic rat stencils. His stencil technique has since been adopted by some of the biggest names in graffiti and street art today.

Listen HERE:

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

Glasgow's Walk Of Pride, November 17th.

     Citizens of Glasgow should be proud of their heritage in working class struggle, over the centuries they have fought and won many a battle for better conditions in their homes, and in the work place, not just for themselves, but for everybody. It has always been a city of struggle for the many, and our previous generations of men and women have always risen with determination and pride to what ever challenge the system threw at them. It was February 3rd 1919 that one of Glasgow's better know anarchists, Guy Aldred, arrived from London to stay in Glasgow, when asked why Glasgow, his reply was," --he was attracted to Glasgow by its citizen's truculent attitude, rebellious spirit and disrespect for leaders."  Can we grow that spirit and add a large dose of pride.

      One of the many victories we Glaswegians can can take great pride in, is the 1915 Rent Strike. By solidarity, determination and co-operation, between the women of the districts of Glasgow/Clydeside and the workers in the yards and factories, they beat the landlords, and forced the government to freeze all rents across the country until the end of the war.

      November 17th. marks the centenary of that great victory, and to honour with pride that event, a Walk of Pride, will take place on November 17th 2015.

       Let's make this the noisiest, largest, walk Glasgow has seen in years. Bring the implements used in the Rent Strike, pots and pans, whistle, racquets, banners, let's show our pride in that massive victory and all those determined women and men that came together to make an unbeatable working class army.

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

Entertainment, Information, Education, Fun.

      Glasgow, great city that it is, always something going on, at the moment we have the Spirit of Revolt exhibition, The Rent strike, 100 years On”, taking place in the Mitchell Library foyer, running until November 28th. Following on from that we have an eight day festival of events from, “The Only Way Is Ethics”, running from November 29th. To December 6th. This festival has a myriad of events, so I'm sure you will find one or more to grab your interest. If I were to pick a couple that I will certainly be at, then it would be, “Banner Tales of Glasgow” December 1st, Free, from 6pm-9pm. Film, Live Music and Conversation. The other, a must, would be Wednesday 2nd December, “The Man Who Never Died” a Joe Hill Song Night, Live Music, 17:30-23:00, this is shaping up to be a fantastic night, £7, £4 un-waged. Both these events will take place in The Old Hairdressers, 27 Renfield Lane Glasgow G2 6PH. It's events like this that let's us take the council's sterile slogan, “People Make Glasgow” and turn it into a truth, the real people make the real Glasgow.

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

Fight To The Finish.

       Remembrance Day, when the pomp of imperialism walks the streets in all its glittering finery, when the heads of state, the purveyors of war, bow their heads as if the cared, while planning their next battle field. When will we learn, that war is their tool, their weapon of dominance. Their corridors of power are steeped in the blood of the ordinary people, sacrificed for some grand plan that only benefits the power mongers. There is no war to end wars, war breed wars. 

    As our own Prime minister stands there solemn and head bowed, what thoughts of Syria are going through his head. How many can he risk to get his moment of glory, to play the imperial  game with the big boys.
     We have been sending our young men and women to die across the globe continuously since that war to end wars, 1914/18, the blood of ordinary people has flowed in its gallons, and it will continue to do so, until we destroy this system of power that creates wealth for the few by devastating  humanity.

Fight To The Finish.

The boys came back. Bands played and flags were flying,

And Yellow-Pressmen thronged the sunlit street

To cheer the soldiers who'd refrained from dying,

and hear the music of returning feet.

'Of all the thrills and adrours War has brought,

This moment is the finest,' (So they thought.)

Snapping their bayonets on to charge the mob,

Grim Fusiliers broke ranks with glint of steel,

At last the boys had found a cushy job,

.    .    .    .    .    .    .    .

I heard the Yellow-Pressmen grunt and squeal;

And with my trusty bomber turned and went

To clear those Junkers out of Parliament.

Siegfried Sassoon.

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

Anarchist Black Cross.

An announcement from Italy Black Cross,  Croce Nera Anarchica: 

        As already announced in the first meetings for the presentation of the Anarchist Black Cross editorial project, besides the contribution made with information and discussions through the paper and the blog, we’ve been proposing the creation of a solidarity fund for anarchist prisoners, as we want to give economic support to those who fall into the tangles of repression of which they are active conscious enemies.

We’ve now done it and created the fund.

      Anarchists are intrinsically reluctant to all political categorization, they are anti-political by nature and therefore shouldn’t be referred to as political prisoners. At the same time, anarchists end up in prison on the grounds of ideas, actions and behaviour that are the result of ethical, political and existential awareness. Painful awareness, intellectual conscience, joyous revolt and any other mixtures of feelings, actions and knowledge, is a natural process that leads us to be informed, alert and critical towards certain trajectories of struggle and repression. We are anarchists, alien to the concept of politics, no matter what the name; if we fall into the net of the enemy, we don’t claim to be political objects but are subjects of a different sociality/a-sociality, a different view on the existent. We look for allies, accomplices, comrades among the others oppressed by the machinery of dominion. But that doesn’t mean mythicizing class belonging as the old communist Vulgate did, or making clumsy attempts at social entomology and looking for the oppressed we talk about, be they outside or inside prison, from the pulpit of our analysis, as though the oppressed were objects of study.

      We are well aware that in this context making distinctions can be unpleasant and misleading, as this can lead to simplifications liable to be exploited on a political level and by the repression; that is why we decided to clearly specify the discriminating factors we have chosen, for the time being.

      A solidarity fund in support of anarchist prisoners, which obviously goes beyond the fictitious distinction between political and social prisoners.
     We’re also aware of the increased repressive clampdown as a result of recent legal measures, which makes the need to use instruments that the enemy would like to suppress even more obvious.
We want to add that we don’t intend to give any ‘geographical connotation’ to the prisoners we are about to support, and that this is a solidarity fund for them, not a fund for legal expenses or a tool of legal support.
      We want to become active on these grounds, aware as we are of the effort required and our current possibilities.

CNA

To send solidarity contributions:

PostePay Card Number: 4023 6009 1934 2891

Account name: Omar Nioi

Via:croceneranarchica

Translated by act for freedom now

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

Let The Dream Commence.

 

       We live in a society based on illusion and deception, continually swamped in a morass of propaganda that sells the lie, that happiness comes in different shaped boxes at different prices. The dearer the price, the bigger the box, the greater the happiness. One of the basic tenets of this smoke and mirrors society is the "self", all that matters is you, if you work really hard, you can have that large house in the country, with a large powerful car, and lots of exotic holidays abroad. If on the other hand, you find yourself poor and struggling, then you are just not working hard enough.

      There is never any mention of the fact that those with the most wealth, far from earning it by working hard, they got it by exploiting others, or they inherited from others, who, in the first place, had gathered it from plunder and exploitation.

       What this society  delivers to the ordinary people is benefit sanctions, workfare, (slave labour) bedroom tax, increasing homelessness, poverty and deprivation. It is estimated that this Christmas, you know, that season of plenty, family fun and warm homes, 90,000 kids will spend it being homeless. During our winters, around 22,000 elderly die from cold related problems, too poor to heat their homes properly, and poorly insulated housing.

       Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Department of Health’s chief medical officer, said severe weather could “substantially add to the average winter death toll.”

She wrote in Public Health England’s Cold Weather Plan for England 2014-15: “Excess deaths are not just deaths of those who would have died anyway in the next few weeks or months due to illness or old age.
“There is strong evidence some of these deaths are indeed “extra” and are related to cold temperatures, living in cold homes as well as infectious diseases such as influenza.”

      The truth is the enemy of this society, hence the need to cover everything in flashing lights, tinsel and deception. The truth is that we the people are being bled to death, while we create an abundance of wealth. Unimaginable wealth that is hived off into fewer and fewer hands. If the truth is broadcast enough, it will become obvious to us all, that this cannot and should not go on. We who create all of this wealth live amidst homelessness, child poverty, fuel poverty and ever deceasing living standards, while the exploiting plunders grow ever richer and richer.

      A better world is possible, we have the ability, the strength and the resources, we have the imagination, all we are lacking is that burning desire to tear down this fabricated  insanity, of creating wealth for the few at our own expense. We built everything you see, we done it for a greed few, we can build a better world for ourselves if we so desire. Solidarity, co-operation, mutual aid, respect for each other and sustainability are the building blocks. We can start by taking control of our communities, building self-help groups to circumvent the need to draw on the corporate world, shaping things in those communities the way we want them Let's take our dreams from the drawing board into the real world.

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

A Stone's Throw From Freedom.

        "A Stone's Throw From Freedom", another interesting piece from "It's the end of the world and I feel fine" at subMediaTV.

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

Corporate Fascism Or True Democracy?

       The financial Mafia and multi-national corporations, work relentlessly to ever increase their power over the various states, attempting to standardise legislation so that it works in their favour, allowing them to run roughshod over anything that may hinder their ever more brutal plunder for profit. No country will be able to pass legislation that may hinder the corporate world's projected profits. If they do so, they can face costly legal battles in special courts that favour the corporate world. Health and safety measures could be challenged, environmental protection can be deemed to jeopardise their future profits, and the people can go to hell in a hand cart.

      For far too long the financial Mafia and the corporate fascists have fattened their bank accounts by sucking the blood from the people, spreading misery and deprivation in their wake. They have hi-jacked the world's resources and used its people as mere commodities.The time has surely come when we put a stop to this system that survives by the plundering of the many by the few. This is a man made system of corporate greed, it can be destroyed and replaced by a system of justice, sustainability and co-operation, a system that sees to the needs of all our people. However, this can only be done by the people, when the people have that desire for justice for all. Have we reached that time?  

A sample of what is in store for us, from SumOfUs:

Huge news: The final TPP text has just been released to the public. And just as we thought, it's full of give-aways for big business.
     To go into effect, the deal must be ratified by legislatures in countries that include Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. If we can convince even one of those countries not to ratify, the deal could be dead -- but we're really running out of time. 

      SumOfUs is one of the only organizations in the world with enough global reach to launch and support grassroots campaigns everywhere where widespread opposition to the TPP exists. We need your help to make opposition to this deal as strong as we possibly can. Will you chip in £1 to help stop the TPP?
Yes, I'll donate £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

     It's absolutely astonishing that a deal this huge would be negotiated entirely in secret. 792 million people live in countries that are party to this deal, yet this is the first any of us have officially been able to see the full text. And in keeping with the secrecy of the deal, the text was released at midnight in New Zealand when they thought most of the world wouldn't notice. 

     We don't think you should need a law degree to make sense of the deal that will affect every single one of us. So we need to make sure the public knows that this deal will drive up drug costs, weaken workers' rights, and put corporations on the same level as sovereign nations, able to sue in special TPP courts to overturn protections for consumers and the environment.
Will you donate £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
       If you chip in today, here’s just some of what we’ll be able to do together:
Create easy-to-understand, sharable explanations of what's wrong with the TPP to share on social media. Work across party lines to get conservatives and progressives who oppose the deal working together. For instance, in the U.S., top candidates in both parties have come out against the TPP, putting enormous pressure on Congress to say no.
      Target MPs who are up for re-election in Australia and New Zealand and Canada's new government.
       The TPP has never been so close to becoming a reality, but we can still stop it if we all pitch in. Will you donate £1 today?
Yes, I'll chip in £1 to help stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Thanks for all that you do,

Jon and the rest of the SumOfUs team

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


    

Walk of Pride, To Mark 1915 Rent Strike Victory.

       The Glasgow 1915 rent strike was a tremendous victory for working class solidarity. It forced the government to bring in the rent restriction act, freezing all rents in the UK until six months after the war. Only by their determined and heroic stand was this achieved. It wasn't compassion from the landlords, it wasn't concern for the welfare of the people by the government, it was co-operation and solidarity between the local women of the districts of Clydeside, and the men in the shipyards and factories that brought this struggle to an historic victory. 

Photo from www.leftcom.org
 

      A date for your diary to mark this wonderful victory and display of solidarity and determination. Organised by the Scottish Peace Network, and Clydeside branch of the Industrial Workers of The World.  

      In conjunction with this event, Spirit of Revolt is holding an exhibition In the Mitchell Library foyer, From November 2nd. to November 28th. The main theme of which will be the Rent Strike, 100 years on. There will also be a tribute to Joe Hill, marking the centenary of his murder by the US state, along side a display on the Peace Movement.
Two events not to be missed.

Tuesday, 17 November
    Walk of Pride, starting 12 pm, Dewar's statue, proceeding to the City Chambers
       A tribute to radical Glasgow on the 100th anniversary of the rent strikes and mass march of 1915.
      To honour the tens of thousands of Clydeside women and shipyard workers who united to defeat the rent rises; and to affirm the rent strike as a tool of struggle throughout the world.
      In conjunction with Spirit of Revolt's November archival exhibition at the Mitchell Library, The Glasgow Rent Strike:100 Years On; the Scottish Peace Network's Counter-Centenary Project; and the ongoing work of the Clydeside Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World

Chumbawamba.

       From Circled A Radio, for the fans of Chumbawamba, and those who might not know of them, a wee bit of music. and a chat with Dunstan Bruce, former member of Chumbwamba - who famously sang, "I get knocked down, but I get up again" - chats to Donnacha about his Kickstarter-funded film about Chumbawamba 

Listen HERE:

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

 

Legal Inhumanity.

         The various states talk of humanity, but act like the fascists they are. A whole industry has grown up shipping people across borders and depositing them in countries that they have fled. In the modern state, Law enforcement is a euphemism for, repression, dawn raids, eveictions, detentions and deportations, all done with the stamp of the faceless state legitimacy. Deaths in there thousands doesn't move the state apparatus towards humanity, the Mediterranean could fill up with bodies and they would still be pontificating on how to shove them back to where they came from.

Not a new leaflet, but still very relevant.

Taken from Act For Freedom Now:

      The following is a leaflet distributed in almost 200 copies at the rally entitled “Refugees Welcome” Saturday, September 12, during which far-left parties and orgas brought their ideologies for sale …

      In this world, those fleeing conditions of poverty, war, religious persecution of all kinds engendered by capitalism, nationalism, religion and States are many.

      If the system is currently putting the so-called “reception” reserved for Syrian and Kurdish “refugees” fleeing the assassins of Daesh at the front of the media scene it is to better hide from the public the fate that awaits all those without papers here: raids, deportation, detention in CRA before deportation to their countries of origin.

      Yet the operation of the left concerning the “welcome” of migrants is a huge hoax. Its policy swings between the carrot and the stick: between those who might benefit – at random and according to the quotas in force – from “political asylum” and “refugee” status because they are from a country at war and the others, not having papers, will be delivered to living underground, to the police or to charitable organizations (Red Cross, Emmaus …) that manage their misery, their detention and their forced deportation.

     Already for months in Paris migrants and their supporters have been plagued by police repression, which the left parties are involved in by disseminating pacification and their promises of politicos, evicting every occupation of empty buildings; in Seine-Saint-Denis PCF municipalities expel camps of Roma and of those without papers; in Calais metal barriers recycled from the last NATO summit are used to repel migrants desiring to get to the UK by any means possible, risking their lives (11 have died since June); between Ventimiglia and Menton the police raid and deport undocumented people with the material and logistical cooperation of the (Italian) Red Cross; in Besancon for years the town hall has been sending its municipal cops to evict the Roma trying to survive in the Viotte station park, driving travellers from the ‘Malcombe’ land, etc …

       It takes the photograph of a migrant child found dead on a beach circulated by the media and on social networks for citizens to be moved. Yet more than a thousand migrants have perished in the Mediterranean this summer alone. This has nothing of a humanitarian problem. The death of migrants at the borders of Europe and its States is part of a daily life that cannot be tolerated. Here, the companies and institutions that exploit them (in catering, cleaning, etc ..) are many, that give them to the cops (BNP Paribas, the Post, Pôle Emploi (Job centre) …), that collaborate with having them locked up in detention centres (SODEXO, COFELY GDF SUEZ, DE RICHEBOURG, …), that deport them (Air France, SNCF …), etc …

     The heart of the problem lies in the existence of this world of money, of States and their borders, their cops and their prisons. So let’s stop weeping. Let’s rebel!

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

A Dark Alleyway To An Orwellian Future.

      I know I go on about the repressive state, but I do feel that we, by subterfuge and repression, are being lead down a dark alleyway to a menacing Orwellian future. Here in the UK we are seeing the implementation some of the most draconian anti-union laws in any modern country. This is to weaken any resistance to their plundering of the public purse. We quietly go about our affairs, while the millionaire cabal pompously prancing through the marble halls in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, dismantle our social services, and selling of our public assets to their millionaire corporate friends.

      Surveillance grows ever more intrusive, with internet tracking, number plate recognition, and profiling. All this moves silently into place while any resistance is stifled, silenced, or brutally repressed. What is more, we are not alone, states across Europe are continually lurching to the right, control moves ever away from the people to the remote centre, controlled by the financial Mafia and their thuggish corporate bedfellows.

      Spain continues to expand its gagging laws, as Operation Pandora widens its net, trawling in more and more of those who are prepared to speak out against the state's authoritarian strangle hold.

This from arrezafe:

       28/10/15: A police operation Began at 7:00 a.m. This Morning raiding several homes and properties in the Neighbourhoods of Sants, Gràcia, Clot and Sant Andreu de Palomar in the city of Barcelona and Manresa. The police action was ordered by the Audiencia Nacional (National Court) and is a continuation of Operation Pandora, Which led to the arrest of ten comrades and the preventative imprisonment of seven of them last December. Among the properties searched were Revoltosa social centre on Rogent street in the Clot neighbourhood and the Ateneu Llibertari Sants on Maria Victoria street ten police vans were in attendance. When the news was leaked, dozens of people Demonstrated in solidarity and took to the streets of Sants marching behind a banner in support of the detainees. Minutes later as the demonstration Reached Masnou street two vans of riot police arrived and Proceeded to violently suppress the demonstration.

     Searches also took place at a house on Perill street in the neighbourhood of Gracia, a house in the neighbourhood of Santos and other private homes in Sant Andreu de Palomar. Police made arrests in the total of 9. At every place police raided they encircled the whole street and impeded the free movement of the neighbourhood. In details leaked to the press by the police they revealed the operation led to the arrest of 9 people for the Alleged crime of "Belonging to a terrorist criminal organization with AIMS."

       In response to the raid a call has gone out for Demonstrations at 8:00 PM at the Plaça del Diamant de la Vila de Gràcia.

Slightly edited for translation/spelling.

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

 

You're Ill, Go To Prison.

        This exploitative authoritarian system can't function without repression and intimidation, that's where the prison system comes into its own. Be submissive or risk being caged. In any civilised society we would see people with mental health problems having compassionate care, support and the assistance that they need. However in this insane society such people are more likely to end up in prison. Figures from Psychiatric Morbidity Among Prisoners In England And Wales, 1998, state that more than 70% of the prison population has two or more mental health disorders. It is likely to be a two edged sword, mental heath problems lead you to prison, and prison creates mental health problems for those incarcerated in these inhumane hell-holes. Suicides in prisons are approximately 15 times higher than the general public at large. That to any sane person tells you that there is something drastically wrong with the way that these people are treated. But then again, it is all about control, intimidation and repression, so I suppose to the eyes of the state's minders, the system is working. 

This from Act For Freedom Now: 

      After this year’s London Anarchist Bookfair South Wales Anarchist’s bus went to HMP Send on Saturday night for a Noise Demonstration outside this women’s prison. People chanted calling for prison abolition and shouted cheers of solidarity. Prisoners waved back, it was great to communicate through the prison bars.
       On leaving the demonstration local screws not in uniform (one claiming to be the Governor) assaulted two women that attended the Demo. The three of them were spoiling for a fight. They blocked the road in an attempt to prevent the bus from leaving but it seems that after they discovered that the Police had no intention of coming, after around half an hour they had to let us leave.
      During the course of their interaction with us, they said to us “”Haven’t you heard them all kicking off on J wing?”” and scolded us with ““Don’t you know how hard it is to control them in there?””. Needless to say hearing them say that almost made their irritating attempt at a citizen’s arrest worth it.
       In addition as being a demonstration in solidarity with Anarchist Comrades behind bars it was a also for class struggle prisoners. As prison abolitionists this quote by Angela Davis illustrates why we think it is so important for us all to show solidarity in this way;
      “”Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages”.”

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

Elections- A Paracetamol For The People.

      The babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, has turned its attention from Greece to migrants, that doesn't mean that there is nothing happening in Greece. Greece is still in turmoil, apart from prisoners relatives being imprisoned for being related to prisoners, prisoners on hunger strike, and austerity still savagely slashing at the living standards of the people, there is still anger on the streets. 

      There are a series of strikes on an ongoing bases, and the unions are organising for a general strike on the 12th November. As far as the people of Greece are concerned, the recent election solved nothing. But then again, we know that elections never solve anything for the people. An election is nothing more than the system attempting to give the people a paracetamol to calm things down. 

From Barbarian Times:

      The pharmacists have started rolling 24 hour strikes in protest at the new austerity measures, and farmers are planning protest actions soon. There is a general strike called by the unions for November 12.
Syriza and Anel had their offices vandalized in the Byronas neighborhood. https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1550551/
Also a minister of Syriza, Skourletis, recently was attacked and forced to leave a cafe in Exarcheia. https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1550434/
The person in charge of the committee advising on the pension reform received a threatening letter and a bullet in the mail.

     ANEL offices in Athens were occupied by the anarchist group Roubikonas, who sent out an anti-austerity communique, and then shortly police arrived and are pressing some charges for those involved in the occupation. More as it comes…

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

Joe Hill, One Of The Many State Murders.

 

        A small tribute to a big man, Joe Hill, murdered by the state, November 19th. 1915. There will be a tribute to Joe Hill at the Spirit of Revolt exhibition, Rent Strikes 100 Years On, starting 2nd. November in the Mitchell Library foyer, the exhibition will run until November 28th.

My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don't need to fuss and moan,
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."

My body? Oh, if I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow,
My dust to where some flowers grow.

Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my Last and final Will.
Good Luck to All of you,
Joe Hill

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