Stand, Hand On Heart, "Land Of The Free".

        Got the article below from comrade Loam, thanks friend. It is from Information Clearing House. However, you would be an idiot if you thought that it was only in America, "The Land Of The Free" that the prying eyes of the state followed you everywhere, listened to your ever word, and built a profile on their sneakily stolen snapshots of your life. Modern technology makes it possible and easily accessible to any state and its minders, and they use it massively.

By John W. Whitehead

       April 26, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "Ron Paul Institute"- In the American police state, the price to be paid for speaking truth to power (also increasingly viewed as an act of treason) is surveillance, censorship, jail and ultimately death.
        However, where many Americans go wrong is in assuming that you have to be doing something illegal or challenging the government’s authority in order to be flagged as a suspicious character, labeled an enemy of the state and locked up like a dangerous criminal.
         In fact, as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, all you really need to do is use certain trigger words, surf the internet, communicate using a cell phone, drive a car, stay at a hotel, purchase materials at a hardware store, take flying or boating lessons, appear suspicious, question government authority, or generally live in the United States.
        With the help of automated eyes and ears, a growing arsenal of high-tech software, hardware and techniques, government propaganda urging Americans to turn into spies and snitches, as well as social media and behavior sensing software, government agents are spinning a sticky spider-web of threat assessments, flagged “words,” and “suspicious” activity reports aimed at snaring potential enemies of the state.
         It’s the American police state’s take on the dystopian terrors foreshadowed by George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and Phillip K. Dick all rolled up into one oppressive pre-crime and pre-thought crime package.
        What’s more, the technocrats who run the surveillance state don’t even have to break a sweat while monitoring what you say, what you read, what you write, where you go, how much you spend, whom you support, and with whom you communicate. Computers now do the tedious work of trolling social media, the internet, text messages and phone calls for potentially anti-government remarks—all of which is carefully recorded, documented, and stored to be used against you someday at a time and place of the government’s choosing.
         While this may sound like a riff on a bad joke, it’s a bad joke with “we the people” as the punchline.
        The following activities are guaranteed to get you censored, surveilled, eventually placed on a government watch list, possibly detained and potentially killed.
Laugh at your own peril.
       Use harmless trigger words like cloud, pork and pirates: The Department of Homeland Security has an expansive list of keywords and phrases it uses to monitor social networking sites and online media for signs of terrorist or other threats such as SWAT, lockdown, police, cloud, food poisoning, pork, flu, Subway, smart, delays, cancelled, la familia, pirates, hurricane, forest fire, storm, flood, help, ice, snow, worm, warning or social media.
Use a cellphone: 

     Simply by using a cell phone, you make yourself an easy target for government agents—working closely with corporations—who can listen in on your phone calls, read your text messages and emails, and track your movements based on the data transferred from, received by, and stored in your cell phone. Mention any of the so-called “trigger” words in a conversation or text message, and you’ll get flagged for sure.
Drive a car: 

       Unless you’ve got an old junkyard heap without any of the gadgets and gizmos that are so attractive to today’s car buyers (GPS, satellite radio, electrical everything, smart systems, etc.), driving a car today is like wearing a homing device: you’ll be tracked from the moment you open that car door thanks to black box recorders and vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems that can monitor your speed, direction, location, the number of miles traveled, and even your seatbelt use. Once you add satellites, GPS devices, license plate readers, and real-time traffic cameras to the mix, there’s nowhere you can go on our nation’s highways and byways that you can’t be followed.
Attend a political rally: 

        Enacted in the wake of 9/11, the Patriot Act redefined terrorism so broadly that many non-terrorist political activities such as protest marches, demonstrations and civil disobedience were considered potential terrorist acts, thereby rendering anyone desiring to engage in protected First Amendment expressive activities as suspects of the surveillance state.
Express yourself on social media: 

        The FBI, CIA, NSA and other government agencies are investing in and relying on corporate surveillance technologies that can mine constitutionally protected speech on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in order to identify potential extremists and predict who might engage in future acts of anti-government behavior.
Serve in the military: 

          Operation Vigilant Eagle, the brainchild of the Dept. of Homeland Security, calls for surveillance of military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, characterizing them as extremists and potential domestic terrorist threats because they may be “disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war.”
Disagree with a law enforcement official: 

         A growing number of government programs are aimed at identifying, monitoring and locking up anyone considered potentially “dangerous” or mentally ill (according to government standards, of course). For instance, a homeless man in New York City who reportedly had a history of violence but no signs of mental illness was forcibly detained in a psych ward for a week after arguing with shelter police.
Call in sick to work: 

          In Virginia, a so-called police “welfare check” instigated by a 58-year-old man’s employer after he called in sick resulted in a two-hour, SWAT team-style raid on the man’s truck and a 72-hour mental health hold. All of this was done despite the fact that police acknowledged they had no legal basis nor probable cause for detaining the man, given that he had not threatened to harm anyone and was not mentally ill.
Limp or stutter: 

         As a result of a nationwide push to certify a broad spectrum of government officials in mental health first-aid training (a 12-hour course comprised of PowerPoint presentations, videos, discussions, role playing and other interactive activities), more Americans are going to run the risk of being reported for having mental health issues by non-medical personnel. For instance, one 37-year-old disabled man was arrested, diagnosed by police and an unlicensed mental health screener as having “mental health issues,” apparently because of his slurred speech and unsteady gait.
Appear confused or nervous, fidget, whistle or smell bad: 

           According to the Transportation Security Administration’s 92-point secret behavior watch list for spotting terrorists, these are among some of the telling signs of suspicious behavior: fidgeting, whistling, bad body odor, yawning, clearing your throat, having a pale face from recently shaving your beard, covering your mouth with your hand when speaking and blinking your eyes fast.
Allow yourself to be seen in public waving a toy gun or anything remotely resembling a gun, such as a water nozzle or a remote control or a walking cane, for instance: 

         No longer is it unusual to hear about incidents in which police shoot unarmed individuals first and ask questions later. John Crawford was shot by police in an Ohio Wal-Mart for holding an air rifle sold in the store that he may have intended to buy. Thirteen-year-old Andy Lopez Cruz was shot 7 times in 10 seconds by a California police officer who mistook the boy’s toy gun for an assault rifle. Christopher Roupe, 17, was shot and killed after opening the door to a police officer. The officer, mistaking the Wii remote control in Roupe’s hand for a gun, shot him in the chest. Another police officer repeatedly shot 70-year-old Bobby Canipe during a traffic stop. The cop saw the man reaching for his cane and, believing the cane to be a rifle, opened fire.
Appear to be pro-gun, pro-freedom or anti-government: You might be a domestic terrorist in the eyes of the FBI (and its network of snitches) if you: express libertarian philosophies:

        Exhibit Second Amendment-oriented views; read survivalist literature, including apocalyptic fictional books; show signs of self-sufficiency (stockpiling food, ammo, hand tools, medical supplies); fear an economic collapse; buy gold and barter items; voice fears about Big Brother or big government; or expound about constitutional rights and civil liberties.
Attend a public school: 

         Microcosms of the police state, America’s public schools contain almost every aspect of the militarized, intolerant, senseless, overcriminalized, legalistic, surveillance-riddled, totalitarian landscape that plagues those of us on the “outside.” Additionally, as part of the government’s so-called ongoing war on terror, the FBI—the nation’s de facto secret police force—is now recruiting students and teachers to spy on each other and report anyone who appears to have the potential to be “anti-government” or “extremist” as part of its “Don’t Be a Puppet” campaign.
Speak truth to power: 

          Long before Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden were being castigated for blowing the whistle on the government’s war crimes and the National Security Agency’s abuse of its surveillance powers, it was activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon who were being singled out for daring to speak truth to power. These men and others like them had their phone calls monitored and data files collected on their activities and associations. For a little while, at least, they became enemy number one in the eyes of the US government.

 There’s always a price to pay for standing up to the powers-that-be. Yet as this list shows, you don’t even have to be a dissident to get flagged by the government for surveillance, censorship and detention. All you really need to be is a citizen of the American police state.

Reprinted with permission from the Rutherford Institute.

Click for Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, French, translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.

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

Nuclear Power And State Repression.

        Across the globe people are demanding an end to nuclear power. When there is talk of a new nuclear power station being built, they can never give and exact price and, like all these large contracts, it always runs over budget. The next problem is they can't give a accurate price on decommissioning, except to say it will be astronomical, then they don't really know what to do with the waste from the site, of course the land on which the power station was built, usually can't be used for years and years. So it is no wonder the people don't want to leave that sort of legacy to their children and grandchildren. However, the people's desire to be rid of the nuclear nightmare has no bearing on the various states, they will come down heavy on any group who stand up against this crazy and dangerous source of power. After all a nuclear power station is a massive contract for the corporate world, and we don't expect "our" governments to get in the way of that feeding trough. We certainly don't expect them to follow the will of the people.

This from Act For Freedom Now: 

– We need help immediately!
       Today 28.4. around 3 pm, riot cops and a police patrol with dogs started to approach the camp. We communicated clearly to the police with a megaphone that they are not welcome, and we don’t want to engage in conflict with them. The police didn’t say anything or answer any questions.
      The police started to shoot people with a projectile / rubber bullet gun and the people at the camp defended themselves by throwing rocks. The police were clearly aiming for the activists heads, backs of heads and upper bodies with the gun. People got hit several times on the area of their upper bodies. As far as we know, not to their heads though… The police got hit several times with the rocks, and there was one police car burning up in flames at the area.
      After a long struggle with delay tactics, the police managed to move ahead to the camp when the people who were defending the camp disappeared to the forest. In the camp the police shot projectiles towards the kitchen-collective people. The police evacuated all the people from the camp, and took some people into custody.
       The police have also threatened to evict another camp location which is still in our use.
        We don’t accept giving into repression and police violence, and the struggle against Fennovoima will continue. Now we’ll need everyone to help build up the camp again, and to continue the fight and actions against Fennovoima. We invite comrades to this fight wherever you are – let’s aim our actions towards the companies which are working with/for Fennovoima, the embassies of Finland, or the local police.

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

 

When Does Protest Turn To Revolution?

 

          Protests and demonstrations are never far away in Greece these day. Though not as prevalent  or as massive as just a few years ago. I was four days in Athens at the beginning of April and during those four days there was a very large march and protest by public sector workers. Again, I can say it was a much quieter affair than those when I was there five or six years ago. Two days later there was a strike of taxi drivers in Athens, and it was 100%. as taxis are the main traffic in Athens centre, it was noticeable.  Off the streets there are ongoing protest and hunger strikes in the Greek prisons, the latest today April 29th. in Korydallos prison. 

        All those who resist this oppressive capitalist system command our solidarity, on the streets or in the cages of repression of the state.

This from Insurrection News:

        29.04.16: This afternoon the prisoners Fabio Dushku and Tony Nebiu lit a fire in the solitary confinement area to protest their incarceration and also taunts they had received for 10 days regarding their supposed transfers. Those responsible are the court attorney V. Labrakis who admitted that Fabio was being held in solitary confinement unlawfully but told him “you’re fine here, what are you protesting for?” and warden V. Labrakis who constantly pledged that the unlawful isolation would cease but the days kept passing by…

As soon as the fire was lit, the political prisoners who are being held in the underground annex came out of their cells and set fire to their mattresses in the courtyard as a sign of solidarity.

        The smoke from the fires soon reached the second floor where the women prisoners are being held, they also left their cells and came out into the courtyard.

       In the men’s prison of Korydallos, A wing and D wing prisoners mobilized and stayed out of their cells.

        Cops arrived at the prison and it was decided that the transfer of the prisoners would take place – Fabio to Trikala prison and Tony to Grevena prison.

       The cops made a committment that no violence would be committed against the two prisoners.

     At 10:30PM they were transferred and at the same time the political prisoners in the basement annex and the prisoners in A and D wing returned to their cells.

EVERYTHING CONTINUES

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

Democracy Via The Bomb And The Bullet!!!!

       Despite Glasgow's lousy, cold, hailstones and windy weather, a brave and dedicated bunch from the Scottish Peace Network, held their monthly anti-war vigil at the top of Buchanan Street, at the Donald Dewar statue, Wednesday evening, 5pm-6pm. Practically the whole of the Middle East, as far up as Afghanistan, is mired in blood, death and destruction, mainly thanks to the kindness of Western imperialism doing its utmost to introduce them to Western democracy (dominating them to the benefit of Western imperialism) via the bomb and the bullet. Also, the burning desire of the Cameron cabal to resurrect the Libyan slaughter by more bombing and ground troops, means that such protests/vigils are more important now than ever before. 

       We must raise our voices ever louder, against this continuous slaughter of ordinary people. Those who die in this Western imperialist desire for oil and gas, are the bus drivers, teachers, shop keepers, taxi drivers, plumbers, the young, the elderly and the infirm, of those unfortunate countries. The ordinary people are always the ones that pay in wars, the powerful and wealthy reap the plunder.

    

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

You're Free To Vote For Your Own Exploitation.

          Repression, repression, repression, it is the same the world over, corporate bodies control the world, it's repression that keeps the system together, governments do the corporate bidding, and the state apparatus enforces it, by means of strong arm tactics of the police and the judicial system. Stay in line, accept your humble place in the scheme of things, don't hinder the flow of wealth upwards to the parasites, and certainly don't try to change the system. These are the rules of the capitalist society, and woe be tide anyone who tries to break those rules. In the capitalist system your are free, you are free to accept your poverty, your ever falling living standards, you are free to vote to continue your exploitation, and the plundering of your wealth. But you are certainly not free to call for an end to this unjust, unequal, exploitative system that favours the few at the expense of the many.

            The following is just one example of how speaking out against the brutal injustices of the system will be met with more brutal repression.

 This from Contra Info:

        Last Sunday night (April 24th) one person was arrested in The Hague (Netherlands) on suspicion of pasting The Anarchist Wallpaper. He is being charged with instigation against authority, inciting violence and pasting of a poster. On Thursday the person who got arrested will be brought in front of the examining judge, who will decide whether to release him or transfer him to preventive detention.
Last week anarchists spread hundreds of Wallpapers in the neighbourhoods Transvaal and Schilderswijk and other places in the city. The first issue of the Wallpaper is about the uprising last year in the area of the Schilderswijk, where thousands of people rebelled for days against the police and the state after the murder on Mitch Henriquez, who was strangled to death by the police. Henriquez was yet another victim of violence by the racist police force of The Hague. Many months after the uprising the police were still hunting the rebels of last summer.
      Now that someone is locked up again and it seems that the prosecution is very eager to keep him as long as possible on the suspicion of spreading a poster, expressing our solidarity is the only thing we can do. Solidarity through action.
Stop the repression! Solidarity with the prisoners! Down with the police and the state! Long live anarchy!
Below the main article of the Anarchist Wallpaper:
Down with the cops and the State! Long live the revolt!
On the Schilderswijk revolt
          In the summer of 2015 a revolt shook up the Schilderswijk in the Hague. A revolt against the daily repression and racism of the cops. Against the suffocating reality of exploitation and unemployment. A revolt of those who decided to break with the normality of State repression. The tables were turned and the cops were chased off the streets. The murder of Mitch Henriquez, another racist murder by the police, was what sparked the revolt. Let’s not forget, let’s not forgive!
The politicians, media, mosques and all kinds of neighbourhood initiatives depicted the revolt as an everyday riot, as a criminal act of which the perpetrators had to be punished severely. Don’t believe them; those organisations that live off state subsidies, those who want to push forward their own agenda at the costs of the oppressed, those that sell out the oppressed in order to be able to join those in power. That people are oppressed in neighbourhoods like the Schilderswijk is obvious. Not being employed because of your name, or exploited at a meager salary while the bosses, big companies, politicians and banks are only becoming richer.
       The scapegoat politics that is integrated in the State is blames people of colour for poverty, housing problems and austerity measures, only to make people distrust each other. But refugees, Moroccan and Surinamese people are not the cause of these problems. The real problem is the State and its politicians that only care for the bosses and big companies, and the police that murders, who wants to protect this at all costs.
        The revolt in the summer of 2015 was not an everyday riot. It was a legitimate revolt against everything that oppresses us. It was a revolt against the police that terrorises us on the streets. Against the incessant control of CCTV, ID-checks and the so-called “zero tolerance” policy that we only see in poor neighbourhoods. It was a revolt by a community that refuses to be divided by political games any longer. For years we have been asking for change but no one wanted to listen; the only option left then is to revolt. For our dignity, for our existence.
         Those who revolted and refused to bow down to repression are those who have not lost their dignity. It is precisely these people that offer hope for a different, better future. That this summer may be a hot one!
Down with the cops and the State! Long live the revolt! Long live anarchy!
Autonomen Den Haag
in German

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

Nuit Debout.

       Workers rights are being shredded across Europe, no matter the particular colour of the cabal in power, the legislation is much the same. Easier to be fired, more casual and part-time jobs, longer hours, less attention to health and safety, and much more. It's called reforming working conditions, according to the corporate bosses it will boost efficiency and profitability, though nothing there to improve the living standards of the ordinary people, on the contrary, we pay for the so called boost in efficiency and profitability by deteriorating living standards.
       Not everybody is taking this lying down, protests are growing across the continent and further afield. At the moment French people have taken to the streets in their thousands, and this has been going on since the end of March. However, you'll not find much about this anger of the people in our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media. According to that putrid sewer of propaganda, everything is fine.
        From LINKS, International Journal Of Socialist Renewal, here is an update on the French uprising, "Nuit Debout" 

 UPDATE:

France: 

Nuit Debout’s call to action; Reflections on 'Nuit Debout'

 April 21, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from CADTM -- Since 31 March, we are settled on Republic square (in Paris) and on many other places everywhere throughout France.

Our mobilisation was initially aimed at protesting against the French Labour Law. This reform is not an isolated case, since it comes as a new piece in the austerity measures which already affected our European neighbours and which will have the same effects as the Italian Job Acts or the Reforma Laboral in Spain. This concretely means more layoffs, more precarity, growing inequalities and the shaping of private interests. We refuse to suffer this shock strategy, notably imposed in the context of an authoritarian state of emergency.
The debates taking place in the assemblies on Republic square prove that the general exasperation goes way beyond the Labour Law and opens a more global issue: the reconsideration of a social and political system stuck into a deep crisis and on its way out. We will not be the ones crying because of its end.
This movement was not born and will not die in Paris. From the Arab Spring to the 15M Movement, from Tahrir Square to Gezi park, Republic square and the plenty of other places occupied tonight in France are depicting the same angers, the same hopes and the same conviction: the need for a new society, where Democracy, Dignity and Liberty would not be hollow shells.
Supporting testimonies received from abroad warm us and strengthen our commitment. This movement is yours too. It has no limit, no border and it belongs to all of those who wish to be part of it. We are thousands, but we can be millions. Together, standing, awake. Let’s rise up together.
The #40mars (9 of april), organise your #Nuitdebout
Press contact: nuitdeboutpresse@riseup.net)
@NuitDebout
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NuitDebout/
Tumblr: https://nuitdebout.tumblr.com/

Read the full article HERE:

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

 

This Is The Week That Is!!

    

  

         Great week leading up to May Day, some events in Glasgow that are worth a visit. The first is the Glasgow Anarchist Collective (GAC) event Thursday 28th April.

      GAC invite you to a screening of 'Culture Jam: Hijacking Commercial Culture'
        "Culturejam: Hijacking Commercial Culture delivers a fascinating rap on the 20th Century movement called Culture Jamming. Pranksters and subversive artists are causing a bit of brand damage to corporate mindshare. Jammers, cultural commentators, a billboard advertiser and a constitutional lawyer take us on a wild roller coaster ride through the back streets of our mental environment. Stopping over in San Francisco, New York's Times Square, and Toronto, we catch the jamming in action with Batman-inspired Jack Napier of the Billboard Liberation Front, Disney arch-enemy Reverend Billy from the Church of Stop Shopping and Media Tigress Carly Stasko. Culturejam asks: Is Culture Jamming civil disobedience? Senseless vandalism? The only form of self defence left?"
        Please feel free to come down from 7.00pm as we look to start about 7.30pm. Tea and coffee will be provided!
        If you've any questions about the event or how to get there, feel free to get in touch. We're showing the film at the Fred Paton Centre, a short 5 minute walk from George's X underground.
Hopefully see you there! GAC

      Then the following night, Friday 29th. April, there is the story of one of Glasgow's larger than life woman anarchists, Ethel MacDonald.

     GMB Glasgow General Apex Branch have organised a free screening of ‘An Anarchist's Story: The Life of Ethel MacDonald’ based on local writer Chris Dolan’s biography of the same title.
       In 1936, with civil war sweeping through Spain, Ethel Macdonald – a working-class girl from Motherwell – was to become, for a year, one of the world's most famous voices as she sent dispatches and broadcasts back from the Spanish Anarchist camp in Barcelona to the UK. ‘An Anarchist's Story: The Life of Ethel MacDonald’ uses contemporary accounts, Ethel’s own words and those of her close associates to unravel the mystery of this activist and examines the unique impact that she had during this fascinating period of European history.
      The film will be introduced by a local trade unionist and Chris Dolan. The screening will be followed by an opportunity to discuss some of the issues raised in the film with Chris Dolan, David Archibald and others.

       Then, let's not forget that there will be a May Day picnic on The Green, Sunday May 1st.

          An other appeal for those interested in getting May Day back on the Green, get in touch, bring what you expect to find, come and do your thing, just let us know what you hope to do.
MAY DAY IN THE GREEN
        Sunday 1st May from 1.30pm (to around 4pm) informal picnic with poets, singers, musicians. The location will be at the other side of the Peoples Palace in Glasgow Green, near the "washing lines" and canopy. Part of a project to return Mayday to the people from the Bureaucrats of the STUC & Politicians. This will be after the May Day march from George Square at 11.30 and complementary to street stalls at Buchanan St.

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

 

Object.

The latest from Circled A Radio, this episode is on feminism.

         On this show Yodet Gherez interviews a representative of The feminist organisation Object, Beattie Baraki! Object formed in 2004 and united London-based feminist groups in campaigns, and gained over 15 hundred members. The organisation is an award-winning human rights organization specifically set up to challenge the sexual objectification of women in the media and popular culture, the main-streaming of the sex industries, and all forms of commercial sexual exploitation by combining high-end lobbying and grass-roots activism.

LISTEN HERE:

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

Familiar Territory.

       Another fine day on Sunday, though, surprisingly not many bikes on the road. Perhaps I had missed something, big match, concert or something, or they were all off in a different direction. Well those who didn't get out missed a nice cycling day, not much of a wind, fair amount of sun, though the wind was northerly and a bit on the cold side on the way home. It was around familiar territory for me, the Campsie area. It was the usual plate of lentil soup, coffee and cake, in the usual coffee shop at Campsie Glen. Always a pleasant place to stop.

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

When The Cash Fountain Is Sucked Dry----!!

Philip Green doesn't fly Easy Jet.

        So BHS looks like it could go into administration, sign of the times, just another ailing business, or-----? 

Philip and friends messing around in boats.

        BHS has proved itself to be a cash fountain for the one time owners, the Green family, and a bunch of cash crazy shareholders. After buying the business in 2000, the shareholders extracted more than £422 million in two years, 2002-2004. the vast majority of the loot went to the Green family. The Philip Green family also managed to collect another £151.4 million from BHS in rent for 12 stores which happen to be owned by Carmen properties, which just happened to be a Green family business. The cash fountain didn't stop there, the Green family also earned almost £10 million from £19.5 million bond issued to BHS, and then there was the the £3 million from ground rent on BHS head offices. This looks like the BHS, in a rather short period, earned the Green family £164.4 million plus the major share of another £422 million, a nice little earner if you can get it. So there you have it, a company that is now likely to go into administration poured the princely sum of £586.4 million into the coffers of a little bunch of city gents. Let's not forget all the perks that go with “owning” a company, travel expenses, wining and dining, etc. Now that the this gravy train was being sucked dry, the livelihood of thousands of ordinary people, hangs on a cliff edge. Ah, that's capitalism, when the cash fountain is sucked dry, it's time to go.

Philip's little 2006 purchase, valued at $150 million.

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

 

Another Grab For Libyan Oil And Gas.

        As the millionaire bunch of corporate buddies, that go by the name of “Her Majesty's Government” start to weave the tapestry of deceit around the “need” to have yet another war in Libya, expect an avalanche of lies, misleading figures and ambiguous statements. In spite of having lived many, many years with this river of propaganda shit, it still makes me choke on my porridge when I hear politicians spout something with a serious face, that clearly contradicts what they have already stated. Our war hungry Mr Hammond states, that, he knew that the new Libyan government would be cautious about requesting western military support but if it did, the government would consider it. Having previously said, “If only it were so simple as there being two sides,----There are about 120.” Of course our lords and masters, who Mr Hammond works for, desire to pick one and help it gain power by throwing in Western military air power and ground troops, is not based on the will of the Libyan people. It is simple economics, they want a subservient, compliant puppet government in Libya, one that will let the West exploit and plunder Libya's vast oil and gas reserves, and UK wants to be at the front of the queue when the real plunder starts.
       So all this talk of air strikes and ground troops to help the non-existent, illusionary Libyan government, is the usual sham of blatant hypocrisy, to cover their strong arm tactics in support Western corporate greed. Do you honestly believe that the Cameron cabal sitting in those palatial halls of power called the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, are wrestling with these decisions out of a human desire to help the welfare of ordinary people of Libya? Surely you're not that daft, they don't even give a shit about the people here in this country.

        We have to raise our voices loud and clear that we will not tolerate another bloody conflict, another corporate grab, another imperialist adventure. Wars are never for the benefit of the ordinary people.

This from Stop The War: 

            The Western powers are planning a major military escalation in Libya. The UN is trying to impose a new government on the country, despite the fact that both of the two existing and competing authorities have rejected their plans. The reason the West backs the man they call 'Prime Minister designate' Fayez al- Sarraj, is that they expect him to invite the West in to support.
         This helps them avoid a public debate about intervention. On Monday, Michael Fallon made it clear the government disapproves of democratic scrutiny over going to war when he announced a promised bill to enshrine parliamentary debate on military action would be dropped. Their unseemly haste to intervene in Libya is driven by two things. Firstly, a desire to control the oil and gas fields and secondly, a plan to stop refugees crossing the Mediterranean from Libya by force. We need to widen our campaign against the government plans.
        Stop the War is holding a public meeting on Libya this Tuesday 26th April at the Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church in Central London (235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EP). Please join us to discuss the situation and how we can oppose another disatrous intervention. 

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

 

 

I Am Alive.

 From Not Buying Anything:

       I am alive, and it feels great. When Linda and I chose to live simply it was so we could feel more alive more often. It has paid off. We have no regrets.

Here are a few things that make me feel alive.

• being in nature
• riding my bike
• spending time with Linda, my best friend and companion
• writing
• meditating
• reading a good book
• cooking and eating a good vegetarian meal
• exercising
• listening to birds and frogs and bees and wind and rain and thunder
• making music, singing, listening to tunes
• contemplating death
• spending time with family and friends
  

What makes you feel alive?

        I read this posting from “Not Buying Anything”, I agree with practically everything he says. It could make for a very stress free life. However, I can't turn my back on the millions of refugees across the globe, fleeing death from wars and famine, the millions of individuals being ruthlessly exploited by the greed of the capitalist system, the dire poverty and deprivation heaped on millions because of the exploitative corporate world, the millions of innocent people, young and old, maimed and killed by imperialists wars. Nor can I ignore the gross inequality that blights all the countries on the planet, the stunted lives and destroyed potential of millions, as the system drives for ever greater profit.
       Sadly, I don't really know what to do about all these brutal injustices, except to raise my voice and stand with those who also see these things, and wish to try to eliminate them by bring down the system that is at the root of all these problems, capitalism. Believing that I, in some small way am contributing to the demise of this greed driven system and helping to shape that better world where we see to the needs of all our people, 

that is what makes me feel alive.

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

The Sleazy Slush Fund For Millionaires.

        Talk of tax avoidance/evasion is all over the news at the moment, as if it was something special and out of the ordinary, and only done by dodgy foreigners. However, you and I know that it is common practice among our home grown millionaire pampered parasites., they are all members of the same club, the Millionaires' Exploiting Club, and are always looking for ways and means to grow their loot without paying anything towards the social fabric of our society. Corporations, and millionaires/billionaires, don't like prying eyes seeing the extent of their ill-gotten gains, so with the aid of over paid lawyers and accountants, through a web of complex fabricated trust funds and mock companies, it is all stashed away in tax havens, well hidden from tax officials.
       According to recent research by Oxfam, the amount of this stashed loot is staggering, the true figure world wide will never be know but they state that 50 of the biggest US companies, including such names as Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Alphabet, (Google)and Goldman Sachs have booty of approximately $1.3 trillion stashed away in cubby holes in these tax havens. This whopping cesspool of ill gotten gains is greater than the GDP of Spain, Mexico or Australia.
        We would be naive to believe that it is only large American corporations that are at it with their filthy loot, it is the way the game is played in the world of greed driven capitalism. All the supposed legislation to “clamp down” on such practices, is just a charade, to appease the peasants. It looks good on the politicians CV. They are not likely to do anything to upset their corporate masters, after all they are there to protect that sleazy world of of their corporate masters. 

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

Stared At By A Thousand Prying Eyes.

        In our present society, surveillance is now an all very intrusive fact of life. Our cities are festooned with CCTV cameras, in shops, shopping malls, on transport vehicles, and all around our streets. They are capable of face recognition and profiling, but still they want more. So we have “Stingray”, a system, it can be fixed or mobile, that captures all the data on mobile phones of up to 10,000 people in one area, at one fell swoop. It cannot be targeted at one person, so you are all guilty and worthy of surveillance. You don't know your data has been stolen and you have no idea who will use it, or how it will be used, still they call it democracy.
        Now there is another tool soon to be available to the armoury of the state snoopers. A car that can scan faces up to 600 metres away while travelling at 75 mph. A very sophisticated piece of surveillance equipment, it can determine gender, age, and race of each face and compare this to a database alerting the driver when there is a match.
       So you go to meet a friend in town, your every movement is filmed, your mobile phone data is stolen, your face is profiled and compared to some mysterious secret database, You meet your friend, who has been through the same process, then it is repeated on your way home. Who is watching you, who is going through your personal details, who is making assumptions about you based on this stolen data? An open and free society, capitalist style.

Stingray, Wikipedia:

           The StingRay is an IMSI-catcher with both passive (digital analyzer) and active (cell site simulator) capabilities. When operating in active mode, the device mimics a wireless carrier cell tower in order to force all nearby mobile phones and other cellular data devices to connect to it.[4][5][6] The StingRay family of devices can be mounted in vehicles,[5] on airplanes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.[7] Hand-carried versions are referred to under the trade name KingFish

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

Corporate Greed Or Anarchism.

      The corporate greed machine now knows its strength and is ever increasingly flexing its muscles. The number of corporations challenging government legislation, stating that it is damaging their profits, and winning billions of dollars of tax payers money is increasing.
      You may lobby your government to bring legislation to safeguard the environment and some multi-million pound corporation can challenge it in court stating that it is impeding its drive for profit. One new case is the Tobie Mining and Energy company which has launched a $16.5 billion lawsuit against the Columbian government because the government blocked a gold mining operation that was damaging the Amazon Forest. Of course if it wins, it is $16.5 billion of tax payers money that flows into the corporations coffers.
     There have been other cases and to lawyers this is big business. 

Fifteen years ago, Parada’s work was a minor niche even within the legal business. But since 2000, hundreds of foreign investors have sued more than half of the world’s countries, claiming damages for a wide range of government actions that they say have threatened their profits. In 2006, Ecuador cancelled an oil-exploration contract with Houston-based Occidental Petroleum; in 2012, after Occidental filed a suit before an international investment tribunal, Ecuador was ordered to pay a record $1.8bn – roughly equal to the country’s health budget for a year. (Ecuador has logged a request for the decision to be annulled.)

        Under this insane economic system the power of money over-rides the will of the people, rain forests and mountain areas are commodities to be exploited for profit. The world's diverse environment is necessary for our survival, to the powerful corporations they are there to be ripped apart to fatten the bank accounts of the already over wealthy pampered parasites. To curtail the power of wealth over the will of the people, we will have to end this greed driven brutal exploitative system of capitalism, and replace it with a system of community based mutual aid, co-operation between communities, sustainability and a system that sees to the needs of all our people, in a word, anarchism.

It's this:

 or it's this:

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

Eco-Friendly Transport.

      Wednesday was a nice day, though the wind was a wee bit on the cold side. So I took the opportunity to have my first run out on my dream machine since coming back from my holiday in the sun. It was invigorating to say the least, I had just passed that symbol of state oppression, Low Moss prison when I couldn't resist stopping to take a photo of two forms of eco-friendly transport side by side. One for road travel, and one for sedate cross-country.

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