Return Fire.

        The autumn 2016, 4th volume, of the excellent magazine, Return Fire, is available to read or download for free. It comes accompanied by a supplement. Once again, 100 pages of passion, commentary, proposals and interview material. The supplement, Caught in the Net, is a survey of critical perspectives on what information age technology is doing to our cognitive abilities, our health more generally, and our capacity to rebel. It comes as a separate document, of another 28 pages. Both colour and greyscale cover options are available, for further reproduction and distribution. 

Magazine Return Fire, can be read and/or downloaded HERE:

Supplement, Caught In The Net, can be read and/or downloaded HERE:

       The following is a copy of one article from Return Fire, of local interest to us here in Scotland. 

        The Scottish Prison Service, [SPS] has confirmed that it used IMSI, International Mobile Subscriber Identity catchers (aka “stingrays”) at two prisons in Scotland. This is the first confession of official stingray use by UK authorities, though they are almost certainly being used elsewhere in the country as well. The SPS are using both mobile and static stingray devices at HMP Shotts in Lanarkshire and HMP Glenochil near Alloa. The SPS spent more than £1.2 million spying on both prisons. It appears that the SPS were trialing stingray tech at Shotts and Glenochil before potentially rolling it out to other prisons. While stingrays can be used to snoop on conversations or otherwise gather intelligence, it appears that in this case the SPS were using IMSI catchers to stamp out mobile phone use at the prisons (it’s supposedly a crime to use a mobile phone in prison). IMSI catchers work by tricking nearby mobile devices to connect to them, rather than an official base station. The stingray can then be used to triangulate the user’s location, or to simply block the connection [ed. – or record calls]
       Somewhat amusingly, despite the rather expensive roll out, it seems the system wasn’t all that effective at finding phones or blocking calls. “Prisoners have developed innovative countermeasures to current Arrangements. The SPS recovered significantly fewer mobile phones at HMP Shotts in 2014 (282) than in 2013 (352). “Some of this decline is due to the increased introduction of smartphones which use 3G technology, these 3G smartphones transmit on very low power levels and so are more difficult to accurately detect and locate.”
        Back in 2010, when the prisoner phones only used 2G, 1417 handsets were tracked down at Shotts alone. The report notes that the SPS wanted to use stingray tech at HMP Edinburgh, but it lost out to the rural prisons for two reasons. First, the UK’s mobile carriers had already started rolling out 4G in Edinburgh. Second, if they had used IMSI catchers at HMP Edinburgh, which is within Edinburgh’s urban area, there would’ve been a “high risk” of interfering with mobile users outside the prison. There have been various reports of stingray use by the UK authorities as far back as 2011, but this is the first time that it’s ever been confirmed.
       Last year, the mainstream media reported that it had found widespread use of IMSI catchers across London, after fake mobile masts where discovered. Over in the USA apart from the usual monitoring of criminal/terrorist elements, it is now becoming common for major protests to be spied upon in case of an outbreak of disorder.
         Obviously the fear of uprisings such as those which occurred around the UK in 2011 [ed. – see Return Fire vol.1 pg 61] & in Baltimore & Ferguson [ed. – see Return Fire vol.3 pg 76 ] in the US are on both governments minds. The state might try justify the use of IMSI to tackle crime or terrorism but increasingly this technology can be used to quell disorder ed.[– and has been noted so far at demonstrations in Germany and Turkey as well, including a body­worn type for agents walking amongst the crowd]. What is also apparent from the information gathered by the media is that the technology can be used not only to track but to listen into phone calls, not just of the specific targets but also the general population in the vicinity, as can be seen when HMP Edinburgh was rejected for Stingray tests. Surveillance technology is vastly increasing around prison island, it does not shock us that they would be tested in actual prisons first, the most concentrated form of oppression, the testing ground for many forms of control through out society.
         The prison system was the first place to test the idea of unpaid work, then it was rolled out into society for jobseekers. New glass apartment blocks resemble more a prisoncomplex with security doors and CCTV in every corner, the difference is that the gullible upstanding citizens imprison themselves. It will not be long before IMSI becomes a norm just as much as CCTV did, further limiting the possibility of dissent in this corner of the world.

        What is clear is that there needs to be a backlash against the prison be a backlash against the prison society, that it can never be society, that it can never be reformed and will involve a reformed and will involve a complete eradication of the technology that makes it possible. The ultimate culprits are those companies that make it possible.
       In the mean time, attack the prison society at its sources and maintain a vigilante security culture with phones. The police state is tracking & listening, let’s claw out their eyes & cut off their ears!

How Stingray works, HERE and HERE.

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

Capitalism, The Devourer Of Everything.

         We view the Earth past and present, and try to see the future, and in our vision stretches a sea of concrete and tarmac, forests laid waste, seas polluted, rivers poisoned and a multitude of hungry pleading for survival. The monster that is capitalism has rained destruction on our planet, endless wars, and the plunder and rape of our planet’s finite resources will continue as long as that beast survives. The insane dream of eternal growth of capitalism is the harbinger of death for our home, the Earth, and all its wondrous and varied life. Look around and see the death throes of a living planet, brought about, not by accident, but by the deliberate actions of a man made system of greed, inequality, injustice and brutality, capitalism is a system of planetary suicide. If it is not already too late, the rescue of the planet must come through the total destruction of this madness of capitalism that devours all before it, in a pointless worship of greed. 
          Only the will of the people will kill the ravenous beast of capitalism, we have in all our hearts that dream of a better, fairer world for all, we have the ability, imagination and resources to turn that dream into reality, but first we must realise that the prime and most important task, is the destruction of beast that is capitalism.

From, On The Nameless:

          Man stands atop the ruins of the world, the Nietzschean prophecy of man become a god unto himself seemingly complete. Wherever modern man looks he sees only himself. Reflected everywhere in the animated corpses of his dead creations living only on the power of his dream-magic. The gods no longer find a place suitable to dwell within the great panoplies of mechanical monstrosities. All around the gods seem to have withdrawn, and the manifold masks of the ineffable torn from the skulls of the gods, their naked bodies dissected and discarded. Everywhere in great pools of blood man sees only his own reflection, and is happy. The vast pantheon, the million faces of the earth laid to waste in the ascension of one arrogant ape. It is true, one could perhaps be forgiven in believing that men have succeeded in defeating the gods and taking the throne of creation for themselves.
           But the gods were and are not dead, and they do not rest in idleness. They persist within the dark places. They ready themselves, they lurk, they hunt, and they haunt from the shadows of the world. They no longer dwell on the earth, and we cannot speak of the gods in the old ways. The great and noble lands which they once presided over have been abandoned, left in ruin as the houses of the gods were ravaged for the self-serving ape. Thus we can no longer think of the gods as the old bringers of life, their only task now much more terrible. The vengeful destruction of a great chaos which has spread under heaven. The great pantheon of the gods become a pantheon of world-eaters. Noble and monstrous. Glorious and terrible. They ready themselves in the darkness, striking from out of the shadows of the world. While the masses of men continue to kneel blindly before their fickle, petty, and self-made idols the gods continue to ready themselves, and wage their endless war. Every earthquake which splits the gray concrete strangling the soft earth, every sea-front town swallowed by the rising seas reminding men of the power of water, every tornado which rips apart the decadent dwellings of the arrogant ape with the fury of air, every sinkhole that opens the jaws of the earth to swallow up the world of men is a victory for the ever-wild gods of the earth.

Read the full article HERE

Crazy Ape On Stage.

"All the world is a stage",

so said the ancient sage.

Behold hunger seize life's tender age,

sadly, dying children cause no rage.

Poverty's claws, hard and cold

strip the pride from the old,

once society's pillars  of gold

now broken, their dignity sold.

See our leaders stand aloof

proclaiming war a brand of truth,

draining blood from our proudest youth

sacrificed on greed's ugly tooth.

The crazy ape descends still lower,

death oozing from ever pore

crawls across the earth's floor

turning our planet into a festering sore.

"All the world is a stage",

so said the ancient sage.

Can the crazy ape come of age,

act out a more caring page?

To date,
the crazy ape has written brutal stories
tales of cruelty, of hunger,
painted pictures of appalling wars,
shoddily scribbled trite poetry of criticism.
One day
when he flicks back a page of history

reads with compassion,
asks why?
Perhaps then we can write beautiful poetry
causing a hurricane of love
to sweep across this world.  

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

How Do You Show Your Anger At Injustice, When Words Don't Work?

 

       How do you react when the state tries to grind you into the dust? When its so called justice system is so blatantly, obviously, corrupt, that it passes sentences of 13 years for being a friend of someone, who by their own biased system is not guilty of a crime? When brutality is heaped on your friends and associates, what do you have for self defence, how do you show your anger, when you know that following their rules doesn't work? It is not the judicial system that is at fault, it is the whole stinking system, the judicial system is just part and parcel of the of the army of enforcers that the state brings to bear on those who would dare to dissent, on those who would dare to seek justice and freedom through change. To all you Labour Party socialists, this is happening under the auspices of a Greek socialist government, carried to power on a wave of false hope, that they would end austerity, and the resultant misery, poverty, and deprivation of the people of Greece, but ended up playing the financial Mafia's game.

This from Anarchist News:

       Athens, Greece: Anger and Rage followed the court’s rejection of Irianna's appeal for her 13 years jail sentence to be suspended on 18 July 2017, an order for imprisonment solely based on an almost non-existent partial DNA sample, that according to the judges proved that she belonged to a radical anarchist group.
       A protest callled during the night of the same day at Monastiraki where hunreds of people took part, quickly turned into a riot, leading too the destruction of one of the most expensive shopping streets in Europe, namely Ermou St.
       The real reason that Irianna, a 29 years old academic, has been convicted in the first place was that before she was even accused by the police, she stood by her partner, when he was accused of being a member of that urban guerrilla group. Despite the fact that her partner was later found innocent of all charges, the Athens Court of Appeal retaliated against her for her loyalty to him, and in essence criminalized her social relations.
       According to this absurd legal judgement, anyone can be blamed and condemned for anything. You just have to be friends with someone, who is a friend of someone else and so forth...
      "They're not crazy. Madness is an alibi. They take an arbitrary decision while hiding behind their anonymity and position".
      The five-member Court of Appeal dismissed Herianas' application for suspension of her sentence on the basis of a grotesque statement, that if she was released she would be likely to commit offenses! Offenses based on the "discovery" of a DNA sample, so small that it could belong to many others, that even the official state experts admit to. While at the same time the same judges release from prison until their trial, murderers, neo Nazi killers and drug dealers, thus proving that above all what the greek justice system ultimately seems to consider a crime, is having fellow or friendly relations with anarchists.

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

Avoiding The Prying Eyes Of The State.

         We all know that the state loves to stick its nose into our private affairs, it is important for control of the population that it knows what you are up to, where you are, should you be there, and why are you there. Our towns and cities are festoon with CCTV cameras, shopping malls, pubs, bus and railway stations and on our public transport vehicles, if you carry a mobile phone, you are being tracked, their eyes and ears are everywhere. They are sweeping up every aspect of your life, profiling and storing it for future use. However it is not just when you are out and about that you are being targeted, as you sit at your computer, you activity on the internet is being logged stored and sifted through by the prying eyes and ears of the state.

      Short of spray painting CCTV cameras, leaving your phone at home, or always wearing a mask when out and about, there isn't a lot you can do about the outside surveillance by the state. However there are lots of ways to make it much more difficult to be logged and profiled while on the internet.

      There is an excellent guide to making yourself more anonymous while at the computer, it is called The Ultimate Guide for Online Privacy, and is freely available on vpnmentor. It covers everything from encryption to antivirus, malware and firewall and much more. 

     Below is a short extract:

What Can You Do To Improve Your Privacy?
         Knowing that nearly all types of encryption can be broken if someone was motivated enough, we can better protect our privacy. Even though not all the recommendations will work perfectly every time, they will improve your online privacy overall.

Anonymizing Internet Use
         There are two popular ways in which you can anonymize your use of the internet: using a VPN or using the Tor network. Both hide your internet use from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the government. They also hide your location and identity from the websites and services that you visit and use.
         While these technologies sound like they serve similar purposes, there is only a tiny amount of overlap. They are used for very different purposes and are coded very differently.

VPNs
        Most people use VPNs to hide their internet usage from their ISP and the government. They can also be used to avoid censorship, to “geo-spoof” in order to access the websites of other countries, as well to protect you from hackers when using public Wi-Fi hotspots.
       Depending on the VPN that you are using, you may have to sign up and pay for the service, most setting you back about $5 to $10 per month. While a VPN provides you with a high level of internet privacy, they do not provide any level of anonymity, reason being that the VPN provider knows what you are doing online.

Check out VPNMentor’s top VPNs here.

Tor Network
        If you require a high degree of anonymity online, the Tor network is a great option. However, you lose a lot of the usability of the internet that we use daily. The Tor Network is free to use and is a useful system, as you do not provide your information to anyone. This has made it a popular anti-censorship tool. There are governments that have tried to block the Tor Network, but they have not always been successful.

Using VPN and Tor Together
        If you are willing to do some work, you can use Tor and a VPN at the same time. You will need to find a VPN that supports Tor and install the VPN using their guide.

Read the full text HERE: 

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

Bad News And Angry Voices.

           B(A)D NEWS – Angry voices from around the world“ is a monthly news program from the international network of anarchist and antiauthoritarian radios, consisting of short news segments from different parts of the world. As an international network of radio projects, we believe in the importance of international solidarity. And we also recognize the importance and the need to create and disseminate our own media and counterinformation. We hope, with this effort, to reach out to other anarchist and antiauthoritarian projects, groups and individuals, and to strengthen our connections and our struggles in sharing our stories. Although this program is in English, we recognize that even this ‚international‘ language can be alienating to some and we want to encourage others to create and share similar content in their own languages. We want to hear the Bad News first! Enjoy! And please feel free to share! 

         Our network website (http://a-radio-network.org) is not ready yet, but will be up very soon. You'll find the audio here:   http://aradio.blogsport.de/2017/07/17/bad-news-angry-voices-from-around-the-world-episode-2-072017/ 

         The first episode from June 2017 can be found here: http://aradio.blogsport.de/2017/06/16/bad-news-angry-voices-from-around-the-world-episode-1-062017/

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

What Could Be The Last Crime?

             I believe that it is true to say that practically every person out side the army of parasites that control this system, are dissatisfied with the present system, all desire change. The debate usually centres round what to change and how best to change things. What we should be aiming for is to change everything, over the centuries we have had a multitude of changes, all within the the confines of the existing system, and we have failed miserably to eradicate poverty, homelessness, deprivation, exploitation, repression and wars, freedom has become a commodity that can be purchased, and quality of life depends on wealth, It should be obvious by now that we can never find the answer to these problems within the parameters of the present economic system, the present system is incapable of delivering satisfaction to our desires, it doesn't function that way.

                To limit the debate on change to economics, growth, the markets, and GDP, is to perpetuate the existing failed system, and more or less agree that the present system of exploitative capitalism is the only model possible. It places us in the position of believing that capitalism is the pinnacle of human imagination and ability. We would be indeed a race devoid  and barren of imagination if this were the case. We are capable of imagining a far better, far fairer world, we are capable of changing that imagined world into reality, but we have to change the system, we have to change everything.

            Below are a few comments from the Crimethinc article, To Change Everything: 

             Every order is founded on a crime against the preceding order—the crime that dissolved it. Afterwards, the new order comes to be perceived as legitimate, as people begin to take it for granted. The founding crime of the United States of America was the rebellion against the authority of the king of England. The founding crime of the society to come, if we manage to survive this one, will do away with the laws and institutions of today.
            The category of crime holds everything that exceeds the limits of a society—its worst and its best. Every system is haunted by all that it cannot incorporate or control. Every order contains the seeds of its own destruction.
             Nothing lasts forever; that goes for empires and civilizations too. But what could supersede this one? Can we imagine an order not premised on the division of life into legitimate and illegitimate, legality and criminality, rulers and ruled? What could be the last crime?
            Anarchy is what happens wherever order is not imposed by force. It is freedom: the process of continually reinventing ourselves and our relationships.
Any freely occurring process or phenomenon—a rainforest, a circle of friends, your own body—is an anarchic harmony that persists through constant change. Top-down control, on the other hand, can only be maintained by constraint or coercion: the precarious discipline of the high-school detention room, the factory farm in which pesticides and herbicides defend sterile rows of genetically modified corn, the fragile hegemony of a superpower.
          Anarchism is the idea that everyone is entitled to complete self-determination. No law, government, or decision-making process is more important than the needs and desires of actual human beings. People should be free to shape their relations to their mutual satisfaction, and to stand up for themselves as they see fit.
              Anarchism is not a dogma or a blueprint. It is not a system that would supposedly work if only it were applied right, like democracy, nor a goal to be realized in some far-off future, like communism. It is a way of acting and relating that we can put into practice right now. In reference to any value system or course of action, we can begin by asking: How does it distribute power?

         Anarchists oppose all forms of hierarchy—every currency that concentrates power into the hands of a few, every mechanism that puts us at a distance from our potential. Against closed systems, we relish the unknown before us, the chaos within us by virtue of which we are able to be free.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Solidarity Is A Weapon.

          A call for solidarity from that "Land of the Free" the good ol' US of A. A country that locks up more of its citizens than any other country on the planet. In this case protesters at the inauguration of the dysfunctional, homophobic, twitter syndrome Trump are facing 75 years in prison, after a mass arrest at that protest. Solidarity knows no borders and is one of our powerful weapons, let's use it now and often.

This from Crimethinc:

       We are calling for a Week of Solidarity with the J20 defendants from July 20 to 27, 2017. July 20 marks six months from the initial actions and arrests during Donald Trump’s inauguration, and on July 27, a motion to dismiss the charges will be argued in court. The case has finally begun to receive the media attention it warrants; with this court date approaching and the cases underway, this is a crucial time for a second Week of Solidarity. Send reportbacks, photographs, and inquiries to J20solidarity@protonmail.com.
       On January 20, 2017, thousands of people came to Washington, DC to protest the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. In the early morning, blockades shut down security checkpoints and discouraged people from attending the inauguration itself, while impromptu marches and direct actions occurred throughout the day. There was a spirit of defiance in the air.
       Iconic images circulated almost immediately, from the punching of white supremacist Richard Spencer to pictures of a limousine on fire. These were only the most spectacular images, however, of a day that was characterized by generalized disruption.
       Midmorning, an “anticapitalist and antifascist” march of several hundred people made clear its opposition not just to Trump but also the system that made Trump possible. Led by banners reading “MAKE RACISTS AFRAID AGAIN” and “TOTAL LIBERATION FROM DOMINATION,” the disruptive march took the streets of DC to the sound of fireworks and anticapitalist chants. After about half an hour, the march was brutally attacked by police, who used chemical and crowd control weapons along with physical force, then boxed in (“kettled”) and mass-arrested people. Everyone on an entire city block was arrested and given the same charge of felony rioting. Approximately 214 arrestees now face a total of eight felony charges, including conspiracy and destruction of property. All of the J20 defendants are now facing up to 75 years in prison.
       A great deal has happened in the six months since the inauguration. Confrontational protests have taken place across the continent, challenging the political landscape shaped by Trump’s election. Participants have stood up to emboldened white supremacists, disrupted airports in the face of anti-Muslim bans, blockaded proposed pipeline routes, set up sanctuary spaces and rapid response networks against ICE deportations, and much more. In turn, states are passing legislation aimed at further criminalizing protest and limiting resistance.

Read the full article for contact details and further info HERE:

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

How Much Profit Can Be Made From Your Child's Illnes?

         Our political ballerinas who all worship at the alter of the God "The Market" are hell bent on taking every fibre of our society into the magic world of "The Market". That land of deregulated greed where profit is the only acceptable criteria. We are already well down the road to total immersion in the mysterious and whimsical world of "The Market", our health service is quivering on the brink of conversion to the faith of "The Market".

 Peter Radford explains it thus:

       “Markets, you see, are wonderlands that always and inevitably lead to efficient outcomes. And it is no good any starry eyed liberal tinkering with those outcomes. They are magically correct. By correct we mean that they cannot be improved upon. Economists have this vice like attachment to certain core beliefs. One of those is that, if left unfettered, markets will zero in on an allocation of stuff that can never be improved, especially by meddlesome governments.
       The way you get to this particular promised land is by letting the great forces of supply and demand batter away at individual preferences and budgets until all the trading and so on ends with no one able to make another trade without such a trade making someone else worse off. It sounds wonderful. Now to make this all work we have to believe in magic. We have to suspend our intelligence and imagine a world where everyone knows exactly what everyone else is doing, where no one cheats, where everyone is marvelously rational, where they don’t suddenly change their minds, where they can calculate at the speed of light, absorb vast amounts of data, and always — yes always — arrive at precisely that combination of stuff they wanted. Within the constraints of their budget of course.”

         This magical system is how the American health care works, and it is the desired aim of of our political ballerinas, to make our health service a replica of the American market controlled health care system. Only idiots who are blind to everything in the world except profit, would contemplate such a disaster being foisted on the people of any country.

 From Pete Dolack:

       You could not devise a worse health care system than that of the United States if you tried. By far the most expensive, with among the worst results.
       Perhaps saying “among” the worst results is being too kind. That is an accurate statement if we are simply measuring metrics such as mortality rates and other medical outcomes. But if we consider that tens of millions of United Statesians go without health insurance while none do in any advanced capitalist country (or most any other) — and that tens of thousands annually die because of that lack — then we must reasonably assess the U.S. health care system as the worst.
       This is the high cost of private profit in health care. How much? The United States spends more than $1.4 trillion per year than it would otherwise if it had a single-payer system. Such is what happens when a service is left in the hands of the private sector, and allowed to be bent toward profit rather than human need.
       To calculate that figure, I took the average per capita health care spending of the three largest EU countries — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — and the neighbor of the U.S., Canada, and compared that average to U.S. per capita spending. The composite average for Britain, Canada, France and Germany for the years 2011 to 2016 is $4,392 per capita per year, converted to U.S. dollars adjusted to create purchasing power parity as reported by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Per capital health care spending in the U.S. for 2011 to 2016 averaged $8,924 — more than twice as much! Taking that difference and multiplying by 317 million, the average U.S. population for the five-year period, and the total annual excess comes to $1.44 trillion.
      That excess has been steadily increasing. Doing these same calculations for earlier periods found that for the period of 2001 to 2010, the annual average of excess spending was $1.15 trillion. The annual average for the period of 1990 to 2000 was $685 billion.
       For 2016, the OECD reports that only nine of the 35 countries surveyed spent more than half of what the U.S. spent on health care, and the second highest spender, Switzerland, spent $2,000 less per capita than did the United States.
        Can this astounding amount of spending be accounted for by more health care? Nope. The average length of a hospital stay in U.S. in 2014 was 5.5 days, seventh shortest of 35 countries surveyed by the OECD. The average hospital stay in each of the four core comparison countries (Britain, Canada, France and Germany) was longer — a composite average of 7.6 days.
      Paying more for less
      So it really comes down to inferior results. The U.S. does well in combating cancer, but poorly in almost every other category of health care measurement. And people in the U.S. pay dearly for the privilege of health care, if they are lucky enough to have access to it. The cost of health insurance continues to rise, and the amount a patient must pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in (the “deductible” in U.S. lingo) is also steadily rising as employers push more of the cost of health insurance on to their employees.

From Pillip Longman, another comment on "The Martket" controlled American health care system.

       “Indeed, the inflating cost of health care is the overwhelming reason why most Americans haven’t received a raise in years, and why employers increasingly make use of contract workers rather than taking on new employees that would receive benefits. This year, the total annual cost of health care for a typical family of four covered by a typical employer-sponsored plan surpassed $25,000, according to the actuarial research firm Milliman. Such a family will typically pay more than $11,000 of this cost directly out of its own pockets, through payroll deductions, copayments, and deductibles. They will also pay much more indirectly in foregone wages and other forms of compensation, and quite possibly more yet in the form of unemployment, as employers seek to escape their share of the mounting cost of providing health care for their employees.”

         Is this the health service you wish for, is this in any way acceptable to you? If you think you can preserve our National Health Service by appealing to our political ballerinas, many who have shares in health care companies, or receive payments from health care companies, you are naive in the extreme. The political machine is in the pocket of the corporate juggernaut and it is driving at breakneck speed to total conversion to the faith of "The Market". Our only hope of every having health care and social services that are desired and required, is by the total demolition of this insane system of capitalism. Not tinkering with its inners in an attempt to make it a more humane and compassionate system, it is a greed driven profit oriented ruthless system, that cannot function other than it does.

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

"That Better World".

          Within all the hearts of the ordinary people lies a blueprint of “that better world”, however, to most, the system under which we live is so entrenched, change seems impossible, and will always be met with strong repression, so the struggle for that “better world” is not for the faint-hearted. The state system has a long proven history of domination, repression, exploitation, manipulation and a ruthless ability to enforce its pattern on all aspects of our lives. Its pillars of dominance are cemented with the blood of ordinary people, its institutions are backed up by force via its militarised police, its biased judicial system and its chain of prisons. These departments of enforcement are always on hand to stifle the rise of any dissenting voices. The more successful your collective action for change, the more the institutions of state will be brought to bear on your venture. 

       Today we see the far-right movements raising their vicious heads above the parapet, emboldened by that babbling brook of bullshit, the corporate media, and nationalist, fear-mongering state propaganda. To a degree we can take some encouragement from this, as this can at times be taken as a sign that institution of the state is feeling threatened. Why should the state feel threatened? Simply because across the globe people are challenging its structures, people are organising against the continuous exploitation and endless wars, people are building solidarity across borders, developing strategies to counter the power of the state, coming together to control their own lives. However, there is a long and fierce battle ahead for that better world, there will be set-backs, there will be tears, but solidarity and perseverance will bring victory. We have to accept that the state and its master, corporate capitalism, will not “go quietly into that dark night”. History tells us, that the state will sacrifice the lives of millions to protect the privileges of the few. That is the battle we face.

 

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

 

A Wee Bit Of Cycle Track.

 

      I have been silent for a while, some might rejoice at that and hope it continues, others may have missed my mouthing off, to them, a thank you. Circumstances have made it difficult to carry out my usual routine, but things are beginning to fall into place again. My silence is in no way an indication that the hatred and anger that I hold for this exploitative greed drive system of capitalism has diminished, on the contrary, reflection has only strengthened my desire to do what I can, in my own humble way, to help bring about the demise of the capitalist system and with it, all its injustices, inequalities, exploitation, misery, deprivation and of course its endless wars for power.

      However, I thought I would make my first few lines on another subject, that love of mine, cycling. Wednesday was probably the best day we in Scotland have had for a while, around 17 degrees, blue sky and a not too nasty a wind, about 12 mph, so it was a little circle round my usual Campsie area. One peculiar aspect of Wednesday on the outward journey, was the absence of motor vehicles, a rare occurrence on our roads nowadays, making the road a very pleasant place for cyclists. The return journey was back to the usual speeding tin boxes, screaming past in both directions. Again there were lots of cyclists out on the road, usually passing me with a friendly "Hi", I'm getting used to them passing me, and as they do, I usually murmur to myself, "ah, those were the days my friend, we thought they would never end--".   I have always been a road cyclist and have very, very rarely ventured onto cycle tracks. However I thought I would give the one that runs through the Campsie area a wee try, and joined it before it reaches Lennoxtown. I can recommend it, well the short patch that I followed. It was a pleasant ride on a smooth tarmac surface, and no worries about HGVs and speeding off-roaders.   

Cycle track just before it ends as you enter Lennoxtown.

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

For Their Sakes, We Must Do Something.

Figures for 2014.

      The never ending downward spiral of poverty continues at an ever increasing rate, and still our political ballerinas spout their crap about a strong economy. Figures from the Office of National Statistics, (ONS) show the extent to which we in this country are sliding down the toilet, though I have no doubt, under the insane capitalist system, the picture is repeated in countries across the globe. According to the ONS figures, in 2015, 7.3% of the UK population, approximately 4.6 million people were living in persistent poverty, (Persistent poverty described as living in relative poverty in the current year and at least two of the three preceding years) this is an increase of 18% on the previous year 2014. In human terms, this means an extra 700,000 individuals joining the ranks of the misery and anxiety of persistent poverty, in the 6th. richest country in the world.

       With this insane capitalist system, of those in poverty some groups are hit harder than others, women are showing a more rapid increase in persistent poverty than men. Women in persistent poverty, 2015, registered 8.2%, as compared to men which was 6.3%, the biggest gender gap since this data was first gather in 2008. Everywhere we look, we see inequality, and policies that divide. 

       We the ordinary people continue to generate wealth on a massive scale, keeping the UK ahead in the league of wealthy nations, but we never see any of that wealth. By sleight of hand, and a loaded system, the largest slice, by far, of that wealth ends up in the hands of a small powerful cabal of parasites. While we the real wealth creators, continue our grinding path down the dark corridors of poverty and deprivation.

         Does anybody honestly believe that this system of capitalism will ever remedy this mass poverty in the midst of opulence? History tells us, the system has failed miserably to come even close to eradicating poverty and deprivation, but has produced an over abundance of wealth for the small band of parasites who control the system. How much longer will we condemn our children and grandchildren to a life of wrestling with poverty in the midst of abundance? For their sakes and for justice and equality, we must destroy capitalism, the system that creates mass poverty, deprivation and wars. 

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

The Savageness Of Full Spectrum Dominance

       Only an idiot would believe that the brutal bloody disaster that is the Middle East is not a direct result of American lead Western foreign policy. We are asked to believe that the endless wars, the slaughter of millions of innocent people, the destruction of entire countries, is all for the benefit of the people of those countries. How much longer must we maim, traumatise and brutally kill the civilian population of that area to make their lives better? We have been in Iraq since 2003 and still the brutal slaughter goes on and on, that is almost three times longer than the second world war. It is the thought process of the insane, or devious, corrupt, ruthless power mongers, but not the actions of rational humane beings.

        The charade of the civilised West putting its self in harms way to protect the ordinary people of the Middle East, is created by the propaganda wing of the established Western power structure. With limitless finances the babbling brook of bullshit that is our mainstream media, spews out the toxic vomit of the West as the world's knight in shining armour, while in fact it rides blood stained and mercilessly tramples innocents across the globe, all for its own wealth and power.

      In a mad insane world of lies, subterfuge, double speak and spin, the truth will sound insane, but the truth is the only weapon that will bring an end to this carnage of people for the purpose of power.  

      Thanks for the link Loam.

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

There's Trouble Ahead, How Do We Solve It?

        As anybody who has had a look at how the capitalist system works, is well aware, it is a system with inherent flaws. It inevitably goes into convulsions, as those with the money look like losing lots of it. This happened in the pre thirties, giving us the hungry 30's, it happened again in 2008, giving us a decade of austerity. When these convulsions happen the way the system "corrects" itself, is by plundering the public purse, giving us bail-outs and austerity. The government hands the corporate juggernaut and the financial Mafia lots of public money in the form of "bail-outs" amassing mountains of debt, and then applying "austerity" to reduce that debt. Of course austerity only happens to the ordinary people, to those rich parasites, austerity is some kind of disease to which the ordinary people fall foul to periodically.

       Claudio Borio, the head of the BIS monetary and economic department, said a new recession could come “with a vengeance” and “the end may come to resemble more closely a financial boom gone wrong”. The BIS, which is sometimes known as the central bank for central banks and counts Bank of England Governor Mark Carney among its members, warned of trouble ahead for the world economy.

      We are not yet clear of the previous convulsion, and the gnomes of the financial Mafia are starting to shit their pants, as there appears to be warning signs that the next is about to hit them. No doubt, in their marble halls of greed and opulence, they will already be looking at how else they can plunder the public purse to retrieve their new massive gambling losses. They will be looking hard to see which part of the social fabric of the planet can they rip-off to recoup their greed gotten losses. This week Italy has been forced to bail out two of its banks to the tune of €5.2 billion, of tax payers money.

       Such luminaries as Mark Carney and other members of the BIS, (The Bank of International Settlements, sometimes referred to as the central bank of central banks. Though I like to refer to them as Bandits in Suits. ) are already ringing their alarm bells, and saying it could be worse than the last convulsion.

       While the vultures, and parasites of the financial Mafia will be preparing to grab what public assets they can get their hands on, to regain their gambling losses, what will we be doing? Will we accept another decade, or more, of "austerity", will we see ourselves pushed as far into deprivation as the people of Greece, with no end in sight? Or will we get serious about organising to bring down this flawed system of greed and exploitation, and put an end to capitalism, that is the root cause of the poverty and deprivation of millions of people across the planet?

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

Two Punctures And A Few Showers.

 Stathis preparing to cook the gourmet meal.

        On Sunday we had arranged with my daughter's family to have a barbecue at Firkin Point, it lies on the west shore of Loch Lomond between Invebeg and Tarbet. The plan was they would make their way there by car and I would cycle up the loch to Tarbet, turn and head back to Firkin Point to join them. Their part of the arrangement went to plan, my part of the plan however, was a little different. The day proved to be one of wind and some heavy showers, not my ideal cycling weather, so my wee yellow cape was on and off a few times. A short distance from Luss I got a puncture, normally not much of a problem, as I carry two spare tubes. However with my back and hip problems, I can no longer just sit on the grass verge and sort it out. If I sit down that low I have great difficulty in getting back up unassisted. If I stand and try to do things, my back aches something awful, so I walked up a farm path and found some large rocks I could sit on and get the job done. Back on the bike and about a mile further on, I got another puncture, now faced with the same problem, I decided to walk to Luss where I found a bollard at the entrance to to the village, where I could lean my back against as I stood at the side of the road and sorted the problem. Now well behind in time, another heavy shower, the wee yellow cape back on, I decided to skip Tarbet and just head for Firkin point and food. On arriving, I also decided to put the bike in the back of my partners car and abandon the run back, that's a first for me. 

One of the sunny spells between the showers and overcast sky.

     Never the less, the barbecue was a great success, even although it was punctuated by showers. It was also a wee birthday celebration for my grand daughter's 11th birthday, though that is in July, but she will be in Greece by then, so we had it a bit early.

During one of the dark overcast moments, my partners total failure to fly the kite.

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