After six months of medical problems and a prolonged winter and forced inactivity, my thoughts were sadly turning to, would I ever get out on the bike again. Saturday was a beautiful day so after a few trials of trying to get my leg over and onto the bike and back off again, I set off. I picked an easy run, very easy, and a short run, very short, I decided to follow the Forth and Clyde canal for a bit and then return by the same route. I was hoping that the legs wouldn't complain too much, to my delight they didn't. The pace was down as was the gears I was using, but what the hell, here I was pedaling in beautiful sunshine, ah, the exhilaration. Not far along my journey I had to stop and take a photo of a very welcoming sight, an unknown friend had been busy with their paint can.
So the first run of the late start season over, and looking forward to building it up, weather permitting, after all, this is Scotland, land of the mist and the heather.
A welcoming sign.
A wee seat at Kirkintilloch to sit and enjoy the canal.
As usual, our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, displays order in our land. The government has set up a hotline for the innocent people of the "Windrush" engineered victimisation scheme, well that's that problem sort!!! All those lovely people, the leaders of the Commonwealth, are wining and dining with the Queen and agreeing that her, on lifetime benefit, son, should become leader of the Commonwealth, well that's unemployment down again. All this is laced with bits of spice and a little bit of shock here and there, but all is well here in the UK, order reigns among a happy population, after all we have a royal wedding to finance and look forward to, which will bring colour and pleasure into our simple lives. And so the illusion is re-enforced for the gullible. The misery caused by austerity, universal credit, rising homelessness, increasing child poverty, a crumbling education system, and a health service cracking at the seams, is sidelined in favour of popcorn and bubblegum "news", trivia and propaganda. Nor is there a word about the chaos just across the Channel in France. Transport strikes that are paralysing the country, the students' strikes and occupations, Air France strikes, and not forgetting the strikes and protests by civil servants, energy workers and garbage collectors, then there is ZAD, and the ongoing struggle to defend ZAD against brutal eviction. France's Economy Minister has admitted that the strikes are impacting on growth, oh dear. President Macron is not a popular man among the ordinary people, but of course, big business love him. To the uninitiated, that should give you a hint as to where his loyalties lie.
Defence of ZAD, April 2018.
On top of this welling up of hatred and disgust with the economic system in France, the powers that be, are a bit nervous about the looming 50th. anniversary of the May 1968 French uprising, which may be celebrated in a way that the political ballerinas and corporate Mafia don't like. Well here's hoping.
Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's just my personality, but I get irritated by the increase in "The only way is----". I suppose this is due to the weird popularity of a certain TV program. On Facebook we have "The only way is Maryhill" and "The only way is Gorbals" will these be followed by "The only way is Garngad", "The only way is Calton", "the only way is Bridgeton" etc., etc. I call this an insular policy, tribalism and petty patriotism, just a precursor to "The only way is Great Briton". It is as though each of these districts were the only slum in Glasgow, and some people wear it like a badge of honour, but let's not forget, Glasgow was a slum. As was Liverpool, Birmingham, Belfast and all industrial cities in this landmass called Great Britain. Instead of looking inwards and focusing on our own little bit of this industrial capitalism created slum, we should be looking outwards towards each other and coming together to free ourselves from the ever increasing threat and distinct possibility, of a return of the modern slums. Let's not describe ourselves by our own little patch of deprivation, we are much bigger than that. We can come together and without the burden of our political ballerinas and "entrepreneurs" ensure we see the last of "The only way is my little piece of deprivation" and the creation of "The only way is the people's world".
A CALL FOR INTERGALACTIC SOLIDARITY ACTIONS EVERYWHERE TO END THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ZAD OF NOTRE DAME DES LANDES
We are writing with the smell of tear gas rising from our fingers.
The springtime symphony of birdsong is punctuated by the explosive echo
of concussion grenades. Our eyes are watering, less from the gas than
the sadness; because our friends’ homes, barns and organic farms are
being destroyed. Bulldozers, supported by 2500 riot police, armored
vehicles, helicopters and drones, are rampaging through these forests,
pastures and wetlands to crush the future we are building here on the to
the zad (The zone à defendre).
We are calling on you to take solidarity actions everywhere, it could
be holding demos at your local french embassy or consulate, or taking
actions against any suitable symbol (corporate or otherwise) of France !
And if you are not too far away, bring your disobedient bodies to join
us on the zone. If the French government evicts the zad, it will be like
evicting hope.
For fifty years, this unique chequerboard landscape was the site of a
relentless struggle against yet another climate wrecking infrastructure
– a new airport for the nearby city of Nantes. Farmers and villagers,
activists and naturalists, squatters and trade unionists wove an
unbreakable ecology of struggle together and three months ago on the
17th of January, the French government announced that the airport
project would be abandoned. But this incredible victory, won through a
diversity of creative tactics from petitions to direct action, legal
challenges to sabotage, had a dark shadow. In the same breath that
declared the abandonment, came the announcement that the people
occupying these 4000 acres of liberated territory, the 300 of us living
and farming in 80 different collectives, would be evicted because we
dared not just to be against the airport, but its WORLD as well.
Years of occupation, in defence of the area and to prevent it becoming another tarmac and concrete jungle and now ten days of relentless state brutality to evict the occupants of ZAD, and still the battle rages. All the savage force of the state apparatus is being brought to forcibly evict a community, autonomy can't be tolerated in the psyche of the state. This land must be under their control and made available to the corporate juggernaut that is raping and plundering the planet. People will be beaten, bludgeoned, teargassed, and forcibly dragged and dumped or arrested, while the state talks of democracy. The struggle taking place in ZAD demands all our support and solidarity. This from Its Going Down:
The first episode in a series by The Cinema Committee which looks at La ZAD, or the Zone to Defend, in France.
In the early morning of Monday, April 9, 2018, the current
invasion of the ZAD began. This land-occupation near the village of
Notre-Dames-des-Landes is still under siege after nine days of tear gas,
concussion grenades, drones, clubs, tanks, and attack dogs. Like the
famous French children’s song,
the imperial assault began on a “Lundi matin” and continued every day
of the week until the following Monday when it started all over again.
This is now the second week of the siege. In the original
lyrics of the children’s song, the emperor, the empress, and the prince
come to put “you” in a pinch every day of the week but luckily “you” are
never there. The emperor of this little song was based on Napoleon III,
the disease-ridden tyrant who ruled over France until his disastrous
war with Prussia. Thanks to his idiocy and egotism, the city of Paris
was surrounded by the invading army and within a year the autonomous Commune
had forced the Republican government to flee the city. The current
situation is much different than it was in 1871 and hopefully it ends
with victory rather than bloodshed. In no uncertain terms, what is being
fought for at the ZAD is the earth itself. Unlike the Paris Commune
with its delusions about the citizen, the state school, money, and
government, this epic battle in the hedgerows is being fought to free the land from the capitalist economy, not compromise with it. Our own personal time
in the ZAD was far too brief and yet long enough to linger in our minds
forever. Like those who’ve visited Chiapas or Rojava, the ZAD is one of
the few places on the planet where capitalist time and its market
relations have been abolished. Living a communal life free from economic
constraints is a visceral experience that makes even the longest
work-vacation seem like a sick joke. Nothing is more infectious and
viral than the experience of a life worth living. It’s powerful enough
that thousands of people have spent the past week fighting for it on the
moorland of Notres-Dames-des-Landes where there have been over 100
serious injuries. On this Wednesday, April 18, three representatives of the ZAD met with the French state
and reasserted their demand that the entire zone be held in common by
the inhabitants. As could be expected, the state refused this demand
once again and insisted that each parcel must be individually claimed by
a private owner no later than April 23. Should the inhabitants of the
ZAD refuse to sign their names on these individuals contracts, the
French state will order another round of evictions and destroy the
remaining 70 structures. This cannot be allowed to happen.
To help spread awareness of this beautiful zone, we are releasing a
series of videos that document this battle to save the ZAD. Each one is
formatted as a self-contained episode and will cover the various aspects
of this struggle. They are meant to be circulated across North America
and will be released until the siege has been broken. This first episode
covers the first two days of the eviction and weaves together footage
from a variety of sources. As could be expected, the mainstream media
outside of France is hardly covering this historic event and it’s up to
us to disseminate news of the ZAD. We wish everyone good luck between
the hedgerows and hope you all stay free. Keep up the good fight and
know we are all with you across the ocean. Let’s bring the ZAD back
home!
Our fair city of Glasgow is steeped in history, a lot of it is spread out for the public to see, captains of industry, blood soaked defenders of imperialism, Dukes and Lords. None of which tells the story of the people of Glasgow, their history is airbrushed from view, but every street, every corner as a tale to tell of the struggles of the ordinary people. The history the powers that be, would have you forget.
So if you are a citizen of Glasgow or just a visitor who wants to know a bit more about the real Glasgow, the Glasgow of the people, then you can have that opportunity during our May Day week celebrations.
A group of ordinary Glasgow dwellers have put together a week of events marking May Day. It starts on Tuesday May 1st with a gathering with performers and stalls at the Donald Dewar statue 12noon. Then that history thing, on Wednesday 2nd. May, a history walk through the city where you will learn a bit more of the real heart of our fair city of Glasgow.
Start and Stop 1: 6pm George Square Wednesday MAY 2nd Eric on 1915 & 1919 Supplementary info on Demos/Interaction.
Stop 2 6.15: Montrose Street: Keith - Info on Strickland Press and Aldred, The Word etc.
Stop 3: Old Sheriff Court – Eric on Rent Strike, John McLean etc 6.25
Stop 4: opposite – Brunswick Street 40s Anarchist Federation street meetings & activities – Keith 6.35
Longest stretch of walk via Tolbooth, Gallowgate & London Rd.
Stop 5: – Calton Burial Site – 1787 Weavers – Keith 6.55
Stop 6: – Glasgow Green, via Templetons, Peoples Palace to entrance
7.05: On Free Speech Fights, tradition in the Green & 90s Workers City etc. Keith & Eric, Summary/ interaction at end
7.20: Head back to town, perhaps after refreshment, Scotia Bar
After your dip into Glasgow's real history, the week culminates in our annual Picnic on the Green, Sunday, May 6th. 2pm. An event of fun, chat, song, music, dance, poetry, face-painting, food sharing, and stalls, bring what you expect to find, bring the family, bring your street.
The following is a quote from a shit-head nut-case who has no grasp of reality and a complete disregard for the suffering of others. He is the lunatic that is housed in The White House mental asylum. Insanity spews from that institution like sewage from a burst sewage tank.
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
An immature, spoiled adolescent, attitude to reality, a reality that is so foreign to him, he more or less lives on another planet. His adoring disciples, May, Macron and others, are quite willing to hold onto his coat tails as he runs rampant, creating mayhem, madness and devastating destruction across the planet.
Surely now must be the time for all the ordinary sane people of this world to take to the streets to stop this insanity from shaping our world. Across the globe all people want is to live a decent life, this is impossible as long as we allow the insane, immature and psychotic to run our affairs.
Mull over his words, are these the words of a reasonable, responsible holder of the key to the world's largest arsenal? Or are these the words of an immature adolescent playing some war game on his computer?
A good number of years ago the war mongers of that imperialist power juggernaut, America, decided that Assad of Syria had to go, as he was not one of their puppets. Because of this the American psychopathic war lords, accompanied by their subservient regimes, unleashed on the innocent people of Syria, 7 years of unimaginable hell. Cities have been totally destroyed, millions of innocent people have been displaced and hundreds of thousands have been killed. Assad is still there, so what is their answer, well the only answer they know, more slaughter and bloodshed, so they attempt to whip the hysteria among their allies and the general population, that more Syrian men, women and children must die in horrible brutal circumstances, so that they can become part of the American imperialist empire.
This hysterical rhetoric of retaliation and punishment, by a bunch of lying psychopathic people, who will never feel the blast of a missile as it kills and mutilates family and friends, should be of concern to us all. The buddies and protectors of Assad, Russia and Iran, are not likely to sit back and take the punishment quietly. Such action will bring the slaughter in the Middle East much closer to home. I fear for my children and grandchildren as this whipped up hysteria, aided and abetted by that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, can only escalate an already extremely dangerous and bloody mess to a world wide catastrophe.
How much longer will we tolerate the insane ruling our world, how much longer can we allow them to, before it is too late?
BBC: “…what should be the response to this use of chemical weapons if it’s proved?” Ford: “The correct
response is obviously–and I think a child could see this–to get
inspectors on to the alleged site of the alleged offenses. In fact, in
the last few hours Russia has offered to provide military escorts for
inspectors from the recognized body in this field the Organization for
the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare. …I don’t think that Assad is in the
least worried that the inspectors would find out his guilt because he’s
probably not guilty… We have to engage our brains as well as
our emotions here, not be stampeded by those videos which are described
as being unverified but which by dint of being repeated over and over
and over again come to acquire a spurious credibility. We have to ask ourselves what what are
the sources of the information on which we’re in this stampede to war.
They’re two-fold, and I’m sorry but the media are falling down on the
job in investigating this. The sources the Syrian American Medical
Society, which is a pro-Islamist propaganda outfit based in the United
States…”
Struggle for freedom and autonomy in this society, and try to do deals with the government, you can expect to be lied to, cheated, and if they see fit, savagely bludgeoned. Any dealings with any government, will have to satisfy their need and desire for total control, hence the subterfuge, double dealing and downright lies. Freedom and governments are opposite ends of the spectrum, and are incompatible.The ZAD will have to fight a bitter fight to survive, they will need all the support and solidarity we can muster, or by stealth or brutality, the state will do its damnedest to destroy it and its ideas.
More details HERE: https://www.unicornriot.ninja/2018/zad-battles-thousands-of-police-during-attempted-eviction-of-autonomous-zone-in-france/
THIS IS THE STATEMENT FROM THE ZAD ASSEMBLY OF USES – 3rd April 2018 On February 10th, a few weeks after the airport project was dropped,
dozens of thousands of people converged again to Notre-Dame-des-Landes
to root the future of the zad. Since then, the assembly of uses(*) has
laid the foundations of this project through the beginning of a dialogue
with government representatives. During this transition phase, a first
global collective convention has been proposed by the movement to take
the fields and dwellings in charge. But the government still threaten to
evict some of these dwellings. An operation mobilizing Thousands (2500
according to the press) of policemen and women are announced for Monday
9th April. We denounce the double-dealing of the government which announced it
wants a « peaceful and reasonable » evolution of the situation while
planning an eviction operation which is moreover illegal. We can’t
accept that inhabitants who preserved the bocage will be evicted
tomorrow. We can’t accept that dwellings and spaces of activities which
have nurtured the experience of the zad and are necessary to its future
will be destroyed by a new police operation. We invite those who support
the avenir of the zad to organize accordingly! *In case of evictions of habitations, we call for different types of answers on several geographical scales.* On the zad and around : – call to contribute to the workshops organized in april. – call to come defend the zone. We already decided that except in case of police intervention, the
roads would stay circulating for the inhabitants, the peasants and
neighbours. In case of police attack, we might block them if necessary.
We call supports to act accordingly. Welcome spaces will be organized on
the zone and around. – call in case of destruction to come rebuild the zone. Outside the zad : – call for gatherings and occupations the very night of the evictions
on city places, in front of municipalities and prefecture and police
stations. /The //A//ssembl//y//of //U//ses, Tuesday 3rd April. / (*) The Assemblies of Uses have been implemented in summer 2017 on
the zad of Notre-Dame-des-Landes. They gather regular users of the zad –
inhabitants, neighbours, peasants, people involved in activities on the
zone and the different componentsof the struggle. Their goal is to
think and build the collective organization of this territory according
to the 6 points for the avenir of the zad (https://zad.nadir.org/IMG/pdf/6pointszad-a3-2.pdf). Yesterdaynight, this Assemblyhas decided to launch a call to face the imminent evictions on the zad. FOLLOW THE EVICTIONS ON TWITTER @ZAD_NDDL
The people's version of Glasgow May Day 2018, as opposed to the sanitised TUC version, with the political ballerinas telling us how they can lead us to the promised land, starts with Tuesday May 1st. a gathering at
Donald Dewar statue 12 noon with performers and stalls, Wednesday May
2nd. A history walk through our city, limited places available, so get
your name down now. The week culminates with a picnic on the Green,
Sunday May 6th. again performers, stalls and food to share, its a
picnic. If you fancy doing a wee slot at either the May 1st. or the
picnic on the Green May 6th. a song, a dance, or play an instrument,
read a poem, juggle or what ever takes your fancy, get in touch.
Whatever you do, come along, bring the family, bring what you expect to
find, bring your street. See you there.
Spirit of Revolt is always working hard to record, catalogue and make accessible to the public at large, the history and struggles of the ordinary people. Recently we have been in touch with members, past and present, of the Faslane Peace Camp, in an attempt to archive the history of this world renown struggle for world peace. We want it to be recorded, more widely known, and easily accessible. To this end this is a call out to members of the Faslane Peace Camp, past and present, to get in touch with their stories, photos, posters and other memorabilia.
From Jane, a former member of the camp:
Call out to all former Faslane Peace Campers.
Faslane Peace Camp – Resisting Nuclear Weapons Since 1982 – Preserving
our History Since Faslane Peace Camp was first set up in June 1982 many people
have lived there and for weeks, months and years made the camp their
home. Many more have visited and joined in protests and nonviolent action
organised by the camp against Trident, the UK’s nuclear weapons system
based at Faslane. Now campers past and present are collaborating with Spirit of Revolt to
gather together material to compile an archive of the history of the camp
so far. Spirit of Revolt are based at The Mitchell Library in Glasgow
although they maintain ownership of their collections and they also have
an archivist working with a team of volunteers to scan material to make
it available on their website.
http://spiritofrevolt.info
Spirit of Revolt are interested in a wide array of material from the
Peace Camp including newsletters, photographs, leaflets and posters,
minutes of meetings, correspondence involving strategy and tactics,
mementos, poems and stories. All of this can be helpful in getting a good
picture of what the Peace Camp stands for and how it has evolved over
time. Please share this call out for archive material and contact Spirit of
Revolt if you would like to donate material, volunteer to help with
this project or would like to be involved in an aural history project
about Faslane Peace Camp. Contact
info@spiritofrevolt.infoor use the contact form on their website
http://spiritofrevolt.info/contact/ (please don’t take
things to the Mitchell Library without getting in touch first) There is also a Facebook group page for former campers to meet and
discuss what material we have dug out and piece together our history.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/207759269813590/
You have to join the group if you want to be able to post to it.
All the capitalist states with their "representative democracy" governments rumble along with the population grudgingly going about their business with a reluctant passivity, giving the impression that the system is acceptable. Now and again their is an explosion and a large slice of the passive population stands up and says, "enough is enough", we want change. It happens in different parts of the world at different times, and the state concerned shudders to a halt, and with its brutal apparatus of repression it savagely tries to regain control and get the population back to the passive resignation of acceptance of the unjust exploitative system, a system that heaps power and privilege on the wealthy.
May 1968 in France was one of those explosions, what started as a student protest spread like wild fire, and brought the underlying, simmering anger of the workers onto the streets. The French state shuddered, wavered, grasped around for ways to regain control, and with the usual savagery, brutality and the carrot and stick, slowly managed to regain the reins of power.
France again is facing mass protests as the state pushes ahead with the capitalist mantra of "privatisation and slashing workers condition" is the blood transfusion necessary to save their precious capitalist system of power and privileges for the wealthy. Will the fiftieth anniversary of May 1968 inspire the workers and the students with the thought that they nearly brought it all tumbling down last time, have they learned enough that perhaps this time they might succeed. Time will tell, but we must offer all support and solidarity to the French workers who are at this moment, involved in a struggle to preserve what conditions they have, and to prevent the capitalist juggernaut from devouring their publicly owned transport system.
Prisons, one of the state's many tools of repression, are now also profit making commercial concerns. Getting prisoners, as slave labour, to work for next to nothing, and with no rights, filling the coffers of corporate bosses. There is no place in a civilised society for prisons, freedom, justice and equality will only be born when we walk over the ashes of the prison system and all its appendages.
Austria:
Anarchist Black Cross Solidarity Festival in Vienna
How long will the world turn its back on the suffering of the people of Palestine, how long will it tolerate the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli state? Two questions that have not been answered since the creation of the Israeli Zionist state. The persecution of the Palestinian people has been ongoing since 1947 at the hands of the extremist Zionist militias and the Israeli army. It has intensified as the military arsenal of the Zionist state has grown in firepower, thanks to the American financial and military assistance, and the eagerness of the West to sell the Israeli Zionist state an abundance of powerful weaponry. Then they turn their backs as that weaponry is used in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
The leaders of this Zionist state carry out this genocide with impunity as they sit in the marble halls of power sipping champagne and coffee, while planning more domination with the complicity of the leaders of the so called free democratic West. We can't expect this coterie of corruption to solve this savage and bloody genocide, it will take the power of the ordinary people to come together and smash this capitalist/military/Zionist nightmare once and for all. The plight of the Palestinian people is just one symptom of this malignant cancer that dominates our world.
Images and video from arrezafe.
