Shooting Us Like Partridges.

       It didn't take a crystal ball to predict the fate of anarchists in Russia after the Bolsheviks came to power. Though the Bolsheviks have gone, the persecution of anarchists continues to this day, and not just in Russia. 

From Enough Is Enough:

       Here is an extract from the new PM Press edition of Voline’s anarchist history of the Russian Revolution, The Unknown Revolution (with a new introduction by Iain McKay), describing Voline’s encounters with Leon Trotsky, before and during the Russian Revolution. It goes well with Emma Goldman’s “Trotsky Protests Too Much,” which I posted earlier. The excerpt can also be found in Daniel Guérin’s No Gods, No Masters (Ni Dieu Ni Maitre), published by AK Press.

Encounters with Trotsky

           In April 1917 I met Trotsky again. (We had known each other in Russia, and, later in France from which we were both expelled in 1916.) We met in a print shop which specialised in printing the various publications of the Russian left. He was then editor of a daily Marxist paper Novy Mir (New World). As for me, I had been entrusted with editing the last numbers of Golos Truda (Voice of Labour), the weekly organ of the anarcho-syndicalist Union of Russian Workers, shortly before it was moved to Russia. I used to spend one night a week at the print shop while the paper was being prepared. That is how I happened to meet Trotsky on my first night there.

      Naturally we spoke about the Revolution. Both of us were preparing to leave America in the near future to return home.

       In the course of our conversation I said to Trotsky: “Truly I am absolutely sure that you, the Marxists of the left, will end up by seizing power in Russia. That is inevitable, because the Soviets, having been restored, will surely enter into conflict with the bourgeois government. The government will not be able to destroy them because all the workers of the country, both industrial workers and peasants, and also most of the army, will naturally put themselves on the side of the Soviets against the bourgeoisie and the government. And once the Soviets have the support of the people and the army, they will triumph in the struggle. And once they have won it will be you, the Marxists, who will inevitably be carried into power. Because the workers are seeking the revolution in its most advanced form. The syndicalists and anarchists are too weak in Russia to attract the attention of the workers rapidly by their ideas. So the masses will put their confidence in you and you will become ‘the masters of the country.’ And then, look out anarchists! The conflict between you and us is unavoidable. You will begin to persecute us as soon as your power is consolidated. And you will finish by shooting us like partridges. . .”

        “. . .Come, come, comrade,” replied Trotsky. “You have a stubborn and incorrigible imagination. Do you think we are really divided? A mere question of method, which is quite secondary. Like us you are revolutionaries. Like you we are anarchists in the final analysis. The only difference is that you would like to establish your anarchism immediately without a preparatory transition, while we, the Marxists, do not believe it possible to ‘leap’ in one bound into the libertarian millennium. We anticipate a transitory epoch in the course of which the ground for an anarchist society will be cleared and ploughed with the help of the anti-bourgeois political powers: the dictatorship of the proletariat exercised by the proletarian party in power. In the end, it involves only a ‘shade’ of difference, nothing more. On the whole we are very close to one another. We are friends in arms. Remember now: we have a common enemy to fight. How can we think of fighting among ourselves? Moreover, I have no doubt that you will be quickly convinced of the necessity of a temporary proletarian socialist dictatorship. I don’t see any real reason for a war between you and us. We will surely march hand in hand. And then, even if we don’t agree, you are all wrong in supposing that we, the socialists, will use brutal force against the anarchists! Life itself and the judgement of the masses will resolve the problem and will put us in agreement. No! Can you really admit for a single instant such an absurdity: socialists in power shooting anarchists? Come, come, what do you take us for? Anyhow, we are socialists, comrade Voline! We are not your enemies."

         In December 1919, seriously ill, I was arrested by the Bolshevik military authorities in the Makhnovist region of the Ukraine. Considering me an important militant, the authorities advised Trotsky of my arrest by a special telegram and asked for his instructions concerning me. The reply, also by telegram, arrived quickly, clearly, laconically: “SHOOT HIM IMMEDIATELY—TROTSKY.” I was not shot, thanks to a set of circumstances particularly fortunate and entirely fortuitous.

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Hunt The ****.

       I don't as a rule, often slate individual political ballerinas, they are all dangerous charlatans in my book, and all deserve the same level of contempt. However sometimes something appears in the "news" that seems to set me off on a rant, and Jeremy Hunt's call for a massive increase in war spending, just tipped me over the edge, though it shouldn't have, as it is just true to form. 

      Jeremy Hunt, our foreign secretary, admirer of Trump, has come out with an appeal for the government to vastly increase its spending on its war machine, in line with Trump's demands and sabre rattling. I'm surprised he can talk at all, due to the very large silver spoon he was born with in his mouth. Deemed to be the richest member of the cabinet, is quite a claim among a bunch of very rich and privileged parasites.

      This privileged prancing political ballerina, making such demands, is obviously unaware of the increasing poverty among our children and working families, he will not have noticed the homelessness, areas crying out for more resources. How could he be aware of these facts, he is from a different world. He has an excellent pedigree for his class, a product of the Oxbridge sausage factory, a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth II and Oswald Mosley, and from a Royal Navy background, what more could his class ask for.

     These are the types of other world privileged parasites that we allow to shape our lives and our communities, they shape society to the benefit of their class and to hell with the population at large. No doubt his bold militaristic demands is to win the hearts and minds of his party's backwoods, shooting and fishing landed gentry, in an endeavour to land the big job, party leader. 

     Why do we let them take our wealth and turn it into a war machine for their benefit only? Why do we allow those from another alien privileged world to keep us under the yoke of poverty, while they play war games for the benefit of their class and their class alone? Surely we can see through their subterfuge, illusions and lies. We don't belong in their world, and they certainly don't belong in ours.

From Wikipedia:

Early life and education

        Jeremy Hunt was born in Lambeth Hospital, Kennington,[5] the eldest son of Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt,[6] who was then a Commander in the Royal Navy assigned to work for the Director of Naval Plans inside the recently created Ministry of Defence,[7] and his wife Meriel Eve née Givan (now Lady Hunt), daughter of Major Henry Cooke Givan.[8] Hunt is a descendant of Streynsham Master, a pioneer of the East India Company.[9]
       Hunt was raised in Shere, Surrey, near the constituency that he represents in Parliament.[10] He is a distant relation of Elizabeth II and Oswald Mosley.[11]
      Hunt was educated at Charterhouse where he was Head of School.[6] He then read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford, and took a first class honoursBachelor of Arts (BA) degree. He became involved in Conservative politics while at university, where David Cameron and Boris Johnson were contemporaries.[12] He was active in the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA), and was elected to serve as President in 1987.[12]

 Early career
       After university Hunt worked for two years as a management consultant at OC&C Strategy Consultants, and then became an English language teacher in Japan.[13]

      On his return to Britain he tried his hand at a number of different entrepreneurial business ventures, including a failed attempt to export marmalade to Japan.[14] In 1991, Hunt co-founded a public relations agency named Profile PR specialising in IT with Mike Elms, a childhood friend.[13] Hunt and Elms later sold their interest in Profile PR to concentrate on directory publishing.
       Hunt had been interested in creating a 'guide to help people who want to study rather than just travel abroad'[15] and together with Elms founded a company known as Hotcourses in the 1990s, a major client of which is the British Council.[16] Hunt stood down as director of the company in 2009, however still retained 48% of the shares in the company which were held in a blind trust, before Hotcourses was sold in January 2017 for over £30 million to Australian education organisation IDP Education. He personally gained over £14 million from the sale and in doing so became the richest Cabinet member.[16][17][18]

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The "Untouchables".

          Simple questions for today's society, who polices the police? How do you get redress against police "misdemeanors"?

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

The UK, Land Of Monarchy And Child Poverty.

          The UK, fifth largest economy in the world, it is awash with wealth, it carries on the back of its people the imperial edifice of a pomp swamp of monarchy and all the aristocratic parasites associated with such a menagerie. Wealth flows freely, but only in certain quarters.

      Since the 2008 "crash" the UK, like lots of capitalist countries, embarked on a policy of "austerity". This was the acceptable euphemism for the scheme to allow the rich financial Mafia to regain their massive gambling loses, by plundering the public purse. Eleven years on and we are told, "austerity is over" but where do we stand?

Well has "austerity" worked? You bet it has, with UK's billionaires having seen their net worth rise by 112% from £258billion to £547 billion since 2009. The previous 12 months saw the biggest jump in the UK super rich in six years, the City of London now boasts 80 billionaires up from 72 last year, more than any other city in the world.

       Well while this "austerity" plan has worked for the super rich, how do we at the other end of this master plan fare?

     Well it is not quite the same story, we the people got clobbered. We have suffered an ever decreasing standard of living, child poverty is increasing, workers in poverty has been increasing. What has been plunder from our social services has fed the super rich as they prance around the world in their private jets and super yachts.

         Joseph Rowntree Foundation research reveals that in the UK child poverty has been rising since 2011/12. with 4.1 million children in the UK living in poverty, a rise of 500,000 in the last five years. 4 million of those in work are living in poverty, a rise of more than half a million over five years. In work poverty has been rising faster than employment, driven almost entirely by increasing poverty among working parents. Two sides of the capitalist coin.

      These appalling figures among the ordinary people of this country are not just statistics, they are lives. Lives stunted in health and well-being, the potential of our children destroyed, an increase in stress among families, the breaking up of families, people pushed to homelessness, hard working people put under strain to the detriment of their emotional and physical health. All this, not as an unavoidable set of circumstances, but by the deliberate policies of the chosen few who play the corrupt game to the advantage of their rich cronies. It is called capitalism, and any attempt at trying to turn this exploitative, profit driven system into something with a shred of humanity is doomed to failure, it is not in the nature of the beast. It has to be totally dismantled and replaced with a system of justice, fairness, co-operation and sustainability that sees to the needs of all our people, in a word, anarchism. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

"Writers For Miners" Free CD.

        Spirit of Revolt is anarchist/libertarian-socialist archive dedicated to preserving and making easily accessible to the public at large, Glasgow/Clydeside grass-roots history of struggle. We are not connected to any political party or trade union nor do we receive any funding from any of these organisation. We are a volunteer group who give our time freely, however in a capitalist society funds are a necessary evil to survive and grow. We rely on our various outreach programs to raise funds, and the much appreciated supporters who have signed a direct debit to help sustain this project, to them, a great big thank you.
         In an endeavour to increase our funds and help secure the project, we are, for a limited period offering a CD and booklet, Writers for Miners, to anyone who signs up a direct debit for £5 or more, to Spirit of Revolt. It will be free delivery in the UK, further afield we would have to look at the cost. Have a look at our website https://spiritofrevolt.info, if you like what we are doing and think we are doing a good job, then the price of a couple of coffees a month would be much appreciated.

Details of the CD and booklet:

The Writers for Miners Events, 1984

      In 1984-85 events known as “Writers for Miners” took place on consecutive Saturdays in Glasgow’s 3rd Eye Centre to raise funds for striking coal miners at local pits in one of the most significant industrial disputes in world history.
      With 140,000 out on strike the Thatcher Government planned to break the power of the NUM union, the most well organised group of workers in the country. With 11,291 arrests and lasting 1 year it unleashed massive state repression, brutality and violence. The other unions largely did not show solidarity and the strike failed, opening the door to the destruction of working class communities, job insecurity and privatisation.
      Performers, poets, visual artists and others decided to support the striking miners in Scotland and formed artists-in-Solidarity which organised fundraising for the miners’ families by holding events. This CD is a recording of those events. James Kelman explains, “Radical history is marginalised by the State and events of this nature should be recorded otherwise they are forgotten. The STUC offered to part-fund the project but on this occasion failed to come up with the money. We still went ahead. It was hoped that a selection of songs, poetry and prose-readings might be produced eventually in the form of a couple of albums (all proceeds to the miners’ strike fund). It didn’t happen, for one reason or another…The original project was launched in support of the miners and their families. Those days may have gone but solidarity and comradeship haven’t. All proceeds from the sale of the Writers for Miners album will go toward the Spirit of Revolt (S.O.R.) Archive, in appreciation of the crucial work carried out by the S.O.R. volunteers in the preservation of radical history”.

In 1984, those involved were,

Norman McCaig, Freddy Anderson, Hamish Henderson,

 Duncan Maclean, Kathleen Jamie and Robert Alan Jamieson,

 Donald Saunders, Peter Nardini, Rab Noakes,

Nancy Nicolson, Alasdair Gray, Jeff Torrington, Agnes Owens,
Carl MacDougall, James Kelman, Archie Hind, Donald Saunders,

Tom Leonard, Edwin Morgan, Edward Boyd, Danny Kyle, 

Tom McGrath, Jeff Torrington, Agnes Owens, Archie Hind. 

Where will you get such a fabulous collection of performers on one CD?

         You can contact us at our donate page, https://spiritofrevolt.info/donate/ or at  info@spiritofrevolt.info Set up your Direct debit, send us your address and we will forward the CD and booklet. In anticipation we thank you for your support.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

"The World's Largest Democracy"???

 

       The Indian elections are in full swing at the moment, and I have heard it described by one mainstream reporter as "the largest democracy in the world". That phrase of course makes me want to take a look at this "democracy", how do the people fare in this "largest democracy in the world"? 

      Well of course we know it is a "democracy" built on the usual capitalist format. It is a land of unimaginable wealth, fantastic economic growth figures,  10% over a considerable numbers of years, its GDP is 1,644 billion US dollars, it is one of the largest economies in the world, all this is built on a vast swamp of abject poverty and deprivation. Corporate bosses and members of the financial Mafia rub their hands in glee at the opportunities India offers to exploit millions of poverty stricken people. To these parasites, India is a land of milk and honey, but a "democracy", never by any stretch of the imagination.

        Approximately two thirds of India's population live in poverty, the figures of India's "democratic" poverty are staggering, 68.8% of the population lives on less than $2 a day, while more than 30% try to get by on less than $1.25 a day, this by international standards classifies them as extremely poor. These figures translate into making India one of the poorest countries in the world. Are you seeing "democracy" yet, nor me. 

      The Indian "democracy" is the usual capitalist "democracy" built on the principle of the rich and powerful having all the rights they require to exploit the many, to subject them to poverty and deprivation to increase the wealth and power of that small bunch of parasites that hold the reins of power. The words "democracy" and "capitalism" are incompatible principles, capitalism is the plunder of the world's population and assets to enhance the wealth and power of the few, democracy, true democracy, is the use of the world's assets to see to the needs of all people in a sustainable manner, and ner the twain shall meet. "Largest Democracy In The World" my arse. 

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Anarchy Is For lovers.

      We at Spirit of Revolt are always busy getting as many documents, serials, pamphlets, leaflets, articles, photos etc. up on our website to make our history easily accessible for all. Though there are lots of fascinating material already available on the website, now and again something comes up for uploading and it seems relevant to draw attention to that particular item. 

       Because anarchism, anarchists, due to the bad-mouthed misinformation from the mainstream media, these two words are probably the most misunderstood in the English language. As a result of this distortion of the truth, anarchists are deemed to be destructive and violent, while anarchism is portrayed as chaos, against organisation and devoid of co-operation. Nothing could be further from the truth, anarchism is based on the love of humanity, the desire for justice and freedom of choice for all, all bound up with responsibility for your actions. Anarchists are against hierarchical power, injustice, exploitation, and will always stand up against these distortions of humanity.

        So we thought we would draw attention to this months “Read of the Month” it is taken from our John Cooper Collection, T SOR 3-52-145, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Anarchism But Were Afraid To Ask. First published by The Anarchist Media Group. This edition published jointly by Black Sheep, Dark Star & Rebel Press.

      

Being informed is to be nearer the truth, enjoy and learn. 
Courtesy of Spunk Press:  Read on line:

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We Must Stop The Plunder Of Loch Lomond For Profit.

        Like anyone brought up in Glasgow and and further afield, the Loch Lomond area has been a paradise, a world of pleasure and beauty, a place of peace and quiet, an endless world of warm companionship when shared with friends and family. Its natural beauty is difficult to surpass, I have splashed in its cool waters, (sometimes freezing waters), I have walked its hills and glens, I have cycled its roads, I have enjoyed its tranquility. The pleasure and beauty this place delivers is endless, as it is varied. People from across the globe come to sample its rugged beauty, its wild unspoiled panorama, a gem of unparalleled natural beauty free for all to enjoy.

         Now however our lords and masters who are tasked with protecting our natural heritage have decided all that must change. In their profit and economic growth mentality, they have decide what Loch Lomond needs is a theme park, luxury hotels, self catering apartments, luxury homes for the few, restaurants coffee shops, amusement arcades and the mishmash of "fun-things" that make money, and what you will find in any big city. They wish to take the natural beauty of Loch Lomond and cover a large swath of its natural beauty in bricks, tarmac and concrete. To feed their appetite for "economic growth" which is a euphemism for stuffing a few rich sods bank accounts, they are prepared to decimate woodlands, destroy rare wildlife, animal and fauna, take what is free public land and turn it into a private money making asset for a few from the financial Mafia. A place of beauty free for all to roam and enjoy, will become private property where you are excluded, unless you can come up with the money.

      This land is ours, it is there for all to enjoy, free, they don't have the right to steal it for their money making machine. We would be a land of craven idiots if we let them get away with this plunder of public land for profit. Our voices must be loud and our actions in defence of our free to roam beautiful land, must be determined and forceful, we can't let this happen.

This extract from The Herald:

        ON Loch Lomond’s bonnie banks this week only the clouds lurking sullenly over the hills that garland them hinted at a storm. This is one of those places that looks as magnificent in wind and rain as in sunshine and this week has seen it at its moody finest. Yet it has become the focal point of a planning and environmental row which swamps anything the elements can throw at it.
       Last month updated plans for a £30m leisure development at the southern gateway to Loch Lomond at Balloch were re-presented to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority. The development is being backed by Scottish Enterprise but alarms are being raised at the process by which the land was bought and the bewildering nexus of business and political ‘relationships’ that have paved the way for it to happen. In 2016 Scottish Enterprise announced that the preferred bidder to develop the site was Flamingo Land, an outfit which runs a theme park and zoo in North Yorkshire. Both Flamingo Land and its partners at Scottish Enterprise insist that their plans are sensitive to the fragile beauty and eco-structure of Loch Lomond, perhaps the most globally-recognised representation of Scotland’s natural beauty.

Read the full article HERE:

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Israeli Zionists Poison Human Dignity.

       What has to happen in Gaza for the world to take the perpetrators of this genocide to task? How much deeper in despair, misery and deprivation do the people of Gaza have to sink before the world deal firmly and justly with the engineers of this human tragedy? We all know the gang responsible for this crime against humanity, it is blindingly obvious, it is that festering cancer, the Israeli Zionist apartheid regime with its blind irrational and brutal policies based on the belief that an invisible man in the sky gave them this land around 2,000 years ago, and the world accepts this. The answer to these questions is of course, the world will not address this brutal savagery based on idiotic blind faith and greed for profit. As long as capitalism can extract profit from this swamp of misery built on religious bigotry, the Palestinian blood will flow. The only real long term and permanent answer is to demolish the capitalist system that works hand in glove with the rancid poison that is being inflicted on the Palestinian people. That of course does not mean we ignore the present, we must shout louder, act more forcibly, and continue to highlight this avoidable gushing bleeding wound, that is a deliberate and avoidable travesty of human dignity.

The following from the Independent:

        The UN estimates that an extra $20m is needed to plug an otherwise imminent health crisis.
         “The worst-case scenario is we would not able to continue to feed half the population of Gaza,” Elizabeth Campbell, director of UNRWA’s Washington DC office told The Independent.
        “We will have to close schools, people would have no access to our health care systems. We will have to cut jobs.”
          After the Palestinian Authority, UNRWA is the largest employer of people in Gaza.
          Ms Campbell warned that a destabilised Gaza would also pose a direct threat to Israel.
       “You will have a major humanitarian catastrophe which would easily spread across territories,” she said.
        “We are deeply concerned about the security implications.”
     Her warnings were echoed by Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator for occupied Palestinian territory, who said on Wednesday that without immediate funding as many as 1,700 people in Gaza could lose their limbs over the next two years.
       Some 29,000 people in the enclave have been wounded by Israeli fire at protests and clashes near to the border fences over the past year.
        At least 7,000 have suffered gunshot wounds, mostly to their lower limbs. Hundreds of those are in need of urgent limb-saving treatment provided by the UN.

Read the full article HERE: 

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With Sickening Regularity, Another Anarchist Beaten By Prison Guards.

 

      States across the world, day in and day out, use their rigged judicial system to heap harsh repression on those who would dare to speak out against their legislated injustices. What they bring to law, no matter how barbaric, unjust or cruel that legislation may be, they will enforce with the full force of their tools of repression, carried out by duped fools who see it as their duty to do so.

      Anarchist who stand on the principles of justice, equality and freedom, are usually the most vocal in their criticism of these injustices built into our society. So it is no surprise that anarchists will continually be the target of the repressive and authoritarian states, that today, cover the globe. We could fill a library with the names of anarchists who have suffered brutal violence, and on many occasions, death at the hands of the various states across the planet.

         The forms of repression may vary from state to state, some more barbaric than others, but the aim is the same, to silence dissent, to create subservience. Conditions totally unacceptable to any freethinking mind, and it is with that band of humanity that anarchist will always stand. Each and every one that makes that stand demands our full support and solidarity.

        The following case is just one, in one country, but we all know this can be repeated, many times over, in varying degrees, in any country on the planet. 

This from Freedom News:

Iranian anarchist prisoner Soheil Arabi severely beaten by prison guards

World, May 8th
       Anarchist political prisoner Soheil Arabi, who is detained in Fashafoyeh (the Greater Tehran Prison), was sent to Firoozabadi Hospital after being injured from beatings by prison guards.
       Soheil Arabi was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) agents at his home in Tehran in November 2013 and charged with insulting the Prophet Mohammad in his postings on social media about Atena Daemi: a human rights activist and a political prisoner in Iran. In August 2014, Arabi was sentenced to death.
        Soheil had experienced prison torture in the past. Most recently, he was summoned, interrogated and severely beaten for his connection with the letter he wrote from the Greater Tehran Prison about the condition of the prisoners in Fashafoyeh “Greater Tehran” Prison. In result, he has suffered an injury to his testicular area. Following the hospital visit, he was returned to prison without treatment. He was also denied access to a telephone and visitors.
         In November 2018, Soheil Arabi sent a message from prison on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women:

“Humanity deserves the best.

        Speak of fighting violence against women! Of women’s struggle against oppression, discrimination, and violence by society; Of violence in Evin and Qarchak to the Varamin hunger strike; Of the abuse and threats interrogators make against women; Of tears shed at meetings; combating violence against women is, without a doubt, one of the most important demands of the liberation movement and we are all fighting against gender discrimination.
         The discrimination that systems have taught us where women are men’s property and tools to serve them. This was the thought that had me ashamed of silence.
        Silence against violence is betrayal. Rise up and shout: Shout, “my mother does not deserve violence, my sister and I do not deserve misogyny”.
          Stand up and tear down the barriers, you warrior! I bow down to all those who stood up against gender discrimination and violence, particularly violence against women, and paid the price of cold, damp prison cells, at the foot of the gallows and under the lash of whips.
        I bow down to the mothers who raised freedom fighters; those who saw violence and stood against it.
         The word “violence” needs to be erased and efforts to eliminate it require a humane society. Now is the time to stand up against the clenched fists raised at women and liberators. So I stand up too with mighty women liberators shouting to eliminate violence against women, and not to be silent against violence.

Rise up so that our children may learn humanity deserves the best.

Soheil Arabi November, 2018 Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary”
Sources: The Anarchist Union of Afghanistan and Iran, Prameń

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A System Where Despots Sit At The Banquet.

Extract from Independent:

      According to the United Nations, the humanitarian situation is so dire Gaza may become completely uninhabitable by next year.
      More than 70 per cent of the youth are unemployed, the highest jobless rate in the world.
       Ninety-seven per cent of the water is undrinkable and more than half the population lives under the poverty line. Until relatively recently families were existing on less than six hours of electricity a day, which also means key infrastructure like sewage plants have not been operating properly.

       The population of Gaza is approximately 1.6 million, with over 50% under 18. Here are some other details the people of Gaza have to endure while living under the yoke of the Israeli Zionist regime, situations created by the direct and deliberate policies of that genocidal regime.

           The average wage declined by over 20% in the past six years. 54% of Gazans are food insecure and over 75% are aid recipients. 35% of Gaza’s farmland and 85% of its fishing waters are totally or partially inaccessible due to Israeli military measures. 50-80 million litres of partially treated sewage are dumped in the sea each day. Over 90% of the water from the Gaza aquifer is undrinkable. 85% of schools in Gaza run on double shifts. About one-third of the items in the essential drug list are out of stock.

        The world powers know what is happening in Gaza and the West bank. The world powers know that the Israeli apartheid Zionist government continues to steal Palestinian land at an ever increasing rate. The world powers know that the conditions in Gaza are sub-human, as a direct and deliberate policy of that Israeli Zionist regime. The world powers know that clean water, sewage disposal and electric power are very sporadic luxuries in Gaza, again due to the direct and deliberate policies of that Zionist Israeli regime. The world powers know that what is happening in Gaza is genocide, again as a result of the direct and deliberate policies of the same Israeli Zionist Apartheid regime.

      Yet those same world powers turn a blind eye, welcome that poisonous regime to their corridors of power, invite them to their banquets, and pompous ceremonies. That makes them equally guilty of these crimes they are complicit. Palestinian suffering is on the hands of all the Western governments, the stench of Palestinian blood seeps through their stinking marble halls of power.
       This situation will not be changed by voting in a new Messiah in this country or that country, the whole rotten system of capitalism that sustains this brutal travesty will always welcome brutal regimes, despots and authoritarian rulers, if there is profit in the deal. Humanity is not in its calculations. To stop this and other brutal inhumanities that ravage our world we have to bring down the root cause, capitalism and its drive for profit at all costs from the insanity of perpetual growth.

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Glasgow's May Picnic On The Green, 2019.

 

        Glasgow, Sunday May 5th. saw our annual May Picnic on The Green. This is the 4th. year that the Glasgow May Day Organising Group have held these picnics plus a host of other events round May Day. Each year the events grow and the picnic is no exception. This year despite the cold wind it was as usual well attended and had a stalls, variety of performers, poets, a piper, singers, individual and  groups, plus a young dance group. Something we try to encourage is to bring food to share, this year there was an abundance of food, fresh fruit, vegan food and a mix of other delicacies. A big thank you to all those who contributed, no matter in which fashion it was done. A special thanks to the performers, without who it would not happen, but let's not forget all those who turned up and sat through the cold and enjoyed the event. We hope you will return next year with more friends and family, no matter how well we felt we all done, with your help we can do much better, and turn this into a "must go" Glasgow May event for as wide a public as possible. 

     The Green belongs to us, May Day belongs to us, let's continue to bring the two together in a family fun celebration of solidarity between the ordinary people of our city. 

      A few photos and some videos of the event, enjoy, and regret if you weren't there.

Humour A Tool In Our Armoury.

        Facts and figures and verified evidence should always be in our armoury for advancing our view of the future world. Sometime though, the deadly barbs of humour can go along way to exposing the lies and falsehoods of the establishment figures and so should also be part of our armoury. Thanks Loam for the link.

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America's Histroy In Latin America.

       There are still some people who believe that the US of A, that land of freedom and justice, is still trying, from the sidelines, to assist the people of Venezuela to reach the promised land by getting rid of that evil dictator Maduro. They spout that all the ills of that country stem from his dictatorial rule and enforcing that evil system of socialism on the people. Well I'm no lover of the Maduro government, or any government for that matter, but the American and Western puppets narrative doesn't hold up the test of history. America's actions in that part of the world are well documented as invader and regime changer by US assisted coups, support of vicious dictators and military juntas, as long as it suits American big business.

      What does that American history on Latin America look like? Well here is the list, not going as far back as the American invasion of the Philippines, 1899-1902, probably America's first imperialist war, but keeping more to the modern era.

 American Invasions-coups in Latin America: 

Guatemala, 1954. Cuba 1959. Bolivia, 1963. Brazil, 1964. Dominican Republic, 1965. Chile, 1973. Uruguay, 1973. Argentina, 1976. El Salvador, 1980s. Nicaragua, 1980s. Grenada, 1983. Panama, 1989. Haiti, 1991. Venezuela, 2002 Haiti, 2004. Honduras, 2009. and on going Venezuela, 2019. With that track record in that art of the world alone, the badge of defender of freedom and justice, should burst into flames and roast that rotten and corrupt heart of America, big business.

  Let's not forget "Operation Condor"

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Pantomime With Poorly Written Script.

       The UK of course is not the only state that runs pantomimes called "The Judicial System". Most states run such theaters, often with the actors dressed up in funny clothes and fancy wigs, with the leading comedian seated on the highest chair on stage. All this pomp and ceremony is meant to both impress and and instill submission, on the poor members of the public who are forced to take part, usually to their detriment.

      This particular pathetic pantomime takes place in Italy as part of the state's "Operation Panico". The usual bumbling actors doing a poor job of trying to appear learned and dignified, with a script that is a very poor half written farce.  Pathetic but not funny at all, these pantomimes usually end up with the suffering of a member or group of members of the public, in a clear attempt to repress, silence and/or intimidate.

This from Act For Freedom Now:  

 

Italy : Operation Panico: report on the 18th April hearing and new schedule

May 2, 2019 by actforfreedom

        Today started with the first tricky one: the experts’ transcripts of the monitoring, not even complete, (some of those requested by the PM were missing, because they’d got it wrong when they photocopied them) submitted last week, in particular the transcript that the prosecutors consider more ‘incriminating’ for Paska. Instead of ‘I put a big bomb in casapound’s mouth’, the expert heard and wrote: ‘he came to put a big bomb, etc.’ The prosecution must have resented this because they insisted that the expert listen to the audio again and use a recording studio to ‘clean’ the sound. After this pressure the expert finally rewrote the interception with the prosecution’s interpretation but only submitted it yesterday at 5pm so the defence didn’t get a copy until this morning.
       The defence therefore demanded a postponement because it was impossible to carry out a counter-examination on the expert’s report. There and then the judge said something like ‘there isn’t time’, without formally dealing with the defence’s request, and had the hearing begin.
       Monti, the expert, gave his statement; on the judge’s request the famous audio was played. You couldn’t hear much, juxtaposed indistinguishable voices, in both the original audio and even more so the ‘clean’ one. It was played several times. At this point Monti described the passages he had presented earlier, and as he came to his conclusion, namely what was supposed to be corrected because he actually heard ‘I put a big bomb’, sarcastic applause and voices arose from the public, at which point the judge evacuated the comrades from the court; the comrades were then stopped by Digos in the smoking area while antiriot cops were allowed in court and waited nearby.
        In his lawyer’s absence Paska decided to defend himself, he spoke to declare that he recognized the recorded voice as his own, but the words attributed to him had never been pronounced.
       Then new experts were appointed for the interceptions, but they expressed doubts about being able to finish the job during the Easter festivities.
        The hearing went on with a discussion about Paska’s mother’s car, which Digos officers claim they saw parked outside Panico on 2nd and 3rd January, while his telephone was elsewhere. The defence demanded that the discussion be postponed to a date when Paska’s lawyers would be present; the judge refused and continued the hearing. Paska also had to defend himself in this case, and declared that he had been celebrating elsewhere since 31st, with his telephone on him, and that he had the car with him, so the Digos must have been mistaken.
         Another Digos officer gave a statement about a control carried out on Ghespe in the street on 30/12; this was to counterattack the defence aspect in Ghespe’s medical record and the X-rays of his fractured foot at the end of December 2017. The Digos cop obviously said that Ghespe was standing during the control, he wasn’t wearing a plastercast and he [the Digos cop] didn’t notice any abnormality in Ghespe’s gait.
        However, all this aside, the most annoying news is that, considering the experts’ troubles with the interceptions (and the prosecutors’ repeated interference in their work, it seems), the schedule of the hearing was cancelled, no way ‘the trial will definitely end on 9th May’. Everything was postponed to JULY, and this is the new schedule:
25/6 – deadline for the submission of environmental interceptions
15/7 – hearing on the interceptions
16/7 – prosecutors’ final speeches plus civil parties
17 and 18/7 – defence’s last speeches
22/7 – sentencing.
       Given the schedule, Paska asked the judge to inform the prison administration that he would request a transfer so as to be near the court, considering the frequency of the hearings. He looked in great shape today too!
       The public was allowed in again after photographs were taken of their documents, then Paska got warm greetings as he was taken away at the end of the hearing.

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