Workers Rights Under Attack, As Usual.

 

       In this world awash with countries that call themselves "democracies", Labour Start comes up with some information that those at the front line of protecting and/or furthering workers rights are well aware, but perhaps facts with which the public at large are less familiar. A system that puts profit and continuous growth as its priority and only object for its existence, can never put workers rights on its agenda. Unless to find ways to whittle down the cost of that labour. The system and workers rights are incompatible, what ever rights we have as workers has been fought for and wrestled from the system, at a cost to those involved, sometimes the ultimate cost, their lives. Our rights have never been give, we have wrenched them from the system. Nothing will change until we change the system we live under.

      This from Labour Start:

 Today in Geneva the International Trade Union Confederation is releasing to the world the results of its annual Global Rights Index.

The picture it paints is not a pretty one:   

• Trade unionists were murdered in ten countries - Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey and Zimbabwe. 
• 85% of countries have violated the right to strike. 
• 80% of countries deny some or all workers collective bargaining.
• The number of countries which exclude workers from the right to establish or join a trade union increased from 92 in 2018 to 107 in 2019.
• Workers had no or restricted access to justice in 72% of countries.
• The number of countries where workers are arrested and detained increased from 59 in 2018 to 64 in 2019.
• Out of 145 countries surveyed, 54 deny or constrain free speech and freedom of assembly.
• Authorities impeded the registration of unions in 59% of countries.
• Workers experienced violence in 52 countries. 

You can now download the full report here.

What can we do about this?

First of all, let's make sure that every single member of our unions knows about this report.  We cannot guarantee that the mainstream media will give it the publicity it needs.  But if every single person who gets this email message shares it with others, the impact will be enormous.

Please -- share this email, share the link to the ITUC Global Rights Index, post it on Facebook and Twitter.  

Together, there are millions of us.  Together, we can reverse these trends and ensure that the rights of all workers are respected, no matter where they live.

Thank you.



Eric Lee

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

Don't Iraq Iran!

        My ears are now hearing the familiar beat of the drums of war. Iraq, Libya, Syria, North Korea and Iran have been on the US agenda for regime change for almost 20 years, perhaps more. They have destroyed Iraq and Libya, they have  decimated Syria, Though the Assad regime still holds the power, that battle is still ongoing, to America, it is unfinished business. That now moves Iran up the list of regime change by the US and its puppet regimes. The reason those Middle East countries were labelled "evil", was the fact that their gas and oil reserves were nationalised, that doesn't suit the big boys in the Western financial Mafia. That pool of wealth has to be brought into coffers of the Western corporate world. Another country that has felt the wrath of the mighty dollar is Venezuela, yes, its oil and gas is nationalised, that makes them "evil".

Winter.

Dark malefic clouds crowd the sky

winds carry the stench of carrion to every nostril,

the crazy ape has followed the faculty of hawks.

All around stand crows, magpies, jackdaws, vultures,

edacious eyes anticipating their putrid feast.

A weary Cassandra laments;

doves, hearts weeping for a better yesterday

forsake their olive branches.

         The following is from Code Pink:

      BREAKING NEWS: Just hours after the attack on the Japanese and Norweigan oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Secretary of State Pompeo was already blaming Iran. He is using the attack to push his agenda of going to war with Iran, just like the Bush administration manufactured a crisis to go to war with Iraq. Take action right now. Tell Congress: Don’t let Trump take us to war with Iran.
        The attacks came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrapped up his trip to Iran to help ease tensions between the U.S. and Iran. We don’t know who is behind the sabotage, but whoever is behind it wants to escalate the conflict between the two nations.
        The only REAL news here is that the Trump administration’s maximum pressure policy is pushing us closer to war. It’s the Trump administration’s bellicose actions, withdrawing from the nuclear agreement, imposing brutal sanctions, and deploying warships closer to the Persian Gulf to “send a clear and unmistakable message to Iran” that is driving this escalation. The facts of this latest attack on the oil tankers are not clear, but we know that we can’t trust anything warmonger Pompeo and serial liar John Bolton tell us about Iran without providing internationally verified evidence. And no matter who was responsible for this attack, the solution is mediation.
        What’s happening right now with Iran is all too reminiscent of the prelude to the war with Iraq in 2003, when Bush’s “intelligence” showed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction — which turned out to be all lies. Now in 2019, Trump’s “intelligence” insists that Iran is responsible for the attacks in the Gulf of Oman.
       Key members of Trump’s administration, especially John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, have been looking for a pretext for war with Iran. So have their allies in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Israel. Against the will of Congress, the Trump administration is trying to sell more weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE under the guise of a national emergency — the emergency being Iran. And now the warmongers in the administration are using the incident in the Gulf to try to create that emergency. The Middle East is still coping with the horrible consequences of the Iraq war. Send a message to Congress now that they can’t let the Trump administration take us to war with Iran.

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

Democracy, The World's Most Misused Word.

       Very often an arrest in this society is not just the loss of freedom for one person, it is a deliberate attack on the free flow of information. Especially information regarding the dealings of "our" representatives, a lot of which takes place behind closed doors. Decisions are made that dramatically affect all our lives, but we are not privy to those decision making processes. The government and the people are two entirely different entities, the government assumes the right to know everything about you, but you are not allowed to know all about the government. This arrangement is safeguarded by a vast array of secret service agencies, which work away diligently protecting the institution of the state, and the power and privileges of those who are in control. We, the ordinary people, will be fed misinformation, lies, trivia, propaganda, and overdoses of the culture of the celebrity, all bubble gum and candy floss to keep us happy and our thoughts away from what controls our lives, and in a lot of cases, our death. 

     Democracy is probably the most misused and most misunderstood word on our planet, our representatives will spout it as what we have, and what the state is trying to protect. However, democracy, if it ever has lived, is most certainly an alien land to the society we inhabit today, an anathema to the state.

      Those individuals who dare expose this subterfuge and duplicity, and to pass on to the public these inner dark dealings of the state are vilified, persecuted and in most case silenced. Lies and subterfuge are the daily tools of the secret agencies, and with the sophisticated surveillance techniques of the modern world, all of us are suspect, and can and are, monitored in our every day actions. The world of trivia and fantasy that swamps our lives is the state's propaganda wing issuing us with paracetamol to take away the pain, in an attempt to keep us happy and our thoughts away from the world we actually inhabit.

      Sorry George Orwell, we ignored you.

The following is an extract from an article by Chris Hedges:

         We have watched over the last decade as freedom of the press and legal protection for those who expose government abuses and lies have been obliterated by wholesale government surveillance and the criminalizing of the leaking and, with Julian’s persecution, publication of these secrets. The press has been largely emasculated in the United States. The repeated use of the Espionage Act, especially under the Obama administration, to charge and sentence whistleblowers has shut down our ability to shine a light into the inner workings of power and empire. Governmental officials with a conscience, knowing all of their communications are monitored, captured and stored by intelligence agencies, are too frightened to reach out to reporters. The last line of defense lies with those with the skills that allow them to burrow into the records of the security and surveillance state and with the courage to make them public, such as Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Jeremy Hammond, now serving a 10-year prison term in the United States for hacking into the Texas-based private security firm Strategic Forecasting Inc., or Stratfor. The price of resistance is high not only for them, but for those such as Julian willing to publish this information. As Sarah Harrison has pointed out: “This is our data, our information, our history. We must fight to own it.”
       Even if Julian were odious, which he is not, even if he carried out a sexual offense, which he did not, even if he was a poor houseguest—a bizarre term for a man trapped in a small room for nearly seven years under house arrest—which he was not, it would make no difference. Julian is not being persecuted for his vices. He is being persecuted for his virtues.
        His arrest eviscerates all pretense of the rule of law and the rights of a free press. The illegalities carried by the Ecuadorian, British and U.S. governments in the seizure of Julian two months ago from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London are ominous. They presage a world where the internal workings, abuses, corruption, lies and crimes, especially war crimes, carried out by the global ruling elite will be masked from the public. They presage a world where those with the courage and integrity to expose the misuse of power, no matter what their nationality, will be hunted down around the globe and seized, tortured, subjected to sham trials and given lifetime prison terms. They presage an Orwellian dystopia where journalism is outlawed and replaced with propaganda, trivia, entertainment and indoctrination to make us hate those demonized by the state as our enemies.
     The arrest of Julian marks the official beginning of the corporate totalitarianism and constant state surveillance, now far advanced in China, that will soon define our lives. The destruction of all protection of the rule of law, which is what we are witnessing, is essential to establishing an authoritarian or totalitarian state.
       The BBC China correspondent Stephen McDonell was locked out of WeChat in China a few days ago after posting photos of the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong marking 30 years since student protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square were gunned down by Chinese soldiers in June 1989.
“Chinese friends started asking on WeChat what the event was?” he wrote. “Why were people gathering? Where was it? That such questions were coming from young professionals here shows the extent to which knowledge of Tiananmen 1989 has been made to disappear in China. I answered a few of them, rather cryptically, then suddenly I was locked out of WeChat.”
In order to get back on WeChat he had to agree that he was responsible for spreading “malicious rumors” and provide what is called a faceprint.
“I was instructed to hold my phone up—to ‘face front camera straight on’—looking directly at the image of a human head. Then told to ‘Read numbers aloud in Mandarin Chinese.’ My voice was captured by the App at the same time it scanned my face.”
        Governmental abuse of WeChat, he wrote, “could deliver to the Communist Party a life map of pretty much everybody in this country, citizens and foreigners alike. Capturing the face and voice image of everyone who was suspended for mentioning the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary in recent days would be considered very useful for those who want to monitor anyone who might potentially cause problems.”
This is almost certainly our future, and it is a future that Julian has fought courageously to prevent.

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

The Omnipresent Surveillance State.

        I, like many others have scribbled away, in anger, at the ever growing threat from the  onslaught of surveillance that is relentlessly entwining every fibre of our existence. It is spreading like a plague, it is insidiously multiplying in the background, growing in sophistication and increasing the state's power over us all. Worse still, it now works with and for the corporate juggernaut. It trolls your personal habits, likes and dislikes and targets you with consumer crap. What the corporate world knows about you will be shared with the state's policing agents. This will be building up a very detailed picture of you, you will be monitored, profiled and assessments made of your loyalty to the state's aims. You are all guilty until proven innocent, and even then, you will continue to be monitored and profiled until the day you die. 

     We have sleep walked into George Orwell's 1984, and we still haven't rubbed our eyes to wake up to this reality, time is running out.

     The following is an extract from a very detail article on the surveillance subject by John W. Whitehead. Though it refers to America, we would be naive in the extreme to harbour the thought that some how we are different in this country, we are not. The spider's web of surveillance, is at this moment monitoring and profiling you and yours. I recommend you read the full article.

The Omnipresent Surveillance State:

--------Here’s what a lot of people fail to understand, however: it’s not just what you say or do that is being monitored, but how you think that is being tracked and targeted. We’ve already seen this play out on the state and federal level with hate crime legislation that cracks down on so-called “hateful” thoughts and expression, encourages self-censoring and reduces free debate on various subject matter.

Say hello to the new Thought Police.
     Total Internet surveillance by the Corporate State, as omnipresent as God, is used by the government to predict and, more importantly, control the populace, and it’s not as far-fetched as you might think. For example, the NSA is now designing an artificial intelligence system that is designed to anticipate your every move. In a nutshell, the NSA will feed vast amounts of the information it collects to a computer system known as Aquaint (the acronym stands for Advanced QUestion Answering for INTelligence), which the computer can then use to detect patterns and predict behavior.

No information is sacred or spared.
       Everything from cell phone recordings and logs, to emails, to text messages, to personal information posted on social networking sites, to credit card statements, to library circulation records, to credit card histories, etc., is collected by the NSA and shared freely with its agents in crime: the CIA, FBI and DHS. One NSA researcher actually quit the Aquaint program, “citing concerns over the dangers in placing such a powerful weapon in the hands of a top-secret agency with little accountability.”
       Thus, what we are witnessing, in the so-called name of security and efficiency, is the creation of a new class system comprised of the watched (average Americans such as you and me) and the watchers (government bureaucrats, technicians and private corporations).

Clearly, the age of privacy in America is at an end.

      “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”—Orwell

So where does that leave us?          We now find ourselves in the unenviable position of being monitored, managed and controlled by our technology, which answers not to us but to our government and corporate rulers. This is the fact-is-stranger-than-fiction lesson that is being pounded into us on a daily basis.
        It won’t be long before we find ourselves looking back on the past with longing, back to an age where we could speak to whom we wanted, buy what we wanted, think what we wanted without those thoughts, words and activities being tracked, processed and stored by corporate giants such as Google, sold to government agencies such as the NSA and CIA, and used against us by militarized police with their army of futuristic technologies.
       To be an individual today, to not conform, to have even a shred of privacy, and to live beyond the reach of the government’s roaming eyes and technological spies, one must not only be a rebel but rebel.
      Even when you rebel and take your stand, there is rarely a happy ending awaiting you. You are rendered an outlaw.

So how do you survive in the American surveillance state?

We’re running out of options.
       As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we’ll soon have to choose between self-indulgence (the bread-and-circus distractions offered up by the news media, politicians, sports conglomerates, entertainment industry, etc.) and self-preservation in the form of renewed vigilance about threats to our freedoms and active engagement in self-governance.
      Yet as Aldous Huxley acknowledged in Brave New World Revisited: “Only the vigilant can maintain their liberties, and only those who are constantly and intelligently on the spot can hope to govern themselves effectively by democratic procedures. A society, most of whose members spend a great part of their time, not on the spot, not here and now and in their calculable future, but somewhere else, in the irrelevant other worlds of sport and soap opera, of mythology and metaphysical fantasy, will find it hard to resist the encroachments of those would manipulate and control it.”

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Latest Tory Crooks And Liars Competition.

       I tend not to allow myself to get dragged into the the various machinations that go on in those smoke and mirrors corridors of the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. I find all too sickening, the back stabbing, double dealing, self aggrandisement, the avalanche of false promises that are the stock and trade of the occupants, and their sanctimonious arrogance. However, sometimes the bile just builds up and I have to spew it out.

       I usually refer to all elections connected with the above establishment as "Crooks and Liars Competitions". A farce where the contestants flap about the country trying to prove they are the best crook and liar in the race.  This Tory party leadership affair is even more ludicrous than the norm. None of the contestants are actually elected, they with unbelievably astonishing arrogance, put themselves forward, stating, they believe they are the best person to "lead" the country. The pack of resident wolves then whittle them down to two. These two gods are then given to the sheep, (party members) to select one. This little band of approximately 150.000 faithful sheep then get to select the next Prime Minister of the UK. 

     To emphasise my point about it being a crooks and liars competition, I'll post an extract from an article by Counter Punch that describes the two front runners in this travesty of democracy.

The following extract from Counter Punch:

           Johnson began his career as a journalist and was sacked by The Times newspaper for fabricating a quotation to back up a story. Then in 2004 he told an outrageous lie concerning his sex life. He has the morals of a downmarket alley cat, and had denied reports that “the mother of his alleged mistress, Petronella Wyatt, said her daughter had become pregnant by him and had an abortion last month. Johnson, who is married with four children, had categorically dismissed the allegations . . . as an ‘inverted pyramid of piffle’ — and, crucially, had assured Tory leader Michael Howard they were untrue.” But they were true, and when he could no longer deny the truth he had to resign, but carried on up the political ladder, in spite of his glaring moral defects.
        As noted by Foreign Policy, when President Obama said he thought Brexit was unwise, Johnson “dismissed the US president’s position as an ‘ancestral dislike of the British Empire’ derived from being ‘part-Kenyan’.” He then declared that voting for the Conservative Party “will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW.” Apparently he thought this was terribly funny, and given his attitude to Obama and female breasts it isn’t surprising Trump told the media he thinks Johnson is “a very good guy, a very talented person . . . I think Boris would do a very good job [as prime minister]. I think he would be excellent.”
       Johnson’s main opponent in the leadership race, and former ally, Michael Gove, hasn’t arranged any abortions or insulted presidents or indulged in crass jokes. He has confined his dubious activities to ripping off British taxpayers.
       Ten years ago the UK’s Daily Telegraph conducted an inquiry into the outrageous expenses claims made by British members of Parliament, and it’s rattling good reading. One of the main cheaters identified was Michael Gove (net worth three million pounds) who, among other things, spent many thousands of pound of taxpayer’s money when he “furnished his house in [an up-market London suburb] . . . [buying] a £331 Chinon armchair as well as a Manchu cabinet for £493 and a pair of elephant lamps for £134.0. He also claimed for a £750 Loire table — although the Commons’ authorities only allowed him to claim £600 — a birch Camargue chair worth £432 and a birdcage coffee table for £238.50.” When he was found to have fiddled his expenses claims he paid back £7000, but nothing could be done about retrieving the cash he made by moving house when he “submitted a £13,259 bill for the cost of the move, including his local authority searches, fees and stamp duty. In between the house moves, he stayed [in an hotel], charging the taxpayer more than £500 for a single night’s stay.”
       Johnson and Gove are Britain’s main contenders to become Britain’s prime minister. One is a lying libertine, a lecherous adulterer who has sneered at colored people (“piccaninnies”), and the other is a cheap trickster who has all the charm, attraction and talent of a sock full of wet spaghetti.

       So, sheep, make your choice for the new Messiah, which crook and liar will it be. Both are well qualified to to hold the title of Tory's best crook and liar to date.

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

Dare To Stand For freedom.

 

       Another day, another country, another display of police brutality against a left thinking group. Forget the flag they wave, it is the same across the planet, anyone who dares to try to alter the status quo, is in for a rough time. We live in an authoritarian, unjust world, you stand up against its greed, brutality and injustice and it will bring down the full force of its mindless minders, the police and its biased judiciary.

The following from Enough is Enough:

         German territory: In the early hours of June 8, there was a violent police attack on the grounds of the AZ (Autonomous centre) in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Two members of staff were injured and taken into custody. In the further course of the incident, the police officers committed abuses, made far right statements and behaved in a sexist manner.

Submitted to Enough 14 in German. Translated by Enough 14.

         At the end of an event, an aggressive guest, who had previously been expelled from the premises, had called the police. The police calmly asked the staff to send all those present outside to check their personal identity. When this disproportionate measure was questioned, the police immediately escalated the situation by physically attacking two of the staff and fixing them with excessive force. First, Mr. O. was forcibly brought to the ground and suffered such serious injuries that the officers had to call an ambulance immediately. In the hospital, the doctors documented, among other things, a facial wound that had to be stitched, as well as numerous abrasions and bruises. There was also further abuse on the subsequent trip to the Essen police headquarters. The police officers used pain grips and even beat Mr. O. when he was already tied up. They also threatened him and tried to provoke him with far right statements.
       The AZ worker Mrs. L. was also forcibly fixed to the floor and taken into custody with the sentence “We also take in the dishy woman”. She suffered minor injuries and was at the mercy of the sexist practices of the police while in custody. With the cell door open, she had to undress and was exposed to the gazes of the male officers. In contrast to Mr. O., she was not allowed to put on much of her clothing until the end of her custody. Around noon both were released from custody.
        “I condemn the police violence against our staff* in the strongest terms and demand that the violent police officers be subject to disciplinary consequences,” said Stefan Gassner, chairman of the AZ association. “It is unacceptable that right-wing police officers are able to make an example of people who think differently with impunity. A public discussion about the anti-democratic structures within the police force, as well as ever tougher and more unconstitutional police laws, is long overdue.”
     As staff of the Autonomous Centre, we are horrified by this disproportionate police action. We understand this police attack as targeted harassment against a left-wing youth culture project. This incident is exemplary for the right-wing attitudes within the police that are becoming more and more apparent.

AZ Mülheim, June 09, 2019

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

The Pyramid Of The Capitalist System.

      Spirit of Revolt's June "Read Of The Month" is around a poster created by an activist in the Hetherington Occupation at Glasgow University, 2011, held in the Spirit of Revolt Archive, https://spiritofrevolt.info/free-hetherington-collection/ The Pyramid Of The Capitalist System. It shows some of the variations on this poster developed over time. The text in the article was put together by one of Spirit of Revolt's volunteers, A Rice.

The Pyramid of the Capitalist System Read on line: 

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

Why I Decided To Fight.

  

       Why I decided to fight: 

       letter from a Yellow Vest prisoner

        Thomas P is just one of many Gilets Jaunes prisoners in France, locked up for their participation in the mass uprising against the neoliberal Macron regime. Below are some excerpts from an open letter he wrote from jail, after three months behind bars. 

      One is no longer innocent when one has seen ‘legitimate’ violence, legal violence: that of the police.
      I saw the hatred or emptiness in their eyes and I heard their chilling warnings: ‘disperse, go home’.
      I saw the charges, grenades, and beatings in general.
      I saw the checks, searches, traps, arrests, and jail.
      I saw people falling, blood, I saw the mutilated.
      Like all those who were demonstrating this February 9th, I learned that once again a man had just had his hand ripped off by a grenade.
       And then I did not see anything any more, because of the gas. All of us were suffocating.
       That’s when I decided not to be a victim any more and to fight.
       I’m proud of it. Proud to have raised my head, proud not to have given in to fear.
      Of course, like all those who are targeted by the repression against the Yellow Vests movement, I first protested peacefully and daily, I always solved problems with words rather than with fists.
      But I am convinced that in some situations conflict is needed.

      Because debate, however ‘big’ it may be, can sometimes be rigged or distorted. All that is needed is for the organiser to ask the questions in a way that suits them.
     We are told on one side that the state coffers are empty, but we are bailing out the banks with millions when they are in trouble, we are talking about an ‘ecological transition’ without ever calling into question the production system and consumption at the origin of all climatic disturbances.
     We are millions who shout at them, saying that their system is rotten, and they are telling us how they are trying to save it.
     The challenge of street clashes is to manage to push back the police, to keep them in line: to get out of a trap, to reach a place of power, or to simply take the street.
     Since November 17th those who have threatened to fire their weapons, those who brutalise, mutilate, and suffocate unarmed and defenceless protesters, those who are not the so-called ‘breakers’, they are the police.
      If the media does not talk about it, the hundreds of thousands of people who have been at the roundabouts and in the streets know it.
      Behind their brutality and threats, it is fear that is hiding.
      And when that moment comes, in general, it means that the revolution is not far away.

 Read the full English translation of the letter here.

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

This Crazy World.

   Just a little sad reflecting, with a sprinkling of hope.

This Crazy World. 

           In this crazy world, 

half dead from dereliction

half brutalised from deprivation

half drowned in a sea of greed

half devoured by perpetual need.

           Where

war shrieks from East to West

famine seldom seems to rest

hunger stalks the layman's life

poverty kills with a silent knife.

           We find

a pompous pampered arrogant cliche

live a life that's smooth and sleek

far removed from want and fear,

bought with another's sweat and tear.

          Yet

not a word do they speak

to aid the fallen or the weak

preferring to kneel at luxury's shrine

repeating their mantra, "This is mine".

          Now watch them

peddle lies of tongue and pen

slyly hoard their plunder then

with spurious sanctimonious phrase

shed crocodile tears at man's malaise.

           Where

is it written that the masses must sweat

deprivation and misery a constant threat

covering the world in measureless wealth

so the few can plunder with avid stealth?

           In friendship

let's clasp each human hand

with compassion try to understand

our differences, our hopes, our fears

dragging mankind from this sea of tears.

           Creating

a world where justice flowers

the many reap the fruits of toiling hours

a world of sharing, tending the others need

an end to privilege, plunder and greed.

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

Happiness Doesn't Come In Fancy Boxes.

    As usual, quiet common sense from Not Buying Anything, enjoy.

       Regular readers of this blog will agree that basing a life on materialistic values is a losing proposition. The video I am highlighting in this post will be a reminder of sorts for them.
        If you are new to the NBA blog and the concept of simple living, or find the whole rat race thing to be tiring and futile, then this video may help nudge you toward adopting a way of living that is healthier for you, your family, your neighbours, and the environment.
       The end (of materialistic lifestyles) is near. The time to get started on the alternative, a more resilient and enjoyable simple life, is now. It is a movement that has been thousands of years in the making.

Background:

     "Psychologist Tim Kasser discusses how America's culture of consumerism undermines our well-being.
When people buy into the ever-present marketing messages that "the good life" is "the goods life," they not only use up Earth's limited resources, but they are less happy and less inclined toward helping others.
This animation both lays out the problems of excess materialism and points toward solutions that promise a healthier, more just, and more sustainable life."
Research cited: click here.

       Enjoy, and if it moves you, please share your reaction to the video in the comments section below.

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

More Organising, More Talking, More Paper On The Street.

 

      Most people seem to be unaware that capitalism is on the brink of another crash, though anarchists should be aware of this, my own humble estimate is within two to three years, possibly less. All the signs are there, the world has past peak car ownership. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-17/-peak-car-and-the-end-of-an-industry) World economic growth is in decline (https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2019/01/11/weo-update-january-2019) The cohesion in the capitalist world is fractured, with nationalism on the rise, each country starting to replicate its own version of "America First", so the world plan to save the capitalist world is now broken into smaller power blocks, so the answer will not be the 2008, world austerity grand plan, it will be more a nationalistic scramble for survival. With the result that you and I will pay dearly for this collapse of the financial gambling casino. The two giant economies in the world America and China are slapping tit-for-tat tariffs on each other, a sure brake on the economies of those nations and those others who depend on them for their own economic survival. As poverty spreads and deepens, consumption, the life blood of capitalism, falls.

       So where does that leave us anarchists and other like minded people? For sure when the collapse comes people will be looking around for answers, and if ours are not at the forefront, on the table, they will not be picked up by the people. We can't expect them to come looking for us, and we can't wait until the collapse before we try to reach them, by then it will be too late, the usual political Messiahs will be promising them the usual pie-in-the-sky.

     I just repeat what I have always said, we need to raise our profile in the communities and work places, we need our literature, a wealth of ideas for that better future, to have a greater presence on the street, we need to find better ways of reaching that wider field of the apolitical, apathetic mass of ordinary people, who are too busy just trying to survive, without them we are going nowhere.  Of course it will not be easy, we know that the better world will not be delivered by InterFlora.

        The following extract, though it refers to America, applies equally as much here, or anywhere else for that matter:  extract from It's Going down: 

"-------Now, more than ever, it is critical that we address these shortcomings. We are entering an era of intense polarization, the rise of a genuine ultra-nationalist and fascist threat, and ecological catastrophe. Multiple indicators suggest that another recession is in the offering roughly in the next year or so. Many more people will be radicalized by the next recession and the coinciding electoral spectacle, and they will be looking for answers. If we do not reach these people, others will. In the best case, they will be reached by others preaching the dead-end roads of electoral reform or distant and ill-defined revolution. In the worst case, they will turn to the fascists. We have to recognize the present historical moment for what it is and behave accordingly.

       What must be done? We must make our movement an organizing movement. I am not arguing for the triumph of one tendency or another. If we want to build toward insurrection, we must have as many comrades as possible who share our vision and skills. If we want to create a powerful federation, we must have a popular base to draw new members from. If we want to build revolutionary syndicates, we must have organized strong unions and spread revolutionary consciousness in the broader working class. Whatever tendency we hail from, the days of isolation and sub-culturalism must end.

     How do we build an organizing movement? By focusing our energies primarily on organizing with the broad base of the people for the struggles of our era. What is organizing? Organizing is building a structure to increase the power of that structure’s members and enable them to collectively fight for their goals. Where we are exploited by the bosses, we must build revolutionary unions. Where we are robbed by the landlords, we must build radical tenant unions. Where we are brutalized the prison system and ICE, we must create networks of prisoners, migrants, and neighbors to resist the violence of the state. In each case, we must deliberately and consistently reach out to the unorganized, building relationships of trust with new participants, and create the capacity to resist where it was lacking. We must then link these organizations into wider networks capable of expanding our ability to support one another when it counts.

      There are already some encouraging signs in this direction. Comrades across the country have organized in support of the prison strike, organized tenant unions, done outreach with inspiring mutual aid programs, and carried on the anti-fascist struggle. Networks like the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement and Symbiosis Revolution seem to be moving toward coordinating projects at the national level. But these efforts need to be significantly expanded if we are to meet the challenge that faces us.

        Our movement is uniquely positioned to succeed, if we chose to do so. We believe in the power of the oppressed; we do not waste our time canvassing for the next SYRIZA. Our comrades are extraordinarily dedicated and prepared to make real sacrifices when necessary. The key is for our movement to channel this dedication in a direction that will allow us to grow, spread our vision, and build power. But if we do not change the way that we presently operate, we will be left behind by less-promising forces.

      Wherever you are, I encourage you to start the hard work of organizing against those who are oppressing your community. Go out and speak with your neighbors, your coworkers, or those on the receiving end of the state’s violence. Link up with other groups in your area, get in touch with national organizations, or start your own group if necessary. There is much to be done and little time to waste.---"

Read the full article HERE: 

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Beware Of That Cop In Your Pocket.

        Probably one of the most difficult pieces of information for most people to follow, but think about it, you're never alone with a phone, your phone is a cop.

         With Stingray:(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker) you are an easy target.

The following submitted to It’s Going Down
Are you hitting the streets in support of a righteous cause?

         TL;DR Leave your phone at home. It is a conduit into your entire life and all of your networks. It contains years of passively recorded conversation transcripts. It has data on all of your associates, friends, and sexual partners. It tracks your movements down to the meter. It is a black box that can be recovered from your person and used against you in a court of law.
Leave it at home. Your phone is a cop.
        If the above doesn’t make it abundantly clear WHY you should leave it at home, imagine the terror you feel when you hand someone your phone to show them a picture and they start swiping left or right. Now imagine The State swiping through your pictures. Hopefully we’ve convinced you! Information security (abbreviated to InfoSec because it sounds cooler) can seem intimidating, but it’s as easy as trading away some of your own convenience in exchange for obstructing the Panopticon of State/LEO/reactionary forces that seek to undermine your project. This document is not a deep dive into any of the topics covered. Devices and software exist in a state of flux, and what is considered secure now will likely be obsolete within months, weeks, or days of writing this. It is up to you to stay vigilant and informed.
The Case for Disconnection.

        It’s important that we come to terms here. This is not aimed at the “Hold a sign and shout some slogans” crowd. If you are attending a *Fully Permitted and Peaceful Protest* and you want to bring your phone to document what you see and do, knock yourself out. Are you in the Black Bloc? Are you engaging in “black bloc things”? Are you covering your face? If any of these conditions apply to you, you need to leave that shit at home. We understand that these devices are integral parts of modern life, but if you are engaging in “effective resistance” the presence and use of any cell phone is a risk to everyone around you. If you are compelled to carry it or would somehow render yourself critically unsafe without it, you need to consider finding a different outlet for your dissent. While documenting abuses by state security forces is important, it is necessary to leave that task to journalists covering the action. Yes, they will do a horrendous job. Accept this and move on. Additionally, cell/LTE service breaks down quickly when towers get overpopulated. At a big protest, thousands of people are texting “R U HERE?” to each other simultaneously. The network will shit the bed in short order, leaving your device crippled until the traffic storm abates. It won’t be useful to you until you’re heading home or more likely until it’s sitting in an evidence locker waiting to be processed. If your device is limping along on a degraded network connection, there is a significant possibility that you aren’t communicating directly with the tower providing your signal. The police have access to technologies, Stingray among them, which will seamlessly intercept and record cellular communications. Calls and plain text SMS are vulnerable to these “man in the middle” attacks. Lock screen patterns are insecure. Four digit codes are insecure. They can be bypassed quickly and easily. You can be compelled to use your fingerprint to unlock your phone by a court order. Encryption can be bypassed using tool kits available to law enforcement. As careful as you think you’ve been, the odds are not in your favor. If your phone is seized as evidence, the fun isn’t over if the charges are dropped. Don’t assume present legal or cultural norms are going to protect you. Your information can sit in a database until it’s useful to The State.
       We might be technical professionals, but it’s likely that you aren’t. You have fucked up when configuring something. Don’t leave things to chance, and don’t rely on some combination of official incompetence and your own perceived individual insignificance to protect you.
Leave your phone at home.

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

The Corporate Government Merry-go-round.

        From time to time I look back at what I have written, just to see if anything has changed, or did I get it wrong. Quite often my little delve into the past just confirms my beliefs. This little blast from the past, something I wrote about 3 years ago, still rings true, and in my humble opinion is probably more relevant to day than then.

The Stench From That Thing Called Capitalism, Feb. 1st. 2016.

        Big business and government are so intertwined, that it is impossible to separate them. Corporations spend millions, if not billions, on lobbyists, politicians are offered lucrative positions, and little perks here and there, but of course, they'll tell you, that they are not influenced by these matters. They'll deal with each issue on its merits, with the welfare of the country and its people always to the fore, and the corporations will still continue to spend those millions or billions, just as a kindness to politicians, and get nothing in return. Isn't it a wonderful world? It is safe to bet that all politicians are relatively rich, most will have their filthy lucre, stashed away in shares in those very corporations that are pouring money into their little slush fund. We are expected to believe that none of these politicians would ever nudge legislation in the direction of helping their share portfolio, and might at times move to jeopardise their little stash.
         A world built on corruption, designed to further the wealth of big business and protect the wealth of those in power. It is not with little thought that I refer to our lords and masters place of business as the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. Those who enter its marble halls by on large are very rich, when they leave, they are invariably, extremely more rich than when they entered. Big business makes sure of that. Out of generosity of course.
         If all this lead to was a group of parasites getting richer under false pretences, then it would be bad enough. However, their wheeling and dealing, their slicing and dicing, plays havoc with the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to represent. Decisions are made that drive people into poverty, ill-health, homelessness and of course heap the brutality of war on millions. History tells us the tales of hypocrisy and corruption are at the heart of governments, of the festering marriage between large companies and governments, but we never seem to learn.

       The following from the Politics in the Zeros site, is a case in America, but you are an idiot if you think this is unique to America, this is the way the game is played nowadays. Governments are not inanimate objects, nor are they fixed by the power of the holy tablets of stone. They are made up of people, usually very rich, very ambitious and very greed people, they play the game with the big boys, corporations, and in return for their obedience to the cause of profit, they are rewarded.

        Gosh there’s no conflict of interest here. Nearly a third of members of the federal Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee have financial ties to companies selling opoid drugs. In a shocking coincidence the panel has strongly opposed federal plans to recommend doctors scale back on prescribing legal heroin. Because that’s what these opoids are.
       Our government is essentially a drug pusher for highly addictive drugs. The FDA approved OxyContin for children without bothering to convene a panel of experts to make recommendations. Opiate addiction from legally prescribed pills is a major health problem nationwide among adults, to such an extent we have the obscenity of TV ads offering drugs to help with constipation caused by using opiates.
Any relation between this and a government that actually cares about the health of its citizens is of course strictly coincidental. And if this happened in a Third World country, we’d laugh at how corrupt they are.
The government advisory panel consists of federal scientists, outside academics and patient representatives. Of the 18 committee members at a recent meeting to discuss the government’s handling of pain issues, at least five had drug-industry connections.
One, a pain specialist from Duke University, has received thousands of dollars in payments from drugmakers, including OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceuticals, which sells generic painkillers. Another, a patient advocate, holds a nonprofit position created by a $1.5 million donation by Purdue.

        We should always remember, we are governed by consent, we can withdraw our consent at any time of our choosing, and start to take control of our own lives, how about now!    

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

Beware the Friendly Pat On The Shoulder.

       When you look across the planet and see the injustice, inequality, poverty, deprivation, death and destruction, all exacerbated by deliberately engineered brutal wars, and you see the ecological disaster foisted on us all by unbridled corporate planet plundering, it is difficult to sum it all up. You feel to detail the mess that we find ourselves in would take a massive volume of unreadable proportions.
       Yet on analysis it is relatively simple, our economic system of capitalism is the root cause of practically all our problems. It spawns inequality, it breeds poverty, it engineers those avoidable wars, it legitimises the destruction of our planet, yet the vast majority of the population still run to the ballot box to vote for more of the same. We listen to the managers of the system telling us blatant lies, that by now we should recognise as propaganda to safeguard their wealth, power and privileges.
       As long as we tolerate a system that is designed to allow the few to amass vast fortunes at the expense of the many, we will stay mired in the mess that we find ourselves in at present, or worse, our extinction.
        I'm sure it is not beyond our imagination to devise a sustainable system of fairness, a system based on co-operation, mutual aid and respect for each other, a system that would see to the needs of all our people. I am also sure that such a system is a desire deep in the hearts of all peoples across the planet. What's stopping us? All it requires is for us all, in solidarity with each other, to act on those desires, the tool to get us there is of course anarchism.

    A paragraph that I think sums up what our attitude to this society should be is one stated by Jean Paul Marat:

       "Don't be deceived when they tell you things are better now. Even if there's no poverty to be seen because the poverty's been hidden. Even if you ever got more wages and could afford to buy more of these new and useless goods which industries foist on you and even if it seems to you that you never had so much, that is only the slogan of those who still have much more than you. Don't be taken in when they paternally pat you on the shoulder and say that there's no inequality worth speaking of and no more reason to fight because if you believe them they will be completely in charge in their marble homes and granite banks from which they rob the people of the world under the pretence of bringing them culture. Watch out, for as soon as it pleases them they'll send you out to protect their gold in wars whose weapons, rapidly developed by servile scientists, will become more and more deadly until they can with a flick of the finger tear a million of you to pieces":

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