Weapons.

 

          Every avenue should be used to get our ideas out there to the public at large. I go on about paper on the street, which I consider extremely important, but in this world of varied communications we should use them all. Serials, news-sheets, pamphlets, are wonderful weapons, but we should not forget TV (SubMedia for example) create more of our own videos, nor should we ignore radio, podcasts, now easier than ever to create, (A-Radio Berlin is just one example) these should be utilised to the utmost as prongs in our attack on this exploitative and corrupt system that tries to shackle us to subservience.

The following from A-Radio Berlin:

 

          At the 5th of December 2021, the queer-feminist squat Syrena in Warschau
was brutally attacked and evicted by a crowd connected to the neighbour squat, as a revenge for anti-patriarchal actions that were taken before.
        We spoke with two comrades from Syrena collective about what happened:
The recent history of queer militancy against uprising homophobia and transphobia in Poland, the background of the conflict and the attack of the 5th, the material and political consequences of the incident, and how to support feminist and anti-centralist struggle within polish and global anarchist movement.
         You'll find the audio (to listen online or download) here:
https://www.aradio-berlin.org/warsaw-the-attack-on-the-queer-feminist-syrena-squat-in-the-end-of-2021/

Length: 23:04 min

       You can find other English audios as well as all issues of the monthly
anarchist show "Bad News" here: https://www.aradio-berlin.org/en/audios-2/.

 

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

Solidarity.

          When someone gets enmeshed in the state judicial system and are sentenced to a prison term, there is no guarantee that they will be released on that date. The state assumes the right to prolong that term on a bunch of arbitrary decisions.  You could find yourself held for years after the original term expires, because of a legal this or that. Prisons are the states citadel of repression and intimidation and they hold all the cards, make all the rules and change them as they see fit. All those entangled in this state repression system must have our full support and solidarity. No civilised society can exist while one prison still stands.

The following from Act for Freedom Now:

                                              POSTER PDF

         From January 7, 2022, a period of solidarity with anarchist comrade Claudio Lavazza will begin. Claudio was first imprisoned by the Spanish then by the French State, and has already served over 25 years in detention. Although the doors of prison should have already opened last December 11, the prosecutor of Mont de Marsan – the emissary of State vengeance that is following his case – continues to keep him behind bars.
       To raise awareness about the solidarity needed for our comrade, a poster with an international scope has been printed (at the moment in Italian, Spanish, English and French). Those who share it and wish to spread it, can request copies and more information at this email address:
inattuali (at) riseup (dot) net
         It is very important to not leave Claudio alone in this moment and to not make him look isolated to his captors. We here publish his new address, as we think it is essential that he receives letters:
Claudio Lavazza
n. ecrou 11818, CD 1 cellule 5, 1D
CP de Mont-de-Marsan
Chemin de Pémégnan
BP 90629
40000 Mont de Marsan (FRANCE)
 

        Solidarity and freedom for Claudio Lavazza!
Freedom for all!
Some anarchists in solidarity.

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

Victory.

          It is not very often that a group involved in self help and community mutual aid, that has been harassed, intimidate told by the city council that what they are doing is illegal and threatened with court action, finds itself in court and after a seven year battle wins and receives damages from the city council. Fort Lauderdale council, done its best to stop Food Not Bombs, by all manner of threats and intimidation from handing out food to those in need. Congratulations to Food Not Bombs for their persistent and courageous fight against the power of the state and gaining a tremendous victory. Hope this is an inspiration to all those other groups and individual intent in facing down the state and trying to make this world a better place for all. The vindictive inhumanity and cruelty of the state knows no bounds, and it is encouraging to see its crass inhumanity get a kick up the backside.

The following from Anarchist News:

           It took seven years, but FTL FNB’s federal civil liberties lawsuit against Fort Lauderdale for banning food sharings is finally concluding. After we won our 2nd appeal in August 2021, the City has accepted a settlement that admits they were wrong to enforce the Park Rule against us and will pay us a small amount of damages. They will also have to pay our lawyers a great deal more!
          These results are on top of the victories this lawsuit already accomplished in years’ prior, including the 2018 appeals ruling that ruled that the original sharing ban law was unconstitutional – and creating a strongly worded precedent about sharing food as protected free speech.
         So anyways we would like to say: FUCK YEAH! We had to bite our tongues a lot over the years to see how this would play out, but no more. We out-lived and out-maneuvered the old Mayor, City Manager, and City Attorney, who were all intent on policing us and the homeless out of existence. Fuck them! Let’s not forget multiple FLPD Chiefs and Captains who sent their goons to stalk and arrest us, all gone now! Nuts to all the narrow-minded fools who wanted to be rid of us.
        And while we struggled to keep FNB going, we did so much more along the way – actions, workshops, fundraisers and so on. We’re honored to have an impact in the courts and the streets over the years.
         One downside to running such a long campaign was our friends that didn’t live to see the end. Presente our dear friend and volunteer David Bambi Hitchcock, and Gonzalo Vizcardo, also a volunteer from a long time ago, and our supporters Sylvie, Bob Bender, Jack Lieberman, and Daniel.
         We deeply appreciate the contributions of all our volunteers and allies over the years.
        All thanks to our lawyers – Mara Shlackman, perhaps the only person who could’ve ever made any of this possible, and Kirsten Anderson, Andrea Costello, and Jodi Siegel of Southern Legal Counsel.
       For the other Food Not Bombses out there – y’all are going to accomplish great things! Don’t give up!
       Finally we’d like to say – Let’s fuck shit up in 2022 – ‘cuz everything’s scary and nothing’s gonna change unless we make it! The people are hungry!

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info      

Alternatives.

 

          How much longer will it take for humanity to permeate its way through our society. We have legislation making it virtually impossible for refugees to seek refuge when fleeing torture/deprivation/persecution/war and all its violent array of consequences. We have prisons that treat those enmeshed in its tentacles as less than human. We have poverty/homelessness/deprivation in the midst of unimaginable wealth, and still we hear the mantra from those with all the wealth, privileges and power, that this is the only way to run our society. Sooner or later we will all have to stand up and say loud and clear, this is a load of bullshit, there are alternatives that can see to the needs of all our people. No prisons, no persecution, no exploitation.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

 

         On 24/12, comrade Haris Mantzouridis was discharged from the psychiatric hospital in Dafni and transferred to the Prisoners’ Psychiatric Hospital in Korydallos prison. He was immediately placed in “quarantine”, where he will remain from 4 to 7 days (it is not certain exactly how many).
The conditions there are deplorable, which reflects the general conditions of detention in the prison in the midst of a pandemic. He is kept in a very small room with three other prisoners, and new ones are added every day, which increases the actual chances of catching covid. The window is broken, so it is very cold, the mattresses are ripped, broken glass, blood and excrement on the floor, food is thrown away by all the prisoners, the possibility of communication with his own people is minimal.
         It is obvious that these conditions of detention further aggravate the already shaken mental and physical health of the comrade. We will be back for any further developments.
        No one alone – let there be no one alone in the hands of the State!
Immediate release of comrade Harry Mantzouridis!
Prisoners’ lives matter!
Assembly of Solidarity to the imprisoned, fugitives and persecuted militants
via: athens.indymedia

See also Toby Shone:

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

Solidarity 7.

 

             A new year, so season’s greetings to all, and our first “Read of the Month” for 2022. To start the year’s reading sample from our archive, we have chosen a serial from our John Cooper Collection sor/3/3/20 Solidarity Vol.8 No.7, from c1974. We’re sure it will make interesting reading to all those interested solidarity of the ordinary people against this exploitative system we live under. Enjoy and delve into our amazing collections of serials/photos/letters/posters/badges/memorabilia, and history of the people’s struggles in the Clydeside and further afield. All free and easy accessible through the Spirit of Revolt website

Read on line HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at
http://strugglepedia.co.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page    

Bookshops.

            As anarchists we never have enough autonomous spaces, bookshops and info centres, some come and go, some persist for years. All however exist in a hostile capitalist environment, which means that at various points in their existence, they come up against the need for money to survive. Spartacus Books is one of the long running centres, 50 years in Vancouver BC, but now finds itself in the need of financial support, it would be very sad to see it fade away because of lack of support and solidarity.

The following from It's Going down:

         Call to support long-running radical infoshop and bookstore Spartacus Books in so-called Vancouver, BC.
          Spartacus Books is a non-profit, volunteer and collectively run infoshop on unceded Coast Salish territories. We have been running for almost 50 years and provide access to radical books and zines that are hard to find anywhere else in so-called Vancouver, and operate as community resource centre and (pre-covid) event space.
        We are moving to a new location and the move has brought up many unexpected delays and costs, and has put us in a precarious financial position, such as renovations, mould removal, paying rents at two locations for two months. We’re seeking help from the community to help us with the move and all these changes by donating to our campaign and funding some of the unexpected costs that moving has brought.
        As we say in our basis of unity, despite the odds being against us, we understand that the struggle is continuous, and we persevere. We want to persevere! Please check out our fundraiser for more information and share it as much as possible. If you’d like to learn more about Spartacus Books you can check out our website

Love and Solidarity,
Spartacus Books

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

A Choice?

 

        Do you ever imagine living in a style of life that allows you to come and go as you please, to go where you wish to go, to live your life as you desire, as long as you don't abuse and exploit others? A life of freedom in a world of mutual aid, co-operation and respect for each other, a life based on humanity, compassion and empathy. Of course it is all impossible as long as we live under the ever watchful eye of the state and its need for control, as long as we tolerate our lives to be dominated by the corporate world and its never ending drive for profit and perpetual growth. The two styles face opposite directions and are incompatible, which direction we take is our choice. The state/corporate road requires our obedience and the surrender of our personal desires, it may seem the easiest road to take but leaves you an impoverished human, devoid of who you really are, the other requires a struggle to free our humanity with the prize of that better world for all.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

STATE CAPITAL MEDIA AND SPECIALISTS 

THEY HAVE FUCKED UP OUR LIVES

STOPPING: house arrest, written petition to get a pre-trial hearing, curfew and assembly, certificates of sanitary legality.
“FREEDOM BUSINESS”: third dose, forced vaccination, and for non-compliant, fines, mandatory rapid tests, work suspensions, firings.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER: imposing a new social division between vaccinated and unvaccinated, between compliant citizens and unruly plebes.
ECONOMIC DIVIDE: telecommuting, working around the clock, wage cuts, unemployment, poverty, price increases in everything that concerns our living (rent, food, electricity, etc.).
WE WILL TAKE IT BACK TO THE BARRICADES
We will take them back to the streets.

 – Rabid for life
Source: Athens Indymedia
via: darknights

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

Virgin?

           It's that time of the year when the holy people get rather excited about the guy that they say founded their religion, a guy called Jesus, one of the greatest gifts to capitalism and consumerism know to the world, (we could of course go back to the Cynics, some 300 years before Jesus's most unusual birth for that sort of teaching without the carp bullshit of magic) It is amazing how these people swallow this nonsense with a serious face, taking the words in that book called the Holy Bible as facts, the supposed words of their god. Even as a child, I couldn't swallow the tales of women being turned into a pillar of salt, dead people coming alive again, turning water into wine, it all seemed so much crap and put me at odds with my family, who were Church of Scotland, except my eldest sister, who at 21 got baptised and became a member of the Baptist Church, all very weird and rather silly to me. Then in later years the virgin birth became some form of joke, and just another snippet of carp bullshit from that book that has plagued the human species for centuries, being the foundation of the perpetuation of ignorance, authoritarianism, blind obedience, sadistic cruelty, barbarity and bloody wars. 

       Just as a reminder of how this annual plague of consumerism was generated, I'll leave the last words on the virgin birth to a fellow Glaswegian Kevin Bridges.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Ideas!

       I've just received the new book "Between Thought and Expression Lies a Lifetime, Why Ideas Matter" by Noam Chomsky and James Kelman, PM Press ISBN: 978-1-6296-3880-5. Described by one reviewer as Brilliant, Incisive, Fearless. A quick lick through it and it looks both informative and interesting, but like all books written for and by the radical left, it shouldn't be taken as some sort of sacred gospel. It is the considered opinion of those involved drawn from personal experience, thoughts, discussions and readings and should always be seen a such. No matter the differences you may have, I'm sure you will find something new, interesting and even controversial, but you will come away with some new thoughts and insights, what more can you ask of a book.

      I should add that all the proceeds from the Scottish end of this production will go to support, the Spirit of Revolt Archive. We at Spirit of Revolt are extremely grateful for the authors' support and generosity. You can also help support Spirit of Revolt by purchasing the book and spreading this info far and wide. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Rip-off.

         I'm always surprised that most people don't see the daily rip-off of public funds to capitalist businesses. The pandemic has been the largest rip-off in recent times, though there have been many. Billions have been thrown at big businesses during the pandemic, clothed in the illusion of saving jobs, but in actual fact, saving bosses lifestyle. Where was the saving people's jobs when they closed steel works, coal-mines, shipyards, etc? The other big rip-off was the selling off of public assets, Royal Mail, BT, Gas, Electricity, Railways, public transport, all revenue raisers for the public purse to help pay for social services etc. They were all sold to make money for the corporate world, denying the public that income. Now we are told that we can't afford social services, our health service is at breaking point and our education system is crumbling, and they see private capitalists as the answer to those problems, rip us off when we get sick.

Image courtesy of AlterNet:

 

        Greene King manages 1,700 pubs and rents out 1,000, now complaining that times are difficult and the government will need to come up quickly with financial help, ie, tax payers money, to protect the lucrative business. Having milked the public for years and now finds it difficult to do so, asks the government to do it for them, in the form of shovelling tax payers money into their business. Don't these people realise that it is a capitalist system, you open a business, milk the public make a lot of money at their expense, to create a lucrative lifestyle, then you can't make any more killings, you go bust, that's how this insane system is supposed to work. Not milk the public for your own greedy benefit and then when times are hard get the government to keep you in the style to which you have become accustomed. That's called greedy exploitation. It's insanity if we continue to accept this greedy rip-off, by the rich, with the help of the government. We are an extremely rich country, the problem is we obligingly give all our wealth to a small cabal of parasites.

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Reflection.

       I wrote the following words four years ago, December 2017, before the pandemic and before the state vastly accelerated its authoritarianism. I think the words resonate more now, than they did then, so I'll spew them out again.  

 

         As the old year starts to fade and the new year beckons, it is a time for anarchists to reflect on the struggles of the past, our successes and how to improve on them, our failures and how to reverse them. It is also time to analyse the weakness and the strengths of our adversary, the economic system under which we live. Weakness there are plenty, its only strength is our apathy. We are all aware that the state is ramping up repression, as more and more people become not just disenchanted with the government, but disgusted by its callous support for the corporate world at the expense of the people. Deteriorating conditions among our people is encouraging more and more individuals to get involved in this battle for justice and equality. Our vision of justice and equality must see through all borders, we can never recognise those arbitrary lines drawn on the planet's surface by power mongers. Also we must not forget those comrades who have paid dearly in this struggle for a better world, some paid by being imprisoned, others paid with their life.
      These are very dangerous times, capitalist power blocks are vying to increase their dominance in certain areas, and are defending their bases in others, with the extremely high risk of existing wars escalating in to a globe catastrophe. A reshuffling of the power mongers territory is usually done by shedding the blood of millions of our people. 

      So let’s come together in the knowledge that the capitalist system is in turmoil, with chaos the main ingredient, and the various states are struggling as the illusion of their legitimacy evaporates like fog in the sun. It is an ideal time to increase our actions, but only after, with a critical eye, we reflect on where we are, and where we want to go, and how to get our communities more involved.
       Dangerous times, but times loaded with opportunities, their chaos and turmoil is our garden of opportunity, we have nothing to lose, and a world to gain, but that takes critical analysis, organisation, solidarity, community involvement and determination. It is their world, or it is our world, there can be no compromise.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Dignity.

 

       The British establishment are always spouting about how we are leaders in the civilised and democratic world. Apart from the imperialist policies abroad, racism here in these UK establishment institutions, there is the appalling treatment of those enmeshed in the UK state's loaded justice system, (Julian Assange), I use the word "justice" with reservations. Of all the wrongs and injustices in this patch of the planet, the prison system ranks among the worst. These institutions of intimidation and repression, lack any form of humanity, compassion our even human decency. they are an anachronism in any free and democratic society. Prison walls are symbols of oppression. 

          British jails have been inhumane, violent and degrading for years. Now other countries are noticing

                                             Image courtesy of Guardian

 Barlinnie prisoners still held in cells condemned 25 years ago

                                              Image courtesy of Herald Scotland.

      One such example from UK prison system, make up your own mind.

From Enough is Enough:

I didn’t know I was Harry Houdini
  26/11/2021
       Today I was taken from the cells of G-wing, Bristol prison to the City Hospital under a security escort. This was to detect any reoccurrence of cancer in my abdomen and pelvis. In the reception area of the prison, I had the usual strip search, and I was forced to change out of my own clothes into prison-issue clothes.
       This offended my dignity as even when I was being held in Wandsworth prison in London under “antiterrorist” conditions I could at least go to the hospital in my own clothes. Whilst I was waiting for the screws to finish the paperwork, I got a glance of my cover sheet at my file – “escape list” marked in red. I was shackled to a screw with an escort and another two and I was driven by four screws in an unmarked van to the radiology unit. Along the way and back, of course, I was a witness to the pathetic, belittling ,racist, misogynistic “chats” of the screws who consider themselves experts of all aspects of life. At the radiology unit there were discussions between the medical staff and screws with some referral to their superiors, as, without any foresight on the screws part, they hadn’t realised that I couldn’t be shackled inside the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine. Despite the MIR machine being within a sealed room with a single door, I was forced to wear a pair of plastic zip tight cuffs which were tightened so tight they cut into my wrists.
         Due to my loud protests and demands for them to be removed, the screws cut them off with difficulty and pain and placed a second pair almost no less tight on my hands. I was then bound like so inside the MRI in considerable pain and discomfort and in no point in time did the medical staff ask if I was ok or raise any issue of me being treated like this while being told to “be calm” by the screw who had put these cuffs on me and who had remained inside the procedure room. If you have ever been inside an MRI you will know that you are already confined inside an impossibly narrow tiny tube wrapped up in sensitive equipment whilst a torus of magnets whirls around you at deafening volume.
        Hardly an easy place to escape from at the best of times. To add an insult to this injury the MRI technician gave the “panic button” which is a kind of pad the patient squeezes to indicate that there is an emergency, not to me who was undergoing the test, but to the disgusting screw who had remained into the room to observe me. One of the screws waited outside the room and one other, for unknown reasons, was asked by the technician to attend INSIDE the adjacent imaging room where the scans were being processed and the technician acted. This final fact is the most angering since these screws are not even medical staff nor technicians but merely lock and unlock doors, shout and abuse the imprisoned every day. I am not writing this as a “victim of oppression” nor to “establish my rights”. I write this to denounce the situation and to explain to others what to expect and especially for all the other prisoners who confront cancer.
       It is this civilization that makes us all sick. Strength to all those prisoners who have dreams of freedom in their hearts!
Toby Shone
HMP Bristol

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Research.

 

         December seems to be a month when everybody gives everybody a gift, so we at Spirit of Revolt thought we would join in this custom. So for December, as our gift, we are giving you a second “Read of the Month”. We have chosen as our gift a bulletin from September 1989, Bulletin of Anarchist Research, No.18. Enjoy and perhaps learn and feel driven to delve into our wonderful Pandora’s Box of anarchist history, photos, memorabilia and much more. 

READ ON LINE HERE:

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http://strugglepedia.co.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page   

Idiot.

 

       Hi, my apologies to lots of those readers who commented on this blog, as by my incompetent and blundering fingers, I seem to have deleted a couple of years of comments, I again apologise and regret my idiotic hasty blunder. I welcome and look forward to any further comments you care to make.

 Sometimes an anarchist can behave like an idiot.

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

Lawful??

         The law is not there to be obeyed by all, it's there to intimidate the plebs and defend the rich and powerful parasites of this exploitative class system. It will be brought into play as and when when it suits the powers that be. No matter the the obscenity of the situation created by those powers, you can rely on their weaponised thugs, the police, to support them. Once again this absurdity of the law and the unlawful being used in conjunction to try to crush an autonomous space. In their self serving rule book, all must be brought under the watchful eye of the state, by any means possible. This attempt at intimidation and eviction of an autonomous space demands our support and solidarity. Freedom is ours for the taking, just as shackles and obedience are ours by acceptance.

The following from Enough is Enough: 

 

        Pertuis. France. This morning Roger Pellenc carried out his threats at the ZAP (Zone à patates), where we are occupying several houses to fight against a project to extend a commercial zone and the capitalist world that engenders it. A shovel escorted by six municipal policemen came to destroy the gate of the common house as well as the fence and the hedge along the street and seriously damaged the reception hut that we had built in the last few days. All this under the hilarious look of the municipal police.

Originally published by Squat Net.

Some people from the ZAP witnessed these actions, a comrade tried to get between the shovel and the gate. The driver of the machine threatened him and continued his work while putting him in danger. Then the police tried to arrest him. In the morning, prolonging the pressure of the municipal police, a helicopter of the gendarmerie turned a lot around the houses.

We remind you that since the procedure is still in progress, the inhabitants of this house cannot be evicted. This destruction is therefore totally illegal and breaks domestic peace. It demonstrates once again the mafia methods of Roger Pellenc. It confirms to those who still doubt that the police have no shame in acting against the law to serve the interests of an autocratic, all-powerful mayor, ruling like a kingpin over the city of Pertuis.
We will not be intimidated. We will react on all fronts. We will file a complaint. We will rebuild in more solid what was destroyed. And above all we will defend with determination and determination these houses that we occupy.
Today we need support: material, financial for the procedure, and especially, your presence. We need to be more numerous, so we call on all of you to join us at the ZAP. May the force be with us!

La ZAP (Zone à patates)
Pertuis, France
lazapdepertuis [at] riseup [dot] net
https://zappertuis.noblogs.org/

Visit ann arky's home at:
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Keelie.

 

           Despite the usual Glasgow dull, cold, dreich, drizzly rain type of weather, the Glasgow Keelie folks were out today on the street doing their thing. They set up at the corner of Sauchiehall Street at the large, now closed BHS building. As usual the free Glasgow Keelie was well received, with a considerable number disappearing with passing Glesca Folks being eager to get their hands on a copy. Did you get one? if so how about letting us know what you think, or better if you would like to help with the distribution, just get in touch through The Glasgow Keelie webpage.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info