Friday 25 February 2022

+The Sabre.


      This little rant in no way shape or form supports Russia's action in Ukraine. However I do get frustrated at the continuing double standards that seems to be accepted from our media. At the moment we have Western journalists in a frenzy in Ukraine, showing us the anguish, stress and fear of the ordinary people in Ukraine at Russia's actions. I don't recall any such media frenzy inside Iraq showing the same feelings borne by the people of Iraq at the start of America's Shock-and-Awe. The frenzy was all from our side showing with some pride the massive destruction of a country. At the moment we are witnessing land being grab from the Palestinian people by the Zionist state of Israel, hardly a peep from our media. Israel is bombing military bases in Syria, where is the media? Saudi Arabia is destroying Yemen, more or less silence from our so balanced media. Can you say how many countries America has invade? Well in fact there are only three countries on the planet that have not seen US military on their soil Andorra, Bhutan, and Liechtenstein. Countries invaded by America is quite a staggering list. There are more countries invade, threatened or blockaded by America than by any other country on the planet. Not much of a media frenzy in most of these cases.

COUNTRY OR STATE Dates of intervention Forces Comments
SOUTH DAKOTA  1890 (-?)  Troops 300 Lakota Indians massacred at Wounded Knee.
ARGENTINA 1890 Troops Buenos Aires interests protected.
CHILE 1891 Troops Marines clash with nationalist rebels.
HAITI 1891 Troops Black revolt on Navassa defeated.
IDAHO 1892 Troops Army suppresses silver miners’ strike.
HAWAII 1893 (-?) Naval, troops Independent kingdom overthrown, annexed.
CHICAGO 1894 Troops Breaking of rail strike, 34 killed.
NICARAGUA 1894 Troops Month-long occupation of Bluefields.
CHINA 1894-95 Naval, troops Marines land in Sino-Japanese War
KOREA 1894-96 Troops Marines kept in Seoul during war.
PANAMA 1895 Troops, naval Marines land in Colombian province.
NICARAGUA 1896 Troops Marines land in port of Corinto.
CHINA 1898-1900 Troops Boxer Rebellion fought by foreign armies.
PHILIPPINES 1898-1910 (-?) Naval, troops Seized from Spain, killed 600,000 Filipinos
CUBA 1898-1902 (-?) Naval, troops Seized from Spain, still hold Navy base.
PUERTO RICO 1898 (-?) Naval, troops Seized from Spain, occupation continues.
GUAM 1898 (-?) Naval, troops Seized from Spain, still use as base.
MINNESOTA 1898 (-?) Troops Army battles Chippewa at Leech Lake.
NICARAGUA 1898 Troops Marines land at port of San Juan del Sur.
SAMOA 1899 (-?) Troops Battle over succession to throne.
NICARAGUA 1899 Troops Marines land at port of Bluefields.
IDAHO 1899-1901 Troops Army occupies Coeur d’Alene mining region.
OKLAHOMA 1901 Troops Army battles Creek Indian revolt.
PANAMA 1901-14 Naval, troops Broke off from Colombia 1903, annexed Canal Zone; Opened canal 1914.
HONDURAS 1903 Troops Marines intervene in revolution.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1903-04 Troops U.S. interests protected in Revolution.
KOREA 1904-05 Troops Marines land in Russo-Japanese War.
CUBA 1906-09 Troops Marines land in democratic election.
NICARAGUA 1907 Troops “Dollar Diplomacy” protectorate set up.
HONDURAS 1907 Troops Marines land during war with Nicaragua
PANAMA 1908 Troops Marines intervene in election contest.
NICARAGUA 1910 Troops Marines land in Bluefields and Corinto.
HONDURAS 1911 Troops U.S. interests protected in civil war.
CHINA 1911-41 Naval, troops Continuous occupation with flare-ups.
CUBA 1912 Troops U.S. interests protected in civil war.
PANAMA 1912 Troops Marines land during heated election.
HONDURAS 1912 Troops Marines protect U.S. economic interests.
NICARAGUA 1912-33 Troops, bombing 10-year occupation, fought guerillas
MEXICO 1913 Naval Americans evacuated during revolution.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1914 Naval Fight with rebels over Santo Domingo.
COLORADO 1914 Troops Breaking of miners’ strike by Army.
MEXICO 1914-18 Naval, troops Series of interventions against nationalists.
HAITI 1914-34 Troops, bombing 19-year occupation after revolts.
TEXAS 1915 Troops Federal soldiers confront “Plan of San Diego” Mexican rebels
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1916-24 Troops 8-year Marine occupation.
CUBA 1917-33 Troops Military occupation, economic protectorate.
WORLD WAR I 1917-18 Naval, troops Ships sunk, fought Germany for 1 1/2 years.
RUSSIA 1918-22 Naval, troops Five landings to fight Bolsheviks
PANAMA 1918-20 Troops “Police duty” during unrest after elections.
HONDURAS 1919 Troops Marines land during election campaign.
YUGOSLAVIA 1919 Troops/Marines intervene for Italy against Serbs in Dalmatia.
GUATEMALA 1920 Troops 2-week intervention against unionists.
WEST VIRGINIA 1920-21 Troops, bombing Army intervenes against mineworkers.
TURKEY 1922 Troops Fought nationalists in Smyrna.
CHINA 1922-27 Naval, troops Deployment during nationalist revolt.

MEXICO

HONDURAS

1923

1924-25

Bombing

Troops

Airpower defends Calles from rebellion

Landed twice during election strife.

PANAMA 1925 Troops Marines suppress general strike.
CHINA 1927-34 Troops Marines stationed throughout the country.
EL SALVADOR 1932 Naval Warships send during Marti revolt.
WASHINGTON DC 1932 Troops Army stops WWI vet bonus protest.
WORLD WAR II 1941-45 Naval, troops, bombing, nuclear Hawaii bombed, fought Japan, Italy and Germay for 3 years; first nuclear war.
DETROIT 1943 Troops Army put down Black rebellion.
IRAN 1946 Nuclear threat Soviet troops told to leave north.
YUGOSLAVIA 1946 Nuclear threat, naval Response to shoot-down of US plane.
URUGUAY 1947 Nuclear threat Bombers deployed as show of strength.
GREECE 1947-49 Command operation U.S. directs extreme-right in civil war.
GERMANY 1948 Nuclear Threat Atomic-capable bombers guard Berlin Airlift.
CHINA 1948-49 Troops/Marines evacuate Americans before Communist victory.
PHILIPPINES 1948-54 Command operation CIA directs war against Huk Rebellion.
PUERTO RICO 1950 Command operation Independence rebellion crushed in Ponce.
KOREA 1951-53 (-?) Troops, naval, bombing , nuclear threats U.S./So. Korea fights China/No. Korea to stalemate; A-bomb threat in 1950, and against China in 1953. Still have bases.
IRAN 1953 Command Operation CIA overthrows democracy, installs Shah.
VIETNAM 1954 Nuclear threat French offered bombs to use against seige.
GUATEMALA 1954 Command operation, bombing, nuclear threat CIA directs exile invasion after new gov’t nationalized U.S. company lands; bombers based in Nicaragua.
EGYPT 1956 Nuclear threat, troops Soviets told to keep out of Suez crisis; Marines evacuate foreigners.
LEBANON l958 Troops, naval Army & Marine occupation against rebels.
IRAQ 1958 Nuclear threat Iraq warned against invading Kuwait.
CHINA l958 Nuclear threat China told not to move on Taiwan isles.
PANAMA 1958 Troops Flag protests erupt into confrontation.
VIETNAM l960-75 Troops, naval, bombing, nuclear threats Fought South Vietnam revolt & North Vietnam; one million killed in longest U.S. war; atomic bomb threats in l968 and l969.
CUBA l961 Command operation CIA-directed exile invasion fails.
GERMANY l961 Nuclear threat Alert during Berlin Wall crisis.
LAOS 1962 Command operation Military buildup during guerrilla war.
 CUBA  l962  Nuclear threat, naval Blockade during missile crisis; near-war with Soviet Union.
 IRAQ 1963 Command operation CIA organizes coup that killed president, brings Ba’ath Party to power, and Saddam Hussein back from exile to be head of the secret service.
PANAMA l964 Troops Panamanians shot for urging canal’s return.
INDONESIA l965 Command operation Million killed in CIA-assisted army coup.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1965-66 Troops, bombing Army & Marines land during election campaign.
GUATEMALA l966-67 Command operation Green Berets intervene against rebels.
DETROIT l967 Troops Army battles African Americans, 43 killed.
UNITED STATES l968 Troops After King is shot; over 21,000 soldiers in cities.
CAMBODIA l969-75 Bombing, troops, naval Up to 2 million killed in decade of bombing, starvation, and political chaos.
OMAN l970 Command operation U.S. directs Iranian marine invasion.
LAOS l971-73 Command operation, bombing U.S. directs South Vietnamese invasion; “carpet-bombs” countryside.
SOUTH DAKOTA l973 Command operation Army directs Wounded Knee siege of Lakotas.
MIDEAST 1973 Nuclear threat World-wide alert during Mideast War.
CHILE 1973 Command operation CIA-backed coup ousts elected marxist president.
CAMBODIA l975 Troops, bombing Gassing of captured ship Mayagüez, 28 troops die when copter shot down.
ANGOLA l976-92 Command operation CIA assists South African-backed rebels.
IRAN l980 Troops, nuclear threat, aborted bombing Raid to rescue Embassy hostages; 8 troops die in copter-plane crash. Soviets warned not to get involved in revolution.
LIBYA l981 Naval jets Two Libyan jets shot down in maneuvers.
EL SALVADOR l981-92 Command operation, troops Advisors, overflights aid anti-rebel war, soldiers briefly involved in hostage clash.
NICARAGUA l981-90 Command operation, naval CIA directs exile (Contra) invasions, plants harbor mines against revolution.
LEBANON l982-84 Naval, bombing, troops Marines expel PLO and back Phalangists, Navy bombs and shells Muslim positions. 241 Marines killed when Shi’a rebel bombs barracks.
GRENADA l983-84 Troops, bombing Invasion four years after revolution.
HONDURAS l983-89 Troops Maneuvers help build bases near borders.
IRAN l984 Jets Two Iranian jets shot down over Persian Gulf.
LIBYA l986 Bombing, naval Air strikes to topple Qaddafi gov’t.
BOLIVIA 1986 Troops Army assists raids on cocaine region.
IRAN l987-88 Naval, bombing US intervenes on side of Iraq in war, defending reflagged tankers and shooting down civilian jet.
LIBYA 1989 Naval jets Two Libyan jets shot down.
VIRGIN ISLANDS 1989 Troops St. Croix Black unrest after storm.
PHILIPPINES 1989 Jets Air cover provided for government against coup.
PANAMA 1989 (-?) Troops, bombing Nationalist government ousted by 27,000 soldiers, leaders arrested, 2000+ killed.
LIBERIA 1990 Troops Foreigners evacuated during civil war.
SAUDI ARABIA 1990-91 Troops, jets Iraq countered after invading Kuwait. 540,000 troops also stationed in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Israel.
IRAQ 1990-91 Bombing, troops, naval Blockade of Iraqi and Jordanian ports, air strikes; 200,000+ killed in invasion of Iraq and Kuwait; large-scale destruction of Iraqi military.
KUWAIT 1991 Naval, bombing, troops Kuwait royal family returned to throne.
 IRAQ 1991-2003 Bombing, naval No-fly zone over Kurdish north, Shiite south; constant air strikes and naval-enforced economic sanctions
LOS ANGELES 1992 Troops Army, Marines deployed against anti-police uprising.
SOMALIA 1992-94 Troops, naval, bombing U.S.-led United Nations occupation during civil war; raids against one Mogadishu faction.
YUGOSLAVIA 1992-94 Naval NATO blockade of Serbia and Montenegro.
BOSNIA 1993-? Jets, bombing No-fly zone patrolled in civil war; downed jets, bombed Serbs.
HAITI 1994 Troops, naval Blockade against military government; troops restore President Aristide to office three years after coup.
ZAIRE (CONGO) 1996-97 Troops Troops at Rwandan Hutu refugee camps, in area where Congo revolution begins.
LIBERIA 1997 Troops Soldiers under fire during evacuation of foreigners.
ALBANIA 1997 Troops Soldiers under fire during evacuation of foreigners.
SUDAN 1998 Missiles Attack on pharmaceutical plant alleged to be “terrorist” nerve gas plant.
AFGHANISTAN 1998 Missiles Attack on former CIA training camps used by Islamic fundamentalist groups alleged to have attacked embassies.
IRAQ 1998 Bombing, Missiles Four days of intensive air strikes after weapons inspectors allege Iraqi obstructions.
YUGOSLAVIA 1999 Bombing, Missiles Heavy NATO air strikes after Serbia declines to withdraw from Kosovo. NATO occupation of Kosovo.
YEMEN 2000 Naval USS Cole, docked in Aden, bombed.
MACEDONIA 2001 Troops NATO forces deployed to move and disarm Albanian rebels.
UNITED STATES 2001 Jets, naval Reaction to hijacker attacks on New York, DC
AFGHANISTAN 2001-21 Troops, bombing, missiles Massive U.S. mobilization to overthrow Taliban, hunt Al Qaeda fighters, install Karzai regime, and battle Taliban insurgency. More than 30,000 U.S. troops and numerous private security contractors carry out occupation.
YEMEN 2002 Missiles Predator drone missile attack on Al Qaeda, including a US citizen.
PHILIPPINES 2002-? Troops, naval Training mission for Philippine military fighting Abu Sayyaf rebels evolves into combat missions in Sulu Archipelago, west of Mindanao.
COLOMBIA 2003-? Troops US special forces sent to rebel zone to back up Colombian military protecting oil pipeline.
IRAQ 2003-11 Troops, naval, bombing, missiles Saddam regime toppled in Baghdad. More than 250,000 U.S. personnel participate in invasion. US and UK forces occupy country and battle Sunni and Shi’ite insurgencies. More than 160,000 troops and numerous private contractors carry out occupation and build large permanent bases.
LIBERIA 2003 Troops Brief involvement in peacekeeping force as rebels drove out leader.
HAITI 2004-05 Troops, naval   Marines & Army land after right-wing rebels oust elected President Aristide, who was advised to leave by Washington.
PAKISTAN 2005-? Missiles, bombing, covert operation CIA missile and air strikes and Special Forces raids on alleged Al Qaeda and Taliban refuge villages kill multiple civilians. Drone attacks also on Pakistani Mehsud network.
SOMALIA 2006-? Missiles, naval, troops, command operation Special Forces advise Ethiopian invasion that topples Islamist government; AC-130 strikes, Cruise missile attacks and helicopter raids against Islamist rebels; naval blockade against “pirates” and insurgents.
SYRIA 2008 Troops Special Forces in helicopter raid 5 miles from Iraq kill 8 Syrian civilians
YEMEN 2009-? Missiles, command operation Cruise missile attack on Al Qaeda kills 49 civilians; Backing Saudi-Yemeni military assaults on rebels
LIBYA 2011-? Bombing, missiles, troops, command operation NATO coordinates air strikes and missile attacks against Qaddafi government during uprising by rebel army. Periodic Special Forces raids against Islamist insurgents.
IRAQ 2014-? Bombing, missiles, troops, command operation

Air strikes and Special Forces intervene against Islamic State insurgents; training Iraqi and Kurdish troops. Attacks on pro-Iran militias & Iranian general.

SYRIA 2014-? Bombing, missiles, troops, command operation

Air strikes and Special Forces intervene against Islamic State insurgents; training other Syrian insurgents; bombing alleged Syrian government chemical arms sites, bombing pro-Iran militia.

NIGER 2017 Troops

Special Forces combat against Islamist insurgents.

SAUDI ARABIA
2019-20Troops

Mobilization against Iran in Saudi Arabia & UAE after drone attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure & Gulf tankers.


         What we are witnessing is the usual sabre rattling of imperialist powers, working at dividing our planet into controlled zones. America, the largest imperialist power, sees the rise of Russia and Chine as  a threat and for years has been working at trying to limit the growth of these rivals to its grip on the planet. It is only a matter of time before the sabre rattling develops into sabre slashing with the usual blood shed of ordinary people. The American imperialist will do anything no matter how brutal to retain their dominant position no matter the blood shed, just as the British Empire did before it. Only when we rid ourselves of state and power seeking conglomerations, all bent on power, control and wealth, will we be able to see peace among all people. 

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Tuesday 22 February 2022

UK Nazis.

         I'm not one for taking sides in the various imperialist machinations to gain, sustain or enhance their particular power scope, in my book, they are all tarred with the same brush. However, we are lead to believe, by our media, that this latest Russia/Ukraine/Western stew that is brewing just popped up suddenly in the last few months, all due to nasty Russia's aggression. What we are not told is that the Western imperialists have been poking their devious fingers in Ukraine for quite a while, including the UK.. One event denied by the UK, was a meeting by UK military commanders with Ukraine National Guard, September 2021, discussing training. Among those in the Ukrainian National Guard is the infamous Nazi group, Azos, reported to have a thousand members.
          Of course here in the UK establishment we have always had our Nazi sympathisers. Before World War 2, we had certain members of the Royal family enjoying themselves with Hitler and his cronies. We also have had Nazi sympathisers walking the marble corridors of our Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, So this latest little chummy get together with the UK military and Nazi sympathisers should not surprise us, nor should the fact the the UK MOD deny the meeting took place and no record available shows any such meeting, our secret society. However photographs are worth a thousand words.  
 
Neo-Nazi insignia on the helmets of Azov fighters in eastern Ukraine. (Image: ZDF)
 
British commanders (left) meet with senior officials from Ukraine’s National Guard in Kyiv, September 2021. (Photo: NGU)
 
 
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Monday 21 February 2022

Obey?

        We live in a society with upside down values, where to obey is seen as the right thing to do. To obey is to accept the Status Quo, to obey is to continue with the inequality and injustice, to obey is live with the insane economics of capitalism, to obey is allowing the pampered, privileged few continue to drive the majority towards poverty, to obey is to accept borders, to obey is to see those others on the other side of those borders as different,
      In this society where wealth equals quality of life, sanity, justice, equality demand disobedience, disobedience is what stops wars, disobedience challenges exploitation, disobedience holds those with power to account. For far too long we have accepted obedience to law and order of the rich and powerful who shaped those laws to protect their privileged position. The only way we can free ourselves from the grip of the wealthy and powerful is by disobedience and on a massive scale. We are dealing with a very ruthless and powerful group who always have the backing of the state's armoury and its loaded judicial system. Obey and continue our life of servile dependency, disobey and build that world we really want, a world of justice for all our people, a world that sees to the needs of all our people.
     Let's make our rallying call, non serviam, I will not serve. 

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

Sunday 20 February 2022

1%??

 

        Here we are in the UK, a small but very rich country, where the people are facing a cost of living crisis the like of which most of the population have never experienced before. Taxes go up, food prices are rocketing, energy costs are going stratospheric and no real assistance on the horizon. A few sticking plasters have been suggested, none of which will do anything to alleviate the massive impact of the rising cost of living, a cost of living crisis that will lead to illness, early deaths and stunted potential of a generation. Our social service are creaking at the seams, our health service is at breaking point, and education system is a disgrace in a rich civilised society. Our lords and master that walk the marble halls of power having praised to the roof our struggling health workers have offered them an insulting 1% pay rise, which is in effect a pay cut when considering inflation at 5.5%, forecast to reach 7%.

                                                   Image courtesy of Guardian.

          As I said we are a small country our people are struggling to have a decent life, yet the pampered privileged "honourable MPs" who lord it over us, see fit to spend more on military spending than the vast country of Russia. According to "World Population Review" the figures for 2022 are, that vast and expansive country of Russia, population 144.5 million, spends $48 billion on military spending, while the tiny islands of the UK, population 67.22 million, spend $55 billion 

Image courtesy of Imperial and Global Forum.  

     I repeat, we are a very rich country, but for how much longer are we going to tolerate this insanity that feeds endless billions on the means for war and all its savagery and destruction, yet leaves its population struggling for the basics of a decent life. Are we to remain slaves to the insane economics of the powerful war mongers?

          This small piece was prompted by Loam's comment: BRITAIN OVERTAKES RUSSIAN MILITARY SPENDING — BUT ONLY OFFERS NURSES 1% PAY RISE Britain’s government is offering healthcare workers a 1% pay rise, which is likely to amount to a pay cut after inflation, at the same time as its military spending has just overtaken Russia to become the world’s fourth-largest defence budget. https://declassifieduk.org/britain-overtakes-russian-military-spending-but-only-offers-nurses-1%-pay-rise/

Thanks Loam.


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Friday 18 February 2022

Magón.

    


          We must honour and remember all those fearless warriors of the class struggle, those who dedicated their lives and in many occasions gave their life, in the cause of freedom and justice for all, anarchist to the very fibre of their being. It is 100 years this year since the state murder of Ricardo Flores Magón, killed in a cell in Leavenworth prison in Kansas America, November 21st 1922. Our capitalist state would have us forget these individuals and plaster our cities with statues of nobility, blood stained generals and greed driven "captains of industry", all defenders of wealth power and privilege, pointing to these as the people we should honour. However, these are the enemies of the people and their desire for freedom and justice.   

                                                     Image from It's Going Down.

 

           Let every man and woman who loves freedom and the anarchist ideal, propagate it with determination, with tenacity, without concern for mockery, without measuring the danger, without regard to consequences; let’s get to work comrades, and the future will be our anarchist ideal

-Ricardo Flores Magón



Farewell!

We cannot break our chains with weak desire,
With Whines and supplicating cries.
'Tis not by crawling meekly to the mire
The free-winged eagle learns to mount the skies.


The gladiator, victor in fight,
On who the hard-contested laurels fall,
Goes not in the arena pale with fright
But steps forth fearlessly, defying all.

O victory, O victory, dear and fair
Thou crownest him who does his best,
Who perishing, still unafraid to bear,
Goes down to dust, thy image in his breast.

Farewell, O comrades, I scorn life as a slave!
I begged no tyrant for my life, though sweet it was;
Though chaines, I go unconquered to my grave,
Dying for my own birth-right- - - and the world's. 
                                                                            
                                                                               Ricardo Flores Magón
 
        This poem was written before his death while incarcerated in the federal prison, Leavenworth, Kansas.  Ricardo Flores Magón was an active Mexican rebel, and at the behest of the Mexican Government, the US Government seized him, its agents beat him up fiercely and afterwards held him for years until his death.
Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info     

Thursday 17 February 2022

Caged.

 

          They stand there, those innocuous looking buildings, could be anything, but for the usual nameplate HM Prison---At first glance they do not say arbitrary punishment, cruelty, inhumanity, repression or viciousness. The propaganda element of the judiciary menagerie and the various mouthpieces of the state, weave the illusion that they are correction centres for bad people. So if you are a good and obedient citizen, then you will never need to trouble yourself about these institutions of state repression. However we know that there are innumerable innocent people enmeshed in the tentacles of these inhumane institutions, we know that their idea of correction is to create a submissive, obedient population. We know of the countless case of "miscarriage of justice". They are there to protect the wealth and power of the privileged few.

This from Enough is Enough:


           On Tuesday 08/02 at 19.00 p.m I was brought in by the anti-terrorist service outside my partner’s house in Ano Poli. The reason for this is the previous arrest- in the morning hours of the same day- of Thanos Hatziangelou and Georgia Voulgari accused for placing an incendiary device in the institution of National and Religious Reflection. I was transferred to the General Police Directorate of Thessaloniki(GPDT), where hours later I was announced of my arrest on criminal charges and membership in the organization “Anarchist Action”. I remained detained for two days in the basements of GPDT where on Friday 11/02 I passed by an investigator and a prosecutor where my pre-trial detention was announced.

Originally published by Athens Indymedia.

        Amidst the vortex of a comedic yet tragic process unfolding against me, I unequivocally and strongly declare innocent of all the accusations against me. I am currently imprisoned without ANY evidence linking me to any involvement in what is being attributed to me, without ANY mentioned of my name in the anti-terrorist testimony in relation to the organization’s activities. The only connection that is being attempted is through the house I was renting (allocated next to the shop that I kept with my associates) as well as next to my partner’s house (where I actually lived) and which I had given as a quarantine and recovery space by covid- 19.
        I make efforts to stand tall up against this manufactured conspiracy that deprives me of my freedom. I try to keep my mind alert and clear so that I can stand up to this injustice that drowns me. I try to stand up to this arbitrariness who thinks my life is a pawn on an invisible chessboard. Against those who take human relationships and use them as they wish and as it suits them, to compose the puzzle they design.

I will make it.

       Solidarity to my friend, colleague and comrade Thanos Hatziangelou and comrade Georgia that I met a few days ago in the basements of GPDT.

Panos Kalaitzis

Korydallos Prison 15/02/2022

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

Darkness.

 Sometimes I walk a long dark corridor---


 Tinsel Cities.


In the city of tinsel and bright lights
midst the playthings of the rich
just beyond the champagne bubble
out of earshot of the butterfly people
in the dark shadows where no one looks
there you’ll find poverty and destitution
dance a macabre dance of survival.
In Mammon’s city of grand illusions
where rivers of wealth feed frivolity
in its twisting dark and musty lanes
where the light of hope seldom shines
an army of the living dead sweat and toil
polishing the tinsel, changing light bulbs
refilling the champagne bottles
nothing must stop the flow of frivolity
or the butterfly people will die.
 
 Victory.

Nature recoiled from the savage beast
A beast so fierce on its war horse of progress
sweeping aside all that was natural and beautiful
This blind beast conquered meadow and stream
Banished the fish from the seas
Left a trail of barren concrete and tarmac
Filled the air with odious gases
Eventually the beast conquered the earth
Now master of a dead and lifeless planet
A world that nature, maimed and bleeding
Finally abandon to allow the beast to slowly die.
 
No Words To Say.

I’m a poet with no words to say
wandering a world of sorrow and pain
lost in catastrophes played like a game
short visions rule the day
Mountains of money piles of poverty
lost in a sea of swirling illusions
wars a natural road to walk
death and destruction a way of life
ringing in my ears songs of poverty
melodies of marauding deprivation
I have eyes that see ears that hear
a dictionary in my mind but
I live in a world beyond their reach
I’m a poet with no words to say. 


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Wednesday 16 February 2022

Lies.

 

         As you read the following article you may say, Ah, but that is one of those far away nasty regimes. Well we would do well to remember the cases of the UK  undercover police who entered phony relationships with female members of ecology groups and lived the insidious lie for years destroying the lives of those they tricked into those relationships. These dirty tricks are part and parcel of every state's  tools for prying, repression and control, and can most certainly be said to be proof that we do not live in a democracy. Undercover police with phoney relationships are not the foundation stones of democracy. 


 The following from  Act for Freedom Now:

        In December 2021, we received information that Aleksandr Zaitsev, who declared his commitment to the anarchist movement, was in pre-trial detention in Volodarka. It took us quite a while to verify this man’s story and get to the bottom of it.
         In 2020, Zaitsev actively participated in protests against the regime and was detained at least once in November under “people’s” article 23.34. While in detention, Zaitsev met a man who introduced himself as Dmitry Sergeenko. Comrades from the Pramen team found the real name of this man – Dmitry Akulich, who had been working for many years with the Interior Ministry as a provocateur and prison agent. Akulich actively begins “developing” Zaitsev and by summer both are already planning a radical action: they want to set fire to Sukalo’s dacha. To paint a pretty picture of the investigation, Akulich says that he got in touch with the group “Stork fly” and they paid for him to buy two five-liter bottles of gasoline.
         Not far from the dacha both are taken by Almaz. Zaitsev confesses to everything and is now under terrorist article 289 part 3 (punishment up to the death penalty). We do not know Akulich’s status in this case, but he most likely passes as a witness with the false name of Sergeenko. It is noteworthy that Akulich was given a real passport with a fake name to work with Zaitsev.
Now Aliaksandr Zaitsev continues to be held in the pre-trial detention center, awaiting trial. We have almost no information about the anarchist himself, as none of the activists know him.
        Remember, if you want to carry out any radical action, you should do it only with trusted people, not with acquaintances. This story also shows that cops actively engage in provocations to continue repression and spin the myth of terrorism.
Now it is extremely important to remember to have a safety culture and take the time to familiarize yourself with texts on countering repression!

 via: ABC Belarus


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

Monday 14 February 2022

Liverpool.

       

           Yea, I know I go on about not enough anarchist paper on the streets, but I think it is where the battle will be won, and if our ideas are not flowing freely through those streets it could be the wrong people that win.
         Just released the latest issue of Liverpool Anarchists, issue 19 an excellent little publication. It is freely available for download at their site, love the image on the front cover. If you can, why not print a few copies and throw them around, after you read it of course, excellent read. Well done Liverpool.

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

Sunday 13 February 2022

7.5%

   

           The media and our pompous pampered privileged ministers of government, have been crowing about the UK's economic growth, previous year was an unexpected growth of 7.5%. I suppose we the ordinary folks are supposed to whoop and yell with delight and pride. However, before you jump up and down with you joy and shout yippee, take a moment to reflect how your life has changed over that same year. Have you shared in the 7.5% growth in wealth, or have you struggled harder than the year before. Like everything in this society it is all about economics, not about human health and welfare. All that is indicated by that 7.5% growth is that businesses have been doing much better, shareholders are getting richer, but have they passed on a fair share of that wealth to you and I? Once again this the media playing the illusion game, these little titbits are meant to be the paracetamol to make us all feel better, but in no way cure our problems. Take all that economic bullshit with a pinch of salt and focus on how we are being driven back to the Dickensian era, while the millionaires/billionaires laugh all the way to the bank. 


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Saturday 12 February 2022

50 Years?

             For centuries the British imperialist machine has stomped across the planet, waving its red white and blue rag, soaking it in blood where ever it went, from India to America, to Asia. So much so that the red white and blue rag became known as the butcher's apron. However we don't have to go across the globe or back to the 1800's for examples of the British imperialist savagery, we can move much closer to home and just go back 50 years. The British state, like any other state, has no qualms about unleashing its military hounds on its own population. In Northern Ireland in 30th January, 1972, the British state unleashed its military on a peaceful protest and shot 26 unarmed civilians, 13 were killed outright, two others died later from their wounds. 50 years on and the friends and families are still seeking justice. 

 ‘Butcher’s Dozen’

Derry Remembers 50 Years On

(Sunday, 30th January 2022)

        This performance of Thomas Kinsella’s poem, ‘Butcher’s Dozen’ was produced for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, similar to what was done with the poem 25 years ago. Back then it was performed in public as a live performance in Derry City’s Bogside, where these 13 men and boys were shot and killed by the British Army's 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment during a peaceful Civil Rights march and demonstration.
          Thomas Kinsella, a Dublin poet, passed away on December 22nd 2021. He wrote the poem following publication of the British Government's official report in April 1972, compiled by Lord Widgery, the lord chief justice of England. Effectively, the "Widgery Report" exonerated the British Army for the killings and blamed the organisers of the Civil Rights march.This most powerful performance of the poem can be heard at https://youtu.be/U_P6GW7jpqo
         The ten voices/contributors include three of those who attended the original march: Eamonn McCann, Liam Wray whose brother Jim was shot dead on Bloody Sunday and Donnacha McFeeley, whose friend Gerald was also shot and killed that day.
        People interested to learn more on these events and the situation as it is today in regard to the justice question should go to http://bloodysundaymarch.org/for_justice/ or to www.bloodysundaymarchcommittee.org



Thomas Kinsella's poem, Butcher's Dozen.

 

BUTCHER'S DOZEN:
A LESSON FOR THE OCTAVE OF WIDGERY

by Thomas Kinsella

            I went with Anger at my heel
            Through Bogside of the bitter zeal
            - Jesus pity! - on a day
            Of cold and drizzle and decay.
            A month had passed. Yet there remained
            A murder smell that stung and stained.
            On flats and alleys-over all-
            It hung; on battered roof and wall,
            On wreck and rubbish scattered thick,
            On sullen steps and pitted brick.
            And when I came where thirteen died
            It shrivelled up my heart. I sighed
            And looked about that brutal place
            Of rage and terror and disgrace.
            Then my moistened lips grew dry.
            I had heard an answering sigh!
            There in a ghostly pool of blood
            A crumpled phantom hugged the mud:
            "Once there lived a hooligan.
            A pig came up, and away he ran.
            Here lies one in blood and bones,
            Who lost his life for throwing stones."

            More voices rose. I turned and saw
            Three corpses forming, red and raw,
            From dirt and stone. Each upturned face
            Stared unseeing from its place:
            "Behind this barrier, blighters three,
            We scrambled back and made to flee.
            The guns cried Stop, and here lie we."
            Then from left and right they came,
            More mangled corpses, bleeding, lame,
            Holding their wounds. They chose their ground,
            Ghost by ghost, without a sound,
            And one stepped forward, soiled and white:
            "A bomber I. I travelled light
            - Four pounds of nails and gelignite
            About my person, hid so well
            They seemed to vanish where I fell.
            When the bullet stopped my breath
            A doctor sought the cause of death.
            He upped my shirt, undid my fly,
            Twice he moved my limbs awry,
            And noticed nothing. By and by
            A soldier, with his sharper eye,
            Beheld the four elusive rockets
            Stuffed in my coat and trouser pockets.
            Yes, they must be strict with us,
            Even in death so treacherous!"
            He faded, and another said:
            "We three met close when we were dead.
            Into an armoured car they piled us
            Where our mingled blood defiled us,
            Certain, if not dead before,
            To suffocate upon the floor.

            Careful bullets in the back
            Stopped our terrorist attack,
            And so three dangerous lives are done
            - Judged, condemned and shamed in one."
            That spectre faded in his turn.
            A harsher stirred, and spoke in scorn:
            "The shame is theirs, in word and deed,
            Who prate of justice, practise greed,
            And act in ignorant fury - then,
            Officers and gentlemen,
            Send to their Courts for the Most High
            To tell us did we really die!
            Does it need recourse to law
            To tell ten thousand what they saw?
            Law that lets them, caught red-handed,
            Halt the game and leave it stranded,
            Summon up a sworn inquiry
            And dump their conscience in the diary.
            During which hiatus, should
            Their legal basis vanish, good,
            The thing is rapidly arranged:
            Where's the law that can't be changed?
            The news is out. The troops were kind.
            Impartial justice has to find
            We'd be alive and well today
            If we had let them have their way.
            Yet England, even as you lie,
            You give the facts that you deny.
            Spread the lie with all your power
            - All that's left; it's turning sour.
            Friend and stranger, bride and brother,
            Son and sister, father, mother,

            All not blinded by your smoke,
            Photographers who caught your stroke,
            The priests that blessed our bodies, spoke
            And wagged our blood in the world's face.
            The truth will out, to your disgrace."
            He flushed and faded. Pale and grim,
            A joking spectre followed him:
            "Take a bunch of stunted shoots,
            A tangle of transplanted roots,
            Ropes and rifles, feathered nests,
            Some dried colonial interests,
            A hard unnatural union grown
            In a bed of blood and bone,
            Tongue of serpent, gut of hog
            Spiced with spleen of underdog.
            Stir in, with oaths of loyalty,
            Sectarian supremacy,
            And heat, to make a proper botch,
            In a bouillon of bitter Scotch.
            Last, the choice ingredient: you.
            Now, to crown your Irish stew,
            Boil it over, make a mess.
            A most imperial success!"
            He capered weakly, racked with pain,
            His dead hair plastered in the rain;
            The group was silent once again.
            It seemed the moment to explain
            That sympathetic politicians
            Say our violent traditions,
            Backward looks and bitterness
            Keep us in this dire distress.
            We must forget, and look ahead,

            Nurse the living, not the dead.
            My words died out. A phantom said:
            "Here lies one who breathed his last
            Firmly reminded of the past.
            A trooper did it, on one knee,
            In tones of brute authority."
            That harsher spirit, who before
            Had flushed with anger, spoke once more:
            "Simple lessons cut most deep.
            This lesson in our hearts we keep:
            Persuasion, protest, arguments,
            The milder forms of violence,
            Earn nothing but polite neglect.
            England, the way to your respect
            Is via murderous force, it seems;
            You push us to your own extremes.
            You condescend to hear us speak
            Only when we slap your cheek.
            And yet we lack the last technique:
            We rap for order with a gun,
            The issues simplify to one
            - Then your Democracy insists
            You mustn't talk with terrorists!
            White and yellow, black and blue,
            Have learnt their history from you:
            Divide and ruin, muddle through,
            Not principled, but politic.
            - In strength, perfidious; weak, a trick
            To make good men a trifle sick.
            We speak in wounds. Behold this mess.
            My curse upon your politesse."

            Another ghost stood forth, and wet
            Dead lips that had not spoken yet:
            "My curse on the cunning and the bland,
            On gentlemen who loot a land
            They do not care to understand;
            Who keep the natives on their paws
            With ready lash and rotten laws;
            Then if the beasts erupt in rage
            Give them a slightly larger cage
            And, in scorn and fear combined,
            Turn them against their own kind.
            The game runs out of room at last,
            A people rises from its past,
            The going gets unduly tough
            And you have (surely ... ?) had enough.
            The time has come to yield your place
            With condescending show of grace
            - An Empire-builder handing on.
            We reap the ruin when you've gone,
            All your errors heaped behind you:
            Promises that do not bind you,
            Hopes in conflict, cramped commissions,
            Faiths exploited, and traditions."
            Bloody sputum filled his throat.
            He stopped and coughed to clear it out,
            And finished, with his eyes a-glow:
            "You came, you saw, you conquered ... So.
            You gorged - and it was time to go.
            Good riddance. We'd forget - released -
            But for the rubbish of your feast,
            The slops and scraps that fell to earth
            And sprang to arms in dragon birth.

            Sashed and bowler-hatted, glum
            Apprentices of fife and drum,
            High and dry, abandoned guards
            Of dismal streets and empty yards,
            Drilled at the codeword 'True Religion'
            To strut and mutter like a pigeon
            'Not An Inch - Up The Queen';
            Who use their walls like a latrine
            For scribbled magic-at their call,
            Straight from the nearest music-hall,
            Pope and Devil intertwine,
            Two cardboard kings appear, and join
            In one more battle by the Boyne!
            Who could love them? God above..."
            "Yet pity is akin to love,"
            The thirteenth corpse beside him said,
            Smiling in its bloody head,
            "And though there's reason for alarm
            In dourness and a lack of charm
            Their cursed plight calls out for patience.
            They, even they, with other nations
            Have a place, if we can find it.
            Love our changeling! Guard and mind it.
            Doomed from birth, a cursed heir,
            Theirs is the hardest lot to bear,
            Yet not impossible, I swear,
            If England would but clear the air
            And brood at home on her disgrace
            - Everything to its own place.
            Face their walls of dole and fear
            And be of reasonable cheer.

            Good men every day inherit
            Father's foulness with the spirit,
            Purge the filth and do not stir it.
            Let them out! At least let in
            A breath or two of oxygen,
            So they may settle down for good
            And mix themselves in the common blood.
            We are what we are, and that
            Is mongrel pure. What nation's not
            Where any stranger hung his hat
            And seized a lover where she sat?"
            He ceased and faded. Zephyr blew
            And all the others faded too.
            I stood like a ghost. My fingers strayed
            Along the fatal barricade.
            The gentle rainfall drifting down
            Over Colmcille's town
            Could not refresh, only distil
            In silent grief from hill to hill.


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Shame.

 

           February 12th. a day of protest against the oncoming tidal wave of price rises and tax increases. Protests took place across the country, Glasgow was no exception George Square the venue. Despite the lousy Glasgow weather a fair crowd assembled bringing their anger on to the streets. Due to a little problem I was unable to attend but took up a vantage point in a cafe across the road. Well at various protests I have heard the phrase "Shame on You", and thought it rather ineffectual. Sadly as I look around at the various  flags and banners, I could see at least four large Scottish Socialist Party flags, at least two large CP flags, trade union banners, and then I thought, "Shame on you", no where was there a black flag, or red and black flag. Here were these other groupings shouting loud and handing out their literature, to receptive hands but I detected no anarchist display. These were ordinary citizens of Glasgow and were on the street to show their anger at the enforced poverty they are facing, looking for answers. They would be receptive to our ideas if we had been there shouting as loud as the others. After all we have much more to say than those who were there doing the shouting with their display. A missed opportunity,  we should be on the streets where ordinary people gather to voice their anger. One of our comrades did manage to hand out approximately 400 Glasgow Keelies, all well received and eagerly taken. We could have done so much more.

Some photos from the protest.





 














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