Fights On.

           Giannis Michailidis has served his full prison sentence and fulfilled all the conditions for his release, and despite this and the fact that he has been on hunger strike for 67 days in attempt to have his just release, the Greek state is callously refusing him justice and are willing to see him die a slow death, locked in solitary confinement. Giannis has stated that he has suspended his hunger strike for justice, but not abandoned the fight, for reasons he will explain at a later date.
 

 The following from Act For Freedom Now:

         I find myself in the unfortunate position to announce that I am suspending this difficult struggle without having won anything substantial. However, this struggle is not over yet nor do I intend to leave it unfinished. The suspension is temporary; some of the reasons are the obvious ones. Some are not. I apologise to those who have supported me that I cannot share the reasons publicly at this point. Should I need to continue I will explain publicly and in detail the reasons I chose the temporary suspension. I will continue to fight for what I deserve and hopefully will not need to continue.
       The justice system has been humiliated. So far, the only success of this hunger strike is that it has highlighted its contradictions. In terms of the barricades I have attempted to raise, there have been the statements of the lawyers, changing the mood of the “throw them inside and throw away the keys” logic. But my personal request remains in the air. And my commitment that I wouldn’t stop seems betrayed at this point. This weighs on me, of course, and despite knowing that my intention is – if necessary – to continue at a more fruitful time in the near future; but as I said before, not everything can be said at this moment and I hope it will not have to be said. Closing this announcement, I want to wholeheartedly thank those who have supported me in any way. Those who took a stand, those who transcended their social roles because empathy prevailed. But above all, those who fought tooth and nail to break the enforced silence, those who were beaten in the streets to express their solidarity, those who took risks and those who starved in prison. To the latter I owe my life. If all this had not happened, at this moment the conditions for this suspension wouldn’t exist. That’s all for now. I still look forward to my immediate release.

Everything continues…

Yiannis Michailidis

 A text by Giannis Michailidis, read out at the event in Athens for "Words for Remembrance of Political Prisoners."

THE HIDDEN STRENGTH OF AN INSURRECTION IS THAT IT AROUSES THE IMAGINATION

         It was late evening of December 5th, 2008 and I was reading the comic book ‘V for Vendetta’, when a phrase shook me: “Noise is relative to the silence preceding it. The more absolute the hush, the more shocking the thunderclap.” The economic crisis hadn’t yet unsettled the dominant narrative of capitalism as a one-way road, and a spontaneous insurrection in a country of the west world seemed like a utopia. I stood on this phrase, which I felt very believable, but there weren’t any facts to support it and I wondered a lot inside me.. A day later, a bullet struck the heart of feisty comrade Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The bullet came from the weapon of a cop, for whom Vyronas Polydoras, 

Read the full article HERE: 

 

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Help!!

         Remember the insulting "help" from SSE on how it customers could keep warm this winter with the astronomical energy prices we were being ask to pay? Their heart felt advice as they ran smiling to the bank was, “doing a few star jumps”, “having a cuddle with your pets”, and eating “hearty bowls of porridge”. None of this advice would be needed by their shareholders or their CEO, they would hardly notice the price rises.
       Meanwhile, SSE made £600 million profit, Scottish Power and Centrica, owners of of British Gas, turned in a smart little profit of £423 million. These energy companies stashed away more than a billion pounds in profit before this years price hike. How much are your bills going up by?
       The bosses of the UK six biggest energy companies are the UK's highest earners. In 2018 former Centrica CEO received £2.4 million, a salary rise of 44% on his previous salary. During the first year of the pandemic, CEO of SSE Alistair Pillips-Davies was paid a tidy £1.6 million. In any given year the average CEO by 6th of January will have earned more than the average worker will all year.
        Have a good look at these figures, think of the obscene increases in profits and salaries of the energy companies and the CEO, then think of the massive price increases to you and I with our meager incomes being stretched to breaking point. Then ask yourself, should we blame the war in Ukraine or the greed infested energy companies, who are part and parcel of this system.

 

 

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Rip-Off.

         As we all face energy bills in the region of £4,000, and the political ballerinas spout how it is all the fault of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, our energy companies are wallowing in unprecedented profits. Get your head round these figures and say, hand on heart, the prices are unavoidable.

         The two biggest energy companies in the UK, Shell and Centrica are both making a killing on the backs of your suffering. Take Shell first, for the three months April to June 2022, hauled in profits in the region of £10 billion. While suffering amnesia regarding the astronomical bills its customers are set to pay, Shell has promised its shareholders £6.5 billion in bonuses.
       Its pal in piracy, Centrica, came up with profits of £1.3 billion for the first half of 2022 and has promised its shareholders bonuses amounting to £59 million.
      So do you get the feeling that the Ukrainian situation is a bonus to these people, an opportunity to rip us off with vengeance, and that they are laughing at us as they slither their way to the bank.

        When will we ever learn, when will we finally say, enough is enough and bring this festering cancer of greed crashing down. A better world is there, it's in your hearts, you know how it would look, fairness, justice, humanity, mutual aid and the ability to see to the needs of all our people, we don't need corporate conglomerates, millionaires and billionaires, they are the parasites that destroy our lives.

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Work Hard!!

   

         I suppose it's nothing new for me, getting angry at politicians. I get angry at their arrogance, their callous disregard for the truth, their phony demeanor and the pompous acceptance of their belief in their own exceptionalism. However I can add being insulted by them, to the list. Listening to the two self opinionated empty shells standing for the Tory leadership, I, and I'm sure many others feel insulted, to hear an individual with a £200 million personal fortune, put it all down to the hard work of his parents. That's the answer, just work hard and you'll be a multi-millionaire. That is the really insulting message that this pair of delusional liars pump out. 

Photo courtesy of Flashback:

       As far as hard work goes, I consider that no man or woman worked harder than my father. A coal miner all his life, he never took a holiday. When the mines closed for the Glasgow Fair fortnight, they needed people to go down the mine on a daily bases to check for gas and/or flooding, so that the mine would be operational when the miners returned. My father always took that job. We went off with my mother doon the waatur to Dunoon where my mother had booked a room or room and kitchen, and we had our two weeks holiday. We never achieved our £200 million, I suppose in Rishi's and Liz's world my father did not work hard enough.
      There are millions of workers who work hard all their lives and have nothing but struggle, health workers, factory workers, office workers and so it goes on, but all face a life of perpetual struggle. To say that it is hard work that earned these two political puppets their millionaire status, is a disgusting insult to all those ordinary people who work hard day and daily to give their families a decent life, and face a life of perpetual struggle. 

                                                Photo courtesy of Facebook:

        Rishi Sunak, personal wealth in the region of £200 million, poor Liz Truss has to get by on a mere £8 million, approximately. I guess her parents didn't work as hard as Rishi's.

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Crisis???

     

       So there's a cost of living crisis and EVERYBODY suffers, well not exactly. Petrol prices have rocketed, and it is all put down to those nasty Russians, no mention of the astronomical profits being made by the oil producing and refining companies. This section of the capitalist system, far from suffering due to this war in Ukraine have used it to shove profits through the roof. They are all making unimaginable profits and in private praying at the altar greed, that the war continues. They've never had it so good.
        This is just one example of how this system enjoys wars as they always benefit the rich and powerful. The same applies throughout the capitalist system. Emergencies, wars, famine and shortages are all a means to increase profits, a system based on exploitation of the many for profit for the few. This greed based system, this billionaires gambling casino, this insanity called capitalism will only end when wee the ordinary people decide we have had enough and organise to bring the whole stinking edifice crashing down. A better world is possible, just think of how you would like to see the world, a fairer world, a world based on compassion, humanity and justice, then make it happen. We have the numbers, we have the imagination, we have the skills, where is the will?

The following from Zero Hedge: 

 

 

         Amid soaring gasoline prices in the second quarter, the eight biggest independent U.S. refiners are set to report later this month a huge 652% sequential jump in their average earnings per share (EPS), according to estimates from investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt & Co cited by The Wall Street Journal.
        All refiners and all integrated oil and gas companies are set for a windfall of profits for the second quarter as U.S. gasoline prices soared to the highest ever on record of over $5 per gallon in early June.
        The biggest refiners are also expected to generate billions of cash flow from operations as refining margins are at their highest in many years.
        “We’re seeing margins twice as high as the golden age,” Charles Kemp, a vice president at energy consulting firm Baker & O’Brien Inc, told the Journal. Kemp was referring to the 2004-2007 period, when refiners booked massive profits, too.
        The largest international majors are also set for exceptional earnings at their refining businesses, thanks to high refining margins and fuel demand in the second quarter. Some of the largest international oil majors have already announced expectations of blockbuster earnings from their refining divisions when they report Q2 profits later this month.
          France’s supermajor TotalEnergies said last week that “Refining & Chemicals results are expected to be exceptional given the very high levels of distillate and gasoline cracks.” ExxonMobil said in an SEC filing in early July that the rise in industry margins is set to add between $4.4 billion and $4.6 billion to its Q2 results. At Shell, the refining margin nearly tripled in Q2 compared to Q1 and is expected to add between $800 million and $1.2 billion to the second quarter results of Shell’s Products division, compared to the first quarter 2022.
         Yet, the second quarter could have been the peak refining profits for some time as gasoline demand in the United States has weakened in recent weeks in response to high prices at the pump. Crude oil prices have also dropped from the recent highs of $120 a barrel as markets fear a recession is coming. 

 

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Assassination.

          I can only repeat, the state is an institution without humanity or compassion. In this case it is the Greek state, that with callous disregard for the health and welfare of one of its citizens. Giannis Michailidis. An anarchist prisoner of the state is in a severe condition regarding his health, after 61 days of hunger strike, yet the state ignores his right to justice, having served his time, he is being held, not for any crime, but for his political stance. Giannis deserves all the support and solidarity that we can muster, across borders, this injustice of the Greek state must be called out loud and clear, Giannis has a right to be free. 

The following from Act for Freedom Now:

           The anarchist comrade Giannis Michailidis has been on hunger strike since 23/5, demanding his release from prison. Today he completes 61 days of hunger strike without his request being accepted. His health condition has deteriorated greatly, as he has great difficulty in getting out of bed, standing up, reading and writing, his spleen and gall bladder pains are becoming increasingly severe, and he has reached a point where it is difficult for him to drink much water.
           His body weight has reached 54.1 kg. Having started the hunger strike at 73 kilos, he has now lost 19 kilos, or 26% of his original body weight. His high blood pressure is 9 and low is 6, and his blood sugar was measured at 67. Having lost over 25% of his original body weight, and with his health indicators steadily deteriorating, his chances of permanent physical damage are now very high. At the moment, comrade Giannis Michailidis is on the verge of hypoglycemic shock and doctors say that there is a possibility that he could fall into a coma. The state and judicial authorities are gambling with the life and integrity of anarchist Giannis Michailidis.

           We reiterate from the previous update that his white blood cell count has dropped so far below the lower normal limit (value: 2.43 with limits of 4.60-10.2 K/μL), leading to immunodeficiency. Platelets are also counted much lower than the lower normal limit (value: 90 with limits of 142-424 K/μL), and Thrombocytopenia can cause severe and threatening internal bleeding. Based on his latest medical examinations and according to his treating physicians, he is at risk of severe osteoporosis and he is already experiencing joint pain. In addition, he has severe chest pain when trying to move around. He already has a potentially permanent neurological problem in his eyes, as the neurological examination showed double vision in extreme positions due to lack of nutrients.
         The latest radiological examinations and ultrasound examination (on 18/7) showed that the organs now at immediate risk of permanent damage are the bile and the spleen, with the latter facing an additional burden, as Giannis has congenital thalassemia (thalassemia). Finally, there is severe pain in the left kidney. All of the above is not helped by his increased sleep disturbances, and certainly the sensory isolation space in which he is in, leading to the almost total absence of support, care and monitoring by his family members and his personal physician.----

 

       -----We warn the judicial authorities and make it clear that the delay of the decision or the possibility of a rejection by the Lamia council is tantamount to state murder of anarchist comrade Giannis Michailidis. We therefore emphatically emphasize the weight of responsibility that weighs on this decision and the time of its making.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ANARCHIST GIANNIS MICHAILIDIS

Against the regime of exemption of political prisoners

Assembly in solidarity with the anarchist hunger striker Giannis Michailidis

assembly email : mihallil@riseup.net

Read the full article HERE: 

 

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Sad Joke!

        No matter which of the two very rich right-wing worshipers of capitalism become the next Prime Minister of UK, they both will be looking at the world through money tinted glasses. Rishi Sunak's wealth is too difficult to grasp it is somewhere up in the stratosphere you suffer oxygen starvation in attempting to grasp the total. Liz Truss is a bit more modest as far as the Tory's posh club is concerned. Her personal wealth is somewhere around £8.5 million, with an annual estimated income of around £376,000. So you see they are each just one of the people. Their policies are tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum, cut taxes now, cut taxes later. Of course we all know who benefits most from tax cuts, obviously those with the bigger incomes. We also know that tax cuts invariably lead to cuts in social services, austerity for the poor and bonuses for the rich. One thing they both agree on is that there will always be enough money to boost the military budget, there is always money for war. Again, Liz is in a hurry, to impress her wealthy arms manufacturers, with a promise to raise the "defence" budget to 3% of GDP, immediately. While Rishi still wanting to please the arm barons, is a little, more cautious arm, says that 2% is the bottom line and just a floor, with intentions to raise to 2.5% of GDP, and more later. Work out how that will help you pay your bills.

                                        Image courtesy of Original-Political-Cartoon.com

          Which of these two do you think will have the problems of the ordinary people at the top of their agenda. They both preach, "grow the economy" which translates as let's get big business booming with tax cuts and subsides of tax payers money, they are already making billions in profit, but not enough to satisfy their insatiable greed,  that "boom" will take some considerable time arriving, in the mean time you and I can just struggle on as best we can while we wait for that pie in the sky.

          As long as the well paid, well off political ballerinas in the Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption squabble over "the economy" and we sit back and let them make the decisions that control our lives, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. The answer of course is that we make the decisions that matter to us all, we take control of the countries resources and distribution, we eliminate the crazy profit element and run our society on mutual aid, free association, fairness and sustainability, and create a society that sees to the needs of all our people. During this particularly vicious attack on the living standards of all the ordinary people in this country, we must organise in solidarity across all our communities and workplaces and bring this festering cancer they call capitalism, to a passage in history, referring to it as humanity's darkest hour.

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Slaves.

   

            One subject that gets practically no mention by our media or by our political ballerinas, is prison labour. The UK has the most privatised prison system in Europe. Companies make a fortune from incarcerating our citizens, and not content with that, they use the imprisoned population as cheap labour. Those capitive in this slave labour institution are obliged to work and at a particular rate or they can lose "privileges". They have no contract, no sick leave pay, no holiday pay, no opportunity to negotiate their conditions and are paid a pittance while the companies that use them make a killing in profits from this trapped labour force. There is also the view that this cheap labour source takes jobs away from those outside, who would need to be paid at least the minimum wage plus the few other beneficial conditions that the workers have wrestled from the employers.
        We can't in all honesty state that we are a civilised society, when we allow slave labour to flourish for the benefit of companies and large corporations. We can't in all honesty state we live in a democracy when a whole swath of our people have no say or control over their wages or working conditions. Prison labour is an abomination, a blight on our society, an anathema to democracy and freedom. However it is all part and parcel of a society that functions only for profit, a system designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many. Those who worship at the altar of capitalism will see nothing wrong in captivated prison slave labour, it is an efficient way of creating wealth for that privileged few. 

The following figures are from an IWW article in 2016.

 

One3One Solutions is the trading arm of the Ministry of Justice founded in 2012. Over 9,700 prisoners were employed in their profit-making partnerships with private companies, with a total of 13.1 million prisoner working hours being recorded (1). Private sector prisons (those run for-profit) reported that they delivered over 1.5 million prisoner working hours involving over 1,200 prisoners in 2012/13. (1) Prisoners working full time at a minimum will receive £4 a week. Prisoners working in workshops run by private companies may earn up to £25 per week if they are lucky. The average pay if you are a wing cleaner or gardener is about £6-7. Rates of pay are set out in the Prison Service Order 4460 (2). If prisoners are sick on the short-term they may get £2.50 a week. For prisoners that simply cannot work because they are ill long-term or old, they receive £3.25 a week. Likewise, Asylum Seekers in Detention Centres (that are all run for profit), are paid at the very most £1.25 per hour(3).

         The long list of companies that use prison slave labour reads like a role of honour in the world of exploitative capitalism. 

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Murder!!

          While Giannis Michailidis is slowly murdered while in the care of the Greek state, that Greek state casually goes about its business of control, repression and protecting its power and privileges. A human life is neither here nor there on their agenda.
        History teaches us that the state is an institution without humanity or compassion. Glance around the world and we see time and time again, state after state stand idly by watching one of its citizens slow die a painful death, when it is well withing its power to save that life and alleviate that suffering. The state is an institution soaked in blood, its laws written in blood, its power, wealth and privileges protected and maintained by blood. So it will always be, as long as we accept the state has some sort of monopoly of power over our lives. Not until we the ordinary people realise that we have the power to shape society and create that fairer world for all, the state is a brake on those common desires.

The following from Act for Freedom Now:

Giannis Michailidis: Rape and murder of the concept of justice

        For Greek “justice”, a rapist of a child (D. Lignadis) has been sufficiently rehabilitated and is not a danger to society after less than 1.5 years in prison. A racially motivated murderer (Ath. Hortarias), has been sufficiently rehabilitated and is also not a danger after 2 months in prison. The murderer of 15-year-old Alexandros (Ep. Korkoneas) does not deserve life imprisonment. Another rapist (P. Filippidis), earns his freedom prematurely as he is not considered dangerous because of his celebrity. This is the “epic” of crony Greek “justice”.
      However, for Greek “justice” an anarchist bank robber and escapee, after almost 9 years in prison and 7 months, after completing the required 3/5 of the sentence, “risks committing new crimes as he has not spent sufficient time in prison”.
       What I understand is that robbing a bank and escaping from prison is far worse than rape or murder. Especially if the rapist is a close friend of ministers or the killers kill troublesome kids or marginalised people. After all, isn’t the role of the state to protect capital? Also, it will obviously show more vindictiveness towards someone who has actively challenged the feared institution of prison, absolutely necessary for disciplining society.
        And as for bank robberies, now that we’re impoverishing you, don’t get any ideas. If you want to rape a kid, a wink to a minister will do the trick! This is the clear message of Greek “justice”.
        I received it. That’s why I started a hunger strike. To expose all those arbitrary acts against me, which I list at the beginning of the text. However, from what I can see they don’t need me. They have made their own judgments. Not even for appearances.
         I think they are even using the hunger strike as an example now. They’ve set my appeal hearing for 7/25. On that day I will have done 64 days’ hunger strike. The aim is clear. To exhaust me. A possible permanent disability reinforces the message they are sending. Perhaps my eventual death, which becomes more likely with each passing day. Such a perversion of the concept of justice is unthinkable. Let them enjoy their “justice”. Enjoy your careers.
        As for me, who do not have access to their villas with their lavish tables paid for with bribes, I can greet this world fasting, but with the spiritual fullness of total existential conflict with their rotten system.

 

Some photos of the mass protests to free Giannis Miachailidis 

 

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It's War.

           There is always a detail of every Ukrainian killed, our media flash images of horror, women weeping, children dead, elderly in anguish, yes we should feel pain for every loss of live in war and do our utmost to stop this slaughter of ordinary people. However our total silence and disregard for the thousands that have died fleeing war and persecution is a display of astounding inhumanity. Thousands have drowned on Europe's border and all due to a deliberate policy perpetrated by the states of Europe. A policy that is quite prepared to see men women and children drown just to keep them from seeking refuge on our shores. The Mediterranean has become a cemetery where the so called civilised nations bury those fleeing war, persecution and death, and not by accident, but by deliberate policies. When will our media start to report on every death by drowning caused by this European war on "foreigners"? 

The following from Enough is Enough:

        Three years ago, on July 13, 2019 in the state of Washington, the antifascist anarchist Willem Van Spronsen fought his last battle in an armed attentat against a migrant detention center. An article by anarchist prisoner Dimitris Chatzivasileiadis. 

            Photo: Graffiti in memory of the anarchist Willem Van Spronsen on the facade of the Bouboulina Anacatelliana building (August 2019)

        Originally published by Athens Indymedia Via Anaquía English translation by Anarchist News
        Three years ago, on July 13, 2019 in the state of Washington, the antifascist anarchist Willem Van Spronsen fought his last battle in an armed attentat against a migrant detention center.

“I didn’t stay with my arms crossed.
No need to say more.

         I’m putting my broken heart aside and healing the only way I know how, by being useful.”Willem Van Spronsen

        Officially, 700 dead migrants have been counted in the Mediterranean in the past six months. In the case of the North Aegean the number is almost null because no one is keeping track. Since the official tallying has decreased in recent years, ever since the leftist government sealed the Evros, the practice of drowning migrants has increased. The current government has systematized a method: the sabotage of boats and abandoning the maritime frontier. Additionally, the same method is applied to people who manage to arrive to the shore: they are forced to get back on the boats at gun-point, they are towed to the middle of the ocean, and they sabotage the boat. The accounted annihilation of the number of migrants that arrive equals to as many murders as the median number of arrivals before the start of the systematic repatriation. The daily mass extermination has continued and can continue without obstacles ever since the State, with the help of the fascists, turned the eastern coast of the islands of the North Sea into a «safe haven».
      The Aegean, used exclusively as a military zone, inaccessible even to institutional organizations. Precisely in this way, in the borders of the E.U. and the Greek territory, a long-running class massacre is being carried out, no less political than the intra-imperialist war in the Russian-Ukrainian zone. A massacre that is met with indifference by the comfortable Europeans and Greeks, bipartisans and leftitsts, just like the Germans who «didn’t know» about the nazi death camps.
        Comrade Willem broke through an invisible border, blowing up the complicit silence, attacking the miserable class distinction, the antisocial cannibalism of those that don’t risk their own skin while they inhabit the slaughterhouse, in the territories of the masters, with their own body. With gun at hand.
        The martyrs of the revolution watch over the border crossings.

Willem Van Spronsen – Always onward on our path.

DIMITRIS CHATZIVASILEIADIS

Domokou Prison

July 12, 2022

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Keelie 32.

 

        The latest issue of your wee pocket rocket newspaper, The Glasgow Keelie, issue No.32, is now heading for your streets, cafes, pubs, etc. watch out for it, grab your free copy and learn all about the shenanigans of our council, the Kremlin in George Square. Find out what is happening in our fair city, who is angry about the attack on living standards and what they are doing about it, and how you can can join them and much, much more. Why not grab a bundle and distribute among your friends and family, contact details HERE.

Read issue 32 on line HERE:

 

 

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A Stroll.

 

           Don't you just love Glasgow? Photos taken on a wee walk down Miller Street and Argyle Street.

        Amazing how a simple stroll can become so interesting A wee change from the crap window displays of all those rip-off shops and expensive restaurants.

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