Gaza.

 

            Being locked up in one of the states institutions of repression, prisons, you have enough problems of your own, but somehow some find the time and the compassion to think of other people's problems. Another poem from the prisoners in Kilmarnock Prison.

Image courtesy of The Sun.

SONNET TO GAZA.

Shalom? This is not the time for clandestine poets
To hurl shoes over Jerricho's fortified walls.
Stay calm. The stench of exploding verse
Will not deter the invading tanks of Saul.

You bragged that the lost tribe of Israel
Would not be dragged through the eye of a needle.
There would be corrective fury. An iron heel.
An eye for an eyelash. A fire that is truly biblical.

So you came in numbers. The Genesis of hate.
Judges & Kings till the job was complete.
Holy revenge against David's puny catapult
Daniel dismembered by the lion's savage maul.


When you heard the words "suffer little children"
Did you think it was one of the Ten Commandments?

KEVIN WILLIAMSON. 

From the book Independent Minds, New poetry from HMP Kilmarnock. Published by Luath Press Ltd.

ISBN 978-1-910021-00-2 

 Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

The Lie.

 

                                                 Image courtesy of The Guardian.

           It's amazing how the propaganda machine for the state manages to convince most people in the UK that we live in an advanced democratic country, ahead of most other developed countries. Of course the intelligent and informed section of the population are aware that this is a load of bullshit. There is the lie that migrants flood here because of our wonderful social services and generous benefit schemes. When in fact or social services is in terminal decline, our retirement age is the oldest in the developed world, many people dying long before they reach the retirement age, and our pensions are the lowest in the developed world. Another aspect of of our so called democratic country is the number of people we lock up in prisons. Recently an Irish judge refused to allow the extradition of a prisoner to Scotland, stating that he could not guarantee the prisoner would be treated humanely, slating our prison system. In Scotland the number of the population held in our dilapidated and cruel prison system is 136 per 100,000 of the population, in England it is 132 per 100,000, where as the European average is 117 per 100,000 of the population. Another factor that tells us of the cruelty of our prison system is the suicide rates. In Scotland the suicide rate per 10,000 prisoners is 16, England and Wales it's 11, the European average is 9. Time and time again our prison system has been condemned as cruel, inhumane and over crowded. The state is not likely to spend money on doing anything about these inhumane statistics, as they see it as a means of helping to produce a submissive population, which they deem necessary for control. While prison walls stand democracy will die.

Image courtesy of The Times.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info 

Avoidable.

 

 

Image courtesy of Live Science.

 

          I wrote the following article away back in March 2007, but I think is more relevant today that ever before. We are at present witnessing the disastrous result of climate change and at an ever increasing rate. To persist with the present insane self centre greed driven economic system is to be blind to the obvious disaster that we all face.

Image courtesy of Conversation.

You Must be Red to be Green

           Green issues are frequently spouted on TV, radio,and the press with lots of business hot shots and pompous politicians commenting on this solution and that solution, of course never mentioning,that it is the corporate greed machine and its ever increasing quest for profit that is the prime cause of our environmental problems. However the truth is, not until there is sustained and successful challenge to the short term interests of this planet-trashing corporate greed machine and its replacement by a sane and sustainable system of seeing to needs rather than greed, will any of the suggested solutions make an impact.
         The economic structures of society have to be changed before environmental issues can be seriously dealt with and resolved. As long as the primary economic structure is the greed driven corporate profit motive, blessed and implemented by the usual corrupt state power, any attempt at resolving environmental problems will be ineffective. The present economic system is plundering and raping the planet for profit and is taking us and our descendants down a road to environmental disaster. To ask the corporate world to be more caring and compassionate and think of the long term interests of us all, is rather naive to say the least. they have to compete with each other or die and will always work to maximise their profits come what may, or their shareholders will leave in droves.
         The corporate world is just one big greedy machine, avaricious and insatiable, within the corporate greed machine is a ruling class that puts its interests before the interests of society as a whole. It is obvious that this is in direct conflict and contrary to the long-term planet wide solutions required to reverse global warming. This short term self-interest of the corporate greed machine must not be allowed to override the interests of the world's population. We cannot allow the short term interests of the pampered privileged parasite shareholders to govern our world, all our futures are at stake. Only when we have eradicated this short-term self interest of the corporate greed machine, abandoned parasitical shareholders to the dustbin of history, can we hope to reverse the environmental disaster we are facing. The future of our children and grandchildren depend on us carrying out this necessary restructuring of society. The more you examine today's environmental problems the more it becomes obvious, that to be Green, you have to be Red.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Blood Money.

 

      

                                                   Image courtesy of UN News

          Ukraine, its been a good war, champagne corks are popping as rapidly as the artillery fire in that blood bath that is Ukraine. Western weapons manufacturers have been reeling in the big bucks since the start of this human catastrophe. Apparently these pimps of war, the Western weapons manufacturers, have seen their total revenues for the previous year, reach a staggering $400 billion, lots of shareholders bonuses and lots of new exploitation investments. What's more, they expect that figure to rise in the coming year by approximately a further $50 billion. So you see for capitalists, war is good for business, so why try and stop the slaughter. That $400 billion is paid for in the deaths of of thousands, the maiming and injuring of thousands more ordinary innocent people.

image courtesy of Reddit.

        Why in the name of the wee man in the sky would Western capitalists do anything that might bring about peace? The big banks and construction companies are also calculating how much they will earn in the rebuilding of the torn battered piece of land know as Ukraine. The insanity, make billions destroying a country, then make billions in its rebuilding.
       This is the economic system that shackles us to insanity and endless wars, a system that spawns poverty and destitution for the many, while the few live in opulence and obscene excesses, all at our expense.

Image courtesy of twitter.

       To harbour any illusion that we live in a democracy is political blindness. Governments are all now in the thrall of the world's financial Moguls and follow the dictate of the world's big corporations, we live in what Mussolini called corporatism. Until we recognise this fact and bring this insanity to an end by overthrowing and destroying forever, this insane man made economic disaster,  we will continue with endless wars, poverty, inequality and injustice, and sadly hand this legacy to our children and grandchildren. 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

The State.

  

                                                 Image courtesy of Socialist Party

       While assistant Fuhrer, Braverman, keeps drawing fascist legislation out of her rabbit hole at an ever increasing rate, much to the applause of her stormtroopers in Parliament, she is not lone. Across the globe states are moving further and further to the right in an attempt to keep control of an every increasingly angry population.

Image courtesy of The Telegraph.

      The capitalist system has succeeded in it is aim of syphoning the world's wealth and resources into the hands of a few billionaires and multi-national corporations. However the public are becoming ever more alienated from their grand plan and unrest is rising. It becomes ever more obvious that poverty and destitution are not inevitable results of some immutable law of nature, but the results of a human designed economic system. Wars are not the natural state of humanity, they are engineered by those same billionaires and corporations to further their aims of world domination. All this requires a submissive population, and that is becoming ever more difficult, unrest is on the rise, and rightly so. Hence the ever increasing repressive laws and and punishment for those who dare to dissent and challenge this insane economic system based on greed of the few. There can be no freedom or justice if inequality is the norm, there is a better world we all have it in our minds and hearts, all we need is the will to create that better world for all. Resistance to state repression is now an necessity, if freedom and justice is our desire.

Image courtesy of Colombo Telegraph.

The following from Act For Freedom Now.

      

  Carrara, Italy : REPRESSIVE OPERATION AGAINST THE ANARCHIST PAPER BEZMOTIVNY

Testo (1)
         At dawn today, 8th August, the State, through the public prosecution of Genoa (in the figure of prosecutor Federico Manotti) and the DIGOS of La Spezia, carried out yet another repressive operation against the anarchist movement. Their aim is to silence any revolutionary desire and aspiration – as already happened with “anatianarchist laws” over a hundred years ago.
         Ten anarchists have been accused in this investigation including five comrades of Carrara for whom the prosecutor had requested imprisonment, which the judge for preliminary investigations Riccardo Ghio changed to four house arrests with full restrictions, followed by five forced residences with curfew, and one comrade with no restrictions. One of the four comrades under house arrest was ordered to be taken to prison as he did not have a certificate of residence: so Luigi has been transferred to the prison of La Spezia.
         As well as the house searches the historic anarchist place in Carrara, Anarchist Cultural Circle “Gogliardo Fiaschi”, was also searched. Magazines, books, leaflets, posters and digital material were confiscated.
        The comrades have been accused of subversive association with aims of terrorism (art. 270 bis of the penal code) and incitement to commit criminal acts (art. 424 c.p.) aggravated with aims of terrorism in relation to the publication, starting from 2020, of the internationalist anarchist fortnightly “Bezmotivny”, as well as offence to the honour and prestige of the president of the rebublic and illegal printing.
         Updates to follow concerning initiatives that will be carried out in solidarity with the comrades.
         Revolutionary solidarity with the arrested comrades and those submitted to restrictive measures!

No gods, no State, no servants, no bosses!

Anarchist Cultural Circle “Gogliardo Fiaschi” Carrara, 8th August 2023

The address for writing to Luigi:

Luigi Palli
Casa circondariale di La Spezia
Piazza G. Falcone e P. Borsellino n. 1
CAP 19125
La Spezia (SP)
Italy

via: ilrovescio.info
Translated by Act for freedom now!

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Iraq.

 

 

Image courtesy of Radio Free Europe.

 

        If your are able to get down to the Nottingham area around the end of September then this would be the place to visit. The Iraq war was probably the most brutal act of subterfuge and downright lying by any state in history. The callous description of "Shock and Awe" translated into the savage destruction of a country and the killing of hundreds of thousands plus the displacement of millions of innocent people. We must never let this brutal crime be lost in history, it must be continually brought to the public to make them aware of what our lords and masters are capable of in their quest for power, privilege and wealth.

Image courtesy of The Independent

From the Sparrows Nest

 

          Although our initial dates in July could not go ahead, the power cutting gremlins could not stop us for long - the photo exhibition re local opposition to the 2003 Iraq Invasion is back on!

          Regime Change Begins at Home - Nottingham Opposition to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq

https://peopleshistreh.wordpress.com/2023/08/01/rescheduled-regime-change-begins-at-home-nottingham-opposition-to-the-2003-invasion-of-iraq-21-24-sep-2023/

An exhibition of photographs and local campaign materials at Broadway Cinema.

21st to 24th September 2023 – Free Event.

             This exhibition marks the twentieth anniversary of the disastrous invasion of Iraq and looks back at the movement which opposed it. The anniversary seems to have passed with surprisingly little mainstream comment – something we want to go some way to addressing. We will display images of protests in Nottingham taken by local photographer Alan Lodge (aka Tash), contextualised with leaflets, newsletters and other materials, mostly from the collections of the Sparrows’ Nest Library and Archive.

Exhibition Opening Times

Thu 21st Sep 7pm-9pm

        Opening event with Alan Simpson, ex Labour MP who opposed the war.

Fri 22nd Sep Midday to 5pm

Sat 23rd Sep Midday to 7pm

           All day: deposit documents and record your stories. Donate relevant materials for posterity and share your memories of the campaign when you drop in to see the exhibition.

Sun 24th Sep Midday to 7pm

       All day: deposit documents and record your stories.

         2pm: Guided history walk Agitating the Lawless Rabble, starting at the Left Lion (Council House), ending at the back of Broadway Cinema.

Featuring Photographs by Alan Lodge (aka Tash)

https://alanlodge.co.uk

 

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Niger.

 

     
      
They keep French electricity supply flowing.

Image courtesy of Dunia.

          Western media is pumping out the usual imperialist crap about the coup in Niger. All about restoring stability, and talking up military intervention to return democracy to the people. What was in place before the coup, was a stooge of the West who allowed the French state to continue plundering Niger of its natural resources. Niger is a very rich country with a poverty induced population. Among Niger's natural resources are Gold, Silicon, oil an estimated two billion barrels, then let's not forget Uranium.
         Niger supplies the EU with 24% of its uranium requirements, necessary for its electricity and nuclear weapons. It supplies 5% of the world's uranium production, this is something that Western imperialism has no desire to lose. So you can understand why the West is in such a tizzy about what is portrayed as a poor country. The country is rich but its population is poor. Despite the fact that Niger is possibly responsible for a large slice of French electricity supplies, in Niger itself, out of a population of 27 million only a fraction of those have access to electricity, approximately 18.6% according to World Bank data. The country is and has been plundered and pillaged by Western imperialism, mainly French. for centuries France has got very rich on the backs of the people of Niger. French imperialism, backed up by other Western imperialists and their puppet governments in Niger's neighbourhood will fight tooth and nail to keep that privileged position at the expense of the people of Niger. No matter if it has to spill the blood of the people it is proclaiming to protect.

They are helping make Western nuclear weapons.

                                              Image courtesy of African Volunteer.

         Western imperialism and other world domination groupings have to be destroyed, they live and grow rich and powerful on the poverty of millions of innocent people. Their final demise and the end of the capitalist insane economics is the only road to freedom and justice for all, and that better world that sees to the needs of all our people. How do we do it, I.m sure we have the imagination, the numbers and the power, all we need is the will of the people. To get their all I can offer is the words of Guy Debord.

       

"First of all, we think the world must be changed. We want the most liberating change of the society and life in which we find ourselves confined. We know that such a change is possible through appropriate actions. Our specific concern is the use of certain means of action and the discovery of new ones." (Guy Debord, 1957)

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Sleaze

Image courtesy of Labour Heartlands.

         Can you smell it? The stench of sewage emanating from that edifice to power, privilege and wealth, The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. While they make noises about water companies discharging sewage into our rivers and beaches, their corridors of power have sewage swilling around as the accepted normal. Recently we had a Chancellor of the Exchequer being fined by inland revenue for omitting to pay tax on a wee bundle of a few million he stashed away in a tax haven. Then we had a member of The House of Lords, the upper part of the sewage factory, Michelle Mone, offering to source PPE via her company in Hong Kong. First making the suggestions to two of her buddies in government, before such company was set up. Her buddies in high places swung her over £200 million of tax payers money. The company produced equipment that couldn't be used and then went belly-up. In the precess more than £20 million from the company found its way into her family foundation fund.

Image courtesy of Youtube.

 

        The recently our Prime Minister one Rishi £800 million Sunak who generously opened up hundreds of new licences for oil and gas extraction in the North Sea. Omitting to mention that just a few months earlier The firm founded by his father-law, and which it is stated that his wife has a £400 million stake, had just signed a $1.5 billion deal with BP. What also has the stench of sewage is that just a few weeks ago the CEO of Shell became a member of Rishi £800 million Sunak's new Business Council.
       The whole bunch of them are up to their armpits in double dealing and shady deals for self advancement. Nothing that comes out of that establishment is ever designed for our benefit, it is all to do with building the economy, launched by the illusion that in turn is for our good. However the real gainers or the wealthy privileged barons of business and their minders, MPs and members of the government. That is what the state is set up to protect.

 

Image courtesy of BBC.

 

 Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Failing.

 

         For how long will humanity accept the pimps and gods of war to dominate our lives. Slaughter in the name of power, wealth and domination over others has plagued humanity for centuries and we seem to have learned nothing. The following poem could have been written yesterday but sadly it was written circa 2285-2250 BCE by the first ever named woman poet Enheduanna and still the Gods of war are "raging like thunderstorms" when will we turn in our millions against the rising wings of war, once and for all.

Image courtesy of Canadian Dimension.

Lament to the Spirit of War

by Enheduanna

loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You hack down everything you see, War God!

Rising on fearsome wings
you rush to destroy our land:
raging like thunderstorms,
howling like hurricanes,
screaming like tempests,
thundering, raging, ranting, drumming,
whiplashing whirlwinds!

Men falter at your approaching footsteps.

Tortured dirges scream on your lyre of despair.

Like a fiery Salamander you poison the land:
growling over the earth like thunder,
vegetation collapsing before you,
blood gushing down mountainsides.

Spirit of hatred, greed and vengeance!

Dominatrix of heaven and earth!

Your ferocious fire consumes our land.
Whipping your stallion
with furious commands,
you impose our fates.
You triumph over all human rites and prayers.

Who can explain your tirade,

why you carry on so?

                                          Image courtesy of Peace & Planet News.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Not Stupid.

 

Image courtesy of Youtube.

 

           The war in Ukraine, call it what you will, U$A proxy war, Russian invasion of another country, but one thing is clear, we in the West do not get the full facts of the situation. We are never informed of where the rumblings of the conflict started, what factors were at play that erupted onto the bloody conflict we are witnessing now. We are treated as stupid by our lords and masters, and their mouthpiece the mainstream media. To them it is preached as good and evil, we of course are the good, Russia is the evil, we are supposed to swallow this simplistic explanation of a complex situation of power and resources, of world domination and the supremacy of the West 

 

Image courtesy of The Communist.

 

         Two interesting comments from Anarchist News shows the disparity of explanations of this bloody conflict in which, as usual, the ordinary people pay the price in blood and suffering, while the power mongers gather the blood soaked benefits.

Submitted by Wayne Price (not verified) on Tue, 08/01/2023 - 14:44

            This Anon reduces the issue to that of the inter-imperialist conflict, "the geopolitical interests of their local ruling class." It doesn't seem to occur to them that the Ukrainian people (mostly workers and farmers, not just their "local ruling class") are fighting for their lives, their existence as a people, their language, and their freedoms (limited as these are in a capitalist democracy), against an invading enemy which is smashing their villages and cities, blowing up their infrastructure, massacring their people, raping their women, and kidnapping their children. To them it is not simply a matter of the Ukrainian rulers not of the imperialist states from which they have gotten arms. Most of the anarchists of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarusia can see this, even if you can't. reply

 Their lives? their existence
Submitted by anon (not verified) on Tue, 08/01/2023 - 19:56

Their lives? their existence as a people?
          The Russians are not a horde of Orcs out to rampage and murder indiscriminately Wayne, it's a political war for the control of territory and resources, and in a large sense it's a civil war, as a bulk of the so-called "Russian" forces are actually so-called Ukrainians, scared kids who were forcefully conscripted from the donbass region to fight other scared conscripted kids. The ethnic/genetic differences between "white" russians and ukrainians is absolutely negligible, almost everybody has close relatives from both countries.

Their language?
           The bulk of the devastation is unfolding in territories where the populations are majority russian speaking and culturally russian. These were regions that voted against leaving the USSR and later became footholds of the "pro-russian" federalist Party of Regions. All the major industrial infrastructure in these regions date back to the soviet times. Since the Maidan coup in 2014 the Ukrainain state has been openly belligerent against its "own" civilian populations in these regions, intermittantly bombing residential areas and carrying out terror campaigns led by Banderist, Right Sektor and Azov neo-nazis. Some western-ukrainian nationalist politicians and TV commentators have openly called for making an ethnic purge and population replacement the whole region, citing that they are unambitious an not productive enough. Almost 300 children were killed by ukrainian bombs, bombs launched by their "own" nation before the outbreak of the russian intervention.

Their freedoms? democracy?
        There is no political freedom. Since the outbreak of the war the Ukrainian state has outlawed all left-wing parties and indefinitely suspended elections. Because of general conscription males are forced to hide or flee if they do not want to become cannon fodder for the defense of the current regime. Soliders and police patrol the streets hunting for evaders. It's cool the Zelenskyy wants to legalize weed though I guess.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Fail 25.

 

                                                  Image courtesy of Le Monde

          Just released, System Fail 25, again a wide spectrum view of our world that mainstream media seem to overlook. This issue covers the riots in France, climate catastrophe, and Bolivia. Well worth viewing and spreading around.

Image courtesy of Anarchist Federation.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Subterfuge.

        By stealth, subterfuge, and smoke and mirrors, that is how most states function. They pump out a phoney statement with innocent sounding misnomers, but the intention is slithering into place, and the powers that be hope it will not be noticed until it becomes an accepted fact and is too late to reverse. It has been the opus operandi for states across time and the planet. Sadly the result is usually horrendous bloodshed, death and destruction for the innocent. However, this fate is not heaped on the perpetrators of this callous, brutal deceit. When will we ever learn, the state is the enemy of the people, equality, peace, justice and freedom. Its demise is our only hope of a better world for all. 

From Struggle La Lucha.

July 31, 2023 Gary Wilson 

 

          

           U.S. troops in Poland, near the Ukraine border. In July, President Biden authorized an addition 3,000 reservists to join more than 12,000 troops in NATO countries surrounding Ukraine. Is this troop build up in preparation for “boots on the ground” in Ukraine? Newsweek reported that in July NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced a support package for Ukraine that would “result in the U.S. eventually sending soldiers to fight in the war against Russia.”
            U.S. troops in Poland, near the Ukraine border. In July, President Biden authorized an addition 3,000 reservists to join more than 12,000 troops in NATO countries surrounding Ukraine. Is this troop buildup in preparation for “boots on the ground” in Ukraine? Newsweek reported that in July NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced a support package for Ukraine that would “result in the U.S. eventually sending soldiers to fight in the war against Russia.”
        The Pentagon has approved hazard pay for U.S. troops serving in Ukraine, paving the way for a possible expanded presence. Military Times reported July 27 on the new hazard pay policy.
         Troops who qualify will get back pay as far back as April 24, 2022.
         “Grier Martin, who is temporarily serving as the Pentagon’s top personnel official, approved the change in a July 13 memo, which was posted to the unofficial ‘Air Force amn/nco/snco’ Facebook page,” Military Times says.
         The approval of hazard pay is seen as a sign that the Pentagon is preparing for a possible expansion of the U.S. military presence in Ukraine. The Biden administration has steadily increased the number of special forces “advisers” and trainers in the country. While calling them advisers and trainers, they actively participate in the war.
        Washington has a long history of entering wars this way, from Vietnam to Central America to Afghanistan. The U.S. initially claimed it was not sending “boots on the ground” to Vietnam, but eventually, there were over 500,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam. The U.S. also claimed that it was not sending troops to El Salvador, but eventually, over 500 U.S. special forces were operating in El Salvador, commanding the Salvadoran military dictatorship.
        Washington won’t say that it is directly involved in combat in Ukraine. It can be expected to stick to euphemisms (advisers or security details) to describe its activities. The euphemisms are its way of expanding involvement, hoping no one will notice the increasing numbers of troops on the ground.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info