Glasgow??

So you know Glasgow? Well, do you!!

Glasgow, the name.

        Glasgow can trace it history back to at least the 4th century, it was at that time a certain St. Ninian stopped by the Molendinar Burn, where the Cathedral is today, and consecrated a piece of land there as a Christian burial ground. Some hundred years or so later a St. Kentigern brought the body of a holy man Fergus to be buried at the St Ninian spot. St Kentigern stayed and set up a Christian community in the area. He later became known as St Mungo patron saint of Glasgow.

        The name 'Glasgow' has gone through considerable changes over the centuries. The earliest Charters refer to the city as 'Glaschu', while the earliest seals give several different spellings. In the seal of 1180 the spelling is 'Glesgu', and the seal of 1325 it is 'Glagu'. In 1297 the Earl of Warrenne and Surry to the English King refers to 'Glasgeu' in another letter from the same Earl it becomes 'Glascu'. In a letter from Hugh de Cressingham in 1297 to the King of England it has the spelling 'Glasgu'. In the Charter of 1324 by Robert the 3rd it is written as 'Glasgw'. Another Charter of 1419 by John Stewart, Lord Darnley has it as 'Glaschow'. Yet again the spelling changes in the will of Archbishop Betoun where he refers to himself as Archeuesque de Glasco.
 

Origins of the name

           It is generally accepted the name is not from Gaelic, as at the time of its formation this area was a Welsh settlement. It is probably from the Welsh 'Glas', and 'cu' or 'gu'; translates as 'Beloved Green Place' and is referring to the spot where Kentigern met Columba thus Kentigern becoming the Patron Saint of Glasgow. 

Radical Glasgow.

Mention Glasgow and various stereotypes jump to mind, dreadful slums, hard drinking, random violence, razor gangs, shipbuilding, locomotive makers and other heavy industries. What else is written about the city usually refers to captains of industry, architects, inventors, and medical men of note. Scratch the surface however, and you find another Glasgow with a long tradition, the real Glasgow, 'Radical Glasgow'.

          Glasgow can boast of a long tradition of radical movements growing from the ranks of ordinary people. People struggling not only to improve their own conditions but that of all working class people.

          Glasgow can lay claim to a series of firsts. Besides being the birthplace of the 'European Temperance Movement', the following are just some other firsts that can be added to its roll of honour: Birth of the Scottish Labour Movement.
First effective trade unions formed.
First trade union papers printed.
Scottish Co-op movement first established.
Scottish Labour Party founded.
First Trades Council in Scotland.
History of Glasgow Green

         The Glasgow Green has always been a focal point for the people of Glasgow and a cradle of social movements throughout its history. The following list is but a hint at the history of the Green: Through the 1700 and 1800s, the various reform movements.
Pre-1914, the woman’s suffrage movements.
1916, rent strikes.
1938 anti-fascist movements.
1971 U.C.S. crisis.
1984 miner’s strike.
 

Conclusion

        Both the above lists could be expanded depending where you place your focus, and no doubt will continue to expand as the people of Glasgow go on to face new challenges.
        I hope the following articles give at least some insight into that other Glasgow, the Glasgow that does not always find its story in the mainstream literature about the city, but is the true heart of the City of Glasgow, the city of compassion and vision. 

This article was lifted from Strugglepedia at https://spiritofrevolt.info 

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info

Veganism!!

 

             Spirit of Revolt continues with its Thursday evening open night. The next event will be Thursday 8th. February in the Electron Club at the CCA 350 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow, 6:30pm to 9:00pm. The subject matter will be veganism and its politics. Speakers will be there but it is an open night, so bring your thoughts and your question and any snippets you wish to add. These event are free and all are welcome.

 Image courtesy of Quote Fancy.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info

Class War.

 

            The poor get poorer and the rich get richer, and it is not by accident or act of some god. It is because the system is built to ensure that's the way it goes. You can put it under several titles, a cull on the poor, class war, plundering of the poor, re-capitalising the corporate system, but no matter the label, the result is poverty and deprivation for the many and opulence for the few. What that entails for the vast majority on this planet is early avoidable deaths, ill health, stunted youth, lack of social service for the needy and a daily struggle for a half decent life. It is not that there isn't enough to go round, it is the fact that money and profit determine distribution, human need doesn't appear on the radar screen. This economic system of insanity is a human devised system and it is up to the majority of humanity to dismantle it as rapidly as possible, or our future generations will sink further into the mire of deprivation, ill health and early death. 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Organise Now.

 

 

                   A bit late with this, the Kellie 45 has been out for about a week. Why is this important? perhaps because we are facing a possible Armageddon as the genocide in Gaza continues unabated with the blessing of most of the Western puppets of the imperial U$A empire. An empire of psychopaths who arrogantly believe they have the right to rule the world and plunder where and when they want. They have done so with impunity since the end of WW2. However, their power is slipping away and being psychopaths, they won't let that happen without a suicidal fight, using the devastating nuclear arsenal at their disposal, no matter the consequences to millions upon millions of innocent civilians.
          So it is of the utmost importance the papers such as the Keelie are on the streets, in the workplaces, in the communities trying to impress on everyone with peace and well being on their mind to come out onto the streets, to organise in their communities to come together in their workplaces and stop this genocidal, suicide by the power crazy psychopaths who it this moment in time hold the reins of power. It is up to us to seize those reins of power for the sake of all humanity. Get out there, get your Keellie at demos, street meetings, peace events, pickets and be part of the fight back for sanity and humanity.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

It's NO righ'.

Image courtesy of Youtube.

             It all flows under the bridge like a river in spate, inequality, greed and the rip-off society. Though some things are glaringly obvious, they always seem to get away with it, as they sip their champagne. One such glaring inequality that will pass without a ripple is the recently released fact that in the first 3 days of this year 2024, FTSE 100 bosses earned the annual average UK salary. If the average annual salary is enough to live on then these FTSE bosses should retire for the rest of the year. However, they wont, they.ll keep the rip-off cash rolling into their already fat bank accounts, pension funds and other tax dodging ventures, they can never get enough, their greed is insatiable.
           Another glaring greedy grasp that will pass without a ripple, while millions struggle to heat their homes and feed their family, is the fact the the boss of Bet365, one Denise Coates will see her pay check leap to £221 million. I know she feels she needs that sort of salary to allow her to live her self indulgent worthless life style, all paid for by all those how try to make a little extra cash, to help them out.
         When will we ever learn, we struggle while these rip-off merchants plunder every penny of the wealth that we the population create, and it us that creates every nut and bolt, every truck load, every building ever created, every ship and all their bounteous cargo, all fashioned and built by our hands, only to see it plundered by the parasite class that we carry on our shoulders.

                  Essential toys for the parasite class, paid for by you!!

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Punk.

 

      The next Spirit of Revolt event is this coming Thursday, 6:30pm, 11th. January, in the Creative Lab at the CCA 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. It will be the usual talks by various speakers/chat/questions/discussion affair. This is one that I'm sure will interest lots of you, punk and the DIY music industry. So come along and have your say on this vibrant, creative brand of expression.

Image courtesy of Punkuatiom Mag.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info

Corporatism.

         Some people foolishly refer to our society as a democracy, when in fact we live under a system of corporatism. A society where the corporate world dictates the shape of the economic distribution of wealth and our political Ballerinas always dance to their tune. The Tories, the ballerinas on stage at the moment, spout that they are the party of tax cuts, and this is supposed to make you and I feel good, when in fact it just makes less tax revenue available for the social fabric of our society and the poorest will carry that burden. The latest in tax cuts is inheritance tax, so how much do you think you will save by this "generous" Tory action? Well here is a sample of how those savings work out. 

Rishi Sunak £282m
Jacob Rees-Mogg £60m
David Cameron £16m
Jeremy Hunt £6m
James Cleverly £3.5m
96% of people £0
 

            While the system protects the wealth of the very rich and turns a blind eye to tax avoidance, it has decided that it will now snoop on the bank details of the poorest and most vulnerable. Data Protection and Digital Information Bill gives government unhindered access to bank accounts of 22.4m people. No court order is needed, government does not have to notify anyone. Be afraid, very afraid. Our liberties are vanishing like an early morning mist.
           Our political ballerinas have now dictated that our energy bills will rise by 5% this coming term. Can this be justified when we consider that one energy company, Scottish Power, managed £487 million in profit for year 2022, a considerable jump compared to the previous year. Just another step in the plundering of the poor for corporate profit. The system continues to push more and more people into poverty and the resultant misery and deaths that these actions bring with them.       

          When society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot live – forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence – knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder. (Engels)

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info      

Insanity.

        Writing about what has gone wrong in this world is easy. We could start locally, the rising child poverty in the UK, increasing hardship on families due to rocketing mortgages, and food prices, the increase in homelessness, and rough sleeping, the collapsing health system by government agenda, to drive it in to the hands of large corporations to let them make millions for the suffering of ordinary people, the crumbling education system. All of these are a brutal indictment of a system that has miserable failed to see to the needs of people of this country.
        However, all this fades into insignificance when we look at what the American empire and its cronies are doing in supporting the genocide taking place in Gaza under the the hands of the psychopathic Zionist nutcases sitting in the Israeli government. A deranged bunch of insane religious headbangers who believe they are special, the chosen people and have the right to ethnic cleanse the country of Palestine because their wee mythical man in the sky gave them this land more than 2,000 years ago. Insanity and religious fantasy as government policy. What is more shocking, that the leaders of the so called developed West go along with this savage insanity. Instead of their humanity, which they all seem to lack, instead of calling for a ceasefire to this brutal genocide, they bleat on about more humanitarian aid instead of a ceasefire, WHY, do they believe that the Palestinians must be well fed and looked after before they are slaughtered?

Image courtesy of North Jersey

 

 

        Over 21,000 civilians killed in less than three months, more than half of them children. Will those who are against a ceasefire, please explain how this can be, in all humanity be acceptable. Those orchestrating this bloody genocide and those supporting it, must be held to account and soon if humanity has a chance of survival in this troubled world. 

 

An extract for an interesting article by Caitlin Johnstone in conjunction with her husband Tim Foley. 

        There’s a single news story about international conflicts which keeps repeating itself again and again in different iterations, and that story is this: “US-centralized empire fights to secure domination of planet Earth, and some populations resist this.”
           You’re seeing this story with Hamas, Hezbollah and Ansarallah today. That’s what you’ve been seeing with all the standoffs with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. That’s what you see when the US-centralized power structure terrorizes nations in Latin America like Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.
           It’s a giant empire attacking nations who have the temerity to insist on their own national sovereignty rather than being absorbed into the imperial blob. It uses full-scale wars, proxy conflicts, starvation sanctions and blockades, drone wars, CIA coups and deliberately fomented color revolutions to subvert any government which defies the US agenda of securing total planetary domination.
       If you can understand this, you can understand pretty much any major international conflict in modern times.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info     

Archives.

         

           

          Anarchist archives, libraries and bookshops are an important and integral part of anarchism. If we don't record our own history it will disappear and the next generation will have no idea it ever happened. Orwell once stated that the best way to destroy a people was to destroy their history, we should always be wary of that fact. Anarchist archives, libraries and bookshops are our quiet information centres, there for all to see, browse and learn from. Scotland is fortunate that it has Spirit of Revolt Archives of dissent, probably the largest anarchist libertarian socialist archive in Scotland. In England we have The Sparrows Nest, Tyneside Anarchist Archive, and May Day Rooms, all valuable assets of the anarchist world. They say loud and clear, we were here yesterday and we are still here today, and these are our ideas and actions. I believe all anarchist should support these groups for the work they do to further anarchist ideas and preserve our history. So if you like what they are doing, why not support them, buy the a cup of coffee now and again, it would be much appreciated and it would help preserve and enlarge our rich and vibrant history. 

      Support our Anarchist Archives and libraries by a small donation.

             No doubt there are other anarchist archives and libraries seek them out in your area and support them, let's not forget Kate Sharpley.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info     

Disabled rip off.

 

 

                                               Image courtesy of The Times.

         Interested in finding out how the disabled are being ripped off. A friend of mine who uses an electric wheelchair had a problem with its battery. A simple problem, the connector on the battery that attaches to the power lead to charge the battery had fallen inside, so he couldn't charge the battery. First stop, Mobility Scotland, Hawthorn St. Glasgow. Rather cold and silent environment. asked about repair and they said "Yes". Enquiring about how long would it take, was informed that there are 18 in front of his repair and it could take about 5 weeks. A long time to go without your wheel chair, unless you are prepared to buy a spare battery. Asked about the cost. £60 to book it in, £50 per hour to asses the repair, $50 per hour to do the repair, plus any parts that might be needed. My friend left with his battery. Phoned the company that makes his chair and they recommend a place in Paisley called AbleWorld. Went there and was welcomed with a cheery and informative assistant. Asked about the repair, and they said, it doesn't look  to difficult and would probably cost around £10. There were 5 repairs in front and could take a week but since it seems a simple repair the engineer might slip it in when he can. He left the battery and two days later got a call to say that its ready, they had to fit a new part and the cost would be £20. Who do you think is ripping off disabled people? Now my advice to any wheelchair users, electric or other wise is to head to AbleWorld in Paisley for a welcoming reasonable priced conclusion to their problem.  https://paisley.ableworld.co.uk/  

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info      

Memories.

 

   

              One thing the political ballerinas that frequent those Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, seem to forget, is that old people have memories, the older, the more memories. As I approach my 90th birthday, I was born in a room and kitchen, 294 Charles street in 1934, in the slum then known as Garngad, or "the good and the bad". I don't remember much about the Garngad, I left when I was 5 and we were moved to what was know as the "slum clearances". However I remember my mother's stories of those days in the 30s. How the word would go round the district the the "Means Test" men were in the area. As soon as she heard that, if she had a loaf of bread she would half it and hide half and some other bits of food, or she could be questioned as to how she could have a loaf of bread mid week, was she as poor as she was claiming. Her brother, my uncle Willie, long term unemployed, would visit her for a chat and a cup of tea. As soon as it was know the "Means Test" men were in the area, she would usher him out the door, wash his cup and put it away. Otherwise the questioning would be, "was he paying as a lodger" if she could feed him, was she as poor as she was claiming and her benefit could be cut. The deprivation and injustice of the 30s are well documented.

                                                         Image courtesy of BBC

            One of my earliest memories from our new home top flat in a tenement in Avonspark Street, is from the early 40s, I remember looking out our "living room" window, which over looked the large estate called Barronhill, it was run as a poorshouse for men. I would watch as individuals in their conspicuous grey parish suit, yes we used to give the homeless men a suit, a rough course material not meant for comfort or style, but to last, and that was during WW2. as they walked aimlessly round the path which surrounded a large green, never in pairs, always individually. They moved slowly, never moved their arms, they just hung by their sides or in their pocket, the head was usually dropped forward. Perhaps trying to remember, or trying to forget. I felt it a very sad sight.

Image courtesy of Guardian.

         They closed the poorhouses but they didn't get rid of the poor. they abandoned them to charities. Charities are always a sign that society has failed. I would ask any of those hypocritical political ballerinas to state a year when we had no rough sleepers, no homelessness, no child poverty, no families blow the poverty line, and they would need to lie or admit there were no such years. I know that the Braveman faction of the fascist wing of the Tory party, refer to rough sleeping as a life choice, with their usual callous indifference to other people's suffering.

                                                    Image courtesy of Guardian.

            Here we are in 2023, and child poverty is rising, homelessness is rising, rough sleeping is rising, families living in poverty is rising. Anyone with a grain if rationalism, or even a shred of humanity, must come to the conclusion that the present system of economics has been an abysmal failure to see to the needs of the ordinary people. 

 

                                                        Image courtesy of Digg.

           Further proof of this disregard for the ordinary people, if it was needed, would be the so called "Autumn Statement", Where the political charlatans spoke of growing the economy to make us all well-off. So they plundered the public purse of billions of our tax payers money and handed it to big businesses, to "grow the economy". The only growth we will see is in shareholders bonuses, CEO bonuses and salaries and business profits, it may create a few more jobs. Of course luxury yacht makers and makers of large limousines will also do very well. That was a political choice, they could have chosen to put those billions of tax payers money into social service, NHS and education, in this insane economic illusion, that according to the right wing political ballerinas would have been creating a nanny state, much better it give our money to their cronies in big business, of course don't expect anything different from the so called Labour side of this con-trick. Why do we tolerate this continual shafting of the ordinary people by a small minority for the benefit of the very rich and powerful few. Perhaps we should remember that we the ordinary people create every nut and bolt, every piece of wealth on the planet, and we have the power to change this economic insanity to a fair and just system that see to the needs of all our people. But when? Rebel, resist, think anarchism.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info      

1787.

           Spirit of Revolt Archive has organised a series of free events all taking place at the CCA 350 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow. The next one up is 6:00pm December 7th. It is a talk/discussion: STRIKES - 1787 The Strike of the Glasgow Weavers talk by Elspeth King plus IWW Union organiser current events, followed by an open discussion. All welcome.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Copout 28.

 

Image courtesy of Independent.

       

DUBAI (Reuters) – A member of the main advisory board of the COP28 climate summit resigned on Friday over reports that the UAE presidency used the meeting to secure new oil, gas deals, according to her resignation letter seen by Reuters.
          Hilda Heine, former president of the low-lying, climate vulnerable Marshall Islands, said reports that the UAE planned to discuss possible natural gas and other commercial deals ahead of U.N. climate talks were “deeply disappointing” and threatened to undermine the credibility of the multilateral negotiation process.
         “These actions undermine the integrity of the COP presidency and the process as a whole,” Heine wrote in the letter she sent to COP President Sultan al-Jaber.
           She added that the only way for Jaber to restore trust in the process was to “deliver an outcome that demonstrates that you are committed to phasing out fossil fuels.”

 

                                               Image courtesy of Indulge Express.

        

             Why do I think Cop 28 is a farce? Well the report quoted above is just one of the reasons, and then there is the report that the one that holds the presidency of the Cop pantomime UAE is organising to ramp up oil production. It starts to make you wonder what they are all there for. Then of course there is our UK duo pantomime act, Sunak and King Charles. Our so dedicated to reducing our carbon footprint, King Charles,whose personal footprint is probably larger than a small village. All those lavish residencies and gardens, all being heated and maintained by an army of servants. His more personal residence fed by an extensive army of servants, cooks and other types of staff. Then there is is army of security and its cavalcade of black limousines that follow him everywhere. All to pander to one man who claims he thinks we need to take climate change more seriously. He could start by moving into a mid terrace house and look after himself and of course get a job in renewable energy. Then we have our £700 million Prime Minister, Sunak, who claims he is leading the green energy charge while merrily throwing out more licences for drilling more oil wells in the North Sea.
          Most of all those in attendance at this lavish pantomime live lives of opulence and they fail to see that they are the problem, and are never going to do anything that might in any way damage that lifestyle. We, the ordinary people will have to, not demand change but to be the agents of change, we can't rely on the rich and powerful, to save life on our planet they have too much to lose. 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info     

Wake Up.

 

  An extract from an article by Caitlin Johnstone.

          

              I’ve been amazed at how much I’ve been sleeping since the ceasefire started; that’s why I haven’t been writing as much. I guess spending weeks staring at unbelievable horrors unfolding on your screen can be pretty hard on your system if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, so my body’s been resting up as much as it can while there’s an opportunity.
            And I’m just here watching this all unfold safely from my home in Melbourne. I cannot imagine what it’s like to be living in the midst of this horror for the last two months, trying to figure out the best way to survive while also grieving the family, friends and neighbors you’re losing along the way. These people have all been deeply traumatized in ways that will haunt them for the rest of their lives, if they survive the violence, disease and deprivation that’s to come.
This thing is so astonishingly ugly, and it could get a whole lot uglier after the ceasefire ends. If there’s anything positive to be found in this living nightmare, it’s that it’s so earth-shakingly ugly that it just might shake the world awake.

                 But will it shake the world awake? I doubt it, it has already shaken vast swaths of the general public awake and they have taken to the streets, but as for the power/war mongers with the reins of power, that's a different story. These blind to suffering power/war mangers have a different agenda and will play the situation like a game of cards, seeking an outcome that is to their advantage, irrespective of the suffering and bloody genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. We have evolved into a system where suffering and death of ordinary people is acceptable  to meet the ends of the powers that be.

Image courtesy of Islamic Relief South Africa.

 

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Horse's Mouth.

 

          Strange words, but welcome, from an Israeli soldier. You wonder when that trait called humanity will enter the psyche of the majority of the Jewish population in Israel. It is sad to see almost an entire population so steeped in hate all based on an illusion that they are special and their wee man in sky gave them this land more than 2,000 years ago.

Visit ann arky at https://spiritofrevolt.info