Union Leaders Arrested In Thailand.

Around 500 locked-out union members at Japanese auto-supplier Sanko Gosei rallied outside the Ministry of Labour on 6 January 2016.

07.01.2016 ***This article has been updated***

      IndustriALL Global Union strongly condemns the Thai military government after it invoked new powers under the Public Assembly Act 2015 to end a peaceful protest by union members in Bangkok (6 January).
      It followed a rally of 500 locked-out workers at Japanese-owned auto-part supplier Sanko Gosei outside the Ministry of Labour on 6 January.
     At 19.00 three police units and military forces were used to break up the demonstrators who were planning to spend the night there. Shortly afterwards two union leaders, Chalee Loysoong, Vice President of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee (TLSC) and Amorndech Srimuang, President of the Sanko Gosei Workers Union, which is affiliated to IndustriALL through TEAM, were questioned by authorities.
     During this time their phones and ID cards were temporarily confiscated and they were escorted at all times, even to the bathroom.
      The union leaders had taken part in mediation negotiations with Sanko Gosei and the Ministry of Labour during the day, as the rally was taking place outside.
      “We are gravely concerned that the government is using the Public Assembly Act to curb the legitimate rights of workers to gather peacefully,” said Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriALL. “This goes against all norms and international standards.”
      The Public Assembly Act carries a penalty of up to ten years in prison for causing a disturbance or disruption of public services.
     “The crackdown is particularly disappointing considering our positive meeting in December at which the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Labour said the government shared IndustriALL’s will to protect the rights of workers,” added Raina.
        In October 2015, IndustriALL filed an official complaint to the International Labour Organization against the government of Thailand for serious violation of trade union rights.
       More than 600 Sanko Gosei workers, who are all union members, have been locked out after negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement and bonuses broke down. The company claims that it is unprofitable. In the meantime, casual workers have been brought in to replace the locked out workers.
       The Sanko Gosei Workers Union accuses the company of using the dispute to bust the union and replace permanent workers with subcontractors.
       The Minister of Labour, General Sirichai Distakul, has reportedly promised to attend the next mediation meeting between the union and the company.
      For more information, please contact: Leonie Guguen, Communications Officer, IndustriALL Global Union - lguguen@industriall-union.org or tel: +4179 137 5436.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Join A Union, Get Sacked!!

         Some good news and some bad news, that's the way of workers lives. The good news usually comes from solidarity between workers across the globe, the bad news invariably comes from the state and/or big business.

This from Labour Start:

2016 begins with news of yet another company responding to workers' attempts to organize themselves with mass dismissals. 

In this case, it's a company in Turkey that's sacked 30 workers who dared to join a trade union.  The International Union of Food Workers (IUF) has launched an online campaign demanding their reinstatement and a recognition of union rights.  Please take a minute and add your name here.
Meanwhile, two of our campaigns launched in December closed down fairly quickly -- and for good reason.
A campaign we launched on December 14th demanding the release of Iranian teacher trade unionist Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi closed within a day after we learned that he had been freed. Mahmoud's hunger strike captured the attention of many human rights activists and trade unionists, and the more than 4,500 of you who sent off messages in that short time helped send a clear message to the Iranian government.
And just one day before that we learned that the deal between the Israeli and Chinese governments -- which would have led to the importation of 20,000 Chinese workers as bonded labour -- failed.  The collapse of the deal came after more than 6,300 of you supported the online campaign we launched with our partners in the Israeli and Hong Kong labour movements.  Full details are here.

These are both good news stories, and again I want to thank you for supporting our campaigns in 2015 -- as I hope you will do this year as well.



Eric Lee

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Mass Terminations, Mass Arrests.

Time and time again we see the state apparatus step in to support large corporations against their employees, peaceful protest can be turned into a criminal offence at the whim of the authorities. All this proves is that there is a festering cancerous marriage between state and big business. Workers can never expect fair and just treatment from either. However, whenever this oppression happens, we should all stand up and support those workers being repressed and criminalised by the state in its efforts to protect the profits of big business. Workers jailed for protesting illegal mass terminations at Philip Morris Pakistan. An appeal from IUF:        Thirty-five workers were arrested in the city of Mardan on January 6 for peacefully protesting the brutal instant termination of 141 employees at the Pakistan subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris International. Workers were informed of the mass terminations on November 21 when they arrived to work only to learn that dismissal letters would be sent to them by post.          With the support of the local union, whose President Abrar Ullah was among the arrested, workers launched a continuous round of protests at the factory gate after management refused to discuss the terminations and began pressuring workers to accept the illegal dismissals. To add to the pressure, police were called to the factory gate when the protest began.        On January 6, workers gathered with their union officers to present a Charter of Demands to management when police arrested 35 protestors under the Maintenance of Public Order law, which allows for up to 90 days detention without charges.        A solidarity delegation from the IUF-affiliated Pakistan Food Workers Federation (PFWF), which had hoped to meet with the workers demonstrated outside the police station following the mass arrests. The arrested workers were then shifted to Bannu Jail, some 250 kilometers from Mardan and notorious as a prison for incarcerating Taliban activists.        The PFWF and the IUF will continue to support and assist the workers, who have vowed to continue the fight. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNMENT authorities calling for the immediate release of the workers and their union President. Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Crime Of Asbestos.

       Throughout capitalism there has been a constant trait and it still persists. That trait has been as mining and manufacture of materials developed, dangers to workers health became apparent. In most of these cases the pattern was/is the same, first the employers try to conceal the dangers, then trash any results proving the danger, as well as trashing the reputation of those bring forward the evidence of health dangers. In most cases they can fall back on the state legislators to be on their side, as they drag their feet in introducing any meaningful legislation to try and control that danger.

        Probably one of the most brutal and callous cases of this festering marriage between employers and state in safeguarding profits at the expense of workers health has been asbestos. The dangers to workers and the public's health from asbestos was being raised in the 1800's, but the substances was still being used here in the UK well into the 20th. century. We all know now that asbestos is a killer, it is the cause of the incurable disease of mesothelioma. However it was know for years and the companies mining it and manufacturing it continued to deny any such danger, and went into the arena of dirty tricks to conceal the facts.

        One of the worlds largest manufacturers of asbestos products was Turner and Newall and they pulled out all the stops to have the reputations trashed of anyone involved in revealing the dangers of asbestos. The even called on the disgraced MP Cyril Smith to rubbish the claims at a Commons Select Committee, there was more stings to this vipers tongue that most people ever suspected. 

         From its first entry into our lives, it is impossible to put an accurate figure on the number of people who died a horrible death from asbestos mesothelioma, and the deaths still continue to this day. The crime is that the manufacturers were well aware of those dangers and with money and power, attempted to conceal the facts for generations. Our legislators, the state, are complicit in this vicious and brutal crime.

        As the West began to be forced to legislate against asbestos and around the 60's, there were calls to ban asbestos in countries like the UK, America and Australia, you would imagine that as these bans came into force, the mining of this killer would start to fall off. On the contrary, from the 60's on, mining of asbestos started to rocket. The callous reasoning behind this strange fact is that the asbestos industry realised that they were losing a vast market, so they went into overdrive in marketing their filthy product to the third world, Africa and China. Thus with one aim, increasing their profits, they spread the death dealing disease of mesothelioma to new generations of workers.

       People today are still dying from this profit driven disease, mesothelioma, as asbestos found its way into all aspects of our lives, industry, homes, cars etc. and it has not yet been all cleaned up, this killer still lurks in corners of our society, waiting to be disturbed and do its deadly deed. All thanks to the drive for profit from unscrupulous and greedy corporations.

From the Independent:

          Turner and Newall archives reveals that executives had sent a staff member to an asbestos campaign meeting posing as a member of the public, who then sent back a three-page report detailing everything that was said. 

        The executives also revealed they had ordered a “very confidential report” to be made on researchers involved in a Yorkshire TV documentary, Alice: A Fight for Life, which told the story of 47-year-old former asbestos worker Alice Jefferson, who was dying from malignant pleural mesothelioma. The film, directed by award-winning film maker John Willis, explicitly linked asbestos to cancer and attacked the Government’s perceived complacency in limiting the manufacture of asbestos in Britain.

         At the time of the film, asbestos as a health hazard was not widely known to the public, and mesothelioma, the cancer caused by asbestos, was even less wellknown. The Government and leading doctors told people that asbestos was a vital industry and that its manufacture was safe.-------

And:

Asbestos: The slow clean-up

• 1898 Factory inspectors express concern about the “evil effects” of asbestos dust.
• 1911 The first cases of asbestos deaths in factories are confirmed and recommendations made for improved ventilation.
• 1924 The death of a textile worker in Rochdale is the first published case of asbestosis. The firm pays no compensation to the bereaved family.
• 1931 Asbestos industry regulations introduced. Home Office survey finds widespread asbestos disease in the UK.
• 1967 The asbestos register is established. Safety limits are proposed the following year. 
• 1972 The first personal injury claim succeeds.
• 1983 Asbestos licensing regulations are introduced.
• 1985 Regulations introduce a ban on crocidolite (blue) asbestos and amosite (brown) asbestos.
• 1987 Control of asbestos at work regulations introduced to protect workers from fibre exposure.
• 1992 Laws are amended to ban rarer forms of amphibole asbestos. Later followed by a ban on chrysotile asbestos.
• 1995 A report shows that asbestos deaths are increasing at an alarming rate. A quarter are away from asbestos manufacturing industries.
• 1996 A report claims asbestos protection is vastly inferior to the claims stated by its manufacturers.
• 1999 Asbestos regulations introduce a final, comprehensive ban on asbestos.
• 2002 New regulations mean businesses have to start identifying and managing asbestos in their properties.
• 2006 Previous regulations are brought together in the new Control of Asbestos Regulations.

When The Time-bomb Goes Off.

The bike just sits there
dust covering its lovely sheen
puffing up the Fintry Hills
well, it's no longer my scene.

Y'see, as a Clydeside apprentice

I proudly learnt the tradesman's skill

little did I know then

the price, asbestos lungs that kill.

Now I just sit here through the painful day

gasping each mouthful of air,  wondering

how can I make the bastards pay.

They new it was a killer

a time-bomb in our lungs

but,  because it was so quick and cheap

they firmly held their tongues.

So what if it cost the workman's life

there's always a couple of new workers

in the care of the worker's wife.

Please try to understand my anger

as I and others bear their cost

a slow death from asbestos lungs

a vibrant life lost.

Anguish for a family and friends

all in the name of profit;

now that really does offend.

Our anger without direction

is a blind archer behind the bow

we have to use our anger

to smash the status quo.

Perhaps making my dying public

might provoke righteous indignation

at a system that puts profit

before the health of a nation.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

Protecting The System.

Protectors of the system. Coming to a side street near you!!!

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Littler Bit Of Good News.

               In a world that is falling apart, with wars, repression, brutal authoritarianism and executions, it is cheering to hear some good news.

This from Contra Info: 

            Long months have passed since the hot summer day at the beginning of July when our friend and comrade got arrested at a passport control at the Greek-Bulgarian border. The Europe-wide arrest warrant against her had been issued by the prosecution office of Aachen, Germany, on the 24^th of June 2015. After having spent three weeks in Bulgarian cells she got handed over to the German cops at the airport of Sofia.
          In Germany she got locked up under the ‘U-haft‘ (Untersuchungshaft) regime in Cologne because of a presumed involvement in an armed bank robbery that had taken place two years earlier (2013). Under this regime prisoners awaiting trial are locked up, officially for a maximum of six months, which in reality very often is extended up to a period of over a year. In her case the restrictions put in place meant that at each visit (2 hours per month) there were two cops, a guard and a translator present, that she was not allowed to make any phone calls and that all post was first directed to the prosecutor’s office where it was read and then given to her after one month delay.
               Her detention was based on a single piece of evidence: a DNA trace found on two gas pistols discovered in a closet of the bank by an employee 11 days later. A few weeks ago, on the 2nd December, after months of investigation the prosecution formally charged her with bank robbery, hostage taking and weapon possession. These charges were brought in front of three judges, who had to decide whether to pursue them in court or not. On the 16th of December, the court called the prison instructing them to release our comrade because all charges were to be dropped, since the “evidence” that five months of investigation produced was not sufficient for this case to be brought to court.
                 Now, our comrade is back with us. However, the joy that this brings us does not replace, nor lets us forget our anger towards the isolating restrictions, towards the ridiculousness of the uniform circus, and towards any authoritarian system that plays with people’s lives in such a way. The biggest source of strength came from the uncompromising and uncooperative stand our comrade took: she always kept her head up and her defiant spirits alive.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

ACE Dates.

ACE MONTHLY MEETING – 7.30pm WED 13 JAN –  

ALL WELCOME – AT ACE

        The ACE meetings are normally the first Wednesday each month but we have postponed for a week on this occasion to give more people the chance to participate – all interested in ACE are very welcome. 

        As a self-managed centre totally run by volunteers, ACE needs the active involvement of as many people as possible, so we hope to see you at this meeting. There are many projects based at ACE which you can get involved in, including the Scottish Radical Library and Counterinfo Lab
       - see www.autonomous.org.uk Following our holiday break we are now aiming to be open as normal, and so we are always looking for people to help staff ACE at our public opening times – Saturday 12-4pm, Tuesday 12-3pm and Thursday 6-8pm.
         Some more upcoming events, open to all interested:

MIGRANTS RESISTANCE FORUM MEETING – 

6pm FRIDAY 15 JAN - BEEHIVE INN
        The next Migrants resistance forum is Friday 15 Jan, 6pm at the Beehive Inn (18 to 20 Grassmarket, Lothian, Edinburgh, EH1 2JU). We will review progress on the action points agreed in the last meeting as well as discuss new ideas and actions. All welcome, please invite people that may also be interested. https://www.facebook.com/events/558298784337173/

See also MIGRANTS RESISTANCE FORUM on facebook

EDINBURGH COALITION AGAINST POVERTY MEETING – 

 7pm MON 25 JAN – AT ACE
       Monthly ECAP meeting, organising grass-roots resistance to the attacks on claimants and the low-paid. All welcome. Meetings last Monday each month. You can also meet ECAP at ACE every Tuesday 12-3pm at the drop-in to support people with benefits, debt, housing and other poverty-related problems.
edinburghagainstpoverty.org.uk   Facebook-

 EDINBURGH COALITION AGAINST POVERTY

EDINBURGH CHIAPAS SOLIDARITY GROUP MEETING – 

7pm TUES 26 JAN – AT ACE
         Solidarity with the indigenous Zapatistas in Mexico. Meetings last Tuesday each month
EDINBURGH CHIAPAS SOLIDARITY GROUP on facebook

      Check out AUTONOMOUS CENTRE OF EDINBURGH on facebook for regular news and events updates. Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh, 17 West Montgomery Place EH7 5HA

ACE is open Sats 12-4pm, Tues 12-3pm, Thursday 6 – 8pm
       Advice and solidarity on benefits, debt, housing etc on Tuesdays.
     Leith Wholefoods, the Info Shop, Scottish Radical Library and free broadband available all 3 days.

Open monthly meetings first Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm at ACE 0131 557 6242 ace(at)autonomous(dot)org(dot)uk

www.autonomous.org.uk

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Recent General Strike In Finland.

The latest from Anarchist Radio Berlin:

       As Anarchist Radio Berlin we had the opportunity of making an interview with two members of the new Anarchist Federation in Finland, Alusta. The interview was made during the Anarchist Bookfair in Tallinn, Estonia. The comrades tell us about the idea and the goals of the federation, the recent general strike in Finland and the political and social panorama of the country, including the rise of the far right in midst of governmental austerity measures.

The Inhumanity Of Prisons.

        All prisons are an injustice, prisons are the state's tool of repression, and in America, the corporations business model. Being locked up separated from you family and friends can be a very traumatic experience, but when added to that there is brutality, humiliation, sexual harassment and solitary confinement, it can be beyond endurance. All those who are subject to this state de-humanising experience, unreservedly deserve our total solidarity. Below is just one case of the millions across the globe who suffer from this inhumanity at the hands of the state. 

***PLEASE CALL THE NEW MEXICO WOMEN'S CORRECTIONAL FACILITY (a Corrections Corporation of America run prison) TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR CHLOE WELLS***
       Chloe is currently being held in solitary confinement and has been for over 8 weeks at the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility in Grants, NM. after being found not guilty on charges of inciting a riot.
       After leading 5 other women in an attempt to speak to the prison's inmate advocacy representative, Chloe was told she and others would not be allowed to file a report against a corrections officer who had allegedly committed acts of both sexual and physical abuse against many of the 611 inmates housed in the Grants facility.
       At this time all the other inmates who took part in the stand-off lead by Chloe Wells have been released from solitary confinement and all charges have been dismissed except for those against Chloe.
        Despite being found "not guilty" of the charges, Chloe will still suffer the consequence of being the first woman in the history of this facility to be moved to maximum security Level 6; a program dedicated to solitary confinement for male inmates displaying predatory behavior.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:

           Please use the attached contact list of prison officials to call on her behalf. Feel free to use this script (leaving your phone number if you reach voicemail is optional) or speak in your own words, but please be polite and courteous! Finally, please like the Facebook page "Justice For Chloe Wells" and let us know how your phone call(s) went. If you are especially moved by Chloe's story, there is also information on that page on where you can write her a letter to keep her spirits up. Thank you!
       "Hello, my name is _____, and I am calling out of concern for an inmate at New Mexico Women’s Correctional Facility by the name of Chloe Wells, inmate number 79147. I am calling to demand that she be released from solitary confinement and put back in general population, that she have access to the same medical care and programs she had before being moved to solitary, and that she and other inmates at this facility are allowed to meet with their inmate advocacy representative and file complaints against allegedly abusive corrections officers as is their right. Furthermore I demand that Chloe’s transfer to Level 6 be cancelled, as this wing is reserved for sexual predators and Chloe’s transfer there is clearly in retaliation for her courageous stand against the sexual abuse of her fellow inmates. I find this whole situation outrageous and disgusting, and I am sure you share my concern about the welfare of these women. Please call me back at (000)-000-0000. Thank you for your time and action on this important matter."

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACTS FOR CHLOE WELLS

For Stage 1 of Call in Campaign 1/1/2016
MAIN PHONE NUMBER FOR THE PRISON: 505­287­2941
CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA HEADQUARTERS:
615­263­3000

Paula Burns
NM Corrections Office of Internal Audit and Investigation 505­827­8633
Paul Montoya
Administrative Services Director for NM Dept of Corrections 505­827­8632
Melissa Ortiz
Deputy Director of Administration and Female Facilities for NM Dept of
Corrections 505­827­8677 office
James Lopez
Assistant Warden for NM Women’s Correctional Facility in Grants, NM
Currently has no phone number listed online, was former warden for
Grants facility but retired in 2012.
Rhonda Ayers
Chief of Security at NM Women’s Correctional Facility in Grants, NM 

505­449­7394
Was named in most recent PREA Audit as Chief of Security.
Pete Perez
Deputy Warden for State of New Mexico Corrections Dept 505­876­8300 

fax 505­876­8200
Gregg Marcantel
CEO of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
Has commented personally on most recent allegations of Sexual Abuse of
female corrections officers and inmates that took place in March 2015 

505­827­8884
Dr.Margaret Western
Ordering Physician for Women’s Prison in Grants, NM
Works with Corizon Healthcare, the Healthcare provider for the Women’s
prison 505­287­3666

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Labour Rights Activists Arrested.

An appeal from Labour Start  

        Nearly 5,000 trade unionists have already sent off protest messages - will you join them?  Please share it with others. Thank you.
       Dozens of labour rights activists in China have been arrested and need our help right now.
      Since early December, the authorities in the southern province of Guangdong have carried out a coordinated and wide-ranging crackdown on labour rights activists and labour organizations.
      More than 25 people from at least four labour organizations have been taken away and questioned by the police. At least seven of them have been criminally detained.
     The police have continued to harass and intimidate the family members and friends of the detained activists and prevented them from giving media interviews.
     The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions and Globalization Monitor have launched a campaign on LabourStart calling on the Chinese authorities to release the activists and to stop suppressing labour organizations.
       We need your support today - please click here to add your name to the online campaign:

http://www.labourstart.org/go/china2015

Thank you -- and have a great new year!



Eric Lee 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Cities Stained With Blood.

        Every house, every road, every building, each ship ever launched, the trucks the trains and all the goods they carry, all stained with the sweat and blood of the ordinary people. Industrial disease, injury and death are the units of exchange to furnish our cities and towns. The shiny new car, the mobile phone, the shopping mall, all sanitized to hide their origin, trace them back to the earth they came from, and you'll find them nourished with blood.

 

The Road Builders

(“Who built the beautiful roads?” queried a friend of the present order, as we walked one day along the macadamized driveway of Fairmount Park.)

I saw them toiling in the blistering sun,
Their dull, dark faces leaning toward the stone, Their knotted fingers grasping the rude tools,
Their rounded shoulders narrowing in their chest,
The sweat dro’s dripping in great painful beads.
I saw one fall, his forehead on the rock,
The helpless hand still clutching at the spade,
The slack mouth full of earth.

And he was dead.
His comrades gently turned his face, until
The fierce sun glittered hard upon his eyes,
Wide open, staring at the cruel sky.
The blood yet ran upon the jagged stone;
But it was ended. He was quite, quite dead:
Driven to death beneath the burning sun,
Driven to death upon the road he built.

He was no “hero”, he; a poor, black man,
Taking “the will of God” and asking naught;
Think of him thus, when next your horse’s feet
Strike out the flint spark from the gleaming road;
Think that for this, this common thing, The Road,
A human creature died; ‘tis a blood gift,
To an o’er reaching world that does not thank.
Ignorant, mean and soulless was he? Well —
Still human; and you drive upon his corpse.

Philadelphia, 24 July 1900

Voltairine de Cleyre

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London, Money Laundering Capital Of The World.

An extract from an interesting article on the Rabble site:

       By Some London Foxes. (NB: This is a summarised version of the full pamphlet published here.)

        If we want to bring some life and anarchy to the streets of London, it helps to understand the terrain we’re fighting on. This article looks at London’s role in global capitalism, how this drives “social cleansing” and control, and at some seeds of resistance emerging in the last year. It is a shortened version of our full “London 2016” pamphlet, which expands on these points in more detail.

 The enemy
         London now is not so much a nation-state capital as a money-laundering centre for the world elites.
         The patterns of development we are seeing now go back to the 1970s, when the international economy began to “globalise”. The Soviet bloc and organised workers movements collapsed, and neoliberal “free market” economics was unchained. As the “developing world” opened to international capital, industry shifted “offshore” from the rich economies to Asia or South America where wages were much lower. In the UK and other rich countries, mines, factories and shipyards shut, unemployent and inequality soared.
         The post-war social peace was under threat. In the 1980s, as the traditional working class was “dispossessed”, the miners’ strike brought parts of England close to insurrection, while riots raged in Brixton, Tottenham and other ghettos. The elites maintained control by increasing repression: expanding prison, surveillance, military-style policing. But, even more importantly, by finding ways to keep the majority “included” in the consumer dream. The main means to do this: debt. In a nutshell, China and other “productive” economies send their goods to us on credit, receiving back investment assets from bonds to real estate.
         While other parts of the UK economy stagnate, London thrives from this flow of goods and debts. It has two power centres: the glass towers of “The City”, site of major banks, investment funds and financial exchanges; and the noble quarter of “The West End” (Mayfair, Knightsbridge, etc.), where the global elites – from hedge fund bosses to gulf oil sheikhs or Chinese party princelings – do more discrete deals, store and spend their wealth.
        Enough wealth trickles down to employ many of us in their armies of servants, from accountants and tax lawyers down to baristas and dog-walkers. Although wages stagnate, low interest credit – mortgages and small-time property speculation, credit cards, pay day loans, etc. – keep us going.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglassgow.me.uk

Anarchism Is For Lovers.

       That babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, has, by vile and prolonged propaganda, managed to portray anarchists as those wild-eyed, straggly haired weirdos, who lurk in shadows with a bomb in their hip pocket, the purveyors of chaos and mayhem. Of course nothing can be further from the truth, anarchism is a philosophy of love and understanding, a desire for all to be free. Through the years by the persistence of their actions of solidarity, and standing firm in the face of injustice, anarchists have slowly, slowly, changed that perception in the eyes of more and more of the general public. Only when we can convince the vast majority of the public, of this anarchist vision of love and understanding, of justice and freedom, will we make real progress.

      So with that in mind I am delighted to promote this article from Psychological Anarchist:

“Some things scratch the surface while others strike at your soul.” ― Gianna Perada

       When one becomes an anarchist he does not fling explosive cocktails at common people. She does not don black attire, incite riots, or write anarchist cookbooks with recipes on burning buildings. It is true that one can be anarchist and commit trouble galore, but that is not the case on the whole. Modern anarchists are generally peaceful and pensive. They resemble most everyone and sport similar excitations, interests, hobbies, appetites, and other humanly behaviors. They simply vie for social and political change. They just want to be free.

       They are not wild-eyed maniacs with violent histories or knife scars from gang fights. Everyone tends to have these preconceived notions and fantasies, because governments have painted anarchists to appear as an insane group of desperadoes who want to ignite the world in a conflagration of chaos. Not true. This is a pernicious lie.

Anarchists would rather plant gardens of woodruff and wine cup flower, and live peaceably in the woodlands while wooing nature. The figure of the anarchist is much less alarming than previously suspected. In reality, the anarchist is a figure of destiny, a symbol for what mankind seeks to become — the orgiastic manifestation of peace and truth brought to bear in a kaleidoscopic explosion of love and unity.

       Indeed. The term “Anarchy” is a humble term. It means “without rulers.” It does not mean blow things up or sow disorder. Anarchism is an apolitical philosophy that champions the individual and decries the monarch. Anarchy is the triumphant concept that people should live unobstructed by laws and rulers, but instead be consumed with love and kindness.  Anarchism is the face of the future echoed in the cries of the people. It is written on the voices of the downtrodden and dominated. And ultimately, the person who believes in peaceful anarchism is a person whose silhouette and character has often been shaped by cultural traumata and painful experiences.

        Here I will explore the depth of the anarchists character and their motivations, with the intent to create more anarchists, as well as show people the color and poetic beauty of the anarchists deep self and love of peace.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

Trans Prisoner Day Of Action.

       In the type of society we live under injustice wears many masks, and in lots of cases the laws of this unjust system exacerbate that injustice. All prisons are an injustice, but to certain people the injustice of prison is multiplied many times because of the fact that they don't fit the pattern of the societies perceived "normal". Among those who suffer in this way are trans-gender individuals, who already face many problems in this society, but prison can turn what can be a very difficult life, into an unbearable nightmare.

From Contra Info:

       January 22nd 2016 will be the first annual Trans Prisoner Day of Action: an international day of action in solidarity with trans prisoners. This project was first imagined by Marius Mason, a trans anarchist prisoner in Texas, USA. Since then, through his friends and supporters, an international collective of people both inside and outside of prison walls have come together to make this day a reality. A preliminary list of trans prisoners can be found here.

 Click here for pdf version of poster

      “As Queers, we know the terror of scrutiny, disgust and isolation; we have all been denied the ability to live the way we want by society for at least some portion of our lives. For trans and gay people in prison, those problems are doubled by the physical and emotional restraints of a literal cage. For decades, early queer activists showed active solidarity and support for their imprisoned brothers and sisters — they wrote letters, had marches and demanded not just that they be treated with respect and dignity, but their total and unconditional release. Gay and trans prisoners organized with each other and the outside world.” – Call-out from Marius and friends.

 Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Migrants, Border News.

 

       Border News, an excellent site for information about migrants fleeing the imperialist created hell-hole that is the Middle East, when they reach the flash-points on the borders of fortress Europe. While the EU flounders around trying to appear at being humane, states across the fortress are continually slipping in tighter controls on the movement of people. From Germany to Sweden, Turkey to Spain, the states are turning the screw on freedom of movement. Of course once the controls are in place, it will be almost impossible to remove them, at least under the present system of authoritarian state control.

From Border News:

General News

German Chancellor Merkel promises a “sensitive reduction” to the flow of refugees in Germany. Germany has reached one million claims for asylum so far this year.

Turkey is returning refugees to war zones. Since making a deal with the EU in September, Syrians are being arbitrarily detained in Turkish detention centres and sometimes forced to sign declarations of “voluntary return” to Syria.

The European Commission announces plans for a European Border and Coast Guard, proposed ‘targeted’ changes to the Schengen Agreement and plans to introduce a special travel document to make it easier for EU countries to return ‘irregular migrants’ to their countries of origin.

17th Dec – Sweden decides to introduce ID checks on all modes of public transport to Sweden, beginning January, 4 2016, including all ferries, trains and buses.

Turkey / Greece

Attempts to cross the Aegean Sea are on a constant high despite seasonal weather conditions. About 25,000 people arrive in Greece per week, as more and more sea crossings turn into fatal accidents.

Alarm Phone demands immediate transfer of all refugees stranded on the Greek military island Farmakonisi – Travellers stuck on the Greek military island face inhumane conditions

14th Dec – Alarm Phone documented, but not prevent a pushback at the Greek-Turkish land border close to Lavara. Four cases of travellers stranded on Greek islands (Kalolimnos, Kastellorizo, Farmakonisi and Strongyli). Travellers on Kalolimnos reportedly suffered police violence.

15th Dec – About 120 people stuck on Farmakonisi without food, water or medical assistance. Five boats in distress near Chios. In one case travellers report that masked men attacked them.

15th Dec – Three bodies recovered after a new shipwreck in the Aegean. 17 survivors, 3 missing.

16th Dec – About 400 people stranded on Farmakonisi. Some wait more than 4 days for transfer to Leros. On Farmakonisi, stranded travellers again left without food, water, medical assistance and shelter from the cold. Some travellers picked up, some left on the island, while others keep arriving.

16th Dec – Lifeless bodies of two Iraqi children found by fishermen on the coast of Çesme, Turkey.

16th Dec – A little girl and a man dead in another shipwreck near Lesvos island.

18th Dec – Eight people, including five children die on International Migrants Day, attempting to cross the Aegean Sea to Greek islands. Four people were Syrian nationals and four from Iraq.

18th Dec – Another shipwreck near Bodrum: 4 dead, 4 survivors

19th Dec – New shipwreck in the Aegean – 18 drowned migrants

19th Dec – 1.5 years-old girl dies in a shipwreck near Oinousses island.

20th Dec – A boat in urgent distress near the Turkish coast is rescued by the Turkish Coastguard, but two children later die in a Turkish hospital.

20th Dec – Two dead migrants near Ikaria island.

22nd Dec – Turkish coast police reports 11 refugees drowned off Kuşadası shores.

23rd Dec – 13 people dead in the Aegean, among them 7 children

24th Dec – New shipwreck with 18 dead migrants.

More details on Calais/UK, Morocco/Spanish Border:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk