Why I Decided To Fight.

  

       Why I decided to fight: 

       letter from a Yellow Vest prisoner

        Thomas P is just one of many Gilets Jaunes prisoners in France, locked up for their participation in the mass uprising against the neoliberal Macron regime. Below are some excerpts from an open letter he wrote from jail, after three months behind bars. 

      One is no longer innocent when one has seen ‘legitimate’ violence, legal violence: that of the police.
      I saw the hatred or emptiness in their eyes and I heard their chilling warnings: ‘disperse, go home’.
      I saw the charges, grenades, and beatings in general.
      I saw the checks, searches, traps, arrests, and jail.
      I saw people falling, blood, I saw the mutilated.
      Like all those who were demonstrating this February 9th, I learned that once again a man had just had his hand ripped off by a grenade.
       And then I did not see anything any more, because of the gas. All of us were suffocating.
       That’s when I decided not to be a victim any more and to fight.
       I’m proud of it. Proud to have raised my head, proud not to have given in to fear.
      Of course, like all those who are targeted by the repression against the Yellow Vests movement, I first protested peacefully and daily, I always solved problems with words rather than with fists.
      But I am convinced that in some situations conflict is needed.

      Because debate, however ‘big’ it may be, can sometimes be rigged or distorted. All that is needed is for the organiser to ask the questions in a way that suits them.
     We are told on one side that the state coffers are empty, but we are bailing out the banks with millions when they are in trouble, we are talking about an ‘ecological transition’ without ever calling into question the production system and consumption at the origin of all climatic disturbances.
     We are millions who shout at them, saying that their system is rotten, and they are telling us how they are trying to save it.
     The challenge of street clashes is to manage to push back the police, to keep them in line: to get out of a trap, to reach a place of power, or to simply take the street.
     Since November 17th those who have threatened to fire their weapons, those who brutalise, mutilate, and suffocate unarmed and defenceless protesters, those who are not the so-called ‘breakers’, they are the police.
      If the media does not talk about it, the hundreds of thousands of people who have been at the roundabouts and in the streets know it.
      Behind their brutality and threats, it is fear that is hiding.
      And when that moment comes, in general, it means that the revolution is not far away.

 Read the full English translation of the letter here.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

This Crazy World.

   Just a little sad reflecting, with a sprinkling of hope.

This Crazy World. 

           In this crazy world, 

half dead from dereliction

half brutalised from deprivation

half drowned in a sea of greed

half devoured by perpetual need.

           Where

war shrieks from East to West

famine seldom seems to rest

hunger stalks the layman's life

poverty kills with a silent knife.

           We find

a pompous pampered arrogant cliche

live a life that's smooth and sleek

far removed from want and fear,

bought with another's sweat and tear.

          Yet

not a word do they speak

to aid the fallen or the weak

preferring to kneel at luxury's shrine

repeating their mantra, "This is mine".

          Now watch them

peddle lies of tongue and pen

slyly hoard their plunder then

with spurious sanctimonious phrase

shed crocodile tears at man's malaise.

           Where

is it written that the masses must sweat

deprivation and misery a constant threat

covering the world in measureless wealth

so the few can plunder with avid stealth?

           In friendship

let's clasp each human hand

with compassion try to understand

our differences, our hopes, our fears

dragging mankind from this sea of tears.

           Creating

a world where justice flowers

the many reap the fruits of toiling hours

a world of sharing, tending the others need

an end to privilege, plunder and greed.

visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Happiness Doesn't Come In Fancy Boxes.

    As usual, quiet common sense from Not Buying Anything, enjoy.

       Regular readers of this blog will agree that basing a life on materialistic values is a losing proposition. The video I am highlighting in this post will be a reminder of sorts for them.
        If you are new to the NBA blog and the concept of simple living, or find the whole rat race thing to be tiring and futile, then this video may help nudge you toward adopting a way of living that is healthier for you, your family, your neighbours, and the environment.
       The end (of materialistic lifestyles) is near. The time to get started on the alternative, a more resilient and enjoyable simple life, is now. It is a movement that has been thousands of years in the making.

Background:

     "Psychologist Tim Kasser discusses how America's culture of consumerism undermines our well-being.
When people buy into the ever-present marketing messages that "the good life" is "the goods life," they not only use up Earth's limited resources, but they are less happy and less inclined toward helping others.
This animation both lays out the problems of excess materialism and points toward solutions that promise a healthier, more just, and more sustainable life."
Research cited: click here.

       Enjoy, and if it moves you, please share your reaction to the video in the comments section below.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

More Organising, More Talking, More Paper On The Street.

 

      Most people seem to be unaware that capitalism is on the brink of another crash, though anarchists should be aware of this, my own humble estimate is within two to three years, possibly less. All the signs are there, the world has past peak car ownership. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-17/-peak-car-and-the-end-of-an-industry) World economic growth is in decline (https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2019/01/11/weo-update-january-2019) The cohesion in the capitalist world is fractured, with nationalism on the rise, each country starting to replicate its own version of "America First", so the world plan to save the capitalist world is now broken into smaller power blocks, so the answer will not be the 2008, world austerity grand plan, it will be more a nationalistic scramble for survival. With the result that you and I will pay dearly for this collapse of the financial gambling casino. The two giant economies in the world America and China are slapping tit-for-tat tariffs on each other, a sure brake on the economies of those nations and those others who depend on them for their own economic survival. As poverty spreads and deepens, consumption, the life blood of capitalism, falls.

       So where does that leave us anarchists and other like minded people? For sure when the collapse comes people will be looking around for answers, and if ours are not at the forefront, on the table, they will not be picked up by the people. We can't expect them to come looking for us, and we can't wait until the collapse before we try to reach them, by then it will be too late, the usual political Messiahs will be promising them the usual pie-in-the-sky.

     I just repeat what I have always said, we need to raise our profile in the communities and work places, we need our literature, a wealth of ideas for that better future, to have a greater presence on the street, we need to find better ways of reaching that wider field of the apolitical, apathetic mass of ordinary people, who are too busy just trying to survive, without them we are going nowhere.  Of course it will not be easy, we know that the better world will not be delivered by InterFlora.

        The following extract, though it refers to America, applies equally as much here, or anywhere else for that matter:  extract from It's Going down: 

"-------Now, more than ever, it is critical that we address these shortcomings. We are entering an era of intense polarization, the rise of a genuine ultra-nationalist and fascist threat, and ecological catastrophe. Multiple indicators suggest that another recession is in the offering roughly in the next year or so. Many more people will be radicalized by the next recession and the coinciding electoral spectacle, and they will be looking for answers. If we do not reach these people, others will. In the best case, they will be reached by others preaching the dead-end roads of electoral reform or distant and ill-defined revolution. In the worst case, they will turn to the fascists. We have to recognize the present historical moment for what it is and behave accordingly.

       What must be done? We must make our movement an organizing movement. I am not arguing for the triumph of one tendency or another. If we want to build toward insurrection, we must have as many comrades as possible who share our vision and skills. If we want to create a powerful federation, we must have a popular base to draw new members from. If we want to build revolutionary syndicates, we must have organized strong unions and spread revolutionary consciousness in the broader working class. Whatever tendency we hail from, the days of isolation and sub-culturalism must end.

     How do we build an organizing movement? By focusing our energies primarily on organizing with the broad base of the people for the struggles of our era. What is organizing? Organizing is building a structure to increase the power of that structure’s members and enable them to collectively fight for their goals. Where we are exploited by the bosses, we must build revolutionary unions. Where we are robbed by the landlords, we must build radical tenant unions. Where we are brutalized the prison system and ICE, we must create networks of prisoners, migrants, and neighbors to resist the violence of the state. In each case, we must deliberately and consistently reach out to the unorganized, building relationships of trust with new participants, and create the capacity to resist where it was lacking. We must then link these organizations into wider networks capable of expanding our ability to support one another when it counts.

      There are already some encouraging signs in this direction. Comrades across the country have organized in support of the prison strike, organized tenant unions, done outreach with inspiring mutual aid programs, and carried on the anti-fascist struggle. Networks like the Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement and Symbiosis Revolution seem to be moving toward coordinating projects at the national level. But these efforts need to be significantly expanded if we are to meet the challenge that faces us.

        Our movement is uniquely positioned to succeed, if we chose to do so. We believe in the power of the oppressed; we do not waste our time canvassing for the next SYRIZA. Our comrades are extraordinarily dedicated and prepared to make real sacrifices when necessary. The key is for our movement to channel this dedication in a direction that will allow us to grow, spread our vision, and build power. But if we do not change the way that we presently operate, we will be left behind by less-promising forces.

      Wherever you are, I encourage you to start the hard work of organizing against those who are oppressing your community. Go out and speak with your neighbors, your coworkers, or those on the receiving end of the state’s violence. Link up with other groups in your area, get in touch with national organizations, or start your own group if necessary. There is much to be done and little time to waste.---"

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Beware Of That Cop In Your Pocket.

        Probably one of the most difficult pieces of information for most people to follow, but think about it, you're never alone with a phone, your phone is a cop.

         With Stingray:(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker) you are an easy target.

The following submitted to It’s Going Down
Are you hitting the streets in support of a righteous cause?

         TL;DR Leave your phone at home. It is a conduit into your entire life and all of your networks. It contains years of passively recorded conversation transcripts. It has data on all of your associates, friends, and sexual partners. It tracks your movements down to the meter. It is a black box that can be recovered from your person and used against you in a court of law.
Leave it at home. Your phone is a cop.
        If the above doesn’t make it abundantly clear WHY you should leave it at home, imagine the terror you feel when you hand someone your phone to show them a picture and they start swiping left or right. Now imagine The State swiping through your pictures. Hopefully we’ve convinced you! Information security (abbreviated to InfoSec because it sounds cooler) can seem intimidating, but it’s as easy as trading away some of your own convenience in exchange for obstructing the Panopticon of State/LEO/reactionary forces that seek to undermine your project. This document is not a deep dive into any of the topics covered. Devices and software exist in a state of flux, and what is considered secure now will likely be obsolete within months, weeks, or days of writing this. It is up to you to stay vigilant and informed.
The Case for Disconnection.

        It’s important that we come to terms here. This is not aimed at the “Hold a sign and shout some slogans” crowd. If you are attending a *Fully Permitted and Peaceful Protest* and you want to bring your phone to document what you see and do, knock yourself out. Are you in the Black Bloc? Are you engaging in “black bloc things”? Are you covering your face? If any of these conditions apply to you, you need to leave that shit at home. We understand that these devices are integral parts of modern life, but if you are engaging in “effective resistance” the presence and use of any cell phone is a risk to everyone around you. If you are compelled to carry it or would somehow render yourself critically unsafe without it, you need to consider finding a different outlet for your dissent. While documenting abuses by state security forces is important, it is necessary to leave that task to journalists covering the action. Yes, they will do a horrendous job. Accept this and move on. Additionally, cell/LTE service breaks down quickly when towers get overpopulated. At a big protest, thousands of people are texting “R U HERE?” to each other simultaneously. The network will shit the bed in short order, leaving your device crippled until the traffic storm abates. It won’t be useful to you until you’re heading home or more likely until it’s sitting in an evidence locker waiting to be processed. If your device is limping along on a degraded network connection, there is a significant possibility that you aren’t communicating directly with the tower providing your signal. The police have access to technologies, Stingray among them, which will seamlessly intercept and record cellular communications. Calls and plain text SMS are vulnerable to these “man in the middle” attacks. Lock screen patterns are insecure. Four digit codes are insecure. They can be bypassed quickly and easily. You can be compelled to use your fingerprint to unlock your phone by a court order. Encryption can be bypassed using tool kits available to law enforcement. As careful as you think you’ve been, the odds are not in your favor. If your phone is seized as evidence, the fun isn’t over if the charges are dropped. Don’t assume present legal or cultural norms are going to protect you. Your information can sit in a database until it’s useful to The State.
       We might be technical professionals, but it’s likely that you aren’t. You have fucked up when configuring something. Don’t leave things to chance, and don’t rely on some combination of official incompetence and your own perceived individual insignificance to protect you.
Leave your phone at home.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Corporate Government Merry-go-round.

        From time to time I look back at what I have written, just to see if anything has changed, or did I get it wrong. Quite often my little delve into the past just confirms my beliefs. This little blast from the past, something I wrote about 3 years ago, still rings true, and in my humble opinion is probably more relevant to day than then.

The Stench From That Thing Called Capitalism, Feb. 1st. 2016.

        Big business and government are so intertwined, that it is impossible to separate them. Corporations spend millions, if not billions, on lobbyists, politicians are offered lucrative positions, and little perks here and there, but of course, they'll tell you, that they are not influenced by these matters. They'll deal with each issue on its merits, with the welfare of the country and its people always to the fore, and the corporations will still continue to spend those millions or billions, just as a kindness to politicians, and get nothing in return. Isn't it a wonderful world? It is safe to bet that all politicians are relatively rich, most will have their filthy lucre, stashed away in shares in those very corporations that are pouring money into their little slush fund. We are expected to believe that none of these politicians would ever nudge legislation in the direction of helping their share portfolio, and might at times move to jeopardise their little stash.
         A world built on corruption, designed to further the wealth of big business and protect the wealth of those in power. It is not with little thought that I refer to our lords and masters place of business as the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. Those who enter its marble halls by on large are very rich, when they leave, they are invariably, extremely more rich than when they entered. Big business makes sure of that. Out of generosity of course.
         If all this lead to was a group of parasites getting richer under false pretences, then it would be bad enough. However, their wheeling and dealing, their slicing and dicing, plays havoc with the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to represent. Decisions are made that drive people into poverty, ill-health, homelessness and of course heap the brutality of war on millions. History tells us the tales of hypocrisy and corruption are at the heart of governments, of the festering marriage between large companies and governments, but we never seem to learn.

       The following from the Politics in the Zeros site, is a case in America, but you are an idiot if you think this is unique to America, this is the way the game is played nowadays. Governments are not inanimate objects, nor are they fixed by the power of the holy tablets of stone. They are made up of people, usually very rich, very ambitious and very greed people, they play the game with the big boys, corporations, and in return for their obedience to the cause of profit, they are rewarded.

        Gosh there’s no conflict of interest here. Nearly a third of members of the federal Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee have financial ties to companies selling opoid drugs. In a shocking coincidence the panel has strongly opposed federal plans to recommend doctors scale back on prescribing legal heroin. Because that’s what these opoids are.
       Our government is essentially a drug pusher for highly addictive drugs. The FDA approved OxyContin for children without bothering to convene a panel of experts to make recommendations. Opiate addiction from legally prescribed pills is a major health problem nationwide among adults, to such an extent we have the obscenity of TV ads offering drugs to help with constipation caused by using opiates.
Any relation between this and a government that actually cares about the health of its citizens is of course strictly coincidental. And if this happened in a Third World country, we’d laugh at how corrupt they are.
The government advisory panel consists of federal scientists, outside academics and patient representatives. Of the 18 committee members at a recent meeting to discuss the government’s handling of pain issues, at least five had drug-industry connections.
One, a pain specialist from Duke University, has received thousands of dollars in payments from drugmakers, including OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma and Teva Pharmaceuticals, which sells generic painkillers. Another, a patient advocate, holds a nonprofit position created by a $1.5 million donation by Purdue.

        We should always remember, we are governed by consent, we can withdraw our consent at any time of our choosing, and start to take control of our own lives, how about now!    

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Beware the Friendly Pat On The Shoulder.

       When you look across the planet and see the injustice, inequality, poverty, deprivation, death and destruction, all exacerbated by deliberately engineered brutal wars, and you see the ecological disaster foisted on us all by unbridled corporate planet plundering, it is difficult to sum it all up. You feel to detail the mess that we find ourselves in would take a massive volume of unreadable proportions.
       Yet on analysis it is relatively simple, our economic system of capitalism is the root cause of practically all our problems. It spawns inequality, it breeds poverty, it engineers those avoidable wars, it legitimises the destruction of our planet, yet the vast majority of the population still run to the ballot box to vote for more of the same. We listen to the managers of the system telling us blatant lies, that by now we should recognise as propaganda to safeguard their wealth, power and privileges.
       As long as we tolerate a system that is designed to allow the few to amass vast fortunes at the expense of the many, we will stay mired in the mess that we find ourselves in at present, or worse, our extinction.
        I'm sure it is not beyond our imagination to devise a sustainable system of fairness, a system based on co-operation, mutual aid and respect for each other, a system that would see to the needs of all our people. I am also sure that such a system is a desire deep in the hearts of all peoples across the planet. What's stopping us? All it requires is for us all, in solidarity with each other, to act on those desires, the tool to get us there is of course anarchism.

    A paragraph that I think sums up what our attitude to this society should be is one stated by Jean Paul Marat:

       "Don't be deceived when they tell you things are better now. Even if there's no poverty to be seen because the poverty's been hidden. Even if you ever got more wages and could afford to buy more of these new and useless goods which industries foist on you and even if it seems to you that you never had so much, that is only the slogan of those who still have much more than you. Don't be taken in when they paternally pat you on the shoulder and say that there's no inequality worth speaking of and no more reason to fight because if you believe them they will be completely in charge in their marble homes and granite banks from which they rob the people of the world under the pretence of bringing them culture. Watch out, for as soon as it pleases them they'll send you out to protect their gold in wars whose weapons, rapidly developed by servile scientists, will become more and more deadly until they can with a flick of the finger tear a million of you to pieces":

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

 

UK, A World Leader!!

      The UK, mother of parliaments, defender of freedom and justice, and now it can claim to be a world leader, top dog, away out in front of any other country in the world. What is is that the UK can claim to be the big boss in, the number one, the master in the field? Well in is a field in which no other country comes near to the UK, it is of course in facilitating tax dodging.

From The Independent:

       But an index published today by the Tax Justice Network found that the UK has “single-handedly” done the most to break down the global corporate tax system which loses an estimated $500bn (£395bn) to avoidance.
The amount dodged globally each year is more than three times the NHS budget or roughly equivalent to the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Belgium. Tax haven territories linked to Britain are responsible for around a third of the world’s corporate tax avoidance risk – more than four times the next greatest contributor, the Netherlands.

      While you and I get our tax whipped of before we get our hands on our cash, big business is granted the privilege of avoiding paying their taxes. We can't really expect our prancing political ballerinas to do anything about that matter, after all some of them use that facility, or have friends that do so. They will waffle and babble on about this disgraceful situation, set up committees to look at it, speak about it on tele. Then in the next year or two another "revelation" about this "flaw" in the system will hit the headlines and then the  pontificating will start all over again.
      Mean while we will be told that there is no money tree and the NHS will have to be more efficient, the education system will need to get smarter in the way it does things, social services will be told to be more joined up with other services. Libraries will close, other services will handed to the private sector, the same sector that is stuffing its profits in some tax haven to avoid paying anything into the public purse.
      WE are being shafted on a daily basis, yet most people still seem to think the answer is in doing what they have done for countless years with no effect, appealing to those who legislate so that their friends can continue to shaft the public. When will we ever learn---

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Struggle Continues.

      We the ordinary people have a history we can be very proud of, and we should do what we can to remember those who helped make that proud history. We should tell their stories and keep their ideas alive, we are still struggling to achieve their ideas and dreams. Their lives can inspire us and point us in the right direction, the lives they lived should not be in vain. There are those today who are writing that rich history of the ordinary people in their struggle for justice and freedom, we must offer up our solidarity. It is our duty to carry that battle forward for that better world for all. The final chapter in that history will be our victory over injustice, exploitation, authority, poverty and wars.

From Roar Magazine.

• ROAR Collective

      From the barricades of the Paris Commune to anti-colonial resistance in the South Pacific, Louise Michel was one of the most important revolutionaries of the 19th century.

       Louise Michel, born on 29 May, 1830, is today remembered as one of the most influential and charismatic revolutionaries of the 19^th century. Her role in the Paris Commune of 1871 — first in the ambulance service and later on the front lines with the National Guard fighting against the Versailles troops — eventually led to her capture and deportation from France to a penal colony in New Caledonia.

It was during her exile that Michel turned towards anarchism, which would continue to dominate her writing and organizing for the rest of her life. In 1880 she was granted amnesty, and upon her return to France she continued her revolutionary activities, writing articles, giving speeches, setting up a soup kitchen for impoverished ex-prisoners who returned from exile, and traveling across Europe delivering her revolutionary message to large audiences. In 1890 she opened the International Anarchist School for children on London’s Fitzroy Square, before returning to France in 1895. Michel died on 10 January, 1905, after which her funeral in Paris was attended by more than 100,000 people.

      Michel’s revolutionary defiance is clearly expressed in her defense speech before the 6^th council of war after her capture during the defeat of the Paris Commune:

I do not wish to defend myself, I do not wish to be defended. I belong completely to the social revolution, and I declare that I accept complete responsibility for all my actions. I accept it completely and without reservations.

You accuse me of having taken part in the murder of the generals? To that I would reply Yes, if I had been in Montmartre when they wished to have the people fired on. I would not have hesitated to fire myself on those who gave such orders. But I do not understand why they were shot when they were prisoners, and I look on this action as arrant cowardice.

As for the burning of Paris, yes, I took part in it. I wished to oppose the invader from Versailles with a barrier of flames. I had no accomplices in this action. I acted on my own initiative.

I am told that I am an accomplice of the Commune. Certainly, yes, since the Commune wanted more than anything else the social revolution, and since the social revolution is the dearest of my desires. More than that, I have the honour of being one of the instigators of the Commune, which by the way had nothing–nothing, as is well known–to do with murders and arson. I who was present at all the sittings at the Town Hall, I declare that there was never any question of murder or arson.

Do you want to know who are really guilty? It is the politicians. And perhaps later light will be brought on to all these events which today it is found quite natural to blame on all partisans of the social revolution…

But why should I defend myself? I have already declared that I refuse to do so. You are men who are going to judge me. You sit before me unmasked. You are men and I am only a woman, and yet I look you in the eye. I know quite well that everything I could say will not make the least difference to your sentence. So a single last word before I sit down. We never wanted anything but the triumph of the great principles of the revolution. I swear it my our martyrs who fell at Satory, by our martyrs whom I acclaim loudly, and who will one day have their revenge.

Once more I belong to you. Do with me what you please. Take my life if you wish. I am not the woman to argue with you for a moment….

What I claim from you, you who call yourselves a Council of War, who sit as my judges, who do not disguise yourselves as a Commission of Pardons, you who are military men and deliver your judgement in the sight of all, is Satory where our brothers have already fallen.

I must be cut off from society. You have been told to do so. Well, the Commissioner of the Republic is right. Since it seems that any heart which beats for freedom has the right only to a lump of lead, I too claim my share. If you let me live, I shall never stop crying for revenge, and I shall avenge my brothers by denouncing the murderers in the Commission for Pardons….

I have finished. If you are not cowards, kill me!

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Inequality, The Hallmark Of Capitalism.

       Remember the Celtic Tiger, when the Irish economy supposedly raced ahead? In a sane society that should have went everybody is doing well, but in capitalist insanity, it tends to lead to increase homelessness and fatter parasites. Since then homelessness in Ireland, like in the UK, has soared. The boom economy has in no way eradicated poverty and homelessness, nor will it ever. History has proven time and time again, that running to the ballot box produces more of the same, fatter parasites and poorer people. If we desire a society of fairness and justice, then we have to accept that the capitalist system is inherently flawed. It is incapable of delivering that better world for all, it was never intended to do so, it was always meant to delivery riches to the few, and it works perfectly in doing just that. We have to look to an alternative to capitalism if we wish that better world for all. A community based system of co-operation, mutual aid, and sustainability, a system freed from the greed driven profit motive, free from state, corporate bosses and the financial Mafia. That will not be gifted to us, asking your slave-master to be fair to you has never worked, the powerful and wealthy will not willing give up their privileged position in favour of a fairer society. We, the ordinary people will have to dismantle their system, illusion by illusion, injustice by injustice. That better world will not be delivered in bunch of roses, it will take determination, effort, sweat and the will of all our people, it is, and will continue to be, a war, a class war until we eliminate the capitalist system from the face of the earth.

     From Dublin via Act For Freedom Now:

       On a night in May, 2 banks, Bank of Ireland and an AIB were vandalized in South Dublin. Slogans of “HOMES FOR ALL”, “BURN THE BANKS”, and “CLASS WAR” spray painted on windows and walls. Also 4 ATM’s were glued up, how this was done was by using cardboard the same thickness, width, and half the length of an ATM card, inserted into the card slot and then super glue pored in.
This was done in solidarity with all those who are on the receiving end of the so called “housing crisis”. This so called “crisis” for housing has been raging as long as capitalism has existed, although now the struggle for housing is at a particularly brutal period. There are record number of people homeless in Ireland, there is over 10,000 and over 3,000 are children (these numbers don’t include the hidden homeless). Since 2015, families becoming homeless has risen 268%, and many, many people have died frozen to death sleeping on the streets.
        This crisis in housing is completely man made. It’s made from the greed of landlords pushing rents higher and higher, the property developers buying up land and buildings for dirt cheap and then selling the properties for sky high prices, and the Irish state implementing neoliberal reforms and policies. It is no coincidence that while the economy rises and the building construction kicks off again across Dublin so to does the ever growing amount of people becoming homeless.
All the while the politicians of the Left and Right compete and beg for votes with the upcoming elections. The political establishment don’t care, they just want positions of power. Whether radical leftie or far right dickheads, they are all the same and want the same. The lefties and fascists have their populist schemes and “solutions” to end homelessness and the housing problem. But you can be sure regardless of whoever gets voted in things will stay exactly the same. Politicians, parties, and unions ALWAYS compromise. There will be no end to the housing struggle on till capitalism ceases to exist.

Neither, Politicians, leaders, bosses, nor bureaucrat:
for self-organization in struggle against power
FUCK THE LEFT, FUCK THE RIGHT, FUCK POLITICS

LONG LIVE ANARCHY
THE SINISTER FRINGE

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Media Indefference To Migrants Deaths.

 

         I have often stated that migrants, as far as the state is concerned, are beings with no human rights, a sub-human species, to be used as scapegoats, as fodder for the political machinations of their particular ideology. This is a phenomenon from the state created illusion of our superiority, our exceptionalism. There is a litany of cases of migrants being abused, used and denigrated, and being stripped of their humanity. A 1948, in America, one case of migrant herding ended in tragedy with the media adding further insult by treating the deaths of the migrants with indifference. Woody Guthrie marked the occasion with a poem.

Lyrics

The crops are all in and the peaches are rott'ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They're flying 'em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won't have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be "deportees"

My father's own father, he waded that river,
They took all the money he made in his life;
My brothers and sisters they working the old church,
They rode the big truck still laydown and died
"Chorus"
The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon,
A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, "They are just deportees"
"Chorus"

 TEDx Talks published on June 3rd 2026.

        In 1948, a plane carrying 32 passengers crashed in the Los Gatos Canyon, California killing everyone on board. The media, including the New York Times, listed the names of the pilots, the flight attendant and the immigration guard but all 28 of the migrant workers (braceros) were labeled as deportees. This angered folk singer Woody Gutherie who wrote a poem about the crash. Almost ten years later, school teacher Martin Hoffman composed a melody to Guthrie's poem and that song became well known. Around 2010 Central Valley writer Tim Z. Hernandez discovered the story and soon began a project of finding the names and surviving relatives. Soon after musician Lance Canales joined the journey and composed his own version of the legendary song with Hernandez reading all the names of the deceased workers. Thanks to a fundraiser spearheaded by the two artist a new head stone has been built in the Holy Cross honoring all 32 passengers. Lance Canales is a roots-blues musician from California’s breadbasket. He lived the life that so many songs have been written about since the birth of roots music – hard labor, one room shacks and ghosts whispering of a better life. Canales’ guttural vocals combine a hard-edged storytelling approach with stripped down, foot-stomping, acoustic instrumentation that people readily respond to; Canales and his band, The Flood, were a favorite at the 2015 Sister’s Folk Festival. Canales led the initiative to place a memorial headstone with the names of the plane crash victims of the famous Woody Guthrie song “Deportee,” who were discovered buried nameless in a mass grave in Fresno, California. Now and forever nameless no more. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

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States, Green Liars.

        Most states are spouting the lie that they are following a "green" agenda, it makes them look good in the eyes of certain sections of the public. Here in the UK the present Tory government has stated it plans to be the "greenest" government in UK history, then in the same breath, gives planning permission for fracking to take place. Germany is similar, waffling on about its "green" credentials but granting permission for further opencast mining to the detriment of the local communities, the ecology of the area and continues to feed the atmosphere with CO2 gasses. Open cast mining is probably one of the worst culprits for devastating the landscape, they simply tear the surface of the earth apart over a vast area, making it look like a moonscape, not to mention the damage done by the burning of the result of this ecological disaster.  

      There is strong resistance by communities to these acts of duplicity, but states can and have bulldozed the opposition of local communities with sicking regularity. We need to link up all our opposition to these deeds of ecological acts of terrorism with a concerted resistance to the root cause, capitalism. The state and capitalism are hand in glove by far the greatest threat to our existence. They will continue to rape and plunder the planet for their gain of power, wealth and privilege. The welfare of the planet and its inhabitants are of very little concern to the state/capitalist machine, the managers of this destructive duo seem to be oblivious to the fact that if they continue as they are going, they will be part of the that species that went extinct. Only the combined power of the ordinary people can stop this greed driven human suicide, and anarchism is the only tool that is capable of turning round this human blunder and creating a sustainable system that sees to the welfare of the planet and all its inhabitants. However, time is running out, we are at the stage of now or never, which will we choose.  

German citizens resistance to open cast mining, from Enough is Enough:

        The action group “Kohle erSetzen!”(replace coal) and the alliance “Alle Dörfer bleiben” (all villages stay) call for a sit-in blockade against the construction of the L354n road between Wanlo and Kuckum, which began yesterday. The road will only be needed if more villages are destroyed for the brown coal underneath. Under the motto “Not a single meter for coal”, residents and activists of the climate justice movement want to block construction work on Monday 27 May.
       “With this road construction, RWE is revealing its ignorance of the forthcoming coal withdrawal,” says Mira Jäger, press spokeswoman for Kohle erSetzen! “It is clear that all villages will remain. Even with the completely inadequate result of the coal commission, the opencast mines can hardly be continued. Thus both the dredging of the villages and the new road construction are absolutely unnecessary.” Nevertheless, a piece of forest has already been cleared for the construction work and several hectares of fertile arable land are to be sacrificed.
       “In order to create more facts and to put people in the villages under pressure, RWE is building a new ‘mine edge road’ far behind the villages. This is a mockery for all those who are determined to stay in their villages,” says David Dresen from the threatened village Kuckum. If open-cast mining continues as RWE intended, the new roadside mine road will not be needed until 2027, when Kuckum will be destroyed. RWE has already had approval for the new construction for four years. According to RWE’s current plans, it would be sufficient if road construction were not to begin until 2025. The local residents therefore assume that RWE is already building to put them under pressure and deprive them of the quality of life in their villages. “At RWE, there is a system in place to make life hell for the people here. The construction of the road raises the provocations to a new level,” says David Dresen. “In order to give weight to our demand for an immediate halt to all preparatory mining measures, we are therefore forced to go one step further and call for the construction work to be blocked.”
      RWE is currently digging a path through fields and forest across the full width of the future road. Once this work has been completed, the aisle will be examined for possible old explosive devices and archaeological finds, after which road construction will begin immediately.
       In the last 100 years almost 300 settlements for lignite mining have been destroyed in Germany alone. In the meantime, however, broad support has emerged for a quick exit from coal, as is demanded by tens of thousands of people every week during the “Fridays for Future” climate strike. Nevertheless, RWE is pushing ahead with the resettlement of around 1,500 people in the Rhineland region. Six villages and additional farms are still under threat from the Garzweiler II open-cast mine. On 22 June, Alle Dörfer bleiben therefore invites you to a major day of action in the Rheine region (Rheinisches Revier), together with Fridays for Future, BUND, Greenpeace, Campact and nature lovers. On this day, activists from Ende Gelände will also disobey the coal mining industry elsewhere (but near… Enough 14).
        RWE’s business not only destroys village communities in Germany. As corporation with the highest carbon dioxide emissions in Europe, it poses a particular threat to the existence of people worldwide who are losing their basic livelihoods as a result of the climate crisis. These people are already suffering from increasingly severe droughts and extreme weather events, even though they have contributed very little to the climate crisis.

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"Gentrification And Ghettoisation"

       It is a world wide phenomena, changing cities. Cities used to be where ordinary people lived, worked and had their leisure activities, those days have gone. To day cities are being turned in to, "business centres" or "pleasuredromes" for the wealthy, centres for tourists to come and spend their wealth. Expensive luxury apartments, glossy, glitzy restaurants, expensive coffee bars and "high fashion shops. In some areas, the ordinary people of the district are being pushed out to make way for what can only be called university towns, one or more universities surrounded by student accommodation. All this is to make money for the chosen few, the small group of parasites that control our lives by duplicitous financial manipulation. We accept that we should be excluded form our cities and herded on the periphery, or we decide that the cities belong to the people and not the financial Mafia. If we believe we should live in our cities we will have to fight to take them back, they are not going to gifted to us by the invading corporate juggernaut.

     The following article is from Athens, but could be from any city in the developed world. The ordinary people are being herded out to the periphery to be housed in  cheap, shoddy schemes, lacking in amenities. A systematic policy of "gentrification and ghettoisation". Out of sight of the prancing privileged as they enjoy their existence in the consumer illusion of happiness made of bubble and fizz.

This translated version from 325: 
Original source: https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1597841/

         Tourism grows like flowers in the spring, security cameras appear like leaves to protect the peaceful citizens. Everything must be clear, beautiful and in developmental path. The appearance of the city should fit into the list of Aegean Airlines. Tourists do not need a lot, some chain stores and hipster coffeeshops, a good guide to explaining which places to avoid, and something that fits into the “authentic Greek experience”. We look forward to the next group of tourists who will take a selfie around the Acropolis.At the same time, our neighborhood degrades slowly. People who can not respond to the increase of rent price are either forced to find another home to stay or are forced to comply with the new rules. At the same time, investors are exacerbating the situation as they buy old houses, which are being demolished and, in their place, they are building luxurious housing estates. Apartments renovated for short-term rent (AIRBNB) as well as public spaces and parks are privatized reducing free and open spaces. The game is as old as the same city is listening to the name of private property . The rule is also simple: whoever does not own, will pay, whoever does not pay will be expelled. People who are not part of the capitalist machine, little illegal sellers and homeless people, illegal graffiti and political posters, life in general, and things that can not be sold will disappear. We know very well that nothing will be given to us because we do not belong to the owners’ side. We know that we do not even fit into this suffocating capitalist context, nor do we want to keep up with the logic of bosses and investors. That is why we are fighting against their expansionist and developmental plans.On Tuesday 9/04, we visited a boutique (as they call it) of luxury apartments, which is in its final stage of implementation, on Kolokotroni street between Koukaki and Petralona. Kolokotroni Street is a street with several old or abandoned houses, and it seems that the crows of the construction company from Glyfada have put it in the goal. During our visit, we put a banner that read: “RICH PEOPLE GET BACK TO YOUR SUBURBS, HOUSING IS NOR A LIFESTYLE NEITHER A PRODUCT, IT’S A NEED (A)”, we throw paint on the freshly painted walls and advertisements of the company, write slogans and open holes or even completely tear apart interior walls. Nevertheless, investors insist on forcing us to a second visit and today they have put cameras thinking that we will stop.

OUTSIDE THE INVESTORS FROM OUR NEIGHBORHOOD AGAINST AIRBNB AND LUXURY APARTMENTS NO ATTACK TOWARDS OUR LIFE WILL STAY WITHOUT ANSWER IF WE DON’T GET ORGANIZED IN ALL NEIGHBOURHOODS, OUR CITIES WILL BECOME MODERN PRISONS

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Read of the Month, SchNEWS.

 

        The "Read of the Month"  on our Spirit of Revolt website is a little different this time. It consists of some cartoons and drawings taken from the Anarchist paper, SchNEWS. The paper was produce by Brighton anarchist over a number of years, and ceased publication 2014.
     Some interesting and some amusing, but always with a punch. Spirit of Revolt has a number of issues of SchNEWS in their archive and these are available to view in the Archive Department on the 5th. floor of the Mitchell Library. We will of course be putting them on line at some point, but scanning is a slow process, we have thousands of documents, photos, leaflets, booklets papers and serials etc. to scan and we can always use volunteer scanners, so if you are interest in helping in preserving anarchist, libertarian-socialist history get in touch. info@spiritofrevolt.info

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WitchHunt.

        I am a great admirer of Camcorder Guerillas, so anything they produce, I always feel is worth looking at. This latest event they are hosting at the CCA, 350, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, tomorrow, Friday 24th. May, the film,  WitchHunt is certainly worth a visit. 

      I'm no lover of the Labour Party nor of Jeremy Corbyn, I see him as another Messiah that will spout how he will lead the people to the promised land. But you and I know that nobody can lead the people to that better world, they have to come together and walk there hand in hand, by themselves. However, I do think that what happened when he was elected leader of the Labour Party highlights how the establishment will always react when it gets the slightest whiff of anything suggesting a social program. The various rightwing diehards will start their devious exercises in poisoning the narrative. Character assassination is always a standard weapon in their armoury. It's how the establishment works.  

       This should be a very interesting film and discussion, well worth the visit.

About the film: 

         In 2015, the far right was gaining ground around the world, socialist MP Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the UK Labour Party in a landslide victory. Accusations of anti-semitism within the party immediately began to circulate. Well-known anti-racists and left-wing Jews, such as Jackie Walker, were amongst the chief targets.
        WitchHunt is an important 'must-see' film that sets out to investigate the stories and people behind the anti-semitism headlines, examining the nature of the accusations.
        Is this a witch hunt, as some claim? If so, who is behind it, and what is the political purpose of such a campaign?
        There will be a post-screening panel discussion chaired by journalist and political commentator Iain Macwhirter, with the film's director Jon Pullman, activist & academic Sarah Glyn and Avigail Arbubunel a Jewish Israeli psychotherapist.

The discussion:

        The WitchHunt Post screening discussion will be chaired by journalist and political commentator Iain Macwhirter, with the film's director Jon Pullman, activist & academic Sarah Glyn and Avigail Arbubunel a Jewish Israeli psychotherapist.
          Iain Macwhirter is the political commentator of The Herald and the Sunday Herald. He is an author and a documentary film and radio presenter as well as a former Rector of Edinburgh University.
         Jon Pullman is an activist and filmmaker with a particular interest in the Middle East, where he has travelled widely. Pullman has produced several short documentaries on Palestine, including Children in Chains, about child prisoners under Israeli military occupation. WitchHunt is his first feature length documentary.

           Avigail Arbubunel was born and raised in Israel. She served in the Israeli army between 1982-1984. Avigail left Israel to Australia in 1991 and in 2001 renounced her Israeli citizenship in protest. Since then she has been an activist for Palestinian rights and against Israeli settler-colonialism in Palestine. Avigail is the editor of Beyond Tribal Loyalties: Personal Stories of Jewish Peace Activists.
           Sarah Glynn is a social and political geographer working at the University of Edinburgh. She is interested in housing, social exclusion and multiculturalism and is the editor of Where the Other Half Lives.

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