Vultures Don't Feed Lambs.

       The Mirror newspaper published an article recently, and I wonder why, perhaps they thought it was "news". What the Mirror doesn't seem to realise is that every ordinary person in the UK knows that poverty has rise sharply. Every ordinary person in the UK knows that child poverty has rise sharply. Every ordinary person in the UK knows that pensioner poverty has rise sharply. Every ordinary person in the UK knows that people with disabilities are finding it harder to make ends meet. So where is the news? It would have been better had they pointed to the real causes and the only remedy, get rid of the economic system that creates these problems.
       They take their facts from a recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation report. The report states that over the last 5 years poverty has increased for pensioners and children. It also states despite rising employment, in-work poverty has also risen, and it doesn't take an economic expert to see this is down to the fact that inadequate pay, hours and/or both these factors. It has now reached the point where more than 50% of the people living in poverty are in a working family, this is up from 39% 20 years ago, now there's capitalist progress for you.

      Other interesting facts from the every day life of people in the UK, there are more than 4,500 people sleeping rough on the streets of England alone. 14 million people here in the UK are living in poverty, an increase of 400,000, over the last 5 years, there are 4 million children living in poverty, an increase of 300,000 over the same period. The report also states that people are more likely to be living in poverty if they are in a family where there is a disabled person or a carer.
     Now try as you may to equate that with one of the richest countries in the world  and a supposed highly developed and civilised country. We live in a society where deprivation and opulence live cheek-by-jowl and the capitalist system has proved over the centuries that it can't remedy this disparity. This inequality has increased and will continue to increase as long as we tolerate a economic system that has as its foundation the creating of wealth for the few at the expense of the many. the building bricks of capitalism is exploitation of the many by the few, and the above figures are not an unavoidable accident, they are an ideological choice, the inevitable consequences of such an economic system. How much longer will we accept the poverty of our friends and family, the stunting of the potential of our children and the abandonment of our elderly, while the perpetrators live a life of obscene opulence with private jets, luxury yachts and  private estates. The remedy is in our own hands, don't expect the vultures to feed the lambs.

   

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

Humans As Things.

 

      Day and daily an army of individuals, families, groups, including children take the decision to try and get out of a raging war area, leave behind their home, possessions, friends and other family members and make the treacherous journey to Europe in hope of a better and safer life. In most cases the death and destruction they are fleeing is a direct result of American and their side-kicks the EU's foreign policy. Many lose their lives in that arduous and treacherous journey, and those who make it to Europe end up being treated worse than cattle, and with less rights than animals. This is the reality migrants are faced with as they enter, so called , civilised Europe. As the article states, "--but the outcry is absent--", why?

     What is happening on the Greek islands is being played out at other locations across Europe
      I am posting this article in full as I believe it should be widely read and spread far and wide.

This from Anarchists Worldwide:

       Just one month has passed in the new year and it already casts a grim shadow over the months yet to come. Blow after blow, new atrocities occur, and the government issues one fascist decision after another. Public outcry is absent.
      Still, almost every day people set out on the dangerous journey across the straits between Turkey and Europe. Forced by a system that criminalizes and negatively stigmatizes migration, people unsafely have to board boats and leave everything behind, in the hope of a better, normal life – and for the EU (and within it the Greek government) no effort seems too big or too expensive to crush said people, no matter the cost.
     The numerous shipwrecks in this month alone shows yet again how dangerous the crossing is. The Turkish coast guard rammed a rubber dinghy, 4 people drowned, one person went missing – and the excuse of missing safety precautions on board is accepted without comment. A fiber boat broke, 11 people died, of whom 8 were children – but the outcry is absent.
     Driven in desperation by a dehumanizing and exclusionary system, a man finds himself during the first days of January in prison. He is locked away in solitary confinement, out of sight. He is a man with known psychological problems and he is left alone. Nobody will take responsibility for him. Death appears to him as the only way out of this hell.
       In response to this, approximately 150 people took to the streets to protest against Moria Camp and the conditions in its prison. In a public statement (in several languages), the violent methods, which are de facto torture, were criticized, and the release of all prisoners demanded, as well as the closure of Moria camp and freedom of movement for all.
        Towards the end of the month around 300 women protested in the streets of Mytilene with slogans such as “we want to be free, we want to be human”. They criticized the horrible living conditions in Moria camp and the ongoing violence. Meanwhile, another hundred women were prevented from participating in the protest and were blocked at the streets entering Mytilene. More than ten non-refugee women that attended the demonstration were removed and taken to the police station. The police were of the opinion that it was they who organized the rally, based on no evidence and only prejudice, the racial prejudice that the refugee community were unable to organise the demonstration themselves, and that it must have been done for them.
Women have to live under constant fear of assaults and rape. Medical help for pregnant women is barely existent. General medical support is scarce. Children grow up in a hostile environment. They are denied their childhood. But the outcry is absent.
      Over 20,000 people are currently stuck in and around Moria camp, having to call it their home. Basic needs are not even close to being met. The ideal environment for violence has resulted in several attacks. Already more than 10 people have been injured and hospitalized since the start of the year. Among those, two men were killed. Some no longer dare to stay in the camp and see themselves forced to endure the cold winter nights in public places. But the outcry is absent.
       On January 22nd, with the slogan: “we want our islands back!”, thousands of Greek civilians went on strike and protested the government’s refugee policy. The general strike was supported by the broad public, and a poster with their inflammatory demands could be seen in countless shops and stores of Mytilene, resulting in the largest protest in the history of Lesvos. Thus, domestic politics evaporates, and the belief that those who have newly arrived are to blame for the old, structural problems of the country spreads.
         This is a perfect example of the recently formed government confirming its desire to show hardness and “strength” by implementing xenophobic policy. Championing the ideal of “out of sight, out of mind”, the first closed camp is already being built on the island of Samos, afar from any civilization. Men, women and children are to be imprisoned there on a general basis, their only “crime”: they came to Europe. They shall be imprisoned for 25 days. Within this time, it is supposed to be decided who is allowed to stay and who will be deported. The new law, however, provides for numerous possibilities to extend detention – up to 18 months if the asylum application is rejected. In addition to this, the time limits for appeals has been shortened, and any appeal must be submitted by a lawyer. This gives rise to the fear that under these circumstances many will not find a representative in time to appeal against a negative verdict.
          But the government cannot wait for the completion of the closed camps to achieve their goal. Thus, on the last weekend of January, 55 people, most of them families, were locked up in a wing of the prison on Kos island. EU law ubiquitously requires a case-by-case assessment of whether there is a reason for imprisonment, and the Greek government flagrantly shows a clear disregard for such legal principle. If even legal principles are so publicly ignored, how are we to believe that any moral or ethical principles, such as a basic human right such as migration, will ever be followed?
       Help and support will never be close at hand. The dehumanization continues. Imprisonment of the innocent, even children, is legitimized by our xenophobic system. But the outcry is absent.
        The closed camps are intended to accelerate and intensify deportations. By the end of 2020, the government wants to deport 10,000 refugees to Turkey – five times greater than the total number of deportations since the EU-Turkey deal was made. So far, in accordance with former practice, many deportations have been prevented (or at least delayed) with the argument that the horrific conditions in Turkey classify a return as unsafe. However, the Greek government has installed a new judiciary for decisions in regards to deportation, and hopes they will decide differently. But the outcry is absent.
      The European Union continues to fully support and implement the entire system. They don’t only demand more “effective (frequent)” deportation but also demand the doubling of EASO (European Asylum Support Office) staff officials to carry out the heinous act. It is not the only staff increase. The cruel, so-called “defenses” continue. The government announced to have 1200 more border police officers in the coming months. Already 400 jobs are advertised for the borders at the river Evros, and 800 are to be added on the Aegean islands.
Now they also want to install a floating dam system on the water. How exactly this is supposed to keep boats away is unclear to everyone. Considering that Lesvos is roughly 70km long, the 2.7km long barrier with blinking lights does not invoke an effective approach to the “issue”. The half a million-Euro project seems even more senseless when one takes in to account that people who are stopped by the barrier have already reached Greek territorial waters, and would therefore have to be rescued and taken to Greek soil under maritime law. But the outcry is absent.
      As well as this, Stage 2 was closed on the 31st January. Stage 2 was the short-term transit camp to ensure people who land on the northern coast can access safety and receive medical aid and shelter. Over half of the total arrivals on Lesvos are on the northern shore. With closing Stage 2, people arriving will be left waiting for hours on beaches, by the side of the road, or in remote rocky areas, with no access to immediate shelter, protection or medical aid; some may even attempt to walk for hours to the south. But the outcry is absent.
      Irony screams out, with all of the events aforementioned taking place in the same month in which the liberation of Auschwitz was remembered during the 75th anniversary of it’s closure, with politicians from left to right wing parties proclaiming: “never forgive, never forget!”. But they do forget. They forget all people who are not wanted in Europe because of their country of origin. They forget the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives because of the current EU policy. They forget the children who have experienced nothing else in their whole life than war, conflict zones and flight, and now are forced to live in hostile environments which provoke child suicide attempts. They forget all the young people who are condemned to do nothing, full of potential – potential Europe desperately needs, but apparently would be provided by the “wrong” people. They forget humanity in view of their own political and economic interests. They forget that fascism is in our midst and again the majority is not only watching but willfully ignoring. Thus, new atrocities take place over and over– but, once again, the outcry is absent. Deafeningly, forever absent.

United we stay- divided we fall.
No borders
Solidarity will win

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

People's Global Action.

      Spirit of Revolt‘s February “Read of the Month” is from our KM Collection and is called, Peoples Global Action. Worldwide Resistance Round-up. UK Edition. Bulletin No. 5. A little look into what was and is still happening here and in other parts of the world. Our archive is full of these rare and fascinating publications, with thousands already digitised and on our website for you to read in the comfort of your home, pub, cafe or wherever. There are heaps of documents, pamphlets, publications, personal letters and a myriad of other artifacts, etc. that help paint a truer picture of the struggles of the ordinary people in their desire for that better world for all. Why not pay us a visit, delve into our contents and enjoy and perhaps learn. Also we are still growing and welcome material on people’s struggles that is not associated with political parties or trade unions.
      Any queries, questions or ways in which you can become involved, you can contact us via our Contact Form, or email us at info@spiritofrevolt.info

Read on line:

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

Remember Our Own, Colin Ward.

     We should always remember and honour our own, February 11th. 2010, anarchist Colin Ward died aged 85.

 From wikipedia

Colin Ward (14 August 1924 – 11 February 2010) was a British anarchist writer. He has been called "one of the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian."

     A respected voice in many fields and prolific writer and thinker a credit to the anarchist movement.

From Guardian Obituary: 

      Colin Ward, who has died aged 85, lived with the title of Britain's most famous anarchist for nearly half a ­century, bemused by this ambivalent soubriquet. In Anarchy in Action (1973), he set out his belief that an anarchist society was not an end goal. Following Alexander Herzen, the writer and thinker known as the "father of ­Russian socialism", Colin saw all distant goals as a form of tyranny and believed that anarchist principles could be ­discerned in everyday human relations and impulses. Within this perspective, politics was about strengthening ­co-operative ­relations and supporting human ingenuity in its myriad vernacular and everyday forms.

       One of Colin's favourite metaphors – adopted from a novel by Ignazio Silone – was the image of the seed beneath the snow, which suggested to him that anarchist principles were ever alive and prescient. He thought it was the work of politics to nurture such beliefs and to support them through small-scale initiatives, avoiding the temptation to replicate or scale them up to a level beyond which professional bureaucracies take over. He was fond of contrasting the vocabulary of self-organisation, with its friendly societies, mutuals, ­co-operatives and voluntary associations, with the nomenclature of the state and private sectors with their directorates, corporations, boards   and executives.

Some of Colin Ward's writings from Anarchist Library
This from Spacial Agency:

       Ward's writings are characterised by a combination of theoretical discussion on the nature of anarchism with a practical sensibility that looked for empirical results and solutions that could transform real-life situations and everyday living conditions. One of the key themes of his work was the promotion of cooperative self-help strategies, in the form of squatting, tenant cooperatives and self-build projects. Ward was an admirer of Walter Segal whose self-building system he saw as exemplary of such an approach to housing, promoting participation and dweller control. Much of Ward's later writing was historical in nature, in Cotters and Squatters he wrote a history of informal customs for the appropriation of land in Britain that included the Digger movement, the Plotlanders of southern England and the Welsh tradition of tŷ unnos, where a house is built in one night, which also has its echoes in the geçekondus of Turkey and the amateur building tactics of the global South. Other books uncovered the history of allotments or the creative ways in which children inhabit their environments.
      Ward's writings did much to dispel popular myths and stereotypes associated with anarchism, as well as demonstrating the practical applicability of such an approach to a wide range of issues pertinent to architecture.

 A man, a loss to the anarchist movement but his writings and thoughts live on.

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

Radical Resilience.

      A common feature among those activists who dedicate their life to trying to change the world, to attempt to create that better world for all, who stand against injustice, fight the economic system that is destroying the planet, who struggle for a system of mutual aid, sustainability and respect for all life, is the problem of "burnout". The problems seem to get bigger, the system's resistance gets more vicious, the struggle at times seems overwhelming, but the struggle can only be abandoned at our peril. The difficult dilemma, burnout and the struggle must continue.

 

     This article from Anarchists Worldwide, by means of a film trail, attempts to point to a way through this seemingly insurmountable dilemma. It would be good if the film can be brought to other cities, perhaps we could all gain something from the showing and discussion.

Radical Resilience:
      The premiere of Radical Resilience will be on Sunday the 1st March at the Alte VHS, Kasernenstraße, Bonn. Doors open at 15:30 and the film will begin at 16:00. It runs about 1 hour and afterwards there will be time for questions with the filmmakers and discussion. The film is multilingual and the subtitles will be in German. If necessary it would be no problem to do a whispering translation as a big part of the film is in English. There is no fixed price for entry as we’d like it to be accessible for all, but donations are very welcome to cover costs and hopefully help us continue our work.
     The screening will take place on the ground floor which is accessible by ramp. Unfortunately the toilet is not barrier free. There is a play room for children in the building. If you have any other needs, wishes or questions then please contact us.
      Through interviews, this film reflects on the effects of burnout within our movements, looks at reasons why it is such a common problem, and offers some tools and strategies how we can be more sustainable and inclusive in our activism.
      If you are interested in organising a screening in your area, get in contact. To stay informed about upcoming screenings, join our mailing list, or follow us on Mastodon or Twitter. Share the trailer widely if you like it! Please choose subtitles in settings on the player as the trailer is in several languages.

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

111 Days, Still Going.

       Not a lot reported in our mainstream media of what is happening in Chile. This is to be expected, since the media is the propaganda mouthpiece of the state and the capitalist system. Whenever People rise up against the authority and corruption of the state and the capitalist system, the media looks the other way, it seeks out some popcorn and bubblegum incidents to try to hold your attention, for fear that you might side with the insurrection happening elsewhere.

    It must be getting harder for them to do so as in more and more places across the globe, people are taking to the streets in anger against this exploitative and destructive system that controls our lives.

    For a few years the UK media had Brexit to plaster all over the outlets, now they have coronavirus, punctuated with some celebrity crap and a few reports of sexual exploits of stars and politicians.

    However, the protests, the insurrection and the anger on the streets continues. More than a year in France and long spells of uprisings spreading across the planet. In Chile despite the silence from the Western media, the anger has not subsided. After 111 days, the people are still on the streets taking on the brutal attacks from the state, day in day out. The state's response is ever more vicious attacks, ever greater surveillance, ever more draconian laws, but still the people's anger only grows.

     The following from Enough is Enough:

111 days of social revolt.

THE INSISTENT INSURGENT SPARKS!
        During the weekend there were clashes between soccer fans and the police, like outside the National Stadium and in San Carlos de Apoquindo. In Quillota there were riots and smoking barricades. Bands, chants against the government, invasions on the playing field and fights with the guards and even with fans of the same clubs that disapproved of the protests.
         On Dignity Square on Saturday and Sunday masked people intercepted a bus throwing stones, on Sunday it went further and a bus was partially set on fire. All this in spite only a few people who took part in the protests during those days. There are also discussions between demonstrators to ask for money from the drivers passing through the zero zone.
        In the commune of Pudahuel the rage does not end and a public transport bus burned down, just like in La Pincoya.
       In Melipilla, on Saturday, an attempt at collective expropriation of a supermarket ends with four wounded people, one with a bullet in the groin and three with rifle impacts in their face, neck and arms.
       On Sunday, hundreds of cyclists arrived to protest outside the house of the judge who solved the case of the murder of “Neco”. The murderer was allowed to leave with a weekly signature.
      The government announces the installation of hundreds of facial-recognition cameras on the streets. In the summer festivals the fascist animator and boss behind the scenes “Kike” Morandé joins in, people threw stones against a humorist for being misogynistic and macho, forcing him to withdraw.
       On Monday, an ambush at Dignity Square. More than thirty masked people were arrested.
      On Monday and Tuesday, students protest against the PSU (University Selection Test) at its third day, disturbances and minor skirmishes are recorded off-site. They also protest inside several subway stations and panic takes hold of those in charge, who order them to close.
      Police train military, sailors and aviation agents in anti-riot tactics, the armed forces spend millions on implementation of social control.
      In Congress the constitutional accusation against Intendant Guevara (1) is rejected, some opposition senators are absent or abstaining. For lack of a quorum, the intendant (accused of domestic violence) goes unpunished for the thousands of injuries that resulted from the application of his “copamiento” tactic at Dignity Square.
      Serious incidents in the University of Chile’s Pre-Libertadores match, clashes between “barras bravas [soccer fans] and guards outside the National Stadium, in the gallery a cabin burns down while the game continues.
       Fans of the Südkurve (2) Zürich waving tissues in solidarity and memory of ‘Neco’ and Ariel. Masked people attack a Presbyterian church in Antofagasta.
       In another case of an attack by state mercenaries, a young hospitalized man denounces that at least six uniformed men struck him and left him with a punctured lung, this occurred in Puente Alto.
       On Wednesday night an individual gets out of his car and threatens members of “La primera línea” (3) with a gun. This happens right in front of the place where they murdered “Lambi”, when the individual left he fireds a shot. At dawn a group of unknown people set fire to three buses of the locomoção (4) collective in Recoleta.
        A 73-year-old threatens protestors with a gun from a bus , and is insulted by the driver and passengers.
        On Thursday dozens of floral arrangements give life and colour to Dignity Square. They are in honor of all those who were killed during the Revolt.
      One of the policemen of the group that murdered Alex Nuñez, admits that his colleagues have arranged to testify against him in the case. Alex was killed by cops in Maipu on October 20, 2019.

As you read this report, the president of Chile goes on vacation…

NOTHING IS OVER, EVERYTHING KEEPS GOING.

      Giannis Michailidis and Konstantina Athanasopoulou were arrested in Greece… This one goes for you too.

Read the full article HERE: 

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

Fabricated Cities Of Illusion.

 

       Most cities in the western world are being shaped the same way, designed to be tourist centres, places cleansed of locals, who are excluded and/or marigalised, keeping the city safe for the foreign big money spenders. Cities unsullied by the ordinary working people and the poor, the only poor the tourists are allowed to see are in uniforms serving coffees, meals, drinks and seeing to the needs of money spending tourists in hotels. This unnatural city design will be preserved by heavy handed policing, as nothing must interrupt the flow of money to the financial and corporate powers.

     So the following article, though from Berlin, may sound rather familiar, and shows the extent to which the powers that be will go to preserve their illusion of a happy-happy-exciting but safe city for the big spenders.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

        On Friday 24.01 around 4.00 a.m, the cops of the police station 51 (Wedekindwache), raided the flat of Maria P. on Grünberger Straße 46, after her flatmate’s phone call, and shot her dead. Police reports and its careful reproduction through mass media profile Maria as a mentally ill person attacking the cops with a knife. At the same time the state, police and the mass media are targeting persons with mental health issues, suggesting that this ‘diagnosis’ is enough for their potential execution.

      The day after the murder, people gathered in solidarity and started a spontaneous demo in Maria’s neighbourhood. This demo was attacked by the cops, completing in this way the image of zero tolerance while actively defending the provocative statements of the police union (GdP) and the public prosecutor’s office which said that they are currently assuming that their colleagues have behaved correctly.

       Berlin is a city based on the alternative tourism industry and a facade of diversity tolerance, promoting a progressive city image, which offers as products, ideas such as antiracism, antisexism and veganism/vegetarianism without hesitating to rely on the ‘friendly’ police forces (da für dich) to ensure citizen’s peace and security when needed.

      Repression and the “product” Berlin is selling go hand in hand, as in order to make notions like “alternativism” and “diversity” more marketable,the dominant system must de-politicize and deprive them from their “dangerous” elements. Berlin is actually a European metropolis where police violence is daily omnipresent. From the brutal assassinations, arrests, beatings, surveillance cameras and helicopters to the provoking and terrorizing “robocops” during demos. All these things are building up a police controlled city mosaic that leaves no space for any kind of resistance.

       This goes hand in hand with the legislation creating a profile of a sheriff-cop providing them with full freedom and initiative to act without any legal consequences. At the same time, everyone that reacts to arrests, imprisonments and fines is extremely repressed. The state and the police as the genuine dominion are patrolling the city by repressing whatever they define as dangerous against them in the pretext of security and order. This situation is also supported by the left parties, whose only suggestion against police arbitrariness is the use of tasers instead of guns, this way indicating their consent for state repression. The mass media are demonizing once again the victim and treating the murderers as heroes in order to steer social reactions.

       Even if we have no illusions about the state, the cops , reporters and politicians, the society’s indifference to this cold-blooded murder only reveals the real face of this city, completing the puzzle of conservatism, of personal interest and social cannibalism.

It’s crucial now more than ever to resist and react against police terrorism. The rallying of any radical part of society is essential, which through unmediated and anti-hierarchical struggles – from open assemblies to all types of interventions in the city- won’t let those incidents unanswered.

      For a society of equality and freedom, without dominants and oppressed, exploiters and exploited, we fight collectively for the destruction of state and capitalism.

The state arms, the cops murder

Damit wir uns nicht an den Tod gewöhnen

Open call to everyone for the demo against Bullenkongress
31.01 | 20:00 Uhr | Wismarplatz | Berlin-Friedrichshain |

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

SoR Stall For You.

        As usual, folks at Spirit of Revolt have been busy, doing all the things necessary to keep the Archive growing and accessible to the public. We have also been busy at trying to reach out to all you friendly folks. Two events that we will be having a stall at in our attempt bring your history to you, and you to your history.

       First up will be our stall at the Workers Theatre Group,  www.workerstheatre.co.uk February 15th. Ceilidh, 8:00pm, Pollokshaws Burgh Hall doors open about 7:30pm. where we will have info about Spirit of Revolt Archive, leaflets, books, CDs, T-shirts, badges, etc, plus info on how you can get involved, along with friendly chat. Why not come along and have a chat with us before you dance your heart out.

        The next event that we will take part in is The Dundee Anarchist Bookfair, March 14th. 2020. dundeeanarchistbookfair.org. Again we will have a stall with lots of interesting “stuff” plus the usual friendly members on hand to give info and friendly chat.

       Both events are well worth supporting, come along, have fun, meet old friends, make new friends, gather info, network.

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

Punk Fund Raiser.

 

        In London to day and at a loose end, well why not go for a punk, rap, grind music night? Not my thing but to each their own.

 South london,uk: Athenian S.W.A.G. TAKEOVER 8TH OF FEBRUARY 2020

 

        Suggested donation £5, no one turned away for lack of funds !
Cheap bar as well !
     All profits to be donated to A Place of Our Own: the North London punk venue project and SES – Suffolk And Essex Hunt Sabs

ONLY POSERS ALLOWED

Teknokrater (Athens, Greece)
https://teknokrater.bandcamp.com/
Athen’s finest noisegrind quartet ready to burst your eardrums

Vile Species (Athens, Greece)
Pioneers of the underground athenian swag scene. Best enjoyed while throwing empty cans at them

Frikeerne (Athens, Greece)
Legendary punk band from greece and eurovision finalists

Migraines (WCBH)
https://themigraines.bandcamp.com/
101% DIY hardcore skaterboys. Phlegm connoisseurs and avid golfers.

MethxCamp (Bristol)
https://methxcamp.bandcamp.com
Its fast, its loud, its RAGGO. crème de la crème of uk powerviolence (West Country Brotherhood über alles)

Binge Drinker (London)
https://bingedrinker.bandcamp.com
Fast grindy punk metal crust n roll pissartists

Sunderer (South England)
https://sundererband.bandcamp.com
Sick blackened doom/crust 2-piece band from the South of England.

Skullfucked (London)
https://skullfuckedbgka.bandcamp.com/track/crowbong
Skater greebos making death metal influenced by forest fires, heavy narcotics and Napalm Death

Doomsday Clock (London)
Local fastcore/powerviolence bois. Might sound like shit but at least its fast

Νυξ Kollektiv (Cyprus)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGroIz5WdoNqapviKEz-MOA
Chaotic experimental rap from cyprus. Dont miss em !!

AFTER PARTY TUNES BY

Milo Mang
https://soundcloud.com/milomang

s.q_r.l_
https://www.instagram.com/s.q_r.l_

FOR INFO CALL: 07534449497

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

Mask Up.

 

      Most people now agree that we are facing unprecedented problems on this planet, and most can be traced back to human activity. Despite the obvious impending disaster, the controllers of the economic system responsible for this situation, still persist in their false and flawed mantra, "It's the only game in town".

     They will adjust and rearrange things as long as it doesn't alter their power, wealth and privileges, no matter the outcome for the rest of us. We are secondary, expendable, to their blind vision for our planet, blind to the fact that they die with us if this system continues.

     While states attempt to stop people wearing masks at protests, they continue to create situations where we will have to wear masks to walk our streets, as pollution poisons the air we breathe. We tolerate this crazy path at our peril, and to the detriment of our children's future.

     It is no longer  a matter of whither we should take what action we can to bring down this suicide mission of the corporate/financial out of control juggernaut, it is an obligation, so that we can give our grandchildren a future. It is also obvious that dialogue and running to a ballot box hasn't done any good  over numerous years. The beast has to be faced head on and destroyed root and branch by the mass of people taking direct action, the time for talking has long since past. Take your righteous anger onto the streets, create the change you wish to see, we change or we die. 

This from Anarchist News:

 One Way or Another, One Day We’ll All Wear Masks

       Wherever we are situated in this society, our future boils down to two options: accepting our fate and trying to reduce the harm to our bodies and the environment on a piecemeal basis—or actively resisting in order to interrupt the disaster and implement our own solutions. If there is anything that scientists, sociologists, military strategists, and day laborers all agree on, it is that we are headed for global collapse.
      Those who hold power seek to take advantage of hurricanes, forest fires, and pandemics to impose more and more invasive forms of control on us. Their responses to crises always prioritize protecting their own privileges and profits while they treat the rest of us as expendable. We can’t trust our survival to their expertise.
      If we resign ourselves to the future implied by catastrophic climate change, widespread pollution, and ecological collapse, sooner or later, the disaster will come for us. In some parts of the world, people are already forced to wear masks when they leave the house just to protect themselves from poisoned air, toxic waste, or infectious conditions.
      If we do not accept the destruction of our lives, our land, our food, and everything that connects us with each other and the biosphere as a whole, we have to fight to regain control over the conditions of our lives and the decisions that determine our survival. In a world of police, prisons, surveillance cameras, we will have to wear masks that conceal who we are so we can fight for what we really want.

Read the full article and poster HERE:

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

Freedom Of Thought!!

       Freedom of thought is a fundamental human right unimpeded by coercion or force of any kind. Or it should be, but this freedom is always under attack, words are a means of expressing that right of freedom of thought, but words are attacked and attempts made to remove certain words, political correctness, is one such attack, we lose words at our peril, words lost are a diminishing of the ability to express that "freedom of thought". Be very wary of those who tell you certain words are bad and should not be used.

Wikipedia:

       The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which states that thought is inherently embedded in language, would support the claim that an effort to limit the use of words of language is actually a form of restricting freedom of thought.[citation needed] This was explored in George Orwell's novel 1984, with the idea of Newspeak, a stripped-down form of the English language alleged to lack the capacity for metaphor and limiting expression of original ideas.

      From Lucas Swaine Freedom of Thought as a Basic Liberty

      Freedom of thought has been lauded in political theory and celebrated in human rights discourse. But what kind of freedom is it? I propose that freedom of thought deserves status as a basic liberty, given the significance of thought to human life, the fundamental importance of freedom of thought in establishing and sustaining crucial rights and freedoms, and the value of being able to develop and experience one’s thoughts without undue influence from others. 

The usual words of calm wisdom from Not Buying Anything:

        Cars can be freedom machines in a way, I admit, and I have had my share of incredible moments blasting across the face of the Earth in a variety of internal combustion conveyances. But those days have been over for Linda and I since we began voluntarily limiting how much we used our vehicle. We made this decision as the rest of the world was speeding around a blind corner and on into the 2000s.
        Since then we been driving less and less and less. Overall, we have found it has not had a noticeable negative effect on our quality of life. That is because cars are sold as freedom machines, but they can only provide freedom of movement. What is the use of having an unlimited freedom to move, if we don't also have the unlimited freedom to think?
       Socrates knew that we cannot find ourselves without first thinking for ourselves. Without this freedom, we are lost.

So, do we have the freedom to think in our societies?

        Freedom of thought is the freedom to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of coercion or force to think differently.

That does not describe the world I know.

      Our freedom of expression has always been limited through censorship, arrests, book burning, and pervasive propaganda. This has destroyed any semblance of freedom of thought that we may feel we still have left.
      Educator John Dewey, himself a deep thinker, thought a lot about freedom of movement vs freedom to think, and this is what he said,

     "The only freedom that is of enduring importance is the freedom of intelligence, that is to say, freedom of observation and of judgment, exercised in behalf of purposes that are intrinsically worthwhile.
       The commonest mistake made about freedom is, I think, to identify it with freedom of movement, or, with the external or physical side of activity."

         While we have driven around our cultural obsession with cars and freedom of movement, we have found our grey matter has been thrown in the slammer. We didn't notice because we have been stuck in traffic.
In recent years I have been willing to give up a large part of my freedom of movement. However, I will not compromise my freedom to think for myself, something on which all other freedoms are based.
        You can't be yourself if you can't think for yourself. And if you can't be yourself, you can't be free.

Freedom of thought wins.

         The time I used to spend driving and being mobile, I now spend blasting around the infinite space between my ears. I would like this to continue, unimpeded by outside forces.

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

The Next Step.

         Sometimes somebody makes a calculated prediction and it seems to come true many years later. I'm no disciple that worships at the feet of Lenin, but I think, in this case, his prediction of capitalist development was spot on.

 

        Of course accepting his development of capitalism is just one step, the next step is how to stop that continuing power struggle between these financial and corporate competing imperial powers that continue to be responsible for countless millions of lives lost unnecessarily, devastation and misery for millions more and vast swaths of poverty and deprivation, not to mention the destruction of the planet's ecosystem. They won't be beaten by smart phones, but by ordinary people on the streets of every country in the world, all with the one aim, to take back control of our own lives by mutual aid, co-operation, sustainability, respect for all humanity, the planet and all its varied life forms.

The following is an extract from an article by By Pål Steigan

The imperialist powers divide the world according to the power relations between them

      Lenin gave the best and most durable explanation for this, in his essay «Imperialism – the highest stage of capitalism«. There, he explained five basic features of the era of imperialism:

1. The concentration of production and capital has developed to such a high stage that it has created monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life;
2. The merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on the basis of this “finance capital”, of a financial oligarchy;
3. The export of capital as distinguished from the export of commodities acquires exceptional importance;
4. The formation of international monopolist capitalist associations which share the world among themselves; and
5. The territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers is completed.
   

       But Lenin also pointed out that capitalist countries are developing unevenly, not least because of the uneven development of productive forces in the various capitalist countries. After a while, there arises a discrepancy between how the world is divided and the relative strength of the imperialist powers. This disparity will eventually force through a redistribution, a new division of the world based on the new relationship of strength. And, as Lenin states:

“The question is: what means other than war could there be under capitalism to overcome the disparity between the development of productive forces and the accumulation of capital on the one side, and the division of colonies and spheres of influence for finance capital on the other?“

       The two world wars were wars that arose because of unevenness in the power relationships between the imperialist powers. The British Empire was past its heyday and British capitalism lagged behind in the competition. The United States and Germany were the great powers that had the largest industrial and technological growth, and eventually this misalignment exploded. Not once, but twice.-------

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

True Caspitalism.

        Across the world in developing countries we hear of brutal and draconian actions against workers who organise and act in solidarity to try to better their conditions. However here in civilised Europe we do it differently, (oops I forgot, according to our lords and masters, we are no longer Europeans) We do have dialogue and in most cases if the workers are organised enough, we get a compromise, occasionally a victory. In Germany, that so called democratic country, in one particular dispute with workers who are being treated unfairly, the gloves are off. Instead of trying to reach a compromise the bosses have decided to sack a group of workers and threatened 800 more with lay-off, if the struggle continues. Obviously the bosses feel strong enough to take on the union and confident enough to know that they will get the backing of the state if this struggle escalates. At times like this it is incumbent on all workers to stand up and show their support and solidarity with the workers at the receiving end of this brutal profit before people policy, of this capitalism with the gloves off. We surely can also stand up and take our gloves off in defence of our living conditions. When bargaining ends, real struggle begins.

This from Labour Start:

      Workers at Ameos in Germany, a private for-profit hospital corporation, are demanding fair wages, secured by a collective bargaining agreement. In the federal country of Sachsen-Anhalt in the east of Germany, for example nurses receive up to 500 EUR less than comparable employees in other hospitals. But Ameos refuses to sign a collective bargaining agreement with the union, ver.di. After massive short-term strike action in November Ameos has fired 14 workers without previous notice and has threatened 800 lay-offs should industrial action continue. The workers have now started an open-ended strike. They are fighting for better wages. Adequate payment will also help to find more people for the health professions. Adequate health care services for the region must be the priority, not ever higher profits. The workers need your support in their struggle. Please join us in sending protest emails to the regional CEO Frank-Ulrich Wiener and the Chairman of the Ameos board, Dr. Axel Paeger.

Click HERE to send email: 

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

Born Again!!

        Do you believe in the resurrection? Well we do, The Keelie died around the 1990's and was sorely missed, you can pay your respects to the Glasgow Keelie at Spirit of Revolt Archive. However, the Glasgow Keelie has been reborn, sort of born again so as to speak, and can be found hanging around Glasgow pubs, cafes and other places. Watch out for the Glasgow Keelie when you are out and about, go up and say "hello" I'm sure you will find it a very interesting occasion. You might go away with some info you didn't know about. Let us know about your experience on meeting the Glasgow Keelie, we would be delighted to hear what you think of the born again Glasgow Keelie.

The Keelie that died:

The Keelie that has been born again.

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