Paradox,

This from Not Buying Anything:

The Paradox of Progress: If life is getting better, why do we feel worse?

 

THE PARADOX OF OUR TIMES 

The paradox of our times

Is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers

Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints

We spend more, but we have less.

We have bigger houses, but smaller families

More conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees, but less sense

More knowledge, but less judgement

More experts, but more problems

 More medicines, but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often

We have learnt how to make a living, but not a life.

We have added years to life, but not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back 

but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.

We have conquered outer space, but not inner space.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted our soul.

We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We've higher incomes, but lower morals.

We've become long on quantity but short on quality.

 

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The European March Of Fascism.

       In Europe the continual rise of the far right is no more obvious than in Greece. There Golden Dawn. an openly fascist, racist party, who try to terrorise the streets of Greece, is now being considered as a partner in government. When the so called apparatus of law and order openly talk of a partnership with brutal street thugs, it lays bare the true face of the state. The slime of fascism always oozes through the corridors of power. We should see what is happening in Greece as a mirror, a glimpse at tomorrow, unless we, the ordinary people, start to change the course of history.

This from Teacher Dude:

       Last week the leading commentator at one of Greece's largest private TV stations raised the possibility of a political alliance between the ruling conservative New Democracy party and the Neonazis in Golden Dawn.
      "Why shouldn't New Democracy co-operate with a serious Golden Dawn?" asked Babis Papadimitriou, the head of the staunchly pro-government Skai TV. The statement was prompted by the latest opinion polls that show the continued rise of Golden Dawn, now at 13-15% and the poor showing of the other partner in the Greek ruling coalition, PASOK, whose fall from electoral Grace has seen support plummet from 42% to 7- 8% within the space of four years.
      Papadimitriou's remarks immediately provoked a storm of angry response from Greek Twittersphere and political commentators, many of whom believe that this is the first step in the process of "rehabilitating" Golden Dawn. Such was the reaction that Skai dedicated an entire hour the following day to giving Papadimitriou a chance to clarify his stance. His argument was that Golden Dawn, Greece's third most popular party now represent a large proportion of  the electorate and that a similar alliance between centre right and far right parties had already taken place in Norway.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Student Unity.

This from Glasgow Anarchists website:

Call-out from the Autonomous Student Network

 

      We have been contacted by the Autonomous Student Network. They are keen to talk with student groups in Glasgow that would be interested in working with others using anarchist principals. If your group is interested being part of the network then their call-out and contact details can be found here.

From Autonomous Student Network.

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From The Mouths Of Babes---!!

      If only all 12 year olds thought and spoke like this, tomorrow would be bright.

Published on Mar 21, 2013

     This 12 years old boy is just stunningly, incredibly smart. Listen to him as he excoriates the Muslim Brotherhood, relentlessly dissecting their power grab for Egypt.

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World Wide Solidarity.

An urgent call for solidarity from Columbia by IUF, UITA, IUL unions:

    Trade union leaders and opposition politicians in Colombia have been the target of death threats in recent days.
      The Colombian national trade union centre CUT has denounced these threats against their leaders and leaders of the political party Polo Democrático and asks that messages be sent as a matter of urgency to the Colombian government, demanding that immediate action be taken to ensure their safety!

Click here to send a message Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Surveillance Society.

    We live in the surveillance society, cameras in pubs, on buses, in offices and other workplaces, in our streets, at buses stops and train stations. Now it seems that Google believes that gmail users have "no legitimate expectation of privacy".

    

  Google reads every word of every email you send to or from a Gmail account in order to target you and your friends with ads. They read about your personal relationships, your health information, your finances, and more.

     Tell Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Google, that you want Google to stop selling ads at the expense of your inbox! »

     It's illegal for someone to open and read your paper mail without permission, but Google reads every word of every single email you send or receive every single day.
     In response to a lawsuit against Google for snooping through personal Gmail, Google claims that users have "no legitimate expectation of privacy" when it comes to their email. But, common sense says that's ridiculous; clearly, when you send a personal email to a friend or colleague, either on paper or online, you expect that the message will not be read to target you with ads.

     Tell Google that you DO have an expectation of privacy and that you demand that they stop reading the contents of your private emails to sell you ads. »

Thanks for taking action, Natasha Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team   Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Protests In Poland, Sound Familiar?

      In country after country in Europe, the people are rising up against the financial/corporate Mafia and its drive to sweatshop Europe. Yesterday, September 14, in Poland, between 100,000 and 120,000 people took to the streets of Warsaw. Armed with banners, drums, whistles, smoke bombs and chants, they brought the city to a standstill. The marches started four days previously and marchers from all over the country converged on the capital Warsaw on Friday. Some of the protester had camped in front of parliament since Wednesday. The complaint is a familiar one, it was not a Polish problem, it was the European problem. They were objecting to the retirement age being raised to 67, the average monthly wage being among the lowest in Europe, and new legislation attacking working conditions, allowing longer daily and weekly working hours. No matter the country, no matter the government in power, be it Labour, Conservative, Christian Democrat, Liberal, or whatever, the policies are all the same, an attack on the living conditions of the ordinary people, the creation of a Europe wide cheap workforce. The European corporate machine has to compete with the Eastern sweatshop economies and you and I must pay the price. Of course there is another way, the demolition of this unjust, exploitative, greed and profit driven system called capitalism and the creation of a needs based society built on mutual aid, voluntary co-operation and free association, founded on equality and sustainability. It is up to us.

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

Sweatshop Europe Is Still The Aim.

      Like I keep saying, sweatshop Europe is the aim. Now that the People of Greece have seen their living standards trashed and poverty and deprivation is the norm for the ordinary people, it's time to invite in the big corporate plunderers. Time to start useing that poverty and deprivation as available cheap labour.  The puppets sitting in Athens, controlled by the Troika, (EC, European Commission, ECB, European Central Bank, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers), have now rolled out the red carpet for the corporate/financial Mafia to come in and do what they like with the environment.

This From Corporate Warch:

Public event, 

Thursday 19 September, 7 to 9pm,
Unite House, 128 Theobald’s Road, Holborn, London, WC1X 8TN.

Gold mining in Greece: stories of resistance and repression
       Under the pretext of a severe financial crisis Greece is reasserting its investor-friendly profile by opening up all goldmines across the country without regard to the threats that mining poses to the environment and to people’s livelihoods. Foreign investors are particularly welcome: fast track processes; tax relief; exception from damages; easy money; no royalties; no problems.
      But the true picture is not so rosy! Sham public consultations, questionable deals designed to advance specific corporate interests and the slow but steady destruction of the environment have been met with resistance. The struggle to oppose Eldorado Gold’s plans to create an enormous open pit mine on Mount Kakavos and within the ancient forest of Skouries has succeeded in capturing people’s imagination and inspiring waves of solidarity across the country.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Syria, What Is Going On?

       For most of us, making sense of what is really going on in Syria, is extremely difficult. Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, on the main, spews out propaganda supporting the stance taken by the Western Imperialist powers, whose main aim is to change the regime. I should add that this change of regime they have in mind, is not for the benefit of the Syrian people, but the benefit of the Western corporate greed machine. As far as the Western powers are concerned, the wellbeing of the people of Syria, is of no interest what so ever. Syria in chaos and bloodshed, mirroring Iraq matters not, the natural resources will be in the control of the Western corporate/financial  Mafia, and that is their aim.

      This article from Tahrir-ICN helps to throw some light on what is going on on the ground in Syria.

  

 By Leila Shrooms for Tahrir-ICN

       One of the most worrying developments during the trajectory of Syria’s revolution has been the rise of militant Jihadi groups. The danger that the increasing strength of such groups poses to both Syria and the region should not be underestimated. Yet a lot of misunderstandings exist about the nature and dominance of such groups which this article attempts to address. Only when fact is separated from mythology are we able to move forward collectively towards a strategy that addresses the threat of counter-revolutionary forces and have a better understanding of who is working for the original goals of the revolution so that they can be given the solidarity they deserve.---

Read the full article HERE:

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The End Of The World As We Know It.

      

  Chemical weapons, Fukishima, Tokyo Olympics, Massive debt, Columbia, rebellion, is it the end of the world a we know it, and do you feel fine?

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A United Human Race.

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       The British/Irish version of the Internationale sung by Alistair Hulett. Enjoy!

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Puppets Of The Troika.

       Who rules Greece? An email has come to light proving that the Troika,  (EC, European Commission, ECB,European Central Bank, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers.) is dictating to the Greek government what is to be done regarding some purely domestic affairs. If you believe that it is only the Greek government that the Troika put pressure on, you're being rather naive. Why just Greece? After all it is sweatshop Europe that they are trying to  create, not just sweatshop Greece. We are never informed what goes on behind those closed doors in the marble halls of power.

This from Borderline Reports:

       Nevertheless, the email addressed by Mr Kontolemis to the Greek government contradicts the Justice Minister’s claims: it not only requests that “revisions” be made to the proposed bill, an issue of domestic policy, but it also reminds the government that they have already committed to making these changes in July, and it also demands the legislature’s swift actions, under the threat that the October payment will be withheld.

Read the full article HERE:

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Death Of An 8 Year Old Bride!!

      Today, people are living in slavery in countries all around the world. Slavery is hidden away in factories, on farms, and behind closed doors, in homes and other places in the cities and towns of the world’s richest and poorest nations. But with the power of a worldwide movement, social networks, and technologies, we can expose these hidden crimes – so that ours is the last generation that needs to fight the trade in human lives.

An appeal from walkfree.org:

      The story is all over the news – days ago, Rawan, an 8-year-old Yemeni girl was sold by her parents, forced to marry a man five times her age and on her “wedding night”, her fragile young body sustained fatal injuries. 

      Right now, the collective horror of the world is focused on the devastating death of an 8-year-old girl. We’ve seen thousands of emails, Facebook posts and tweets from our community calling for action. We know that ending Forced Child Marriage everywhere poses big obstacles and yet, this may be one of few fleeting moments when millions of at-risk girls are counting on the support of a global movement of activists. We’re not going to let them down.

     Forced Child Marriage is a form of modern slavery, and in Yemen there is no law that makes it illegal. It’s common for girls as young as 8 to be forced to marry to settle debts. In fact, 50% of girls in Yemen are married before they reach the age of 18.

    The Yemeni Government has the power to bring an end to Forced Child Marriage forever; the first step is to ban the marriage of anyone under the age of 18, protecting children from a life of domestic and sexual slavery. The Yemeni government needs to know that the eyes of the world are watching and expect their swift response. Will you help?  

      Ask the Yemeni Government to end Forced Child Marriage by making marriage under 18 illegal.

     Rawan’s story has struck a chord with people everywhere.  As well as depriving girls of their right to a childhood, Forced Child Marriage leaves victims vulnerable to sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of their so-called husbands and extended families.

    Now is the time to act. The Walk Free community is over 3.7 million strong and growing rapidly. Our collective voice is powerful – we can urge the government of Yemen to pass crucial legislation protecting children and young girls from the brutalities of forced marriage.

      Forced Marriage is modern slavery and can be stopped. Call on the government of Yemen to ban Forced Child Marriage.

      The idea of being sold into a life of domestic and sexual slavery seems unbelievable, and it’s sad that only extreme cases like Rawan’s gain attention. How amazing would it be if these cases never made the media – not because they were unreported, but because Forced Child Marriage no longer existed?

     Thank you in advance for your support. If you have a moment, please forward this email to 3 of your friends so we can become one step closer to building a world free of this form of modern slavery. 

In solidarity,

Debra, Nick, Mich, Kate, Ryan, Jess, Amy and the Walk Free Team

P.S. On Twitter? Follow us  

1. http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/10/yemen-end-child-marriage

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State Injustice And Persecution.

     Another piece of proof, as if we needed it, that we live in a world gone mad.

      This story is almost too awful to believe -- and it's taken a turn for the worse.  First teenager Justin Carter was jailed for making a bad joke on Facebook.  And now he's on SUICIDE WATCH. 
    Let's try to make things better, and be sure that Justin knows that thousands of us stand with him.
      According to his dad, while Justin was playing a video game "[S]omeone had said something to the effect of 'Oh you're insane, you're crazy, you're messed up in the head. To which [Justin] replied 'Oh yeah, I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,’ and the next two lines were 'lol and jk' [all sic]."

     Even though it was a clear joke -- underscored by the shorthand for "laugh out loud" and "just kidding" -- a woman who saw the post reported Justin to the police.  Now he's in jail for making "terroristic threats" and faces $500,000 for bail and up to 8 years in prison!

      And this weekend his dad told CNN: "He's very depressed, very scared, and ... concerned that he's not going to get out.... He's pretty much lost all hope."

      Please sign our petition to Justin -- we'll deliver it to his family, and also to the people who are persecuting him.

     PETITION TO JUSTIN CARTER: Justin, please know that thousands of people across the country are horrified by what you're going through, and will stand with you and try to make things right.

Click here to sign -- it just takes a second.

Thanks,
-- The folks at Watchdog.net

P.S. If the other links aren't working for you, please go here to sign: http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/3554?n=36445773.5K2imz

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

We Never Know The Spark That Ignites The Fire.

      The mechanisms of capitalism are always confrontational, the capitalists always want more from the workers, the workers always want more of what they produce, and rightly so, it is all ours. As well as exploitation, struggle is the fault line that runs through the capitalist system, it is devoid of the basic elements of human justice and liberty, namely mutual aid, free association and voluntary co-operation. It is a system of imbalance, the capitalists growing ever richer, and the workers growing ever poorer. Is it any wonder that from time to time the fault line flashes from passive resistance to violent confrontation. Just as it is a myth that anarchism is chaos and violence, likewise it is a myth that capitalism is order. Our past is littered with those flashes of bitter violent struggle, which, by the powers that be, are written into history as criminal disruptions, anomalies, blips in a perfect system, when in fact they are inherent within the system. They are however, flashes that illuminate our dream of a fair and just system. Whether it be large strikes that turn violent as the state tries to suppress the organised workers, or a "spontaneous" riot, that explodes in some city, town or country, it is the same expression of dissatisfaction with a system that doesn't and can't, deliver what we want. The reason I use "spontaneous" is that there is no such thing as a spontaneous riot. Spontaneous would imply that everything was fine and then suddenly out of nowhere came the riot. Every riot has underlying causes, and with the glaring imbalance of wealth and lifestyles and of daily struggles to survive in the midst of unbelievable wealth, that this system breeds, the tinder for an explosion is all around us, all it needs is a spark.

Another interesting article from The Commune:

     Violent riots have been an aspect of capitalism and class struggle against it throughout history. Eric Hobsbawn described the Luddites or machine breakers’ actions as collective bargaining by riot. (11) In contemporary history there are many examples. In Los Angeles’ Watts district in 1965 and in Detroit in 1967 there was mass looting on an industrial scale : Buildings were burnt to the ground. In the student riots in Paris in 1968, which sparked one of the greatest general strikes in history, many cars were torched for barricades. In Bristol in 1980 and Toxteth and Brixton in 1981, bricks and bottles were thrown at police, sometimes inadvertently injuring bystanders. There was also the famous Poll Tax riot which helped to bring down Thatcher and her tax. Now that was a positive result.
      Militant trade unionism has seen violence on the picket line and rioting during strikes. In the great unrest in Britain 1910-14 there was violence, looting and burning. (12) In Llanelli in 1911, rank and file miners trying to make their strike effective, in the face of scabbing organised by the pit owners, police and government, stoned scabs from railway embankments and placed obstacles on the railway line to stop the transport of black legs. Troops were dispatched to Llanelli,and two young men were shot dead. In the riot that followed, 96 Railway wagons were torched, and three tons of bacon and other things disappeared, as goods wagons were looted. A building was blown up, and four people were left dead. (13) In Tonypandy in 1910, striking miners driven away from a pit by the police and army, attacked shops in the village. One man Samuel Rays was shot dead by troops. Trade union officials and government ministers denounced the strikers as mindless hooligans. (14)

Read the full article HERE:

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Workers Know Your History, August 13, 1977, Lewisham.

The latest from Circled A Radio.

       Mr G interviews Mrtin Lux for this show. On 13 August 1977, the far-right National Front attempted to march from New Cross to Lewisham in South East London. Local people and anti-racists from all over London and beyond mobilised to oppose them, and the NF were humiliated as their march was disrupted and banners seized. That's what we like to see.

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9/11 Through The Ages.

       9/11 events are scattered throughout history. Another 9/11 event that marks our history was September 11, 1926. Italian anarchist Gino Lucetti, born in Carrara in Italy August 31, 1900, and killed September 17, 1943, in a German bombing raid, attempted the assassination of Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini by throwing a bomb at Mussolini's car. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison but escaped shortly before being killed in 1943.

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Help Kick Start World War Three.

      Obama, the Prince of Peace, the Pope of Hope, the salvation of the world depends on him, you must believe in him.

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9-11, Which One?

     We all remember 9/11, but which one? Of course our babbling Brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, will recall the twin towers in New York. However in Chile, 9/11, has a different memory, September 11, 1973, was the beginning of the military coup lead by General Pinochet, fully supported and backed by America. It ushered in an era of vicious savagery that lasted until 1990, though General Pinochet was removed from power in 1988. The era of the military junta saw the blood of the Chilean people flow from the tens of thousands of beatings, torture, killings and disappearances perpetrated by the exesses of the of the psychopathic Pinochet junta, with the full backing of America. So this September 11, let's remember all those who suffered at the hands of fanaticism.

Photo from Arrezafe, original source Hoguera De Ideas

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Reviving The Alternative To Capitalism.

       It seems a shame that there is a tremendous amount of effort and resources expended by left-leaning individuals and groups in the attempt to reform our present system of capitalist exploitation, when in fact it can't be reformed. At least it can't be reformed so as to work for the benefit of the majority. Capitalism is capitalism and can only function the way that it does, it is based on exploitation, plain and simple. Expecting somehow to create a fair and compassionate capitalism through the process of putting pressure on the state is the stuff of myths.  The modern state and capitalism are welded into an economic system that functions from the top down, and all calculations and legislation are based on the economic benefits or otherwise to the system, not the people. Tinkering around with this, and trying to shift a little of that economic benefit towards the people, is playing the beggars game, and will keep the people perpetually walking forward with their begging bowl in hand.

       If we want a fair and just society then we have to admit that the present system isn't fit for purpose, it has to go. The next revolution must be a revolution of consciousness, we have to turn things on their head. Top down thinking has to be killed off. It is direct action at grassroots level that all our efforts should be directed, action and power must be based on horizontalism, we have to stop playing by the systems rules. Only when we circumvent, short circuit and ignore the rules of the present system can we hope to create that better world for all.

       It would be a much more rapid move towards a fair and just society if all the effort and resources of those left leaning individuals and groups went directly into the community, helping to develop the alternative society we all want, and accepted that the present system has to be destroyed and consigned to the fog of history.

      Our comrade Eric Chester puts it well in his article for The Commune:

Reviving the Alternative to Capitalism.

      In spite of an economic crisis that has lasted more than five years, and the constantly escalating attack on the public sector, the Left in England and Scotland remains in the doldrums. There is a pervasive sense of despair, a widespread belief that there is nothing that can be done other than to continuously readjust downward our expectations for the future.
     Projects such as the People’s Assembly can not provide the organizational framework for a revitalized resistance. This is yet another top-down initiative controlled by the union bureaucracy, in particular UNITE. Furthermore, the social democratic perspective that underlies such projects have totally failed. These projects start with the belief that capitalism can be reformed, and that all that is required to reverse the corporate onslaught is the creation of a broad Left coalition to effectively exert pressure on the state. This broad Left coalition, it is claimed, will be able to exert its influence primarily through the electoral arena, either through the Labour Party or by forming a new progressive party, such as Left Unity.
      There is an alternative model, one that starts with the belief that capitalism can not be reformed, but must be changed through a revolutionary transformation of society. From this perspective, fundamental social change does not occur through legislation, but rather as a result of militant, grass-roots movements engaging in non-violent direct action.

Read the full article HERE:

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

More On The "Who Dunnit" In Syria.

      The longer the American "clinical" cruise missile strikes are delayed the more information that comes out pointing the finger at the members of the "Syrian Free Army" as being the perpetrators of the chemical attack in Damascus. This report from Counter Currents again throws the spotlight on that ratbag of fundamentalists, Jihadists, militia and power mongers, called the "rebels".

 

        More than a year ago, Iran warned the US: The Syrian interventionists possess chemical weapons. [1] And, there is report that the interventionists plan chemical attack on Israel. [2]

Citing leaked diplomatic correspondence a Christian Science Monitor report said:

     Iran has been warning Washington since July 2012 that Sunni rebel fighters have acquired chemical weapons, and called on the US to send “an immediate and serious warning” to rebel groups not to use them.

       The report headlined “Leaked Iranian letter warned US that Syrian rebels have chemical weapons” said: Iran said it has warned the US about chemical weapons in rebel hands for more than a year.

     The report by Scott Peterson, Staff writer, said:

     In a letter acquired by The Christian Science Monitor that was sent sometime in the spring, Iran told American officials that, as a "supporter" of the rebels, the US would be held responsible for any rebel use of chemical weapons.

The September 9, 2013, Istanbul datelined report said:

    Iran amplified those year-old warnings over the weekend in its strongest public comments to date linking the rebels with chemical weapons.

Read the full report HERE:

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Should Psychopaths Be Allowed To Rule The World?

       From the vast majority of the people of the world the cry is "No war in Syria", from the Western marble halls of power, where millionaires and corporate parasites slither around greasing each other's arsehole with money, the call is for war. Who should prevail? Should it be the small bunch who never feel the horror of battle, but stand to gain in power and wealth, or should be the majority who will bear the brunt of the ensuing chaos unleashed by this act of brutal cruelty to be visited on the people of Syria? Sanity and justice should answer our questions. The people of Syria are suffering enough without Billy the Kid riding in gung-ho, and shooting them up with a few cruise missiles. We are governed by dangerous greedy psychopaths, if we govern ourselves, there would be no war.

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