Tuesday 11 February 2014

Corporatised Totalitarianism.

       What a wonderful Grammy award acceptance speech by the New Zealand singer song writer Lorde. It is not often that we hear such truths spoken in the midst of expensive suits, dickie-bow ties, thousand pound dresses, and champagne. Perhaps she can put her speech into song form, and try to blast it to No.1
This from Snoopman News:
     Thank you soo much everyone for making this song explode because this world is mental. (Laughter). Planet Earth is run by psychopaths that hide behind slick marketing, ‘freedom’ propaganda and ‘economic growth’ rhetoric,[1] while they construct a global system of corporatized totalitarianism.
     As American journalist Chris Hedges has identified, a corporate totalitarian core thrives inside a fictitious democratic shell.[2] This core yields an ‘inverted’ totalitarian state that few recognize because it does not look like the Orwellian world of Nineteen Eighty-four.[3]
     This corporate totalitarian core is spreading outward from America. Planet Earth is being rapidly militarized by the world’s major and significant states, including their police forces.[4] Meanwhile, state surveillance is becoming universal[5] and torture is outsourced to gulags.[6]
Read the full speech HERE:

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








Monday 10 February 2014

Western Bankrolled Genicide.

     At what point will the Western states give up on Israel, how far down the genocide road must it go before the Western states take action, and it is completely isolated? Are they prepared to see a history where there are no Palestinian people, where the Palestinian lands are part of a Greater Israel, all based on the mutterings of some ancient mythical being. This is a state that is built on the belief that they are the "chosen people" and therefore all others are inferior. Day and daily this unfounded arrogance spreads havoc and misery among the Palestinian people, grabbing their land, destroying their crops. demolishing their homes, terrorising the inhabitants. All the while, the West looks the other way and America bankrolls this genocide being carried out by a state of zealous religious fundamentalist thugs.
Sunday 9 February, this from Middle East monitor:
       Israeli settlers routinely destroy Palestinian olive groves, or directly attack Palestinian villagers and farmers, like the stone-throwing attack pictured above, where villagers at Assira al-Kibliya were attackec by masked settlers [file photo]
Israeli settlers throwing stones at Palestinian Villagers
      Early this morning, settlers uprooted and destroyed over 400 olive saplings in the village of Sinjil, located north of Ramallah.
     According to the mayor of Sinjil, Ayoub Sweed, a number of settlers raided the village, and carried out their attacks on agricultural land in which olives saplings were planted. He noted that this was the third attack in less than a month.
      He also pointed out that the olive saplings that were uprooted were planted as a part of the village's reforestation project funded by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which aims to reclaim and cultivate the land. The number of saplings that were uprooted in less than a month is estimated at about 3,000 saplings.
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Sunday 9 February 2014

Dreams Are More Than A Walk To A Ballot Box.


     Yet another country sees the anger of the people flare up. Where in Europe is the capitalist success story, poverty, unemployment, corruption are the hallmarks of the developed world's capitalism. Less marching quietly to the ballot box and more direct action is the growing pattern. A cross on a piece of paper can never placate your anger, nor satisfy your dreams.


        “He who sows hunger reaps anger,” warned the red graffiti on a Sarajevo government building this week. The message hinted at the depth of poverty and disillusionment in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) that has driven people to join demonstrations across the divided country, where the unemployment rate is about 40 percent.
Read the full article HERE: 



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Secret Deals, Secret Courts, To Protect Profits!!!




      Secret deals between governments and multi-national corporations, can't be good for the general public, or they wouldn't be secret.
     If it is signed, future laws designed to protect consumers, our health, and our environment could be overturned in secret courts by corporations that claim the laws harm their profits---
This from the SumOfUs:
      It's a corporate lobbyist's wildest dream -- a huge global trade deal that would let corporations like Monsanto sue our governments if they passed laws to protect the environment or keep life-saving medicine affordable.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership has to be stopped.
       This month, tens of thousands of American SumOfUs members and friends have called Congress to demand it rejects a bill to give President Obama "fast track" authority to sign the TPP -- and support is starting to fall away. But it's not enough.
      In the US, corporate lobbyists are pushing hard for Congress to approve. Elsewhere, governments are facing no scrutiny as they get ready to sign away our democratic rights to make laws that protect the public interest. Unless we do more, we may lose this fight.
       That's why our community is stepping up. This week, we're getting ready to launch a major effort to stop the TPP in its tracks -- and with your support, we're not going to stop fighting until we've won.
We can't talk about all our plans yet, but we're already looking to:
  • Target key countries that can stop the TPP -- like Australia and Canada -- and make sure that citizens hear about the TPP before it's too late
  • Call out consumer companies who have access to the negotiations and are helping write the deal -- rights our elected representatives don't even have -- and demand they come clean on what they know
  • Organize constituents to contact their representatives -- to make sure the TPP is something that governments have to answer for
  • Work with lawyers to submit Freedom of Information requests for governments to come clean on the deal
  • Offer rewards for officials who are willing to do the right thing and let the public know what's in the TPP
  • Take out advertisements in key national media highlighting the threats the TPP poses to our democracies
       The corporations behind the TPP know the public won't like what's in the deal. That's why the full contents are still secret -- only high-level government negotiators and the 600 corporate lobbyists have access. 
But we know enough to know that the TPP has to be stopped -- and enough to know how we can stop it with your help.
       The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is called a trade deal, but it is really a corporate wish-list aimed at attacking everything from environmental protections to affordable medicines to internet freedoms. Worst, it gives corporations impunity from governments or citizens that want to reign in their power. 
        In fact, it is probably the most important international treaty you’ve never heard of. The TPP is being negotiated between the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Pacific countries -- making it nearly global in scope.
There's lots wrong with the TPP, but the unaccountable systems it would set up to allow corporations to sue governments are one of the most frightening. If it is signed, future laws designed to protect consumers, our health, and our environment could be overturned in secret courts by corporations that claim the laws harm their profits -- and there is nothing we or our elected governments could do to stop them.
      We need to do a lot more to make sure we stop this treaty -- and we need your help to do that.
Thanks for all you do,
Paul and the team at SumOfUs.org

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

How Many Bad Apples In This Barrel?



       Each time we hear of a cop doing something illegal, we are inform that it was just a case of a bad apple in the barrel. How many bad apples have you heard of in this particular barrel?
This from 21st. Century Wire:



Published on Jan 31, 2014
Lawful Observer is assaulted by 9986 and then his colleage lies in order to carry out unlawful arrest of Lawful observer whilst filming police assaults at protest against Fracking on Barton Moss Road, Irlam, Salford on 14/1/14. After the camera was turned off, 08076 David Kehoe breaks camera strap in order to seize camera from lawful observer. Because of advanced storage technology, the video data was stored by the device to be recovered when the camera was eventually returned on 31st January 2014. Uniformed hired thug for IGAS David Kehoe blatantly lies about what is said, even though there is a camera pointed at him recording his lies.
Transcript of court case 28/1/14:
Usher - "can you stand at the end"
Freeman - "I claim common law jurisdiction, I do not consent and I wave the
benefits"
Magistrate - "Can you repeat that"
Freeman - "I claim common law jurisdiction, I do not consent and I wave the
benefits"
Magistrate (to other two magistrates) - "I don't think we have had that before"
Clerk - "Are you Steven Spy?"
Freeman - "I am Steven of the family Spy"
Clerk - " Are you Steven Spy?"
Freeman - "I am Steven of the family Spy"
Clerk - "Where do you live?"
Freeman - "I live on the land"
Clerk - "Can you confirm your date of birth"
Freeman - "I believe that would be hearsay evidence, your honour"
Clerk - "If you honour is satisfied we have identified the defendant, we can
continue".
Prosecution - "The prosecution is not satisfied that there is sufficient
evidence to substantiate the charge, therefore we withdraw the case"
Clerk - " Do you understand that the prosecution is withdrawing its case"
Freeman - "No I do not understand, but I do comprehend"
Magistrate - "Whether you understand or comprehend, the prosecution is
withdrawing its case, so the case is dismissed and you are free to go"
Freeman - "Thank you, your honour".
Further developments are:
A police complaint was made online on 3rd February 2014 using GMP online form. This was ignored by GMP and a formal police complaint was attempted at Newton Heath police station today at 2pm. Log 940 5/2/14. The civilian worker ECO 66653 Elley claimed that getting an Inspector down was "not the way it is done". He said the procedure was for an Inspector from Swinton would call. An Inspector Windsor from Swinton police station phoned and filled in a complaint form. I have also emailed the complaints section at complaints@gmp.pnn.police.uk so that there is a further record of the complaint. GMP has a history of ignoring complaints. Make sure there is a record of your complaint. They have 21 days to deal with the complaint before formal litigation is started.
Further consideration should be given to David Kehoe's activities before this event: 
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/4...


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

Thursday 6 February 2014

Medical Records For Sale!



        According to this government, there is nothing that can't be sold for a profit. Up until now your medical records were private, personal between you and your doctor, well now that is all about to change. Your medical records are now just another product from which profit can be made. It could influence whether you can get insurance or not, your job application, whether you can get a mortgage or not. All and sundry will be able to buy your personal medical details for their own personal gain. Another step down the road to total surveillance, your are watched, spied on and now your personal medical records are up for scrutiny. 
This from SumOfUs: 

Your medical records are about to be sold to the highest bidder.
       Starting this year, private companies will be able to buy information on us from the NHS’s new universal patient database -- including everything from mental health conditions, sexually transmitted infections and diseases like cancer -- all linked to your postcode, gender and ethnicity.
      We’ve all been opted into the scheme by the government without our knowledge. And the clock is ticking -- the government has said they will upload our data in a matter of just a few weeks. If we’re going to stop this, we have to act now.
      It doesn’t really get more personal than what you discuss with your doctor. They know the most personal things about us -- like whether we’ve ever been depressed, had an embarrassing infection or struggled with drug & alcohol problems.
      The government claims that individuals won’t be able to be identified. However, many experts have warned that under the current plans, we could easily be singled out through simple cross-referencing of other databases -- especially if you have a rare or unusual condition. Imagine your employer finding that you might have had an abortion when you were a teenager. Or your insurance company finding out you are HIV positive. The consequences for us as individuals could be huge.
     We know that when we act together, we can bring about real change. When we fought to get High Street names like River Island and Edinburgh Woollen Mill to sign up to protect Bangladeshi factory workers, we won! Now we need to step up to defend something precious -- our right to privacy.
Thanks for all that you do,
Martin, Hanna and the rest of us.
More Information:
NHS patient data to be made available to drug and insurance firms, The Guardian, 19 January 2014.
Price list for access to medical data, Health & Social Care Information Centre, January 2014
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

How Long Are They Going To Get Away With It?


        The so called “crisis” was in 2008 and here we are in 2014 and the ordinary people are still being kicked in the teeth, under the guise of “balancing the books”. The “crisis” was a wonderful opportunity for the corporate/financial greed machine to put pressure on the political class to create a sweatshop Europe. Of course the political class willingly agreed, they are the managers of this ideology of “austerity” and its resultant misery and deprivation.
      The sad truth is that they seem to be getting away with their callous disregard for human dignity. In their eager endeavour to placate their corporate/financial masters they have introduced a series of measures to syphon all wealth upwards, to plunder public assets and privatise all social services. In doing this they slash the living standards of all the ordinary people.

We've had to make some tough decisions.

      They have introduced slave labour under the nice sounding name of “workfare”. This scheme gives the corporate world an army of free labour to swell their coffers. The big corporate names are queuing up to grab a share of this free bonus to the balance sheet. At present there are more than 180,000 people in “government supported training and employment programmes”. This is growing as the threat of sanctions force people, who in most cases are already in poverty, to accept this slave labour scheme, or face total deprivation.


       Another inhumane scheme they dreamed up to cut social spending, is the bedroom tax. If you, for what ever circumstances, find you have a “spare room” you are forced to move to a smaller house, and there aren't any, or lose a portion of your council tax benefit. Recent statistics show that there are well over 500,000 people facing the threat of homelessness due to this inhumane, ideology driven, attack on the poorer section of our communities.
       Probably the most brutal and callous of their schemes so far, is their attack on the disabled. They always give these savage attacks nice sounding names, in this case it is called the disability assessment process. This translates as, cut disability allowance. The government has paid millions of pounds to the firm ATOS, to carry out this attack on the wellbeing and dignity of the disabled, and so far they have done this with an amazing ineptitude and indifference to those being “assessed”. 
       The ATOS assessment has seen more than 10,000 deaths that can be related to this assessment process. That is 10,000 disabled people who have been caught up in this ATOS assessment process, and dying. I think part of Michael Meacher's statement in the House of Commons last year is worth quoting, 
      "The fundamental issue is this: how can pursuing with such insensitive rigour 1.6 million claimants on incapacity benefit, at a rate of 11,000 assessments every week, be justified when it has led, according to the Government’s own figures, to 1,300 persons dying after being put into the work-related activity group, 2,200 people dying before their assessment is complete, and 7,100 people dying after being put into the support group? Is it reasonable to pressurise seriously disabled persons into work so ruthlessly when there are 2.5 million unemployed, and when on average eight persons chase every vacancy, unless they are provided with the active and extensive support they obviously need to get and hold down work, which is certainly not the case currently?"


       Six years on from the “crisis” and these policies are set to continue indefinitely, they are policies that suit the corporate world, privatising everything, cheap labour, zero hours contracts, and eight people chasing every job, which helps to keep down wages. So why should they change them? If we don't like them, then we will have to be the ones to change things. The political class are part and parcel of the corporate/financial world, they have nothing to do with our world. We are mere dispensable units to be used or discarded according to profit levels. We mine, make, grow, and distribute everything on this planet, We don't need the parasites on our back, we can create a much fairer world on our own, but they do need us. 
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

The Glasgow Looting Games 2014.


    The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are now 40% over budget and at present the cost is £500 million. Of course you and I know that every big project ends up well over budget, as the rip-off merchants and the corporate greed machine milk the system, pushing the costs ever higher and higher. The corporate bodies walk away with the loot and we are left with the bill. Cheap land grabbing, gentrification at the expense of the local people, and fat-cats having a ball as they lap up the cream, that's what the games are all about.
        What he doesn’t say is that private investment in large-scale Games Events has for some time been predicated on making profit from land and property development. Now that the easy profits of the property boom are over – only hanging on through billions of state subsidy, ‘help-to-buy’ policies, and the continuing privatisation of social housing – private capital is showing it doesn’t give a fuck about the Commonwealth Games and sport. No wonder that no city is willing to host the Games in 2022: they know that they will only be subsidising the private property market, defending failed ‘legacy’ objectives, and having to deal with the growing public complaints and resistance over land-grabbing, gentrification and displacement.
Read the full article HERE: 


      The Glasgow Games Monitor will be speaking at the Unite Community Union Branch meting on Wednesday, 12 February, John Smith House, 145/165 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RZ.
       Subjects to be discussed will be the necessity of political organisation related to the Games and Clyde Gateway projects, and building for a meeting on the East End, and citywide social housing crisis, planned for March.

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

Wednesday 5 February 2014

Nice Flowers, Rotten Smell!!


An appeal from IUF for solidarity:
Strike coming at Dutch flower giant FloraHolland 


     Valentines Day means flower sales, but at the moment there is little love between the auction giant FloraHolland (over 20 million flowers and plants in daily sales!) and the two unions representing the company's thousands of workers, CNV Dienstenbond and FNV Bondgenoten, who will hold a 24-hour warning strike beginning on the evening of February 7. SEND A MESSAGE TO FLORAHOLLAND!
      Workers at the company have been fighting in vain since last year for a new CBA and a decent social plan for hundreds of workers who are losing their jobs and others who will be transferred to new locations in a major restructuring announced in October 2013.
     Frustration came to a head at a meeting between the unions and the FloraHolland Board on January 17, convened to overcome the impasse on CBA negotiations. The company announced that, contrary to what had been agreed, the purpose of the meeting was only to discuss the social plan!
      Negotiations on both contentious issues have reached an impasse, leaving the unions no alternative but to take strike action. They've asked for your support - CLICK HERE to send a message to FloraHolland in support of the union's demands.

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

All Fall Down.



     Listening to the Cameron millionaire cabal spouting about growth in the economy, and how we in the Uk are ahead in the European recovery, makes you wonder how well their medication for delusion is working. The latest “growth” is now thought to be cash being spent by those who have received compensation from the banks after being miss-sold some of the banks' favourite gambling scams. So as long as the banks keep getting fined and people keep getting compensation, people will keep spending, well those few on the receiving end of the banks con-fund. Hardly the signs of a powerhouse economy in growth. In countries claiming “recovery”, it has been a no-wage increase economy, so a no-growth recovery for the ordinary people.
      However it is not just the UK that is kidding itself on about “growth”, it is a Western malaise, the delusion of the perpetual growth maniacs. It just isn't there. The world economy is in decline, the world's financial institutions are in extreme stress condition. As America tries in vain to save itself, by limiting “quantitive easing” (printing monopoly money) it is adding to the chaos and worries of the rest of the world.

     What this means for you and I, is the threat of deprivation on a scale never witnessed before, as country after country tries to “balance the books” by slashing the social fabric, the living conditions, of the ordinary people. How do you balance the books when the world's total debt is in excess of $700 trillion, and the world's total GDP is only approximately $69 trillion? What this means is that if every penny of the world's wealth was put to paying off the debt, it still would not be clear in ten years time. To make matters worse, more than 90% of the world's money is not real money, it is funny money, phoney money, created monopoly money, it is illusional. Any wonder that the financial house of cards is about to collapse? We have to organise now for that inevitable collapse, we can create a better world free from the cancer of profit and growth.
A contagion of capital flight is hitting Argentina, India, Indonesia, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Hungary and Turkey. A dramatic reversal in the global marketplace, which began in May and is accelerating with every new shock statistic, is forcing the governments of “emerging” economies to savage the living standards for their already low-income populations.
Each country has a different story to tell: worse or better attempts at managing their economies; higher or lower levels of foreign currency reserves; more or less extremes of corruption of government ministers; levels of civil unrest ranging from the benign to insurrectionary. But the source of the crisis invading their borders lies elsewhere, beyond their control. 
- See more at: http://www.aworldtowin.net/blog/sick-global-economy-hit-by-new-contagion.html#sthash.v4CoE9xp.dpuf

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



Margaret Thatcher Day!!!


       Recently a bonehead Thatcherite Peter Bone MP, (well named) put forward a private members bill to change the August Bank Holiday to Margaret Thatcher Day. Due to the widespread distaste, (putting it mildly) for Thacher, and the misery she inflicted on millions of ordinary people in this country, this private members bill is a slap in the face to those millions. A petition was raise against this proposal, and has passed the 10,000 signatures which means it demands a response from the government. It would be good if it passed the 100,000 signatures as this would demand that the petition be considered for debate and would send a slap in the face to the boneheaded dick who proposed the bill in the first place. 
      Apart from plundering the public assets and devastating the living standards of the ordinary people, is this all these arrogant, duplicitous, mob of tricksters have to do with their time? What a cesspool of pompous, arrogant, dickheads, those Westminster House of Hypocrisy and Corruption are, a home and breeding establishment for pampered parasites.
Sign it HERE:
The e-petition 'We oppose the proposal to change the August Bank Holiday to Margaret Thatcher Day' signed by you recently reached 45,630 signatures and a response has been made to it.
As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response: The proposal to rename the August Bank Holiday as Margaret Thatcher Day has been put forward in a Private Members Bill introduced by Peter Bone MP. The Government receives many proposals to rename existing Bank Holidays in order to commemorate the achievements of particular individuals. However there is no precedent for naming public holidays after an individual and the Government has no plans to do so. Any changes to the names of Bank Holidays would be the subject of a full public consultation. This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.
Thanks,
HM Government e-petitions http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk



Tuesday 4 February 2014

One World, One Struggle.



     Pick your country and you find the people in conflict with the system. From East to West, from North to South, the system is in turmoil, people no longer accept what is thrown at them.
      The Middle East is explosive, Kiev is a battle zone, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Indonesia, Greece, all have the people on the streets demanding change. Though apartheid in South Africa, has gone as an accepted system, the people still suffer inequality, and injustice, as they still sweat under the capitalist system. In South Africa 80,000 platinum miners have been on strike for two weeks, despite their grinding poverty and the state's brutality. The strikers have turned down a 7% increase, but the strike is about more than money, it is about dreadful working conditions, injustice and inequality. The usual symptoms of a system that doesn't fit the people's world. One day we will surely pull all these battles together, after all it is one struggle, and with one massive movement, rid this world of the greatest crime against humanity, capitalism.

 

     In South Africa, miners have rejected a 9 percent wage increase offer from the platinum industry as their strike enters its second week. Tens of thousands of members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, or AMCU, walked off the job last week to protest harsh working conditions. They are also asking for a living wage that will double their current wages. Tensions have been high between the sides, with the media reporting several acts of violence in mining towns.
Read the full article HERE:



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

Victory For Solidarity.


     Solidarity wins again. Time and time again the solidarity of the ordinary people, turns back repression. The truth we must grasp, when we pull together we win.
     Campaign success ! Charges dropped against Fiji hotel leaders
    All police charges against leaders of Fiji’s National Union of Hospitality Catering and Tourism Industries stemming from a New Year’s Eve strike were dropped on February 2. Union President Dan Urai and five others, who had been free on tough bail conditions, were charged by the military dictatorship's police on January 9 with leading an “illegal strike” at Sheraton Fiji Resort and Westin Denarau Island Resort and Spa (both owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.) despite the fact that the union was negotiating with management following the brief industrial action.
   The union thanks all who supported the international campaign and will continue its fight against the unilateral withdrawal of benefits and for the elimination of the part-time work category which can deprive workers of retirement benefits
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Monday 3 February 2014

Silence Can Speak Volumes.


       The courage of silence in the face of repression is seldom easy, and those who choose that path can sometimes speak volumes in the defence of human dignity. The state is never a soft enemy, it can be vindictive, harsh, brutal, vicious, duplicitous  and unforgiving, and those who feel its wrath and maintain their principles are heroes. Jerry Koch is one of those heroes.

      This is not to say that I haven’t suffered – I’ve lost more during my incarceration that I ever thought possible. I grieve for every goodbye, and I doubt that some of these scars will ever heal. It is during truly difficult times that reveal what lives in the core of people, and that knowledge can sometimes be incredibly painful. But so too can that knowledge make us stronger; I take comfort from those of my fellows who have also refused to be made into subjects of this place. My own resistance is far from unique. It is found in those who have always said NO to those in power. My refusal to cooperate is my contribution to this tradition of defiance to arbitrary and repressive power. I will not cooperate. I will not be institutionalized. No compromise in this. I will not sacrifice my dignity in order to leave this place, and that’s not nothing.”

Sunday 2 February 2014

For Queen And Country And All That Crap.


     As the 100 years anniversary of the start of first World War draws ever closer, we should be prepared for the Cameron/Gove clan of duplicitous imperialist's, mounting crescendo of foul lies, that it was all for freedom and democracy.  What those who fought in that horrific shameful episode of imperialist greed, came home to, was not freedom and democracy. They came home to poverty and deprivation, while the imperialist decision making war mongers, pinned honours on their breast, stuffed their coffers with plunder and basked in the reflected glory of other people's suffering and deaths.
       As the year progresses, we have to organise to shine the light of truth on their hollow, sham pompous and hypocritical facade. We have to remember those British troops that the British military shot because they had suffered to the extent that they couldn't fight any more. They named it cowardice, in an attempt to cover their blood letting.
      The first World war was probably the most brutal imperialist fallout ever, where those who had wealth and power, got the people to slaughter each other in an attempt to enlarge or hold onto that wealth and power. There never was any thought of freedom or democracy for the people, on their agenda. It was all jingoism, smoke and mirrors, propaganda, as the aristocrats of the world scrambled to plunder what the could from each other.
    Let's remember it for what it was, imperialist greed, pompous arrogance of those with wealth and power, a sacrifice of a generation of ordinary people at the altar empire. We owe it to all those ordinary people who died needlessly, simply offered up as payment for territory, wealth and power to gratify the lust of the greed infested imperialists.


       In February 2013, Ben Griffin, former SAS soldier in the British army, Ben Griffin spoke at the Oxford University Union debate in favour of the motion "We Will NOT Fight For Queen and Country", explaining why he would no longer accept the lies which perpetuate war.

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

State Repression Of Unions.


Fijian union leaders arrested after a strike at Starwood hotels
      Fiji is governed by a harsh military dictatorship which maintains a permanent crackdown on civil, political and trade union rights. Six leaders of the island’s hotel workers union now face trial on criminal charges – while their union is negotiating with the employer!

   
      We sent you this message two weeks ago, but the charges still hang over them. Please take a moment to respond by sending a protest message. Your voice makes a difference. On January 9, six union leaders from the National Union of Hospitality Catering and Tourism Industries were arrested and charged as a result of what the government claims to have been an "unlawful strike" that took place on New Year's Eve at Sheraton Fiji Resort and Westin Denarau Island Resort and Spa (owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.) at Narewa village, Fiji. Workers in fact held a spontaneous protest against the unilateral removal of their staff benefits.
     The military government declared the strike illegal and arrested the leadership of the union. Now they are out of jail but harsh bail conditions prevent them from exercising their role and their rights as union leaders.
       Although it is believed Starwood played no direct role in their imprisonment, the Company was responsible for workers taking action as a result of management's unilateral withdrawal of workers' benefits.
    CLICK HERE to urge Starwood management to use their influence to persuade the authorities to drop the case against union leaders.


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

Saturday 1 February 2014

When Does The Killing Stop?


 
      
      Day and daily vulnerable people are dying after being assessed as fit to look for work, and having their disability benefit cut by ATOS. This vicious penny-pinching scheme devised by Ian Duncan Smith continues to cause anxiety, stress and trauma and in a number of cases, death to some of the most vulnerable in our society. Despite this, our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, keeps very quiet on this matter. Thankfully people across the country are taking action to support and show solidarity with all those in the firing line of this brutal ideological attack by our millionaire lords and masters.

 
     
     The group, Glasgow Against ATOS, has been holding a monthly pickets on the last Friday of the month, outside the doors of the Glasgow offices of ATOS. This Friday, in spite of the dreadful weather, saw a very colourful and imaginative group once again show their support for those vulnerable people being victimised and to show their anger and disgust at this attempt at a cull on the working class.

 

These figures are from Black Triangle Campaign, and though out of date give an indication of the devastation and misery caused by this unjust, brutal attack on the vulnerable in our communities.

Number of deaths for Jan. to Nov. 2011 = 10,600 - supplied by DWP via Atos from page 6 of following pdf
THIS BREAKS DOWN THUS:
Those with Assessment not complete 2,200 (50.6 per week)

Those in Work Related Activity Group 1,300 (29.9 per week)

Those in Support Group 7,100 (153.6 per week)
Total number of deaths 10,600 (to nearest 100)

Jan to Nov inclusive is 11 months = 47.5 weeks

10,600 deaths divided by 47.5 weeks = 223.2 deaths per week

Total approximation in EACH group is 223.2 divide by 3

Approximation of deaths in each of 3 groups = 74.4 per week

1. It’s important to know how 73 (74.4) was sourced, and

2. That this number is an average within 3 different groups and

3. That the overall number of deaths is 223.3 per week
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