Holly Joes And Sharp-Shooters.

      Isn't it strange how the holly Joes end up with their finger on the trigger. We had that fundamentalist Christian, Bush, with his messianic Catholic buddie, Blair, blasting the people of Iraq back to the stone age. Then we sighed a sigh of relief when they were gone, only to find that Etonian millionaire Cameron finds guidance in church on a Sunday. He wishes to act like Dynrod, clearing a way for Christians to be more open in The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption. Why do nutcases get to the top of the heap? The last thing we need in a volatile world, is those in charge getting their information from an imaginary man in the sky. All of them of course convinced that their man in the sky is the only one, and always right, and each coming back with a different message.

      We have created a system where holly Joe visionaries and sharp-shooting conmen rule the roost. They hold the reins of power, selfishly stashing the plunder in their personal coffers, obviously mayhem will continue until we remove the nutcases from power, and take charge of our own lives.

      The record of the holly Joe and sharp-shooter society, is one of injustice, violence, poverty, deprivation, and a planet that is dying from human abuse.

     I'm sure any one of us could come up with a fairer and saner way to run society, but it wont happen, unless we the ordinary people stand up, take those reins and control the direction we wish to go. A fairer, sustainable society that sees to the needs of all our people is surely not beyond our ability.

Grand Plans.

In this world where we serve oblivion

with a blind pride and sure conviction

creating plans to land a man on Mars

grandiose schemes to conquer the stars

eyes on horizons ever further afield

believing, to us the universe will yield.

Yet here on Earth we fail to see

a chaotic world of human debris,

our magnificent results thus far

a planet dying from a human scar,

oblivious that our plans sublime

are mere litter scattered in space and time.

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

The Seasons.

If we are fortunate, our life is like a year, it has all the seasons.

THE SEASONS.

When you look, it's plain to see,

spring has crossed these mountains,

------------------ many years before;

kissed their slopes, with shoots of hope,

promised so much more.

Then sweeping in, in a blaze of life,

summer saw the promises bloom,

---------------- many years before;

bathed the dreams, in bounteous streams,

birds began to soar.

So with stealth, and deceptive charm,

autumn cooled the gurgling streams,

------------------ many years before;

slowed their pace. to one of grace,

quietly closed a door.

Now, with vulgar haste, and callous force,

winter assaults those mighty peaks,

--------------- of many years before;

as gathering clouds, spread their shroud,

memories start to pour.

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

The Ragged-Trouser Philanthropist.

      Today, April 23, is the hundredth anniversary of the publication of The Ragged-Trouser Philanthropist, by Robert Tressell, his real name was Robert Noonan. Robert Tressell died in 1911, his book was published three years later, in 1914. It is still as relevant today as it was when it was written, all those years ago.

This from Parrysongs

        Today is the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, my favourite book.
       To commemorate the anniversary, the film making team at “Shut Out The Light” have released this fabulous trailer of their forthcoming film Still Ragged.
       I’m really proud that my song Letter To Kathleen, based on Tressell’s final letter home to his daughter, is the soundtrack to the trailer.
        The film itself features Ricky Tomlinson, Dennis Skinner MP, Len McCluskey of UNITE and Tom Watson MP amongst others.

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

The Vicious Circle.

And so it goes on and on and------

THE VICIOUS CIRCLE.

To escape the days battles

I welcome night's embrace,

lose myself in darness

all problems to erase.

Let darness banish conflict

bring me thoughts sublime,

bring my world to rest

still the hand of time.

Alas,   darkness hides the clock

not the pendulum in my mind,

anguish, swing back and forth

measuring relentless time.

Until,   at last!

night, fleeing dawns advance

surrenders to the light;

consciousness grasps the moment,

another day, another fight. 

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

We Need To Organise Pan-European.

       Does anybody still think that the UK austerity plan and the privatisation of everything, including the health service, is purely a UK government plan? It is happening across the planet, in the new era of capitalism, public is evil, private is good. Populations will be impoverished as all wealth is syphoned up to the privileged parasite class, at an ever increasing rate.

         Greece, a country I visited regularly over a number of years, and in my earlier visits in and around Athens, I never saw a begger. Now it is not uncommon to see people sleeping in doorways, including children. You will see people rummaging through waste bins in search of something to eat or sell. Suicides and substance abuse have rocketed in the last few years. 

         Spain, remember that country that you went to on holiday, bustling streets and shops and a friendly atmosphere? Well, regarding child poverty, Spain has now dropped to the second worst in Europe, just above Romania.

        Of course both of these countries always had poverty, under capitalism every country has poverty. The difference now is that it is widespread, endemic and getting worse, not because of the lack of wealth, but because of the ever increasing rate at which that wealth is being sucked upwards.

        Even those countries that are considered the leaders in social welfare, Sweden for example, are now seeing their public services being gobbled up by the corporate greed machine, to the detriment of the general population.

Two short quotes from The International Journal of Socialist Renewal: 

       Tonight’s public meeting is standing room only. The mood is cheerful, earnest, disciplined and, dare I say it, rather churchly. Fittingly, we begin with songs: first a hymn tune with the refrain "Everything is for sale", then a jazzier number that goes "Got any money? (Then you can buy a place in the queue)". Next there’s a short dystopian pantomime set in a hospital waiting room: the man with the private plan goes straight upstairs while the lady on the public option has to wait in line. The sheepish uninsured fellow with the broken leg is shown a price list, then the door. 

       Sweden’s welfare system is famously extensive: long parental leave, free childcare, free tertiary education, generous social security. After the economic crisis of the early 1990s successive governments have reduced entitlements and cut public spending, but what has changed the most is the incorporation of the private sector at every level of the welfare state. All public contracts are subject to competitive tendering and most new clinics and hospitals are built with private funds. Communal clinics, nursing homes and schools compete with private firms for pupils and patients. Last year the state paid almost 100 billion kronor (£11 billion) to private welfare operators, overwhelmingly to 10 large corporations all owned by private equity funds.

Read the full article HERE:

           Bearing in  mind the above facts, do you honestly believe that changing the smiling face of the Etonian millionaire, sitting on the throne at the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, for another smiling Oxford educated suit, will make one bleeding bit of difference in the direction this country and every other country in Europe, is being driven? Will running and putting a X in a box in favour of party machine that is in the thrall of the financial mafia and the corporate world, stop the UK slide into a sweatshop economy, reverse the child poverty in Spain, reduce the deprivation and suicides in Greece, and bring back Sweden's social welfare system? Don't hold your breath. 

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

An Open Internet, Or A Corporate Controlled Internet?

President Obama is holding secret meetings in Asia to ram through the TPP’s Internet censorship plan, which would force ISPs to monitor our Internet use, censor content, and remove entire websites. To fight back we need your help to project an attention-grabbing message on key buildings in Washington D.C. Tell decision-makers to stop the secretive TPP now so we can deliver the message before it’s too late.

An urgent appeal from Open Media:

      This is urgent. An Internet censorship plan is being finalized in secret meetings right now. We need all hands on deck at this crucial moment. Click HERE to learn more and speak up.

      Here’s the situation: Obama himself is in secretive meetings with key political figures and lobbyists in Asia to lock the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Internet censorship plan into place.

We know from leaked documents that this secretive plan will censor your use of the Internet and strip away your rights.1 If finalized, this plan would force ISPs to act as “Internet Police” monitoring our Internet use, censoring content, and removing whole websites.2

     It will give media conglomerates centralized control over what you can watch and share online.

We urgently need your help to fight back. Add your voice right now and we’ll project a Stop the Secrecy message on key buildings in Washington D.C. to ensure Obama, the media, and everyone else knows this censorship plan must be stopped.

       This is huge: covering 40% of the global economy, the TPP is being called a legal “blueprint” for the rest of the world.[3] Once key leaders finalize TPP Internet censorship plans today it will be used to globalize censorship across the world. You will be affected and this may be our only chance to stop it.

        Our attention-grabbing message will shine a light on their secret plan and will make clear to Washington lobbyists that the Internet community will never accept the TPP’s secrecy or censorship. The more who speak out, the larger our projection will become, and the more people we can reach.

This is a decisive moment: we need to act right now. Join with hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to shine a light on the TPP’s job-killing Internet censorship plan. Let’s send decision-makers and the lobbyists pulling the strings a message they can’t ignore: "Stop the secrecy now."

        With every voice that is added to our call, a donor will contribute to make Stop The Secrecy projection in Washington bigger and brighter. We’ve stalled them before and we can kill this censorship plan if we act together at this critical moment. The bureaucrats and lobbyists think they can ram through this damaging binding plan behind your back and without your consent. Will you let them get away with it, John?

      Thank you for being a part of history,

     Steve, Josh, Eva, and David, on behalf of your OpenMedia.org team

      P.S., If the TPP censorship plan goes through, the Internet as we know it will change forever. We’d be left with an Internet that’s far more expensive, censored, and policed. We know we can stop this - but we need to act right now. Can we count on you to stand with us, John?

Footnotes

[1] “Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).” Source: WikiLeaks.

[2] TPP Creates Legal Incentives For ISPs To Police The Internet. What Is At Risk? Your Rights. Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation

[3] U.S. “Bullying” TPP Negotiators Amid Failure to Agree. Source: Inter Press Service News Agency. *Note: The U.S. and the E.U. are already discussing a similar secretive agreement called "Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)". Once the TPP is finalized there will be pressure to harmonize and extend its provisions to TTIP -- meaning the E.U. There are also reports of several others countries being added to the TPP once it is finalized.

OpenMedia.org is a non-profit organization that relies on donations from people like you to operate. Our small but dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way to make your voice heard. Please donate today.     We are an award-winning network of people and organizations working to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Charity Is No Answer To Poverty.

Is it possible for a shaking can to eliminate the poverty?

POVERTY'S DEEPER THAN THE POCKET.

Day and daily the cry goes up

cans are shaken beneath your nose,

give generously, help fill their cup,

but anybody that can think, knows

our poverty is deeper than the pocket.

Poor, struggling to create a life

as privilege shuts the door,

feeling the thrust of poverty's knife

cut right to the core,

they know, poverty's deeper than the pocket.

Rich, no desire to arrest

this Tammany that purloins by stealth,

potential, opportunity, by poverty oppressed,

inequality, injustice, privilege tied to wealth

ensure, poverty's deeper than the pocket.

Prince's fund, charity shop,

gala evening for some "GOOD" cause,

smiling patronage from the top,

egos washed in loud applause

all to conceal, poverty's deeper than the pocket.

We don't want your charity

patronisingly given from plundered gold

accrued by endless barbarity

from a system where dignity is sold:

you're the reason, poverty's deeper than the pocket.

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

Sweatshop Conditions In California.

       Now and again that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, report on dreadful working conditions in some Eastern sweatshop, but seldom, if ever, on the conditions of those working under similar conditions in the so called Western developed countries. Their finger points east, but we should remember that old movie expression, “Go West young man”. The great food basket of America, California, has some of the worst working condition for agricultural workers any where in the world. An abundance of cheap fruit and veg on the back of appalling conditions suffered by under paid, over worked, abused and harassed workers. Capitalism doesn't recognise east or west, it just sees opportunities to exploit. Profit is king.

This from United Farm Workers: 

 

Should anyone have to go through this?

     The conditions under which many melon pickers in this country work stink. Sometimes literally. Can you help?

Azucena Ordorica has had five years’ experience picking melons in California. Her descriptions of the restrooms near the fields where she has worked are stomach-turning: “The bathrooms were always very dirty,” she says. “When I would open the door, a horrendous smell along with a swarm of flies would come out. The flies were flying and landing all over my body,” she says. “It was horrible.”

    And that’s not the worst of it. According to melon harvester Brenda A. Ruiz, “On occasions bathrooms are not provided.” Brenda also says that “The water that is provided to drink is hot and dirty.” And the bosses find creative ways to take the workers’ meager wages away from them. Brenda reports that she and her co-workers are required to carpool with their supervisors — at a cost of $15 per day!

   Women workers endure special threats and humiliations. Azucena had a particularly traumatic experience with sexual harassment. “On the first day of employment, a supervisor once told me if I had sex with him twice a week, he would make sure I had work for the entire season,” she says. “Since I refused, I was fired.”

People should NOT be subjected to such abuses to support themselves and their families. Cantaloupes and other melon crops bring hundreds of millions of dollars of profit every year to U.S. growers. They can afford to pay their workers better and to ensure that their employees work in safe, sanitary conditions.

     We know it is possible because one exceptional company, Perez Packing Inc. of Firebaugh, California, is working with the UFW to make it happen. We’re currently negotiating with them to give their workers the kind of union contract every farm worker deserves. 

     By sending your contribution today, you’ll allow us to organize at the other melon companies with these horrible abuses. Every donation, regardless of the amount, makes a difference and is greatly appreciated.

https://secure.ufw.org/melons

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

The Lid Is Still On, But The Pot Is Boiling!!

     The people in Spain have been getting the same message from their government that we in the UK are getting, "things are getting better, the economy is on the mend.". Of course the people in Spain don't feel that, and don't believe the propaganda, nor should we. 

     Protest in Spain and Greece have been almost continuous for a number of years now, but the mainstream media, that babbling brook of bullshit, just reports words from the mouthpieces of the financial Mafia, economic gurus and the pundits who kneel before the altar of eternal growth.
This from Roar Mag:

       The latest short documentary in the Global Uprisings series explores ongoing resistance and self-organization in the midst of the crisis in Spain.

        As social conditions continue to deteriorate across Spain, people have been turning to the streets and to each other to find solutions to the crisis. This film tells the story of the massive mobilization that saw millions of people converge on Madrid on March 22, 2014; the story of the proliferation of social centers, community gardens, self-organized food banks; and the story of large-scale housing occupations by and for families that have been evicted. The film pieces together many of the creative ways that people have been coping with crisis and asks what the future may hold for Spain.

        Filmed and edited in March/April 2014, it is part of the Global Uprisings documentary series. View more at globaluprisings.org.

Pieces of Madrid from brandon jourdan on Vimeo.

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

Who Calls The Shots?

     Who calls the shots, who pulls the strings, who does the deadly deeds, who takes the prize?

HIDDEN POWERS.

Today, lives are shaped by powers we fail to see,

stealthily fashioning our fears, forming our hates,

binding us to a life on bended knee.

Invoking demons on a distant shore

insidiously fanning the flames of fear

'till hate becomes a roar. Then

ours the hand that holds the gun

theirs the finger that points

their's the prize when the deed is done;

ours to lose our loves to the lonely grave

drowning our hearts in a sea of tears,

draining the world of the young and the brave

who, believing they answer a country's call

desert lovers' arms for death's embrace

victims of another cambist brawl.

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

Proof - Money Rules.

 

    So, two very respected professors from Princeton and Northwestern universities, do an extensive study and come up with what you and I already know, “America is not a democracy”. Well it is nice to get confirmation of your opinion from such established institutions. Of course, we are also very sure that if the two learned professors took the methods across the Atlantic to the UK, they would come up with the same findings, money rules the UK. Is there anybody out there that still believes that there is such a thing as Western democracy?

This from Roar Mag:

       It’s not every day that an academic article in the arcane world of American political science makes headlines around the world, but then again, these aren’t normal days either. On Wednesday, various mainstream media outlets — including even the conservative British daily The Telegraph — ran a series of articles with essentially the same title: “Study finds that US is an oligarchy.” Or, as the Washington Post summed up: “Rich people rule!” The paper, according to the review in the Post, “should reshape how we think about American democracy.”

       The conclusion sounds like it could have come straight out of a general assembly or drum circle at Zuccotti Park, but the authors of the paper in question — two Professors of Politics at Princeton and Northwestern University — aren’t quite of the radical dreadlocked variety. No, like Piketty’s book, this article is real “science”. It’s even got numbers in it! Martin Gilens of Princeton and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University took a dataset of 1,779 policy issues, ran a bunch of regressions, and basically found that the United States is not a democracy after all:

Read the full article HERE:

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

The Magic Of Poverty.

    Mountains of wealth and swamps of poverty, the contradictions inherent in this vicious system of capitalism.

THE MAGIC OF POVERTY.

Despondency,   our morning cloak

worn through the lonely day,

walking poverty's empty corridors

remembering promise that broke

in castle made of clay.

Indignation trapped in a heart

desire lost in a fog

poverty's special magic where,

a lover becomes a tart,

a spouse a snarling dog.

Voices raised in anger

hands wrung in despair

faces with no love

self-pride a stranger

confidence a rare affair.

Tired wishes, empty hopes, tears

and broken dreams,

short lived loves, brittle vows,

tomorrows filled with fear;

poverty's melody themes.

Our daughters and our sons

innocent and intent

born in the labyrinth of poverty;

a dark place bright hope shuns,

and dreams re never sent.

By the force of poverty drawn

to become the labouring crowd,

filling the world with plenty, yet

missing out on the golden dawn,

their passions by poverty cowed.

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

Workers Know Your History - The Ludlow Massacre, 1914.

         In the 21st. Century as the corporate bodies try to trash workers pay and conditions, ably encouraged and supported by that millionaire cabal sitting in the Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, we should do well to remember that this is not a new phenomenon, it has been part and parcel of this system of capitalism since its inception. Our history is littered by brutal and cruel attacks on our living conditions, some more brutal than others. You can pick your era, and you will find the workers in struggle to hold onto what meagre conditions they have, or to try to extract some sort of improvement.

      Today marks the 100th anniversary of one of those brutal and cold blooded attacks on workers in struggle, resulting in the murder of men, women and children. April 20, 1914, in America saw the state and its corporate buddies brutally attack a tent town of striking miners and their families. The event is recorded in our history as the Ludlow Massacre.

       It was an era of bitter struggles across the industrial world, and in America there had been numerous strikes by miners, railroad workers and textile workers and many others. In Colorado the miners had been in a long struggle trying to unionise against long hours, low pay and the mining companies continuous policy of failing to abide by labour laws. The conditions were exacerbated by the fact the the miners had to live in company towns, homes built and owned by the company, and instead of “money” were paid in company tokens, called “script”, which could only by used in company stores. In 1913 the miners took strike action after the companies rejected seven demands from the Union of Mine Workers of America, (UMWA). The strike action was met with the company evicting the families from the company homes. 

 

      The miners union, (UMWA) then leased land on which they built tent villages for the miners and their families. By now the mine owners had recruited an armed detective agency to protect their scab labour and to harass the striking miners. The detective agency, (militiamen) often fired into the tent villages. To combat this the miners dug deep pits in the tents to protect their families. On April 20, 1914, a combined force of National Guard, and company militiamen set up a machine gun on the ridge over looking the tents at Ludlow. This resulted in the miners arming themselves to protect their families.

      Throughout the day gunfire was exchanged, but many of the tent inhabitants were able to escape to the hills. However many stayed huddle in the pits underneath their tents. At approximately 7pm in the evening, the state's and companies' armed thugs descended on the camp. The camp leader Louis Tika came forward to negotiate with the Guard commander, a Lt. Karl Linderfelt. However negotiation was not on the minds of the Guardsmen nor the militiamen.   

      What happened next is described by an eyewitness, an engineer, named Godfrey Irwin, his report states; “Suddenly an officer raised his rifle, and felled Tikas with the butt. Tikas fell face downward…we saw the militiamen fall back… they aimed their rifles and deliberately fired them into the unconscious man’s body…. it was a murder and nothing less,”

      After this cold blooded murder, the militia proceeded to spray the camp with their machine guns then moved in and torched the tents. In one tent four women and 11 children had been hiding in the pit of their tent as it burned, two of the women and all 11 children suffocated in the smoke. The final death toll is disputed, but what is certain is at least 19 to 26 people including 11 children, died at the Ludlow Massacre, all in the name of profit for the companies.

      The strike went on until December 1914 and so did the repression and deaths. This is the true face of capitalism, its blood drenched hand has stained the working class for centuries and it is not likely to change. Only when it is eradicated will we be able to walk that road to justice and a fair society.

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

Climate Change, Food Crisis And Venezuela.

       So what is really happening in Venezuela, don't expect the mainstream media, that babbling brook of bullshit, to shed any light on the matter, perhaps you can glean something from this video.

Food Fight! from Anarchy Now on Vimeo.

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

Homeless.

Just a thought------

HOMELESS.

Tenebrous spectres, they exist,   out there,

on the crumbling edge of chaos.

A father, a son, a brother,

a daughter, a sister, a mother.

Fragments of some shattered family structure;

waste products

from a society being driven to destruction

by a hurricane of greed,

living a life that wears out life,

dying,

the devious death of exhaustion from existence.

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

Where Have All The People Gone??

        The only way to get to grips with what is happening to Glasgow's East End, is to get down there and find out. I would imagine that if you do, and you should, the first thing you'll probably say is, "where have all the people gone?". Busy, bustling East End has been replace by a series of grandiose schemes that will push up land and house prices, excluding the ordinary people from the area. The ever creeping disease of gentrification spreads it tentacles, feeding the corporate mob and pushing the ordinary people into ghettos, out of sight of the tourists and those who can pay top dollar for their homes.

Glasgow City Council's plans for the people of Glasgow.

This from Glasgow Games Monitor:

FREE PUBLIC WALK IN THE EAST END

Saturday, 26th April, 1-5pm (12.45 for 1pm start). Meet at Bridgeton Cross Umbrella, Bridgeton

Organised by Glasgow Games Monitor 2014: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/

Regeneration is always imposed from above by local councils, government, land developers and property agents. The organisers of the Commonwealth Games 2014 and Clyde Gateway regeneration projects tell us that everyone will gain a social and economic legacy from the Games and redevelopment in the East End. But is that true?

What is that claim based on?

We say that 'regeneration' is just a sugar-coated name for gentrification: the working of land and property markets and the displacement of poor people with the aim of supposedly 'higher end' values. Large mega-events and regeneration projects like the Commonwealth Games and Clyde Gateway are prime examples of that process. Find out for yourselves! Join Glasgow Games Monitor 2014 and local residents on a public walk to investigate these claims.

In a collective 'territorial inquiry', or investigation from below, we will examine the power relations and money behind planning and policy documents, regeneration agencies, land ownership, housing privatisation, welfare 'austerity', and the organisations that claim to represent community members.

Rather than looking above for solutions to these problems, we aim to discuss and organise collectively with all those who struggle against urban injustice. We will emphasise first of all the experiences of those most directly affected by urban development (through compulsory purchase, displacement, closure of vital services, environmental disruption, road-building, etc). The lesson from similar large-scale

urban projects is that people get the best gains (in terms of social housing, services, public space and amenities) when they resist the privatising logic of 'regeneration' and organise effectively for better conditions.

ALL WELCOME. ESPECIALLY LOCAL RESIDENTS

Glasgow Games Monitor 2014: http://gamesmonitor2014.org/ Contact:

gamesmonitor2014@googlemail.com

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