Women On The March, Glasgow.

       Today, Tuesday October 23rd., the streets in the centre of Glasgow were greeted to a joyful, good humoured, noisy procession.  Care workers, council employees, were on strike for parity of pay with men, and held a procession, ending with a rally in George Square. As they noisily weaved their way through the streets of Glasgow, they were greeted by applause from the side of the road, though sadly, I must say, mainly by women. This is a dispute that has dragged on for about ten years now. It is strange that in a so called democracy they are still fighting for equality and justice. What is about fairness and justice that the powers that be don't understand?

     I would put the numbers about a thousand or so, a fair turnout. While watching the energy, solidarity, boisterous and vociferous nature of the whole affair, the thought occurred to me, that if we want a revolution in the UK, we should perhaps leave it to the women, they seem to come together in a much more rebellious nature.

     Some photos:

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Cloned Cities For The Wealthy.

       This piece originally published in Squat-Net, but could equally apply to any modern city, as capitalism clones city after city in the interest of profit. Cities are now places for speculators to gamble their ill-gotten gains in the hope of ever increasing profits, and a place for the wealthy to flaunt their expensive toys and mingle in expensive restaurants. The ordinary, the poor, are pushed to the perimeter to make do as best they can, most of them now superfluous to the systems requirements. However, some are doing as we should all do, fighting back.

From Squat Net:

      Amsterdam: Today, October 17, the Mobiele Eenheid, a collective of involved Amsterdammers, occupied the old Gedempt Hamerkanaal 86. The building has been empty for over a year without any concrete plans for use in the near future. We plan to transform this badly maintained building into a non-commercial social center; a space by and for people to come together, exchange ideas and skills, work collectively and actively influence the developments in the city.
     We oppose the current developments in the city. Over the last 5 years the average price of a house in Amsterdam has gone up by more than 80%. Due to high rent many inhabitants have been pushed out (of their homes) and the city. Many are forced to give up their tenancy rights and live in anti-squats, currently a conventional alternative to renting, even though it enables real estate speculation. In addition, gentrification and tourism are changing Amsterdam. Space for people with a small wallet or non-profit initiatives have basically disappeared. The last free-spaces are currently under threat. Amsterdam is increasingly becoming an expensive, predictable, individualistic and exclusive city, whereas we want to live in a city that is diverse and inclusive.
       This is why we are opening up this space for the benefit of the local community and the residents of Amsterdam. Together we can create a stronger sense of community and a voice against current developments. Through a program with political debate, music, art and communal projects, we want to connect and involve anyone that wants to be a part of the city’s community and potentially participate in its development. Squatting unused property for public benefit has a long tradition in our city and we will continue.
      We run this place collectively and voluntarily. You are very welcome to pass by during one of our events, or to join and help out!

Mobiele Eenheid
Gedempt Hamerkanaal 86
1021 KR Amsterdam
info [at] mobiele-eenheid [dot] org
https://mobiele-eenheid.org/

Join Us page https://mobiele-eenheid.org/join-us/

      We see that the commercialisation, gentrification and growing tourism are making of Amsterdam an expensive and exclusive city. Amsterdam is becoming more individualistic, more monotonous and boring. Also, the city is now a playground for tourists and a board game for the rich, who speculate with the spaces of the city, entirely not giving a damn about us, the people who use those spaces, whether to live or to meet.
     We firmly believe that it is not the right of the rich to play with the buildings of the city or to decide what to do with them. Since we also enjoy a lot of having fun with and in the city, we decided to start playing, but we are doing it in our own way: we are starting a non-commercial, self-organised, autonomous, and free space.
     We see that the commercialisation, gentrification and growing tourism are making of Amsterdam an expensive and exclusive city. Amsterdam is becoming more individualistic, more monotonous and boring. Also, the city is now a playground for tourists and a board game for the rich, who speculate with the spaces of the city, entirely not giving a damn about us, the people who use those spaces, whether to live or to meet.

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Ideas In Closed Circles?

       As anarchists are 100% for the abolition of the state, it surely follows that the state will be 100% against anarchism. Hence its propaganda mouthpiece, the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, will paint anarchists as mindless, violent advocates of destruction, and its biased and corrupt judicial system will deal with them as such. Because of this misrepresentation of anarchism, I have always been a strong advocate of showering our towns and cities with paper, leaflets, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, etc. all explaining what anarchism is really about. Our "propaganda" has to be stronger than theirs. I'm not dismissing direct action and other projects of autonomy, but without the general public getting to know what we are all about, they will still carry this media based caricature of anarchists in their minds.

      For a considerable number of years I produced a paper called "The Anarchist Critic", as well as walking through Glasgow's streets handing it out, to all and sundry, I would leave it at various places, on buses, in cafes and pubs, etc.. I'm not claiming I started a social revolution in Glasgow, but I do believe that I may just have altered some people's perception of anarchism. On a massive scale, I'm sure it would create a different view of our beliefs and why we do what we do. Social media seems to have replaced the paper in your hand, I know that social media has a place, but there are millions of ordinary people who never enter the world of internet social media, and we neglect them at our peril. Unless the general public are aware of our ideas, in times of crisis, when they look for answers, they are not going to pick up our ideas, if they unaware of them in the first place.

      I know it is easier to sit down at a computer and publish your thoughts and ideas, your activities etc. but I feel your are talking to a rather closed circle of the same group of "followers", and "friends".  On the street, everybody you hand your paper to is a stranger, somebody new, and day in day out, that is a lot of strangers getting what you  are trying to do and say. I have spouted this before, but I do despair that we are missing avast swath of people who are the very people we have to convince, our ideas are for their benefit, and their kids benefit.

      Will I ever see the return of "The Paper" popping up across our towns and cities, in our communities. Local info shaped around anarchist ideas, in your hand to read, to keep for reference, to pass on to friends and work mates? Not nostalgia, just a belief that we are missing a valuable weapon that would be a wonderful conduit for our ideas.

 

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Wars And The Media.

       In the cycle of perpetual wars that we are mired in, we should remember the part the babbling brook of bullshit, our mainstream media, play in manufacturing acceptance of wars and the death and destruction that follows. They are the propaganda mouthpiece of the various states, and by misrepresentation, omitting facts, distorting evidence and ignoring consequences, they create the illusion that it is a "just war", a "noble cause". However, history tells us that it is always a battle of opposing power structures aiming to increase their power and wealth, or hold on to it against a competing power structure.

     In every war, it is the ordinary people that pay the savage price in death and misery of this insanity, while the wealthy and powerful gain the spoils from the slaughter.

     An event well worth making a point to attend is the coming film show and discussion being put on by The Scottish Peace Network, 

         On Wednesday, 31 October, 7 pm, Wellington Church, Glasgow Uni campus, the Scottish Peace Network will be screening a major portion of We Are Many-- a excellent film about the massive, coordinated, worldwide demonstrations on 15 February 2003 to halt plans for a war on Iraq by the US and the UK.
      This film screening and discussion is part of a series of events closing four years of counter-centenary actions and events aimed at telling the truth about the causes and consequences of the First World War.
       The truth then and now is that official lies and media manipulation play a big role in the build up to, and perpetuation of, war.
        Please join us for the film and discussion as we try to stay true to our goals and values: No More Wars. No Justice No Peace.

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Aberfan, 52 Years And Hearts Still Bleed.

      October 21st. 1966 was a day of horror that took an nation to a dark place, that's the day that is remembered as the Aberfan tragedy. It was a cold damp morning that started as countless other October mornings had begun, but is now etched into the consciousness of the mining communities and beyond.  A day that took the lives of 116 children and 28 adults, from one small village in Wales. 

     A tip of coal mine slurry dumped on the side of a mountain, and on top of a stream and it grew and grew. On that fateful wet October morning, just after the kids had entered school, it started its unstoppable rush down the mountainside, fast and furious, like an unstoppable runaway locomotive. It encompassed cottages on the way down, before coming to a halt as it swamped and encased the junior school and all those inside. 

     Mining communities are well accustomed to tragedy, but what marks this one out is the fact that it mindlessly terminated the lives of 116 children, all innocent victims of a nation's greed for cheap coal.

This from the BBC:

 “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”

     The phrase is one of the most enduring and quoted of modern literature, an almost proverbial reference to the archaic and bygone.
      It is the opening line of LP Hartley’s 1953 novel The Go-Between, an eerie story set 50 years on from a tumultuous experience of an adolescent boy; an experience so devastating it propelled him prematurely into adulthood and ruined the rest of his life.
      The story of what happened in the south Wales mining village of Aberfan is a devastating one which dealt a similar fate to the children who survived it.
       It too is a story for which Hartley’s opening line could not be more pertinent.
       It is exactly 50 years since tragedy swooped down on Aberfan killing 116 children and 28 adults.
        Revisiting the "obscenity" of 21 October 1966, and its aftermath is a stark reminder of the incongruities of the past.
     Health and safety, counselling, accountability, litigation, compensation – at times met with derision – are the tenets of our modern day.
      Aberfan is an upsetting reminder of perhaps why and how much our society changed so much in little over a generation.

Continue reading HERE:

 The mistake that cost a village its children. 

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Mortal Enemies, The State And Dissent.

      States across the globe, will always act against voices of dissent, any dissent is seen as a threat to their power and control. Anarchists tend to be at the forefront of opposition to any state, so they tend to be at the receiving end of the harshest repression. Across the world today there is a crack down on anarchist individuals, groups, autonomous spaces, squats, etc.. From Russia to Italy, from Spain to Philippines, from Indonesia to America, anarchists are being harassed, beaten, imprisoned and killed.

     This case is just one among the many that are happening on a daily bases, one  that our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, will pass over without a mention. It is one from that "Land of the free", the good ol' US of A, but look and you will find them in abundance in every state, no matter its shade or shape. all those at the receiving end of this state repression deserve our full support and solidarity. 

This from 325:

Update on imprisoned anarchist comrade Eric King (USA)
     A quick update since Eric is still in the Specialized Housing Unit (SHU, segregation) and it is unknown how long he will be there. He still hasn’t received a write-up nor has he been brought up on charges, but is facing a precarious situation. Eric also has some new rules regarding mail. All paper has to be plain white or regular lined notebook paper. Envelopes have to be straight white or manila if sending something larger. Eric is also unable to receive cards.
   As folx know Eric has been through a lot of trauma recently and really could use support through mail and always always books. He was pretty badly hurt, he misses his family and really needs the community right now. Eric is so grateful for all the support, letters, and books he has received so far. We in the support crew are so appreciative of people showing our friend the love!
      Please keep Eric in your mind and heart, these are hard times and our friend will need a ton of solidarity and help in the coming months.
      You can find his Amazon wish-list here: http://a.co/gUbDsYs

Eric King # 27090045

USP LEAVENWORTH
P.O. BOX 1000
LEAVENWORTH, KS 66048
USA

As always, until all are free-
EK Support Crew
Tags: Eric G. King, USA

        This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2018 at 10:10 am and is filed under Prison Struggle.

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Hypocrisy And Crocodile Tears.

        Our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, is all a flutter, shouting “outrage”, “despicable” “savagery turned loose”, and filling papers and TV time with the alleged murder of journalist,  Jamal Khashoggi. Yes, if true, this is a despicable act, though not the worst act carried out by any state, and should be condemned. However, the coverage, to me seems out of all proportion when compared to the vicious, brutal, savage acts carried out by states across the globe. Where is the “outrage”, “despicable” “savagery turned loose” regarding the unbelievable brutality that is happening in Yemen? Where are the reams of paper, the hours of TV coverage on what is turning out to be the worst humanitarian crisis since the second world war. A country being reduced to conditions beyond belief, famine, cholera, daily mounting deaths, maimed and displaced millions. Men, women, elderly and children being encapsulated in unbelievable brutality on a daily basis. All this with the blessing of the imperialist West, it couldn’t happen without the arms from the UK and the US. We pile in the latest weapons of mass destruction into the hands of a medieval, autocratic, dictatorial, brutal regime and turn our eyes away from how they are used. Because it is good for business, large profits can be made from fostering this type of savagery.

        Nor is there much coverage of the Philippine psychopath Duterte’s war on drugs, being floated under the euphemism of “Philippine Drug War” known also as “Operation Double Barrel”. Nothing more than a vicious operation to silence dissent and intimidate the population, giving a free hand to the state minders to beat, terrorise, and kill at will.
       On these matters our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media barely raise an eyebrow, these items of savagery don’t fit their propaganda script. 

On the Philippines, this from Freedom News: 

 

 

  World, Oct 18th
        As most of you probably heard, Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed office in July 2016, had launched the “Philippine Drug War” known also as “Operation Double Barrel”. The disgraceful campaign aims at “the neutralization of illegal drug personalities nationwide”.
      The policy gave a green light to cops to routinely execute drug suspects and then plant guns and drugs on them. What’s more, there is evidence that the police is using hospitals to hide their killings. Duterte also urged the citizens of Philippines to lynch suspected drug addicts and criminals.
     In Summer 2018, four Food Not Bombs volunteers have been killed, and one has been framed for drug possession and is in jail awaiting trial. The families and friends of the victims believe that both the murders and the arrest are the result of Duterte’s war on drugs.

The four murdered activists are:

Chris Jose Eleazar (aka Mokiam)
Food Not Bombs Bukidnon/Davao volunteer
Born: Nov.17, 1990 Killed: Sept. 15, 2018

Jan Ray Patindol (aka Pating)
Food Not Bombs Davao volunteer
Born: January 2, 1989 Killed: Sep.15,2018

Jessie Villanueva De Guzman
Food Not Bombs Baliwag Volunteer
Born: June 2,1990 Killed: July 6, 2018

Patrick Paul Pile
Food Not Bombs Baliwag Volunteer
Born: December 10, 1988 Killed: July 23,2018
      Chris Jose Eleazar and Jan Ray Patindol were tortured and killed during a police raid on the home of a Food Not Bombs volunteer on in September 2018. Their bodies were covered with cigarette burns and bruises. The police claim that they “fought back”, however, the victims’ friends said the two did not resist and that the wounds on their bodies indicated that the two young men were tortured.
      Jessie Villanueva De Guzman and Patrick Paul Pile were murdered in separate incidents in July 2018. They were very active members of Food Not Bombs Baliwag. Both made their living as night-time tricycle drivers.
      Jessie was killed by the police in Baliwag, Bulacan. A week after his murder, Patrick took a passenger on his tricycle. At the end of the agreed route, a group of police were waiting. Patrick was killed by one gun shot to his back. He is one of many tricycle riders killed in similar way.
      In all four cases, the police claimed that the victims were killed during “legitimate operations” and that they resisted arrest and “fought back.
       In August 2018 in the municipality of Bantayan, Cebu, a Food Not Bombs volunteer Marco was arrested and is awaiting trial after apparently being framed for drug possession. Marco is a long standing activist: he initiated the Food Not Bombs project in Bantayan.
       He is enduring hellish conditions in prison. Despite of the political situation in the country, his supporters would like to do anything it takes for Marco to get a fair trial in what they know first hand is a corrupt state.
      In a crowdfunder website created to help Marco fight his charges, Food not Bombs organiser Chris writes: “A kind person called Marco (Cram) who I met on a quiet island called Bantayan to the north of Cebu was arrested in early August for allegedly using and selling drugs. During this arrest a packet was planted on him. He is innocent of the charges. It seems that he was set-up and if left unaided will become just another jail statistic.”
      Human rights organisations estimate that up to date, Operation Double Barrel lead to the death of more than 12 thousand people. In the first year, the victims included 54 children. Lawyers who defended drug suspects have also been targeted.
      The Amnesty International report from January 2017 details “how the police have systematically targeted mostly poor and defenceless people across the country while planting ‘evidence’, recruiting paid killers, stealing from the people they kill and fabricating official incident reports.” In the report, AI expressed deep concern “that the deliberate, widespread and systematic killings of alleged drug offenders, which appear to be planned and organized by the authorities, may constitute crimes against humanity under international law.”

You can support Marco’s campaign here.

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

Spirit of Revolt's Conscientious Objectors Event and More.

        As always, Spirit of Revolt have been a bunch of busy beavers, in the coming month they have two events coming up. The first is their now popular and regular, Show and Tell, in conjunction with The Mitchell Library. This on is on conscientious objectors from WW1 and WW2. So far the interest has been exceptional, so if interested do come early. the details are:

The Mitchell Library, 5th. floor. in the Blythswood Room.

Monday 5th. November, 12:00-2:00pm. FREE EVENT.

       It will take the form of an open discussion which will be opened by SoR member Eric Chester.  On display will be some material on conscientious objectors, select from the SoR archive by Paula, our archivist. As the world still faces continuous wars and the threat of more flaring up in other parts of the world, the thoughts behind conscientious objectors is well worth bring to the forefront of our minds. This one is a must.

     Though we at SoR believe we do a valuable job in creating a wonderful resource of the history of the ordinary people of Glasgow/Clydeside area, and making it easily accessible to the general pubic, we are an independent volunteer group with no affiliation to political parties nor trade unions. That means we need to raise that filthy stuff, money, for all manner of day to day cost of what we do.

        So the other event is a fund raiser where our friends, Thi Wurd will have a slot.The event is built round an event that took place during the miners strike, put together by a group, Artists in Solidarity and was called Writers for Miners. It was held in The Third Eye Centre, now the CCA, in Sauchiehall Street. a group of well know writers, musicians and poets came together  to raise funds for the striking miners. The audio files of the event turned up and with the consent of those performers, we have produced a CD. The event will be the launch of this CD and some of those original performers will performing at this event, with an input from Thi Wurd.

      The CD, which has 21 tracks, comes with a booklet with a description of what Artists in Solidarity was all about, and other interesting information, written by James Kelman, who will also be at this event.

The details of this event are:

Mono, Kings Court, (off King Street, near Trongate.)

Wednesday, 28th November, from 6:00pm

     This will I'm sure, be a wonderful night of great entertainment, an opportunity to hear some great and well known performers do what they do best. More info on this event will be issued from time to time as we approach nearer the time.
       For more info on either of these events you can get in touch via our Contact Page, or  info@spiritofrevolt.info 

On top of these events, the group have managed to put up on their "Read on line" facility an other interesting list of pamphlets/serials/booklets. You can read you way through this interesting and informative list of works from the links below.  

The Charlie Baird Collection

T SOR-6-7-49 The Commune. Vol. II, no. 13. 1929.

T SOR-6-7-55 Poll Tax Handbook.1989.

T SOR-6-7-56  Trades Councils. Joe McDonald. 1930.

T SOR-6-7-57 The Rights of Labour according to John Ruskin. 

T SOR-6-7-58  A Public Nuisance: Tales of adventure & a spirit of revolt, Glasgow Anarchists 1974 to 1986. Jim McFarlane. 

T SOR-6-7-59 The Working Class Against Fascism. G. Dimitrov 1935.

T SOR-6-7-62  Two Pages from Roman History. Daniel De Leon. Socialist Labour Party

T SOR-6-7-66 As We Don’t See It. Solidarity London.  

T SOR-6-7-67  Rent Strike! The Clydebank Rent Struggles of the 1920s. Sean Damer 1982.

T SOR-6-7-77  Feminism As Anarchism. Lynne Farrow. Black Bear Pamphlet No. 2.  

The KM Collection.

T SOR-4-1-18 Echanges: Bulletin of the Network ‘Echanges et Mouvement’. Nos.48&52 1986/1996

Keep coming back, we add to the list regularly, so there will always be something new and interesting to browse.

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