Same Old.

       With the Trump Biden farce still gurgling along, we should remember that America is not just Trump and Biden, across that country, I suppose as in other countries, there are lots of little Trumps and Bidens fashioning their own authoritarian wet-dreams. Lots of states across America are merrily passing legislation restricting freedom and directing people how they should think, all without any directive from their lashing insane viper leader, in the White House. Lots of anti-abortion, anti-gay banner carriers hold power in states, as well as an army of pro-Zionists under the spell of emperor Benjamin Netanyahu. An army of Zionist groupies in America have been merrily peppering various states legislation with acts to stop any criticism of Israel, and they are not going to disappear when the new Messiah Biden places his posterior on the U$A throne.

The following from Mondoweis: 

Rep. Deborah Silcox introduces Harold Hershberg of Israeli consulate (l, partial image) to Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Atlanta, GA. March 11, 2020. Screenshot. 

         A Georgia state legislator who has pushed the state law opposing boycotts of Israel testified at a hearing that the Israeli consulate “asked me” to introduce an amendment to the law, and she did. The lawmaker appeared at the hearing in March with an Israeli consular officer seated at her side, and introduced him to the House committee.
      State Rep. Deborah Silcox made her comments a month after Benjamin Netanyahu bragged that Israel was promoting these laws. Netanyahu tweeted on February 12:
       Whoever boycotts us will be boycotted… In recent years, we have promoted laws in most US states, which determine that strong action is to be taken against whoever tries to boycott Israel.
       The Israeli government’s intervention was first reported by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a March press release. I learned about it from an interview with a lawyer who is suing the state of Georgia, which was posted on Empire Files by journalist Abby Martin last Friday.

Here is the back-story.

      Thirty-two states, including Georgia in 2016, have adopted laws denying state funds to those who advocate boycotting Israel. The U.S. Senate has passed a bill urging other states to do so (The “Combatting BDS Act of 2019”). Last summer the Forward reported that an organization that has helped draft these laws received a grant from the Israeli government.
      In February 2020, Abby Martin was “disinvited… from delivering a keynote speech at an academic conference” at Georgia State University, losing out on a $1000 honorarium, because she refused to sign what she calls an “Israel loyalty oath,” affirming that she would not engage in boycotts against Israel.
     Backed by several groups including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Martin then sued Georgia State in federal court, saying that it had violated her First Amendment rights by applying the law.

       Will the ascension of Saviour Biden change all that, I doubt it very much. When you look at the "team" he is gathering around him, what you are watching is the forming of a kettle of hawks. So get ready for the big change that will keep everything the same.

 

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Acceptance.

       Where are we now in this new world wide control system, where have the little freedoms we had gone, where are our choices? We seem to have accepted the state's open prison approach to this pandemic without much of a public discussion. We willingly abandon our right to be involved in formulating the solutions of our problems, to our political ballerinas, with their economic value structure and their sole interpretation of the "science". Now we walk in a world of weariness, fear, confusion and mistrust, pinning our hopes on the big capitalist pharmaceutical companies to come up with the magic bullet, a vaccine. Could it have been different if we the public were involved in helping formulate the solutions, would the economy have outweighed the health and welfare of the people? Too late now, we are where we are, not so, we could still take control of the situation, taking the politics and economy out of the equation, and concentrating on the health and welfare of the people, allowing the experts in the fields of pandemics, public health and medicines to guide us, all free from the weight of saving the economy.
        The following an extract from an interesting article originally in El Critic 

 

Barcelona.

 Translated by Autonomies: 

 

         The social malaise spreads moment by moment. The endless sequence of confinement – de-confinement – re-confinement – is the rope that slowly asphyxiates us. It is the rope that a State, incapable and seized by panic, holds to, to try to impose its new normal. Now we know that the announced new normal is nothing more than the continuation of this nightmare. When it all started, it seemed that we were in a science fiction movie, and that we were masked protagonists. The contained emotion of the first month was made up of fear and relief; the fear of dying and the relief of not having to work. The balconies strove to open up to the sky. Now there are no songs. The slogan “Everything will be fine” sounds even more stupid, and we have learned that we are only the useful fools of a moment in the history of capitalism. The plot can be summed up in a few words: unbridled capitalism – what is usually known as neoliberalism – produces a virus that capitalism itself reuses to control us. In the silence of the night subjected to a curfew, the cry of “Enough!” is heard. We are tired, fed up with so much uncertainty, fed up with so many falsehoods and, above all, fed up with so much arbitrariness.

Read the full article HERE 

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I Despair.

         When we look around we can all see, poverty and deprivation, we are all aware of the corporate plundering of our planet and the ensuing bloody and violent wars to gain and/or to protect that plunder. We all have seen the evidence that the present economic system is destroying the planet and all life on the planet. We are all witness to the gross inequality, with a privileged few wallowing in obscene opulence, while a teardrop away the many struggle for a decent life, millions die from hunger, across the world, while millions of others find sleep in some dark doorway or back alley. Yet the many still turn up for work, politely go about their business and patiently put up with the advancing Armageddon. Why are we so forgiving, polite and patient? 

 

 

        Why is there no outrage on the streets, why is there no explosion of anger, why do we allow this system to continue to function, knowing full well the ending is death to life on our only home, planet Earth? Is it because we don't care about the future, or what happens to the next generation, our kids and grand-kids? Or is it that most are comatosed by their daily struggle to survive, or hypnotised into a zombie state of acceptance, submissiveness, consumerism, celebrity worship and envy, by an extremely sophisticated culture of subliminal control where reality comes in the form flashy images and fast moving emotional stimulating advertising and government propaganda? Our politeness must be put in abeyance, our patience must end, and our forgiveness withdrawn, and be replaced by our pent up righteous anger and blood red rage, driving our action, it is the only way we can ever hope to stop this dystopian vision becoming our worst nightmare reality. 

 

PROPHET OR DREAMER?

Am I a dreamer?
Ever dazzled by unrisen dawns,
always hearing the song of liberty
though freedom’s flag is torn.
I walk towards a world
no borders, kings or slaves;
history claims the warrior’s hand
peace the crown of bays.
I see the hungry feasting
midst the brotherhood of man;
all the children singing
the fear of famine gone.
I find the common man
hold his brother dear
create a world of social justice,
Elysian fields their sphere.
Freedom’s flag is torn,
quiet is liberty’s song
unrisen suns still to dawn;
prophet,

 Or dreamer born?

 

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Man's Inhumanity.

       This pandemic has brought misery and fear to millions across the planet, but none more so than those incarcerated in the various state's prisons. The conditions in these institutions of state repression are at best brutal and deplorable, added to these conditions has been the covid19 outbreak. This combination of inhumane conditions linked to the spread of the covid19 virus within the prison system has lead to riots in countries across the world, though not always reported. Sometimes the determination for human justice within these state hellholes takes the form of hunger strikes. Recently in Turkey we witnessed the Turkish state let two young prisoners die from the results of hunger strikes, that is not exactly unknown elsewhere. This report from the state of California in America is just another one of those cases where we search for words to describe this unacceptable and inhumane state function. The words from a 1784 dirge by Robert Burns,  "Man was made to mourn", spring to mind, "Man's inhumanity to man".

The following from It's Going Down:

       Perilous Chronicle reports on the ongoing hunger strike at Corcoran prison in Central California. 

 

 photo: Alfaz Sayed

By Ryan Fatica
          In the southern part of California’s Central Valley, about halfway between Bakersfield and Fresno, sits Corcoran, California—a small farming town surrounded on all sides by acres of cotton and tomato fields. Perched at the town’s southern tip are two of the state’s largest prisons. Together, their denizens make up about 33% of the population of Corcoran. One of the facilities, the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (CSATF), is the state’s single largest, housing 4,481 prisoners, about 130% of its intended capacity.
        At the end of October, in the midst of a rapidly spreading COVID-19 epidemic at the facility, a small group of prisoners in D yard have announced a work stoppage and hunger strike in protest of what they consider to be institution’s “failure to protect” them from the spread of a virus from which they have no means to protect themselves. “I have lost all hope in humanity because of how California and CDCR [California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation] has Failed to Protect individuals like myself,” wrote David S. Cauthen, Jr., 32, a prisoner at CSATF who says he is currently on day 14 of his hunger strike.
        In an email to Perilous, Cauthen explained that the purpose of the protest is to draw attention to the spread of COVID-19 at the facility and to protest staff misconduct. “The primary goal is to set a constitutional standard on CDCR and all of its officers, staff members and medical personnel,” Cauthen wrote. “California and CDCR cannot expect inmates to follow the law as it relates to correctional officers giving orders, while all the while officers are breaking the rules that say CDCR must protect prisoners against any harm to life of themselves.”
        The Corcoran treatment facility is home to the California prison system’s largest active COVID-19 outbreak, with 502 active cases and counting. On Wednesday, the number of positive cases at the facility jumped by almost a hundred in a single day. Of the total number of COVID-19 cases at the facility, 482 have been diagnosed in the last 14 days, according to statistics maintained by the California Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (CDCR).
        There is reason to fear that the true magnitude of the prison’s outbreak is not reflected in these statistics. Estimates of false negatives produced by PCR testing range from 20%-67%, depending on the stage of illness at which patients are tested. In one study, researchers called the rates of false negatives they found “shockingly high.” Given this reality, it is statistically likely that at least 764, or 20%, of the 3,823 prisoners at CSATF tested in the last 14 days were given false negatives. If so, it’s likely that at least 28% of prisoners at the facility are currently infected with COVID-19 and the true number could be much higher.
        Late last week, the strikers released their list of demands through the prisoner support group Oakland Abolition and Solidarity. Their demands include:
Universal and voluntary testing available to everyone in the facility with results provided immediately. Restore safe programing and basic necessities namely law library, access to telephones, showers, dormitory cleaning supplies, hot meals, and canteen. Create mechanisms of accountability by which independent family and supporters on the outside have visibility on CDCR’s plans and actions during and after an outbreak like this. According to Cauthen, officials at CSATF have visited the strikers in order to resolve their demands but have refused to officially recognize the strike. Officials at CDCR did not promptly respond to requests for comment.
       As the strike enters its third week, the safety and health of the strikers may be in jeopardy in the absence of serious efforts toward resolution on the part of prison staff. “The hunger strike will last until we notice our physical health taking a turn for the worse,” Cauthen wrote. “But even once we do begin eating, our work strike will continue and members will fail to perform work for corrections.”
      Linda Osby, Cauthen’s mother, receives only sporadic updates on the hunger strike from her home in Texas. While she appreciates that Cauthen is doing something to improve conditions at the prison for everyone, she views the hunger strike with some trepidation. “He’s been in there 18 years,” said Osby, “I’m just ready to have him home.” She’s nervous to see her son taking these risks, but she is also praying for him. In the end, she has faith that he will get through it: “God has him covered in everything he does.”
        For updates on the hunger strike and other struggles in California prisons and beyond, follow Oakland Abolition and Solidarity on their website and on Twitter: @OaklandAboSol

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Pandemic.

         You can call this pandemic what you will, hoax, grand conspiracy, over exaggerated bad flu or whatever. However, what we can all agree on is the the state/corporate system has taken full advantage of the situation. Massive increase in surveillance, greater state control over our activities and movements, curtailing large groups from meeting up, and creating a general submissiveness among the general public, while we all wait for our next instructions, all for our own good of course. Meanwhile the corporate greed machine has been getting the government to pay billions of pounds into it already stuffed coffers, money that we, the tax payer, will be forced to pay back. Then there has been their shedding of labour switching everything to online, and slashing at working conditions, while creating a large pool of unemployment, which in turn will keep wages down. 

       For those who struggle for freedom and justice in this unjust system, where should our focus be. I suppose some things will always hold good, organise mutual aid programs in you community open up discussion groups in your workplace and communities, but then there is the direct action to try and undermine, short-circuit and circumvent the system, and that I suppose is where individual and group choice comes into the affair. 

 

A Pandemic

 
C onfined to barracks no end in sight
O rdinary socialising now forbidden
R eality that doesn’t seem quite right
O pen house all invites hidden
N o hugs, no squeezes, no gentle kiss
A ny close contact, tinged with fear
V oices received through social media
I nvisible enemy prowling near
R epressive laws come with doubt
U ndying desire to be out and about
S ocial contact now told to disappear

The following from 325:

       As we’ve seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, the State takes advantage of the situation with (offline and online) monitoring, controlled by police and also through technological devices, for example CCTV, smart phones, etc. Their reasons for this situation are, as we know very well, is in the name of public safety, which is an illusion repeated over and over.
       We are faced with a situation that is uncertain, we do not know when the pandemic will end and at the same time the State is intensifying its control technology, on which the use is augmented and enhanced, CCTV for example. At the start of the pandemic we found that surveillance of urban space with CCTV increased and active police-army patrols as well. This situation makes the resistance movement decrease, we are “required” to stay put, to isolate oneself. But is this any logical reason not to follow up with the rebels on the streets? We are sure and our answer is no.
      We refuse to be passive in the midst of the control and seizure of living space by the State, government and police. However, due to this pandemic and the situation of contamination, we must seek a gap – without meaning to be arrogant – and to simultaneously maintain the health of oneself and with shared affinity and continue the rebellion (albeit minimal and inadequate). We believe it can be done. Because of this attitude, on November 13 on one of the roads of Pontianak city, we sabotaged the CCTV and take responsible for this action.
      And lastly, we are in solidarity with fellow Italian anarchists in Operation Scripta Manent, Panico, Prometo, Ritrovo, Lince, Renata, Bialystok, Scintilla, who were repressed by the public prosecutor and Brenner Court. And for fellow Belarusian anarchists, and to Monica and Francisco, also to Gabriel Pombo, also to Tanggerang and Makassar fellow anarchists, and for all imprisoned anarchists all over the world. Our attacks are dedicated to you, without terms and conditions.
Fight Control Technology!
Fight the Prison and For the Release of All Prisoners!
Long live anarchy, long live the insurrection!

Maverick Cell – Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI)

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Simple?

        I suppose I'm an old fashion and simple minded guy, so I get a bit confused with the number of variations of anarchism I hear about, I reckon we out variety Mr. Heinz with his 57 varieties. To name a few, we have, Social anarchism, Collectivist anarchism, Anarcho-communism, Philosophical anarchism, Egoist anarchism, Individualist anarchism in the United States, Individualist anarchism in Europe, Anarcho-naturism, Anarcho-Transhumanism, Anarchist-Capitalists, 

 

        I don't claim that this is the definitive list of variations, it is just a hotch-potch of varieties that I got from my friend Mr. Google.
       I embraced anarchism at the sweet and tender age of 17 while an apprentice in Fairfield's Shipyard on the Clyde, that wasn't yesterday. However I have always found that the simple word "Anarchism", was well and fully explained in the myriad of leaflets, pamphlets and books that have been around for many years. To me what it simply boils down to is that, no group or individual has the right to authority over any other group or individual, no group or individual has the right to exploit or abuse  any other group or individual, we respect each individual and function on the principles of free association and mutual aid, communities are organised on a horizontal structure and decisions taken in that manner, all based on the sustainability of the planet's ecosystems. Each can contribute in accordance with their ability and should receive according to their needs. What ever direction these societies, large or small, take, should always be governed by these simple principles. Like I said, I'm a simple minded guy, but I believe these simple principles embrace all our causes for freedom and justice, and attend to such matters as war, gender, race, patriarchy, patriotism, power, privilege, wealth accumulation and the swamp of inhumanity that smothers us in this present state/corporate capitalist system. I don't need adjectives, before or after the word, to me and my simple mind, the word "Anarchism" speaks loud and clear. Let's leave the philosophical table and take our simple word and its principles to the streets and workplaces.

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Justice!!

       The state always wants to have complete control over the population and to stifle dissent, and has an amazing array of tools for this purpose at its disposal. There is the openly displayed police force and the judicial system, and the army, though the army is multi-tasked, to fight its blood power struggle wars abroad, but when needed will be on the streets of its own country to keep that population under control. However there is those invisible tools of control, secret service, undercover agents, anti-terrorist branches of various state's State security units, all working away at infiltrating perfectly legal protest groups and political organisations the state doesn't like, and at the forefront of those political groups the state particularly dislikes are the anarchist individuals and organisations.
         Pick your country and you will find the same open and underhand attacks by the state and its band of control groups, working hard to incriminate, intimidate and destroy those individuals who would dare to accept and act upon the principles of anarchism as their way of life. North south east and west the world's states fear and would destroy, those who would work for a free, just and equal society.
      In the article below you could remove the word Brussels and replace it with any other city on earth and you will find it fits the pattern, incriminate, intimidate and when they feel necessary incarcerate, and in some countries, execute, those who would dare to challenge the status-quo, those who would have the courage to challenge this system that breeds gross injustices, inequality and wars.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

Brussels – Verdict of the Court of Appeal

         On Thursday, November 12th, the judge of the Appeals Court in Brussels made its decision public concerning the case against anarchists accused of criminal association and various crimes;
2 persons got 10 months of probation (during 5 years)
1 person got 8 months of probation (during 5 years)
1 person got 6 months of probation (during 3 years)
5 persons got a suspension of sentencing (during 3 years)
1 person got acquitted
(2 persons got acquitted in first instance and were not part of the appeal) people also got sentenced to paying fines and a part of the investigative and juridical costs, but the state will have to pay the bill for the phone taps (by far the biggest amount) (a suspension of sentencing means the judge finds you guilty and doesn’t set a sentence, but leaves this up to the next judge if you get caught in a certain period of time for a similar crime – not very different from probation)
      From 2008, the Belgian State started a large investigation aiming at different struggles – but always without concessions – against deportation centers, borders, prisons and the world of authority and exploitation. This investigation is led by the Brussels’ anti-terrorist branch of the police backed by the State Security and the intelligence agency of the army as well as various anti-terrorist branches of other European countries. The investigation is closed in 2014, culminating in the referral of 12 anarchists to the courts under the accusation of “terrorist organization” and more specific charges such as participation in a non-authorized demonstration outside the detention center 127bis in Steenokkerzeel (transformed into “attempted arson” by the prosecutor), participation in a fight with two limousine drivers and damaging their vehicles (with the aggravating circumstance of “being motivated by hate”), having insulted European Union civil servants (with the aggravating circumstance of “being motivated by hate”), assault and wounding of police officers on several occasions, obstruction of the public road, damage in various forms, etc.
     In 2017 the Advisory Court disqualifies the accusation of participation in a terrorist group (changes it into “criminal association”) and drops a number of accusations for which it feels there are not sufficient grounds to charge. In 2019 the Criminal Court rules the inadmissibility of the prosecuting against 9 accused since “the means of investigation implemented exceeded the framework of the strictly necessary and authorized” and “have brought a serious and irreparable harm” to “a fair trial”. Regarding the attack on the police station of the Marolles in 2010 (which was originally a separate investigation); 2 persons are acquitted and one found guilty of having resisted his arrest without being sentenced because the reasonable length of time has been exceeded.
      The prosecutor goes into appeal against 10 accused (not including the 2 acquitted). On October 8th, 9th and 16th 2020, the case takes place before the Appeal Court. Only one accused is present and refuses to answer the questions of the judge. The prosecutor recommends sentences ranging from 3 to 6 years effective prison. In the meantime, another investigation – also conducted by the same anti-terrorist police between 2013 and 2015 – is moving forward in the courts. 7 comrades are accused of “detention of prohibited weapons (pepperspray and slingshot)” and 6 comrades are accused of “incitement to commit crimes (arson) and misdemeanors (property damage)”. At the moment there is no date set for the Criminal Court in Brussels.

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Fantasma.

      Anarchist literature should be blowing in the wind, it should create a paper storm, it should fill the channels of communication, it should be everywhere, lying around for all and sundry to pick up, read, learn, act and pass on. Sadly, that has always been my unrealised dream. However, we can still do a wee celebratory dance when another issue of an interesting anarchist paper raises its head above the sludge of the daily deluge of the usual popcorn and bubble gum that clogs up our channels of communication. 

Welcome to the fourth edition of Fantasma all articles HERE

Fantasma Number 4, November 2020

Full readable PDF HERE:

 

LEAVING COVERED TRACKS BEHIND (EDITORIAL)

Once a again darkness soaks a new day. I open my eyes and see the past years in fast motion: the the jungle with its trees, its undergrowths and its branches which scratched my legs. These one liana which dangled not far from me while i was lost sitting on the ground. I remember like it was yesterday how I reached for it, straightened myself up and took heart again. There was wide green, high rocks, dark caves and deep canyons long after I blazed myself a trail out of the covert. All of a sudden I stepped in front of a gigantic waterfall with its tempting song of deadly maelstrom. Vainly it tried to attracted me from the waterside to ruin me. I walked on. Today the sky is cloudless and it seems to become a good day. I rub the sleep out of my eyes, listen shortly to the busy stillness and then get up from my way too soft mattress. My feet are hurting, they got sore from the long marches through the mist. But it is a good pain because it tells me that I left tracks behind. For all of those, which their life will bring on the same path. I arrived the city now, a new phase of life begins.
        Another year past since the last issue of Fantasma got published. Another year in clandestinity that hold ready lots of lessons. Exhausting lessons. Inside us there were two wolves fighting for dominance and the self-flagellation became a permanent background music.
        The next issue, come on, do the next issue!“ was the booming dogma that got louder and louder in our ears. Up until the point we had been so fed up from ourself, that we were ready to pull the plug und give up the newspaper. Paradoxically these fatalism created a moment of stillness in which we could let go; in which we were able to resolve the compulsive feeling of publishing another issue, come hell or high water. We took our hands off the wheel and relieved we were preparing us for the crash.
          To our surprise no accident was the result but finding a new route. Emotionally more distanced we gained a new momentum for the fourth issue of Fantasma without demanding anymore that it will return us to the field of social struggle. We recognize and appreciate it as a small and one-side inscribed signpost on the way into the unknown. The same as the book Incognito was a signpost for us back then, when our adventure commenced. We are also looking forward to the inscription of the other side of the signpost – from already left-behinds for (coming) left-behinds from people on the run. To talk about experiences and create some reference points what direction could be taken and what misstepts could be avoided. There is still much to say and share about it.

Until the next issue!

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A Just Struggle.

          Anyone with a rational and objective mind who takes a look at the system that we presently live under, will admit that it fails dramatically to produce fairness, justice or equality to any acceptable degree. Our society is riven with injustice, inequality and by any measure lacks fairness. The divide between those with power and wealth and the ordinary individual, is an unbridgeable chasm. Opulence, pomp, privilege, power and wealth sit cheek-by-jowl with homelessness, hunger, poverty and deprivation, creating a vision that makes a mockery of "democracy" and human decency.
         However we are naive in the extreme if we believe that those who exploit and oppress us will, through dialogue and peaceful protest, willing give up their power and privileged position and abandon their obscene wealth in an attempt to make society a fairer and more just society. They will use whatever means available to them, to protect their wealth, power and privileges, be it by passing laws, backed up by force, or blood on the streets.
       We have to accept that those who hold that wealth, and power which endows them with privileges are our oppressors, who work hard at maintaining the unbridgeable chasm. As oppressors we have to treat them as such, we can't ask them to please give up your wealth, power and privileges so that we have a fair society, it won't work. Perhaps we should think hard about the words of Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, abolitionist, writer, and orator.

        “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, and it may be a physical one, or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of whom they oppress.” -Frederick Douglass

         Only a revolution will replace this greed driven economic system that degrades the human spirit and breeds inequality and injustice. However, you can't buy a revolution, you can't make a revolution, you have to be the revolution, and a revolution will not come with a bunch of roses in its hand.

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A Paint Job.

 

 

         With the media and lots of the public entering a state of euphoria at the thought of a shiny new President of America, my thoughts turn to the hysteria and euphoria at the election of Tony Blair as UK Prime Minister, and Obama as President in U$A. The first, devout Christian Tony, ignored the will of millions of people as they protested against the illegal invasion of Iraq, and went ahead with his US buddy and decimated Iraq killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, and the violence still continues today, he is now labelled by many as a war criminal. The other, Obama, the Pope of Peace, massively increased the number of drone strike assassinations and deported more people than any other U$A President in history. Now Biden takes the throne of the U$A imperial war machine, to thunderous applause, how soon will the thin veneer of "change" start to wear off.
        On the subject of change in the crown wearer, I couldn't help but post here a comment that was made to my previous post,     thanks Loam. 

 

       This is the translation of a song by the Cuban revolutionary Carlos Puebla, written when Henry Ford replaced Richard Nixon. Today, the same could be said for Trump and Biden.

EXPIRED CARS - Carlos Puebla

When they removed Nixon
there were those who asked me
what opinion did I have of Mister Ford.

Well look,
Ford seems to me, the same as Chevrolet.

Now tell me
what could i think
about the newly released
Mister Ford?

Well look,
Ford seems to me, the same as the Chevrolet.

Mister Ford is not a shoemaker
he is not a mechanic nor is he a painter
he's just another millionaire
Mister Ford.

Well look,
Ford seems to me, the same as the Chevrolet.

This notorious criminal [Nixon]
big buddy from saigon
leaves us a "great" inheritance:
Mister Ford.

Well look,
Ford seems to me, the same as the Chevrolet.

It's like an expired car
repaired and used
a repaired moron
Mister Ford.

Well look,
Ford seems to me, the same as the Chevrolet.

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Ungovernable.

       A view from those who have been fighting oppression under the yoke of ever changing Presidents for generations, and those Presidents all with their never shifting homage to the system of the colonialism. Obama, Trump, Biden, so what's new.

The following from It's Going Down:

          16 Things You Can Do To Be Ungovernable. P.S. Fuck Biden 

        Indigenous Action looks at basic ways that people can get ‘back to basics’ as the Trump era comes to a close.
       We are ungovernable on stolen land. Fuck Biden.

      Biden has replaced Trump. While some are celebrating a “safer” form of settler colonial violence, we have been bracing for the war to resume. It’s not just that Trump doubled down on white supremacist authoritarian nationalism (aka fascism) and nearly continued his explicitly brutal legacy, it’s not just that liberal settler-colonizers barely clawed their way to victory. It’s that at the end of the day both Trump and Biden are two sides of the same coin. We will once again be subject to that lurid post-election wane of political fervor until the liberal tide recedes and we are left facing the same ecological and social violence as before.
       The Obama-Biden administration was responsible for deporting more people than any other US regime in history. Between 2009 and 2015 Obama-Biden forcibly deported more than 2.5 million people which amounts to more than the sum deportations from all the other presidents of the 20th century. Tohono O’odham and Hia Ced O’odham communities have been heavily militarized and bisected by the US/Mexico colonial border. Whole villages have been displaced and sacred sites have been desecrated across numerous border occupied Indigenous communities. This has been compounded by Trump’s “border wall” but border militarization and colonial occupation of Indigenous lands will continue whether the U.S. is under Republican or Democrat control. Colonizers are united in their belief and practices of colonialism. The Obama-Biden regime was not a reprieve for those who have been bombed and attacked by drones which, in Afghanistan, has meant the murder of innocent lives 90% of the time. We cannot celebrate when we know that with Biden (or whoever), U.S. imperialism and endless war against people of color around the world will continue.
        Biden has framed himself as the restorer of a “normalcy” under which we were being killed, assaulted, disappeared, bombed, polluted, incarcerated, impoverished, and desecrated. A return to neoliberal normal is a return to death for Indigenous, Black, and Brown peoples the world over.
       There’s a discourse regarding a lesser evil and a diatribe about hope somewhere in there, but these themes have been beaten into our flesh so that our skin has lost its ability to scar. It’s as if our bodies are the land desecrated with each cycling of our abuser. In the case of electoral politics the cycle isn’t challenged and neither is the abuse. Only the degree of which the veil covers the wounds is of concern. The matter is not seeing the abuse, it’s seeing the effect which moves the zone of comfort to nearly unsettling.
        We have been refusing domination, control, and exploitation in these lands by colonial forces since 1492. Being ungovernable means we pledge no allegiance to colonial authority nor are we dependent upon their systems for our survival, identity, belonging, or well-being.
       In the face of COVID-19 and more overt fascism, we celebrate the powerful expressions of unmediated direct action and interventions against capitalism, white supremacy, cis-heteropatriarchy, and the colonial police state. From the powerful Black Lives Matter uprisings, to the tearing down of racist statues, from autonomous zones to the thousands of mutual aid projects throughout Turtle Island providing necessary supplies and support, our communities have been taking direct action and building alternative infrastructure for generations so that we are not dependent on the state or corporations.
        We seek to organize and intervene as directly as possible in the root causes that uphold oppressive social orders while working to creatively build and support alternatives based in mutual aid, dignity, and collective self-determination beyond capitalism. We are ungovernable and we must make it impossible for this colonial system to govern on stolen, occupied land. Build, sustain & proliferate autonomous organizing and organizations and embrace your role in these struggles.

16 Things you can do to be Ungovernable:

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It's Obvious.

          I make no excuses for having posted the following article several times in the past, and will probably post it again in the future. I think now, more than ever, it is the line of thought and action that needs to be more widely spread, a truth we have to shout from the roof tops, as our world rolls merrily along the road to ultimate disaster. Only anarchism can put a brake on that trajectory.

WHY ANARCHISM:

Freedom and Equality.
       Fundamentally, anarchism is the struggle for freedom. Freedom from rulers and corporations who dominate our lives and are destroying our earth. Freedom for workers, women, and all oppressed people in all parts of the world. We believe that this sort of freedom can only be achieved together with equality and a fair distribution of resources.
Individual and Collective.
      Anarchists believe in the inherent dignity and humanity of the individual. But this dignity and humanity can only be fully realised in a co-operative, egalitarian society. This is why we are in favour of working together collectively and being organised. It is incorrect to equate anarchism with individualism or chaos.
Revolution.
        Anarchists understand that this truly free and equal society can only be achieved through revolution – meaning a complete transformation of society. This society cannot be ‘given’ to the people by politicians or bureaucrats. It must be built by people from below.
Change by Direct Action.
       Anarchism opposes the violence which is an integral part of capitalism and the state (this violence comes in many forms: war, patriarchy etc.). We believe that means shape ends – in other words, the way we struggle will shape the outcome of the struggle. This is also why we do not support the seizure of State power by authoritarian political parties. However, anarchists do believe in direct action – action taken by everyday people to address the power imbalance in present day society. This includes strikes, boycotts, work-to-rule’s and occupations.
The Past.
      Both authoritarian communism (as in Russia, China etc.) and ‘labourism’ (ie. The labour parties of the world), have failed to solve our global crisis. We need a different path to a better world. Anarchism offers itself as a guide on that path.

What Might An Anarchist Society Look Like? 

1 The world’s resources would be held in common and shared with all the diverse life on Earth.
2 People would manage their own lives, work and communities, and everyone would have a say in decision making through decentralised forms of organisation.
3 Relationships in all areas of life would be based on mutual respect and equality regardless of gender, skin colour, sexual orientation,disability, age, culture etc.
4 Work wouldn’t be boring and repetitive, but instead would be a means of voluntary self expression and fulfilment; unpopular or difficult jobs would be shared.
5 Education would be integrated into daily life to produce free individuals who think for ourselves.
6 Goods and services would be produced ecologically for human needs based on the principle “from each according to ability, to each according to need”.

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State Killing.

         The present system we live under is a mish-mash of inequality and injustice, poverty in the midst of opulence, managed and administered by soulless freaks of inhumanity. In a system so riven with greed, they put in place systems that are "supposed" to catch those who, inevitably, because of the systems structure, find themselves in need. Like everything in the system, these systems are run on economic factors, never on humanity, the result being inevitable poverty, deprivation, misery and on occasions, death, these deaths should be listed as state economic killings..
        It is easy to find cases where this gross inhumanity takes your anger to boiling point, but then what? What do we do about the avoidable death of a young mother because of the system's lack of humanity? What do we do about a young child being robbed of its mother, because the system doesn't care enough? What do we do about a family buried in grief because of a system run by emotionless economists, who can't see the misery inherent in their system?
       The following case is just one of the multitude of cases of misery and deprivation spawned by this exploitative economic system of greed.
         The following report by the BBC:

 

Photo courtesy of BBC

 

        A single mother with mental health problems took a fatal overdose after failures in the benefits system, her family has claimed. Philippa Day, from Mapperley, Nottingham, applied for a new benefit last year but saw her payments cut from £228 a week to £60.
          Her family believes she took her own life over her debts and after a request for a home assessment was denied. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it could not comment.
          Miss Day, 27, died in October last year. She had been in a coma for 10 weeks after being found collapsed at home. She had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, said her family. Her sister, Imogen Day, said Philippa's mental health had deteriorated with post-natal depression and she was unable to work.
         She had been receiving disabled living allowance (DLA) payments as she had type 1 diabetes. Those payments stopped after she made an application for a personal independence payment (PIP) in January 2019.
        The correct forms were not received and her payments were reduced to a standard living allowance of £60 a week, said the family. "In the months leading up to her death we only spoke about the PIP claim, we only spoke about the fact my sister had no money and she was unable to live a life with any kind of quality," said Imogen. Philippa's family say her mental health deteriorated after she was left living on £60 a week
      She said the family believed her sister's death was triggered when a request for a home assessment was rejected by the DWP. Imogen said the family was arguing that the DWP "broke Article 2 of the Human Rights Act - which is a right to life".
      "They're trying to argue they were unaware of my sister's vulnerable circumstances, which is incorrect," she said. "With all her dealings with the DWP, both her psychiatric nurses and my sister were very clear that it was impacting her mental health and was making her feel more suicidal." Imogen added: "I would like them to overhaul the entire claimant process to protect vulnerable people."
        A DWP spokesperson said: "Our condolences are with Miss Day's family. As the inquest process is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment at this time."
        An inquest into Miss Day's death will open on 7 December.

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No Vote.

 

        At the moment all the bubble and squeak on the media is "the election" who will be voted in to wear the crown for American imperialism. What seldom hits the headlines is who, with power over our lives, we never get the opportunity to vote in or out. The financial institutions, investment banks, fund managers, the corporate CEOs, a coterie of parasites that make up the financial Mafia that control the levers of this economic system called capitalism. That gang of expensive suits that make their decisions behind closed doors, far from the prying eyes of the public, but who control how the society that public inhabits, will be shaped. They dictate directions to elected parties by means of extravagantly funded "lobbyists", all legal, but with gifts, opportunities and donations as persuaders, to oil the greasy hands of our political ballerinas. There is no such thing as a poor member of Parliament, all those who enter that edifice to imperialism, The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption, leave much richer than when they entered.

        Instead of concentrating on those participants in our national farce of "Lairs and Corruption" competitions, sometimes known as elections, we should be paying much more attention to those we don't get an opportunity to vote on, the parasite class, the financial mafia and their bedfellows. That's where the real power in this greed driven insanity lies, that's the ones who hold and the reigns of power, who hold the wealth and bask in a swath of privileges, all gleaned from the toil and sweat of you and I. 

 

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An Illusion.

  

Who needs Trump?

 

         The media has us all in a frenzy about the US election, will Trump win again or will he be history. Of course the truth is, that Trump was never the real problem. Approximately 50% of the American population voted for him, he increased his share of the vote compared to 2016. All those people were not born or manufactured, the day that Trump got elected, they were there living in America with the same value structures that they hold today, just waiting for their mouthpiece, their cheerleader. Should Trump leave the White House, all those people will not disappear or suddenly abandon that value structure that they've held most of their lives. They will still be racist, misogynist gun-tottin' believers in American exceptionalism, and a very large slice of them will be steeped deep in their fundamental religious beliefs.

 

 Pre-Trump and post-Trump

 

        The deep rooted belief in American exceptionalism is the real problem. The belief that the "Founding Fathers" were moralistic, fair and just people, a group that gave birth to a land of African slavery, genocide of the indigenous people, and lynching as an acceptable act of justice and the highest number per head of population incarcerated. What is more they exported their belief in this exceptionalism in the form of Agent Orange, napalm, carpet bombing, then there was Abu Ghraib, and let's not forget, the only nation on earth to drop nuclear bombs on the citizens of to cities.
     We might be able to wave farewell to Trump, but the brutal American imperialist military machine, built on that belief of American exceptionalism, and lives in the sewers of a corrupt society, will continue its blood and thunder where it feels the need, no matter who wears the crown in the White House. While we can expect that 50% or so of the American population to cheer and applaud at ever brutal "victory" and honour that brute force. 

       If we accept that Trump was the real problem and his views and actions unacceptable in this "land of the free", he should have disappeared without trace at this election, but the truth is there for all to see, approximately 50% of the American people want him back in the Oval Office, what does that tell you? This election like every one before it, will mean let's embrace change, but make sure we stay the same. 

 

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