A Sewer.

          With the leak of what has become known as "The Pandora Papers" nobody should be in any doubt that the entire system is stinking rotten to the core. It is not just the greedy individuals that are fiddling the system, but all the large so called respectable financial institutions that make millions from aiding and abetting the millionaire/billionaire class of corrupt blood sucking parasites by shuffling and concealing their ill gotten gains. The rich corrupt and the institutional corrupt work hand in hand and are the mainstay of this stinking system of greed. I received the following comment from my comrade Loam and I think it shows the extent and depth of the corruption that holds together this whole rotten edifice to greed. 

Meanwhile...

       "UK banks have been accused of ‘offering their services to those with money to hide’ after a leaked cache of thousands of documents revealed some of the world’s largest financial firms have facilitated criminals and fraudsters in processing dirty cash.
       More than 2,000 sensitive banking papers detailing more than $2 trillion’s worth of transactions were analysed by a consortium of investigative journalists across 108 organisations including the BBC after being leaked to BuzzFeed News.
        The documents allegedly show banking officials allowed fraudsters to shuttle money between different accounts after being made aware the profits were from multimillion-pound scams or crimes.
         They are also reported to detail the ways in which Russian oligarchs use banks to dodge international sanctions and move money into the west.
         Referred to as the FinCEN files — from the US Financial Crimes Investigation Network — the cache is mostly made up of documents banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017, raising concerns about suspicious activity in their clients' accounts, according to the BBC’s Panorama programme, which called the documents “some of the international banking system's most closely guarded secrets”.
        It added: “The leak shows how UK banks continually fail to address suspicious activity and instead offered their services to those with money to hide.
        “Transparency International UK's research has previously identified 86 UK banks and financial institutions which have, unwittingly or otherwise, helped corrupt individuals acquire assets and move suspicious wealth.”

  

         To those who take the time to look at the system, this should come as no surprise, we know it is a sewer, it is how the system works, pillage and plunder, fiddle and steal, unless you are one of the ordinary citizens, if you attempt this, then you end up being locked up in one of their cages of repression. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk  

UK Fascism.

 

       The state, any state moves inexorably towards fascism, it has no alternative as it seeks total control over its citizens. In the UK the state took a massive step towards fascism when on March 9th 2021 it introduced the The Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill. This single bill hands more power to the police, groups a raft of activities as crimes and introduces harsher sentencing. It is a vice clamp on our right to protest. Those who have the courage to stand up and oppose this curtailing of our democratic rights are being hit hard by the loaded judicial system that will defend and enact this step to fascism.
       In Bristol one such individual is facing a long prison sentence for openly protesting the injustice encapsulated in this legislation. He deserves and needs your support.

       Ryan Roberts’ trial for riot and arson is on the 25-27th October. If convicted he is facing a long sentence. He will be the first defendant to be brought to trial to have plead not guilty for charges relating to the 21st March Kill the Bill demonstration.
       Ryan is calling for solidarity and support
       We will hold a demonstration on October 25th at 8.30am outside Bristol Crown Court. We’d also like people to sit in court from the 25th-27th, to show that Ryan has support!
        On the final day of the trial we will hold a demo at 5pm outside the Crown Court.
        if you’re coming from elsewhere and need accommodation email bristoldefendantsolidarity@riseup.net
        We are also calling for you to do a solidarity banner drop or other action in your local area during October to show your support for Ryan
        Ryan is currently on remand in Bristol Prison. He’d welcome letters of support. Click here to find out how.

Solidarity is strength!
bristolabc 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Homicide!!.

            You will all probably remember the cross-party MP's report stating that the government's handling at the beginning of the pandemic was the greatest public health failure in UK history, and was responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths. It was obvious then that as business people they would do anything to keep those businesses profitable and would rather see the bodies pile high, than slow down the economy and hurt their profits. Well it seems that the cabal of privileged business/political ballerinas that inhabit that edifice to power and wealth, The Westminster Houses of Hypocrisy and Corruption are at it again. While infections and hospitalisations are rising daily and all the medical experts, hospital specialists, doctors and nursing staff are crying out for some restrictions to stem this rising disaster, our "Right Honourable Gentlemen" are determined not to slow down their profits. to them the economy is sacred and the public's health and welfare, somewhere down the list.

 

            How much longer will we tolerate the lives of our friends and family being put at risk to protect the shareholders bonuses? We should ignore the ramblings of those corporate lovers and follow the advice of the medical experts, don't go to work if it is unsafe, masks may be uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as Covid19, avoid shops, cafes, restaurants, and crowded places, for our own good and the welfare of our friends and families. put ourselves before the profit margins of the rich and powerful. They need us more than we need them, so screw them, they have been screwing us for generations.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Stormy.

 

          Continuing my love of paper, hard copy, that can end up on the street here is another. The Anarchist Communist Group produce a magazine called Stormy Petrel, it is packed with discussions, articles, theory and info on what is wrong with this society and how we can go about changing it to the society we desire, one that sees to the needs of all our people. Issue No. 3 is now available, and well worth a read.

Visit ann arky's home at:

http://strugglepedia.co.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page  

Hunger..

         It always surprises me why we tolerate a world where millions die of poverty and starvation while others live in unearned opulence. I say unearned deliberately, because it is not hard work that makes you a millionaire/billionaire, it is your ability to exploit others for your own personal gain, and this is always possible under the present system of capitalism, that is the aim of the system, get rich at others expense.
         This figures paints a horrifying picture, 45% of all child deaths worldwide are from causes related to under-nutrition (World Health Organization, 2018).
That itself should shame the world into righteous anger and bring the existing system down, but it doesn't. Some other figures that should bring us onto the streets to vent are anger and disgust, all this taking place in a world where there is enough food to feed everyone, but profit dictates that this will not happen.

Harrowing details of the unfair, unequal, unjust system we tolerate.

       780 million people, 11 percent of the world's population, live in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 per day.
        At least 14 million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition around the world. Severe acute malnutrition is the direct cause of death for 2 million children every year.
       Every day, 1,000 children under 5 die from illnesses like diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera caused by contaminated water and inadequate sanitation.

Source 1: United Nations, Source 2 and 3: UNICEF

         In the year 2000 our esteemed world leaders agreed to eliminate extreme poverty by 2015, the above figures are proof that they failed miserably, either they are incapable of solving this scar on the face of humanity or they don't wish to, as it might upset the economic system of greed and profit, from which they do very well thank you.
       The answer to this crime against vast swaths of humanity is to destroy the corporate/state economic system of capitalism, it is designed for the few to gather abundance around them at the expense of the majority. There is no point in tinkering with the workings of the system, it was never intended to bring about equality or justice, and appealing to those who manage this cancer that blights humanity is pointless, they stand to lose too much of their power, wealth and privileges, and they will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo.
      I penned the following lines more than 20 years ago, they could be written tomorrow and still be a true picture of our world.

Eighteen Hungry Children

Eighteen hungry children die
every minute of every day

 

eighteen of tomorrow's people
cruelly thrown away.

When pandering to a fashion
gratifying our greed

think, theirs is no desire
but a basic need.

Envisage a familiar face
a child that calls your name,

try to be the parent
try to place the blame.

Eighteen hungry children die
every minute of every day,

eighteen little faces
that never learnt to play.

Walk past your local school
listen to the shrill

stand and count to sixty
imagine hunger start to kill.

Fingers must be pointed
at decisions made on high,

questions must be asked
loudly asked by you and I.

 

Eighteen hungry children die
every minute of every day,

eighteen preciuos lives
the claws of hunger slay.

WHY? 

 

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk    

Thoughts.

Some random thoughts: 

A Bloody Game Of Chess.

Every brick, every bullet, each bomb and tank
by our labouring hands is fashioned
We build the prisons that cage our neighbours
man the guns that kill our brothers and sisters
we drive the tanks that smash their homes
fly the planes that bomb their villages
spreading the blood of innocence across the land
we seldom know or ask the reason why
nor question the orders given
this a tragic game of savagery
played by unseen powerful hands
we their pawns wait to be pushed
into their desired position
the prize
blood soaked gold for the few. 

Compassion.

Sometimes our strength breaks
not because of the burdens in our life
but because of our compassion
As year in year out we bear witness
to the savage claws of poverty
rip into the hearts of a legion of children
watch our green Earth stained red
with the blood of innocents in endless wars
standing silently by an see the young and old
die slowly from avoidable disease
and tragedy of human created disasters
compassion a necessary component
of that better world we all crave
but a crushing burden in this world
fashioned by greed power and privilege.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info 

History.

        The collecting, preserving and making easily available anarchist history is a very important part of our movement. Our history gives us validity, it ties us to the real world of our ongoing daily struggles for justice and freedom. Without that history anarchism would have to be reborn day by day. I think it was Orwell who stated, and I paraphrase here, "the best way to destroy a people is to destroy their history". Without our history we were never there. That's why such sites as Spirit of Revolt, Tyneside Anarchist Archive and Sparrows Nest and others dotted around the world, are of extreme importance. So it is great to see another such site taking shape, let's give it support, after all it is part of our story.

From activistjourneys.wordpress.com

         Below is a series of interviews, recorded for a documentary, never finished by it’s original producers, which hoped to show anarchism in all it’s forms around the world today and in history. But, I think it succeeds even better at that task as a video catalogue for those interested enough to find the clips that peak their curiousity.

       The playlists were already on kollectiva.media, so feel free to share that link with friends. I just wanted to create this article and put them on youtube to make them easier to find and more accessible to researchers.

       Finally, this will be part of a series of posts where I try to help add to other people’s projects, and ideally get volunteers involved in a rare anarchist media archiving project. The next task will be making playlists out of a bunch of rare anarchist documentaries which Stuart Christie collected on his website over many years. A lot of them are to do with the Spanish Civil War. So, if you like that idea or want to lend a hand, check out the spreadsheet, maybe share my tweet asking for help &/or contact me.

Playlist Previews 

       Click the ‘see more’ buttons to be directed to each playlist of clips on youtube. And you can scroll to the bottom if you’d just like to see a shorter text table of all the information.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

New Books.

            In a recent post I publicised the release of two new books by James Kelman, published by PM Press, Between Thought and Expression; Why Ideas Matter is a book of political and philosophical essays by and correspondence between Kelman and Noam Chomsky.
The second is a collection of Kelman's essays on Kurdistan and Black justice called, The State is Your Enemy.
        For those who may not be familiar with James's work, This video will give you a wee sample of the man and his ideas. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Stirrer.

 

        Anarchist papers on the street, a welcome sign, the more the merrier, so here is another one, The Stirrer, that is online but periodically paper on our streets. Have a wee browse and make a comment or two to lend them a bit of support.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info  

Kelman.

 Received this from PMPress: 

Greetings!

I'm writing because PM Press is publishing some fantastic and incendiary new books by James Kelman and I was wondering if you'd like to receiving advance copies?

The first: Between Thought and Expression; Why Ideas Matter is a book of political and philosophical essays by and correspondence between Kelman and Noam Chomsky.

The second is a collection of Kelman's essays on Kurdistan and Black justice called The State is Your Enemy.

I would love to send you copies if you're interested--and of course Jim is available for discussions and interviews.

Take care!

Cara

          James Kelman a world famous author and one of Glasgow's own, has been a great friend and supporter of Spirit of Revolt. We have part of his archive in our collection, with more to follow. I consider these books to be important works in their own right. It would be great to return James's support for Spirit of Revolt and many other class struggles he has been involved in throughout his life, by purchasing these new books.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk  

Carnival.

Getty Image, taken from BBC News site.

       The closer it gets the more I despair, I am of course referring to Cop-26, or as I prefer to call it, Cop-out-26 Carnival. It is a carnival, a gigantic show, an illusion, those who think that something great will come out of this extravaganza are naive in the extreme and sadly missing the facts. As I stated in a previous blog, the largest oil and gas producing companies have plans to increase production, not to reduce production. Now the BBC has released leak documents that show that governments and large corporations are lobbying the UN to play down the need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels. Another stated strategy for tackling this climate disaster is for richer countries to pay more to poorer countries to help them develop green policies. The leaked documents also show that rich countries are now questioning that strategy.

       We are being told by the Mafia in the Kremlin in George Square that it will show case Glasgow. What will happen is we will have a massive lockdown in Glasgow, where the citizens will be restricted and banned from large swaths of their city and their daily lives disrupted. So it will be a case of showcasing our city without the people of the city. The media will have a frenzy of a party chasing after That massive entourage of the rich and powerful and their army of security, who are jetting across the planet to grab a spot of publicity at the carnival. They will spout sounds that they think the people will like to hear, and spout them without a shred of belief in what they are saying. They will do their best to grab centre stage and create the illusion that they are the greenest government on the planet. Then they will all go back to their opulent lives of greed and exploitation, and carry on as if nothing had happened.
        The planet is not going to be saved by the rich and powerful, who are doing very well from its destruction. They are not going to listen to your appeals for change, if it means jeopardising their wealth and privileges, they are not going to be moved by your petitions if it means curtailing their opulent lifestyles, and they are quite happy to let your march from A to B, as long as you do it to the their prescribed formula.
       It will take massive direct action by the people, an eruption of righteous anger right across the planet, the like of which we have never seen before. The price of quiet appealing and protest marches is the extinction of our species along with millions of others. There is not enough time to pontificate with the destroyers, the plunderers, the exploiters, the minutes are being counted down, your children and grand children are the ones we sacrifice if we continue our appealing to the powers that be.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info   

Paper.

          I make no bones about it, I love to see anarchist papers on the street, there can never be enough, and the last couple of years has seen our streets empty of those essential pieces of paper, with their info, ideas, news, history, strategies, tactics and calls for solidarity in our fight for justice and freedom. So a wee bit of publicity for the latest Barricade Bulletin, No.15, a publication from that patch of the planet most people refer to as Ireland.

       Barricade Bulletin No.15 is out now. You can receive it directly from members locally or from the usual local outlets. For those of you who live outside of Derry and the North West you can download the online version which now carries news, articles and other information.

 

 

Barricade-Bulletin-No.-15Download

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Photo Op.

          It is difficult to see this Cop-26 as anything other than a chance for the powers that be to get together to spout their usual platitudes and grasp a bit of media publicity with the accompanying photo opportunities. No matter what they say or promise, the one glaring fact that blows the whole thing out the water is the fact that all the giant gas and oil companies have plans to increase gas and oil production considerably by 2030. Hardly the foundations for a green economy. Of course it makes the ordinary people believe that the powers that be, the rich and powerful are actually doing something that will end this economic suicide mission that capitalism is driving.
          Gazprom, fossil fuel production, 9.7 million barrels of oil a day. Projected increase of production, 2018-2030, 3%.
          Chevron, fossil fuel production, 2.93 million barrels of oil a day. Projected increase of production, 2018-2030 20%
          Saudi Armaco fossil fuel production, 13.0 million barrels a day. Projected increase of production, new oilfields, 550,000 barrels of oil a day.
           So in the coming few years, these three companies alone will increase oil production by a massive 1,427,000 barrels of oil a day. So how green will our world be by then?

          I penned this little verse more than 20 years ago and to all intents and purposes, we are still oblivious.

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 https://radicalglasgow.me.uk  

Season of Crap.

 

           The mad season of Christmas is fast approaching when the corporate beast demands you buy, buy, buy, any old crap, just get out there and spend. Our CEO and shareholders need you money. However with logjams at the ports, lorry drivers in short supply, shortage of workers for the abattoir, not enough farm labourers to get the crops in, empty shelves appearing in supermarkets, you might do yourself a favour and give all this insane consumerism a miss by necessity. After all why run around looking for what isn't there and then buying even worse crap just to get "something". You could have a wonderful time with friends and family without all the exchanging unwanted crap for unwanted crap.
         I'm sure you know how to enjoy yourselves without the stress levels of running ragged scooping up their bubblegum and popcorn crap. Have a merry giggle with your mates and let the corporate world worry about all that crap tinsel, pretty boxes and tinfoil left on their shelves. True friends don't need all that razzmatazz money spending insanity.

The Following words of wisdom from Not Buying Anything:  

 

        Consumer Christmas 2021 is on permanent backorder.
"Sorry for the inconvenience - your consumer lifestyle is out of stock."
       Also, Santa's elves, reindeer, and wife are all on strike for a living wage and better working conditions.
       How about a little box of freedom this holiday season?
       Nope, sorry.
       Also out of stock.
       It is shaping up to be our first ever global Buy Nothing Christmas.
       It probably won't be our last, so we are going to have to figure out how to do it without excessive shopping being the focus.
       A good time to give the simple and free gifts of love, compassion, and forgiveness.
      They are all still well stocked, but so far are not flying off the shelves.
      2022 is shaping up to be very naughty indeed when we find out that we are out of everything.
Including patience.

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Bullshitter.

            It is a strange group of people that select a proven king of bullshitters as there chosen one to lead them to the promised land. There is no doubt what so ever that bumbling Boris is a bullshitter and a person that sees the truth as an inconvenience in trying to satisfy his unquenchable desire for fame and power. The bumbling buffoon however is not a laughable character to be amused by, he is a dangerous, power seeking individual completely divorced from the feelings of others, a play actor with a dangerous and menacing personality. He was the man at the head of the government that the cross party of MP's said were responsible for the worst public health failure in UK history. He was at the head of the government that the same group of MP's stated were responsible for thousands of unnecessary deaths during the early part of the Covid19 pandemic. Yet there he is, still sitting on the throne of that farce that goes by the name of UK politics. When will we ever learn.  

The following is a quote by one of Boris's party members, take from The Atlantic:

           To his critics, Johnson is a liar and a fraud, and stories such as this one are taken as further evidence for their case. According to his one time rival for the Conservative leadership, Rory Stewart, Johnson is “the most accomplished liar in public life—perhaps the best liar ever to serve as prime minister.” Johnson, Stewart wrote last year, has “mastered the use of error, omission, exaggeration, diminution, equivocation and flat denial. He has perfected casuistry, circumlocution, false equivalence and false analogy. He is equally adept at the ironic jest, the fib and the grand lie; the weasel word and the half-truth; the hyperbolic lie, the obvious lie, and the bullshit lie—which may inadvertently be true.”

Visit ann arky's home at: 

 http://strugglepedia.co.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page    

Economics.

            The cross party of MP's report on the government's, handling of the pandemic as, one of the UK's worst ever public health failures, should not be put down to bungling incompetence alone. Certainly the bumbling Boris brigade have shown remarkable features of gross ignorance and fumbling stupidity, but let's not forget that these people are shareholders in various business and have family and friends up to their necks in shareholding and share bonuses. So, like I and other's have been saying since the start of the pandemic, the decisions at the start of the health crisis was always the economy. Lock-down could mean the loss of profits and their treasured share bonuses, so would have to be avoided at all cost. Unfortunately for us lesser mortals this meant thousands of unnecessary deaths among our friends neighbours and family. To their way of thinking that is better than businesses having to close down and profits to shrink.

Fit to lead WHAT?

 

            All through this covid19 pandemic, the economy has always taken priority over the health and well being of the people, decisions were always tinged with political dogma rather than sound scientific logic. Even when it came to lock down, billions of pounds were thrown to the corporate beast of their business friends, billions that you and I will have to pay back to the loan sharks of the financial Mafia. We will be asked to pay it back in increased taxes, prices, closing of public amenities, and of course selling of public assets to the corporate world, with the health service high on their list. This mountain of debt that will placed on our backs was not the furlough scheme, that was only peanuts to what went to the rich corporations and big businesses. Even yet large corporations that have made billions over the years are now bleating about increased energy prices and want the government to hand them more tax payers money to shore up their profit margins for the shareholders. I always thought that capitalism was you set up your business and exploit the public for profit, but when you don't make a profit you go bust. Too big to fail, well take it over to public ownership. What about small businesses, if Joe's Burger shop is losing money does he get a hand out of tax payers money to keep him in business? Strange sort of capitalism. Why don't we all agree, the capitalist system doesn't work, and simply bring it down. Whether it is Bumbling Boris and his merry band of profiteers, or Starmer, Knight of the Realm, that sits on the throne, the outcome is always the same, they do very well and we get shafted.

 

 Where do you think Keir's loyalties lie?

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info