Victory.

 

          I often loose my self in poetry, that wonderful world of expression, somewhere between singing and conversation. A place to let your thoughts run wild, say what your heart feels. Today October the 6th is National Poetry Day, the theme is the environment, so I thought I would say my tuppence worth.

Victory.

Nature recoiled from the savage beast
A beast so fierce on its warhorse of progress
Sweeping aside all that was natural and beautiful
This blind beast conquered meadow and stream
Banished the fish from the seas
Left a trail of barren concrete and tarmac
Filled the air with odious gases
Eventually the beast conquered the Earth
Now master of a dead planet
A world that nature, maimed and bleeding
finally abandoned, to allow the beast to slowly die.

 

Image courtesy of Envirotec.

 

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

Mutual Aid.

 

           Our Health Service and care facilities are a shambles, creaking at the seams underfunded, over worked. The reason is that they are tied to the state and capital, imagine a health service free from the constraints of state and capital. Imagine a health service run by health professionals and their patients. In a society based on mutual aid and co-operation it would all be possible. As long as we run our society on a system of profit, it will remain impossible. The choice is ours, continue being the slaves to the financial Mafia, live with broken health care, poverty and an eternal struggle for a decent life, or through solidarity and mutual aid break free from this insane, unjust system that caters for the rich and powerful. The choice seems a no brainer.

An interesting article from Anarchist News. 

         From https://www.healthautonomyconvergence.com/ Durham, North Carolina • Coming May 2023 •

        A convergence about healthcare and beyond❋
        Anti-authoritarian, abolitionist, and anarchist healthcare workers Re-imagining and undermining the medical-industrial complex together✹

Conspire with us…

        An invitation to deepen connections for health autonomy together. We invite healthcare workers, caregivers and all who are aligned with our principles to converge in Durham, North Carolina in May of 2023 to find and support one another while creating exits from exploitative medical mazes.
        Are you are a healthcare worker or caregiver who wants to share skills and knowledge, plug into an educational track, propose a discussion, screen a film or discuss something we haven’t even mentioned? Submit a proposal!
        Interested in tabling for the event? Click submit proposals. Interested in volunteering during the weekend? Register and shoot us an email.

About the convergence, What to expect…

         Three days and nights of discussion, workshops, speakers, hands on learning, films, food and fellowship!
         We seek experts in their respective experiences, fields, and communities to share skills and knowledge that may be difficult or impossible to access outside of the space we create together.
         For those looking to orient around specific fields for the weekend, we will experiment with tracks to (optionally) follow in order to foster self-organizing and reinforce long-lasting networks.
        We will create space to vent and grieve all we have lost in the last few years and will provide ample time to nourish ourselves together.
       Coming to Durham in May 2023 ❋ The Hospitals belong to the people
 

       Who we are
        We are anti-authoritarian, abolitionist, and anarchist healthcare workers re-imagining and undermining the medical-industrial complex.
        We look towards a future that prioritizes collective care over individualized exploitation. We honor expertise and undermine professionalism.
        We believe that all humans should have access to knowledge of their bodies, unmediated by the hands of state and capital.
         We work towards a future wherein all human and planetary life has intrinsic and non-exchangeable value, where we are able to live and die on our own terms.
         We look to deconstruct the lines separating patient and provider and hope to collaborate on truly shifting the way power flows in these systems.
         We are pro-autonomy, anti-individual, pro-intimacy, anti-commodification, and so joyful to be coming together to do this work.
         We are an evolving network. If these values resonate with you, we invite you to conspire with us.

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

Anarky.

           I penned this wee piece away back in April 2010, but thought it was worth another shout. With the chaos and poverty engulfing us all at the moment, surely now is the time to seek alternatives to the plundering and exploitation of the existing system, now is the time to start to create the better fairer world for all.

  

       

         Ask the average person on the street what they think of “anarchists” and they’ll all probably say something like “chaos” “violence” “mayhem” or some other negative expression. Ask them what they have read of anarchist history or anarchist theory and they will probably say “nothing.” So where did they get their opinions? Obviously they got those opinions from the propaganda organ of the state and the corporate greed machine commonly called “the media”. Why should the media give anarchists and anarchism such a bad press? Could it be because they see anarchism as the greatest threat to their desire and ability to rule over and exploit the people of this world? The state is an hierarchical structure set up to control the people and legislates to protect the wealth of the corporate greed machine. Anarchism is a non-hierarchical system of sharing and mutual aid to the benefit of all in society, the two are totally incompatible. The corporate greed machine works to exploit the population and drag all the wealth up to a privileged few, it puts a price on everything and excludes all those who can’t pay the price, be it healthcare, housing, leisure, services or the necessities of life. Anarchism seeks to see to the needs of all in society and for society to be shaped by all those who take part in that society. The state/capitalist/corporate system produces an ever widening gap between rich and poor, plunders and rapes the planet in an endless drive to increase profits to the shareholders of the corporate beast. Anarchism seeks sustainability through a system based on free association, voluntary co-operation and mutual aid. Given a choice why choose to be exploited, why choose to struggle for the benefit of the privileged few, why sell your children into poverty? We can produce enough to see to the needs of all on this planet, the reason we don’t is not lack of resources it is simply that the system says “NO”, there must be profit in every action, profit for that greedy privileged few who control the corporate greed machine. We accept a system of winner take all and to hell with the hindmost, our compassion and common sense surely demand we look at the alternatives. It is only common sense to attempt to break the downward spiral of the corporate driven consumer juggernaut that destroys the environment and creates the illusion that happiness comes in pretty packaged boxes, at a price. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to try to create a better world of peace and freedom from deprivation for all. Anarchists point the way, anarchism is the tool.

 

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

Keelie 35.

 

          Hi all, the Glasgow Keelie 35 is out, as usual it is packed with what's going on in our city and further afield, comments on the Truss menagerie and its incompetence and blatant attack on the ordinary people in our society. You'll find the Keelie at picket lines, demos, on the street, in pubs and cafes. Make sure you watch out for it and grab yourself a free copy. If you think you could distribute some copies among your mates, then contact us and we can arrange to get them to you.

Read the Keelie on line.

 

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

Rebellion.

 

            Saturday October 1st.  saw the people of Britain take to the streets in their thousands, About 50 cities saw mass protest demonstrations take place in the city centres. Enough is Enough was the rallying call, the anger is growing at this latest cull on the poor, anger at this blatant handout to the rich at our expense. However it can't end there, these protests must grow and tell the powerful, privileged wealthy who shape society in their favour, we will no longer accept poverty as our way of life in the midst of wealth and opulence. We have to take control of our lives and shape society to see to the needs of all our people. Bring an end to a society based on pomp, privilege, power and wealth, all at our expense. We are the creators of all the wealth in this country, and we allow it to be syphoned to the privileged few, why. We must become a land of rebellion to right the wrongs that unnecessarily blight the lives of so many of our people.

          A  photo from the Glasgow protest, thanks to a friend of a friend.

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

Sabotage.

           There has been a united parrot voiced opinion from the West that Russia sabotaged its own Nord Stream gas pipe lines. There has no dissenting voices in this chorus, yet the evidence is there to suggest an alternate view. Also the CIA suggested that there could be an attack on the Nord Stream pipe lines, I'm always suspicious when the CIA suggest something like that and it happens. 

Image courtesy of Le Monde.

            The following is an extract from an interesting article on Arrezafe. Well worth reading the full article.

             It cost billions of dollars to install the Nord Stream 2 pipeline across the Baltic Sea, from near St. Petersburg to the port of Greifsfeld in Germany. The idea was to guarantee a secure supply of natural gas to Germany and other European partners. avoiding its passage through troubled Ukraine, known for being willing to use its transit rights to extract gas for itself or blackmail customers.
           Ukraine, of course, was always vehemently hostile to the project, as were the United States, Poland, and the three Baltic States, Finland, and Sweden, all keeping an eye on what was happening in their seas.
The Baltic Sea is an almost closed body of water, with narrow access to the Atlantic through Danish and Swedish straits. The waters around the Danish island of Bornholm, where the Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged by massive underwater explosions, are under constant military surveillance by these neighbors.
            “It seems completely impossible that a state agent could carry out a major naval operation in the middle of this densely monitored area without being noticed by the countless active and passive sensors of the coastal states; certainly not directly in front of the island of Bornholm, where the Danes, Swedes and Germans meet to monitor surface and underwater activities,” writes Jens Berger on the excellent German website Nachdenkseiten.

           ABC News @ABC · Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades...then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it." Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since...the project is in Germany's control?" Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that."Video link HERE:

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

Iran!

   

 

      We should be firing up support and solidarity with the people of Iran. Perhaps it is time to marry those two slogans, one from Iran, "We are no longer scared" to ours, "We will no longer be poor". The courage of the women of Iran surely inspires the desire to set about changing our society. They face a very brutal authoritarian regime, shackled to the blind dictate of religion. We cannot let their struggle be in vain.

An extract from Enough is Enough.

 

Is it a feminist revolution

Is it a feminist revolution because they’re burning their hijab

Is it a feminist revolution because it was started and is led by women

Is it a feminist revolution if men are taking part

Is it a feminist revolution if nothing changes

What does hair have to do with the revolution

Glory and power to the women in Iran.

            If we’re lucky, women are semi-colons in the stories written by men and other egomaniacs and “revolutionaries” who think we don’t know that they don’t know what they’re doing; who think we don’t know that they just want some more of that power that the State monopolizes and not liberation for us all.
           Glory and power to the women in Iran who have seized the narrative and become object and subject. Women are too often the afterthought of a revolution, rarely its reason for being.

Listen to their chants: Jin Jiyan Azadi/Women Life Liberty!

           Glory and power to the women in Iran for serving us this challenge: If women (and men) in one of the most perfect police states are this unscared, then what are you doing to fight your oppressors?
          The thing about revolutions is that you can never unsee them. You can never see people who are no longer scared rise up.
          Their courage will set your very guts on fire. And put you on notice that you are next, whether you are an oppressor with a small o or a big-O Oppressor.
          Glory and power to the women in Iran who have seized the narrative and become object and subject.
           In too many revolutions women have died, been beaten, shot at, and sexually assaulted, fighting alongside men to rid their countries of that uppercase Patriarch yet so many lowercase patriarchs still oppress us.

We are no longer scared.

Read the full article HERE:

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

Freedom?

      The price you pay for not dressing according to the dictate of  authoritarian religious.

                                            Image courtesy of Iran Human Rights.

        Are the people of Iran finally going to throw off the shackles of authoritarian religion? Are they going to grasp the jewel of freedom, free from the rigours of patriarchy? Time will tell, but it is looking extremely positive in what the people are doing on the streets of Iran.

       The flames of uprising are once again burning in Iran. Yet, it seems different this time. A revolution is afoot, a feminist revolution.
      The first sparks of the revolution started in Saghez of Kurdistan, the home town of Mahsa Amini. Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Kurdish girl who was beaten to death by the police for “improper Hijab.” Mahsa was better lnown as Zhina among friends and family. In the Kurdish language, Zhina means life. The Islamic Republic of Iran snuffed out her life and countless others as sacrifices to the altars of Patriarchy, Religion, Racism, & Capitalism.
       The original sparks of revolt started by the chants "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi," "Woman, Life, Freedom" are now a evolution spreading to all 31 provinces and hundreds of cities. Even the ideological strongholds of the regime, Qom and Mashhad, are revolting. For the first time, the police are the direct target of people's ire. The Police have been driven back, beaten, and killed. Police cars flipped, burned, and destroyed. Police stations taken over and set aflame. People are no longer scared of them.
       The revolution is bearing fruits. Oshnavieh is the first city liberated and in full control of people on September 24th. We are but one step away from overthrowing the death cult that is Islamic Republic of Iran. It has yet to be seen if we would take that final step. But, the people of Iran have already proven that they shouldn't be underestimated.

A co-production between Antimídia, Federation of Anarchism Era and subMedia.

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

Rebellion.

 

    

         Riots, mass protests, open rebellion against the state and its bed partners from the corporate world of greed, these are daily occurrences across our beleaguered planet. Most of it fails to make the news with our mainstream media, they are much more tied up with imperialist pomp, sex scandals and the shenanigans of the celebrity world, a daily feed of bubble gum and popcorn.
        So we should be grateful to SubMedia for the regular rendering of that other world, the world of struggle of the ordinary people for justice and a decent life. Spread the word far and wide, the world is in revolt, justice can be ours.

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

Stuart.

      The latest rendering from The Kate Sharpley Library, as usual interesting stuff, always fascinating and informative.

       From our comrades at the Stuart Christie Memorial Archive (now open!)
KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 106, September 2022 has just been posted on our site.

Contents:
         Union-Bashing Economics [1975] by Albert Meltzer "It is the language of myth called in to justify power – an economic myth to replace the patriotic myth, but in this case using the same ‘national necessity’ ploy as in war."
         Remembering Stuart, two years on "Copies of A Life for Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader arrived in the UK at the very end of June 2022... We’d like to see copies in libraries: have you asked your local library to get one?"
         A ‘good example’: A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader [Book review] by Mark R. "There is undoubtedly, a new world waiting to be built, and from those members of that ‘strange, unknown, unappreciated tribe’ who came before us, and in whose ranks Stuart Christie now stands, we can find the inspiration to fight on; for as another of those fighters once said; ‘we are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that.’"
         A living book : 'A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader' [book review] by Richard Warren "A life for anarchy is a proper reader – not a dry memorial, not a dusty headstone, but a living book to keep handy, to dip into repeatedly and to relish."
        Immense enthusiasm and optimism : 'A Life For Anarchy: A Stuart Christie Reader' [book review] by Chris Ealham "I was impressed by his literary references, which ranged from obscure Scottish poetry to popular culture; this was always very natural, lightly worn, in no way jarring or artificial. He also displayed immense enthusiasm and optimism. Many of these admirable traits are attested to in the final section, which consists of tributes paid to Stuart by his comrades, friends and loved ones, although the frontiers between these categories were very fluid."
        The use and need for a union by Léa Wullschleger "Certainly, if they cannot fight against the bosses with the same weapons as them, capital, since they don’t own any, they can achieve anything through numbers and organisation; since we are no doubt the more numerous."
         Joe Thomas [obituary] by Albert Meltzer "he was (to the surprise of his many friends in the trade union movement) a good friend to revolutionary anarchism and to the practicalities of anarcho-syndicalism (to the dismay of his Marxist friends)."
         Audrey Beecham [1915-89] by Albert Meltzer "She was a good friend to Miguel Garcia and myself. I took back from Barcelona this October many messages of greetings from Spanish friends both of the ‘thirties and ‘sixties, which will never now be delivered."

Anarchist history roundup Aug. 2022
          Advice to My Anarchist Comrades (1901) by Élisée Reclus (and Stuart Christie) "What then should we do to maintain our intellectual vigor, our moral energy, and our faith in the good fight?"
          You can read the bulletin via https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/dv43bp The PDF is up at https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/xpnxzt

 

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

Class War.

            Well people of UK, now you know, with Kwarteng's massive-mini budget we face raw capitalism, capitalism with the gloves off. No sham, no illusions, feed the rich and keep the poor poor, to give the poor money would only feed inflation. While we struggle with astronomical energy bills and struggle to feed our families adequately, millions of pounds are thrown at the very rich. In the UK there are 19,000 who earn more than £1million a year, the chancellor has just handed them a further £55,000 a year to play around with. If you earn £20,000 a year, the chancellor's tax cuts will give you the princely sum of £1.43 a week more to spend. Well Kwarteng tells us the rich with all that extra money will invest in giving you high paid jobs. My bet is that they will now consider a larger yacht or a bigger super car. What will you do with your fabulous windfall of £1.43 a week? Well not a lot, as it and much more will be gobbled up with your new energy bill come October. While you struggle spare a thought for those poor bankers who have had to survive on annual bonuses of just twice their annual salary. Kwarteng has seen their plight and abolished the cap on bankers bonuses. The man's sympathy knows no bounds, well except for the poor.
          With this comes suggestions that the 48 hour week could be scrapped, and new legislation to curtail strike action. Well if you want to survive this cull on the poor we had better get organised now. Increase strike action before they put the hems on it. Once the legislation is in place it will be a much harder struggle. Don't wait for the extra chains to be put round your ankles, act now, end this jamboree of power, privilege and wealth, end this onslaught on the ordinary people, end this drive to accumulate more wealth for the pampered, privileged few.

 

Image courtesy of Mail Online.

 

Image courtesy of Trussell Trust.

Quote from Institute of Fiscal Studies:

Paul Johnson, IFS Director, said: 

          “Today, the Chancellor announced the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years without even a semblance of an effort to make the public finance numbers add up. Instead, the plan seems to be to borrow large sums at increasingly expensive rates, put government debt on an unsustainable rising path, and hope that we get better growth. This marks such a dramatic change in the direction of economic policy-making that some of the longer-serving cabinet ministers might be worried about getting whiplash.
          Mr Kwarteng has shown himself willing to gamble with fiscal sustainability in order to push through these huge tax cuts. He is willing to shrug off the risks of inflation, and to invite significantly higher interest rates. And he has avoided scrutiny by presenting a Budget in all but name without accompanying forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

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

Bookfair.

 

             It is great to see that anarchist bookfairs are still regular and popular in the UK. Most are very successful and long may that be so. They are also very useful in bringing together those who see anarchism as the road to that better world. So remember remember the 5th of November, for that is the date of the Manchester Salford Bookfair, an excellent date with history in mind. Make this event a must, spread the word far and wide. Bookfairs are a must for those lovers of meet-ups, discussions, chat, meeting new friends and catching up with old comrades and getting a handle on what is happening around the country. 

 https://bookfair.org.uk

https://facebook.com/anarchistbookfair

 

https://twitter.com/abookfair

https://instagram.com/abookfair

 

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

Opposites.

          Now that the over extravagant, way over the top extravaganza of a funeral is over, will the royals do what other families in this country do after a funeral, pay the bill? Or will that fall to Joe Mug, the tax payer. This whole extended period of mourning was a ostentatious show of pomp, power and privilege, a gross display of inherited plunder wealth. Yet millions turned up to fawn and weep in front of a class that don't give a monkeys about them. This entourage presides over a nation with millions living in poverty, children going hungry to school, elderly that can't heat their homes. This whole class of parasites wallows in obscene opulence and yet we have those who some how, hypnotised by the gloss and glitter show, believe they are part of that world. View some of the opulence HERE. This lavish circus, this Hollywood production of brutal British imperialism will have cost millions to perform, I doubt if the royals will pay a penny towards the performance. Millions spent in a couple of weeks, but no money for the poor, the elderly, the infirm. Another sickening aspect of this whole performance was that they were handing out blankets to those deadheads standing in the queue, when will we see such generosity to the homeless and the poor. 

Image courtesy of The Metro.

Image courtesy of Celebrity Land.  

 

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

Chile.

   

                                                 Image courtesy of NPR.

       The people of that part of the planet that goes by the name of Chile have been fighting on the streets for freedom and justice for some considerable time. The longer the struggle the more brutal the state repression, the more young people get caught up in the mesh of the state's judicial and prison system. No evidence is so inefficient, no evidence is so outlandish for it not to convince the authorities to hold and incarcerate the youth of that land. 

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

Do Not Publish.

            This filming corresponds to a fiction based on information provided by different coordinating committees and popular defenders of the Chilean people, and at the request and need of the relatives and friends of political prisoners in the context of the Revolt. There are more than 1500 children, siblings, nieces, nephews, nephews and friends who have been imprisoned for months and even years. These are some of the «evidences» against them:

I took a selfie in a place near the crime scene.
Their clothing was similar to that of the police cameras.
Bragging posts about actions that occurred during a protest.
Message to bump into a demonstration on the day of the events.
Appears in color in independent press broadcasts live on the day of the events.
Has a tattoo in the same area as the suspect, although the design cannot be distinguished.
On that day the defendant was not at home.
He participates in a soup kitchen and a group from a vulnerable part of town.

             As absurd as it may seem, these are some of the «evidences» that by themselves, according to Chilean justice, can keep you in prison for investigation for YEARS, and in the worst case, serving a sentence.
           «DO NOT PUBLISH» is directed mainly to people active in the street demonstration and related media. «DO NOT PUBLISH» immediately seeks to get the demonstrators to take the security measures they have in their hands. The emphasis is on NOT POSTING content on your social and messaging networks where your appearance, identity and clothing could be ATTRIBUTABLE for direct action and eventual criminal investigation and potential incarceration.
            This post is accompanied by the following clarification both to report the gross amount of forced accusations at the expense of inaccurate and disconnected evidence; and to emphasize how necessary self-care is when you are at a demonstration. And so, the MISTAKES OF THE PAST ARE THE LEARNING OF TODAY AND TOMORROW.

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

A Flag!

 

       A poem can often say in a few verses what a book takes several chapters to say. So with all the recent fawning at the feet of that symbol of British brutal imperialism, I thought the following lyrics from a song by The Wolfe Tones. The lyrics of The Butcher's Apron originate from a poem written by Henry Dupre LaBouchere.

 

The Butcher's Apron

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West. Wherever there's wealth to

plunder or land to be possessed. Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.

You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there!

It waits upon blazing hovels where African victims died, to be shot the explosive bullets or

wretchedly starve and die, and where the pirate hammers the isles of southern seas, at the

peak of the hellish vessel the English flag is free!

The Maori often cursed it with his bitterness dying breath, and the Arab hath hissed his hatred

as he spat at its folds in death, and the helpless Hindu feared it, and the Kenyan did the

same, and the Irish blood hath stained it, with a deep indelible stain.

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West. Wherever there's wealth to

plunder or land to be possessed. Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.

You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there!

It is floated on scenes of pillage, it is flaunted on deeds of shame. It has waved o'er fell

marauders, as they ravished with sword and flame, it has looked upon on ruthless slaughter,

and massacred dire and grim, and has heard the shrieks of victims drowning the jingo hymn.

Where is the flag of England? Seek lands where the natives rot. Where decay, and assured

extinction must soon be a people's lot. Go search for once glad islands where death and

disease are rife, and the greed of colossal commerce now fattens on human life.

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West. Wherever there's wealth to

plunder or land to be possessed. Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.

You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there!

Where is the flag of England? Go sail where rich boats come. With shoddy and loaded

cottons, and beer and Bibles and guns. Go where brute forces triumphed, and hypocrisy

makes its lair. In your question you'll find the answer, it was and still is there!

Where is the flag of England? Go North, South, East or West. Wherever there's wealth to

plunder or land to be possessed. Wherever there's feeble races to frighten, coerce or scare.

You'll find the butcher's apron, the English flag is there

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