Thursday 4 September 2014

A Society Of Lies, More Lies, And Damned Lies.

      Most informed people in this society know it is a society of lies, more lies, and damned lies. That's how the system works, sleight of hand, fiddled figures, smoke and mirrors and wild propaganda. If the truth were told, the whole pack of cards would come crumbling down, people just would not accept the fact that  all the wealth we produce is shovelled into the coffers of the corporations and their merry band of pampered parasitic managers. 
       There are those who say the system is broken, far from it, it is doing what it is meant to do, syphon wealth upwards. One reason this robbing, plundering system survives, is the fact that the majority seem to accept the illusion that it can do the opposite.

Our Lords And Masters. (apologies to the hogs)
This from The Void:
      The body established to lie on behalf of the fraud ridden welfare-to-work industry have launched a new campaign on the back of a report so breath-takingly dishonest it would make Iain Duncan Smith blush.
     According to the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), the floundering Work Programme has been a huge success and is set to add £18 billion to the economy.  This is based on a report which ERSA commisioned from a consultancy company called Europe Economics who have mangled the figures in an attempt to hoodwink the DWP into giving Work Programme providers like A4e and G4S even more tax payer’s cash.
Read the full article HERE:

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

Wednesday 3 September 2014

Enslave The Unemployed, Hide The Homeless.


       How does Cameron and Osborne, the Financial Mafia's two UK hit-men, help the most vulnerable in our community? Well they are trying workfare, where people work for free, to be honest, this is more an attempt help their corporate buddies and to legalise slavery. Then there is "sanctioning" this is where they take the poorest in the community and remove whatever little income they have, making the individual destitute. However these policies tend to cause another symbol of a country's poverty to appear, begging. To our pompous privileged Oxbridge parasites, begging sends out the wrong message, it exposes their claim of growth and prosperity as myth. So how can they help those unfortunate individuals who find themselves sitting in all weathers begging to survive? Well according to the powers that be,


"Begging will not be tolerated in the City of Westminster or any other London borough. Wherever possible people begging will be arrested and ASBOs sought where appropriate."  Problem solved, poverty eradicated. Or more accurately, imprisoned, moved on to another area, hidden from the affluent centres. We must keep the centres of consumption nice and pleasant, for the more affluent and of course those lucrative tourists. 


     The article in the The Huffington Post has an array of photos of people sleeping rough in London in numbers that are an affront to any civilized country, and an indictment of this system of rule by the financial Mafia. The system will not sort out the reason for sleeping rough, it will merely intimidate, threaten, harass, move on. Push them deeper into the darker recesses of this corrupt system, and when out of sight, they can display their myth to the world, that we are a very affluent society. 

 

     We are a very rich country, a country overflowing with wealth and resources, every penny of which was created by the ordinary people of this country. However it has been purloined, plundered and stolen, and now lies in the hands of those who sweep the poor under the carpet, while implementing policies that create more poor. It doesn't have to be this way.

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

    

Tuesday 2 September 2014

My Country Is The World.


      The world is my country, humanity my family. One world, one big village, one large family, all equal under the sun, no gods, no masters. Thanks Janice for this one.



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

Monday 1 September 2014

Be True To Yourself.


       Our pompous parasite class of privileged millionaires, and their mouthpiece, that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, continue their attempt to glorify and justify, the imperialist bloody land grab of 1914/18 with a biased phoney history. We will have distorted documentaries, plays and ceremonies, about how it was all justified, in an attempt to defend democracy. Of how we were the honourable side, and the other side were a despicable sub-human species. The reality was, those sent by the UK imperialists, to do the killing were bus drivers, farm labourers, office workers, shop assistants, plumbers, engineers etc., who they were sent to kill, were, bus drivers, farm labourers, office workers, shop assistants, plumbers, engineers, etc.. None of whom had ever known democracy in their entire life, all of whom, on both sides, were struggle to create a democracy, something the Imperialists could not tolerate.
     Prior to the Imperial slaughter of 1914/18, the UK, like the rest of Europe, was in turmoil, here in the UK from 1900 to 1914, the country was racked by a continual series of strikes that were noted for their militancy and refusal to follow union leaders dictates.


Troops paraded in the streets of Liverpool in an attempt to intimidate workers, 1911.


        This militancy shook the British capitalist state to its foundations and forced the Liberal government of Herbert Henry Asquith to increasingly turn to military means in an attempt to halt the strikes. While the most famous examples of Government militancy was the despatching of two warships up the River Mersey following the 1911 strike of seamen there are also plenty of other examples such as the use of troops during the rail strike of 1911 in an attempt to keep scab trains operating. This period saw workers militancy break out of the boundaries of bourgeois legality and begin to start to develop towards a more critical consciousness which questioned the very basis of capitalist rule.
      This then was the democracy that existed in the UK prior to the 1914/18 imperial bloody greed fest. Today we are still struggling to create that democracy, and today like then, it is the capitalist class that stands in our way. If only once again, the workers would create that 1911 critical consciousness, and that breaking out of the bourgeois legality.
       When we hear our lords and masters talk of war as a solution to their problems, we would do well to remember the words of Eugene V. Debs, as he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and stripped of his citizenship, in that "Land of the Free", the good ol' US of A, for speaking out against that all encompassing 1914/18 imperialist slaughter.
      “They have always taught and trained you to believe it to be your patriotic duty to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at their command. But in all the history of the world you, the people, have never had a voice in declaring war, and strange as it certainly appears, no war by any nation in any age has ever been declared by the people … Do not worry over the charge of treason to your masters, but be concerned about the treason that involves yourselves. Be true to yourself and you cannot be a traitor to any good cause on earth.”

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

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



Sunday 31 August 2014

No Human Can Be Illegal.


     For three days now some refugees have been protesting against their treatment, by staying on the roof of a hostel in Berlin, from which they were to be evicted.


          A call for solidarity and the latest from Contra Info:

 http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/files/2014/08/G%C3%BCrtelstra%C3%9Fe39.jpg
       On the 28th of August there was an evening demo from Frankfurter Tor with around 500 people. cops tried to break it two times. they beat up people. one arrest was confirmed. the demo was crumbling after the arab group (antiimperialist communist group, which also organised the ‘revolutionary may 1st demo’) announced that the cops attempt to storm the hostel roof. people with bicycles left and rushed to the junction in Gürtelstraße. it caused an alarm also at the junction where protesters were because nobody, apart from the arab group, had heard anything about it.
        At around 9.30pm, after the demo arrived at the location, same as usual, speeches, slogans, marginalised political groups presenting their banners, etc. there was lot of free food, which people also took well, but soon afterwards they started leaving again, and before midnight only few people remained. a sign of solidarity was expressed by a neighbour who made kind of a laser show beaming the slogan “no human being is illegal” on his balcony. he later came down when he saw that refugees who tried to get some sleep at the junction had not enough blankets, and went through the barriers giving them two thick ones. then, when he wanted to pass through the barriers, the cops hindered him and prompted him to show his ID, which he had not on him. they made a fuss until his wife shouted: “could you let my husband inside again?…” they let him pass but he was forced to get inside home, get his ID, go down again and show it to the cops. meanwhile the refugees on the roof started continuously drumming (probably on pots), gave light signals and also shouted from the rooftop. protesters replied by shouting back slogans, blowing whistles and there was also one megaphone. but soon cops disallowed all of that.
     Also, a couple of nazis showed up. comrades recognized at least four. three of them appeared in the middle of the road in the Scharnweberstraße standing there and shouting a nazi slogan, while one passed by in a car, but was recognized too late. for sure, there were far more of them who went unrecognized (the protest is directly at the border of their stronghold district Lichtenberg).
    During the 29th and the 30th of August, the situation remained relatively unchanged. authorities still starve refugee protesters on the hostel roof in Gürtelstraße, and support of demonstrators is still low.
      There’s a call for a demo tomorrow, Sunday the 31st at 5pm in Warschauer Straße, Friedrichshain.
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Saturday 30 August 2014

When Is It Right To Buy A Person?









An appeal from Walk Free:
      Andy Hall could face 7 years in prison for doing something you and I do everyday -- talking about modern slavery.

         Andy Hall is a British campaigner with a special focus on the rights of migrant workers. Two years ago, on behalf of Finnwatch, he undertook an investigation into Natural Fruit, part of NatGroup, a Thai company that processes pineapples and supplies retailers around the world. Finnwatch's final report paints a picture suggesting modern slavery: "...passports and work permits confiscated; compulsory and excessive overtime; fines and unclear deductions from wages; debt bondage and violence by guards and superiors."1
      Instead of focusing on addressing these serious allegations, Natural Fruit decided to try and silence Andy with lawsuits. They have pursued civil and criminal charges and now Andy could face a prison sentence and $10 million in legal damages for his investigations.

       Are you as outraged as we are? Now is your chance to join the call for justice. Stand with Andy Hall: demand that Natural Fruit drop all charges against him and thoroughly investigate and take action to ensure there is no modern slavery or exploitation in their business.
        Now is a crucial time in Andy’s prosecution. In just three days his trial will begin. Although Natural Fruit’s behaviour is deeply disturbing it proves that the company cares about its public image. By coming together over the next few days, with activists all around the world that are standing in solidarity with Andy, we can show Natural Fruit’s senior management what we think about these excessive and intimidating charges.
        If this case proceeds and Natural Fruit are successful this would not only be a grave miscarriage of justice for Andy. This process could set a dangerous precedent for other companies in Thailand that might take a similar approach when allegations are raised of modern slavery in their supply chains. This threatens the work of anti-slavery campaigners but also workers in Thailand who might be too afraid to come forward and report abuse.

     Andy Hall is one of us -- please join the growing global outcry over his prosecution and fight for the rights of anti-slavery campaigners and their efforts to end worker exploitation.


In solidarity,

The whole Walk Free team
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

As We See It.

Plain truth in plain language.


Post by John Couzin.

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


Perpetrator As Victim.


     As the anger against Israeli actions in Gaza reaches a crescendo, we should never forget that it is a state and its apparatus that perpetrates these brutal crimes. Within Israel there are those, little heard Jews, who call for a just peace. Even although it receives strong support, our anger must always be against the State of Israel, not the entire Israeli population. Just as we in this country at times can't stop our government from such adventures as Iraq and elsewhere, so it is in other states. All who call for peace, freedom and justice, must raise their voice as a unified chorus.




 Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City, Tuesday, July 22.

     As a Jewish youngster growing up in Budapest, an infant survivor of the Nazi genocide, I was for years haunted by a question resounding in my brain with such force that sometimes my head would spin: “How was it possible? How could the world have let such horrors happen?”
It was a naïve question, that of a child. I know better now: such is reality. Whether in Vietnam or Rwanda or Syria, humanity stands by either complicitly or unconsciously or helplessly, as it always does. In Gaza today we find ways of justifying the bombing of hospitals, the annihilation of families at dinner, the killing of pre-adolescents playing soccer on a beach.
     In Israel-Palestine the powerful party has succeeded in painting itself as the victim, while the ones being killed and maimed become the perpetrators. “They don’t care about life,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, abetted by the Obamas and Harpers of this world, “we do.” Netanyahu, you who with surgical precision slaughter innocents, the young and the old, you who have cruelly blockaded Gaza for years, starving it of necessities, you who deprive Palestinians of more and more of their land, their water, their crops, their trees — you care about life?
Read the full article HERE:

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

Friday 29 August 2014

It's Insane To Call It Democracy.


       I find it fascinating how the wrong meaning of a word can come into normal use. Take the word "democracy", ask anybody in the street what "democracy" means and they'll probably give a fairly accurate definition, then ask them if we live in a "democracy" and you'll be surprised how many say "yes". Of course our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, continually  reinforce this misuse by their constantly referring to the "Western Democracies". The UK version of "democracy" is one where there are seats of power, and practically all those seats of power are filled from a small pool of rich pampered parasites, and most of them come through that elitist sausage factory known as "Oxbridge". Once the rich pampered parasites are processed through the Oxbridge sausage factory, they then spend a few years playing with their pals, and are then slotted into a position of power, over a section of the country that they nothing about. That my friends is UK "democracy".


       Only around 7% of the UK population attend private fee paying schools, yet many of the UK's judges, journalists, public officials, armed forces chiefs, media executives, are all privately educated before heading to the finishing process at the Oxbridge sausage factory. A report by Social Mobility and Child Poverty Group, concluded that Britain's elite is still  "formed on the playing fields of independent schools" and "finished in Oxbridge's dreaming spires". 

 Many members of Britain's judiciary have had a private education, a report has found

      Other figures from the report state that 71% of senior judges, 62% of senior armed forces officers, 55% of government permanent secretaries, 53% of senior diplomats, 45% of public body chairpersons, 44% of The Sunday Times Rich List, 43%  of newspaper columnists, as well as 26% of BBC executives were all privately educated. All that power lying in the hands of a group drawn from a very small 7% privileged bunch, and they call that "democracy".


      Another statement from the report says:  "Our research shows it is entirely possible for politicians to rely on advisors to advise, civil servants to devise policy solutions, and journalists to report on their actions having all studied the same courses at the same universities, having read the same books, heard the same lectures and even being taught by the same tutors."


     Where do we the ordinary people come in on this, when those making the decisions that shape our lives, have no experience of the world in which we the ordinary people live. 


      This ties in with another finding, that as all the countries in the world develop towards being more equal, the divide between rich and poor within each country is getting wider. This model of "democracy" means that the elitists in each country look after their own class, strengthen their power and grow their wealth at the expense of the vast majority of the world's population. How long can this privileged bunch of parasites continue to suck the wealth from the majority into their private coffers, before that majority steeped in ever deepening deprivation, rebel, and change things to a proper "democracy"? 

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





Wednesday 27 August 2014

What Is TTIP?


     What is TTIP? Well if it is being discussed and developed in secret, behind closed doors, between transnational corporations and governments, you can rest assured it will not be for the benefit of the ordinary people. It will in fact, shred what little protection we have against the ruthless drive for profit by those transnational corporations.
An appeal from 38 degrees:
      Three days and counting: on Saturday, 38 Degrees members in Glasgow North East are meeting up to spread the word about a sinister EU-US trade deal called TTIP. [1]
       The deal is huge, and almost no one knows about it. [2] And that’s exactly what the powerful interests behind it want. So a whopping 8,018 38 Degrees members are volunteering in almost every constituency in the UK on Saturday. They’ll be talking to their neighbours and ramping up the pressure just before MPs come back from their summer holidays.
       Here’s how you can help. Every volunteer, like John who live near you, is getting a pack of materials in the post - leaflets, posters, badges. Each pack costs just £3.27. They’re as cheap as they can be, but they aren’t free.
     Could you help cover the cost of a pack or two? For £6.54, you could pay for 200 leaflets: that’s up to 200 more people who’ll know how dangerous this behind-closed-doors deal is. Not bad for £6.54.
Please click here to chip in now:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/TTIP-chip-in
      38 Degrees is funded entirely by people like you. [3] Not by big business, or by political parties. That means we’re free to hold anyone and everyone to account: including those behind TTIP (who are desperately hoping ordinary people don’t get involved).
      Saturday’s day of action against this sinister trade deal will echo across the country. 8,000 ordinary people will be hitting the streets to talk to their neighbours. That’s people power in action.
       Can you help it happen by chipping in to fund a couple of packs of materials today? Please click here to make a secure donation:
https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/TTIP-chip-in

Here’s to Saturday,

Susannah, Nat, Megan, Barney, Blanche and the 38 Degrees team
NOTES
      [1] Are you free on Saturday to join in? Click here:
http://ttipaction.38degrees.org.uk
       [2] TTIP - the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - is currently being negotiated between the US and the EU. If it goes through without any changes, it’ll make privatisation of services like the NHS and National Rail irreversible. It’ll also allow big corporations to sue our government if they make changes to the law which affect businesses' profits - like raising the minimum wage.
The Independent: British sovereignty ‘at risk’ from EU-US trade deal: UK in danger of surrendering judicial independence to multinational corporations, warn activists:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-sovereignty-at-risk-from-euus-trade-deal-uk-in-danger-of-surrendering-judicial-independence-to-multinational-corporations-warn-activists-9057318.html
       [3] You can read our donations policy, and see a copy of our audited accounts, here:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/pages/donations-to-38-degrees 

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

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Hold Israel Accountable.




        So Israel has agreed to open the border of Gaza to let in humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials, how generous. What about normal legal trade, freedom of travel to and from Gaza? I suppose now that they have conceded to the most basic minimum, that will be that. No reparations for 50 days of horrendous, brutal destruction and over reaction, more than 2,000 dead, with more than 70% civilians, including approximately 500 children, 17,000 Palestinian homes destroyed and 25% of the people of Gaza now displaced. Then there is the matter of 40% of Gaza's infrastructure destroyed, schools, hospitals, power station and water works, leading to no sewage disposal, and little or no electricity, for what?
     The cease fire should not be the end of the matter, Israel must be held responsible for its policy of genocide, its ruthless destruction, its continual stealing of Palestinian land, and its imprisonment of the Palestinian people. Of course the American administration, by its words and deeds, is complicit in this on going slaughter and destruction. Recently US Congress passed a resolution backing Israel's actions, and voted to send more money for arms for the Israeli state, while at the same time sending jet fuel, grenade rounds and artillery. Meanwhile Secretary of State, John Kerry, referred to Israel's actions as, " appropriate and legitimate."


       Of course the UK government is also in on the money from bloodshed, as we continue to supply Israel with all manner of equipment to assist them in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
     The British government will not block companies exporting arms to Israel, despite previous warnings that arms licenses would be rescinded if fighting in the Middle East continued.
     Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas being broken on Tuesday, a government spokesperson said the licenses have not been suspended.
      “We said we would suspend licenses if there was a significant resumption of hostilities,” a government spokesperson said.
Business as usual: UK arms factories 'profit' from Palestinian bloodshed

A UK arms factory was recently occupied by nine British activists in protest against the company's alleged complicity in Israel’s Operation Protective Edge. (Image from londonpalestineaction.tumblr.com)

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

Monday 25 August 2014

Self Interest Based Compassion.


       Just as a by-the-way, once again my broadband has been behaving like an bad buy, second hand car. Down for the last three days, after being fixed last week, after a ten day breakdown. All is not perfect in our world of hi-tec.
      Bloodshed across the Middle East and Ukraine, among other places, and talk of having a look at highly militarised police forces. Talk of saving this group but not bothering too much about that group, compassion based on self interest, that's the game of world politics. 



An Interesting article from Reader Supported News, by William Boardman:

 Protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. (The News Commenter)
       Rescuing 20,000 or so Yazidis matters more than bringing relief to almost two million Gazans in cities under siege by a relentlessly expansionist, right-wing Israeli government bent on ethnic cleansing? Well, maybe that’s not exactly what Tel Aviv/Jerusalem is up to, but decades of repetitive behavior that includes repeated war crimes is anything but reassuring. How is it better to keep arming Israel, the better to kill Palestinians, or at least to kill those Palestinians who survive the lethal and illegal Israeli occupation and blockade, when the alternative is to support the United Nations and perhaps prevent more atrocities?
       Rescuing 20,000 or so Yazidis matters more than protecting at least as many Americans in Ferguson, a city under siege by white privilege? Saving the Yazidis for now matters more than bringing justice to African-American Americans who have suffered their country’s crimes against their humanity for longer than the United States has existed? How is it better to arm local police with the weapons of international war in a country where police already commit the atrocity of killing a black man on average every 28 hours?
Read the full article HERE:

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


Thursday 21 August 2014

Till All Are Free.



US Prison.
      Most countries across the world are increasing the number of people that they incarcerate. A sign that we are becoming a more criminal people, or that governments are becoming more authoritarian, I think we can take it to be the latter.
 Greek prison hospital.
         America leads the world in percentage and number of people that it locks up, with the figures for 2011 being 2,266,500, with a further 4,814,200 on probation or parole, there are also 70,792 juveniles in detention. This accounts for 25% of the entire world's prison population. Here in the UK we are likewise, a "lock 'em up" state, The figures for 2011 show that we managed to incarcerate 97,000 people, we have 4,635 women in prison. The year to June 2014 saw a 2% increase in the UK prison population, the fastest growing age group in UK prisons are the over sixty's. It is the one thing that we lead Europe on, our prison population is the highest in Europe. 
 UK prison.
       With this in mind there is an appeal from Act For Freedom Now: 
      We take this moment to echo the call-out from various collectives of solidarity with prisoners and anarchist prisoners from different parts of the world. It is for a week of solidarity from August 23 to 30 (commemorating that August 23 was the date of the execution of the Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in the United States):
       Given the nature and diversity of anarchist groups around the globe, we have proposed a week of common action rather than a single campaign on a specific day making easier for groups to be able to organise an event within a longer target period. Therefore, we call on everyone to spread the information about the Week for Anarchist Prisoners among other groups and communities and think about organising event(s) in your city or town. The events can vary from info-evenings, screenings and benefit concerts to solidarity and direct actions. Let your imagination run free.
 UK prison.
Till all are free.
Read the full article HERE:
Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk