PART 1
Today's Topics:
1. anarkismo.net: Considerations of the Anarkismo network about
the accusations against Michael Schmidt by Anarkismo network
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. anarkismo.net: Greece, Strike February 4 by ERC Ioannina: We
will die working for bosses (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Britain, glasgow anarchists - Glasgow Events from 26/01/2016
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. US, First of May Anarchist Alliance Broadsheet: JAN-FEB
2016: Detroit’s Eastside Fight (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #257 (Jan) - Syria:
Support the Kurdish left against Daech (fr, it, pt) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. southern africa, Attacks on Foreigners: Only the Ruling
Class Benefits by Siyabulela Hulu-Hulu - TAAC, ZACF
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. anarkismo.net: Left to your Own Devices by Pink Panther -
AWSM (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
The Anarkismo network has already published a statement that it would wait until all parts
of the accusations by Reid Ross and Stephens were published, as well as the answers of M.
Schmidt, before making any judgements on the case. Now that this has been forthcoming, as
well as two more responses by Reid Ross, we are issuing a second statement to make public
our intentions regarding the present situation. ---- The Anarkismo network ---- It is
difficult for us to draw definitive conclusions about this case based on the evidence
provided so far by both sides. This is because to do so would require translating all the
material, accusations and defence, into numerous languages in order to allow debate in
each organisation, with organisations then debating each other through their delegates to
the Anarkismo network. This is impossible to carry out with our current capacity –
especially for organisations with daily militancy and work of social insertion and/or
operating under difficult social contexts – without sacrificing other daily activities.
However, the accusations against Schmidt are extremely serious and we take the issue of
fighting racism and white supremacy as high priority. Therefore, the Anarkismo network has
decided to call for a commission of enquiry to investigate more closely both the
accusations and the defence, and to make recommendations to the broader anarchist movement
based on their findings. As it is well known that Schmidt was a former militant in one of
our member organizations and both helped to found and contributed extensively to the
anarkismo.net website, it is our intention that the commission should include members of
other tendencies and non-affiliated anarchists in order to avoid partiality.
We have already stated in our previous statement how we feel about the methods of the
accusers. Further than the specific case of M. Schmidt, those methods raised an internal
debate about how we deal with such situations. The accusations may be true or not: this
will be for the commission to settle. We cannot ignore that the methods used by the
accusers – especially the lack of a criteria for minimum of justice – could be used one
day in an unjustified accusation against any one of us in order to defame a militant, an
organisation or a whole movement. As political organizations we have a duty to protect our
members. While Schmidt may not be a member of any of our affiliated organisations, the way
we deal with the current situation will have consequences for similar situations in the
future.
This is why the Anarkismo network, before sending an invitation to members of other
tendencies to join the commission of enquiry, will now work internally to figure out the
commission's composition, the parameters of what decisions are within its range and on the
questions of how we define justice and ethics in a way that does not reproduce the modus
operandi of mainstream society. This is in order to propose a methodological and ethical
framework for this commission (which, then, will need to be discussed with the tendencies
we wish to invite to form the commission). We think this is necessary because, if this
commission has no clear criteria, it will end up adopting, as a result of a dynamic of
social pressure, those of the movement in general. And unfortunately, we cannot say that
the criteria of ethics and justice today in our milieu are the best.
This work will take us a while. Not only because it is a vast discussion, but also because
we lack the capacity to deal properly with this case without stopping our daily work.
There will be a further communication when the Anarkismo network is ready to make a formal
proposal.
The Anarkismo Network
January 2016
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/29047
------------------------------
Message: 2
Gathering at the Labour Centre 10.30 Update-Discussion on the measures of the n / p
Monday, February 1st 17:00 at the labor center ---- No there is not a single generation,
from the years of this day, who has not gone badly defending the obvious. But our own
generation, she fell to experiencing the onset of capitalist crisis, seems completely
sacrificing the sole and upper altar serving governments of all colors: The altar of the
interests of the ruling class. Successive reforms, laws and other laws caps circumvention
rights, dismantling of education and healthcare, precarisation of labor relations. ----
Previous governments have followed the doctrine of shock in the attack on the social
gains. Many believed that SYRIZA will brake the sweeping restructuring. Many believed that
when you have in your hands the state structures, do you do more easily in charge. Once
again, they dashed.
The Syrizaiiko state, not only did not change anything, but swallowed it in a few months
and hopes of those who believed. And now with the deposit insurance bill starts off
accounts that have pending with capital. Is heralding a new phase of restructuring, which
will toughen measures and will make life unbearable to the people of toil. Furthermore,
the chapter could not have been better ally than a government with left mask. The left
management of Greek capitalism is here and shows us her teeth.
The new insurance bill has no social perspective. It not only raises the question of
passing on the burden to the employees themselves. The main objective is to discredit the
insurance, pensions, healthcare insurance system in general so as to pave the way for
something new. With all the "good" we have the EU carry and eat without chewing so many
people, is also a "contributory" security system based on three pillars: The minimum
public minimum pension, occupational and private insurance depending on how many bears
everyone. Insurance companies rubbing their hands. But not alone.
The substantial reduction in employer contributions mainly SMEs, combined with the
increase in working life at 67, relaxes even more burdens on the majority of bosses in
this country. Most now work in SMEs, there is the operating scope of our work, and the
state shows even more now with what the band is. Workers trying to understand who lost
their salary in the middle of the month, while the bosses are subsidized for everything
from stamps (through OAED) until their wages and now for employer contributions. For the
sake of development and investment must be some spit blood to survive.
But especially in the agricultural sector, the insurance unleashes a terrible attack.
Deposit 100% tax, VAT increase in the produced product taxation from the first euro,
abolishing the OGA etc. In fact it completes the agriculture policy of the previous period
of extinction anyway lean number of farmers in Greece. They try to convert production to
agro, with major investments and manufacturing enterprises, focusing on exports rather
than domestic needs. The small farmers will disappear, will sell as much as their
equipment and forced or work in large the worst conditions or go to cities in the tertiary
sector. The instruments will kiss katourimenes aprons to be great and will be further tied
to EU subsidies to banks and loans. And the landowners will continue to invest their money
tax cuts, xezoumizontas immigrants and locals.
But the Social Security bill has been above all a clear class connotation. As the state
caressing in a way the bosses (this is after all destined to do), so those emboldened. So
they do not respect any labor legislation. Both increases their terrorism. Because they
know that they have the state to care for them. Cases employer arbitrariness and here in
Ioannina characteristic: ELTA courier last, RECYCLING, DHL, Pizza Panda and many other
workplaces that would never learn.
But anyone who hopes the welfare state, state-patron of workers, is lost by hand. The only
thing you can trust is the struggle and the strength of the organized working class, since
this has created anything in this world. And when you understand its interests might be
demolish and recreate it. A station in this fight is the withdrawal of the new Insurance
Bill. It is the time to show our true power.
THE INSURANCE BILL IN GARBAGE!
4 FEBRUARY STRIKE
Gathering at the Labour Centre 10.30
Update-Discussion on the measures of the n / p
Monday, February 1st 17:00 at the Labour Centre
Libertarian Syndicalist Union (ERC) Ioannina
Link Related: http://eseioanninon.squat.gr/
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/29048
------------------------------
Message: 3
Hi everyone, It’s another week, and so another events listing with the Glasgow AF Autonomy
Update. Of special note tomorrow is the call-out for support by the peeps at North Kelvin
Meadow, who are standing up to council plans to bulldoze a lovely space that has been
self-organised by the people living beside it and replace it with more overpriced low
quality flats. That evening we will be having a public meeting, with a discussion on
polyamory, monogamy, and the way in which social control can manifest even in our personal
relationships. Added to that are whole bunch of gigs, film screenings, and our radical
sports & outdoors section. If you know of any events we have missed then do get in touch.
Enjoy!
**********
North Kelvin Meadow: We need you!
Tuesday, January 26 at 9:45am at the meadow and 11:30am at City Chambers
See below
Please come out to show support when the Council’s Planning Committee come to make a site
visit at approx 9.45am on Tuesday 26th January 2016 . They will come and leave by bus,
parking at the Kelbourne street entrance to the land.
Also please come to a demo straight after, outside the City Chambers on George Square as
the Planning Committee meet inside at 11.30am to discuss whether the land be sold off to
New City Vision Ltd to build 90 houses. They will also decide on The Children Wood Group’s
planning application which is wanting to keep the land as it is , a wild green space for
community use.
Ian Black will be making the presentation at the hearing on behalf of North Kelvin Meadow.
Ian lives on Sanda Street and was actually the person who organised the original planting
of trees and grass back in 1994. The wood and meadow we see today comes from that initial
seed source. They were spurned on to do that by the Council taking away the goal posts in
1993 as they didn’t want to maintain it as a sports pitch.
Needless to say this is a crucial time for the land and its future. We feel over this last
8 years in particular (North Kelvin Meadow started in Oct 2008) we’ve made a very strong
case for the land to remain as it is and not get destroyed. Council and Government policy
backs that up but alas sometimes Councils don’t follow their own policy!
That’s why we need you out that morning, to show your support so we win this planning
committee vote. There will be A3 posters given out on the day for you to hold up should
you wish.
**********
Polyamory, Compulsory Monogamy and Social Control
Tuesday, January 26 at 6:45pm – 9:00pm
Fred Paton Centre, 19 Carrington Street, G4 9AJ
This talk explores how compulsory monogamy became a social institution, drawing on the
history of law, religion, and biology. It will argue that monogamy was something forced on
women, while men, for the most part, remained free from its confines. It will also
describe the role compulsory monogamy has played in shaping and defining heteronormative
relationships (where heterosexuality and fixed genders are taken as the norm).
Whereas heterosexuality binds women to men in general, monogamy binds women to specific
men. In the same way that heterosexuality is used to set apart ‘good women’ from
‘perverse’ ones, monogamy serves to define all women who transgress its boundaries as
loose. Thus, in the same ways in which compulsory heterosexuality results in the
dependency of women on men – physically, economically and emotionally – compulsory
monogamy makes women dependent on specific men.
The talk will then think about polyamory* as a non-monogamous alternative from a queer and
feminist perspective, and consider how it challenges the heteronormative discourse on
relationships. Polyamory offers more than just the possibility of participating in
multiple relationships, but also the potential for a new way to understand and think about
relationships.
*Polyamory is a philosophy and lifestyle based around the forming and sustaining of
relationships with multiple partners in an open, honest and non-possessive way.
=====
This event is hosted by Glasgow AF. We ask that all those attending this event read the
brief introduction to our safer spaces policy here: https://afed.org.uk/about/safer-spaces/
**********
Queeriosity – GRD Drag Party #2
Saturday, January 30 at 7:30 PM – 11:59 PM
Garnethill Community Centre, 21 Rose Street, G3 6RE
Pull out that waistcoat, get glittered, get fabulous and come as you want to Glasgow
Roller Derby’s 2nd annual drag party – Queeriosity!
During the day GRD’s finest will be skating against Vagine Regime UK – – a team of
queer-identified roller derby skaters from all over the country (Glasgow Roller Derby vs
Vagine Regime UK – Double Header! ). It will be fast, it will be tense, it will be
exciting. Following on from all that excitement we are inviting everyone to shake it up/
shake it down/ shake it all around in all manners of queer.
We will be holding a fantastically queer celebration and exploration of all things
gendered and non-gendered. Watch for a lip-synch-for-your-life competition, green
dinosaurs and a queer-ied polaroid photo booth. Get yer dancing heels on or kick them off
and join us in collectively dismantling the gender binary and having a cracking time in
the process!
Whatever your gender identification or presentation, come and play! Spend weeks planning
the perfect look, or just come along on the night and make use of our queer cloakroom,
where all manner of fierce and fabulous clothing and accessories will be available for you
to borrow.
Queer fabulous – £3 entry/free for asylum seekers & refugees – queer cloakroom –
photobooth – cheap bar – good time
We understand that the idea of a "drag party" can ring some alarm bells in the trans and
gender non-conforming communities, so please be assured that we are working to create a
safe and inclusive environment in which transness or gender presentation are never the
punchline of a joke. This is not a space for ridicule or for wearing someone else’s lived
reality as a costume – this is a space for free exploration and expression without
judgement, prejudice, or the pressure of "passing" as anyone other than whoever you are or
want to be.
Come dance with us, bring your pals, be yourself or be someone you’ve never been before,
be anything you like, because you’re perfect in all your forms!
All proceeds will go directly into supporting our league and our teams – find out more
about who we are and what we do at glasgowrollerderby.com
**********
HOWLING SPOON PERFORMANCE K!TCHEN
Sunday, January 31 at 7:00pm
Kinning Park Complex, 43 Cornwall Street, G411BA (opposite Kinning Park Underground)
Howling Spoon is an international revolt of conscious-cutlery. We howl for every spoon who
cannot howl for themselves. We have risen from our drawers to become cooks, activists,
performance-makers, painters, sculptors, curators, collage-makers, poets, playwrights, and
friends. As broth burps bubbles above a flame, we practice art and activism with a
chaotic surface, pitting joy against power.
And now we invite you to eat and play with us, to join our kindly nuisance…
At Howling Spoon Performance K!tchen, you will be fed a delicious pay-what-you-can vegan
meal prepared using surplus produce from Glasgow’s greengrocers, whilst surrounded by a
laboratory of gurgling new live art, song, theatre, and poetry. You will meet the howling
spoons, shake ladles with them, and, we hope, perhaps begin to howl yourselves.
Guest performers to be announced very s(p)o0OO0o0o0oon…
If you think you might be a spoon, then you are a spoon. Join the uprising by messaging
howlingspoon
https://howlingspoon.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/howlingspoons
S P O O N S O F T H E W O R L D U N I T E!
**********
Ditching the Fear (film screening)
Saturday, 6 February at 7:00pm
CCA, 350 Sauchiehall St, G2 3JD
A recent documentary about logistic workers in Italy portraying the struggle of mainly
migrant workers against the harsh labour regime within logistics and how this put workers’
self-organisation back on the wider political agenda.
Since the financial crisis in 2008, states, companies, and politicians have increasingly
undermined workers’ and union rights all over Europe and beyond. However, unusual events
have occurred in the southern Europe countries most hit by European austerity policies. We
see low-wage workers developing new forms of effective and lively resistance. The
documentary Ditching The Fear follows the struggles and actions taken by precarious
migrant workers in Italian warehouses and logistics companies. Over ten days, the embedded
film team discusses, fights with and documents what can be understood as the forefront of
a new workers’ movement. With the help and experience of the grassroots union SI-COBAS,
the migrant workers are effectively organising against their isolating and degrading
working conditions, displaying a solidarity that is changing their work and lives. ??
The documentary (80mins) is in Italian with English subtitles. ?It has been produced by
the team at labournet.tv and will be presented in Glasgow by Plan C and CounterinfoLab.
The film will be followed by a discussion on recent struggles within logistics in Italy,
India, Germany, and the UK. The producer will be present.
**********
Fail Better | Fuck Trident
Thursday, February 11 at 8 PM
McChuills, 40 High Street, G1 1NL
It’s the second Thursday in Feburary and as usual, two things are true. 1) There’s a pile
of genocidal weapons just outside Glasgow that could at any moment destroy us all, AND 2)
there’s some fucking great poetry and music at McChuills.
Then on the 14th of Febuary instead of exchanging tacky cards and bodily fluids, go and
make the world a better place and demand that Trident is scrapped. The activity you choose
can be varied, creative and fun. It can be as simple as a bit of leafletting or standing
with a banner for an hour, it could be holding a street stall or running a public meeting,
or putting up posters around the town, dropping a banner from a local landmark or some
witty graffiti.
So, ahead of that, come drink, dance, and be merry and a few days later go challenge the
state with its weapons of mass destruction and it’s constant greedy snivveling charge at
war. Oh and poems, let’s hear some poems from:
KATIE AILES
MAGI GIBSON
and other words from
IAIN MACPHERSON
CLARE ARCHIBALD
And songs from
DECLAN WELSH
MACGILLIVRAY
There’ll be information and fliers about what you can do to oppose trident too.
As ever it’s free but a few quid as a donation is most welcome.
SEE SOME OF YOU THERE.
**********
PIG//CONTROL + RATS BLOOD + HEADLESS KROSS + MORE @13TH NOTE
Saturday, February 20 at 7 PM
13th Note, 50-60 King Street, G1 5QT
PIG//CONTROL: Raging hardcore/punk coming over from berlin again to help everyone enjoy a
serious bangover. Plenty of music to stream and download around, check it out!
https://pig–control.bandcamp.com/album/trauma-2
RATS BLOOD: Abbrasive d-beat hailing from Ireland, also have a bunch of music to stream
and download on this amazing new website called bandcamp.
https://pig–control.bandcamp.com/album/trauma-2
Headless Kross:The heaviest, doomiest, loudest band in Gtown? Psych infused monolithic
doom, not to be missed.
https://headlesskross.bandcamp.com/
SICK OF TALK: New(ish) gruff punk from Glasgow, Fresh after the Tape launch in January,
smash pints and jump around.
https://sickoftalk1.bandcamp.com/releases
£5 OTD
18+
**********
Seminar Series 12: Lecture 4 – Geoffrey Pleyers: Mobilising Dissent: Social Activism in a
Global Age
Tuesday, February 23 at 4:30pm – 6:00pm
The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, G1 3NU
If you would like to register for the seminar, please do so via GCPH website:
http://www.gcph.co.uk/events/164
**********
Why All Cops Are Bastards
Tuesday, February 23 at 6:45 PM – 9:00 PM
Fred Paton Centre, 19 Carrington Street, G4 9AJ
The police are presented as an emergency service that are here to look after us. However a
casual look shows that not only do they fail in this task, but that they are an actively
harmful institution. The police use violence to prevent social change, enforce poverty,
and control the working class. These problems are not a result of accident, mismanagement,
or a few ‘bad apples’ in the force, but instead reveal the intended role of police in society.
This month’s discussions group will open with a short presentation on the historic reasons
for the creation of the police, their current role in society, and a brief look at the
social alternatives to the police. We will then follow this with an open discussion on the
points raised.
=====
This event is hosted by Glasgow AF. We ask that all those attending this event read the
brief introduction to our safer spaces policy here: https://afed.org.uk/about/safer-spaces/
**********
David Rovics & The Wakes
Friday, February 26 at 7:30 PM
Govanhill Baths Community Trust, 99 Calder Street, G42 7RA
David Rovics world tour brings him back to Glasgow! David, The Wakes & Special guests TBC.
The venue is the historic Govanhill baths in Glasgow.
TICKETS – £8
https://thewakes.bandcamp.com/merch/david-rovics-the-wakes-concert-ticket
The gig is open to 14s and over (Under 16s to be accompanied by an Adult).
**********
Faslane Peace Camp Solidarity Night
Friday, March 4 at 7:30 PM – 3:00 AM
Ivory Blacks, 56 Oswald Street, G1 4PL
A Night of bands, Dj’s and Infotainment, with the intention of raising funds, awareness,
support and solidarity for Faslane peace camp.
**********
The Hunger Games & Revolution
Tuesday, March 22 at 6:45 PM – 9:00 PM
Fred Paton Centre, 19 Carrington Street, G4 9AJ
A discussion on the revolutionary themes of The Hunger Games. This evening will contain
spoilers! Full blurb to follow.
=====
This event is hosted by Glasgow AF. We ask that all those attending this event read the
brief introduction to our safer spaces policy here: https://afed.org.uk/about/safer-spaces/
**********
RADICAL SPORTS & OUTDOORS SECTION
**********
City Bike Tour
Wednesday, January 27 at 12 PM – 3 PM
Glasgow Bike Station, 65 Haugh Road, G3 8TX
Want to explore Glasgow by bike? Join us on a cultural extravaganza!
Your tour guides Charlotte & Caroline will take you on a cycle across the city taking in a
variety of notable hot-spots including; parks, art galleries, museums, markets, pubs and
clubs.
Meeting at Glasgow Bike Station for a 12pm start, come along early to pump your tyres and
lube your chain! Bikes available to borrow if you don’t have your own.
Easy going pace, suitable for all abilities.
**********
Critical Mass
Friday, 29th of January at 05:30pm meet, 6:00pm start
George Square
Meet at the column for a gentle paced cycle around town.
**********
Glasgow Roller Derby vs Vagine Regime UK – Double Header!
Saturday, January 30 at 12:30pm – 5:00pm
Lagoon Leisure Centre, 11 Christie Street, Paisley, PA1 1NB
Exciting double header season opener! Following up on our fab successful season opener in
2015, we’re doing the same again, only BIGGER!!!
Glasgow’s A and B teams vs the Vagine Regime UK A and B teams at the Lagoon Centre, Paisley!
We’re super excited to play at this new venue and we hope you’ll all love it too! we have
TIERED seating, which is just great for getting a better view of the action!
The Glasgow Roller Derby vs Vagine Regime game last year was one of our biggest games and
this year is going to be even bigger and better! Two excellent quality games back to back
at a new venue: bigger, better lit, and with tiered seating so you don’t miss any of the
action.
Online ticket £6.50 (includes booking fee)
On the door £8
VIP ticket £10 (including fee! – This entitles you to reserved seating, afterparty entry
and a super-special goodie bag)
Afterparty only £3 on the door
And if that wasn’t enough, it’s followed by Queeriosity! our Drag after party at
Garnethill Multicultural Centre (21 Rose Street, Garnethill, Glasgow G3 6RE).
More details on the party can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/156611594708195/
We really look forward to seeing you all (and your friends!) on the 30th!
**TRAVEL INFO**
The trains run direct from Glasgow Central to Paisley Gilmour Street and take around 10
minutes; they are most often the Ayr and Gourock trains. From the train station it’s a 5
minute walk.
Both McGills and First Bus run from Glasgow city centre and west end to Paisley town
centre. The most common ones are McGills 17 and 38 or First Bus 9.
More information can be found here: www.firstgroup.com/greater-glasgow and
www.mcgillsbuses.co.uk
The Lagoon has a dedicated car park but there is also on street parking which is free at
weekends.
If you are flying Glasgow Airport then it is less than a 10 minute journey via taxi but
buses are also available. If it’s Glasgow Prestwick Airport, the trains are also multiple
per hour direct to Paisley and usually you get a discounted rate ticket too. (Also if
you’re coming up to Glasgow you can get the ticket to Glasgow and just jump off and back
on at Paisley)
**********
Bridging The Gap
Saturday, February 6 at 3 PM – 6 PM
Xercise4Less Glasgow Cambridge Street, 200 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3DZ
We have entered the age of movement in the fitness community with classes focussed on
everything from bodyweight exercises through to animal flow style. These classes however
do not provide the toolkit to a true generalist, someone dedicating time to movement to
compliment a skill set or even a trainer who needs every tool available to them for their
clients.
‘Bridging The Gap’ is not a definitive guide or the be all end all. It is however a
beginning; a place to invert, locomote, prepare, play and have a good time whilst doing it.
Our workshop is not focused on skills, fitness or play but instead the grey area where all
three exist. A 360 degree approach will allow participants to continue their development
in any field or activity from various points of view, with longevity of training in mind.
Breaking down skills and end goals for processing.
– Workshop Includes –
– Detailing and joint preparation – Our guide to essential and fundamental movements of
the body throughout.
– Inversions/handstands – Handstand protocols and practice on the floor to help you better
understand and prepare for handstands.
– Reaction & Response – Life is full of unpredictable moments, so we have devised several
unique processes to help our students be better prepared for their practices.
– Locomotion – Introduction to bilateral and quadrupedal movement patterns that will allow
you to cross the space in a variety of ways.
**********
United Glasgow
The club operates under dual core principles of anti-discrimination and financial inclusion.
www.unitedglasgowfc.eu
www.clubwebsite.co.uk/unitedglasgowfc
https://www.facebook.com/groups/131129416972636/?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/764904386887499/?fref=ts
Women (trans* inclusive)
5-a-side Drop-In – Monday Nights (Firhill Complex, Hopehill Road) – 7.30pm-8.30pm
11-a-side Training – Wednesday Nights (Firhill Complex, Hopehill Road) – 9pm-10.30pm
Contact the Club for men’s training times.
**********
Email future events including name/time/date/location/description to:
glasgowautonomyupdates@lists.riseup.net
If you know someone who would like to be added to this list then please direct them to:
https://glasgowanarchists.wordpress.com/2016/01/25/glasgow-events-from-26012016/
------------------------------
Message: 4
An important struggle on the Eastside of Detroit has the look of being won. Fannie Mae,
the mortgage-lending giant, has been attempting to evict Lela over a mortgage taken out by
her mother. Uniting with neighbors and Detroit Eviction Defense (DED) Lela looks likely to
be keeping her home. ---- Her neighborhood has become a symbol of the social crisis across
the city. The last few years has seen a mass transfer of wealth from working people to the
banking industry; one more of the many attacks on working peoples by corporate interests.
It’s also the result of ruthless predatory lenders and property managers looking to make
quick money at working people’s expense. ---- Lela’s fight is important because she’s
refusing to be moved. Her struggle joins others who will not allow the banks and
government to continue destructive practices of eviction. DED uses tactics from disrupting
and politicizing the court process to active mobilization and direct action in the
streets. We in First of May (M1) see it is as a crucial step towards community defense
against racist, anti-working class attacks that Detroiters are facing. M1 have been
working with DED and Lela from day one.
Lela’s fight has meant organizing people to build a community based on solidarity, mutual
aid and resistance. Lela’s neighbors who run the Black urban farm, Freedom Freedom Farm,
play big roles in bringing new people around this campaign. The Committee organized
socials and concerts as well as the creation of a beautiful mural declaring the neighborhood
an eviction free zone.
Lela, like so many others who are faced with eviction, thought of going it alone, staying
quiet, not always sure of what to do next. As this campaign developed she plays a central
role in its course and strategy. Lela and her allies have been working towards an inevitable
home defense but now, things are looking hopeful. We consider this new outcome the result
of organizing to stand against Fannie Mae, the government and the court system.
-Red X (Detroit M1)
http://m1aa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AR1EngFull.compressed.pdf
------------------------------
Message: 5
The presence of a secular political and military force and progressive, Kurds and their
allies, grouped in Syrian Democratic Forces, that the war in Syria is not just a
confrontation between imperialist powers. ---- Let's be clear: Daech comes directly from
the chaos sown by Western powers and their Sunni allies in the Gulf region. These have
indeed done everything to exploit the Arab revolt against the Prin-time dictator Bashar
al-Assad, militarizing and confessionalisant it. Thus, the Free Syrian Army is today no
longer a myriad of groups without consistency, dominated by what we present as "moderate
opposition", which are often Islamist militias [1] Daech which is only a radicalized
release. ---- The Gulf countries and Turkey continue their double game. On the one hand
they lend their air bases to Westerners even sporadically involved in bombing Daech. On
the other, they continue to give him objective support (purchase of oil, financial
circuits, etc.) and directly support other Islamist militias.
The US initially focused on the formation of militias of the ASL, with a program of 500
million dollars, but had to admit this was only sixty fighters were trained: filtering
Islamists is too heavy. So they had to resign themselves to support forces alone
effectively combating Daech today: Kurdish YPG and their allies, grouped since October in
Syrian Democratic Forces. And 50 tons of weapons were dropped in October and US bombings
are directly coordinated with the Kurds.
They accept any international aid, but claim a neutrality great powers. Thus, the US has
beautiful squeeze them back Raqqa, the capital of Daech 40 km from the Kurdish front, put
the priority on other territories forming part of Kurdistan. There is also a tacit
non-aggression agreement between the Assad regime and the YPG.
After the attacks in Paris, the West, led by France, have spared no pains to try to mount
a coalition against Daech. Suddenly, Assad had become creep! This was an agreement with
Putin, who fully assumes its support to the regime and now claims 1,700 instructors and
4,000 air raids [2], indiscriminately targeting all opponents of Assad.
Maneuvers of Gulf allies
But how to put around the table the Gulf countries and Turkey, which support the Islamist
militias fighting the regime (and relatively neutral vis-à-vis Daech), and Russia
supports? In late November, Turkey has shot down a Russian plane, ending these symbolic
attempts. She also redouble its attacks against the Kurds, with at the time of writing a
curfew and summary executions in Cizre, in Turkish Kurdistan.
In fact, failing to weigh militarily in the region, Western powers prefer to let the Kurds
fight Daech while being attacked on their backs by Turkey and ignore the maneuvers of
their allies in the Gulf. It must be said that this alliance is juicy. In further evidence
of Valls recently visited with a delegation patterns that resulted in 10 billion euro
contract with Saudi Arabia, especially by the nuclear industry and the sale of Rafale
combat aircraft.
More than ever, we must demand the severance of economic and military relations with the
powers that support Daech and popularize the struggle of the Kurdish people, including
requiring high the withdrawal of the PKK from the terrorist list.
Gregory (AL Orléans)
[1] Notably the Army of Islam backed by Saudi Arabia and the army of conquest, including
Al-Nosra (Al-Qaeda in Syria) supported by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
[2] The US-led coalition in 2000 claiming, France 300.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Syrie-Soutenir-la-gauche-kurde
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Message: 6
Attacks on African and Asian foreigners flared up in South Africa twice in 2015, first in
April, mainly in KwaZulu, then in October in Grahamstown, the Eastern Cape. Many attacks
were on small (spaza) shops run by foreigners. Maybe 500 were displaced in October. ----
The looting and smashing of property in spaza shops, and the immensity of these criminal
activities country wide, has had an incredible and negative impact on our democracy, on
our lives, on our livelihoods, and reflects badly on the nation's morality. ---- Foreign
nationals have been living in South Africa for many decades, going back to migrant workers
on the mines in the 1880s. Over the last 20 years, some came to South Africa for trading
purposes, others for job opportunities, and the process was regulated by the government.
The police handle the large- scale immigration very brutally. As in the past, the police
have never proved lawful or law-abiding. They are the coercive arm of the state. When they
deal with black foreigners, they use violence or demand bribes.
Some immigrants, of course, are here "illegally", but that is not a matter for individuals
to act on. And we must remember these are people, like us, with the same problems. The
scarcity of jobs in South Africa doesn't permit people to loot or vandalise private property.
I'm wondering: Where does this hatred come from? During the apartheid regime, no-one
called anyone a "foreigner" if they were from African countries. People from other
countries, like James Motlatsi in the black miners' union, were part of the struggle.
These are our fellows and brothers: we should acknowledge their pain in these times of
turmoil.
The claims that foreigners are criminals must be challenged. The conspiracy theory that
these people are here just to smuggle drugs causes a conflicts and suspicions, and is used
by people who act violently against foreign nationals. It was the claim that foreigners
were involved in murders and mutilations that led directly to the riots in Grahamstown.
The seeds of hate grow in the soil of suffering. Many of our youth have given up hope,
seeing how "black economic empowerment" has become captured by the corrupt and elite
"tenderprenuer" process that has grown across society. They end up working as contract
labour, for a certain time, or working as cheap labour for low-wage. This in return makes
the youth angry and destructive. And rather than see where the problems come from - the
unfair society we live in - many get drawn into looting and vandalism.
We need to have to a mass mobilisation programme that will foster change and contribute to
well-being. Thus we as anarchists believe in mutual-aid (umonthu umontho nga bunto). We
must not believe the propaganda of the state, and understand how system is designed.
We must challenge the negativity and despair in the individuals' ways of thinking that the
unfair capitalist society is creating. As a human-being you should be proud of your
achievements, look forward to your future and join the working class struggle for freedom,
which is a struggle that crosses all borders. The fruit of toil and struggle is
yourreward. Do not redden your hands with the blood of innocents.
Fight the system. Peace among the masses, struggle against the ruling classes.
Related Link:
http://zabalaza.net/2015/11/25/double-issue-5-6-of-tokologo-the-newsletter-of-the-taac-now-available/
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/29049
------------------------------
Message: 7
This article looks at the way capitalism and consumerism are destroying the resources of
the planet, while critiquing mainstream environmentalist responses to this destruction.
---- Coltan. Sounds like the name of an evil king in a cheap sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? In
fact, it is a mineral that has electricity conducting properties. Without it the Samsung
device I am typing this on and the mobile device or laptop you are reading this on would
not exist. Most of the world’s supply of coltan comes from the Democratic Republic of
Congo. The majority of it comes from cheap or child labour rounded up by various militia
armies who mine it so they can buy weapons and other supplies according to a 2003 UN
Security Council report and various human rights organisations.
Lithium is also an electricity conducting mineral but it is also very good at storing it.
That’s why this mineral is used to make batteries, such as the one on the device you are
using now. Where does the majority of the world’s supply of it come from? Australia and
Chile according to the US Geological Survey in 2015. Chile’s record as far as extractive
industries is concerned has been far from impressive in terms of wages and conditions.
This was highlighted by the 2010 Copiapó mining accident in which 33 workers became
trapped after a mine explosion. Although that one was not a lithium mine, it does
highlight the generally poor standards that exist. In China, one of the other major
lithium purchasers, the number of miners killed is often in hundreds every year.
There are other minerals that are mined elsewhere that go into your mobile devices but
they’re not as important. No matter where they are sourced whole ecosystems and
environments are wiped out to enable these minerals to be extracted, transported by road
or rail to the nearest port then transported to a factory in China. Odds are if your
device is an Apple it will have been made via a Taiwanese company called Hon Hai Precision
Industry Co., Ltd (commonly known as Foxconn). Their Chinese factories use cheap labour
that is so brutally exploited that suicides among its workers have caused a scandal. If
not, chances are that the devices will have been made by prison labour.
Once manufactured, your device will be exported around the world and marked up to
astoundingly ridiculous prices. According to TIME magazine 24/9/14 the total cost of
manufacturing an Apple 16GB iPhone 6 is about $USD200.10. The standard retail price for an
iPhone is around $USD649 or so without a contract to a wireless provider. Other companies
like Samsung and Huawei don’t charge as much but that is usually because they are bullied
into putting bloatware into their products. Bloatware is built in software or apps that
aren’t actually necessary or wanted but which takes up lots of memory and drains battery
power like crazy while running in the background.
If that does not shock you then think about the environmental destruction being caused to
mine the coal, build the hydroelectric dams and drill for the oil needed to both transport
the minerals and the completed electronic devices and to generate the electricity needed
to charge up or plug in all those devices. Those cell phone towers used to send signals to
your mobile device also rely on those environmentally unfriendly forms of electricity
generation.
Finally, we come to what happens when the device is rendered useless by changes in the
networks or operating systems or if you smash it in frustration. It becomes E-waste.
E-waste is not as easy to dispose of as one might think. Most landfills will not accept
E-waste and the devices that end up being dumped contain all sorts of toxic chemicals that
pose a major threat to the health and safety of landfill workers, recyclers and others
involved in the disposal of e-waste.
According to a 2011 report by the academics Wath/Dutt and Chakrabarti, who did a case
study of conditions in India, the environmental impact of various items that make up e-waste
include:
Cathode ray tubes (used in TVs, computer monitors, ATM, video cameras, and more) leads to
lead, barium and other heavy metals leaching into the ground water and release of toxic
phosphor.
Printed circuit board (a thin plate on which chips and other electronic components are
placed) leads to air emissions as well as discharge into rivers of glass dust, tin, lead,
brominated dioxin, beryllium cadmium, and mercury.
Chips and other gold plated components lead to hydrocarbons, heavy metals, brominated
substances discharged directly into rivers acidifying fish and flora. Tin and lead
contamination of surface and groundwater. Air emissions of brominated dioxins, heavy
metals and hydrocarbons
Plastics from printers, keyboards, monitors, etc leads to the emissions of brominated
dioxins, heavy metals and hydrocarbons.
Computer wires leads to hydrocarbon ashes being released into the air, water and soil.
Trying to recycle or dispose of e-waste impacts on everything from what we eat to the air
we breathe, as its waste products infiltrate our environment. From the extraction of the
minerals used to make high tech devices to the disposal of e-waste the exploitation of
workers and hazardous working conditions dominate the industry. Even when workers can
afford to buy and use the high tech products their labour produces the apps and other
features are mostly determined by what corporate elites dictate at a price based on
blatant profiteering rather than what they are actually worth.
What can we do about all this in the short term?
For a start we can opt to purchase our high tech products from businesses that don’t get
their coltan and lithium from conflict zones or countries that ignore basic workers’
rights and safety standards.
We can even set up enterprises or collectives that recycle e-waste in a more
environmentally friendly way.
According to an article published on the BBC website on July 17, 2013, new businesses like
Neverware are being set up in the United States which are recycling old computers by
installing wireless systems in them which upgrade automatically. This saves money on
having to replace computers, reducing e-waste and helping to meet the needs of cash
strapped organisations like schools.
However, a much simpler way of dealing with the negative side of technology is for people
and organisations to give away older technology to those who would otherwise have limited
or no access to high tech or the Internet. In a decent society the simple act of giving
away that which we don’t need or want, might be how much of the economy would operate. We
don’t need to wait for wholesale change to begin doing some of that.
The ugly side of technology raises important questions: Some of the measures I’ve just
sketched might help but is it possible to reform the current system to the point where the
environment can be saved for the wellbeing of everyone? If the current system can’t be
reformed what desirable alternative is realistically possible?
The high level of technology that has been achieved, grew out of an earlier period of
capitalism that developed industrial capacity, firstly in Europe. This came via the
exploitation of colonies and through the wide scale destruction of the world’s environment
from Peru to Nauru and Nigeria to Burma. The supposed alternative of state directed
industrialism that held sway in the former USSR and Soviet bloc was just as, if not more
destructive.
So it is capitalism and its authoritarian pseudo-alternative that got us into the current
perilous situation. That centuries-long history is not a good basis for thinking the same
system can get us out of trouble now. At the same time it should be acknowledged that
there are a lot of well-meaning people who are trying to make things better. Thousands of
dedicated people put in time as workers for NGO’s and single-issue groups that focus on
environmental issues. From time to time their efforts achieve success. However there are a
few problems with this kind of reformist activity.
Firstly, these organisations, no matter their initial good intentions when established,
are often heavily bureaucratic and top-heavy, with structures and working methods that
imitate the corporations and governments they lobby against. The young people wearing
coloured jackets and holding clip-boards on your local street corner probably haven’t met
the well-paid head honcho of the organisation they are either volunteering for or being
paid minimum wage for. The leaders of these organisations have no difficulty shifting from
for example being co-leader of the Green Party to being a boss at Greenpeace. In such
circumstances, the government is hardly going to feel worried about dealing with these
establishment-friendly figures. The nature of these organisations also tends to result in
either passivity or limited, symbolic actions. They encourage us to donate money to them
or click an online petition, which is easily ignored and salves our conscience for 5
seconds while we go back to whatever else we were doing, safe in the knowledge that ‘I’ve
done my bit’. Some even think this equates to ‘activism’.
Secondly, the corporations and governments can actually handle certain appeals for
‘change’ without being too effected. They like the idea that we engage with them as
consumers. By doing so, we willingly position and perceive ourselves as buyers of their
products. They undertake ‘greenwash’ whereby they give the impression they have made some
alteration, while in fact they are still destroying the environment. Using the power of
advertising and billions of dollars of influence, energy companies and other
multi-nationals can get their way while we buy into their claims and remain consumers. In
the case of governments, they are occasionally prepared to back down on a certain issue
but it often means that while they do that in one sector, they are doing little in another.
There are some fundamental problems with the mainstream environmentalist and consumer
action oriented approach. By seeing environmental destruction as a series of single-issue
campaigns, the underlying system that has produced these problems remains unchallenged.
Capitalism manifests itself in different ways, but ultimately there is an underlying set
of behaviours and structures at work and a bottom line based on profit. Logically a
unified system requires a unified theoretical response, not a piece-meal one involving
rushing around putting out small fires while the pump producing the fuel continues to be
left on. This relates to the second problem that a consumerist outlook ignores the
question of production. Dealing with the consumption of goods by choosing to buy telephone
A instead of washing up liquid B puts us on the receiving end. In a world where the
workers are not in control of and do not own the means of production, the vast majority of
us will never be able to make the basic changes required to manage the world more
responsibly. We won’t be able to make the rational choices as to what really benefits
people environmentally. Our masters don’t want us to look at ourselves in that way. They
want us to keep watching TV, using their phones and eating their products.
Assuming we don’t have to deal with some post-apocalyptic nuclear waste-land, most people
will still want to be able to use a reasonably high degree of technology in a future
non-capitalist society. This may involve a decrease in production, some difficult
compromises and an ongoing but reduced degree of environmental problems. However, with the
workers of the world in control and able to plan production, distribution and consumption
on a rational basis, we will be better able to ensure we all have a decent future. Whether
that involves coltan, we can’t be sure yet.
END
Related Link: http://www.awsm.nz/2015/12/29/left-to-your-own-devices/
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/29039
------------------------------
