A chance to hear how the ecology movement and anti-globalisation movement functions in America. We can all learn from one and other, Panagioti Tsolkas has been active in the Earth First movement in America for most of his adult life and has a wealth of experience to discuss. This is a free event but it would help if you letann arky know if you intend coming along, so that we can assess numbers. We need to get enough cups for the tea.
DATE:May 14 2012.
VENUE:Unitarian Church 72 Berkeley Street Charing Cross, Glasgow.
TIME:6:30pm. to 9-ish.
A History and Future of the International Earth First! Movement, from ecological resistance to revolutionary struggle.
In this talk, Panagioti Tsolkas, an Earth First! agitator and editor of the movement’s publication, Earth First! Journal, from the US, will briefly introduce the movement’s history and explore the possible future of Earth First!, and other radical ecological efforts, in contributing to the re)emergence of a global resistance to state and capital.The presentation includes a slide show of images from Earth First! actions and other ecological resistance efforts.
A short intro to talk:
The Earth First! movement, which began in 1980, has had a presence in several countries around the world. While the movement has been relatively small in numbers, it has had a significant impact both in influencing other social movements and the society at large. Earth First! has challenged people to take the human species down off of the industry-constructed hierarchy of the planet’s wild nature. It has succeeded and survived so long precisely because the style of anarchistic organizing and decentralized direct action which it uses. By reflecting an organic, spontaneous wildness we see in the Earth, we have endured through the state repression and spirit-crushing misery of industrial domination…
Followed by a short period for discussion and questions. There will be tea and biscuits to help to smooth things along.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.
There is a war going on in the UK and there is virtually no cover of it in any of the media outlets. The figures from this war are staggering but receive virtually no publicity. For the year 2010 the number killed was 1,857, the total number slightly injured, seriously injured and killed for the same year totalled 208,517. There is no hatred directed at the enemy in this war, as a matter of fact most people revere them, turn a blind eye, ignore the horror of all these deaths and injuries. I am of course talking about the road traffic. The figures above are from the UK Ministry of Transport for the year 2010. Almost 2,000 deaths from road accidents and a total of nearly a quarter of a million injured and killed. That adds up to a lot of misery and anguish for an awfully lot of individuals and families. The UK’s road infrastructure has totally inadequate cycling facilities, a culture where the person gives way to the vehicle, instead of the reverse, a culture where the car is king. Why do we need speed-bumps on roads in residential areas, because the driver feels he/she should not be impeded and should be allowed to race at speed anywhere there is a road. The road is for him/her to get from A – B in the shortest possible time come what may, it is not considered a facility for the community. It is not the car that kills, it is attitudes. A change in attitude would see a dramatic drop in the number killed and injured on the UK’s roads.
this blog has been neglected my myself for some time. The reason being I have lots of other things going on as well as this blog, see HERE. also HERE, Then their is my monthly free paper The Anarchist Critic. So I sometimes run out of ideas for this spot. So I’m asking all you anarchist, eco people, and those of that ilk, to come up with some suggestions of what I could do with this spot to give it a distinct flavour of its own and be of some use to the general movement towards a libertarian society. Ideas can be put in the comment spot or by email; annarky@radicalglasgow.me.uk
As the world suffers more from natural disasters and the devastating results of wars, along with the ravages of poverty created by corporate capitalist greed, we need to allow people freedom of movement as they try to survive these horrors. No one can be illegal, borders can’t be a death sentence, we are one.
The following is a short extract from a very interesting article, the whole of which can be read HERE. It is something that all the big financial institutions don’t comment on, well at least not in public.
Though it is obvious that if there is the likelhood of such a collapse the ordinary people should be organising at grass roots level to co-operate and survive through sustainable mutual aid projects. Are we? You can rest assured that the pampered parasites responsible for the debt bubble and its eventual bursting, will have taken good care of their survival, even at the expense of the ordinary people.
“—Despite all of our advanced technology, the truth is that human civilization simply cannot function without oil and food. But now the price of oil and the price of food are both increasing dramatically. So how is the current global economy supposed to keep functioning properly if it soon costs much more to ship products between continents? How are the billions of people that are just barely surviving today supposed to feed themselves if the price of food goes up another 30 or 40 percent? For decades, most of the major economies around the globe have been able to take for granted that massive amounts of cheap oil and massive amounts of cheap food will always be there. So what happens when that paradigm changes?—”
ANTI-BENEFIT CUTS LEAFLETING
GLASGOW
THURSDAY 10TH MARCH
1.30-2.30PM
ATOS HEALTH CARE
CORUNNA HOUSE
29 CADOGAN STREET
GLASGOW
G2 7AB
Followed at 3pm by:
Group organising meeting including a go round of problems with benefits,
services etc, other ways of promoting the public meeting and discouraging
medical professionals from working for ATOS.
“Patriotism … is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.” Emma Goldman.
“So many able writers have shown that the unjust institutions which work so much misery and suffering to the masses have their root in governments, and owe their whole existence to the power derived from government—. ” Lucy Parsons
“People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take. “ Emma Goldman.
“It is not by changing ministers – such guilty men! – or issuing declarations that fascism will be conquered. The problem is more complex than that. We do not intend to add our voice to those who delude the workers that their ‘leaders’ will get them out of the mess. The problems need a complete transformation in the present attitude of the working class.” Marie Louise Berneri From; War Commentary, December 1940.
Women need not always keep their mouths shut and their wombs open. Emma Goldman.
The photo below is of the Glasgow Anarchist Group from 1915. The photo is known to lots of anarchists but we are all stumped as to who they all are. We have some info but haven’t had it properly verified and would dearly love to know who these people were. Though it is dated the 1st January there is not a glasses on the table, all cups, saucers and cakes, love and cakes, the essential of any anarchist society. Does that tell us something about the group?
The info we have at the moment is;
1. Molly Loyd, she married the guy to her left No 2.
2. Charles McPherson, lived in Harmony Row, Govan, worked in Fairfield Shipyard.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Willie MacDougal, we know a good bit about him, see; HERE.
As for the rest we would love to receive any info on any of them, no matter how small the detail it could help to lead us to further info. Any further info on Molly and/or Charles would also be very gratefully received.
George Orwell certainly knew what he was talking about in his book 1984, where he referred to “newspeak”. From that, our politicians have developed to a position of extreme expertise and have now most certainly reached the pinnacle of “double speak”.
Tony Blair is back in front of the Chilcot inquiry. The hearing comes against a background of the statement from his chief legal adviser which effectively says that Blair ignored his advice over the legality of the Iraq war. Lord Goldsmith, who was attorney general in the Blair government, has said that he felt uncomfortable with Blair’s public statements in the run up to war.
It is clear that Blair had a strategy of not asking for legal advice from his
legal adviser, trying to avoid it being put in writing, and in general
ensuring that he heard nothing which might hold him back in his determination to follow George Bush into the war.
Blair deliberately went to war despite knowing that the lawyers thought the war was not legal. He is now giving evidence for a second time at Chilcot, to try to explain the discrepancies between his original evidence and that of Goldsmith.
Stop the War, along with CND and BMI, is calling a demonstration outside the Chilcot inquiry this Friday, 21st January, at 8 am. We are asking everyone who can be there to attend. He is scheduled to be in the hearing from 9.30 to 2pm but there is now talk of him being there all day because of this latest statement. We would especially encourage people to come from 8 till 10.30, but there will be people there for the duration of the hearing.
Other things you can do to highlight Blair’s lies:
1. Call a local protest/set up a STW stall on Friday if you can’t make it to Westminster.
2. Hold a meeting on Truth and lies about Iraq – we can help find speakers for you.
3. Donate to Stop the War to help our campaigning, and take out a direct debit/membership to contribute to our work over the coming year.
Protest 21st January 8am Queen Elizabeth 2nd Centre, Broad Sanctuary, Westminster, SW1P3EE
Subject: North Kelvin Meadow.
“Time is running out to save an award winning community green space in Glasgow’s West End from Developers”.
North Kelvin Meadow, a well used and supported green-space in the heart of Glasgow’s West End is now the subject of a planning application to build 115 flats, which if successful, will mark the end of this well loved community initiative. The developer New City Vision Ltd (NCV) chosen by Glasgow City Council has now kicked off their drive to gain planning permission for their housing development by holding two public meetings allowing the community to comment on their design. However the fundamental question of whether any housing development is right for this green space will not be up for discussion (1). They expect their main planning application to go in by March 2011. Even after two and half years of hard work by the community, GCC have chosen “to carry on regardless with the sale process” and to bulldoze North Kelvin Meadow. They have never consulted with the local people about what should happen to this land.
Local people have been looking after this land in the absence of any management by the Council. And this work has been recognized for two years in a row with an award from Beautiful Scotland. They have cleared dumped rubbish off the land, regularly pick up litter, run a community composting service, and have set up community allotments so that local residents can grow fruit and veg. This green space is in constant use by dog walkers, children, and others who appreciate it as a wild park. They would like to extend their work to provide a permanent resource for the benefit of the whole community. The development by New City Vision will destroy this work and ensure there is one less public resource for the people of North Kelvinside.
*Douglas Peacock Chairman North Kelvin Meadow Campaign:*
“This planning application if successful will result in a Meadow and community Allotment being bulldozed, 100s of trees being cut down and a successful award winning community initiative ceasing. Thats not a great legacy to leave the next generation to say the least! This land has never
been built on and always used for the local community and that should continue.”
“Glasgow City Council are out of step on what people are looking for on this issue, this is backed up by the number of politicians voicing their support plus 1000 people to date have signed the petition, that and the overwhelming support from local people asking that this green space not be built on.”
*SNP Depute Leader Nicola Sturgeon* has recently mentioned, in Dec 2010, the plight of North Kelvin Meadow: http://www.snp.org/node/17556
*Notes*
1. A pre planning application was recently introduced by the Scottish Government to help communities, understand and get up to speed with what a developer is planning in their area prior to its main application for planning consent. This period last 12 weeks. North Kelvin Meadow is one of the first in Glasgow to be in this new process. Crucially though people aren’t being asked, and have *never* been officially asked, what they like to happen to this land. This pre planning consultation is mainly about what should happen to the small amount of open space which currently is shown as a small roundabout within the housing complex e.g. should it be grass, trees, seating, BBQ area, tarmac etc?
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is on fire!.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,500 times in 2010. That’s about 8 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 173 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 265 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 14mb. That’s about 5 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was May 16th with 49 views. The most popular post that day was BIG BROTHER IS HERE!!!.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were digg.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, slashingtongue.com, accesstoinfo.blogspot.com, and the-best-twitter.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for annarky1, pan european strike, “mickey z”, www.justiceforaafiasiddqui, and annarky1.wordpress.com.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
