Cop Drops BARS on Amber Rudd in Poetic Police Petition

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Ann Narkeh

A COP has started a poetic petition to the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd to stop single crewing (screwing) them. It has been written in bars of emotional rhyming verse.

I recommend reading the whole thing but here’s an excerpt:

“Last week I was hit, spat at and punched.
There wasn’t one day that I ate my lunch.
I held a man’s hand who’d just lost his wife,
I took a child from his Father who was wielding a knife.
I pulled a girl off a bridge who was mentally ill,
I locked up a worker who had nicked from the till.I persuaded a battered woman to finally speak,
After seeing her every day, week after week. ”

At time of writing, the petition has received over 100, 000 signatures.

As an artivist and anarchist, it gave me some serious pause for thought before signing it. Locking up anybody, let alone workers who are so skint they have to steal is extremely problematic for me, as is any monopoly on the use of violence, but still,

Not All Cops Are Bastards

(the ratio is debatable).

Despite my currently taking legal action against the police.

Despite my being appalled by their track record of endemic racism.

Despite my outrage at the way they are used as corporate-state enforcers to infiltrate, distract, suppress and destroy peaceful, democratic protest in the UK and worldwide.

Despite all these reasons (and more), I recognise that not ALL cops are bastards. I doubt very much that the individual who started this petition is a bastard.

I’ve made the same point about ACAB before. Now, in light of the recent police violence in Catalonia, I think we would all do well to heed Julian Assange’s warning that this change of relationship between state and population threatens to ripple throughout Western Europe and America.

These ‘ripple effects’ have been ebbing and flowing for centuries…where are we now?

In the UK, where public police numbers have already been cut dramatically, private security firms G4S and Serco are soon to be given the power of arrest in a £290 million deal with the Tories.

We must prevent these ripples of neo-fascism becoming a wave as they have in the past. We need to focus on resisting the apparent rise of extreme fascism in the new millennium through all non violent means.

That’s going to mean more than just repeatedly getting our fucking heads kicked in for practising non-violent civil disobedience.

The Wrong Side of History

The police and security services are tools which can be used to either create, or destroy individuals and societies. Historically, the police have always been on the wrong side of civil rights movements. When they go native en masse tends to mark the end of one struggle and the beginning of a new one. This petition isn’t exactly going native, but it does send a stark message which deserves support.

Grinding down the public police while creating and now empowering private police as the war drums grow ever louder are extremely disturbing trends which echo the rise of fascism in the past.

I value, respect and extend solidarity to all those cops who are not bastards. Those who save lives and especially those who have sacrificed their lives to save lives; those who try to keep us safe from the fascist corporatocracy, rather than enforcing it; those who find a way to actually do the job of protecting people in spite of the impossible situations they are placed in.

In particular, I respect those who find the courage to speak out. Those who refuse to follow orders which they know to be wrong, those who blow the whistle on their colleagues who ARE bastards. Those who stand up to UK Gov Plc and their chums in positions of power.

Hopefully, the cop who started this petition will read this and know that they have the public support of at least one anarchist. I hope this small gesture gives cops and private security pause for thought the next time they receive orders to spy on us, or to drag us out of a peaceful demonstration, occupation or lock-on.

I will almost certainly lose a few subscribers for reiterating my position on the ACAB trope. This is a contentious point for an anarchist to make but I don’t give a fuck, I think it’s a necessary discussion, particularly as we are rapidly sliding into ecocide and neo-fascist dystopia.

In my anarchist utopia, we would still have cops but their only role would be to protect people from violence. As things are now though, I would far rather a publicly accountable police force than the clunking fist of G4S, an unaccountable, profit driven transnational corporation who have an appalling track record of oppression and human rights abuses.

Thought Crime?

NOT ALL COPS

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Over 100 MPs From All Parties Unite to Condemn The Murdoch Problem.

Posted on August 16, 2017August 16, 2017 by Ann Narkeh

107 MPs from all UK political parties are finally doing something about the Murdoch problem.

They’ve signed a scathing letter to The S*n’s editor, calling for the scalp of the journo who wrote their most recent incendiary, racist article. The article in question plumbed new depths for the S*n’s depravity and has been likened to nazi propaganda.

The letter was organised by Naz Shah, the Labour MP for Bradford West and details precise examples of how the S*n’s increasingly racist content correlates with spikes in hate crimes.

It follows a joint complaint about the article to the press regulator, IPSO (the Independent Press Standards Organisation), issued by Jewish and Muslim organisations last week. IPSO have received a further 150 complaints about the article so far.

Given that IPSO are famously toothless and Murdoch is notoriously powerful, letter writing and complaining might appear like futile gesture politics at this point.

Here’s why I think it might not be just that.

Firstly and most broadly, gesture politics are not in and of themselves futile. They are a means to an end. An end to the beginning. Doors opening to new possibilities. Politicians from all parties, people of all faiths and none are uniting against racism and Murdochian propaganda. This marks yet another significant milestone in the struggle for real democracy.

During Occupy Democracy‘s occupations of Parliament Square in 2015-16, we heard from numerous ‘insiders’, including politicians and ex-politicians that they and their colleagues were terrified of the tabloids’ power to snoop, smear and blackmail. The corrupting influence of the media was then and is still now one of the fundamental pillars of corruption in Westminster’s Prostitute State and beyond. No politician would propose or support legislation to meaningfully reform the media, for fear that their character and career would be assassinated by the gutter press, such was the reputation of the billionaires behind the curtain.

Reforming and democratising media ownership became one of Occupy Democracy’s principle demands. During these occupations, some of us co-founded Occupy The Media Billionaires working group. One of the core objectives we set ourselves was to embolden and empower good politicians to end the tabloids’ stranglehold over our democracy.

Two years ago, a gesture like this letter from such a large number of the political classes seemed impossible.

The fact that the letter has cross-party support might also prove to be significant in terms of the progressive alliance for electoral reform, which continues to evolve backstage, regardless what the various party leaderships say. (Jeremy Corbyn’s signature was notably absent from the letter of condemnation, though he has warmly welcomed it’s contents).

Out of all the hatred and fear, does this cross-party political faction represent real hope?

Murdoch’s power and influence is not to be underestimated. His empire is vast. We must not be complacent or naive, but we should certainly celebrate the victories when they come. We can also celebrate (but not overstate) the fact that newscorp suffered another loss of £629m (2%) in the first quarter of this year.

Two years ago, corporate 1% media held the monopoly on information and the way in which it was shared.

They were ignoring, censoring or distorting social media and citizen journalism.

Over the last year or so, #PostTruth, #AlternativeFacts and #FakeNews was them laughing at us, trying to distract, divide, demoralise and disempower everybody with infantile astroturfing, gaslighting, flame wars and worse.

Now they’re so desperate that they’re literally printing nazi propaganda, blatantly inciting violence. They’ve been fighting citizen journalism since long before social media arrived. The internet offers us the edge we have desperately needed.

This letter marks another significant win in the struggle for a truly independent media, a real democracy and a fairer, more truthful and compassionate world.

This was only the politicians’ first hurdle though. Next, they should be bringing criminal prosecutions against all the Murdochian, Machievellian hatemongers masquerading as journalists.

If they can introduce some meaningful, strong legislation to democratise media ownership then that would be the cherry on the cake.

Here’s the full letter, as originally published by the independent.

Sincere thanks to all the MPs involved, even the Tories and Blairites.

if you enjoyed reading these musings, you might also enjoy the Alternative Media List. Over 100 more credible, interesting and challenging alternatives to the 1%’s corporate media.

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Reconsidering Voting and Democracy. [PRAXIS]

Posted on May 14, 2017May 19, 2017 by Ann Narkeh

PRAXIS

Followers of this blog will be familiar with my longstanding position on fake democracy. I actively campaign for a real democracy but I’ve never registered to vote; ‘I don’t negotiate with terrorists’. ‘I refuse to legitimise a rigged game’. ‘Don’t vote it only encourages them’. ‘Whoever wins, we’ll still get corporate governance’,…(and other snidey one-liners).

I believe real democracy should be practised daily with our families, friends and the communities we share. If parliament conducted itself with the actual democratic rigour and discipline that most occupations, squats and protest camps do, it would be in a much better state than it currently is.

Each time the electioneering machine starts up, I stand on the sidelines terrified by the effect it has on everybody, voters and non-voters alike. It’s horrible. You can’t just turn it off, because it effects (infects) everybody. We’re all supposed to have black and white opinions on things which aren’t black and white and which otherwise wouldn’t interest us in the slightest…we’re supposed to pick a ‘leader’ and a ‘party’…(or snipe and heckle from the sidelines…)

I have expressed my cynicism about the state of electoral politics in this blog and elsewhere ad nauseum.

I’ve also discussed the paradox of the ‘diamonds in the rough’. Principled politicians who actually speak truth to power, offering us hope for a better world. Idealists, in an environment where we must hesitate before using the word ‘idealist’, or ‘idealism’. When did ‘idealism’ become an insult? Idealism should be a virtue but it is generally conflated with naivety….why?

Continue reading Reconsidering Voting and Democracy. [PRAXIS]

VOTE TORY – [Post Satire]

Posted on May 4, 2017April 23, 2018 by Ann Narkeh

There now follows a partly satirical broadcast from the Tories.

Here’s the first Vote Tory campaign video by Ann Narkeh.

Loads more Post Satire here.

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#GE2017: Seriously Considering Voting, Despite the Crushing Realities of Corporate Rule.

Posted on April 19, 2017April 19, 2017 by Ann Narkeh

I’ve never voted, despite being seriously tempted to in recent years. With the snap general election announced, I’m now considering it more seriously than ever before.

I ‘vote’ with the little money that I have, by consuming as little and as ethically as I can. I try to make life choices which I consider more significant than a ‘vote’ on the establishment’s terms. The party political spectacle is ubiquitous and hypnotic though. It is forced upon us, to maintain the illusion of democracy while dividing and conquering most of us.

Not voting is generally frowned upon by those who do. Voters say things like, “You’re disrespecting the people who died for your right to vote“. Respectfully, the greater disrespect is to ignore the blatant corruption of the institutions which people fought and died for, surely? Participating in ‘elections’ and ‘referendums’ only validates a corrupted structure. Regardless who is ‘in power’ in parliament we are ruled by banks and corporations, as we have ever been. The Tories, their Blairite chums here and the 45th American presidency should by now have made this abundantly clear for all with eyes to see and ears to hear.

Elections and referendums provide the vital illusion of democracy, while restricting the parameters of mainstream debate and consciousness. They are less about democracy and more about sculpting objective reality. We are encouraged to have ‘opinions’ on ‘discussions’ which are controlled to deliver the outcome preferred by corporate overlords. These ‘discussions’ are more often than not divisive, absurdly polarised slagging matches (see Brexit). Meanwhile, debates of actual substance (TTIP, or whatever they’re calling it now, NATO, foreign policy, ‘security’, nuclear ‘deterrents’ etc) are had in private. Prior to the digital age, ‘shadow governance’ was dismissed as a fringe conspiracy theory. Today though, many of these theories have been substantiated, particularly those concerning toxic banking (see ‘too big to fail’).

Are insurrections within the mechanics of power, like those of Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn staged or genuine? If they are genuine, is it really possible for such insurrections to influence real change within structures which are so demonstrably corrupt, or will they always be quelled?

The only political party that really inspires me to ask this question is the Green Party of England and Wales. I’ve been tracking their activity for some years now. Their rhetoric is not hollow. They talk the talk and walk the walk. Their manifesto is outside the controlled parameters of debate. Their policies are solution based. They are 100% funded by their members and supporters, actively avoiding the toxic investments which have polluted the mainstream political parties. They’re calling for a progressive alliance “giving people the best possible chance of defeating the Conservatives and bringing in a truly democratic voting system”. (as I’m writing this, Corbyn and Farron have rejected these calls, again…). The policies and campaigns the Greens support almost exactly mirror my own (though their methods to promote these policies and campaigns differ somewhat).

For these reasons and many more, I recognise the Greens as the only real opposition serious about reforming parliament. This is why they are so marginalised by the controlled media.

Getting rid of the Tories would be good, but the absence of a truly democratic voting system is the more substantial root which we would do well to properly weed lest they return. This fundamental reform has been one of the main planks of the Green’s manifesto for a long time. Is it a deliverable promise, or the sweetest of false hopes? Am I naive to be even thinking about participating this time? Or could voting really be another platform from which to direct real change?

I’ve got over a month to decide whether I can stomach registering – May 22nd is the deadline. Any and all advice would be gratefully received.

Regardless whether I vote or not, I will certainly be doing whatever else I can to support the Greens’ efforts to unfuck parliament over the next two months and beyond.

Perhaps this election really could be an opportunity to finally direct our consciousness out of the myopic box of nightmares it has been trapped in for so long, towards a fairer, saner future.

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