IM C IM Prescott’s smelly regions Death toll hits 100,000 The Power of Nightmares Top ten lightbulb changes IN9IVC WW page 3 page 4 page 7 page 8 NEVER MIND THE BALLOTS ears shit in the woods; the pope is an ultra-rightwing big-business indeed Catholic; Genghis Khan theocracy as its preferred ruler. Yet it is Bwas more than a little right-wing clear that the other 49% are considered and a tosser is in the Whitehouse, irrelevant. Not only are ‘liberals’ writes Iain McKay. demonised by the right, which You can lose more jobs than any expresses utter hatred and contempt for President since the Great Depression. them, the Bush Junta quickly talked of You can preside over millions of its new ‘mandate’ given by having a families losing their health care. You staggering 1% more voters than the can take away working people’s over­ losers. Given the radical right-wing time payments. You can impose a tax agenda they imposed after stealing the cut which benefits the already ultra-rich election in 2000 (and without a popular elite (‘my base’ as he famously admitted). majority) we can only expect one thing You can lose all three Presidential — even more of the same but supersized. debate. You can smear someone who Perhaps it will be argued that the fought in the war your dad’s contacts economic and military messes will now got you out of. You can start an have to cleared up by those who caused unnecessary war based on lies that them. But that is doubtful. Bush’s killed 1,100, mostly working class, wealthy supporters are not affected by troops as well as countless Iraqis while the war or unemployment. It will be wasting $200 billion and increasing theordinary Bush voters who will face the risk of terrorism. You can fail to live up draft and poverty — along with those to your promise to ‘smoke out* Osama who rejected him at the ballot box. The Bin Laden (and get your cronies to only people to really benefit, other than proclaim his latest video as a^gift’). You the elite and the Christian can poison the environment by under­ fundamentalists, are the satirists. They mining or not enforcing environmental will have lots of material to work with. regulations. You can turn a substantial Civil liberties will be further eroded. budget surplus into a gigantic deficit. Abortion rights will disappear in most, You can let 9/11 happen and then fight if not all, states and women’s the creation of the 9/11 Commission, reproductive rights will become resist speaking to them and then do not property of the state. The chasm act on their recommendations. You can between the ultra-wealthy and the rest value faith over science. You can refuse (which has been growing since the to speak with the press or the public 1980s) will increase, cementing and can only let supporters into your plutocracy as the proper name for the election rallies ... and you win the American system. The merging of popular vote by several million votes. church and state will continue, as will Welcome to George Bush’s America, military spending. Social security will Perhaps we can draw some comfort as bad as possible for the non-elite. because he had ‘Massachusetts values’, where the majority of voters have just be privatised and the tax system that Bush supporters are pretty much According to exit polls, 22% of the Christian right states had higher announced to the entire planet that they ‘reformed’ to place the burden on the ignorant of the facts. Indeed, they hold voters stated that ‘moral issues’ was the divorce rates than Massachusetts (which are fine with all this. It’s an important working class even more, with workers opinions about Bush and the world key issue. In other words, most Bush has the lowest divorce rate in America). announcement, particularly for Islamic facing (yet again) stagnating wages, significantly at odds with reality and votes considered this their key issue. What explains the contradiction? terrorists whose propaganda has just longer hours and job insecurity. And, while faith is a powerful thing, it Morals which, for example, apparently Simply, by ‘moral issues’ or ‘family been confirmed. But this is unfair. Only who knows, perhaps the draft will be cannot hold back reality indefinitely. tolerate unnecessary wars which kill over values* it is meant ‘know your place in 51% of American voters (representing introduced to secure the colonisation of Particularly when they have elected a 100,000 and are justified by lies and the social hierarchy’. It also means around 30% of possible voters) chose Iraq and, depending, to invade Iran. leader whose policies make that reality spin. Yet even as Kerry was demonised ^ page 3, column 4 OUR HOMES OUR WAY he Labour government is continuing housing only directly benefits working has been siphoned off to finance housing need to collectively push forward our the police arrived, called by the Council. its campaign to privatise council class people and so is not a political benefits. This is the poor paying for the own demands. The campaign is starting to have an housing. Deputy Prime Minister priority. Yet a very high percentage of poorest. effect. Recently, at the Labour Party T council residents of working age As anarchists, we believe decent housing Meeting disrupted Conference, government housing policy John Prescott is now proposing that council housing ownership should be contribute to the economy through for all is a basic human right and we Haringey (North London) tenants and was overwhelmingly rejected by handed over to Arms Length their labour and still they continuously should not have to be going cap in hand other local residents recently disrupted delegates in favour of stock retention Management Organisations (ALMOs). see their rights for decent homes for what is due to us. Under the current a Council meeting when the Labour and direct investment in council Rents and tenancy agreements would disregarded. system we will have to be creative and council wouldn’t listen to their delegation. housing. But we can’t sit back and wait no longer be set by the council. This It is obvious that the last twenty years struggle in solidarity to find new ways They were angry because the council | for politicians, we need to organise ourselves. One option that we need to complete privatisation is what of under investment has led to a backlog in order to improve our living standards. would not hold a full ballot on the pursue is the ‘rent strike’, but this will campaigners have been arguing that of repairs and renovations. Failure to Direct action is one way that can future ownership and management of take strong determination, solidarity, ALMOs were always about. build new social housing has created bring about change for those affected council homes. Protesters inside the Wood good organisation and a lot of hard, For the majority of people living in homelessness and forced people into the by substandard housing and sociable Green Civic Centre held up council’s grassroots work. council housing, their need for a decent private sector where rents arc much communities. It means getting directly procedures for 40 minutes by demanding they be given the right to have their voice Taken from Solidarity, newsletter of North and orae and community continues to be higher. In addition, in the past few years involved: organising or joining tenants heard. The protesters left peacefully when East London Solidarity Federation. overlooked by the government. Social £13 billion from council tenants’ rent and residents meetings. As tenants, we Freedom loxn November 2004 Home and away FREEDOM Volume 65 Number 22 News from the inside Freedom for prisoners vegetarian food, and solidarity activities Horseferry, has quit - after being accused information liable to ‘incite’ others to Anarchism As many of you may know, Freedom in the Latin American libertarian move­ of paying for sex with rent boys. commit ‘criminal damage’. Selwood Anarchists work towards a society of provides free subscriptions to anyone in ments. Recently Esteban was arrested in Judge Roger Davies resigned after described the magazine as “The most mutual aid and voluntary co-operation. prison. If you have friends or family in H o f, Germany, for being ‘illegal’. Now spending the last year on leave, which contemptuous document I have ever We reject all government and economic prison, or regularly write to a prisoner, he is in Hof deportation prison, where must have been a chore on his £90,000 seen in my entire career.” What about repression. if they are interested we will be happy the German State wants to keep him a year wage. Due to his early retirement, the kiddy porn he’d been looking at?!? Freedom Press is an independent to send them a free sample issue or sub. locked up for two months before not only has the investigation which (source: SchNEWS) anarchist publisher. Besides this If you are a prisoner yourself we can deporting him. Currently his comrades would have brought out the sordid newspaper, which comes out every two provide subs to any of your fellow are doing everything possible to gain his details been conveniently stopped, but Campaign Against Prison Slavery weeks, we produce books on all aspects inmates if they wish. Please also feel freedom, or at least shorten the time he he’s also still in line for an index-linked pickets of anarchist theory and practice. free to write to us with any news about spends in prison before his deportation. pension worth £45,000 a yean Add to Pickets of the stores of high-street retailer In our building in Whitechapel we run your imprisonment, developments in They are calling for solidarity actions in that a lump sum award of just over Wilkinson, who use forced prison Britain’s biggest anarchist bookshop and your case, requests for penpals or support of him, and for people to write £100,000 and he’s got himself a nice labour to pack their goods, continue.