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Red Justice · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:00 am Post subject: May Day Parades

Sat May 03 May Day Parade - Edinburgh
11:30 AM Assemble in Market Street

March along Princes Street to a rally in Princes Street Gardens.
The march this year will be led by Pat Arrowsmith from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Colombian trade union leader Aida Avella.

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Sat May 03 MAY DAY MARCH and RALLY - Irvine
11:00 AM Woodlands Centre, Kilwinning Road, Irvine

March Starts at 11.00am and Rally at 12 Noon
(Both March & Rally at Woodlands Centre)
SPEAKERS INCLUDE
Janet Fenton (Scotland For Peace)
Elinor MacKenzie (Scottish Pensioners Forum)
International Speaker
STALLS FROM VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS - ENTERTAINMENT - REFRESHMENTS - CRECHE - FALKIRK HIGH SCHOOL SAMBA BAND

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Holebender · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:04 am Post subject:

I wouldn't have had you down as a fan of the Royal Air Force.
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Red Justice · Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 10:06 am Post subject:

Dave Coull · Independentista Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 925

Holebender says "I wouldn't have had you down as a fan of the Royal Air Force"

Red Justice says "Try Red Army Faction".

It is no accident that the initials of these two organisations are the same, they were in fact quite deliberately chosen to be the same. The West German group referred to as the Baader-Meinhoff gang wanted a more impressive sounding name. They violently rejected West German society, which they saw as being hopelessly tainted by its Nazi past. Since they considered themselves Marxists, even if they thought the Marxists who actually controlled East Germany had departed from the true path, the reason for calling themselves the "Red Army" is obvious enough. The Red Army had blasted its way into Germany, and still caused fear amongst many Germans. But why "faction"? Why not "party"? Why not "union"? Why not "campaign"? Why not "group"? Why not "association"? Why not "organisation"? Why not "tendency"? Why not a dozen other possibilities? Was it really so important to communicate that they were "a small dissenting group within a larger one", that is, a small dissenting group within the Red Army? No of course it wasn't. The Baader Meinhoff folk wanted to communicate the fact that they were prepared to be totally ruthless. So far as most older Germans of that time were concerned, one of the most ruthless organisations they had ever heard of was the Royal Air Force. Although, at the end of the Second World War, the USA used nuclear weapons against Japan (after Germany had surrendered), so far as Germany was concerned, the RAF had bombed Germany far more ruthlessly than the Americans. The RAF's carpet bombing of Dresden, for instance, killed more civilian men, women, and children than any other single instance of bombing of the war in Europe. The RAF (Red Army Faction) deliberately chose the third word of their name so that it gave them the same initials as the RAF (Royal Air Force) because they wanted to convey just how ruthless they were prepared to be in pursuit of their aims. So yes, there IS a link. The Red Army Faction were indeed fans of the Royal Air Force.

Dave Coull · Independentista Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 925

What is May Day?

Well, in the old pre-Christian Celtic religion, May Day was Samhain, the end of Winter, the beginning of Summer, the New Year in fact, a festival of fertility. The practice in some remote parts of England of shoving a great big pole into Mother Earth and dancing round it is a faint echo of that riotous fertility ritual.

The Catholic Church was none too keen on such practices, and the protestant reformers even less so. Cromwell sought to stamp out May Day, as well as Christmas.

In modern political terms, May Day as an international workers day comes from the Haymarket martyrs in Chicago. The first political May Day holiday was a strike by workers in the USA to protest against the execution of fourteen anarchists on trumped up charges. The American working class at that time was very international, most of them could hardly speak English, but, since they spoke dozens of different languages, English won out in the end. A different situation from now, when, in some parts of the USA, Spanish has become a common language of the working class. These American May Day strikes were subsequently endorsed by the international trade union movement as International Workers Solidarity Day. It was only much later that May Day came to be associated with dictators like Stalin and with the USSR.

Dave Coull · Independentista Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 925

Okay, so I wrote the above entirely from memory, without checking out the historical details, and my memory, which isn't as good in my old age as it used to be, exaggerated the number of the Chicago martyrs.

Here is a correction, taken from "1886: the Haymarket Martyrs and Mayday"
http://libcom.org/history/articles/mayday-haymarket-martyrs/

"The history of the world holiday on the 1st May - Mayday, held in commemoration of four anarchists executed for struggling for an 8-hour day.

Originally a pagan holiday, the roots of the modern Mayday bank holiday are in the fight for the eight-hour working day in Chicago in 1886, and the subsequent execution of innocent anarchist trade unionists.

In 1887, four Chicago anarchists were executed; a fifth cheated the hangman by killing himself in prison. Three more were to spend 6 years in prison until pardoned by Governor Altgeld who said the trial that convicted them was characterised by 'hysteria, packed juries and a biased judge'."

If anybody is interested, more details on the origins of MayDay can be found at the above website.

Aventinian · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 1:08 am Post subject:

Samhain was the beginning of Winter, in October. I assume the equivilent is Beltane, which is of course celebrated in the wee hours of May Day morning on Calton Hill - an event which I've sadly missed for a good few years now.
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Dave Coull · Independentista Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 925

Aventinian wrote “Samhain was the beginning of Winter”.

Okay, I admit it, I got Samhain and Beltane mixed up, the second mistake I’ve made under this topic heading. That’s the trouble with writing things spontaneously, relying purely on memory, without checking the details out. Like I said before, my memory isn’t as good in my old age as it used to be.

amdeadfamous · Finding Ma' Way Joined: 10 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

my god, people still believe in this shte?

shamefulsocialistpowermad · Finding Ma' Way Joined: 06 Jul 2008 Posts: 8

the red army faction.jeez i'll need to clean my screen.it's got my lunch all over it.
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