At 10.30 today a group of around 15 activists congregated at St Enoch Square and then proceeded to the Argyle Street branch of Vodafone.
They entered the branch and announced that they were occupying the premises as a protest to the £6bn in tax that the company squirmed out of paying at a time when public services are being slashed to ribbons by the Coalition government.
On Wednesday 10th November 2010 the NUS and UCU have organised a demonstration in London 'Fund Our Future: Stop Education Cuts' in protest against the cuts in education.
Today in Glasgow a diverse group occupied the Gordon St branch of RBS in protest at the cuts being imposed on us all, while corporations continue to bring in huge profits and boardroom salaries continue to sky rocket.
This Saturday just past, 30th Oct, approximately 30 of us blockaded Vodafone's Glasgow flagship shop on Buchanan St, keeping it closed all day on the busiest shopping day of the week. This was part of a national day of action, in response to the budget cuts, against Vodafone who, according to Private Eye and others, are evading £6.1 billion in taxes. For more background see http://ukuncut.wordpress.com
The Edinburgh University Settlement, the charity owning the buildings housing Edinburgh cultural institutions such as The Forest, The GRV and The Roxy, filed for bankruptcy last week on 27th October 2010, allegedly with debts of up to £4 million. This means all their property will both be sold off pronto.
The ancient festival of Halloween - Oidhche Shamhna - is another relic of our Gaelic past. Literally, it is 'the night before Samhain' and 'An t-Samhain' in modern Gaelic simply means November. It was thought that on the night between the death of summer and onset of winter that the door between our world and the netherworld opened. This allowed spirits to pass between both worlds. In Scotland, young men would impersonate the dead by blackening their faces or by wearing masks, sometimes made of animal hide, and carry a 'samhnag' or neep lantern.
