Leopard & Spots.

      It is surprising that so many people thought that bumbling Boris, self centred, inconsistent, incoherent, buffoon, and foreigner to the truth, would somehow, when elected, become a reliable dedicated servant of the people, a leader worth following. Now the truth is suddenly clear as we find ourselves in the midst of the worst crisis in generations. He remains Boris, the self centred, inconsistent, incoherent, buffoon and a foreigner to the truth, but now more dangerous. What could possible have gone wrong? Once again the arrival of the new and latest Messiah has failed us. When will we ever learn. Why we should ever rely on a parasite from the elitist pampered privileged class to look after our interests, is, to me, always a mystery.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Asbestos Repeat.

 

       As a young apprentice I worked in the shipyards, when the use of asbestos was wide and lavish. Its effects are still being felt today. To me, to a degree, the asbestos scandal mirrors the coronavirus pandemic, but to a slower degree. There was medical papers written and advice given on the dangers of asbestos as far back as the 20's, but the governments of the world ignored all that and it wasn't until around 1970, that a ban was started to be imposed. This was after countless deaths from the incurable lung disease of mesothelioma, the reason for its continued use, against 50 years of medical advice and lobbying from trade unions, was that it was an excellent insulator and very cheap, in monitory terms, but expensive in human suffering and deaths, to ban it would obviously hurt the economy. Today thousands of people still die from asbestos related illnesses.

      More than 39,000 American lives are lost to asbestos-related disease every year. Asbestos facts and statistics summarize the devastating impact the toxic mineral has had in the U.S. and around the world.

      The same factors are still driving the governments policy today on the coronavirus, it is hurting the economy, so we must get people back to work. So some will die, to the capitalist that is a risk worth taking. Just as deaths from asbestos killed thousands but the economy must be saved, now it is covid19 that is killing thousands, but the economy must be saved.

       It is estimated that an average of 13 people a day in the UK die from conditions caused by previous exposure to asbestos – more than double the number of people who die on the roads.

      The first health fears associated with asbestos were raised at the end of the 19th century. Asbestosis, an inflammatory condition affecting the lungs that causes shortness of breath, severe coughing and other damage to the lung was described in medical writing in the 1920s.

       For how long and how many more times will we tolerate the economy being put before the health and well-being of the ordinary people? Why should we tolerate the price of shares and the profits for millionaires/billionaires to be placed ahead of the life of ordinary people?  Refuse to go anywhere near your employers profit making machine until your are completely satisfied that it is 110% safe for you to do so. My belief is, that safety guarantee will never materialise under the capitalist economic system. Change the system if you wish a safe working environment, that's the only answer worth considering. Generations of ill health and deaths from working conditions must surely by now, have convinced you of that fact.

When the Time-Bomb Goes Off

The bike just sits there,

dust covering its lovely sheen,

puffing up the Fintry Hills

well, it’s no longer my scene.

Y’see, as a Clydeside apprentice

I proudly learnt the tradesman’s skill,

little did I know then

the price, asbestos lungs that kill.

Now I just sit here through the painful day

gasping each mouthful of air, wondering

how can I make the bastards pay.

They new it was a killer

a time-bomb in our lungs

but, because it was so quick and cheap

they firmly held their tongues.

So what, if it cost the workman’s life,

there’s always a couple of new workers

in the care of the worker’s wife.

Please try to understand my anger

as I and others bear their cost,

a slow death from asbestos lungs,

a vibrant life lost.

Anguish for family and friends,

all in the name of profit;

now that really does offend.

Our anger without direction

is a blind archer behind the bow,

we have to use our anger

to smash the status-quo.

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk    

Virus Or Hunger?

       What is worse than the covid19? The fear of hunger in isolation. The people of Lebanon have taken that view and have resumed their desire for real change back onto the streets. Not in a foolish haphazard manner but in thought out rational fashion. To them enough is enough, how long before the rest of the world says the same. A draconian world of isolation, control and hunger, or fight to regain control of their lives and end the authoritarian corrupt regime that shackles people across the world, virus or hunger is no choice. We demand more and we will have it without your consent.  Of course the last thing the state wants is for you to decide how you will live your life, they see that as their prerogative and will enforce their view with savage brutality, expect no less.

The following from Enough is Enough:
Chronicles from Lebanon's Revolution:

      Lebanon. Since October 17, 2019, Lebanon has been living at the rhythm of an uprising targeting both the political class and a moribund economic regime. As elsewhere, the spread of the virus and the health emergency measures first put an end to the contestation. On March 21, Megaphone media released a video titled “Tripoli: Expect to Meet Us After the Corona.” (Watch video below) The extreme deterioration of the economic situation and the total lack of resources encountered by a large number of inhabitants following confinement have finally advanced this prognosis. Despite a quarantine in effect until the 10th of May, movements are taking to the streets, and once again targeting banks that are crystallising discontent. And again, the city of Tripoli has occupied a unique place, and this since the beginning of the uprising. On April 27, the army, which is actively involved in the repression, killed a young man, Fawaz Fouad Samman, whose death only increased popular anger.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

I Moan.

       I moan, but I feel with justification. Our freedoms are under attack, the attacker wears the cloak of a caring state, but we must be wary, it has ulterior motives. Naturally a lot of our actions have been governed by fear and self preservation along with fear for the lives of our loved ones. A population that lives with fear is easier manipulated and controlled, and that will be the underlying ulterior motive of the state. Society is being reshaped before our eyes, socialising will be very limited, as the restricting legislation introduce now will still be in place as the virus recedes. Keep your social distancing, but go to work, out of work experiences will be curtailed for some considerable time. Theatres and large sporting events postponed for at least a year, pubs disappearing as the go bust from no sales but still got the bills coming in. Get back to work, but keep your distance, no social gatherings as work conditions will now keep you apart, for your own good of course. Isolated living and working, with TV and virtual meetings, and a lingering fear that the virus is still there. Welcome to capitalism's brave new world. 

        This will be our new normality, unless we decide that the time has come for resistance rather than submission. We have seen the shoots of our view of the world we want. Those mutual aid groups springing up spontaneously in communities across the country, a desire to be with one and other, and to help where needed without the thought of profit. That has to be the driving force of the normality that we want, not the isolated profit making for wealthy shareholders. Resisting the call to go back to work under the dystopian construction of our capitalist masters, may be difficult, but complying is abdicating your right to live freely, in communities with your friends and families. This could be the final battle for your freedom, if they win, we continue our subjugation on a journey to an ecological disaster, with no come back. We are the only ones who can save ourselves and future generations from this nightmare dystopian human disaster. I moan, but I feel with justification.   

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Let's Think.

        We are certainly living through a time of unprecedented problems and unknown outcomes, nobody knows the final outcome in any detail. There are plans by the powers that be to rescue their sinking rat infested ship and continue on the journey of planet plunder. Among the public there must be plans to forever free themselves from this voyage of disaster. How will the new world form, what shape will it take, well that depends on the planners, and the people must guarantee that they are the planners of that new world, or they will sink with that old rat infested ship of the past.

      The following is an extract from an article made up of extracts from letters from a comrade in a Spanish gaol.

       This from Act For Freedom Now:

     The other day I saw an astonishing (or maybe not) story on TV: a Portuguese TV channel (TVI) was giving «news» of a hospice… all of a sudden this «team» of cameramen realize that an old lady is trying to escape from the back by removing a fence… What did the «journalists» who were «informing» (in alarmist tones) about the drama unfolding inside there do? Call the carers to lock up the old lady again! The moral of the story is very simple: there is no empathy and/or sympathy towards the old person looking for freedom, the possibility of a life, no. The drama is for those who stay stuck to their television set, it is the objectivity and rigour of information… then they pull out their phone and become snitches so that the presumed «infected-old lady» threatening «our» safety is recaptured: the victim is a criminal! So… I sympathized with the old lady and wished the worst death to these snitches.
    (…) I’m very curious to see how people will react after this forced imprisonment, how the economy will be, how people will relate to one another, exactly. Will the European invention survive? Will the borders be opened? Will planes come back to sail the skies from one place to another? If unemployment is to be as massive as expected, what will people do? What will the «effects» of forced coexistence be? These are questions that really arouse my interest and curiosity. I also wonder up to what point and for how long «citizens» will be prepared to remain in compulsory «quarantine».

4th April
       (…) I’m looking at (and analysing) the regime «news» concerning the serum tests they are proposing to do (or are doing directly) in countries such as Germany, England, France, Italy, the United States and China to find out which people are immune to the virus. All this is showing us how the new liberal market is already selecting the «most suitable» workforce… this global «emergency» has given States and capital a huge quantity of «private» data concerning their «citizens» and customers… so now these will experience on their own skin what it means to be under a high surveillance regime such as F.I.E.S., in first grade, second grade and/or open regime. All day long, uniforms everywhere: police, soldiers and jailers; controllers and bankers… (…) and anyway the «quarantine» experience has already prepared them for their entrance into «live-prisons»: locked up and with no rights; watched over and with no «control» over their lives.

Now that we are all prisoners

Now that we are all prisoners we know what it is to feel longing, to hate and to love…

To feel longing for walking under the sky with the sea breaking against the rocks.

To feel longing for meeting up with friends and being able to hug them.

To feel longing for the loves we adore kissing.

To feel longing for everything they don’t let us enjoy today.

Now that we are all prisoners we know what it is to hate…

To hate monotony and the boring conversations we can’t escape from.

To hate the septic imprisonment that limits and suffocates our freedom.

To hate the days and nights that follow on from one another like that, without anything else.

To hate the selfish behaviour of others, which alone we can’t avoid.

Now that we are all prisoners we know what it is to love…

To love nature that allows us to breathe.

To love intelligence that invites us to dream.

To love sensitivity that makes us enjoy.

To love the freedom to be and to stay.

Now that we are all prisoners: it’s time to think…

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Harassment.

 

         Anarchist believe in the dignity of all people, each individual is unique, and must be allowed to live their life without exploitation, degradation, or physical abuse, as long as they behave likewise with others. No ordinary person should walk in fear, fear to be alone on the street at night, nor should they be expected to take insults nor unwanted touching. Unfortunately in our society their are those who don't see it that way, especially when it comes to women. They all too often see them as prey, play things, pretty adornments, an object to be leered at, and women are expected to accept insulting remarks at the whim of some deranged male.

       So I was delighted to see this post from Athens and hope that there is a similar action being organised here and elsewhere. End this abuse now.

 The following from Act For Freedom Now:

May 9, 2020, Athens,Greece: Patience is over. There will be no more excuses. No more apologies. Dead catcallers can’t catcall by Angry girls in the city who are done with this bullshit.
      Patience is over. There will be no more excuses. No more apologies. Dead catcallers can’t catcall.
       The last two months have brought drastic change. The coming conflict in our space brings new threats to our existence as anarchists and as human beings. The womxn’s place is on the streets, in the squares, at the barricades. This is unquestionable.
      Every womxn should be safe to drink beers in platia, to walk home late at night, to wear whatever we want and do whatever we like without unwanted attention from predatory men, without having to look over our shoulders when we walk home or wait to close our front doors, to make sure no one comes in behind us. The patriarchy in all its ugly forms has no place on our streets and the moment it appears it will be crushed. No more politeness.
      The harassment of womxn is not a cultural tradition. Catcalling is wrong and disgusting in every country and saying otherwise is misogynistic and racist. Womxn from every country will not stand for this abuse.
      Catcalling will not be tolerated. No one will harass women in Exarcheia ever again and if they dare to they will face immediate and violent consequences. Everyone is responsible for making sure the city is a safe place for girls and womxn. If we see a car slowing down to creep on a womxn walking at night, we won’t stand. We must intervene. If we see someone harassing a womxn, we must be vocal, be violent if necessary, let them know they are not welcome in our world and make sure they don’t come back. Solidarity is our weapon.
     In solidarity we call for support for the Women’s demonstration of rage in Kypseli at 9pm.
     We are not jewellery. We are not pretty things to be looked at or touched. You have no right to our bodies or our minds though we have every right to punch you or throw a rock at your nice car, if you piss us off just one more time.

You have been warned

Sincerely,

Angry girls in the city who are done with this bullshit.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

The Empire Game.

       At the moment every avenue in the mainstream media is shouting VE. This is always portrayed as the gallant British fighting to destroy fascism, when in fact it was the British empire trying to stop the rising German empire, which had been muzzled since the end of WW1 and was now reasserting itself. The British empire couldn't tolerate this threat to its power, and resources. Soon all the other power mongers took sides and engulfed the world in a monumental orgy of slaughter, for power, markets and resources.
 

    Yes I know about the concentration camps, the mass killings and the slave labour by the German establishment. I also know about the British empire's concentration camps in South Africa, its mass slaughter, cruelty and brutality in India, and its fencing in of villages and savagery in Malaya, and the unimaginable savagery of the British in Kenya, and, and, and---. That's what empires do, and for centuries, the British empire was a pass-master at that brutal game.

     We should all know by now, that states don't wage war to save people, to free people from what every despotic regime it encounters. They do it for power, markets and resources, people are the cannon fodder to feed their greed driven orgy. WW2 was no different nor was the Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria imperialist ventures. Their so called saving the people from despots has lead to millions fleeing their homes, millions maimed and dead countries in turmoil, poverty and deprivation for the "freed people".

Enjoy:

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Next Step.

 

    We appear to be slowly moving out of this pandemic, though far from there yet. Let's hope that we continue that path and our bumbling inept crew that are steering the ship, in their haste to get us back to creating wealth for them, don't screw it all up again. Though we can help there, by simply refusing to go back into any situation we deem to be unsafe. Our lives and those of our families and friends are worth away lot more than the value of parasite's shares.

      As we are slowing coming out of this disastrously handled crisis, we should be thinking of where we go from here, certainly not back to the exploitation, greed and inequality that we have experienced for generations. So to perhaps tempt you to think of an alternative that will work, I have lifted this article from one of my other blogs. Think about it, and you'll see it makes sense.

Freedom and Equality
       Fundamentally, anarchism is the struggle for freedom. Freedom from rulers and corporations who dominate our lives and are destroying our earth. Freedom for workers, women, and all oppressed people in all parts of the world. We believe that this sort of freedom can only be achieved together with equality and a fair distribution of resources.
Individual and Collective
        Anarchists believe in the inherent dignity and humanity of the individual. But this dignity and humanity can only be fully realised in a co-operative, egalitarian society. This is why we are in favour of working together collectively and being organised. It is incorrect to equate anarchism with individualism or chaos.
Revolution
       Anarchists understand that this truly free and equal society can only be achieved through revolution – meaning a complete transformation of society. This society cannot be ‘given’ to the people by politicians or bureaucrats. It must be built by people from below.
Change by Direct Action
        Anarchism opposes the violence which is an integral part of capitalism and the state (this violence comes in many forms: war, patriarchy etc.). We believe that means shape ends – in other words, the way we struggle will shape the outcome of the struggle. This is also why we do not support the seizure of State power by authoritarian political parties. However, anarchists do believe in direct action – action taken by everyday people to address the power imbalance in present day society. This includes strikes, boycott’s, work-to-rule’s and occupations.
The Past
       Both authoritarian communism (as in Russia, China etc.) and ‘labourism’ (ie. The labour parties of the world), have failed to solve our global crisis. We need a different path to a better world. Anarchism offers itself as a guide on that path.

It's there, waiting for us to take those steps that are necessary to get us there.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Sun And Bike.

     Managed out on the bike yesterday, just the same wee circuit that I abandoned last week because of roadworks temporary traffic lights in two sections, and single lane driving always a bit of a nuisance to an old guy like me. However all that had gone so it was just a half a dozen wee runs round the circuit from Cadder cemetery out past Lowmoss and towards Lenzie, turn and join the main Kirkintilloch Bishopbriggs road round the Cadder cemetery and repeat about half a dozen times or so. Just enough to remind the legs what they are supposed to do.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Now Or Never.

          We have now been in lockdown for couple of months, and there is talk of our lords and masters allowing a gradual "opening up" of society, a sort of parole for the public. I believe now is the time to take a very close look at where we have been, what has really happened and where do we go from here.         

       As expected the state has taken full advantage of the situation and with one fell swoop, has moulded us into a submissive population, sitting waiting for our next instructions as to how we should live our lives. They have introduced legislation that makes it easier for them to govern us, and rest assure these will be built into any future they have in mind. They have managed to create that imaginary connection between us, the state, and the economy, we are all one now, we have to go back to get the economy growing again. 

        We will be instructed to go back to work, not because they can guarantee our safety, but because they need us to start again to generate wealth for the shareholders. The "money tree" has already appeared, taxpayers money will be lavished on businesses to "keep them afloat", forgetting that for more than ten years there was no money for the NHS or our social services. Keeping the shareholders happy is more important that the health and well-being of the people, in their plans, that will not change.

         We will be expected to forget that their relentless drive for an ever growing economy was responsible for gross inequality, abject poverty for millions and the destruction of our planet. We will be expected to fall into line as it will save jobs, as if jobs were sacred to their philosophy, when they cast aside countless workers to increase profit. Virgin Atlantic is casting over 3,000 workers aside, Ryanair is dropping over 3,000 workers from its payroll, and those that it keeps are being told they will have to take a pay cut. You are fodder for their greed machine. Is that the road we wish to follow?

       

        We all know we can create a fairer world, we are already laying the foundations in our variety of mutual aid projects, people and communities coming together to help each other without the profit motive. This can be built on and expanded, community swap shops, community skill sharing projects, etc. I suppose we can thank the pandemic legislation for showing us we can live without running out to buy their crap and focus more on what we need,  

         Which world are we going to focus on, their, back to work to grow the economy and feed the parasite shareholder class, or one based on co-operation, communities, the needs of the people, workers' controlled workplaces and distribution services, all freed from the profit motive and built on sustainability. 

          We have to make that decision now, those in power have already chosen their plan for our future, and it will, as it has always done in the past, benefit the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the many. It's our choice, and it may be our last chance.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

UK, Leaders Again!

      So Britain does it again, once more we lead Europe, we have overtaken Italy, the previous leader in covid19 deaths, well done Boris. The UK now has the highest covid19 death rate in Europe, the second highest in the world behind America. Still our callous inept political ballerinas tell us they are doing a good job, make excuses if you try to compare us with Italy, we have more large densely populated cities than Italy, etc.. Then what about Germany, France and Spain, I suppose they'll also come up with excuses there for us out striping them in this tragic league of death and misery. 

    How well they are doing can be seen in a recent report covered by the BBC. 48% of hospital doctors stated that they had to purchase protective equipment for them selves and staff or rely on donations, 50% of GPs stated the same story. When asked why they hadn't raised this matter of shortages of equipment, medicines and staff more loudly with the government, their common reply was, "They didn't think it would do any good"

   This bunch of crass inept ideologists still boast of how well the have managed the situation, yet here we are months into the pandemic with deaths appearing to diminish, and we are still hearing of failure to meet testing targets, hospitals and GPs still short of staff and PPE, and care homes and prisons being hotbeds of infection. 

     They also make the claim that they are following the science, this is utter rubbish. Science in this pandemic is forever changing and is a many faceted discipline, it is a political decision to pick up one thread and ignore all the other experts in the field, and there have been many experts who have criticised this governments handling of the situation. 

    All this would be considered the usual political bungling of pushing party ideology, but we are dealing with human lives, pursuing policies that have resulted in thousands more deaths than there need have been. This can only be considered as nothing less than criminal, and the crime is death of innocent people, death by deliberate policies by inept politicians. Those responsible must be held to account. This is not about whether or not to build a railway, or a second runway, this is about taking the life of family members. It is unforgivable and must not be put down to just one of those things that happen. The dead and their families deserve justice, not platitudes and bumbling phony briefings by inept callous political ballerinas.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Doing Well.

       During this pandemic we continually hear that we are all in this together, a wonderful illusion to get a submissive population. Let's not rock the boat, let's all pull together and get back to "normal". However during this pandemic one group has done very well indeed, our parasite class of millionaires and billionaires. The extract below is on American parasite billionaires, but I doubt that research in other developed countries would come up with a different result, different amounts but the same process. It's the system buddie.

The following from Mint Press News:

 Are they clapping frontline workers, are after looking at the bank balance.

       A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies found that, while tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, America’s ultra-wealthy elite have seen their net worth surge by $282 billion in just 23 days. This is despite the fact that the economy is expected to contract by 40 percent this quarter. The report also noted that between 1980 and 2020 the tax obligations of America’s billionaires, measured as a percentage of their wealth, decreased by 79 percent. In the last 30 years, U.S. billionaire wealth soared by over 1100 percent while median household wealth increased by barely five percent. In 1990, the total wealth held by America’s billionaire class was $240 billion; today that number stands at $2.95 trillion. Thus, America’s billionaires accrued more wealth in just the past three weeks than they made in total prior to 1980. As a result, just three people ­– Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet – own as much wealth as the bottom half of all U.S. households combined.
     The Institute for Policy Studies’ report paints a picture of a modern day oligarchy, where the super-rich have captured legislative and executive power, controlling what laws are passed. The report discusses what it labels a new “wealth defense industry” – where “billionaires are paying millions to dodge billions in taxes,” with teams of accountants, lawyers, lobbyists and asset managers helping them conceal their vast fortunes in tax havens and so-called charitable trusts. The result has been crippled social programs and a decrease in living standards and even a sustained drop in life expectancy – something rarely seen in history outside of major wars or famines. Few Americans believe their children will be better off than they were. Statistics suggest they are right.

 Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Now What?

    May Day 2020 passed, the celebrations are over, what now? Do we plan for next May Day 2021, and more celebrations, or do move on that spirit of May Day solidarity, and change tomorrow to our desires, to our better world for all. Or do we just knuckle down and get back to the normal of the parasite class that has, is, and will continue to, screw us and destroy the planet, our only life support system? There never has been a greater opportunity for a world wide drive to take control of our lives and change society to one that caters for all our needs excluding nobody. World wide we are all aware of and involved in the pandemic and how it showed up the glaring weaknesses in this corrupt system of inequality, what are we going to do about it. If we let this opportunity pass, what then? It can also be an opportunity for the parasite class to tighten its grip on our lives, to march forward on its plundering and destructive path, it is up to us. As far as the planet is concerned we don't have a lot of time to stop the terminal rot, the destruction of the system that is destroying our planet is the only real answer to our problems.

The following from SubMedia:

       This May Day finds us at an important historic crossroads. Amidst a global pandemic, this year the streets will be eerily silent as people forgo the marches, rallies and riots that are the annual rituals of international workers day. But while the streets may be calm, the class war rages on. Wildcat strikes are popping off among 'essential workers' who two months ago were seen as some of the lowest, most precarious participants of the gig economy. Prison uprisings are breaking out around the world at an unprecedented rate. And millions of tenants are withholding their rent in what could become the first global rent strike in history. These are interesting times. Stay safe. Get organized. Fight hard. Happy May Day.

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Domestic Violence.

      Domestic violence is no new phenomena it has been part and parcel of our society for many a generation. It is born out of patriarchy and festers away in what is often thought of as a "normal" home. It is another symptom of our unjust, unequal, sick society, so often people will turn away when they see or hear it manifest itself, it is somehow seen as a private affair. We always seek to eradicate aggressive and unprovoked violence in our society, we should remember, the home is a unit of our society. This pandemic lockdown has made the life of those at the receiving end of domestic violence all the more precarious, sometimes escape seems impossible, and that is when friends and neighbours should come in.

      This is an appeal for solidarity with those subject to domestic violence, with some helpful advice from Greece.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS A COLLECTIVE ISSUE

       In this time of Covid-19, during the State-imposed lockdown and transport ban, the cases of domestic violence in Greece have increased. It was to be expected -now it’s even harder to escape. The myth of the “holy nuclear family” takes for granted that staying at home is always the safest, but for many of us being with our families or partners is just as threatening as being out there. In the odd silence of the city, the screams we can hear from the neighbouring houses aren’t getting any quieter. Domestic violence is not just a “couple’s problem”, an “issue for the family to resolve” or a “private affair”. All forms of violence against children, partners, family members or housemates are never justified, except when it’s for self-defence against the aggressor.
Every year, patriarchy kills more than any other virus.
     If you are experiencing violence, physical or otherwise, and you are quarantined with your aggressor/s, we tried to put together some suggestions:
• Practice how to get safely out of the house.
• Create a sign to use for emergencies with your neighbours.
• Find people who understand and support you and a safe space, to take refuge in.
•Try to resist! If you can’t do anything, it’s totally ok too, it’s not your fault, you’re not alone.
       If you witness domestic violence which doesn’t target or threaten you and you don’t intervene or speak out, you support the aggressor.
        What you could do:
•Try to create a connection with the person targeted by the violence.
• Offer your space as shelter
• If the person agrees, call out or confront the aggressor.

Anti Covid19 – Network for Mutual Aid and Struggle
FB:@AntiCovidAidNetwork
patriarchyisthevirus.tem.li

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Savage State.

        The state has many ways of bludgeoning its enemies, from the subtle to the down right brutal. We should never fail to bring to public notice any of these repressive inhumanities, they should never be allowed to do their savagery away from the gaze of the public eye. Their brutality must become common knowledge, so that we can put an end to this authoritarian inhumane total disregard for human life and dignity.

 EU slams Greek prison system.

 

     The case posted below is from Greece, but around the globe these acts of callous brutal inhumanity are common place in state after state, part and parcel of this system of protecting the powerful and wealthy parasite class, and the inequality of the status-quo.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

        Letter of Vasilis Dimakis, dated 27/4/2020, Grevena prison, Greece -Statement of hunger and thirst strike

        Original: https://www.athens.indymedia.org/post/1604730/
     “As of today, Monday 27/04/2020 and, after officially six days of hunger strike, since I have not accepted food from the moment of my violent transfer-abduction from Korydallos prison, headed for Grevena prison on Thursday 16/4, and weighing 62kg, I am going on thirst strike, claiming and trying to protect what I have painstakingly achieved until today, that is my dignified presence and studentship in the EKPA higher education community, as a student of the Department for Political Science and Public Management of the University of Athens. And I have done this under grave conditions, since studying in incarceration is effectively a great feat.
     I am demanding from my wannabe executioners, who arbitrarily and provocatively ordered my transfer, and also enforced the cessation of my studies, to act in a humane way, not driven by base motives, as should be fitting to any democratic citizen, before it is too late, to order my transfer back to my cell in Korydallos prison where all my notes and books are, so that I complete, without any more tricks and obstacles, my so far dignified course in education, so that I can ‘meet’ my future once again.
       It is impossible for me to accept without question the order that came without cause or reason, by some responsible who decided this transfer, interrupting in this way the studies and future of a human being! I inform you, who decided for me without me, that my will to study is so powerful, that is first of all touches my heart and then my dignity, not allowing me to make any discounts on the part that concerns my education!
       For this reason I place my body as a trench, for the second time, and facing serious risk to my health, because for me dignity has more value than life itself!
Fully conscious of the risks involved for my health and my existence, I kindly ask the medical staff of Grevena prison, in case of any complications (fainting, cardiac episode), that they do not medicate me or try to resuscitate me, as this would mean an added violence against my life. I consider that with this statement I absolve the medical staff of the prison and of any other health provider, from any legal responsibilities in case of a deteriorating course to my health.
With regards, prisoner Dimakis Vasilis on hunger and thirst strike.”

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