Tuesday 15 December 2020
Thinking.
Chile.
The following from Act For Freedom Now:
Chile – The new issue of Confrontación is out
NOTHING IS OVER!
WE ARE STILL IN REVOLT AGAINST EVERY AUTHORITY
A year after the start of the revolt that exploded in Chile on 18th October 2019, we continue to spread Confrontación. Greeting all those who have remained active in the struggle against the established order before, during and after so-called the “social explosion”, we remain in the streets with a new printed issue.
A year has passed since 18th October and over these days we have carried anarchist rage against this oppressive system with the warmth of the moments of struggle we continue to share among comrades and occasional accomplices in solidarity, in the heat of the revolt.
We also have a vivid memory of each instance of repression and state violence on our bodies/minds and the many murdered, tortured, assaulted and maimed. To this we add the referendum of 25th October for a possible change of the Constitution, an institutional trap that doesn’t concern or represent us.
Like any moment in history, our context has its own possibilities, difficulties and challenges that form the struggle scenario. Here we want to share some reflections, questions and practical ideas to connect us with the concerns and desires of those who refuse to allow the triumph of normality imposed by Power and the democratic delusions being put on today’s agenda.
FOR A FREE LIFE BUILT ON THE RUINS OF THE OLD WORLD OF THE STATE AND POWER
For those of us who for years have been spreading the revolt against all authority in word and deed, the struggle doesn’t pass through changes in the State apparatus. A year has already passed since a revolt that had different components and whose horizon of rupture with the established order has unfortunately remained trapped by the illusion of presumed structural changes starting from the possibility of a constitutional change, a reformist solution agreed by the political class in November 2019 faced with the impossibility of stopping the advance of a violent revolt without leaders or managers.
A wide range of sectors adhered to solutions offered by the institutions with greater or lesser diffidence towards the constituent electoral process, channelling energies and debates towards this scenario with a logic similar to the plebiscite held in 1988 for a return to democracy with peaceful means after almost a decade of mass protests and anti-dictatorial subversive actions. The plebiscite – as an experience re-conducted to the present time – was also born from the pact between dictatorship and a political class ready to guarantee social pacification and the continuity of the dominant economic and political regime.
$hile, October-November 2020
CONFRONTACION ES PDF
If you want paper copies write to confrontacion@riseup.net
Monday 14 December 2020
Every Step!
The Covid19 population control directives and dictates are just part and parcel of the state's mechanisms to keep a watchful eye on you, yes their is a pandemic, and we have to take care, but the state will not miss an opportunity to tighten its grip over the people, it needs total control and a submissive population to guarantee its survival, to guarantee that wealth, power and privileges stay where they are.
The eyes of the state are everywhere, often very visible in the form of an epidemic of CCTV cameras littered all over our streets, in shopping malls, shops, bus stops, pubs, as well as in buses, trains and all forms of public transport and public places, libraries etc.. You can rest assured that the prying eyes of the state are with you every step of the way. You disagree with some aspect of the state and/or its policies and you could come under a bit more scrutiny than you friends and neighbours. A walk in the countryside or a drive to the coast does not guarantee your out of their vision. There is that invisible array of cameras, microphones and tracking devices that are planted secretively where you're not supposed to find them. All this rather contradicts the state's projected illusion that we live in a democracy, I'm not referring to the UK in particular, for they are all at it, every state on the planet, the West, and those other states that our lords and master declare vile enemies of freedom.
The following little article is not new, nor is it unique, but is the sort of thing that goes on day and daily in our free and democratic world, remember the undercover cops "scandal", that was no scandal, but part of their methodology on keeping tabs on you and your activities.
The following little article is not new, nor is it unique, but is the sort of thing that goes on day and daily in our free and democratic world, remember the undercover cops "scandal", that was no scandal, but part of their methodology on keeping tabs on you and your activities.
From Ears and Eyes:
The information below comes from a recent article published by Reporterre, a left-wing environmentalist media. The article in question, whose “legalistic” approach disturbs us, can be read here: https://reporterre.net/Au-Carnet-des-cameras-cachees-et-illegales-pour-surveiller-des-ecologistes (in french).
In august 2020, four cameras were found near the “ZAD du Carnet”, a place of struggle against the creation of an industrial area, in Loire-Atlantique, in the west of France. The cameras were found on august 31, and “appear to have been installed right before a « weekend of resistance »” organized there on august 29 and 30.
The four cameras, hidden near an access gate to the area, were “camouflaged in a fake tree log and fake stones“. They “filmed continuously and were connected, via buried cables, to large batteries and modems, also concealed, allowing images to be sent directly to a remote station“.
In addition, “the mention « Allwan », visible on some of the images found, as well as on a label on a camera, strongly suggests that the equipment was supplied by the company Allwan Security“. The company Allwan Security is present in our list of companies.
Below, you will find a picture of the devices found, two pictures of the objects in which they were hidden, and a map showing the positioning of the cameras around the access gate.
Sunday 13 December 2020
Pretty Boxes.
We in the West receive our shiny hi-tec products in nice boxes and it all looks very pretty, but at the manufacturing end it is never quite so pretty. These products so often start their lives in sweatshops under arduous conditions, where workers lives are worth nothing and human dignity is something they dream about. Many endure this as a necessity to survive and see to their family's needs, some decide that they'll take no more of this inhumanity and slavery and give free reign to their righteous anger. This is what has happened at a factory that manufactures products for such big shining lights in the hi-tec world as Apple, Levono and Microsoft to mention a few. These and other extremely wealth corporate beasts, paint their products as beautiful necessities to enhance your life, but every box is sealed with blood and sweat of ordinary people struggling to survive in this cesspool of greed.
This from Gadgets 360:
This from Gadgets 360:
A screengrab of the purported video of the violence, not verified by Gadgets 360 independently
Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk
An iPhone manufacturing facility in Kolar district in Karnataka, operated by Taiwan-headquartered Wistron Corporation, has reportedly been vandalised. A video clip of the violence, allegedly by workers, has also appeared online. However, this clip has not been independently verified. Press Trust of India has quoted a police official saying that the workers attacked the facility — damaging windows, vehicles, furniture, and computers — over salary-related issues. A trade union leader also reportedly said that most employees were not being paid on time and they were unhappy about many deductions in their salaries.
The workers allegedly claim that many of them were made to work for 12 hours but only paid Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 per day calculated for 7-8 hours, according to a report by News 18. The vandalism took place after the management failed to address their grievances, as per the report.
Hundreds of workers are said to have ransacked the manufacturing facility, located in Narasapura Industrial Area in Kolar district, 51 kilometres from Bengaluru, after their night shift ended at 4 am today, December 12.
Wistron Corporation manufactures iPhone 7 for Apple, and IT products for Lenovo, Microsoft among other companies. The company has not made any official statement so far.
Saturday 12 December 2020
The Message.
It's that time of year again, when lots of people go merry, till bells are ringing, bankers are singing, and the turkeys try to run free. It is also the time of year when our "Monarch" hereditary head of state in a democracy, (contradiction there somewhere) gives her Christmas message. Now what can an extremely rich, privileged, pampered old woman, who holds that position because of who her dad was, say to ordinary hard working and struggling people? She will of course refer too "My government", which is actually a true reflection of what our democracy is, a collection of her pampered and privileged friends and acquaintances. She is referred to as really just a figure head, but one whose stamp of approval must appear on all and sundry regarding the state and its affairs.
Apart from living off the state, tax payers money, Lizzie Windsor owns some extremely valuable assets with large incomes. Almost half of the shore line of England, Wales and Northern Ireland is owned by the crown estate. Six royal residences dotted around the country, approximately 150,000 works of art, many said to be priceless, and a team of very expensive winning race horses. Other little gems that she possesses, include a car collection stated to be worth around £10 million, a very large collection of Faberge art works, the British sea bed, Regent Street in London, Westminster Abbey and Hyde Park. You can throw in some other little pieces to see she doesn't go hungry in these hard times, such as, for what it is worth, all the gold mines in Scotland, the world's largest clear-cut diamond, 25 acres of forest, the UK continental shelf, an off shore wind farm, while at the same time her family are doing their bit for the UK arms industry.
Apart from living off the state, tax payers money, Lizzie Windsor owns some extremely valuable assets with large incomes. Almost half of the shore line of England, Wales and Northern Ireland is owned by the crown estate. Six royal residences dotted around the country, approximately 150,000 works of art, many said to be priceless, and a team of very expensive winning race horses. Other little gems that she possesses, include a car collection stated to be worth around £10 million, a very large collection of Faberge art works, the British sea bed, Regent Street in London, Westminster Abbey and Hyde Park. You can throw in some other little pieces to see she doesn't go hungry in these hard times, such as, for what it is worth, all the gold mines in Scotland, the world's largest clear-cut diamond, 25 acres of forest, the UK continental shelf, an off shore wind farm, while at the same time her family are doing their bit for the UK arms industry.
The British establishment and royalty know that arms are good investments; especially shells, bombs and cruise missiles that are tipped with depleted uranium. Air, water and soil are contaminated when DU is used, and once contaminated there is no way to decontaminate it. Contaminating the food chain is a crime against humanity for which the Royal Family is complicit, as it was (with the help of Tiny Rowland) in the asset stripping of Africa.
Thursday 10 December 2020
Whose Money?
Since the start of this pandemic, I have always stated that it was an ideal opportunity for the state to re-capitalise the failing capitalist economic system. Since the beginning of the Covid19 affair, the various states across the world have poured trillions of dollars/pounds etc into the coffers of the corporate beast that is destroying the planet. Before the pandemic, all the indicators were that capitalism was in dire straights, and was heading for a colossal slump, unless they could re-capitalise it to a massive scale. The bailout needed would dwarf the 2008 taxpayers handout to the financial mafia, and we all know the years of austerity that little exercise cost the ordinary people. Glory hallelujah, along comes Mr Covid, and the propaganda machine convinces us all that we have to save the economy, to save your jobs of course, nothing to do with corporate profits etc. Open the flood gates flood the corporate world with all sorts of grants, special funding and lots of dodgy contracts. Where will all that money end up, and who will pick up the tab when the financial mafia send the debt collectors to various states to demand their loaned loot back? Why, you and I of course will be expected to foot the bill, by then the billionaire class will have salted their share away in some nice little tax haven.
We continually pay for the privileges and welfare of the richest people on the planet by our poverty, crap wages, poor working conditions, lousy living conditions, broken education system and inadequate health and social welfare systems. This time round most have not only willing accepted this but have asked and encouraged the state to do so, to protect the economy and "our jobs" of course. What a wonderful state of affairs for the pampered, privileged parasite class, no doubt they'll all sit back with a smug look of satisfaction, for once again they have shafted the general public, plundered the public purse, and got away with it. For how much longer will we tolerate this two fingers to the people.
We continually pay for the privileges and welfare of the richest people on the planet by our poverty, crap wages, poor working conditions, lousy living conditions, broken education system and inadequate health and social welfare systems. This time round most have not only willing accepted this but have asked and encouraged the state to do so, to protect the economy and "our jobs" of course. What a wonderful state of affairs for the pampered, privileged parasite class, no doubt they'll all sit back with a smug look of satisfaction, for once again they have shafted the general public, plundered the public purse, and got away with it. For how much longer will we tolerate this two fingers to the people.
The total net worth of the nation’s 651 billionaires rose from $2.95 trillion on March 18—the rough start of the pandemic shutdowns—to $4.01 trillion on Dec. 7, a leap of 36%, based on Forbes billionaires, according to a new report by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). By around March 18 most federal and state economic restrictions in response to the virus were in place. Combined, just the top 10 billionaires are now worth more than $1 trillion.
Whose Wars?
Isn't in strange that we in the West are always the good guys, and those others are the bad guys, we always do the right an honourable thing, while they always do heinous and nasty things. What a wonderful position to be in, always righteous, fair and compassionate. Well that's the propaganda that is spewed out over us on an hourly basis, and I suppose it is the same in those other patches on the planet that we vilify. All attempting to engender that poison called patriotism, and it is never for the benefit of the general population of either side.
It's all about power, wealth and privilege of the parasite class on either side of the divide, a divide that doesn't or shouldn't exist between the ordinary people from either side. We don't, or shouldn't, seek power and privilege, we seek, or should seek, justice and peace among all our people, no nation, no borders, just one world of people. Wars are never fought with the benefit of the people in mind, nor do the ordinary people ever gain from any war, we shed the blood, the powerful and privileged pick up the spoils, riches from blood and death. It doesn't have to be that way.
It's all about power, wealth and privilege of the parasite class on either side of the divide, a divide that doesn't or shouldn't exist between the ordinary people from either side. We don't, or shouldn't, seek power and privilege, we seek, or should seek, justice and peace among all our people, no nation, no borders, just one world of people. Wars are never fought with the benefit of the people in mind, nor do the ordinary people ever gain from any war, we shed the blood, the powerful and privileged pick up the spoils, riches from blood and death. It doesn't have to be that way.
"Why are we living with the threat of world war? Russia, a nuclear power, is encircled by America and Europe; China, a nuclear power, is the brunt of unrelenting provocation. Why do we in the West allow this? The answer lies in one word: propaganda. In the West, our propaganda industries - both political and cultural - rarely ask us to look in the mirror. Stop the War performs this vital task and deserves our support. Join me at Artists Against War on Friday."
Wednesday 9 December 2020
It's Law!!
The Greek state shows how to use Covid19 to control public protests and demonstrations. Since 2008 after the murder of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos by a police officer, the people of Greece have marked his cold bloody murder by mass gatherings, and march to the place where the police officer cold bloodedly gun down the 15 year old teenager. This year the state uses the pandemic to stop this annual commemoration of a child murder. A massive police presence surrounded the memorial to his shooting. This was a mass gathering of heavily armed police formed to stop a mass gathering of unarmed people. The people of Greece have shown in the past that they can hold mass gatherings while keeping social distancing, but the state was more interested in putting a stop to this annual remembrance of a police killing than anything to do with the pandemic. This is a repeat of the police violence launched against the annual march and demonstration marking the 1973 student uprising that eventually lead to the overthrow of the Greek Military junta.
The state will do all in its power to quash any thought of marking events against authority, this pandemic has given them carte blanche in dealing with public protests. It is a right we relinquish at our peril. No doubt state's across the globe will do likewise drawing on the "emergency" laws to stop the spread of Covid19, to stop mass public gatherings and protests. All for your own good of course.
Police in Greece’s capital have detained dozens of people who defied a coronavirus-related ban to take part in the annual commemoration of the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by a police officer in 2008.
Some 4,000 police officers were deployed on Sunday to prevent gatherings and will continue to do so until the early hours of Monday.
Protesters shout slogans after being detained in Athens during a rally
marking the killing of Alexandros Grigoropoulos 12 years ago [Yorgos
Karahalis/AP Photo]
Footage posted online showed riot police on Sunday afternoon entering apartment buildings in Exarcheia, a neighbourhood in central Athens, to flush out would-be protesters. One video showed officers throwing stun grenades inside a building. Another clip showed police pushing photojournalists and other accredited members of the media.
A picture of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, right, at an impromptu shrine at
the site of the fatal shooting in Athens 12 years ago [File: Lefteris
Pitarakis/AP Photo]
The scenes reminded the heavy-handed tactics adopted by police last month when they violently broke up a peaceful rally commemorating a 1973 student uprising against Greece’s then-military rulers.
Over 100 people have been detained in Greece’s capital who gathered to mark the 12th anniversary of police killing of a 15-year-old boy on Sunday, local media reported. Tension rose as police tried to disperse demonstrators that gathered in central Athens where the shooting took place, according to Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
The government had announced a ban on public gatherings of more than three people as a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Some protesters tried to hold banners, but where stopped by the police.
Meanwhile, the Greek police said five policemen were injured following a mob attack outside the police station of Kolonos, a northwest suburb of Athens, on Saturday. Nearly 80 people had been arrested, they said.
"Yesterday, on December 5, 2020 afternoon, nearly 80 people, with covered faces, wearing helmets and full-face hoods, tried to approach and attack the Kolonos police station," the police said.
Submission.
This covid19 pandemic has certainly changed the way we live our lives, the state has seized full control of all aspects of our lives. When we can go out, where we can go, and who we can meet, all enforced by law, true aspects of a dictatorship, a living model of fascism. It's handed out as the only road available, and most people have accepted it. Perhaps out of fear, confusion, or a desire to protect their loved ones, the propaganda certainly attempted to mould people's minds in that direction. I too accepted it but with the never disappearing thought that this was all wrong, there was an alternative, but the state, as should have been expected, went for the total control method, rather than a community based series of answers. The state more or less abandoned any semblance of "parliamentary democracy" and ruled by decree and dictate.
The mould has been set, the model is working, the population is submissive, the state can now move on from there, holding onto that now conditioned population that await the next directive, the next set of instructions. This is a very high price to pay, when there were alternative ways that didn't erase what little freedoms we had, we could have organised our communities to take control in conjunction with other communities, advised by the best medical and disease experts we have. The political ballerinas should have been taken out of this equation, it is a medical emergency, not a political emergency. The state is not your doctor, nor never will be, it is your controller, your gaoler, the guardian of their sacred economy.
We now face a very difficult struggle, to get the state to relinquish that control over us that it has always sought, and has now grasped by propaganda and decree. The following article may be from Italy, but the similarities to our own little patch of the planet, are obvious for all to see.
The mould has been set, the model is working, the population is submissive, the state can now move on from there, holding onto that now conditioned population that await the next directive, the next set of instructions. This is a very high price to pay, when there were alternative ways that didn't erase what little freedoms we had, we could have organised our communities to take control in conjunction with other communities, advised by the best medical and disease experts we have. The political ballerinas should have been taken out of this equation, it is a medical emergency, not a political emergency. The state is not your doctor, nor never will be, it is your controller, your gaoler, the guardian of their sacred economy.
We now face a very difficult struggle, to get the state to relinquish that control over us that it has always sought, and has now grasped by propaganda and decree. The following article may be from Italy, but the similarities to our own little patch of the planet, are obvious for all to see.
No people will readily submit to authority, however docile they may be by nature and however accustomed they may have grown to obeying it. Therefore it requires constant coercion and compulsion, meaning police surveillance and military force. Michail Bakunin
If it is true that language creates the world in which we live and helps to understand it, then what is being prepared is a terrible world, as terrible as a world where militarism – and consequently war – are the predominant aspects can be. If the continuation of a state of emergency that carries on from decree to decree, and is tending to become permanent was not enough, now the government curfew has arrived.
The history of this word clearly recalls tragic scenarios, normally used in contexts of war or dictatorship; in both cases the repressive role carried out by the military is obvious. What is happening is exactly this, a repressive upsurge limiting personal freedoms in an increasingly militaristic way.
After militarizing our minds with months of propaganda, during which they bombarded us with slogans such as “we are at war” against an “invisible enemy”, now militarism is gaining ground in its most classic physical version. If it has been visibly present in the big cities for several years with the pretext of “Safe streets”, it is now materializing in all the most remote corners of the Peninsula, such as what is happening in Taurisano, province of Lecce, under the pretext of the high percentage of the population testing positive to Covid, with the very real prospect of deploying the army to prevent gatherings and control possible demonstrations in the streets. And if, as is the case of Taurisano, they present themselves in a more reassuring guise with white coats worn over brutal combat gear, this must not reassure us, but rather make us reflect on the role of science – medical but not only – and its increasingly close relation with militarism, war and repression. With its role of government, in fact, government meaning control and the submission of the population.
It is certainly not by chance that since the Covid epidemic struck Italy, Political decisions have always been subordinated to a Committee of scientists: the Comitato Tecnico Scientifico [technical scientific committee], which includes councillors of arms factories such as Leonardo – Finmeccanica among among its members. These are the same scientists who are carrying out projects of death in a vast number of Italian universities, guess what, also in ever closer contact with the army, through various collaborations.
The militarization of not just our minds and our lives but the whole of this society is becoming more and more visible therefore.
But when the life they have in store for us is militarism, therefore war, the first steps to stand up to it are desertion and resistance, so as not to be labelled collaborationists at least.
salut-DEF
Tuesday 8 December 2020
Strike.
While this struggle against exploitation and corruption has involved many strikes, and lots ending in savage brutality, handed out by the bosses minders, the state, our planet has never seen a strike of the magnitude of what is happening in that patch of the world called India. An estimated 250 million, yes million, ordinary people have taken a unified strike action. They are taking a stand not only against their working conditions, but the gross corruption of the Indian government and the corporate bodies that get rich on the exploitation of poverty.
Now is the time to show our support from across the world, for this unprecedented unified action by ordinary people. Their struggle is our struggle, we all live under a unified corporate monster that is backed to the hilt by rich, corrupt politicians. These two entities are well organised and unified in their determination to continually enhance their power and wealth on the backs of the ordinary people. We should take a leaf from their book and be unified and organised world wide, it is one struggle, one battle for one world, shaped by us the ordinary people.
The Indian working class has once again flexed its muscle and organised a general strike of more than 250 million workers against the anti-workers, anti- people and anti-farmers policies of the rightwing Modi government.
All efforts to intimidate and repress the workers failed to stop this general strike from taking place. Despite repression, this joint general strike by workers and farmers has almost shut down India. This massive day of action was called by 10 trade unions and over 250 farmers’ organisations, and was accompanied by massive protests and a near total shutdown of some Indian states.
Workers in nearly all of India’s major industries – including steel, coal, telecommunications, engineering, transportation, ports, and banking – joined the strike. Students, domestic workers, taxi drivers, and other sectors also participated in the nationwide day of action. These historic protests illustrate the power of workers and farmers to bring a nation’s economy to a complete standstill when united in defence of their rights.
Even more importantly, the general strike converged with a march launched by a broad group of farmers’ organizations, all planning to descend on the capital of Delhi. Social media was suddenly awash with images of farmers using tractors and trucks to break down the barriers erected by police to keep them out of the city. In one video, a protester emphatically explained to a policeman at the barricades that “this is a revolution, sir.”
On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), and other left-wing parties.[1][2][3] An estimated 250 million (25 crore) people took part in the strike,[4][5] which Jacobin estimated as the largest in history.[6] The strike was followed by a march to New Delhi, which arrived there on 30 November with tens of thousands of farmers surrounding Delhi,[7] increasing to hundreds of thousands by 3 December.[8]
And from Industriall Union:
Trade union leaders expressed concerns that, using Covid-19 as an excuse, the government has unleashed widescale repression. Police used violent means to attempt to stop hundreds of thousands of workers and farmers who are on their way to Delhi to demonstrate peacefully in the capital city on 26 and 27 November.
Sunday 6 December 2020
No Photos!!
For as long as we have had police, we have had police violence, it's nothing new, it's just that the public are now more able to record it, and spread far and wide, photos and videos of that violence. This in turn raises the public anger and leads to much larger protests against this whole rotten system. The powers that be, who have no intentions of curbing that violence against the public, are looking around of ways and means of stopping the spread of the images.
France has come up with what it believes is a great idea, make it illegal to film/photograph police on duty. Certainly a great idea to blind the public to the truth, but hardly a democratic and fair way to deal with the situation of police violence. Of course the good people of France are not idiots and can see through this autocratic measure to curtail, even more, what freedoms they have.
So for weeks now the people from that patch on the planet, have been taking to the streets in their thousands and facing off the violent police. They know of the violence, the feel the violence on a daily basis, and they are determined that it will be recorded and made public.
This new law does not just hamstring the general public, but obviously journalist, and observers are also covered by this, nothing short of, fascist law. It is always the only direction states can take, greater restrictions on the public, greater control of the public, a subservient public is necessary for the state's survival. That's why it is important for us not to be submissive, not to yield their desire to strangle the public from thinking for themselves, we must continually circulate what we consider important, and take what action we think is necessary, to right the wrongs in society.
France has come up with what it believes is a great idea, make it illegal to film/photograph police on duty. Certainly a great idea to blind the public to the truth, but hardly a democratic and fair way to deal with the situation of police violence. Of course the good people of France are not idiots and can see through this autocratic measure to curtail, even more, what freedoms they have.
So for weeks now the people from that patch on the planet, have been taking to the streets in their thousands and facing off the violent police. They know of the violence, the feel the violence on a daily basis, and they are determined that it will be recorded and made public.
This new law does not just hamstring the general public, but obviously journalist, and observers are also covered by this, nothing short of, fascist law. It is always the only direction states can take, greater restrictions on the public, greater control of the public, a subservient public is necessary for the state's survival. That's why it is important for us not to be submissive, not to yield their desire to strangle the public from thinking for themselves, we must continually circulate what we consider important, and take what action we think is necessary, to right the wrongs in society.
Thousands of people across France have protested against a proposed security bill that would make it more difficult to film police officers. Media freedom and human rights groups have led protests for weeks to have the government scrap or revise a bill that would restrict the filming of police, saying it would make it harder to prosecute cases of abuse.
The interior ministry said about 52,350 people demonstrated around France, including 5,000 in Paris. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said at least 64 people had been arrested across the country and eight police officers were injured. In the western city of Nantes, two riot police were injured, one of them with a Molotov cocktail, French media reported. In a tweet, Darmanin praised the police for facing down “very violent individuals”.
In the capital Paris, protesters on Saturday set fire to several cars, pillaged a bank and tossed objects at police – the second consecutive weekend of violent protests against the draft bill. French police had been deployed to avert trouble after violent clashes erupted during the demonstration in Paris a week ago that saw dozens wounded. The new clashes came after Macron gave a much-anticipated interview on Friday to Brut, a video-based news portal aimed at young people.
Alexis.
Across the world on a regular basis, there are mass protests against police violence, it is common practice to hear of police brutality, and racism plays a large part in their acts of violence. However it is not always racism at the root of this police violence, it is part and parcel of their training, restrain, be forceful, intimidate etc., and of course that feeling that they are the law, and above reproach. It was not racism that ended the life of teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos, it was police callous brutal arrogance.
Alexis Grigoropoulos, youth murder by police officer.
Today, December 6th. 2020, marks the 12th anniversary of the murder of 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by a Greek police officer. It was a Saturday evening and two teenagers are out in Exracheia Athens, having a coffee, a chat, a laugh, a police car passes, and according to who you read, the police officers came back on foot, there were words the police officer fires two bullets and young Alexis falls to the ground and dies on the street in the arms of his teenage friend Nikos Romanos. The police officer claimed that he fired his gun in the air to scare the boy and teach him a lesson, but those two “warning shots” ended the life of a teenager.
This brutal unnecessary killing of of a youth by the state's henchmen, brought a hurricane of mass protests across Greece, that lasted for months, and rightly so. Each year since, in Athens and other cities across Greece, people remember this brutal killing of a youth, and mark it with mass protests.
Epaminondas Korkoneas, the Greek cop who murdered young Alexis Grigoropoulos, was released from prison July 2019. His release follows a verdict of an appeals court in Lamia, central Greece. The court upheld the conviction of Korkoneas for the deadly shooting of Alexis Grigoropoulos, but reduced his sentence from life to 13 years in prison. He was released after serving the most of the reduced sentence. He is not a subject to a parole or any other restriction. Let's not forget, that it was the system that killed young Alexis, a system of authority, governance and control, a hierarchical system of power.
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