Human Pawns

Save them from the kratocracy

Who pave pathways  of pain

With fruitless detours

Travelling through borders

Struggling to survive.

Equivalence rendered meaningless

Desperation on a string

Vulnerability intensified

Compassion dead

As pawns precariously placed.

Decades of deceit

Governed by monsters

Pouncing like prejudicial panthers

Pounding their prey

With poison paws.

As gills of demons

Exhale their toxins

Polluting the oxygen

New antidotal measures

Must freshen the air.

Beyond chains of division

Games that people play

That leave many consumed

The cancer of power thwarted

Tenuous grip torn from the brink.

It's not only a heatwave, it's a Climate Emergency

 

As of 1pm today the temperature has risen above 40C for the first time in the UK's history,  according to provisional Met Office figures. The mercury hit a record 40.2C at London Heathrow by 1pm.

The climate crisis is very real  and it's time to act. We have not seen anything like it , and we can't compare this looming heat emergency to the summer of 1976.

A warmer world is due to human induced climate change, that makes  it extremely difficult to break extreme heat thresholds, We continue to see this across the planet, not just in Europe where heat records have also been shattered in regions of Belgium, France, Netherlands and Germany, which has led to impassioned demands for governments to take more ambitious action to combat the climate crisis. Sadly a lot of people are vehemently in denial over this. But I've never seen any evidence to the contrary, the fact remains it's getting hotter and far more uncomfortable very quickly at an alarming rate of knots.. If anything , we've been far too conservative  in our estimates in our estimates of the speed, scope and severity of even moderate levels of climate change. Thousands of people have already died from this heat wave.Extreme heat is also endangering the environment and homes, with wildfires raging in Portugal, Spain and France.

British authorities have described it as a "national emergency" and southern Britain is under an “extreme” heat warning for the first time on record. We're not approaching a climate emergency, we're already in one.

Meanwhile Governments are sitting on their hands while the planet burns, None of the current Tory candidates treat the climate emergency with the seriousness it deserves instead has focused on tax cuts and culture war issues, rather than the climate.. Despite a flurry of headline-grabbing pledges, national commitments bring us nowhere near to meeting the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees. According to Climate Action Tracker, 73% of existing “net-zero” pledges are weak and inadequate—“lip service to climate action.” What is more, a yawning gap remains between pledges, which are easy enough to make, and actual policies, which are all that really count. You can pledge all you like, but what we need is action. Right now existing government policies have us hurtling toward 2.7 degrees of heating in the coming decades. 

As temperatures approach 3 degrees, 30-50% of species are likely to be wiped out. More than 1.5 billion people will be displaced from their home regions. Yields of staple crops will face major decline, triggering sustained food supply disruptions globally. Much of the tropics will be rendered uninhabitable for humans. Such a world is not compatible with civilization as we know it. The status quo is a death march. Our governments are failing us,failing all of life on earth.
In light of  all of this rebels from XR have today  cracked windows at News UK and sprayed ' Tell the Truth' and ' 40 degrees =Death'; to highlight the failure of the Murdoch press to cover the heatwave and the Climate Crisis. 

The more the climate heats up  the more the public has to turn up the heat on governments. Averting climate catastrophe needs radical action now, a rapid phase out of all fossil  fuels, an end  to deforestation, and an  end to  capitalism, and the  need to  switch to a socioeconomic system that prioritizes  preserving our only home mother earth and it's biosphere for future generations.

Ultimately this means  replacing our destructive global economic system with one that offers potential for sustainability, greater fairness, and human flourishing.

Let's not forget that rich countries are responsible for the overwhelming majority of the excess emissions that are causing climate breakdown. They also have levels of energy use that are vastly higher than other countries, and vastly in excess of what is required to meet human needs, with most of the surplus being diverted to service corporate expansion and elite consumption. Zero by 2050 is a global average target. A fair-share approach would require rich countries to eliminate most fossil fuel use by no later than 2030 or 2035, to give poorer countries more time to transition.

Even in the short term, there are innumerable steps that can be taken to steer our civilization toward a life-affirming trajectory. Nature itself can be part of the solution, trees, wetlands, plants and rivers which all help to reduce air temperatures. We must invest in nature  and drastically cut emissions. Obviously all this means our lifestyles will all have to change drastically,  our overt reliance on consumerism, but it is  so necessary ,as  the stakes have never been higher, and we can't afford to wait until 2050, because by then  it will be too bloody late and we will all be fucked. We have a  choice though collective action or collective suicide.

Tory Leadership Debate

Is it me or is the wall to wall Radio  and TV coverage of a Tory leadership election disturbing ? Why is it is being treated like a General Election with live TV debates when the electorate have absolute no power in the final decision. At the end of  the day less than 200,000 Tory members will decide who the new Prime Minister will be and then the date of the next general election, and there is nothing that we can do to stop that happening.

The irony of the Tory leadership hopefuls Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat  having their first debate on Channel 4 which the Tory's want to sell off seems to be lost on all of them. Who were the candidates attempting to appeal  to? It was nothing more than a crude Propaganda exercise? 

After watching the debate last night where they shared their views on taxes, the cost of living, the NHS, gender identity and more,  the only thing I have taken from it is that I have no desire to see any of these sanctimonious, hypocritical self serving out of touch misfits anywhere near Downing Street. Whoever wins we're all still up shit creek. What we must have, is a clean break from a Tory Government, and we need to remove these people from power as soon as possible,

Not one of the candidates was convincing. Each one has their own personal agenda and personal gain. Hollow and vacuous. All of them apart from Tom Tugendhat still defending Boris Johnson's lies and  afraid to admit that he is a pathological liar. None of them actually give a shit about fixing the country. Our NHS is struggling,we the public are struggling, and with the heatwave happening right now, the climate crisis is obvious.  

It  says everything about how they still think they can lie to us and get away with it..Listening to all the candidates it was so clear they have no real idea of how hard everyday life is for so many ordinary people. Too many insincere platitudes too about a completely run-down and broken NHS. Their bloody party has been in government for 12 years, delivering nothing more than failure and broken promises. It showed them all up as the crooked incompetents that they are though and through and if they are the pick of the Tory crop.to become PM my giddy aunt. 

Kemi Badenoch was truly awful on the NHS question - asked about the current crisis and backlog, people with potentially life-threatening cancer diagnoses having to wait well beyond the target times for referrals, people with heart attacks waiting five hours for an ambulance - she started talking about her own chipped tooth. Honestly! No PM could ever live down such self-obsessed blindness to others' serious health concerns. 

The candidates claimed to care about inequality, the lives of ordinary people, but let's face it this was just another display of bare faced lies for the cameras. How can any of these super- rich  politicians relate to the struggles of the ordinary public is anyones; guess especially in relation to Rishi Sunak whose own personal wealth is worth billions for goodness sake.  He even had the gall to say there is no public service more important than the NHS, despite this not stopping him having secret meetings to sell the NHS to US corporations. Just the thought of him makes my skin crawl..

Twitter commentators  were quick to notice Liz Truss appearing to recreate an outfit worn by Margaret Thatcher for her appearance at the debate. The foreign secretary wore a black blazer and white shirt with a large bow for the event, matching exactly what the former Conservative PM wore in a 1979 election broadcast . Hundreds took to the social media platform to point out the striking similarity. One tweet, which received more than 4,500 likes, said "Liz Truss has recreated Margaret Thttcher's appearance from her 1979 election broadcast down to the last detail." 

Another joked "Liz Truss's Margaret Thatcher Tribute Act is available for hire,"

Yes there was  something truly horrific about the whole thing but on a  more positive note the public could at least see they are unworthy of the office of PM. The five Tory leadership candidates faced an awkward moment during the debate when Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked the audience to raise their hand if they trust politicians. No one did. And very little of the studio audience  seemed to think that the government and candidates had appropriate measures to tackle the cost of living.When Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked the audience to raise their hands if they thought the Tories’ proposed measures were enough to tackle living costs and the energy crisis, only three did so.  

The elephant in the room is that, every single candidate  promises to ease the cost of living crisis, but all but  Tugendhat supported Brexit and still supports Brexit which only serves to exacerbate the cost of living crisis. Another elephant in the room is why the Torys increase regressive taxation that harms the poorest rather than increase taxation on the richest who don't or won't miss it. 

The Tory leadership contest condensed. Different shits, the same bout of diarrhoea.. There isn’t a better or worse winner in the Tory leadership race. Whoever wins, we lose. We need to stand firm and united and  get all the Tories out of power.

Reorienting the Map

While corruption and malpractice 

Hinder progression

Revolutionary Waves

Bubble and ferment

Opening a new door.

As the infernal marriage

Between capitalism and elitism

Incandescently burns

A rebellious upsurge

Facilitate conversion.

The clouds on the horizon

Dissolve with the sun

As the compass changes course

The nascence of a movement

Screams to be heard.

Pathways labelled with truth

Weave beyond perilous days

Hearts and minds move together strong

Making connection, changing direction

Leading to destination of hopefulness. 

Fuck this, fuck that.

Fuck the Tories

Fuck the billionaires 

Fuck the right wing press

Fuck the oil companies 

Fuck the climate deniers 

Fuck the Brexit mess 

Fuck austerity

Fuck poverty

Fuck the monarchy 

Fuck privilege 

Fuck the greedy

Fuck capitalism

Fuck the borders 

Fuck the fascists 

Fuck the narcissists

Fuck the plutocrats 

Fuck the tyrants

Fuck the bullies 

Fuck illegal wars

Fuck sanctioned wars

Fuck being scared 

Fuck your lovers gently 

Fuck them kindly 

Fuck them brightly

Fuck the system

May a light shine

From an aphotic abyss.

Bye bye Boris

 

Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson announced on Thursday he would quit as British prime minister after he dramatically lost the support of his ministers and most Conservative lawmakers, but said he would stay on until his successor was chosen.

Bowing to the inevitable as more than 50 government ministers and aides quit and lawmakers said he must go, an isolated and powerless Johnson said it was clear his party wanted someone else in charge, but that his forced departure was “eccentric” and the result of “herd instinct” in parliament.

“Today I have appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place,” Johnson said outside his Downing Street office where his speech was watched by close allies and his wife Carrie.

“I know that there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will also be disappointed. And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them’s the breaks,” he added, making no apology for the events that forced his announcement.

His term in office was ended by scandals that included breaches of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown rules, a luxury renovation of his official residence and the appointment of a minister who had been accused of sexual misconduct. We’ve seen the PM abandon common standards of decency time and time again. Behaviour difficult to justify.Any decent individual would have resigned ages ago by now, but this man has no decency, just  a sorry excuse for a man, devoid of any shame without intellect or any respect but indulgent constructs so unfit for office.

There were cheers and applause as he began his speech, while boos rang out from some outside the gates of Downing Street. In a wonderful touch  Protester Steve Bray could be heard in the background playing ‘Bye, bye Boris’ through speakers.

 

After days of battling for his job, Johnson had been deserted by all but a handful of his closest allies after the latest in a series of scandals sapped their willingness to support him.In his short and bizarre resignation speech which didn’t mention the word resign or resignation once, there was no apology, no contrition, there was no apology for the crisis his actions have put our government, our democracy, through, all serving to expose the hollowness of the man. He leaves office the most hated man in his party and his country.

The Conservatives will now have to elect a new leader, a process which could take weeks or months, with details to be announced next week. If he's resigned why has this shameless charlaton not fucked off yet.It all reveals  a transparent display of his shamelessness and hunger for power knowing no bounds.   Boris Johnson forming a new government is like Harold Shipman being caught and then putting together a palliative care team involving Beverly Allitt. Some are talking of Johnson remaining till October or November. That’s completely unsustainable. It’s dangerous for the UK.  He cannot be allowed to stay for a day longer, he must go immediately.

After what he admitted re meeting the former KGB agent, plus the fact he is obviously aggrieved he poses a clear insider threat risk to national security. The idea he won’t go immediately is absurd.  A caretaker PM has no authority on the world stage. If he is not fit to be PM now, then he is not fit to be PM next month, or next week or even tomorrow. He is not fit to be PM for one second longer than is absolutely necessary.  He is obliged to go and until he does, I cannot see how, in these circumstances, the UK can be said to be a functioning democracy.

This  habitual liar' and total cretinous clown's legacy and failure of leadership  is totally rotten to the core, where we have seen a 11% or more increase in the wealth of the richest, while everyone else has seen their income stagnate at best - or in most cases sink. They have introduced vile, vicious policies attacking the poor; whether employed, jobless or sick/disabled - which have led to a vast increase in poverty, and homelessness, including a 2000% rise in foodbank use (from 48,000 to 1 million plus users.)  6.6 million NHS backlog, care home pandemic deaths , highest  peacetime tax rates, lowest growth in G7, 9% inflation, a divided nation, the nations reputation for fair dealing trashed. Cost of living crisis .Rule of law ignored .

There is no excuse for keeping such a corrupt leader and his government in power any longer. We  are all better of without him. Sign the petition calling on Boris Johnson to step away without delay, not serving as an interim PM, and ask that Sir Graham Brady, the Chair of the 1922 Committee, choose a caretaker PM to replace him.

Let us not forget either the hundreds of MPs and journalists who enabled this tyrant to cause so much irreparable damage for so long, who supported him, lied for him, covered for him and defended him whilst he literally broke the law and caused thousands to die and suffer. Never forget them, because if you let them get away with this, they will find a new oaf to put front and centre as party leader and the exact same cycle will spin again The system is in its death throes It is shambling, broken, fucked, dying on its feet. We need change now, Time to kick out the Tories and all their enablers.out of power now.

Happy 74th Birthday NHS

 

Nye Bevans legacy came into the world 74 years ago this morning, then Minister of Health in Attlee’s post-war government, when he opened Park Hospital in Manchester at a time of rationing and shortages, when we were nearly bankrupt, a jewel  that the war generation left us with, an amazing institution for us to all to continue to share.

Nye believed  that no society can legitimately call  itself civilised if a sick person  is denied medical aid  because of lack of means. The NHS encapsulates everything which Bevan stood for, and was the culmination of a life devoted to improving the lives of men and women across the country.https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2019/11/happy-birthday-aneurin-bevan-15.html

For the first-time doctors, nurses, opticians, dentists and pharmacists all worked under one organisation. It was a ray of hope in that bleak time, and it remains one today. The creation of the NHS in 1948 was the product of years of hard work and a motivation from various figures who felt the current healthcare system was insufficient and needed to be revolutionised. 

Born in 1948 to a post-war Britain amidst the rubble of war and a skeptical medical profession, the NHS has had its ups and downs over the years. However, its role and importance as a symbol of our Britishness and intense pride in being able to provide universal care, free at the point of delivery, has remained throughout, out of the belief that healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth, with health and care as priorities – not profit, .these ideals remains one of the NHS’s core principles.

Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, on the first day of the National Health Service, 5 July 1948 at Park Hospital, Davyhulme, near Manchester. 

These ideas can be traced back to the early 1900s with the Minority Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Law in 1909. The report was headed by the socialist Beatrice Webb who argued that a new system was needed to replace the antiquated ideas of the Poor Law which was still in existence from the times of the workhouses in the Victorian era. Those who were involved in the report believed it was a narrow-minded approach from those in charge to expect those in poverty to be entirely accountable for themselves. Despite the strong arguments provided in the report, it still proved unsuccessful and many ideas were disregarded by the new Liberal government.

Nevertheless, more and more people were beginning to speak out and be proactive, including Dr Benjamin Moore, a Liverpool physician who had great foresight and a pioneering vision of the future in healthcare. His ideas were written in “The Dawn of the Health Age” and he was probably one of the first to use the phrase ‘National Health Service’. His ideas led him to create the State Medical Service Association which held its first meeting in 1912. It would be another thirty years before his ideas would feature in the Beveridge Plan for the NHS.

Before the creation of the NHS or anything like it, when someone found themselves needing a doctor or to use medical facilities, patients were generally expected to pay for those treatments. In some cases local authorities ran hospitals for the local ratepayers, an approach originating with the Poor Law. By 1929 the Local Government Act amounted to local authorities running services which provided medical treatment for everyone. On 1st April 1930 the London County Council then took over responsibility for around 140 hospitals, medical schools and other institutions after the abolition of the Metropolitan Asylums Board.

The idea of a state-run health service was mooted at the Labour Party Conference in 1934 by the then president of the Socialist Medical Association, Dr Somerville Hastings. Then the Beveridge Report of December  1942 called for 'Comprehensive Health and Rehabilitation Services' and set the seeds for the creation of the NHS and the creation of the Welfare State. Winston Churchill's attitude was one of ambivalence and when two years after the Beveridge report and it had become Labour Party policy, he became markedly more hostile. It was then  Aneurin Bevan who wholeheartedly embraced  and made sure  the project was implemented and delivered  after he became health minister in 1945.

Born amidst the rubble of war, opposed by churches, charities and doctors – it was a ray of hope in that bleak time, and it remains one today. The free service, based on need, not what money you have, is something that has become cherished by generation after generation. Many see it as Labour’s greatest socialist achievement. Today, we have a lot to thank the NHS for; from the introduction of polio and diphtheria vaccinations to all under 15-year olds to the success of smoking cessation services and cancer screening services, the NHS has been instrumental in many of the medical achievements the UK has seen over the last 74 years,. a shining example of what separates us from the US. 

It offered for the first time a free healthcare system in the world that offered for completely free , healthcare that was made available on the basis of citizenship rather than the payment of fees or insurance. It has  since  played a vital role in caring for all aspects of our nations health. It has been the envy of the world ever since. I am reminded that my quality of life owes more to a dead man than  a whole Tory Government ever could ,so thank you Nye Bevan.

It wouldn’t be possible to run a 7-day NHS, caring for millions of people day-in-day-out without the hard work and dedication of its staff. Despite all the adversity that’s thrown at them: poor pay, bursary cuts, hospital parking fines and staff shortages to name a few; they continue to become stronger and relentlessly deliver fantastic healthcare to the nation .The recent pandemic have once again highlighted the strength, professionalism , dedication and bravery of our healthcare staff. It is truly inspiring to see how amazing the staff handled the awful situation and it was a testament to every healthcare worker throughout the UK. They are a credit to our nation and we couldn’t be more proud.

The NHS  here in Wales employs close to 72,000 staff which makes it Wales’ biggest employer.But dedicated, compassionate staff  are under increased pressure, leading to low moral. Recent figures have emerged that 2/4s of hospitals have been warned about dangerous staff shortages.

As the Tory's seek to dismantle it,  we should not forget Nye Bevan's words who said ' It will last as long as their are folk with enough faith to fight for it.

One can only imagine what Nye’s reaction would be to the current state of his beloved creation, where large bills for dental care are routine, optometry is fielded out to Specsavers, and the decades-long creeping privatisation of hospitals and primary care services has accelerated under the Covid-19 pandemic.

Far from “stuffing their mouths with gold” – as Bevan said of the doctors employed by the NHS at its inception – successive Westminster governments of the last decade have presided over cuts that have decimated the incomes of NHS workers. According to GMB Union, long-serving NHS nurses had by April 2021 suffered a real-terms pay cut of 16.3 per-cent - a loss of just under £6,000. Paramedics and experienced mental health nurses, meanwhile, had each lost just over £7,500.

The strain of these losses has been reflected in the news, with stories of nurses using foodbanks increasingly commonplace. and skipping meals in order to save money or feed their families, along with reports citing struggles with mental health and a poor work/life balance leaving  them stressed. tired and overworked. .The Government  has also come under fire  for the rise in waiting  times  for various treatments... 

On its birthday we should  join the call for fair pay for all NHS staff that they so  clearly  need and deserve- Public sector pay has been capped for too long. This is despite rising inflation and increased living costs.  It's not OK that NHS staff like nurses are resorting to food banks to get by and we  cannot reach the day again where people make a profit out of our sickness. The NHS is a shining example of how a caring society can create  good and safe care based on social solidarity., making such a great contribution towards social and health equality.  A beacon to the world.

Thank you to all of those who have worked and who are still working tirelessly to provide the best care to over 64 million people in the UK. putting our communities and patients first - which shine through in the dedicated work of our doctors, nurses and health workers every day. The last 74 years wouldn’t have been possible without them. It is currently though in real danger, under attack from those that want to privatise it, run it down and fragment it ;

When the  Government  inevitably put out celebratory tweets today remember  they  are privatising it and with American plutocrats turning their eyes on the NHS, it's more important than ever that we continue to defend it with all we've got, as the new Health and Care Act  will open the door to even more private companies  meddling in our healthcare system . We can't 'just lie down and accept this.,

In alarming news the Lancet the oldest medical journal on the planet  last week published a report showing the NHS outsourcing, otherwise known as privatisation, has caused a significant increase in preventable patient deaths This is due to healthcare services being of lower quality since private firms were allowed to provide them. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(22)00133-5/fulltext 

Now that the latest Health and Care Act has come into law, re-organising the NHS again into new 'Integrated Care Systems', it's up to us to make sure that health leaders take this as an opportunity to put our lives before profits.

Remember those 40 'new  hospitals' Boris Johnson promised us in  2019. First it turned out he counted refurbs and upgrades. And now guess what, none of the first 6 will  be built  by the next election in 2024, just more  barefaced lies.https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/none-boris-johnsons-40-new-27396010 

The only genuine way to celebrate its 74^th birthday is to defend every service and roll back privatisation. Today, and everyday, we must keep fighting to protect this most special institution and the people working within it. Healthcare must work for people not profit and should be a  basic right for everybody and  should not be determined by your bank balance. We need to  kick out the private companies and  kick out private profit. Rebuild the NHS so it's fit for another 74 years..

Honouring the Life and Legacy of American Socialist and Pacifist Helen Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968)

 

Helen Adams Keller deafblind American author lecturer, socialist and pacifist was born a healthy child in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880. to a Confederate veteran ,a plantation owner who had previously enslaved people of African descent. Keller was raised on the farm during the violently racist post-Reconstruction era when Southern plantation owners and Northern capitalists were striking deals for de facto re-enslavement of recently freed Black people.

At just 19 months old she contracted an unknown illness perhaps rubella or scarlet fever, that left her deaf and blind which she later described as living “at sea in a dense fog”. She started to develop her own signs for communicating with her family and she identified people by the vibration of their footsteps.

She could communicate with her family with some rudimentary signs, but was difficult to control as she grew older.As Helen grew from infancy into childhood, she became wild and unruly. She was lucky to have been born into a family of means, otherwise she would have been sentenced to an asylum.

Her parents sought the advice of Alexander Graham Bell, who recommended they contact the Perkins School for the Blind in South Boston.The Perkins School arranged for a 20-year-old instructor Anne Mansfield Sullivan  to tutor Helen at home.

Helen had no understanding of words or the fact that objects even had names until she started working with her teacher, Anne who began to spell words into Helen’s hands and slowly, she started to associate objects with words. Helen was determined to communicate as conventionally as possible and incredibly, she learned to speak. She listened to others talk by placing her hands on their lips and throat to identify the movements. 

Helen went on to learn to read and write and communicate in several languages and educate others despite the odds. She was also the first blind person to earn a Bachelors degree.

Anne Sullivan was nearly blind herself, but she was not so lucky as Helen Keller. Her parents, working-class Irish immigrants, sent her and her younger brother to an institution. There, disabled children were abused by staff and mentally ill adults. Her brother, like 20 percent of the inmates, did not survive childhood.

For 49 years Anne Sullivan lived with Helen Keller, from 1888 when she began to attend the Perkins School in Boston, through two decades in Wrentham, Mass. Then they lived together another two decades in Forest Hills, N.Y.

In 1905, Anne married John Macy, a magnetic Harvard instructor who like her was also a Socialist, and the three lived together in a home Anne and Helen bought in Wrentham

Despite her background Keller as an adult she became a staunch anti-racist, an outspoken supporter of the NAACP https://naacp.org/ that she had helped found , and wrote for its magazine, “The Crisis.” She demonstrated through the 1950s, into her elder years, in anti-segregation protests and rallies.Her growth as a thinker and activist was no miracle. It was rooted in her access to the extensive political library of Annie Sullivan’s socialist spouse, John Macy. By 1908, after her graduation from college, Keller was reading Marx, Engels, socialist publications and Marxist economics, often in German Braille.

In 1909 Keller joined the American Socialist Party and campaigned for its candidates, including Eugene Debs, the SP leader who ran for U.S. president from his prison cell in 1920.https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2020/10/eugene-v-debs-5-11-1855-2010-26-working.html She supported striking workers, including those murdered in 1914 in the Colorado Ludlow Massacre by hired mercenaries, and called owner John D. Rockefeller a “monster of capitalism.” She defined herself as a “militant suffragist,” campaigning for women’s right to vote because she believed this was linked to the struggle for socialism.

Throughout her life, Keller continued to be a dedicated socialist, saying once  "How did I become a Socialist? By reading." Over time she would  shift her focus to the union based Industrial Workers of the World otherwise known as the Wobblies which interestingly enough was founded on this day June 27th 1905 https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2016/11/an-injury-to-one-is-injury-to-all.html after becoming dissatisfied with the SP’s electoral tactics.

Here's a link to her essay Why I became IWW. https://libcom.org/article/helen-keller-why-i-became-iww 

She celebrated the triumph of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution, named Vladimir Lenin one of the three greatest men of her era and regularly wrote articles for Communist Party newspapers and journals..She travelled the world giving speeches and lectures about women’s rights, war, social politics and campaigned for peace..

With the assistance of Annie, Keller lectured nationwide on the issues of the day. In Terre Haute Indiana, for example, she expressed her opposition to prohibition, saying that poverty was the cause of drinking rather than the reverse. While speaking in Los Angeles, she said that being a member of the working poor was worse than being blind. In Boston, she rode in a suffrage parade.She kept a large red flag in her office and refused to cross a picket line to see the premiere of a movie about herself. She advocated strikes and window smashing and above all hated child labor.

Keller identified her Marxist analysis and her socialism as deeply interconnected with her disability activism. As she studied economics, she visited factories and felt the very vibrations of the brutal industrial conditions that resulted in worker injuries. She concluded that the main causes of disability in the U.S. were industrial and workplace accidents and sickness from owners placing profits above worker safety.

In her writing Keller indicted capitalism for causing most disabilities and for amplifying the misery of disabled people through increased poverty and isolation she  discovered the poor had a greater chance of going blind than the rich, She connected the abuses suffered by blind people to the oppression of workers and women.. Her 1913 “Out of the Dark: Essays, Letters, and Addresses on Physical and Social Vision” articulated this analysis. Other political writings included “Social Causes of Blindness” (1911) and “The ­Unemployed” (1911).

She  became known as an advocate for people with disabilities and in 1915 she co-founded Helen Keller International, an organisation devoted to research in vision, health and nutrition.In 1917, Helen moved to Forest Hills, N.Y., with Annie and John Macy. There she worked on behalf of the American Foundation for the Blind, .Helen Keller’s work made a huge difference to the field of sight and hearing loss.

She was celebrated as a miracle, but her intelligent and articulate views and opinions were denounced as  misguided thinking that came as the result of her afflictions. Contemporary critics lambasted Keller for her socialism. In a 1924 letter to social reformer U.S. Sen. Robert La Folette, she replied: “So long as I confine my activities to social service and the blind, they compliment me extravagantly, calling me ‘arch priestess of the sightless,’ ‘wonder woman,’ and a ‘modern miracle.’ But when it comes to a discussion of poverty, and I maintain that it is the result of wrong economics — that the industrial system under which we live is at the root of much of the physical deafness and blindness in the world — that is a different matter!” 

Keller was highly adept at connecting the dots between the issues, understanding the relationship of war and militarism to economic injustice and the abuse of women, workers, children, and others. She also understood the power of nonviolent struggle, noncooperation, and organized direct action.

In her famous 1916 “Strike Against War” speech, Keller said to the workers of the nation, “It is in your power to refuse to carry the artillery and the dread-noughts and to shake off some of the burdens, too, such as limousines, steam yachts and country estates. You do not need to make a great noise about it. With the silence and dignity of creators you can end wars and the system of selfishness and exploitation that causes wars. All you need to do to bring about this stupendous revolution is to straighten up and fold your arms.”

As the Great War raged on in Europe, Keller as a pacifist increasingly called for peace. Helen's optimism and courage were keenly felt at a personal level on many occasions, but perhaps never more so than during her visits to veteran's hospitals for soldiers returning from duty.

In 1919, Keller starred in Deliverance, a film based on her life, along with many of her friends and family. Continuing her entertainment foray, Keller even began a vaudeville act in 1920. Also in 1920, Keller and other contemporary visionaries, including Jane Addams and Roger Baldwin, founded the American Civil Liberties Union.https://www.aclu.org/ Over the next few years, Keller continued her advocacy work, donating to strikers at Christmastime in 1921 and meeting with the President  on behalf of the blind in 1926.

Besides being a trailblazer  Helen Keller was an accomplished author whose book titles illustrate her fierce determination to overcome challenges: "Optimism," "Out of the Dark," "Let Us have faith" and " The Open Door"  among them.

Annie Sullivan died in 1936, and in 1939 Helen Keller moved to Easton, Conn. From Easton she traveled the world. She raised money for the American Foundation for the Blind and  continued to campaign for peace. Helen was very proud of her assistance in the formation in 1946 of a special service for deaf-blind persons. Her message of faith and strength through adversity resonated with those returning from war injured and maimed.

Helen Keller was as interested in the welfare of blind persons in other countries as she was for those in her own country; conditions in poor and war-ravaged nations were of particular concern. Helen's ability to empathize with the individual citizen in need as well as her ability to work with world leaders to shape global policy on vision loss made her a supremely effective ambassador for disabled persons worldwide.

During seven trips between 1946 and 1957, she visited 35 countries on five continents. She met with world leaders such as Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Golda Meir.

In 1948, she was sent to Japan as America's first Goodwill Ambassador by General Douglas MacArthur. Her visit was a huge success; up to two million Japanese came out to see her and her appearance drew considerable attention to the plight of Japan's blind and disabled population.

In 1955, when she was 75 years old, she embarked on one of her longest and most grueling journeys: a 40,000-mile, five-month-long tour through Asia.

Wherever she traveled, she brought encouragement to millions of blind people, and many of the efforts to improve conditions for those with vision loss outside the United States can be traced directly to her visits.

In 1962,  movie was made about her childhood success  when working with Annie Sullivan, it was called "The Miracle  Worker"  and starred Patty Duke as Keller and Anne Bancroft as Sullivan.

Toward the end of her life, a college student asked her what could be worse than losing her sight. Keller replied, “Yes, I could have lost my vision.”

At the height of McCarthy anti-communism, she affirmed in an interview that she was still a socialist. She hastened to add that she still owned a copy of Marx and Engels’ “Communist Manifesto” — in Braille. 

Helen suffered a stroke in 1960, and from 1961 onwards, she lived quietly at Arcan Ridge, her home in Westport, Connecticut, one of the four main places she lived during her lifetime.

By the time Helen died peacefully on 1st June 1968 at  her home in Westport. aged 87 the FBI had kept her under surveillance for most of her adult life.

How she applied her gifts to helping others reach their true potential  is the stuff of legend.She willed her papers to the AFB, which has since cultivated an image that did not include Socialism, the Wobblies or window smashing. Her  autobiography, The Story of My Life, was published. has been translated into 50 languages and remains in print to this day.

Senator Lister Hill of Alabama gave a eulogy during her public memorial service. He said, "She will live on, one of the few, the immortal names not born to die. Her spirit will endure as long as man can read and stories can be told of the woman who showed the world there are no boundaries to courage and faith."

Let  us honor Helen Keller life and legacy, her lifelong commitment to pacifism, ending war, equality,socialism women’s rights, labor and workers’ rights, suffrage,anti-racist, disability rights activism and more. Remember her for her remarkalle courage, and as a woman who understood the relationship between systems of injustice, and the challenges of being deaf, blind, or mute. Keller saw clearly that, while she lost sight and hearing through illness, many people were becoming deaf or blind through workplace injuries, poverty-related sicknesses, and lack of access to affordable healthcare. Still others had functional sight and hearing, but were willingly turning blind eyes and deaf ears to the causes of injustice. Her activism positively impacted the lives of many people Without her efforts, the world today may be very different for deafblind people.Her work continues.

Unravelling the discord

  

Our society is built on fear and cruelty 

A labyrinth of unreason and illusion.

Rivers of inequality and injustice 

It's drums and rhythms beating out daily.

Leaving no hug of warmth or care

That leaves people on the streets abandoned .

Defeated and broken, out of their minds

No serenity, lives falling endlessly apart 

Stained by their own piss and vomit

Freezing to death as others walk on by 

Like they simply don't exist 

Others unable to hear their silent screams

The world so fucked up, minds disconnected 

As politicians with cunning cruelty 

No integrity, empathy, respect, morality

Crush all those looking for ways to cope

Asylum seekers, refugees escaping persecution

Seeking refuge, safe routes and harbours

Their survival left hanging by a rope

Humans taught to marginalise and hate others 

Allowing negativity to spread across the land 

As they distort and  destroy, life already fragile 

Spitting poison against a public already tired

I spy though a thousand hopes of escape 

A future unwritten beyond the insecurity of today

Time to find an exit, overcome all of this

Reaching out, for new ways of feeling

Keeping connected, finding some healing

Swimming against currents of unreason

Seeing the world through a different lens

Where beacons of light lend a helping hand

Hearts of kindness, dancing with strangers

Life forces of energy, cancelling conditioning 

Planting forests of cooperation, uprooting insanity

Inaugurating a new era, changing perception.

Regenerating the world, with revolution of mind

Breaking the chains of disorder and bitterness 

Erasing the conundrums, destroying minefields

Numbing the pain. the torment and anxiety  

The blindness of indifference, the sap of darkness 

Removing the emptiness that consumes souls 

Finding hope, vibratons of resistance

Beyond the unyeilding edges of chaos  

Reaching the unreachable, bending the unbendable  

Defying the turbulent storm, delivering winds of change.

World Refugee Day 2022 : Whoever. Wherever. Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety

 

Today is World Refugee Day, and sadly the number of displaced people worldwide is at an all-time high.No one is born a refugee, but everyone can forcedly become displaced from their home for many different reasons: war, poverty, famine, violence and natural disasters are among them. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, “The international community is failing to prevent violence, persecution and human rights violations, which continue to drive people from their homes. In addition, the effects of climate change are exacerbating existing vulnerabilities in many areas.”

World Refugee Day has been marked on 20 June, ever since the UN General Assembly, on 4 December 2000, adopted resolution 55/76 where it noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of  Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June.

The annual commemoration is marked by a variety of events in over 100 countries, involving government officials, aid workers, celebrities, civilians and the forcibly displaced themselves.

World Refugee Day celebrates the sacrifice and courage of millions of people who were forced by conflict, persecution or natural disasters to leave their homes and countries to safeguard their families and ensure their survival and  focuses on the right to seek safety, including safe borders, not forcing anyone back if doing so would jeopardize their life or freedom and the right to non-discriminatory, humane treatment. It is worth acknowledging their plight, the causes that contribute to this human migration and tragedy, and the response of the world community.

Refugees leave everything behind, including their livelihoods and professions, and begin a new life in new places, sometimes as close as a few kilometres across the border, where their homeland remains on the horizon, a stark reminder of a home they may never see again.

World Refugee Day 2022 Theme is : “Whoever. Wherever. Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety.”   

Whoever they are, people forced to flee should be treated with dignity. Anyone can seek protection, regardless of who they are or what they believe. It is non-negotiable: seeking safety is a human right.

Wherever they come from, people forced to flee should be welcomed. Refugees come from all over the globe. To get out of harm’s way, they might take a plane, a boat, or travel on foot. What remains universal is the right to seek safety.

Whenever people are forced to flee, they have a right to be protected. Whatever the threat.whether it be  war, violence, persecution, everyone deserves protection. Everyone has a right to be safe.

World Refugee Day is a chance to recognise and celebrate the strength and resilience of refugees and people seeking asylum in rebuilding their lives and the incredible contribution they make to our communities and an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight.

It also  underscores the precious right to seek asylum, a fundamental human right, which is clearly needed in our world today. With  discrimination of asylum seekers in the UK and elsewhere, we need this message more than ever. .

This World Refugee Day as a result of an increase in conflicts and the impacts of climate change in the past decade, globally the refugee population has more than doubled, meaning the refugee crisis is getting worse. According to the UNHCR, an unprecedented 100 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes.This is an increase of 20 million over the past two years alone, among them are more than 26.4 million refugees, which is the  largest number in known history, where there’s this many people that have been forcibly displaced.

As if that figure wasn’t worrying enough, almost 40 per cent of that figure are children, of whom 21 million are classified as starving. And in some parts of the world, this is leading to unimaginable situations such as children going without food for days or even weeks and mothers having to decide which of their children will eat and which won’t.

The United Nations also says the number of countries affected by conflict is double what it was a decade ago. An obvious driver of the increase is the conflict in Ukraine, from where seven million people have fled. However, the biggest contributor to the number of displaced people continues to be Syria, where a staggering 30 million are displaced inside the country and another five million abroad. In Afghanistan, more than six million people are forcibly displaced.

And there is a very complex crisis in the Sahel region in Africa – a wide band of countries including Burkina Faso, Somalia and Sudan that are mostly in conflict and are experiencing years of heatwaves, droughts and crop failures that sees children and families not forgetting severe flooding in Bangladesh, India and South Africa.and the ongoing crisis of Yemen,

Ongoing conflict and the impact of COVID-19  is forcing more and more people to flee their homes, and together with the crisis of climate change, which is fuelled  by rich countries  is reinforcing underlying vulnerabilities. Alongside the trauma of the journey itself, of fleeing violence and conflict, after undertaking dangerous perilous journeys there is also the trauma of trying to settle in a new place. The scale of a refugee crisis like this can be difficult to comprehend unless one has experienced it firsthand. 

Days like World Refugee Day can at least help raise awareness about the suffering so many people face around the world and help shine a light on the right, needs and dreams of refugees, helping to mobilize political will and resources so refugees can not only survive ut also thrive. While it is importnt to protect and improve the lives of refugees every single day, international days like World Refugee Day help focus gloal attention on the plight of thosefleeing conflict or persecution. Many activities held on World Refugee Day create opportunities to support refugees. 

The response of neighbouring countries to the flood of refugees from Ukraine has been heartening, but   more often, refugees from other regions are demonised and shut out with no access to medical care, no right to work, and no social safety nets. Instead of offering them the protection that they need, basic human universal human rights, which is seeking asylum, instead they’re actually penalised for it. We should not be detaining or deporting people for seeking sanctuary. Being a refugee is not a crime.

Together, we should be creating an outpouring of compassion and show individual refugees that they are welcome here. but the persecution of refugees continues, whipped up by forces of racism spreading fear and misinformation. The EU Referendum campaign recently sadly contributed to this, unleashing some of the most heinious manifestations of racism we have seen in generations. Those on the far right across Europe are also eager to further scapegoat immigrants.
As continuing tragedy unfolds, some of the countries most able to help are shutting their gates to people seeking asylum. Borders are closing, pushbacks are increasing, and hostility is rising. Avenues for legitimate escape are fading away. 

Since the beginnings of civilization, we have treated refugees as deserving of our protection. Whatever our differences, we have to recognise our fundamental human obligation to shelter those fleeing from war and persecution. It is time to stop hiding behind misleading words. Richer nations must acknowledge refugees for the victims they are, fleeing from wars they were unable to prevent or stop. History has shown us that doing the right thing for victims of war and persecution engenders goodwill and prosperity for generations. And it fosters stability in the long run.

Meanwhile there is outrage as Priti Patel’s Home Office is planning to electronically tag asylum-seekers arriving in the UK, as though they were criminals (or people accused of criminality) rather than refugees from persecution.  The decision has been likened to “victim blaming”  although the Home Office itself is twisting language to claim the trial will examine whether electronic monitoring can help maintain regular contact with migrants and help to progress their claims. 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/19/outrage-over-scheme-to-electronically-tag-refugees-arriving-in-the-uk

Despite the current rhetoric of the UK government, the UK hosts fewer refugees and has fewer applications for asylum than most European countries including France, Italy and Germany. In the year up to March 2022, 55,146 applications for asylum were made in the UK, compared to 90,000 in France. The number of people seeking asylum in the UK has risen steadily since 2010, but the UK ranks 14^th in Europe for the number of applications for asylum in 2021. Small numbers of people are resettled in the UK through resettlement schemes such as the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme or via sponsorship, e.g. 'Homes for Ukraine' . The only way to claim asylum is to be on UK soil and thus, for most refugees the only way to get here is to take irregular routes such as crossing the English Channel in small boats or climbing on the back of lorries (which have decreased significantly because of a combination of factors including the pandemic and Brexit).  Most people arriving by irregular methods are recognised as refugees, so it is disingenuous for Priti Patel to describe these people as ‘illegal migrants’.  Under the Refugee Convention (which the UK ratified in 1951), it is not illegal to leave your country of origin and travel to another country to seek sanctuary.  The Refugee Convention does not state that a person must claim asylum in the first ‘safe’ country, and the host country must not penalise a person for entering the country illegally (Article 31) nor return someone or send them to a country where their life or freedom would be at risk or there is a real risk of torture or inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 33 Refugee Convention and Article 3 European Convention of Human Rights).

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which the UK and Rwanda signed in April 2022 is part of the government’s  ongoing hostile environment agenda. But the inhumane controversial deal with Rwanda, worth an initial £120 million, has drawn widespread criticism from national NGOs, human rights organisations, UNHCR, trade unions, Church Leaders and politicians from all colours of the political spectrum, considered by many to be unspeakably cruel.

The Tory government has tried to justify the deal saying that it will deter irregular entry to the UK and will break the ‘business model’ of smugglers and traffickers. But the government has not produced any evidence that sending people 4,000 miles away will work.  The Australian model of offshoring asylum processing did not work and the camps in Papua New Guinea were eventually closed, costing AUS $6 Billion. The Home Office’s top civil servant, Matthew Rycroft has said that it will not have the desired deterrent effect.

Under the MoU, the UK will ‘relocate’ people on a one-way ticket to Rwanda for processing claims, and if recognised as refugees, they will stay in Rwanda and will not be allowed to return to the UK.  The deal is unlawful because it undermines key international obligations on refugee protection and violates fundamental human rights (UNHCR). There is evidence of widespread human rights abuse in Rwanda but the UK government argue that Rwanda is a safe third country which respects human rights and has a functioning asylum system.

Yet as recently as January 2021, the UK government did not consider Rwanda a ‘safe third country’ and condemned its human rights record highlighting the use of extrajudicial killings by state police, arbitrary detention, torture of people who oppose the government and the continued persecution of the LGBTI community. 

The Home Office Country Policy and Information (CPIN) Report on Rwanda reveals that asylum claims can take years and points to a high rejection rate of individual asylum claims (with little access to legal support and interpreters), especially from people claiming persecution on grounds of sexuality or GBV.  There is nothing either in the MoU to stop Rwanda sending ‘relocated persons’ to another country where their lives might be at risk.

At the start of June, around 100 people received ‘removal notices’ and were told they would be flown to Rwanda on 14 June 2022.  A Judicial Review application was made on 10 June with an emergency injunction to remove individuals from the flight. By 10pm on the 14 June, no one was left on the flight to Rwanda, due to withdrawal of removal notices, an interim measure thankfully granted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and injunctions granted by the Court of Appeal late last Tuesday evening.https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2022/06/massive-victory-as-first-rwanda.html

Although the individuals on this flight have interim relief from removal, the government are not deterred and Priti Patel has announced that the next group of asylum seekers are receiving their notices and another flight is being arranged as she continues to believe that the policy if lawful. But, crucially, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have not yet decided whether the Rwandan policy is lawful and will only consider that question at the substantive (full) judicial review hearing in July 2022.

In the UK, Refugee Week is a wide-ranging programme of events that celebrate the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary and most importantly show our solidarity. Founded in 1998 and held every year around World Refugee Day. it is a growing global movement . The 2022 theme for Refugee Week and World Refugee Week is ‘Healing.’ 

Proposals by charities such as the Refugee Council and Safe Passage, which include humanitarian visas, family reunion routes, sponsorship or expanded resettlement schemes would ensure people do not have to resort to smuggling networks to undertake dangerous journeys, and would break the ‘business model’ of smuggling and start the journey to healing. 

World Refugee Day and Refugee Week belongs to all our brothers and sisters in humankind who have been forced out of their lands and homes.Today and tomorrow we must continue to stand up for refugees and it is our duty to ensure that they have access to essential basic services and are treated with respect and dignity.If policies that promote the health of refugees and all people on the move are put in place, refugees and migrants can contribute to the full and flourishing life of a country and to supporting the economy, culture and a diverse society.

I hope that on World Refugee Day, people can spend a moment to acknowledge  other humans' facing displacement and suffering, and find a way to accompany others in their community who find themselves away from home.We need to build bridges not more obstacles and borders. Refugees have suffered unimaginable loss, and yet they are filled with the strength to triumph over adversity. The refugee crisis is a human crisis. Their story is our story. We are all human,and together, we can build a better world. 

We all have an important role in ensuring that refugees have the support they need and it's crucial that we start addressing the global issues that force desperate  people to seek refuge in the first place. When we work together, we can help even more people feel safe from conflict, stay healthy and forge ahead to a better, stronger future.

Instead of being detained, vilified and denied, refugees when seeking.safe harbour and sanctuary, should be given a warm welcome. Asylum not barbed wire. Protection not bombs.Dignity not criminalisation. Given respite,instead of grief and pain. 

 However, on the 28th June, the UK's interpretation of the definition of a refugee and the rights to which every person who is a refugee is entitled will significantly change from that required by the Refugee Convention. It means the UK will no longer respect its shared obligations under international law. This is dangerously undermining what our country, not only agreed to, but helped draft and negotiate in 1951. These changes are lawless and reckless. Its consequences directly contradict our values of shared humanity and compassion and have been rightly rejected by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, leading lawyers, and former senior judges in the UK. Wherever we come from, we all have the right to be safe. But Priti Patel and the government don't think so.

Now more than ever, we need to stop our Government's cruel treatment of refugees and people seeking safety, and help create a system that protects refugees, instead of punishing them. Refugee Rights are human rights. Migrant Rights are human rights. Asylum seekers' rights are human rights. All displaced peoples' rights are human rights.Personally I believe that people should be able to move around the globe just like capital can. No borders are necessary.