Indigenous Peoples' Day

 

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is recognized the same day as Columbus Day each year, the second Monday in October. This year, Indigenous Peoples Day falls today Oct. 14, 2024 .It is a day to recognize indigenous people and the contributions they’ve made to history, as well as to mourn those lost to genocide and Western colonization—and to remember that Native Americans were actually here long before European settlers showed up on these shores.

Indigenous Peoples' Day, dates back to 1977, when the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas proposed that Indigenous Peoples Day replace Columbus Day.

Then in 1992 on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival to the Americas. Indigenous organizers convinced the city of Berkeley, California, to declare October 12th as Indigenous Peoples Day. Many cities began following suit and on Friday, 8th of October 2021 President Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day,

 "Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities," Biden wrote. "It is a measure of our greatness as a nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them."

which the Associated Press reported as "the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of Native peoples."

Many however had a message for him asking him as they gathered in Washington DC that  day if he could hear them now. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/11/biden-can-you-hear-us-now-ask-indigenous-leaders-amid-arrests-fossil-fuel-protest?utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium= 

However, we’ve since  faced right-wing attempts to reinforce a racist narrative about the history of the United States. In response to President Biden’s proclamation, Donald Trump’s Vice Presidential pick JD Vance wrote: “Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a fake holiday created to sow division” and praised Christopher Columbus for “discover[ing] a new continent.”  As Senator, JD Vance has also opposed Tribal leaders’ attempts to change the names of historic sites. Trump and Vance also want to seize federal land in another attempt to steal Indigenous homelands. While Trump was in office, he worked with corporate polluters to try to block climate progress and dismantle crucial environmental laws that safeguard not just Native communities but the future of every community. 

Often glorified by Western historians as a daring explorer, Columbus left a dark legacy in the Americas, beginning with his first encounter with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean Sea on 12 October 1492  which  would  mark  the process of colonization and genocide against Native people, which represents one of the darkest chapters in the history of this continent, that  unleashed unimaginable brutality against the indigenous people of this continent.that killed tens of millions of Native people across the hemisphere. From the very beginning, Columbus was not on a mission of discovery but of conquest and exploitation—he called his expedition la empresa, the enterprise. 

Columbus's disdain for the Arawak people of the Bahamas is palpable in his journal entries. He observed their openness and generosity with a mix of condescension and opportunism, noting how easily they shared their possessions and hospitality. Columbus frequently mocked the natives' simplicity and lack of guile. He described them as 'naïve' and 'artless,' incapable of understanding European notions of property and possession. This demeaning attitude famously appears in his 12 October 1492 entry, where he marvelled at their willingness to trade valuable items for trinkets. To Columbus, their openness was not a sign of an advanced, communal society but rather that of their potential to be dominated and exploited.  

Columbus's Eurocentric worldview made it impossible for him to recognise the Arawaks' sophisticated social system. Consequently, his reports back to Spain helped build a narrative of European superiority that fuelled slavery and colonisation. 

He and his men enslaved the Indigenous population, bringing some back to Spain and forcing thousands of others to search for gold. Those who could not bring back enough gold had their hands chopped off. The Spaniards took women and children for sex and labour. Columbus' regime was so brutal that many of the Indigenous people committed suicide or infanticide to spare a life of suffering.   On the island of Hispaniola (now occupied by the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic), the Spaniards forced the Indigenous people to work at a ferocious pace, with only 15,000 people remaining by 1515, a sharp decline from the 250,000 people who are said to have lived there two years before when Columbus first arrived. By 1550, only 500 people reportedly remained. By 1650, no Arawak people remained on the island.

Even during his day, Christopher Columbus was viewed as controversial. While his arrival in the Americas, specifically in Ayiti, (Modern Haiti) allowed for the initiation of the colonialization and settlement of the Western Hemisphere, the Atlantic slave trade and the amassing of massive wealth for many European countries, many of his contemporaries thought he was unnecessarily brutal.

Columbus deserves to be remembered as the first terrorist in the Americas. When resistance mounted to the Spaniards’ violence, Columbus sent an armed force to “spread terror among the Indians to show them how strong and powerful the Christians were,” according to the Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas. In his book Conquest of Paradise, Kirkpatrick Sale describes what happened when Columbus’s men encountered a force of Taínos in March of 1495 in a valley on the island of Hispañiola: " The soldiers mowed down dozens with point-blank volleys, loosed the dogs to rip open limbs and bellies, chased fleeing Indians into the bush to skewer them on sword and pike, and [according to Columbus’s biographer, his son Fernando] “with God’s aid soon gained a complete victory, killing many Indians and capturing others who were also killed.”

All this and much more has long been known and documented. As early as 1942 in his Pulitzer Prize winning biography, Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Samuel Eliot Morison wrote that Columbus’s policies in the Caribbean led to “complete genocide”—and Morison was a writer who admired Columbus.

Many countries are now  acknowledging this devastating history by rejecting the federal holiday of Columbus Day which  is marked on October 12  and celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead to honor centuries of indigenous resistance.If Indigenous peoples’ lives mattered in our society, and if Black people’s lives mattered in our society, it would be inconceivable that we would honor the father of the slave trade with a national holiday. Let alone allow our history books to laud Columbus as some kind of hero. Because this  so-called “discovery” of the America caused the worst demographic catastrophe of human history, with around 95 percent of the indigenous population annihilated in the first 130 years of colonization, without mentioning the victims from the African continent, with about 60 million people sent to the Americas as slaves, with only 12 percent of them arriving alive.Therefore, Native American groups consider Columbus a European colonizer responsible for the genocide of millions of indigenous people. Not an individual worthy of celebration  because he helped contribute  to the Europeans Colonization of the Americas which resulted in  slavery, killings, and other atrocities against the native Americans.

Columbus' voyage has even less meaning for North Americans than for South Americans because Columbus never actually set foot on this continent, nor did he open it to European trade.

During large waves of Italian immigration between 1880 and the start of World War I in 1914, newly arrived Italians faced ethnic and religious discriminations. In New Orleans in 1891, 11 Sicilian immigrants were lynched. A year later, President Benjamin Harrison became the first president to call for a national observance of Columbus Day, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival,

Italian Americans viewed celebrations of Columbus as a way to become accepted into the mainstream American culture and, throughout the country, they began to advocate for his recognition.
Though it wasn't recognized as a federal holiday until 1971  Italian immigrants had celebrated Columbus Day for centuries, Mariano A. Lucca, of Buffalo led the campaign for the national holiday. Colorado was the first state to formally recognize Columbus Day, doing so in 1905,

However Native Americans have been a part of the American tradition even before the United States began, but due to hundreds of years of persecution, much isn’t left of the neighboring tribes and many have integrated into modern society.

In the last several years, with growing awareness of Columbus' brutal legacy and what the European arrival meant for America's first inhabitants, at least 14 states and more than 130 local governments have chosen to not celebrate the the second Monday in October as Columbus Day or have chosen to celebrate it as Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead.

Indigenous Peoples have spearheaded the cultural shift in understanding about how to mark this day.

The idea of replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day was first proposed in 1977 by a delegation of Native nations to the United Nations-sponsored International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas, held in Geneva, which passed that resolution.

In July 1990, representatives from 120 Indian nations from every part of the Americas met in Quito, Ecuador in the First Continental Conference (Encuentro) on 500 Years of Indian Resistance. The conference was also attended by many human rights, peace, social justice, and environmental organizations. This was in preparation for the 500th anniversary of Native resistance to the European invasion of the Americas, 1492-1992. The Encuentro saw itself as fulfilling a prophesy that the Native nations would rise again “when the eagle of the north joined with the condor of the south.” At the suggestion of the Indigenous spiritual elders, the conference unanimously passed a resolution to transform Columbus Day, 1992, "into an occasion to strengthen our process of continental unity and struggle towards our liberation." Upon return, all the conference participants agreed to organize in their communities. While the U.S. and other governments were apparently trying to make it into a celebration of colonialism, Native peoples wanted to use the occasion to reveal the historical truths about the invasion and the consequent genocide and environmental destruction, to organize against its continuation today, and to celebrate Indigenous resistance. (Indigenous Peoples' Pow Wow Website)

In the past twenty years the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day has become a counter narrative to Columbus Day as way of correcting historical wrongs in acts of reconciliation  and the roots of this rethinking go back several decades.

On October 6, 2000, the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council wrote in a statement that "Columbus was the beginning of the American holocaust, ethnic cleansing characterized by murder, torture, raping, pillaging, robbery, slavery, kidnapping, and forced removals of Indian people from their homelands." The organization called for the federal abolition of the holiday.

In June, 2020, protestors in three cities targeted statues of Columbus, according to The Smithsonian Magazine. 

Centuries after Columbus Native peoples are still fighting to protect their lands and their rights to exist as distinct political communities and individuals.Because  of historical traumas inflicted on indigenous peoples that include land dispossession, death of the majority of the populations through warfare and disease, forced removal and relocation, assimilative boarding school experiences, and prohibiting religious practices, among others, indigenous peoples have experienced historical losses, which include the loss of land, traditional and spiritual ways, self-respect from poor treatment from government officials, language, family ties, trust from broken treaties, culture, and people (through early death); . 

These losses have been associated with sadness and depression, anger, intrusive thoughts, discomfort, shame, fear, and distrust around white people. Experiencing massive traumas and losses is thought to lead to cumulative and unresolved grief, which can result in the historical trauma response, which includes suicidal thoughts and acts, IPV, depression, alcoholism, self-destructive behavior, low self-esteem, anxiety, anger, and lowered emotional expression and recognition .These symptoms run parallel to the extant health disparities that are documented among indigenous peoples.

Today is about acknowledging all this whilst  honoring the rich history of resistance that Native communities across the world  have contributed to and  it is  also about sharing  a deep commitment to intergenerational justice. Celebrating Indigenous People’s Day is a step towards recognizing that colonization still exists. We can do more to end that colonization and respect the sovereignty of indigenous nations.

Amnesty International on Indigenous Peoples' Day have  renewed calls for President Joe Biden to grant clemency to jailed Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who many say is America's longest-serving political prisoner. With the international human rights watchdog once more urging the outgoing Democratic president to commute the sentence of the decades-long jailed Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who turned 80 last month on Sept. 12, and release him.  Peltier, who was a member of the indigenous American Indian Movement, had been convicted in 1975 of allegedly murdering two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation, a territory of the Oglala Sioux tribe in South Dakota, in a trial many say was riddled with fraud. Peltier has since maintained his innocence. Peltier has been jailed for nearly 50 years despite legitimate and ongoing concern over the fairness of his trial decades ago, Amnesty and many others have long since argued.

Joining with Amnesty in its plea for Biden to show mercy has been American tribal nations and its leaders, members of both chambers of Congress including the Senate's Indian Affairs Committee chairman, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, ex-FBI agents, noted Nobel Peace Prize winners and former U.S. Attorney James Reynolds, the very same federal prosecutor who handled Peltier's conviction and later appeals. 

 In early July, Peltier was denied his most recent parole request after a previous rejection in 2009.  But on Saturday in an open letter to Biden, liberal activist Michael Moore wrote that among 13 actions he feels Biden should take in the few remaining months of his "lame duck" presidency through Jan. 20 is to give Peltier his freedom.  "Mr. President, Leonard Peltier is two years younger than you," Moore opened his letter.  Moore's letter went on to state how Peltier was allegedly "pursued and surveilled by the FBI because of his political engagement. The evidence at his trial included conveniently altered details and a key witness who was coerced into testifying," Moore says. And many agree with his sentiments.  

Currently housed in a Florida maximum security prison in regular lockdown, Peltier reportedly requires a walker to move and is blind in one eye from a previous stroke.But Moore's is only one in a long line of other influential names, which he pointed out included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, members of Congress such as Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, as well as actor Robert Redford, the Dali Lama and the late leaders Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela. 

Amnesty International has long been part of the Peltier case. Officials observers to Peltier's 1977 trial were sent by Amnesty and, "along with its millions of members and supporters around the globe," has been campaigning on Peltier's behalf for his release. 

Peltier in 2004 asked a judge to release certain files that he believed would grant a new trial, contending that he was framed by the U.S. government and would be exonerated if those documents could be publicly released.  In September, an official with Amnesty's U.S. arm went so far as to say the possible grant of presidential clemency for Peltier "could be one step to help mend the fractured relationship" and deep-seated generational mistrust the Native American population has for the U.S. government and "would forever be part of Biden's legacy," among other historical achievements.

On this Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s recognize the incredible resilience, strength, and resistance of Indigenous Peoples who have faced hundreds of years of colonization. May we spend this day, honoring Native Peoples’ commitment to making the world a better place for all. Reflect on their ancestral past , the ongoing struggles of indigenous peoples in protecting their lands and freedoms,celebrate their sacrifices.

Let's celebrate life whilst.recognizing the people, traditions and cultures that were wiped out because of Columbus’ colonization and acknowledge the. bloodshed and elimination of those that were massacred, whilst transforming this day into a celebration of indigenous people and a celebration of social justice  that allows us to make a connection between painful history and the ongoing marginalization, discrimination and poverty that indigenous communities face to this day. 

By honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we  must continue  to  confront the “whitewashed” version of American history many are familiar with. This history often dignifies Europeans who perpetuated colonization, intolerance, violence, and committed atrocities against Indigenous communities and Native Americans. Indigenous People, Native Americans, and sovereign Tribal Nations have long endured, and continue to experience, some of the highest rates of discrimination and oppression in our society. 

We cannot dedicate just one day to acknowledging Indigenous People's, each and every day should be an act of solidarity, by us honouring and advocating for Indigenous rights. From Turtle Island to Palestine, together, we  must demand an end to occupation and fight for Land Back and climate and environmental justice for all oppressed peoples. 

A reminder on this Indigenous People’s Day: Palestinians are an indigenous people  and  have been struggling for their freedom and right to live safely on their own land. Israel has colonized Palestinian land and attacked Palestinians since day 1. A free Palestine is an indigenous struggle. I'm saying this over and over again as clear as I can because I don't believe people are contending with this enough, and you need to.

So today we should  also be acknowledging the cynical “celebration” of Indigenous Peoples Day by a settler state backing another settler state’s genocide against Palestinians and Lebanese shows us that  nothing is sacred, until we bury colonialism once and for all. While crimes against humanity and all life continue unabated, those on frontlines are criminalized, brutalized, disappeared, killed, this Indigenous Peoples Day we must stop the genocide in Gaza and  drop the charges against land defenders everywhere.

We’re Not Going Back by Red Ladder Theatre Company

Have just  returned from  watching  ‘We’re Not Going Back’ by Red Ladder Theatre Company at Theatre Mwldan  Cardigan. A very impressive,  inspiring hard hitting musical  comedy  about the  1984/85 miners’ strike.

 Initially  at  first was  not  quite   sure how  a musical  could be made out of this turbulent peice of  history  but it  worked really  well. 

It’s February 1984, and as the rumour mill stirs with developments of impending pit closures, the coal miners’ unions anxiously prepare for the imminent war against the government. Forced into unemployment, miners and their families take up the fight and become part of a battle that will change the course of history.

The miners' strike brought devastating hardship and conflict not just to the men but to families and entire communities. The wives, suddenly thrown to the forefront, had their own struggles and this is their story, The performance looked sympatheticaly at  the the strike through the eyes of three sisters, aided by a woman musician in a village in the heart of the South Yorkshire mining district.

The three sisters are  older sister, Olive, staid, restrained, pious, maternal; eighteen-year-old Izzy, black-clad college dropout, Morrissey-mad and miserable, and the bubbly, fun-loving Mary.

Their family squabbles and fallouts are the background to a story of defiance, resilience and determination as they are drawn into the struggle for their community’s survival as the banner with the slogan ‘Coal not Dole’   is prominently displayed constantly reminding  the audience  what is at the heart of the matter. Instead of focusing on the conflict between miners, police, judiciary and government, the musical centres on the way the struggle completely changes the sisters’ lives. 

We share the conversations and arguments of the women, their establishment of Carston Women Against Pit Closures and their  fight to hold their relationships and communities together, becoming active, tireless organisers and leaders. In the process, the sisters learn the value of empowerment, determination and adventure as they discover their own capabilities.

 As the strike progresses, the prayerful, demure Olive becomes emboldened chief agitator for "Women Against Pit Closures", 'delivering' her church's collection to the cause while struggling to cling to her faith. Izzy's ostracised boyfriend, Dean, is forced to rethink his career with the police force if he hopes to keep her, while Mary, forced now to work, starts to feel her feet and climb the ladder to a whole new world. 

While there's no stinting on graphic detail and tragedy, there  wass no wallowing in self-pity wither. Brave, light-hearted optimism shines through direst adversity, bringing hilarity and belly laughs from start to finish .

A   powerful  moving  piece  of  work that  succeded in vividly  taking me back  40 years to  this time of  struggle  that was one of the defining moments that fuelled my  own  political  direction at this time.

A word about the title. The men, of course, did go back , but it is the women who vowed, “We’re not going back” – and such is still the case, with Women Against Pit Closures still active. 

2024 happens to  be the fortieth anniversary of the 1984/85 miners’ strike, a dispute that still resonates today,  and the  performance  also  fittingly reminded us all, that the  working class is under more attack than ten years ago when the play was originally written. with increasing ferocity, and like then we must  continue to  stand  in  solidarity,  and despite  setbacks remain strong. 

I Strongly  recommend  this  piece of theatre,  that tackles the resilience of working communities, the make-and-mend fabric of family, and the power of sticking two fingers up to a government hell-bent on destruction and all  done with humour, wonderful acting ,wonderful  songs whilst being wonderfully written, by ex-Chumbawamba guitarist, Boff Whalley, so if you  get  a chance go  and see it,  

We're Not Going Back Trailer

 

World Mental Health Day 2024: It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace / End the stigma.

World Mental Health Day is  observed on October 10 each year, and  is dedicated to raising awareness about mental health issues and promoting mental well-being globally. Established by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) in 1992, this observance has gained significance over the years, with increasing participation from countries and organizations aiming to combat the stigma associated with mental health, and advocate for better mental health services.but also emphasizes the collective responsibility to create a more inclusive society where mental well-being is valued..

Mental health is a basic human right and is important for personal, community, and socio-economic development. Seeking help is a positive step that enhances health, well-being and happiness. Mental  health is essental for our overall well-  being as it effects how  we feel  and  act. 

The first World Mental Health Day took place on the 10th of October 1992 at the initiative of Richard Hunter, the Deputy Secretary-General of the World Federation for Mental Health. WFMH is an international organisation founded in 1948 to improve and promote good mental health and to encourage better treatment throughout the world. 

World Mental Health Dayserves as a vital platform for various organizations and communities to engage in discussions about mental health challenges, encouraging individuals to seek help when needed. By highlighting the significance of mental health, World Mental Health Day fosters a supportive environment, ensuring that mental health is prioritized alongside physical health, and advocating for universal access to mental health care. 

World Mental Health Day did not have a specific theme until 1994. In this year, the first theme (suggested by the then Secretary-General Eugene Brody), was "Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World"  Each subsequent year has had a different theme, with past themes including "Living with Schizophrenia", Dignity in Mental Health, "Mental Health and Human Rights" and "Psychological First Aid".

This year’s official theme, “It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace"  emphasizes the importance of creating supportive and healthy work environments to address the rising mental health challenges faced by employees globally.  With rising demands on employees, the pressures of stressful and sometimes toxic workplaces continue to escalate.Gone are the days when work and mental health existed in separate bubbles. With burnout, anxiety, and job-related stress all on the rise, they’re intertwined more than ever before. From dealing with chronic stress to depressive episodes, it’s clear that avoiding conversations about mental health at work is no longer optional. This year’s theme serves as a call to action to stop treating mental health as an afterthought, and embed it into the very fabric of workplace culture. 

Workplace stress has hit an all-time high in recent years. Whether it’s grappling with post-pandemic adjustment, rising economic pressures, or the relentless pace of modern work, employees everywhere are feeling the weight. Mental health can no longer be confined to personal lives — it affects job performance, creativity, engagement, and overall life satisfaction., making this focus more critical than ever.  There is also  pressing need to eliminate the stigma associated with mental health issues for a more inclusive society.

Almost 60% of the world’s population is in employment, according to the World Health Organization.(WHO) Of this percentage, 15% of working-age adults believed to have a mental disorder. This, understandably, directly impacts the workplace, as an estimated 12 billion working days are lost each year to mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety

Furthermore according to (WHO), approximately 1 in 4 individuals will face a mental health challenge at some point in their lives, underscoring the widespread impact of this issue. In India alone, around 60 to 70 million people suffer from common mental disorders, exacerbated by a lack of adequate care. The economic cost of neglecting mental health in the workplace is staggering, with depression and anxiety estimated to result in a global productivity loss of around $1 trillion annually. 

World Mental Health Day  serves as a crucial platform to raise awareness about mental health issues and to organize efforts for improving care worldwide. Common events include educational seminars, mental health screenings, and campaigns aimed at reducing stress and encouraging open discussions about mental health. 

Mind charity state "We’re in the middle of a mental health crisis" (2024) as the stigma surrounding mental health is still a significant issue as some 2 million people are on the waiting list for mental health services.

One of the most difficult things about living with a mental illness can be the judgement of others. In fact, nearly a third of all UK adults (30%) would not be comfortable sharing a diagnosis of severe mental illness with a friend. And all too often people experience stigma and discrimination in the work place.

3 in 10 UK adults would reconsider working alongside them if they had a diagnosis of severe mental illness 3 in 5 UK adults wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing a diagnosis of severe mental illness with colleagues and just over half of people (53%) wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with a manager.

One in four people experience a mental health issue in the UK every year and over 527,000 people in England have a diagnosis of a severe mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. 

I think raising awareness about conditions and treatments is crucial, but so is re-addressing the way we think about mental illness as not just an individual's problem but as something we must consider and address collectively in the way our society functions.

We feel such huge pressures to feel we fit in somewhere, but actually it is so much more important to accept yourself whether you feel you fit in or not, after all you are the only person who will ever get to define who you are. 

Among the most menacing barriers to the social progress we need around mental health are the profound levels of guilt, shame and stigma that surround these issues. Mental illness scares us and shames us. Those who suffer are often, like me, ashamed to speak of it. Those who are lucky enough to be free of mental illness are terrified of it. When it comes to mental illness, we still don't quite get how it all works.

Our treatments, while sometimes effective, often are not. And the symptoms, involving a fundamental breakdown of our perceived reality, are existentially terrifying. There is something almost random about physical illness, in how it comes upon us , a physical illness can strike anyone – and that is almost comforting. But  mental illness seems  to fall into that same category, the fact  it too could strike any of us, without warning should be equally recognised..

But more than simple fear, mental illness brings out a judgmental streak that would be unthinkably grotesque when applied to physical illness. Imagine telling someone with a broken leg to "snap out of it." 

Imagine that a death by cancer was accompanied by the same smug headshaking that so often greets death by suicide. Mental illness is so qualitatively different that we feel it permissible to be judgmental. We might even go so far as to blame the sufferer. Because of the  stigma involved  it often leaves us much sicker. Capitalist society also teaches us that we are each personally responsible for our own success.  A system of blame that somehow makes the emotional and psychological difficulties we encounter seem to be our own fault. 

This belief is such a firm part of ruling class ideology that millions of people who would never openly articulate this idea, nonetheless accept it in subtle and overt ways.  People are often ashamed that they need medication, seeing this as revealing some constitutional weakness. People feel guilty about needing therapy, thinking that they should be able to solve their problems on their own.

Millions of people fail to seek any treatment, because mental health care is seen as something that only the most dramatically unstable person would turn to. An ill-informed and damaging attitude among some people exists around mental health that can make it difficult for some to seek help. It is estimated that only about a quarter of people with a mental health problem in the UK receive ongoing treatment, leaving the majority of people grappling with mental health issues on their own, seeking help or information, and dependent on the informal support of family, friends or colleagues.
We need to break the silence around mental health. These are issues that all of us should have some basic exposure to.  The proportion of the population that will experience an episode of acute emotional distress is extremely high. Those of us who have never been depressed probably know and love several people who have.It  should be no more shameful to say that one is suffering from mental illness , than to announce that one is asthmatic or has breast cancer.  Talking about these issues is part of the solution.

Breaking the silence can be liberating. Mental health care should be part of what we demand when we think about solutions to the economic crisis, we should keep  fighting for the best mental health care to be the  natural right of all designed to meet human needs. Until then, engaging in the struggle toward such a society can be a source of hope. That is a world surely worth fighting for.

 It’s up to all of us to end the harmful cycle of stigma.  Let’s end the judgement. Let’s Rethink Mental Illness. 

Under October's Desolate Skies

 

Even the stars seem downcast 

As they observe, the Hell, 

We're experiencing here 

On planet Earth,

Under dark shadows

The wild winds blow,

Batter bruise and tear

Slice through fragile pleas,

Stom clouds intensify

fill shattered lands with mire,

While the weight of the world 

Pushes weary hearts apart,

Fractured echoes lingering

Seeping deeply into cracks, 

Where light can't find

Blurring all pleading cries,

Between thought and time

The waters of life no longer clear,

Western democracy spawning hypocrisy

Warmongers supporting crminality,

Evil powers of psychopathy

Spreading death and insanity,

Keep rainng bombs of destruction

On lands of Gaza and Lebanon. 

We fumble for illumination

That keeps slipping out of reach,

Weeping stars bathe the darkness

Blooming with wickedness, 

Blinkered by the past 

Sired by the present,

Among autumnal blues

Terrifying genocidal season,

Humanity desperately searching

Reaching for clearer reason,

Peacefulness hidden in thickets

To heal the deepest of wounds,

Carry us safely from troubling hues

Enabling each burden to gently fall,

Portals of love's pure passionate fire

Helping us flee the margins of brokeness.

How should October 7 be remembered?

 

As people commemorate October 7  lets not  forget what preceded it a century of colonial and imperial violence: The  beginning of this “war” actually began on November 29, 1947, with the passing of the UN resolution that led to the creation of the Israeli settler colonial state. For the next seventy-six years, with the backing of Western governments the state of Israel would lead a war of conquest, ethnically cleansing and massacring hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, displacing and maiming millions, and establishing an apartheid state.

The Nakba of 76 years that forced Palestinians from their homes and razed entire villages; the home demolitions that saw illegal settlements rise atop Palestinian land; the arrest, torture, and rape of prisoners; the assaults on Gaza in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2021, that have destroyed its infrastructure, martyred thousands, and maimed many more; the massacres in Deir Yassin, Sabra, Shatila; the martyrdom of  national liberation leaders and assassinations of journalists.

October 7th, 2023, was the tragic yet inevitable outcome of decades of systemic oppression, violence, and injustice endured by the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. For generations, Palestinians have faced relentless humiliation, abuse, and dehumanization. 

Their lands had been taken, their homes destroyed, and their communities displaced. The world has witnessed the ongoing apartheid, where Palestinians are denied basic human rights, subjected to violence, and treated as second-class citizens in their own land.  The persistent cruelty, murder, collective punishment, and daily acts of aggression  which created a reality where desperation and anger  grew unchecked. The failure to address their suffering, coupled with the indifference of the international community, made such an eruption of violence almost unavoidable. 

It's been a year since the  attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed  resistance groups in southern Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 abducted. It also marks one year since the start of an ongoing devastating Israeli onslaught that has killed more than 41,500 people and forcibly displaced over 90% of the population in the occupied Gaza Strip,  and now Lebanon and the West Bank with missiles and bombs provided  by the UK and US.  Hundreds of thousands are dead including thousands of children. We can't even count how many. When will the world stop it? 

How should October 7 be remembered? We must grieve  for every life lost on that day, over the last 12 months, and the last 76 years. Remember that all human life is precious. For all victims; Muslim, Jewish, Christian. Palestinian and Israeli,  we must bear witness. Shalom salaam to all.

We must escalate  and  invent new ways of disrupting the war machines intent on destroying all life. As Israel creates  new thresholds of violence, we must imagine new horizons  keep  calling for  a immediate ceasefire,  the  unconditional release of civilian hostages held by Hamas and other armed groups  as well  as all Palestinians unlawfully detained by Israel  and  an end to Israel’s apartheid,  and occupation, freedom for Palestinians and continue the pursuit of peace and justice.

Narcissistic personality disorder

 

Narcissistic personality disorder - symptoms include excessive disregard for others' feelings, an inability to handle any criticism, and a sense of entitlement  and  will  project themselves as the kindest, most generous people  and everyone and anyone who disagrees with  will usually be  called manipulative, narcissistic  themselves and any other term that projects their own behavior. 

At the same time  they have a diminished or non existent capacity to feel the pain of others. This often leaves them baffled as to why you’re upset or angry by  their behaviour. Delusions of grandeur and persecuted victimhood are nearly impossible to dislodge as they form the core of narcissistic identity. When shared on a large scale, they fuel virulent socio-political movements that lead to destruction.  Some may engage in activism or social movements, leading to them being perceived as selfless and empathetic. They may be more motivated by praise and validation, rather than by a genuine interest in helping others.

Anyone who has ever had to deal with a real life narcissist or sociopath,  whether a boss, friend, family member, or romantic partner  will recognizes the above traits well. 

Israel is pathological in its lies, gaslighting, victim blaming, lack of empathy, etc.  Settler colonialism is collective narcissism. Israel is torn between needing to be loved and adored by all, special victim status at the forefront; and being the global north’s lions of the Middle East, forcing western civilisation on the rampaging barbaric hordes of primitive tribes. They want to occupy, ethnic cleanse and genocide without a single push back. That is entitlement and narcissism of the worst calibre. The dichotomy is unsustainable.

Israelis suffer from collective narcissism and a shared psychosis which is visible to everyone but them. Narcissism develops blindness in the person, and the person does not see their own mistakes. According to them, it is them against the world. 

I grew up thinking narcissists were just insufferably vain people, nothing to be concerned about. But people  with Narcissistic personality disorder are dangerous psychopaths who will destroy your life and soul  and what  is really worrying  and disturbing our very own Government is also a  narcissistic psychopath! Power in the hands of a narcissist together with media power, social  media, is a vicious cocktail. You've been warned.

I don't stand with or trust Sir Keir Starmer

Dear World, I'd just like to point out that most UK people think Sir Keir Starmer is a monumental bellend, a weak corporate suck-up, a souless, toxic cowardly genocide supporter, and doesn't tell the truth unless it's dragged out of him. In other words, he's a liar who doesn't even remotely represent our nation  on any  level .

Hiking University Tuition Fees by 13.5% when he has previously repeatedly pledged to scrap them entirely is a total betrayal of young people. Whilst not provide money for things such as the Winter Fuel Allowance and lifting the two-child welfare cap.

One of the most prolific liars in politics, Keir Starmer has no principles, morales or backbone. He is a shapeshifter, saying whatever is convenient at the time to make him look ‘good’. I knew it was going to be a rough four years but he’s exceeded expectations so far. To hear him calling for Israel to commit to a ceasefire while selling it weapons was like a bartender suggesting you quit drinking as they poured out another double whiskey. 

Starmer,  a former human rights lawyer,  then on Monday, reaffirmed he "stands with" and "fully supports" Israel and warned he is "deeply concerned" that the Middle East "is on the brink"

Last month, the UN formally declared Israel an apartheid state and it is currently before the ICJ charged with genocide. This fraud is a foreign agent or a brazen hypocrite who stands with Israel, genocide, apartheid. ethnic cleansing  and  inanticide and shames us on a daily basis.

Israel has confirmed several airforce bases were hit by Iran while civilian damage was "only minor" and caused by shrapnel from interception missiles. But Keir Starmer said: "The Iranian regime has launched over 200 ballistic missiles at civilian targets in Israel."A brazen grave lie.

I have heard Starmer completely condemn Iran's attack on Israel, I  listened to him  refer to children being killed, which I'm terribly sad about, all lives are precious, especially beautiful innocent children, .but I've never heard Starmer  shed a concern for the 20 thousand plus children killed, blown to pieces or buried alive under rubble in Gaza.

Two thousand Lebanese have been killed in the last few weeks. These people do not matter in the slightest to the British government  or Starmer. Indeed, they are enabling and subsidising this bloodshed. I  am not sure who Sir Keir Starmer thinks he’s speaking for but I absolutely do not stand with Israel, nor any other genocidal state that is hell bent on causing World War 3.

Starmer  continues to  kowtow to the State terrorism of Zionist Israel and never condemns it. Justifies mass murder and devastation of innocent Arab civilians by Israel but treats Israeli lives as though they matter more.  

Starmer is a very wealthy man who has a net worth of approximately £7.7 million who has accepted hundreds of thousands in  corporate donations and freebies than all Labour leaders since 1997 and was more than happy to take £20k so his son could study privately while condemning millions of  pensioners to living in the freezing cold. 

All of the donations were within parliament’s rules but Starmer has faced accusations of hypocrisy since the furore comes as he is asking ordinary Britons to tighten their belts. Following a backlash, he announced an overhaul of hospitality rules for government ministers to try to ensure better transparency around what is accepted, and in a  damage limitation exercise Starmer has since  repaid thousands of pounds in freebies in an  attempt to restore trust in politics.

I don't forget that Starmer  has offered no support to working class people striking for better pay, while finding time to condemn every single protest that takes place in Britain. and having a career history of defending corrupt policemen and persecuting the poor. For all the reasons  stated I certainly don’t trust or stand with this  rancid narcissistic,war mongering, serial pledge breaking, shitweasel, who will end up the most hated PM ever, with the clowns in his cabinet not far behind. 

Rest in Peace Kris Kristoffersson Outlaw country musician, Hollywood actor and Human Rights Advocate (22/6/36 - 30/9/24)

 

Sad news to  hear that  the legendary Outlaw country musician and Hollywood actor  Kris Kristoffersson has passed. He died at home in Maui Hawaii   at the weekend on Saturday, September 28, 2024,  He was 88. The singer was reportedly surrounded by family at the time of his passing.

 Kristofferson was born in Brownsville, Texas in June of 1936. Kristofferson attended Pomona College and later earned a Rhodes scholarship to attend Oxford University. The child of a military man, he chose to enlist in the U. S. Army as a helicopter pilot upon the completion of his studies. His military career was a promising one, and yet he left the service in pursuit of becoming a Nashville songwriter.  Like many young artists, he struggled to find his footing in a brutal industry, but his  star rose to fame in the 1960’s and 1970’s with hits like Me and Bobby McGee, Help Me Make it Through the Night, and Sunday Morning Coming Down. His poetic lyrics made an impact on artists of all walks of life, as he became a staple in the country music industry alongside names like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and of course his dear friend Willie Nelson. 

The raw nature of his songwriting and his approach to speaking to the brutal nature of life and love brought a kind of vulnerability to the country music industry that wasn’t present previously. The body of his musical work, alongside that of his fellow outlaw country music artists, has made a lasting impact on the landscape of country music that continues to shape the genre. 

In the 1970’s he began to pursue a film and television career, starring in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Convoy, and A Star Is Born for which he won a Golden Globe award in 1976.He also appeared in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, the Blade trilogy, and the video game Fallout: New Vegas. His acting career and his ability to move between the music and movie industries gave his artistic legacy a new kind of depth, and gave the person of Kris Kristofferson a new kind of authority on a national and international level.  He wielded that authority well, and was a devoted activist for human rights and Native American causes, often drawing on his experience in the military to keep naysayers “in check” if they chose to attempt to discourage his work speaking up for causes he believes in.

A critic of U.S. foreign policy, he opposed wars in Latin America and the Middle East and was also a staunch defender of Palestinian rights and a vocal opponent of Zionist Apartheid Israel. He defended family farmers;.

Both publicly and privately he was a man of principle, largely avoiding scandal and always taking seriously his role as a mentor to up and coming musicians.Kris was one of the few big stars that stood up for Sinead O'Connor when she brought up the truth about the Catholic Church back in the early 90s When O’Connor appeared on stage at a Bob Dylan tribute concert in New York, she was met with a storm of boos from the crowd. Kristofferson, standing beside her, offered comfort and defiance in equal measure, telling O’Connor, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” His solidarity was emblematic of his deep commitment to standing by those fighting for justice, no matter how unpopular their cause at the time,  and that forever makes him a real one, 

Kris was inducted into several halls of fame, including the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. His last album, The Cedar Creek Sessions, was released in 2016.it earned him a nomination for Best Americana Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards. 

Kris officially retired from performing and recording in 2021, making only occasional guest appearances on stage, including a performance with Johhny Cash's daughter Rosanne at Nelson's 90th birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2023.

Kris Kristoffersson lived a life marked by artistic brilliance, personal courage, and a relentless commitment to human rights.

"Human rights is something that wasn't hard to be inspired to write about because there have been so many violations of those rights' - Kris  Kristoffersson  

His passing marks the end of an era, but his legacy lives on, He once said that when he died, he wanted Leonard Cohen’s like a bird on a wire’s lyrics on his tombstone. How appropriate for both he and Leonard Cohen truly lived like two magnificent birds on this wild wire. RIP. The  world was a better place because of this man. He is survived by his wife Lisa, eight children, and seven grandkids.

"They're killing babies in the name of freedom, We've been down that sorry road before..."

As thousands are murdered across the Middle East by Israel using weapons supplied by his own country, Kris' lyrics  and  words are as relevant as ever.

I stand with Palestine, I stand with Lebanon, I stand with humanity .

Israel has been massacring Palestinians every day for  nearly a year  now. They’ve just expanded the killing field to Lebanon with the continued support of Western politicians, who  could literally sanction Israel and Netanyahu. They could stop funding them, supporting them, providing them with weapons. They could easily enforce an arms embargo. They could easily threaten them with a NATO intervention. They have all  these options but are not using them. 

Almost a year after the start of its war in Gaza, Israel has turned its focus on Lebanon, significantly ratcheting up its campaign against its archenemy Hezbollah. Among many in Lebanon, there is fear that Israel’s military operations in Lebanon would follow the same Gaza playbook: Evacuation orders, mass displacement and overwhelming airstrikes. Israel says its strikes target Hezbollah weapons sites and militants.  

There are key differences between Gaza and Lebanon and how Israel has so far conducted its operations, which it says aim to push back Hezbollah from the border so that tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s rocket attacks can return to their homes. Although it has said it is preparing for a possible ground operation, Israel has so far not sent troops into Lebanon. 

Still, there are fears that Israel’s actions in Gaza, including the use of overwhelming and what rights groups and the United Nations have described as disproportionate force, would be repeated in Lebanon. Top Israeli officials have threatened to repeat the destruction of Gaza in Lebanon if the Hezbollah fire continues. Since  Monday Israel  has been carpet-bombing densely populated neighbourhoods of Beirut and greater Lebanon  with weaponry  partly  manufactured in Britain. 

A new bomb dropped, a new tragedy, every 5 minutes.· Israel is currently bombing Lebanon with 1 million people now displaced, targeting power plants and seaports in Yemen critical for delivering essential aid, while continuing genocide in Gaza where 2 million people are displaced with nowhere to go. Even  before this Lebanon has been constantly bombarded by Israel for 11 months.

 It has been by far the deadliest barrage since the monthlong 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, when an estimated 1,000 people in Lebanon were killed and has shocked a nation used to war. . Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah along with many innocent civilians is a dangerous escalation pouring fuel on the flames of the Middle East. Lest we  foret under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah helped to defeat ISIS and Al-Qaeda, protected Christians, and fought against Israeli colonialism and military occupation.

What kind of world allows such atrocities to unfold again and again? It it is simply unconscionable that the UK government refuses to suspend arms sales to Israel. if israel was bombing lebanon to get rid of hezballah why is it still killing civilians 24 hours after Hassan Nasralla he died?  

Videos I've seen coming out of Tel Aviv show Israelis dancing at celebration parties.Israel is now also attacking Yemen. So the Israeli regime is bombing Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen at the same time while  still playing  the victim card. We must stop  normalising  this insanity.

My heart shatters for people daily terror , having to flee their  homes at a moment's notice only to be displaced into the streets and left unsure from where the next strikes will rain. 

Never forget: Zionism is a fascist white supremacist settler colonial ideology and none of us are safe until it is dismantled. For the love of anything that is good, we must stand up! We must renounce slaughter. renounce genocide,  renounce child murder. I am not only pro-ceasefire, I am pro-the world waking the fuck up and shutting Israel down. Enough is fucking enough. I stand with Palestine,  I stand with Lebanon , I stand with Yemen , I stand with humanity. 

Respiratory

 

Max Ernst  Le silence à travers les âges, 1968

As our planet weeps, mornings laden with mourning. and we feel our hearts struggle, adverse  condtions releasing overflowing tears, as we bathe in seas of melancholy, it's important to let each  emotion flow, let  our cries ring out, through the storms we can rise again, even the darkness that resides can be filled with light, that will never hide our love, our kindness, our beautiful depth, to allow us to find  silver linings, enable us to cling on to fragile bubbles of hope, carrying us  through maddening days, allowing  peace and calms echo, life filled with more palpable reason, forces of tenacious and diligent effort that overcome depths of despair.