I hope you are safe and well and are currently adjusting to this new way of living during this devastating global pandemic.
Our daily lives have suddenly turned upside down, like nothing that we have ever experience in our lifetime.
As a bit of light relief above is Mitchell and Webb's chillingly brilliant, and tragically topical - series of sketches on . . . The Event.
A stark depiction of a dystopian landscape perhaps years in the future, or possibly as close as next Wednesday.
As grim news continues to be unleashed every day, with Covid-19 death tolls and infection numbers rising, humor can act as a healing balm, and comedy can serve as mental armor to ensure safe passage through tragic times.
So chew on a protein fudge and prepare to enjoy the show. We have to find some time to laugh, because it enables us to feel more in control, empowered and less afraid.
Clément Duval (1850–1935) was an infamous French
illegalist, propagandist, and anarchist.
At eighteen he seems to have started a "normal" bourgeois life: he
dates a girl from a good family and becomes the father of a child. Shortly
after the birth of his son, he was sent to the front to fight in the
Franco-Prussian war, serving as a member of the fifth infantry battalion, distinguishing himself for his unruly character to
military rules.Twice wounded, he was sent to convalescence in June 1871.
When he returned to Paris he found his parents in serious economic and
physical difficulties, while fortunately his partner and his
26-month-old son had managed to escape the miseries of the war. Called back to the front, he was definitively discharged in 1873, also for serious physical problems (he suffered from rheumatism) which forced him to a long period of hospitalization.
Unable to work, Duval turned to theft.
Duval became an anarchist around 1880 and joined the anarchists of The Panther of Batignolles. At the founding meeting, the group immediately manifested insurrectionist and illegalist ideas , reporting in the October 14 L'Etendard Révolutionnaire (Revolutionary Manifesto) the modalities concerning "the preparation of the hand grenades".
He was found guilty in 1886
death for an expropriation on October 25, 1886 –
a breaking and entering, during which he stole eighteen thousand francs
worth of jewellery and accidentally set fire to the residence of a rich
bourgeois – and the attempted murder of the police sergeant that
tried to arrest him, of theft and attempted murder of a police officer.
The incident would likely have been relegated to the police blotter if
Duval had not defended his act as an anarchist attack—he did not steal
but put into action the theory of individual reclamation of capital, a
“just restitution made in the name of humanity”. He stole not for his
own benefit but to support the Revolution. During his trial, on January 11, 1887 Duval justified his action in a long declaration: “ While I do not recognize your right to pose to me the questions that you have, I have responded to you as the accused. Now,
you are the ones that I am accusing. I do not pretend to defend myself.
To what end would this serve me, in front of those as well armed as
you, having soldiers, cannons, police, and finally an army of
mercenaries as your henchmen? Let's be logical, you are in power,
taking advantage of it, and if you still need the head of yet another
anarchist, take it, and when our day comes we will take this into
account, and I have the firm hope that on that day the anarchists will
rise to the occasion. They will be without pity, because never will they
reach the number of your victims. It is not only you who I am
addressing, but to all of this selfish, cruel, corrupt society, where on
one side we see an orgy and on the other misery! You have accused me of theft, as if a worker that has nothing could be a thief. No,
theft exists only in the exploitation of man by man, in a word by those
who live at the expense of the working class. It was not a theft that I
committed, but a just restitution made in the name of humanity, this
money was to serve for making revolutionary propaganda, through writing
and by the deed. To make newspapers and leaflets to show people the
truth; it has been a long time that they have been deceived. To show the
cure to those who are ill. I busy myself with the chemistry and
prepare what is needed for the day of battle, the day when the workers,
conscious, will leave their torpor, their slump. Because it is time that
this diabolic machination of the old world disappear, to give place to
institutions where all will find a fate that is more fair, which does
not exist but within anarchist communism. Because anarchy is the negation of all authority. And
anarchy is the biggest social wound, because man is not free, and one
must become free to do all that one wants, as long as one does not
infringe upon the liberty of their fellow- of then one would become a
despot in turn. In communism, man gives to society according to
his skills and strengths, and should receive according to his needs. Men
group themselves, find each other according to their character, their
skills, their affinities, taking as an example the group which functions
the best, away from vanity, foolish pride, not seeking to do better
than one's comrade for one can do better for one's self. Out of
this will come the useful masterpieces, people's intelligence no longer
reduced to nothing but capital, because men would be able to evolve
freely, no longer under the despotic yoke of authority, of individual
property. And these groups can mutually exchange their products,
unhindered. Learning, and feeling good about governing themselves,
they will federate and will be nothing more than a big family of
workers associated together for the happiness of all - one for all, all
for one - knowing only a single law: the law of solidarity and
reciprocity. No more gold, base metal for which I am here and
which I despise. Base metal, the cause of all the evils and vices that
afflict humanity. Base metal, with which men's conscience is bought! With
anarchist communism, there is no more exploitation of man by man, no
more of these managers of sweat, no more salesmen with a mercantile
spirit, rapacious, selfish, poisoning, falsifying their products and
their commodities, thereby bringing the degradation of mankind. You
cannot deny this, because you see this all the way to the toy salesmen,
who already poison with these toys the poor little creatures who are
barely born. And these factories, where they play with the workers
lives with an unparalleled shamelessness, like in the factories of
white lead where in only a few months the workers find themselves
paralyzed and soon dead, or in the tinsmiths who in little time become
bald, crippled, weakened in the bones and die in agony! There are
scientists who know that they can replace these unhealthy products with
innocuous ones. The doctors who see these unfortunates twist in such
agony and who leave things to continue, they allow these crimes against
humanity to happen. It is even better, they decorate the heads of the
factories, and they award them honorary awards in memory of the service
they have given to industry and humanity. And how many of these
unhealthy industries are there? The number would be too large to count
them all, not to mention the foul and unhealthy capitalist prisons where
the worker, imprisoned for ten or twelve hours is obligated, for the
sake of conserving his family's bread, to incur the vexations, the
humiliation of an insolent convict, missing only the whip for us all to
recall the heyday of ancient slavery and medieval serfdom. And the
unfortunate miners, imprisoned five or six hundred feet underground,
seeing the light of day no more than once a week and when, tired of so
much misery and suffering, they lift their heads to reclaim their right
to sunlight and to the banquet of life: quickly the army is in the
country side at the service of the exploiters, and we shoot this
scoundrel! The proof doesn't default. And the exploitation of man
by man is nothing compared to that experienced by women. Nature is
already thankless in this regard, to make them sick 15 days of the
month, but we hardly take this into account: flesh of profit, flesh for
fun, this is the fate of women. How many young girls arrive from the
countryside, full of strength and health, only to be enclosed in the
workshops, in rooms where there is room for four and they are fifteen,
twenty, without air, breathing nothing but pollution: hardships they are
forced to self-impose. By six months they are anemic. From there the
sickness, weakness, and dislike of work that is not even sufficient to
meet their needs drives these unfortunates to prostitution. What
does society do for these victims? It rejects them from her breast, like
the leper, puts them on the map, enrolls them with the police and makes
informers of their lovers. And do you think the workers, with
noble and generous sentiments, can see this picture of the human life
unfurling constantly before their eyes without being revolted? He who
feels all these effects, who is constantly a victim of them, morally,
physically, and materially: he who is taken at twenty years old to pay
his taxes in blood, cannon fodder to defend the property and privileges
of his masters: and if he returns from this butchery, he returns maimed
or with a sickness that renders him half crippled, making him go from
hospital to hospital serving therefore as experimental flesh for these
messieurs of science. I know what I speak of, I who have returned from
the carnage with two wounds and rheumatism, a sickness that has given me
four years in the hospital and which prevents me from working six
months of the year. As an incentive, if you do not have the courage to
give them my head as they ask, I will die in prison. And these
crimes are committed in broad daylight, after being plotted in the
corridors of the government, under the influence of a clique, or the
caprice of a woman, while shouting over the rooftops: The people are
sovereign, The Nation is sovereign, and under the buzz words of
patronage - Glory, Honor, Homeland, as if there were several homelands
between all beings living on the same planet. No! The anarchists have but one party, and that is humanity. It
is also, in the name of civilization that exists these distant
expeditions where thousands of men are killed with a savage ferocity. It
is in the name of civilization that we plunder, that we burn, that we
massacre an entire people who demand nothing [more] than to live
peacefully in their homes. And these crimes are committed with impunity
because the law doesn't cover this type of theft and armed robbery, au
contraire: We award medals to those who have led all this carnage,
medals to the mercenaries who have taken part, in memory of their good
deeds, and these unconscious ones are proud to wear this insignia which
is nothing but a diploma of assassination. But on the other hand,
the law severely punishes the worker to whom society refuses the right
to exist and who has the courage to take what is necessary which he
lacks, where there is superfluous amounts. Oh! And then this one is
treated like a thief, brought before the court and finally returns to
end his days in prison. Voila! The logic of our current society. Ah
well, this is the crime that I am here for: for not recognizing the
right of these people to die of plenty while the producers, the creators
of all social wealth, starve. Yes, I am the enemy of individual
property and it has been a long time that I have said, along with
Proudhon, that property is theft. In effect, how does one acquire
property, if not through theft, by exploiting one's fellows, giving
three francs to the exploited for a job which will bring back ten for
the exploiter? And the little exploiters don't do it any differently.
Evidence: I have seen my companion do work as the second hand, two
little detached pieces of lace and pearls, for which she was paid seven
and a half centimes a piece. Fifteen days later, doing the same work as
the first hand, he was paid fifty five centimes a piece. So do you
think that a conscious worker could be so stupid that one the day to
pay the rent, to give back to the same exploiter-owner a part of his
salary which had been given to him? And he will see his wife and
children forced to deprive themselves of things most necessary for life,
while the idle, with this money, goes to the stock exchange or
somewhere else to speculate, play the market on the misery of the
people, or wallow in some fashionable boudoir in the arms of an unwell
girl, who to live is forced to give her flesh to others for pleasure,
despite the disgust that it inspires in her. As I do not want
myself to be made an accomplice of the likes of these dishonorables,
this is why I do not pay rent (for which you reproach me), not wanting
myself to be robbed by this thief, this vulture that we call an owner,
and this is why I had received bad references in the different areas
that I have lived. Good references are only given for the vile and the
groveling, for those who have no backbone. Because the law is in
all things the accomplices of those who own, the throw away the anathema
at the workers who lift their heads proudly, who retain their dignity
by revolting against abuse, injustices, against the monsters who make up
the owning class. But, it has been a long time since I have
reckoned with anything but my conscience, mocking the fools and the
wicked, feeling certain that I have the esteem of men of heart who have
known me closely. This is why I am telling you: you are not condemning
me as a thief, but as a conscious worker, who does not consider oneself
to be a beast of burden, taxable and thanklessly exploited, and who
recognizes the undeniable right that nature gives to all human beings:
the right to existence. And if society refuses us this right, we must
take it with unshaking hands (which would be a cowardice in a society
where all abounds, where everything is in abundance, where what should
be a source of well being is nothing more than a source of misery)...
Why? Because everything is monopolized by a handful of idlers who burst
from indigestion while the workers are continually searching for a loaf
of bread. No! I am not a robber but one who has been robbed,
someone who brings justice, who says that everything belongs to
everyone, and that it is this clear logic of the anarchist idea, which
makes your legs tremble. No, I am not a thief but a sincere
revolutionary, who has the courage of his convictions and who is devoted
to his cause. Within current society, [where] money is the nerve of
war, I would do all that is within my power to procure it to serve this
noble and just cause which would purge humanity of all of the tyrannies,
the persecutions that it has suffered so cruelly. Ah! I have only
one regret, which is to have fallen too early into your hands, this
preventing me from satisfying an implacable hatred, a thirst for
vengeance that I have vowed upon so infamous a society. But what
consoles me is that there are combatants that remain, because despite
all the persecution, the anarchist idea has germinated and the
theoretical revolution is ending, being quickly replaced by the practice
of action. Oh, then, that day - rotten society, governments,
magistrates, exploiters of all kinds, you have lived! Long live social revolution, long live anarchy! Duval was defended by Fernand Labori, a young lawyer committed to his
office, making his first appearance before the high court. He would go
on to defend (along with his own life) Pini and Auguste Vaillant and the
famous Captain Dreyfus, along with Emile Zola. There was much uproar and
popular support for Duval, which probably saved his head. Originally
sentenced to death, his sentence was commuted to deportation and hard
labor, he was dispatched to the notorious Îles du Salut (Salvation
Islands), whose three islands included the notorious Île du Diable
(Devil's Island).
Established by Emperor Napoleon III in 1852. in a period of nearly 100 years over 70.000 men had been sent there. At least ¾ of them died
there,including murderers,
rapists and political prisoners. Around 5000 made it back to France as free men, 9000 tried to
escape, few of them survived. Doomed to a torturous existence,
most never made it off the island. It’s estimated that 40 per cent died
in the first year, and only 5000 survived to see their release date.
Even
the trip to the island was treacherous, and many didn’t make it off the
boat. Some were murdered during fights inside the cages where they were
locked up during the journey. Sulfer and steam were also used on
prisoners who refused to obey orders on the ship.
Duval's companions in misfortune were thieves,
assassins, soulless brutes; the sons of abjection, misery and ignorance.
Lebou, sentenced for having shot his mother; Faure who had killed his
brother for money, then chopped him up and fed him to the pigs; Mentier,
who had killed two old women in order to rape the corpses and other
worthy products of the society which had begotten them. This frightening
section of humanity was paraded on deck for inspection every day, and
met with the mockery, vulgarity and stupid comments of the crew, the
guards, and the civilian passengers.
Duval was not the sort to
accept this treatment willingly. On the first occasion he rebelled,
answering the provocations in the same vein, and thus he had a taste of
what was awaiting him in the penitentiary: naked as a worm, he was
thrown into a water-logged cell where he stayed for two days, unable to
stand upright because the ceiling was too low, and unable to lie down
because the cell was too small. Repression inside repression.
Guyana
was a real hell-hole, a filthy abyss of violence and depravity made
even more intolerable by the hot and humid tropical climate. There the
lie was given to the hypocritical idea that prison can lead to atonement
and repentance. Guyana was synonymous with forced labour, fettered
ankles, rotting food, punishment cells, swarms of insects, scurvy,
dysentery. Redemption? In captivity, men lost their health, their
dignity, they died of disease and want, their bodies and spirits
scarred, humiliated, broken, brutalised, reduced against their will to
the level of animals. The more assertive among them achieved some
squalid privilege at the expense of their companions. The most cynical
curried favour with the guards by crawling and informing on the others.
The weakest went under. The penitentiary was the perverted image of all
the vices, every misery, all the oppression of the society which had
produced it. Because of this, those who had not submitted before, when
they were free, did not accept the idea of submitting now that they were
in a society that was more vicious but otherwise not dissimilar. Duval
(and in general all the anarchists who ended up in prison) was
no exception.
The story of his stay on the terrible island is the
story of his pride of his unbeatable fighting spirit, of the constant
struggle with the situation, not to lose his identity, of his refusal to
fall into the abyss of misery that confronted him. And he succeeded. He
opposed the guard's traps, rebelled against the injustices, helped the
most wretched fellow prisoners, unmasked spies and provocateurs. The
cruellest bullies, the drunken directors, the scum, the murderers, the
mindless brutes that peopled the prison camp, learned to pay him a sort
of respect, certainly worthy of better circles, in which admiration for
his correctness was united with fear for his toughness. A respect that
was merited, if one thinks of the terrible price that had to be paid
for it. After years of
brutality and deprivation, he was finally transferred in 1900 to the penal
colony of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the mainland, and it was from there on April 13 1901
that he put to sea in a fragile canoe along with eight of his
fellow-prisoners. Rowing with all their strength during the night, they
managed to get out of sight of the mainland by daybreak and could put up
their improvised sail and headed north-eastwards, away from French
Guyana, Having survived hurricane-force winds and the accompanying
massive waves, they arrived in Dutch Guyana the following day. There
under false names, the fugitives went into hiding before. Duval himself
began what would end up being a two-year journey, travelling via British
Guyana and Martinique to Puerto Rico, where he spent some months
recovering his broken health. On June 16, 1903, he finally set sail for
the United States, arriving in New York City. There, supported by French
and Italian anarchist comrades, he set up home and began writing his
unfinished memoirs, which were published initially in 1907 in 'Cronaca
Sovversiva'. The memoirs were finally published in Italian (in a
translation by Luigi Galleani) by comrades from 'L'Adunata dei
Reffratari' under the title 'Memorie Autobiografiche' in 1929. In 1980, Marianne Enckell, at C.I.R.A. inLausanne, recovered part of Duval's original manuscript, and had it published as Outrage: An Anarchist Memoir of the Penal Colony. It is a remarkable story of survival by one man’s self-determination,
energy, courage, loyalty, and hope. It was thanks to being true and
faithful to his ideals that Duval survived life in a living hell. He encouraged his fellow prisoners to practice mutual aid,
through their deeds and not just their words. It is a call to action
for mindful, conscious people to fight for their rights to the very end,
to never give up or give in. More than just a story of a life or a
testament of ideals, here is a monument to the human spirit and a war
cry for freedom and justice. According to Paul Albert, "The story of Clement Duval was lifted and, shorn of all politics, turned into the bestseller Papillon." . Despite all the deprivations he endured in the Bagne de la Guyane
française colony and the damage it wreaked on his health, Clément Duval
lived to the ripe old age of 85, dying in Brooklyn on March 25, 1935.
See Outrage: An Anarchist Memoir of the Penal Colony by Clément Duval (translated by Michael Shreve), PM Press, 2012.
Devil's Island :The earthly hell of thousands of prisoners
The day is still
Memories call,
Birds cheerfully sing
As deadly virus spreads,
Around me flowers
Spread in splendid array,
Raise their heads
On fine Spring day.
Silence is golden
As if in a dream,
Nothing intrudes
It almost feels supernatural,
Though sadness whispers
Deep in the undertones,
We are made strong by Love
Across the globe, daily shared.
We are facing a strain
Alone, but together,
Facing new beginnings
As another day grows,
NHS workers on the frontline
Bravely risking life and limb,
The sun at least shining down
Butterflies fluttering, raising novel hope..
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal
name of the Chilean poet-diplomat and
politician Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto ,who has been hailed as one of the greatest poets of Latin America. He's certainly a favourite of mine. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 10
years old. He wrote in a variety of styles,
including surrealist poems, historical epics,
erotically charged love poems such as the ones in
his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of
Despair (1924). His epic masterpiece , Canto General was published in 1950. .He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1971.
From his twenties into his thirties, he was not a man of politics. The turning point in his political development came in 1936 with the execution in 1936 by a fascist militia of the leftist Federico Garcia Lorca, a fellow poet and dear friend. Thenceforth, Neruda turned anti-Fascist, which in the calculus of the Spanish Civil Wat meant that he became a Communist. He maintained this ideological position for the rest of his life.
When in 1973 Augusto Pinochet instigated a coup d'etat against the regime of Marxist President Salvador Allende of Chile, Neruda was a prominent target. The circumstances of his death indicate that he had been poisoned, probably on Pinochet's orders. Neruda died soon after he had been injected in the stomach by a doctor..
With currently nowhere to go, nothing to do, streets empty, sky
quiet, but for the sound of birds. I've been finding solace in a beautiful poem called “Keeping
Quiet” written by Neruda in the 1950;s and published posthumously in the 1974 bilingual collection Extravagaria,. his words reflecting our current world, that sees the global population getting withdrawn into itself by pandemic, as humans step back and
focus on surviving day by day..
So rare is real silence that many people cannot even tolerate it. The
void of silence must be filled with sound to keep ourselves from
ourselves. In these days of contemplation and increasing self awareness, Neruda's poem acts like a message for our times. In the poem Neruda wishes for a profound silence and stillness that would alleviate the sadness caused by a lack of self understanding and the threat of self destruction.
The poet begins with counting twelve urging everyone to be still. He chose
‘twelve` for several reasons. ‘Twelve’ hints at the twelve hours of a day which
rules our life. ‘Twelve` refers to twelve zodiac signs believed to be the
controlling forces of our lives.‘Twelve` refers to twelve months of a year and if
we believe numerology its the digit of peace and prosperity. ‘Twelve` even may be
aimed for a preparation for all to be ready to plunge into the state of silence.
The poet warns us that his
message of silence should not be
confused with total inactivity or
inertia. He further clears that his
message does not have any affinity
with death even. His message is aimed
at the way of living. He wants us to
stop a while and feel the calmness so
that a positive introspection is done. As the days ring with uncertainty and fear, who knows, the future might deliver to us a new normal. But for now, we have to step back in order to care for each other. May we all be well, and safe, and free from suffering.May we all know peace and happiness. Please be kind to another.
Keeping Quiet - Pablo Neruda
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let's not speak in any language;
let's stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fisherman in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would not look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about...
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems to be dead in winter
and later proves to be alive.
Now I'll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
.
—from Extravagaria by Pablo Neruda (translated by Alastair Reid, 1974)
Two earlier posts on Pablo Neruda can be found here :-
As U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care with
coronavirus with condition said to be improving, and receiving “excellent care” at St Thomas’
Hospital in London where he is being treated.On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to legendary journalist and film-maker John Pilger about the Coronavirus (COVVID-19) pandemic. He discusses the fact that the Conservative government was warned about shortages leaving the NHS vulnerable in pandemics 4 years ago, the damage privatisation has done to the National Health Service, budget cuts which have seen bed capacities fall to record lows, his criticisms of the Boris Johnson administration’s response to Coronavirus, the lack of mass-testing in the U.K. which has been seen in other countries such as Germany, South Korea and China, the government blaming China for the Coronavirus crisis, the threat to Julian Assange’s life as he is denied release from prison as Coronavirus claims its first victim in Belmarsh Prison and more!
April 7th marks the occasion of the 70th
anniversary of the observance of World Health Day. The special awareness
day was established in 1948 by the first World Health Assembly (WHA).
The WHA is the governing body over the World Health Organization (WHO),
the sponsor of World Health Day.
As a part of its foundation, WHO created a definition of health that hasn’t needed to be altered since:
"Health is a a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
The organization’s team, headquartered in
Geneva, Switzerland, has worked to advance health through the last
70-plus years. More than 7,000 work for the World Health Organization
across 150 countries.
Typically,
the WHO “organizes international, regional, and local events” for World
Health Day devoted to a selected theme.This year’s World Health Day theme couldn’t be more apt as it is
dedicated to honour the fundamental role nurses and midwives play in the health system, across the globe. However, given the current Coronavirus pandemic, the day is likely to
be observed primarily, if not exclusively, via digital media, but amid this world pandemic with incalculable consequences for humankind, the
invaluable contribution these roles play is as apparent as ever, after all without them there would be no COVID-19 response.
The WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. By issuing prompt action with COVID-19, WHO spurred nations to develop
intense action plans to help contain the novel coronavirus. As the coronavirus continues to spread across 200+ countries and
territories, with more than a million cases diagnosed and significant
loss of life, the ability to respond by limiting transmission, keeping
vulnerable populations safe, and maintaining a functional health system
will determine the speed of recovery in each country. Unfortunately,most countries are ill-equipped to respond to a pandemic of this scale. Part of this can be attributed to shortages and limitations of the nursing workforce.
As the pandemic sweeps the globe nurses are on the front lines of the response and are going above and beyond to keep health systems functional.Physically
and mentally exhausted, nurses are working around the clock to provide
care, putting themselves and their families at risk of infection. And
they’re doing so in a setting where personal protective equipment supplies are dwindling.
Even before the crisis, the global nursing workforce was not growing fast enough to meet universal health coverage targets and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Although the global shortage of nurses slightly decreased from 6.6
million in 2016 to 5.9 million in 2018, almost 90% of the deficit is in
low- and lower-middle-income countries. Here the number of trained
nurses is barely keeping pace with population growth. Health emergencies
exacerbate these imbalances and put further stress on the existing
health workforce. Nurses are frequently the first and highest-level provider for primary care. They are essential to expanding delivery of health services to remote populations.Evidence shows that nurses are also instrumental in improving health sector productivity. and patient outcomes, and they are less expensive to train and deploy
than other professional health workers. Investing in the nursing
workforce presents a triple return on health, economic growth, and
gender equity.
The global health organisation, along with its partners, will make a
series of recommendations to strengthen the nursing and midwifery
workforce worldwide.
According to the WHO, a strengthened
workforce of nurses and midwives is significant to ensure that everyone
gets the healthcare they need and for countries to achieve their
“national and global targets related to universal health coverage,
maternal and child health, infectious and non-communicable diseases
including mental health, emergency preparedness and response, patient
safety and the delivery of integrated, people-centered care, amongst
others”.
World Health Day comes this year at a time when the
entire globe is struggling to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. Prioritizing and protecting the health care workforce is critical now
— not only because their own lives are at risk, but also because
patients rely on them to continue providing care. As the coronavirus continues to spread in the weeks and months ahead the world is at risk of exhausting our nurses at a time when we need them most. It's incredibly important for us to honor and show gratitude
towards all of the people working at the hospitals, that have to continued to go to work when a lot
of people around the world are staying at home and they’re putting
themselves at risk every single day to go into the hospitals and be
around people that have the Coronavirus. They’re also working incredibly
long hours. I imagine their stress levels are through the roof. It's so important for us to celebrate these
people that are doing things that I can’t imagine during this time. The Covid -19 pandemic has bought to plain sight the burden these care givers carry as they work so hard to ensure the rest of us enjoy good health and has exposed the fragile health system that we have been previously been taking for granted.
A lot of us feel helpless at this present time. We feel helpless for our own
health. We may feel more helpless than ever being in our homes and
isolated from one another. What we can do is turn our
attention away from the daily superficial things that we may be used to
doing and reflect on what’s most important to us and how we can
contribute to society.So today let's celebrate the nurses, midwives and all health workers who are heroically on the COVID-19 frontline, take a moment to thank them and show them your appreciation. for keeping us healthy.They are your neighbors, friends, and family. The majority of frontline
health workers are women. Without them, there would be no health
services for millions of families worldwide.They are the backbone of effective health systems and often come from the very communities they serve. Let’s remember
that now more than ever, we must play our part, too, and do all within
our power to keep critical healthcare workers safe. This is not only the right thing to do, we owe it to them today and everyday.
Before lockdown often seeked forms of isolation
Beyond the hiss and roar of civilization.
I'd sit by windows open, watch the shadows creep
As the moon sailed in and out of clouds,
And as the night grew ever deeper
Would listen to the hooting of owls,
I'd lie and wonder, find peace among the darkness
Instead of feeling locked up, thinking there was no way out.
I'd wait for a lover to call, with a key of their own
To deliver the taste and milk of human kindness,
After times sometimes got filled with hopelessness
Would arrive and fill my heart with gladness,
Leading me from despair to hope
As the skies gleamed and the trees swayed,
Penetrating my senses with smiles so radiant
Whispering secrets, releasing calming scent.
Sometimes cool or intense as fire
Solving problems, as incense dispersed,
Outside on the streets,voices heard dearly
Tempered by the Sun's warm embrace;
Now the air is thick with quietness
The whole world seems to be in mourning,
But they say there's a God somewhere
Beyond the silence, I can almost hear her laughing.
Tony Benn spoke out about the greedy among us, the multinationals, against wars for profit. A champion of the abolition of the monarchy who supported any strike that was going. he stood shoulder to shoulder with us all. with unfaltering belief and abiding determination, with his voice clearly saying that the powerful should always be held to account.
He was one of the most important figures on the socialist left in
Britain and there was hardly ever been an
important working class gathering that did not tried to
secure Benn as a speaker. And whenever possible he would speak.
He was for decades the most independent-minded, powerful and
passionate voice at Westminster, and the man whose
crusading zeal led to the new law which allowed him to renounce his own
peerage and return to the House of Commons.He utterly ignored his own personal prospects in order to get his message across.
Tony was an inspiration to a whole generation of socialists and activists whose radical vision of a better, fairer society continues to inspire today.He was a rare breed indeed, who offered genuine ideas, based on unwavering principles and convictions. A man of great honesty and integrity. The world remains poorer without his warm spirit.
We must continue his deeds, set about building a genuine alternative to capitalism. On the torch of his belief in a better world and his determination , there lies a world where politics is not the language of brute force.
With his articulated voice Tony Benn delivered a vision of the possible, a tireless fighter for peace, justice and equality his legacy remains as strong as ever.
"There is in every human heart from the beginning of time there have been two flames burning, the flame of anger against injustice and the flame of hope that you can build a better world. And those two flames are burning in our hearts today, in the hearts and minds of millions of people. " - Tony Benn
Dare to be a Daniel, was the title chosen by Tony Benn for
his early memoir, the first lines of the following poem are from an old
salvation Army hymn that had been sung to him by his parents. I try to
keep faith, dare to be different.
Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone,
Dare to have a purpose firm,
And dare to let it know.
Dare to stand with the voiceless,
the occupied daily denied,
stand shoulder to shoulder,
with devoted words of meaning,
committed breaths carrying no fear.
Seed the earth with love,
persistent grains of freedoms cry,
move forward with language of hope,
in blazing movements of united flow.
Seek out the hallmarks of truth and justice,
drink from the vessels of life,
keep faith as our changeless songs hum out,
in fearless cry, together we right their wrongs.
On the breeze, our voices lift,
for tomorrows bright sun to shine again,
leave footprints by rivers' wave of friendliness,
in flows of solidarity and stealth.
I’m
seeing a lot of sympathetic ‘he’s only human!’ ‘he’s doing the best he
can!’ ‘aww he’s clapping for the NHS, he’s good at heart’ type posts for our Prime Minister 'Bojo the Clown ' Johnson so
I’ve compiled a list of reminders why you should NOT feel sorry for Johnson (or any Tory for that matter) at this time of national crisis :
1, He received early
warnings from the World Health Organisation of the severity of COVID-19
and the need for immediate social distancing/lockdown measures and
ignored them, instead telling us to wash our hands to the tune of ‘happy
birthday’. Lives will be lost due to his inaction.
2. His slow
actions in implementing a lockdown have set us weeks behind other
European countries; countries where doctors are now forced to supply
respirators only to those most likely to survive as they simply don’t
have the resources to treat everyone. Our NHS is pushed to its limit
now, weeks before our case numbers are due to hit peak. He has slowed
our progress and risked the collapse of the NHS when we need it most.
3, He scoffed at the mention of ‘closing pubs’ and ‘employing police to
the streets’ DAYS before implementing these procedures. Wondering why
people didn’t take the sudden lockdown seriously?
4. Lockdown and
forced closures occurred after St Patrick’s day - many went out to
celebrate regardless of the virus panic because Johnson failed to force
closures of public spaces in time.
5. He told people to ‘stop
going the pub’ before forcing pubs/bars/restaurants/cafes to close,
meaning businesses couldn’t claim on their insurance. Your favourite
local independents probably won’t survive this.
6. He brazenly
ignored expert advise to brag about shaking hands (?) with patients -
this sent mixed messages to the public and gave the ‘it’s just a bad
cold!’ crew validation. Why practice social distancing if the PM isn’t
going to?
7. The Tory party has a track record for drastically
cutting NHS funding, leaving it on the brink of collapse. Tories stood
outside no.10 last night and clapped for the NHS - Tories also clapped
the day they voted against giving NHS workers a pay rise.
8. The
workers his party deemed ‘unskilled’ are now deemed ‘key workers’,
risking infection daily to keep the country afloat for - in almost all
cases - no extra pay.
9. His refusal to protect construction
workers’ wages is leading to overcrowded building sites, risking
infection for workers and their families - this is NOT essential work.
10. That £350 million promised to the NHS by Brexit campaigners - the face of which was Boris himself - where is it???
11. Jeremy Corbyn produced redacted documents indicating that the Tories were essentially selling the NHS - Johnson did not deny this.
12. He made fun of Corbyn’s ‘magic money tree’ claiming funds to help
house the homeless and improve the NHS simply didn’t exist. By Thursday,
all homeless in the country are expected to be housed and 80% of wages
paid to support businesses through the pandemic.
13. They stood by and watched as billionaire scumbag Richard Branson successfully sued the NHS.
14. He lied about parking fees for NHS staff being necessary - it took a GLOBAL PANDEMIC to get them free parking.
15. He reduced public transport operations before offering wage
subsidies and forcing closures, leading to dangerously overcrowded buses
and trains.
16. Remember the NHS nurses and doctors sobbing on
your timelines, begging that you don’t vote for the Tories and their
cuts? We’re paying for failing them with our lives and theirs.
17. He callously went for the herd immunity strategy to ‘protect the
economy’, with the elderly and sick paying the price. Johnson knew he
was experimenting with lives, telling us that ‘many more families are
going to lose loved ones before their time’. Many of these lost lives
would have been preventable.
18. When Johnson developed a cough and fever he got a test for the new coronavirus. Most other Britons wont be offered one.
His government is now under fire for failing to keep its promise to increase the amount of testing being done for COVID- 19. Wednesday was the biggest day to day rise yet in deaths among the virus, to 2,352.
The death total in Wales is now 98 with an increase of 29 in the last 24 hours. The UK governments target for 10,000 tests a day was again missed with 9,793. tests performed. 4,234 of those were positive. It is now more than clear, that Johnson will be remembered for his handling of Covid-19.
As the coronavirus crisis carries on, people dying every day. While we mourn who has passed, please keep strong and try and stay safe, stay at home to stop coronavirus from spreading.
And remember that thanking Johnson for his present leadership is like thanking a thief for returning your empty purse after stealing all the money out of it. Coronavirus wasn’t preventable but the rapid spread of it and the criminal underfunding of the NHS was. Remember to hold him accountable when this is all over.
, on
31st March 1990 people took to the streets of London and fought
back against Margaret Thatchers' hated and controversial ideological driven 'Community Charge', which was first introduced in Scotland in 1989, and the following year the flat rate tax was then
introduced in England and Wales in 1990, leading to a massive backlash, and widely condemned at the time by social campaigners as it meant the rich now paid the same rate of tax as the poor. The main objections were the fact that the same amount
was paid by everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, and that
liability was determined by being on the electoral roll. Thus it was
dubbed the 'Poll Tax'. Thatcher was famously stubborn, and refused to reconsider.
She should have, because ,the introduction of the poll tax was widely
unpopular from the outset, and increased when tax rates set by many
local councils turned out to be much higher than initially predicted resulting in Thatcher's increased unpopularity. Local groups opposed to the tax , known as Anti-Poll Tax Unions sprung
up across Britain, encouraging non payment, organising protests, and
resisting bailiffs. But I
remember the
Labour Party at the time shamefully announcing at their 1988 conference that they would not
support those who
refused to pay.
However despite of this failure a number of groups were created by activists on the left to support the
non-payment of the tax and assist those who experienced legal troubles
as a result of non-payment. The most important of these groups was the
All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation (ABAPTF), organised by Militant,
which used the local trade unions to help build a campaign of
non-payment. The Socialist Workers Party, the other major far left
organisation in Britain at the time, had a much more ambivalent attitude
towards non-payment and the ABAPTF, which allowed Militant to become
the dominant group campaigning against the Poll Tax. Outside of the
Trotskyist far left, several anarchist groups also supported
non-payment, especially the Anarchist Communist Federation who produced a
pamphlet called Beating the Poll Tax (ACF 1990). People were encouraged not to stump up the money under the slogan "Can Pay, Won't Pay."
On this day, over 250,000 people sweeped into London, for many people it was not a case of wanting to demonstrate, it was
a case of having too. There was no choice, this cruel tax would have
seriously impacted on peoples lives.Most people on the day of
this demonstration, arrived unaligned - ordinary people, families,
pensioners, the unemployed, students, black and white, all united as
one to fight against this immoral tax.
The
overriding opinion of the time,is that what started as a peaceful
protest, with an almost carnival feel to it against an illegal tax was
quickly turned into a bloody battle by uniformed thugs acting under
Thatcher's orders, with aided and abetted by agent provocateurs.Police shut an over-full Trafalgar Square at 2.30pm and blocked off
either end of Whitehall, leading to a mass sit-in near the entrance to
Downing Street. After requests to move along were ignored, they began
to arrest demonstrators.
At 4pm, the use
of charged mounted police aggravated the situation, leading to
many peaceful bystanders with heads streaming with blood. A very
frightening experience. as mounted police began to push marchers out to the corners of
the square, skirmishes began. Police vans were struck and officers were
pelted with building materials, while a fire broke out at the adjacent
South African embassy.
Later, police pushed demonstrators out of Trafalgar Square, sending some
towards Soho and away from their transport near the river. Some
marchers, angered by police tactics, overturned and set cars alight, and
smashed a number of shop windows.some looting began, and small groups began skirmishing with police, such was the anger and rage
unleashed. I for one will never condemn the anger unleashed on this day in 1990, it is the inevitable result of what happens when you push people to far..
By the end of the day, 339 people were arrested (mainly for public order
offences) and 86 people were injured. Out of 2,198 police officers on
duty, 374 of them had been injured, with 58
requiring hospital treatment. Materially, there were around 250 reports
of property damage as well, the cost of which was later estimated at £400,000.
To this day many people lay the
responsibility of the violence that happened on this day, firmly on the
shoulders of Thatcher and her government. Despite the demonisation
of the protesters in the mass media, people still refused to pay, the
campaign flourished, culminating in millions of people's non payment,
bailiffs were resisted, courts unable to cope because of opposition and
active resistance as more and more people said "can't pay, won't pay"
It would see the Poll Tax becoming uncollectable and unviable and eventually being destroyed, the tax was abolished in 1993 some £2bn in arrears.Thatcher’s popularity was at an all time low, the poll ratings of the
Tories were dire and sections of the Tory Party – representing the
interests of the ruling class – decided she had to go along with her
“flagship” policy. It was Thatcher’s refusal to back down over the poll
tax that ultimately brought her downfall..
Thatcher
resigned in November 1990 and on 21 March the poll tax was abolished , and Thatcher's successor John Major announcing its
replacement by the more progressive council tax, which at least took some account into
peoples ability to pay, which is still in operation to this day. In her own memoirs she cited the
abandonment of the poll tax as “one of the greatest victories for these
people [the working class – especially anti-poll tax campaigners] ever
conceded by a Conservative government.”
Many years later, the same simmering resentment towards the
Conservative Government still exists. It seems that the tories have
still not learnt from their past mistakes,with the introduction of , universal credit and other horrors. The resistance to
the Poll Tax is a reminder to all people who say it is impossible to
fight back and that with clear. purpose and united mobilisation, it is possible to defeat the forces of reaction
.