#Worldwide #Information #Blogger #LucSchrijvers: #Update: #anarchist #information from all over the world - FRIDAY 23.05.2020

Today's Topics:

   
1.  Movimento de Organização de Base - Rio de Janeiro: ANOTHER
      SOLIDARITY ACTION TO THE NO-CEILLESS (pt) 
      [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #305 - Industry,
      Pharmaceutical industry: how we can socialize it (fr, it,
      pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  Britain, wessex solidarity: Initial reactions to corona
      pandemic, from the south of England. (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  AWSM.nz: Herd Immunity (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  solfed.org.uk: Reduced Life = Reduced Work (The Work/Life
      Balance) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  Britain, anarchist cmmunist group ACG: Stormy Times Ahead
      for the British Establishment (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
7.  ait russia: "Anti-quarantine" protests in Germany and
      Britain: who and why [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
 8.  Slovakia, priama akcia: Coronary Crisis: Let's Help Each
      Other [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
9.  US, black rose fed: Our Lives Are Essential, Capitalism Is
      Not (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
10.  Britain, AFED, organise magazine: Riot Medicine | Knowledge
      Exchange (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1


This last Saturday, the 16th, we take to the Antônio Louro Occupation, affiliated with the Internationalist Front of the homeless, donations
of cleaning and personal hygiene material. It is essential at this time of a pandemic that the most vulnerable populations receive as much
solidarity as possible, whether through food, as we already take on other occasions for this and other occupations; either through inputs
necessary for hygiene and sanitation in the places of villa. ---- Materials were purchased with the money we received from donation in our
campaign! If you want to contribute, the data is in the last attached image! ---- ?? PLANTING SOLIDARITY, WE'LL HARP A NEW WORLD! ---- FOR A
WORTHY LIFE!
Base Organization Movement - Rio de Janeiro
Women in the Resistance
Student Popular Resistance - RJ
Anarchist Federation of Rio de Janeiro - Brazilian Anarchist Coordination - CAB

https://www.facebook.com/organizacaodebaserio/posts/655116615071120

------------------------------

Message: 2



It is an essential sector for producing, in large quantities, screening tests and a molecule which would give results against the virus. It
is also used, outside the context of an epidemic, to produce vaccines and medicines against chronic diseases for example. Leaving it in the
hands of private interests is going towards new disasters. ---- It is because the pharmaceutical industry is subject to the law of profit
that its production has been outsourced, notably to China and India, in order to lower wages and the conditions of control over medicines
[1]. ---- India supplies 20  % of world demand. However, the Indian State decided, after detecting six cases of coronavirus, to restrict the
export of 26 drugs (antibiotics, paracetamol, an antiviral ...) to secure its supply [2]. Drug supply chains have thus been considerably
complicated, the liberal doctrine of just-in-time inventory management helping nothing.

But this does not date from the pandemic. In a decade, the stock shortages of drugs in France have multiplied by 12 [3]: anti-infectives,
vaccines, treatments against epilepsy or Parkinson's, anticancer, today feared by chronic patients whose associations have signed a forum
with scientists and CGT and Solidaires officials [4]. The relocation of the production of drugs in France or in Europe is currently under
debate. But as long as this production remains subject to the law of profit, it will not be enough.

French companies will seek to maximize their profits through other means than offshoring: by focusing on profitable drugs, by managing
just-in-time stocks, by changing the formulas for filing new patents [5], or by doing lobbying so that the most expensive treatments are
reimbursed and therefore prescribed [6]. Sanofi is already taking advantage of the crisis by announcing the outsourcing of 6 of its 11
European sites (ie more than 1,000 employees in France and 3,000 in Europe), supposedly to better combat shortages, actually to get rid of
the less profitable drug producing sites [7].

Thirsty for profit, the giant Sanofi is chaining restructuring plans, especially in research, where 2,500 jobs have been cut in ten years.
© Peter Sondermann
What popular control means
Getting this industry out of the market by socializing it is therefore a matter of public health. Socializing does not simply mean
requisitioning it during the crisis: in fact, reorganizing a largely outsourced production is not going to happen overnight.

Socializing does not mean nationalizing, in the sense that the state would become majority or even sole shareholder, but where one would
remain within the framework of capitalist competition, imagining that the state in control, "  it will be less worse  ". We can see where
the case of Air France can lead us, which the government plans to renationalise because the company is in difficulty ... by announcing that
it will sell it once the crisis has passed - and probably after having injected a lot public money, which means socializing losses and
privatizing profits !

Socializing, to start with, means expropriating the capitalists who own the companies in the sector. Without compensation it goes without
saying. They have taken sufficient advantage of the arms and brains of their employees and lived on the back of Social Security. But
socializing does not mean competition between self-managed companies, which would certainly lead to similar abuses.

The organization of work would be the responsibility of the workers, but the finality of research and production would be under popular
control, through democratic planning. The population, through its representatives (dismissable and / or drawn by lot, representatives of
patient associations) would decide, in consultation with the socialized sector, the priorities of research and production. An investment
fund financed by social security contributions, on the social security model, would free this sector from the law of profit [8]. The
usefulness of each profession [9], of each site and of its possible ecological conversion could thus be questioned.

Despite the fact that Sanofi scuttles its research sector and made a net profit of 2.8 billion euros in 2019, the group receives 150 million
Research tax credits per year.
© Randy Monceaux
Do not stick to this sector
But ultimately, this reasoning can be applied to all companies. Whether we like it or not, it is essential. The whole economy is
intertwined: pharmaceuticals depend on the supply of raw materials [10], machinery, logistics, etc. However, the socialization of part of
the economy would necessarily result in retaliatory measures on the part of the capitalists: penalties from the European Union or customs
barriers, up to the example of a coup d'etat as in Chile in 1973. One could imagine the transport employers refusing to deliver socialized
companies, or that of chemicals refusing to deliver consumables, on the pretext of the disorder caused by socialization.

But this overlap is also international. Certain drugs require collaboration between countries, especially when a small number of patients
are concerned. It will therefore be necessary to push for socialization across borders, and break the common dependence on private interests.

Socializing only part of the economy is not sufficiently coherent. But in the context of a pandemic that has opened the eyes of many people,
one can gain a majority of ideas on the need to socialize the health sector and the pharmaceutical industry. An intermediate objective
before going towards the general socialization of the means of production.

Grégoire (UCL Orléans)

© François Terrier

Validate

[1] A third of the medicines produced in India are non-compliant ( Le Monde, January 11, 2018).

[2] "  Covid-19: India restricts the export of 26 drugs and APIs  ", Industriepharma.fr, March 3, 2020.

[3] "  Coronavirus: the supply chain of medicines questioned  ", RFI, March 6, 2020.

[4] "  Shortage of vital medicines, tests and equipment: the call of personalities !  ", To find on the Mediapart blog of Pauline Ondeix,
April 7, 2020.

[5] As was done with Levothyrox in 2017, which led to a wave of unwanted side effects in patients.

[6] Simon Gouin, "  Lobbying: how the pharmaceutical industry is storming the European institutions  ", Bastamag.net, May 24, 2019.

[7] "  The great bluff of the Sanofi group  ", L'Humanité, April 16, 2020.

[8] On this point, and in this context - socialization of a particular industrial sector outside the global revolution of the economy and
society advocated by the UCL - our ideas can join those of Bernard Friot, "  La contribution, emancipation lever  ", Le Monde diplomatique,
February 2012.

[9] We are thinking here of parasitic professions such as that of medical representative.

[10] It is for example the insufficient supply of reagents which today limits the production of screening tests. "  Reagents at the heart of
the lack of tests  ", Liberation, March 29, 2020.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Industrie-pharmaceutique-comment-on-peut-la-socialiser

------------------------------

Message: 3



The most striking aspect of the corona pandemic has been the inequality of information, which follows naturally from the inequality of
everything else. Most Working Class people are too busy flogging their bodies and souls to pursue a balanced education in the
ever-accelerating fund of scientific discovery. This belongs to all humanity but is kept the preserve of the few precisely because of the
power it conveys. Some will find on the Internet the virtual equivalent of the bloke down the pub. Rumours abound and fact is half-digested.
---- In the absence of previous experience and relevant theory the ‘citizen' - elevated from serf in recognition of the agency we suddenly
all have - has to rely on experts, really no more than political appointees, for advice, which is then filtered through the politicians with
their political agendas.

We recall Professor David Knutt, one of the most accomplished academics who ever worked for a government, being fired simply for writing an
article in the Lancet that contradicted the government's implausible justification for its drugs policy, a cascade of learned folk resigned
in disgust. Capitalism cannot provide us with accurate information any more than it can provide us with clean air and water when it is more
lucrative to pollute it.

We are left with stark choices: to trust the hapless buffoons who somehow found themselves in government; to scream for them to exert more
coercion on our fellows; to follow the herd in an orgy of virtue-signalling, or to inform ourselves, trust our own judgement and work in
practical solidarity and mutual aid networks formed of trusted affinity groups. The recent flirtation with Jeremy Corbyn has left many
people still harbouring the delusion that politicians can solve problems in the real world, or that any utilitarian solutions could emerge
from under the vast burden of capital accumulation and hierarchical power.

The U.K.'s health minister Matt Hancock has no relevant qualifications whatsoever; he's a disaster going somewhere to happen. An economist
at the bank of England in 2005 he was given responsibility for the housing market, two years before the housing market took out the global
banking system. Never mind, the wealth of the global elite has increased steadily year on year ever since, as ours has fallen in like
measure. His latest task of overseeing the pillage of public health resources having been superseded, he has been elbowed to the sidelines
by the grandstanding pfeffle.

Above all we must approach this as a Class for ourselves, social distancing is a control measure aimed at the poor. Don't be deluded the
rich are cooking their own dinner or cleaning their own shithouses, they are well insulated, they don't have to go to the shops or the
factory and they won't run out of bog roll. They don't have to sit on public transport for hours to work in districts where they cannot
afford to live. Etc. Etc. It was the rich who spread this so fast, with their pointless ‘business travel', cruises, annual skiing trips and
‘exotic' holidays in other people's misery.

They now feign concern for elderly and infirm members of our Class after years of slaughtering them in droves through poverty and neglect,
but what they are actually terrified of is the collapse of the power structure, the house of cards on which they perch their idle arses. As
of this morning there have been 7 confirmed cases in the whole of Dorset, I've been told not to go to my local boozer but must make a
thirty-five mile round trip daily to work in a factory in the next county - where there are 87 cases - or I won't get paid. Adjusted for
population that's at least four times the risk. We hear the World Health Organisation - a failure in terms if ever there was one - praise
the Chinese state for its diligence in basically quarantining people at gunpoint. For the life of me I can't see a qualitative difference
between dying of a disease or getting shot by the cops, neither seems healthy to me.

The Agenda of the liberal-bourgeois-military-industrial state is to preserve the status quo, to maintain the hierarchy of power relations
hitherto enforced by property, capital and debt. Everything else, including the death toll, is a secondary consideration to the likes of
Boris de pfeffle Johnson, whose career as an amusing after-dinner speaker got interrupted by a spell as Prime Minister. Be ruthless in
rejecting notions of national unity across the classes. In the long run we're all dead, as Keynes put it, but that doesn't mean we have any
commonality of interest in the interim. The money economy is not our problem and we'll not lift a finger to save it. People don't need jobs or

https://wessexsolidarity.wordpress.com/mal-contents-rants/initial-reactions-to-corona-pandemic-from-the-south-of-england/

------------------------------

Message: 4



Swedish authorities have not officially adopted "herd immunity" (which most scientists believe is achieved when more than 60 percent of the
population has had the virus!). But "herd immunity" is no doubt the government's strategy in keeping schools, restaurants, and most
businesses open. ---- In any case, speaking at a press conference in April in Geneva, WHO epidemiologist Dr Maria van Kerchief stated that
indication of antibodies in somebody does not equate to their immunity from the disease. ---- Sweden's anti-social policies have given
comfort to the far right, to populist politicians like Boris Johnson and neo-fascist social engineers like his chief adviser Dominic
Cummings. It has been used as a model by the corporations, banks and even the trade unions for a premature reopening of factories,
businesses and schools.

By adopting the social-Darwinist strategy of "herd immunity", whether more-or-less openly as in Sweden or disingenuously as in the U.S. and
the U.K., the U.S., Sweden, the U.K. and several EU states have derogated on any realistic plan to stop the spread of this deadly disease.
Whatever temporary effect they have had, the lockdowns in the U.S. and Europe have not been used to implement the WHO's stipulated essential
measures of testing, quarantining and contact tracing (excepting to some extent Austria and Germany) which is the only effective method
available to stem the Covid-19 tide; and, moreover, which has already been used effectively in China (4634 deaths, to 18 May) and South
Korea (263 deaths, to 18 May). Compare the U.S. (90978 deaths, to 18 May) and the U.K. (34636 deaths, to 18 May) the top two highest death
rates globally.

Failure to implement testing, according to the sacked U.S. health official, Dr Rick Bright, has led to the egregious death toll from the
Coronavirus in the U.S. Bright stated he was ousted from a high-level scientific post after warning the Trump administration to prepare for
the pandemic. "Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be the darkest
winter in modern history," Bright stated.

Rather, like many E.U. countries and the U.K., it's becoming business as usual in spite of the alarmingly increasing number of deaths
worldwide. Abandoning the only measures capable of containing the disease, testing, isolation and tracing, and simultaneously forcing the
reopening of factories and businesses will ensure (cf the warnings of Dr Anthony Fauci) a tsunami of Covid-19 deaths in the near future.

The alarming rise in Covid-19 infections in Ireland's meat processing plants, staffed mainly by immigrant labour living in unhealthy
overcrowded accommodation and working in the most appalling conditions, is already a reality.

This was executive director of the WHO's health emergencies programme Mike Ryan's response at the briefing on 11th May when asked about the
policy of "herd immunity":

"Humans are not herds. Herd immunity is a term taken sometimes from veterinary epidemiology where people are concerned in animal husbandry
with the overall health of the herd. An individual animal in that sense doesn't matter from the perspective of the brutal economics
of[that]decision-making."

The term ‘herd immunity' is meant to be used for vaccines, not illnesses - which can kill people.

The use of the term, Ryan said, "can lead to a very brutal arithmetic which does not put people and lives and suffering at the center of
that equation."

"This idea that maybe countries who had lax measures and haven't done anything will all of a sudden magically reach some herd immunity, and
so what if we lose a few old people along the way. This is a really dangerous, dangerous calculation."

These words reveal the deepening crisis in our so-called civilisation. Measures that would not look out of place in Adolf Hitler's Germany
are being openly discussed and adopted by western liberal democracies.

Patrick Carey

https://freedomnews.org.uk/herd-immunity-a-strategy-for-mass-death/

------------------------------

Message: 5



NHS shift work health health and safety cardio vascular disease mental health issues lower immunity cancer ---- Applause is lauded at NHS
workers; ideas for re-compensation; a daily service supplement; an increased hourly rate; even a medal for working during the pandemic. Many
of us in the NHS work shifts - day and night - throughout the year. It is not just a virus that killing us, our shift work is too. The World
Health Organisation declared in 2007 that shift work is probably carcinogenic (Straif et al 2007 #1). Studies such as Gu et al (2015 #2)
have shown us that shift work, especially nights increases our risks of cardio vascular disease, mental health issues, lower immunity,
cancer and ultimately our mortality.
Rather than working our life away for minimal financial compensation would we not rather have our life given back? Striking a better work /
life balance: a reduced working week without being financially penalised.

Retention of staff is consistently an issue with the NHS. Allowing us more of our life back could help alleviate this. To cover an already
under staffed NHS we can provide those unemployed with jobs and training in the many different areas.

The NHS was already at a crisis point before the covid-19 pandemic. Our capacity to provide services not meeting the demand of our society
and our patient's needs. We need to invest in our healthcare workforce as well as our healthcare infrastructure. These improvements should
be for everyone and available to everyone. This provides stimulus for our economy and purpose / employment. Jobs are available to many:
ambulance services, engineers, porters, chefs, scientists, support workers, technicians, specialists, doctors, nurses, mental health
practitioners, cleaners, receptionists, pharmacists, administrators, drivers, procurement, builders, maintenance, innovators, programmers to
name but a few. Healthcare affects every arena of life (personal, work, housing, education, food). We should aspire to create the best
healthcare system we can. We should base this healthcare on mutual aid and cooperation between NHS services and between different countries.

We are living and working through unprecedented times. The risks are high now, but they were high before the pandemic. Do not negotiate with
our lives and let us work less without compromise.

Straif, Kurt, Robert Baan, Yann Grosse, Béatrice Secretan, Fatiha El Ghissassi, Véronique Bouvard, Andrea Altieri, Lamia Benbrahim-Tallaa,
Vincent Cogliano, and WHO International Agency For Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group. 2007. "Carcinogenicity of Shift-Work,
Painting, and Fire-Fighting." Lancet Oncology, the 8 (12): 1065-1066.

Gu, Fangyi, MD, ScD, Jiali Han PhD, Francine Laden ScD, An Pan PhD, Neil E. Caporaso MD, Stampfer, Meir J., MD, DrPH, Kawachi, Ichiro, MD,
PhD, et al. 2015. "Total and Cause-Specific Mortality of U.S. Nurses Working Rotating Night Shifts." American Journal of Preventive Medicine
48 (3): 241-252.

http://www.solfed.org.uk/edinburgh/reduced-life-reduced-work-the-worklife-balance

------------------------------

Message: 6



In an accompanying article on the Johnson government's record on coronavirus, we were of the opinion that Johnson's taking on of leadership
roles was a lark, a jolly jape, for him. Now it's not such a lark. ---- In reality Johnson not only has to deliver a Brexit, he also now has
to grapple with the coronavirus and its consequences. ---- On one hand, he has to deal with the reluctance of many workers to return to
unsafe workplaces. He will also have to face the seething anger of health workers, who may increasingly turn to militant action over lack of
PPE equipment, and in the aftermath of a lockdown will pursue struggles over pay and conditions. ---- The recent debacle on May 10th when
Johnson stated that the governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales had been consulted over an easing of the lockdown, when in
actual fact they had not been consulted at all, and were continuing with lockdowns, indicates the increasing fragility of the United
Kingdom, already aggravated by the decision to exit the European Union. This continuing discord will only get worse, with the different
nationalist parties pushing further for devolution and even independence. Even the reactionaries of the Democratic Unionist Party in
Northern Ireland sided with Sinn Fein over Johnson's incoherent message and stated that lockdown should continue. Both Sinn Fein and the DUP
suffered at the last elections, and are aware of dissatisfaction with both parties over their failure to deal with the health crisis. People
are aware that it was a DUP minister of health who brought in wage cuts for nurses, and that with other austerity measures, this has damaged
the NHS in Northern Ireland. The DUP are now tacking away from Johnson to avoid further losses at future elections.

On top of the widening cracks in the UK, the Johnson regime will have to face the looming recession, and indeed economic depression, that
affects not just Britain but the world. This has already massively boosted unemployment figures, and the thought of large numbers of
discontented unemployed would frighten any government. The Bank of England has already announced the worst recession in 300 years.

Leaked documents and a recent announcement from Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, show that the government is hoping to recoup
losses from its coronavirus payouts, by increasing income tax and attacking State pensions. These increases in taxes will not be aimed at
the rich and super rich, but at the mass of the working population. In addition, Sunak has announced that he plans the imposition of a wage
freeze on public sector workers. This will last at least two years. In the present volatile situation, where there is much sympathy for
health workers and other key workers in the public sector, this is a dangerous move by the government. The government is again looking to
punish workers for its own failings, as happened with the economic crash of 2008.

In addition, Sunak announced that the furlough scheme, where the State subsidises the wages of workers laid off by the pandemic, would be
extended by four months. What many have failed to notice is that Sunak said that employers would be asked to contribute more to this scheme.
In reality, this would have employers cutting their losses, and throwing more workers on the dole, exacerbating the already dire situation.

Another key component of the British establishment will also be under threat. In the past, the Queen has clawed back falling public approval
for the monarchy by adopting a more "down with the people" approach. However, the recent unease over Prince Andrew, and the break of Harry
and Megan Markle with the royal family, will be further compounded by the need for the monarchy to self-isolate, given the vulnerability of
its older members, the Queen herself, Philip, Charles. This will cause a return to the old ways of the monarchy, viewed as distant and
aloof. At the moment the Royals are acting, as usual, as the window dressing for the British royal class, with the Queen's recent urging for
national unity in face of the crisis, and recalling the experience of World War Two. However this popularity of the monarchy may well prove
to be a fleeting thing, under the impact of coronavirus.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2020/05/15/stormy-times-ahead-for-the-british-establishment/

------------------------------

Message: 7


The restrictions on freedoms and the strengthening of totalitarian control carried out by almost all governments around the world under the
pretext of "fighting the epidemic" cause widespread discontent and protests in many countries, including Germany and Britain. Unfortunately,
many proponents of social transformation are essentially paralyzed by what is happening, like rabbits mesmerized by a boa constrictor and
protest to the far right. ---- PROTEST IN STUTTGART ---- On May 16, another wave of protests against the restriction of civil liberties
under the pretext of quarantine took place in the cities of Germany. The largest of them took place in Stuttgart. We reprint for
informational purposes an article from a local publication:

"They don't want to miss out on any mouth protection or a muzzle. Thousands of thinkers from the Think Across Initiative came to
Cannstatter-Wazen again. A day full of incidents and surprises.

In the woman's hands is a large red heart-shaped shield. "For peace, freedom and a beautiful future" - it is written on it. And who does not
agree with this? The 68-year-old woman came from Goeppingen, and not for the first time. More than 5,000 permitted demonstrators gathered on
Saturday at Cannstatter-Wazen and next to it for a demonstration against measures in connection with the coronavirus: against forced wearing
of masks, against restrictions on fundamental rights, against all this "unthinkable idiocy", as the enthusiastically received video message
says. However, the circumstances of this demonstration show: the tone is getting sharper, and the dividing gulfs are getting bigger.

A woman with a picture of a heart finds the future not at all beautiful. She is afraid of the state of universal supervision and is
convinced that "we can no longer breathe freely," she says. The powers that be above are "no, I no longer believe a single word of them."
She is surrounded by the same slogans on cardboard sheets: "Factory of Fear Federal Government", "Muzzle duty - stop immediately!" or "For
democracy, without coercion!". Speakers speak of abuse of power, corrupt science, coercion, deceitful media coverage.

"We are a peaceful movement," says Michael Ballweg, organizer of the demonstration and founder of the Think Across Initiative. But this does
not mean that he refuses legal conflict. Next week, he announces, there will be an appeal to the Federal Court. He does not accept that the
city authorities limited the number of participants to the event to 5,000, citing protection from infection. The Stuttgart Administrative
Court failed to convince him on Friday. And the administrative court of appeal, too - on Saturday rejected his complaint.

To circumvent the ban, Ballweg announced the backup plan the day before. Everyone who, due to restrictions, will not be able to get to the
venue of the event, must form groups of 9 people on the spot and declare: "I declare the holding of a spontaneous meeting." In other words,
more participants through the back door. The fact that 500 administrators were ordered to close their mouth and nose, Ballweg sees not as a
defense against the virus, but as an attempt to "split our peace movement and sabotage our organizational concept."

But city officials set clear limits. After the virological chaos a week ago, when 10 thousand participants began to disperse home in groups,
and sometimes even filled paths without masks, this time more was to be done for the virological defense of the non-demonstrating majority.

There were probably omissions. They probably thought that the police would intervene right there. However, she did not have the authority to
do so. This was enough for the president of the land police, Stefanie Hinz, to clarify this in the internal circular. Monitoring hygiene in
public space is "the task of the local police authorities," she said. That is, the task of the city itself. And "transport companies
themselves are encouraged to participate in the obligation to wear a mask."

This Saturday obviously worked. The controllers looked more closely - and more than 60 intruders were immediately detected only on the tram
tracks. They were fined 300 euros. The case of spontaneous gatherings was regulated by the head of the law enforcement agency Dorothea
Koller, with significant support from the head of the police, Hinz. Hundreds of demonstrators were allotted a meeting place at a distance on
Mercedesstrasse. As spectators behind the fence.

But more and more anti-fascist activists walked around the fence. They distributed leaflets that called for "not letting the Nazis and other
right-wingers attend this meeting." Probably more severe blows followed from this environment. On the way to a demonstration near the
stadium on Mercedes-Benz, three participants were attacked by a group of unknowns and were seriously injured. Obviously, they were specially
selected.

The escalation level rose the day before: on Saturday night on Augsburgstrasse in Untertürkheim three trucks that transported technical
equipment for demonstration on Wazen caught fire. The perpetrators of this are unknown, but the left circles suspect. "We have nothing in
hot pursuit," said police spokesman Stefan Keilbach. The police created an investigation team of 10 people - first of all, state security
officers.

The main surprise organizer Ballweg saved in the end. He announced that he would no longer organize major demonstrations. Why? "Because we
created a powerful movement, and everyone should not rely on any major demonstrations, but should finally be active," he says. The movement
goes further, in Germany there are already 72 Think Across Initiatives. On Saturday, protests took place in Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt,
Cologne, Dusseldorf, Dortmund and Dresden. Demonstrations will continue in Stuttgart. And next Saturday? "I have no idea," he says. He has
not yet discussed this with his team.

This has nothing to do with the planned complaint to the Constitutional Court, he says. She is preparing, and "it would be wrong to say that
they will not prepare her." It is about requirements, and this also applies to other demonstrations. But Ballveg himself, obviously, was
already tired of his role: "Now everyone must defend their basic rights under their own responsibility and cannot rely on the fact that
there will always be someone else who will rise"
"(https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.corona-protest-in-stuttgart-streit-um-corona-folgen-wird-heftiger.fd43f309-f9be-4355-a191-041c0e145cbc.html)

The Dilemma of the Left

But what about the German left radicals? Instead of criticizing the authorities for totalitarian violation of freedoms and organizing their
own protest movement, they prefer to reject the protest itself as purely far-right and insane, often justifying restrictive measures, taking
on faith the myths of the "deadly plague of the 21st century" and thereby taking deliberately losing position. About this - a comment from
the left German newspaper Noyes Deutschland:

"For weeks, right-wing conspiracy theorists, esoteric hippies and other" government critics "have committed atrocities in so-called hygienic
demonstrations. They are nonsense about the fact that this information billionaire Bill Gates wants to take over the world and that the
federal government allegedly plans to take compulsory vaccinations against coronavirus. This nonsense, of course, but talk the whole world
about it, and the Tagesschau and other television formats broadcast messages during the most viewed hours, which shows that the
right-wingers in Germany have r hegemony of discourse. The extra-parliamentary left is as far from this as the Moon from the Earth.

As a matter of fact, restrictions on civil rights during the crisis with the coronavirus are a left-wing topic. The hygienic demonstrations
on Rosa Luxemburg's Berlin Square were initially attended by the left. But they allowed themselves to be squeezed out more and more. Now the
left is mobilizing forces for demonstrations against the drift of these alliances to the right - and not only in the capital. The
extra-parliamentary left where it too often found itself in the recent past: on the defensive. She leads defensive battles. She has long
been unable to win points, putting forward their own topics. It used to be different: for example, during demonstrations against Hartz-IV (a
cut in the social insurance system, - aitrus.info) and rallies against the war in Afghanistan. But it was a long time ago.

Christian Clemm
https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1136788.linke-und-hygienedemos-wieder-in-der-defensive.html

And in the UK?

Protests against the violation of rights and freedoms under the pretext of an epidemic in this country are small and gather the most motley
audience. Unfortunately, even here, indignant at the new despotism rush to the other extreme, often denying the existence of an epidemic in
general or building various exotic theories. We provide information on the May 16 protest in Hyde Park in London:

" Activists, including the brother of former Labor leader Jeremy Corbin, were arrested after coming to London's Hyde Park in protest against
the lockdown due to coronavirus in the UK.

Photos from a park in the center of the capital show that around 40 demonstrators gathered Saturday morning.

A representative of the metropolitan police said that 19 people were arrested in the Hyde Park area, and another 10 people received fines on
the spot.

Sitting near the Speaker's Corner in the north-eastern part of the park, the protesters waved banners with the words "It's not about the
virus, but about control" and "There is no new abnormality".

Police took Pearce Corbin handcuffed after taking a megaphone and claiming that 5G and the coronavirus pandemic are related. He said 5G was
increasing the number of people with coronovirus and called the lockdown "a set of lies to brainwash you and keep you in good order." He was
taken after he refused to leave, at the request of a police officer, and refused to provide his details.

50-year-old David Samson, who said he works in finance, said he had come to protest because: "I never thought I'd see civil rights
suppression in my lifetime" because of the "fake virus."

Another demonstrator, 62-year-old Katherine Harvey, said she would like to emphasize "the devastation caused by this lockdown." She stated
that she was forced to close her store on the Columbia Road Flower Market, adding: "The effects of the lockdown are much, much worse than
the virus - mental health, domestic violence, shops closed, theaters, cinemas, restaurants. This is not necessary."

A leaflet promoting the protest called for "no vaccines, no new standards, and no illegal lockdown."

A large number of police also gathered, and each time the arrest of the demonstrator was accompanied by a buzz and repeated cries of "put
Bill Gates in jail." (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/anti-lockdown-protest-hyde-park-a4442461.html)

https://aitrus.info/node/5476

------------------------------

Message: 8



When we have a problem at work and think about how it can be solved, we often encounter obstacles. Sometimes we can handle it quickly, other
times it's hard or we feel over our strength. However, it is almost always true that it is easier when there are more of us and we proceed
together. That is why we turn to you - everyone who wants to actively solve problems in the workplace and share experiences. Let's help each
other. At the same time, we present the first point of our campaign "Coronary crisis: We are not on the same ship!" Dedicated to the
consequences of the pandemic for the workers. ---- Why we came up with this challenge ---- We cannot rely on help from the state and talk
about being together and doing it. Of course we can do it, but with what consequences? When we see what bosses are allowing themselves to do
now, we think a response is needed. As an association, we have been solving problems in the workplace for a long time and we have several
successful disputes behind us.

Of course, we also understand that people feel that they can do nothing. However, we have the opposite experience and we know our strength
when we act together and collectively. Therefore, we would like to encourage you - sometimes it is good to ask for the opinion or help of
someone else.

We have already advised dozens of people. Many times they felt that they had tried everything and it was going nowhere, because the bosses
ignored them anyway or postponed solving the problem. In such situations, we always try to show other possibilities. At the same time, we
have been saying from the beginning that we are not really about providing legal aid (other organizations are doing this), but about solving
problems on their own.

How to proceed

If someone is interested in actively fighting to improve their situation, we will meet and discuss the background of the problem. We will
put together documents that relate to the problem (contracts, payslips, etc.) and if we agree that it makes sense to enter into a dispute,
we plan further steps.

During the dispute, we meet regularly to discuss further action. Even at protests, we are always together - we never act for other people.
In this way, we also gain experience together, thanks to which we can organize more effectively in the future and coordinate more demanding
events.

At the same time, we conduct disputes in the form of direct (protest) actions, which are usually more effective and bring faster results. So
far we have won in all, in which the workers followed the agreed procedure. And we never once had to rely on the courts.

Won disputes

In November 2015, we entered into a dispute with OZ Divé maky over unpaid remuneration to former employee Michal. After three months of
activities, together with him and with the support of people from Slovakia and abroad, we reached the payment of the entire amount of 950 euros.

In May 2016, a dispute with CATO Agency followed over the unpaid wage of a former employee, Martin. The tactics of direct actions took over
again: after less than a month of solidarity activities, the company paid out the amount owed.

In both cases, we collectively handed over a letter of request to the bosses. When they did not meet them within the specified deadline, we
published information about their practices and invited people in Slovakia and abroad to send protest e-mails. We also informed their
partner organizations or clients about their behavior.

These disputes lasted for a few weeks, but the dispute with the Lozano Pub pizzeria in 2017 ended after three days, when the owner paid the
former employee Martin money for an unused vacation, which he owed him almost a year.

In March 2019, we even achieved pay and wage compensation before the dispute began. The owner of one bistro owed former worker Jakub over €
500. 19 days after submitting the request letter, he received them on account thanks to our activities.

CALL ME!

  * If you have a problem at work that you want to actively solve ...

  * If you have managed to solve a problem at work and you want to share your experience ...

  * If you want to know more about how we work ...

... contact us for one of our contacts here: https://www.priamaakcia.sk/kategoria/o-nas-kontakt/ .

We will be happy to spread information about our coronary crisis campaign and share on social networks. The next point will be that it makes
sense to defend yourself against bosses. Coming soon.

Union Direct Action

https://www.priamaakcia.sk/Koronakriza-Pomahajme-si-navzajom.html

------------------------------

Message: 9



A joint statement on the current situation and capitalist back to work push. ---- By Coordinadora de las Américas ---- As the number of
infected and deceased increases during this pandemic, we, the working class, continue to pay for the consequences of Capitalism, its
ambition and maliciousness. Many governments have refused to enact total quarantines, and those who have, have established all sorts of
tricks to ensure the normal functioning of trade and production, forcing us to risk dying from COVID-19, whether through work or hunger,
without income or economic protection to face this crisis and provide for our families. ---- Likewise, we have witnessed the epic image that
has been built around health workers, who are really risking their lives to save others, without adequate protection, sufficient personnel,
and the equipment necessary to truly combat the pandemic. What they call heroism is precarity; appealing to heroic applause for those who
should be able to serve safely. With horror we see how the police and repressive forces that circulate through the streets implementing
control over people have these security elements financed by public spending. In other words, the priority is repression and control of the
population, instead of taking care of and providing the essentials for life.

The working class has to participate in decision-making about this crisis, about who will pay for it, about what measures will be taken in
the territories to deal with it, we cannot simply be spectators at this juncture. In turn, the call is to take care of ourselves, to unite
in these times of estrangement, to express more solidarity and not let go. Only solidarity and mutual aid will allow us to resist.

Statement by Coordinadora de las Américas which includes Black Rose / Rosa Negra - Anarchist Federation (US), Solidaridad (Chile), and
Acción Socialista Libertaria (Argentina).

https://blackrosefed.org/our-lives-are-essential-capitalism-is-not/

------------------------------

Message: 10



Revolutionary action can, quite frankly be quite boring. Hours stood on the picket line or drowning yourself in tea in a occupied cafe,
tent, or treehouse with little to do but natter away and try and ensure you're objectives are met. This however is not always the way and
when the cops turn violent, the terrier boys ambush you or you manage to head off the fash, things get hairy quick. These moments in the
storm, whether intended or forced upon us can be a frenzied blur, for most people an utterly shock to the system that can be overwhelming
both physically and mentally. The only way we can ensure success and any degree of safety is in relying on the comrades, whether formally or
loosely organised, who, through the providence of experiance and training are able to keep their heads and provide active support roles.
Here in the UK for example, we have a very well organised network of Legal Observers from several networks such as the Green and Black Cross
and more often than not you'll find the beautiful souls that come to provide on the ground medical support. Battle medics, street medics,
riot medics, or whatever you call them are a blessing to be sure. Their particular sets of skills thankfully are not always put to use
however should you find yourself in a spot of bother they are are the first line of support, looking after people who have taken a baton to
the head, come down with heat stroke or (as was my first introduction to battle medics) taken a tumble from a horse. From Berlin to
Melbourne Action medics are a vital part of any protest or direct action.

However unlike our Legal Observer comrades, there is an unfortunate drought of material to help prepare the riot medic for the role. Paper
Revolution has decent intro text and a handbook and these texts are about as good as they come, Sure I've seen a fair few other guides and
found many of them useful, however there is a tendancy to focus either on the politics or the medicine, and at that usually only a narrow
window with a specific set of situations in mind. Which is why I'm especially stoked to have bumped into a new publication on my twitter feed.

"Riot Medicine" is a new 466 page work by H åkan Geijer that gives an well researched, in depth 101 for battle medics of all descriptions.
Shared freely from it's website the manual gives a robust guide for practicing insurrectionary medicine. Taking the reader from the methods
of organising and situational risk assessments right through to the nitty gritty of first aid, managing shock and dealing with spinal cord
injuries. This absolute belter of a book goes way beyond being a mear refined St John's First Aid guide mind. It's specific focus on the
issues, thinking and praxis of providing on the ground medical support during riots and revolutionary action is in depth and without florid
prose and laconic word smithing, it wastes no time making the point in clear, understandable language that while taking ontechnical points
remains accessable and useable. Frankly it's the opinion of the Editor that this is the must have guidebook for riot medics and it a vital
download for every activist and organiser regardless other whether they intent to fill the role of medic.

Keep your eyes peeled for a printed edition after lockdown ends however in the meantime here is the introduction text and at the bottom
you'll find a link to download a copy - for free and without registration.

Peter Ó Máille

Introduction:-
Riot medicine is the practice of medicine in an adversarial environment. It exists outside of formal and State sanctioned medical services.
Practitioners of riot medicine go by many names (riot medics, street medics, demonstration medics, action medical), but at the end of the
day, their goals are the same. They take to the streets as part of the diverse system of mutual aid that allows individuals to engage in
protest. The duties of a riot medic may include handing out water during a peaceful demonstration, providing late-night jail support for
arrested comrades, caring for injured protesters and bystanders during a riot, or extracting and providing lifesaving interventions for
combatants during an armed uprising.

The lens of riot medicine rather than street medicine was chose to help you focus more on how to provide medical care during demonstrations
and physical engagements rather than to inform you on how to run a volunteer clinic or provide care for injuries sustained outside of short
lived confrontations. The aim is to provide enough medical and tactical knowledge to enable riot medics to support short mobilizations on
the scale of several hours to several days.

If you are an experienced medical professional, this book will guide you on how to safely operate during a protest. However, this book
assumes that medicine may not be your primary occupation or field of study. Both the common and more formal medical terms are included as
well as a glossary for reference. Foundational medical theory has been provided to give context for various treatments, and as such, not all
information in this book needs to be memorized. Some information may seem obvious, but what is obvious to you is not obvious to others. In
depth information is provided to help demystify seemingly esoteric practices and address common misconceptions.

Because of the exceptionally diverse conditions under which riot medicine is practiced, this book generally avoids making absolute
statements about how an individual or group must act. Riot medics may be part of the Black Bloc or may act as seemingly neutral third
parties. They may be uncertified or may be practicing physicians. How they choose to act depends on may factors including the nature of the
action, the legality of protest, the legality of practicing medicine, and the overall political climate of the region where an action is
taking place. This book will provide you with a toolbox that will help you make operational decisions using your own experiences and context
specific information. Riot medicine incorporates elements of wilderness medicine and combat medicine, but it is still a distinct practice.
Often the riot medic is only equipped with what they can carry in a backpack. What they choose to pack is limited by multiple factors, the
major one being that their gear can be confiscated or destroyed during the course of their work. They need to carry provisions to survive
the day and personal protective equipment to keep themselves safe enough to do their job. The riot medic needs to take a highly practical
approach to medicine knowing that they will not be able to operate under ideal conditions. Hospital-quality diagnostic equipment will not be
available, materials may be limited, and care rendered often will only be \good enough" to get a restless comrade back into the fray.

Riot medics comfort traumatized comrades as much as they heal their bodies. Protests and confrontations with fascists and the State can be
stressful and even traumatizing. Even in the non ideal environments you will be working in, it is your responsibility to keep calm and help
calm those around you. Nervous and stressed out comrades can be liable to make mistakes that lead to more injuries. Reading this book will
help enable you to act confidently and therefore help others act confidently, contributing toward successful demonstrations and insurrections.

This book is written from an autonomous, anarchist perspective. However, the information and tactics described within will be useful to all
participants in the struggle for liberation. State imposed laws and regulations are a reality, and where it is relevant, it is noted where your

work may intersect with the legal system to highlight what legal risks there may be. This book was written in 2019{20, so as you are reading
this, be wary that medical best practices, legal considerations, and all other information may have become out of date.

The act of challenging the State is dangerous, but with some basic knowledge, medics can drastically reduce the repercussions protesters
face. The goal is that by reading this book, you will be able to provide care for and support to comrades known and unknown, all in the
pursuit of a world free of domination. ?

http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2020/05/18/riot-medicine-knowledge-exchange/

------------------------------