English Durham miners’ gala and Julian Assange

This video from England says about itself:

Saturday the 13th of July 2019 saw the 135th Durham Miners’ Gala – County Durham’s community heritage & working class solidarity in full colour. Congratulations to all involved.

From the World Socialist Web Site in England:

UK: SEP wins support for Julian Assange at Durham Miners’ Gala

By our reporters

15 July 2019

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) took the campaign to free imprisoned WikiLeaks journalist Julian Assange to the 135th Durham Miners’ Gala on Saturday, winning support from former miners, their families and the many workers present.

The Durham Miners’ Gala is an annual labour movement event. Held for the first time in 1871, it attracts an estimated 200,000 attendees in celebration of the town’s coal mining heritage. It features a banner parade with brass bands, a cathedral service and political speeches. Delegations travel there from across England and abroad, from former mining communities, trade unions and political parties.

SEP campaigners distributed copies of the June 20 call by the World Socialist Web Site, “For a worldwide campaign to prevent Julian Assange’s rendition to the US!” Over 600 copies of the statement were distributed as a four-page colour brochure. More than 20 people signed up to support or join the campaign.

Jim Clark, a former Durham miner, said, “I’ve been acquainted with the Assange case for many years. He came to prominence with his disclosure of the lies we’re being told. The way information is being suppressed for many decades this comes as no surprise to me. As soon as the ruling class are threatened in any way, they will use whatever power they’ve got—the control over the media, over state institutions—to destroy people. This is what working people have got to realise.”

Asked about the role played by Labour and the trade union bureaucracy, he said, “I’m familiar with the origin and development of the Labour Party in particular. Of course, it was never a socialist party to start with. There were socialists involved in its origination, but the Labour Party is a reformist party. It believes in making little bits of reforms and accepting the few crumbs that are falling from the table. It has never been prepared, even today, to challenge the international power which rests with the financial classes.

“The 1984-85 miners’ strike was a threat to the ruling class; the whole power of the state was employed to destroy the miners and the communities and their organisations. It’s the same with journalism. The majority of journalists in the UK are working for press barons such as Murdoch and the Barclay brothers, tax evaders.

“I’m an old-fashioned class warrior and make no apology for it. When Marx was writing about the state in the latter part of the 19th century, the same problems exist today as they did then.” He concluded saying, “You’re doing a great job!”

Derek Richardson, who comes from a mining family, said, “It’s a disgrace that press freedom has been destroyed. There is no press freedom for Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning is back in prison. There were illusions in the Global Conference for Media Freedom, but this was a party-political broadcast for full control of the media by the state.”

Susan Simpson is from a mining family in Wakefield. She said, “It is appalling what is happening to Assange. If this happened in a Third World country for exposing the truth, they [Assange and Chelsea Manning] would be celebrated. Did they really need all those police officers to drag him out, when he was clearly ill? It’s one of the biggest travesties ever. There should be more people up in arms.”

Ex-miner John and his wife Linda supported the campaign to free Assange. Linda said, “He’s done nothing wrong but tell the truth! He should be free, it’s Tony Blair that should be behind bars for war crimes.”

David Lindsay, a freelance journalist, said, “Julian Assange must not be extradited anywhere, and Jeremy Corbyn must say so.”

Barry White, a journalist who represented the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) on the European Federation of Journalists board until 2016, said, “I support the call for Julian Assange to be freed, without a shadow of doubt. What he did was reveal the great injustices, great violence against ordinary people and conspiracies by states against ordinary people. He revealed it and newspapers published it, they were quite happy to take that information.

“You mentioned the Espionage Act charges the Americans want to bring against him. They’ve been planning this for years. There will be no action taken against the newspapers that published the revelations that he made with others. It will be him alone because they want to make an example of people who blow whistles against the rich and powerful and reveal what they are up to.

“WikiLeaks revealed a range of abuses that go on behind closed doors, and of course within the institutions of the state, whether they are the judiciary, parliamentary or whatever. There are people who don’t want to be found out, either directly or indirectly by those revelations. It’s those people who should be in the courts, not Julian Assange.

“The media freedom conference was hypocrisy by the British state, a government which seeks to wash its hands of any responsibility for Julian Assange and make sure he’s shipped off to the United States. To then talk about protecting the media is just eye-watering hypocrisy. These people want to protect powerful media owners and not people who reveal some very unsavoury, unpleasant aspects of the society we live in.”

Labour MP Chris Williamson was asked about his attitude to Assange’s imprisonment. He said, “I’m a big supporter of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. He is the most important journalist in the world right now. We must demand his freedom.

“I was down at the prison to show my solidarity with him, shortly after he had been incarcerated. It brings shame on Great Britain that we’ve treated this really important figure in the way in which we have, when he was thrown out of the Ecuadorian embassy. Frankly, he’s an ill man. I said at the time, he should have been put in the back of an ambulance and given medical treatment rather than being taken to a high-security prison.

“Given the nature of the work he’s been involved with, he has exposed the grotesque abuse of state power by Britain and the US, we must get behind him and show our support for him. That is why we need a socialist government under Jeremy Corbyn, because there would be a very, very different approach to what we are seeing under the present Tory administration.” …

UNISON union head Dave Prentice tacked “left”, demanding Trident nuclear submarines are scrapped and the money poured into public services. …

Some of the day’s loudest applause followed National Union of Teachers General Secretary Kevin Courtney’s denunciation of war preparations against Iran. …

Unite union General Secretary Len McCluskey appealed to growing disgust among workers towards the Brexit crisis, saying there was “no solution via Remain or Leave”. He rejected “the culture war” between both camps, calling for a “return to the class struggle.” …

In his own address to the Gala, Corbyn said a Labour government would investigate police violence during the 1984-85 miners’ strike and cited the persecution of the Shrewsbury pickets, jailed in 1972 for industrial action the previous year. …

Corbyn warned that the rise of the far-right as a “very, very serious threat indeed” and won a standing ovation from his colleagues on the platform for attacking anti-Semitism.

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Hyenas’ undeserved bad reputation

This 15 July 2019 video from England says about itself:

Who’s laughing now? | Natural History Museum

Hyenas don’t have a great reputation, but have they just been misrepresented?

Museum scientist Dr Natalie Cooper explains some of the reasons why these amazing animals deserve a little more love.

The Natural History Museum in London is home to over 80 million specimens, including meteorites, dinosaur bones and a giant squid.

Italian neo-fascist weapons firearms cache discovered

This 29 April 2018 video says about itself:

Hundreds of neo-fascists travelled to former Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini‘s tomb in the Italian town of Predappio on Sunday, to mark the 73rd anniversary of Mussolini’s death.

One of Mussolini’s grand-daughters, Edda Negri Mussolini, addressed the crowd.

Mussolini ruled Italy from 1930 to 1943. He was an ally of Nazi Germany during the World War II.

His legacy continues to influence a number of groups in Italy. Every year, neo-fascist and far-right groups hold ceremonies and parades to pay their respects.

The video shows foreign fascists were also present, eg, veterans of the French Charlemagne division of Adolf Hitler’s SS.

After the discovery of a German neo-fascist policemen’s weapons cache …

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Missile found at right-wing extremists‘ in northern Italy

During house searches in northern Italy, the police found an arsenal of right-wing extremists. Three arrests were made. …

The investigation started when a special police unit overheard people last year who wanted to sell a French missile for 470,000 euros. This rocket has now been found in an airplane hangar.

Furthermore, at the premises of one of the detainees in Gallarate town police seized thirty shotguns, pistols, bayonets, ammunition and antique Nazi paraphernalia. According to the police, this is a man who was a candidate for the Senate election for the extreme right-wing Forza Nuova party in 2001.

According to the Turin police chief, “hardly any weapon finds have ever been found in Italy equaling the quality of these weapons of war and their deadly power”.

Italian fascists found with ‘combat-ready’ war weapons: here.

American robin sings in Canada

This 26 June 2019 video from Canada is about an American robin singing.

Donald Trump’s racism, Beatles musical parody

This 15 July 2019 parody music video from Britain is called The Tweetles – Get Back.

It is a parody of the Beatles’ song Get Back. The original lyrics of that song parodied the anti-immigrant views of British Conservative politician Enoch Powell, and anti-Puerto Rican prejudices in the USA.

It is about United States President Donald Trump’s recent attack on Twitter against four oppositional congresswomen: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. One of them a refugee from the war in Somalia, continued by Trump. The other three congresswomen were born in the USA with immigrant or trans-Atlantic African slave trade ancestors.

You are angry because you don’t believe in an America where I represent New York 14, where the good people of Minnesota elected @IlhanMN, where @RashidaTlaib fights for Michigan families, where @AyannaPressley champions little girls in Boston.

/2

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 14, 2019

You are angry because you can’t conceive of an America that includes us. You rely on a frightened America for your plunder.

You won’t accept a nation that sees healthcare as a right or education as a #1 priority, especially where we’re the ones fighting for it.

Yet here we are.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 14, 2019

The video says about itself:

The unambiguously racist new single from President Donald Trump’s Beatles tribute band.

LYRICS:

AOC’s a radical who hates America
Probably ‘cause the air’s too free
If she doesn’t like it, she could always go and
Fix things in her own country

Get back! Get back!
Get back, Ocasio-Cortez!
Go home, Ocasio!
Puerto Rico’s one of the shithole countries, right?
I hope we’re not sending them foreign aid

Ilhan is a nasty racist who hates Israel
She’s from like Somalia
I heard they have pirates, maybe she’s one of ‘em
Wooden leg and going “arrrr!”

Get back! Get back!
Get back to all your pirate friends!
Go home, Ilhan!

There’s another lady who worked here illegally
Then she got a fraud visa
She had an anchor baby, then brought all her family
Oh wait, that’s [Trump’s wife] Melania

That’s fine, that’s fine
That’s fine ‘cause she’s Judeo-Christian

I think it's important for everyone to know that MELANIA TRUMP was once undocumented and illegally working in the U.S. as a model. https://t.co/4fW4sP2yl4

— Matt Rogers 🎙 (@Politidope) June 18, 2018

You are stoking white nationalism bc you are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda.

“America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.” -RFK

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 14, 2019

THIS is what racism looks like. WE are what democracy looks like. And we’re not going anywhere. Except back to DC to fight for the families you marginalize and vilify everyday. pic.twitter.com/vYzoxCgN0X

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) July 14, 2019

United States neo-nazi site The Daily Stormer praises Trump for this attack, especially because it implies that Congresswoman Ayanna Presley, with ancestry from African American slavery times, and other African Americans, should be deported forcibly to Africa.

Young great spotted woodpeckers at Cornwall nest

This 3 June 2019 video from Britain says about itself:

Great Spotted Woodpecker chicks making a lot of noise. I think the chicks are very close to fledging.

Video Produced by Paul Dinning – Wildlife in Cornwall

‘Stop Donald Trump’s xenophobic policies’

This 13 July 2019 video from the USA says about itself:

Lights for Liberty in Sacramento remembers children lost in detention centers at border

It was a heartfelt evening in Sacramento as dozens of people gathered to remember children who lost their lives in detention centers at the border.

By Kristina Betinis in the USA:

Thousands march in Chicago to demand end to US immigrant detention camps, raids and deportations

15 July 2019

Thousands gathered in Chicago on Saturday morning to protest the planned raids of immigrant neighborhoods and the detention and deportation policies of the Trump administration. One day earlier, two hundred protested at Federal Plaza, part of nationwide protests throughout the US. …

Only a small number of Democratic Party representatives participated. Neither Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Democratic Party Chair Toni Preckwinkle, or Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin endorsed the event.

From the stage on Saturday, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton spoke of her office’s efforts to move legislation to improve the conditions of immigrant families under the Trump administration. A bill signed into law by Pritzker at the end of June made Illinois the first state in the country to ban private civil detention centers.

Recently elected Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor and corporate attorney, issued a press release calling on the Chicago Police department not to cooperate with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Despite calls from many immigrant rights groups to issue an executive order to that effect, she refused, and instead offered extended support services like legal advice. …

Instead, the Democrats are working with the Trump administration’s Jared Kushner and Republican leader Lindsey Graham to implement a new asylum law that will place immense burdens before immigrants seeking entry into the US.

Durbin and Graham, who have long worked together on immigration legislation, have been collaborating on a bill that aims to transform asylum law, each bringing legislation to their own parties. The bill would force those emigrating to make asylum claims in their home countries first, before arriving at the US border. It could also extend the time minors can legally be detained with their families to 100 days, up from the current maximum of 20 days.

Durbin has been reported to be carrying around a sheet of yellow legal pad with “potential areas of consensus.”

“I’ve identified to [Graham] five or six things that I believe Democrats in the Senate and the House will support. And I’ve begged him: Take it,” Durbin said of the discussions, according to Politico. Durbin said that Democrats had dropped the effort to block Trump’s cuts to aid for Central American countries, indicating they would return to that at a “second level” of negotiations.

Durbin, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the US Senate, takes no responsibility for the horrific conditions created by US intervention in Latin America. He recently “supported” and “applauded” the Trump administration for its aggressive regime change policy in Venezuela.

Jennifer Gallardo, from Michigan, spoke with the WSWS: “I’m an immigration attorney, and I’m here to say this is not okay. I think that migration is a human right, and borders are a man-made illusion. It can’t be that on one side [of a border] you have certain rights but on the other side you don’t. It’s not natural. It’s a man-made phenomenon.”

Sophia, a service worker, said: “I am tired of seeing my friends and family being treated like animals. I don’t agree with the Democrats giving Trump billions of dollars. He’s not putting that money where it should be going. It could be going to housing, education, actually taking care of immigrants that are being detained for just trying to live their lives. Until we build a democratic society, this is how it’s going to be.”

On the building of a working class party fighting for socialism, she said, “The way we’ve been going about trying to change this hasn’t been doing anything. I would absolutely be in favor of that. History just keeps repeating itself and repeating itself, and we’ve never really tried this. So it’s worth a shot.”

Jackson, an art student at Senn High School on the far north side, brought part of an art project to the demonstration. A stuffed child’s toy wearing a reflective emergency blanket was at the center of it. He explained, “I couldn’t bring the dog cage, but it’s supposed to be in a cage.”

He continued: “Seeing reports of the detention of children really hurt me. This could have been me. I had to do something.” Jackson’s parents, also attending the demonstration, explained he was adopted. He arrived in the US speaking no English and, were it to happen today, his life would be in danger.”

From the World Socialist Web Site in the USA, 15 July 2019:

Voices from the protests against Trump’s attack on immigrants

Campaign teams for the World Socialist Web Site attended the “Lights for Liberty” vigils across the United States over the weekend, called to protest deportations and the setting up of concentration camps to detain immigrants. …

Detroit, Michigan

Around 200 people rallied in front of the ICE Enforcement & Removal Operations Field Office in downtown Detroit. Detroiters rallied at this same spot one week ago, on the Fourth of July.

Goran, an immigrant from the former Yugoslavia, said, “We all should live in a society that provides for our basic needs, to be happy, explore ourselves, our interests and help each other. This system is the most selfish I’ve ever lived in. It’s a rotten system.”

When asked about his experiences in Yugoslavia, he said, “I don’t believe in the nation-state system. I was born in one place in the middle of the country and then suddenly [during the break-up of Yugoslavia] I was between two countries.” He added, “I needed a passport just to go where I spent my childhood across the bridge. All of it is BS to keep us in control, to make us dependent. I think it should be abolished. There should be free movement for everyone.”

Amy said, “What they’re doing to these children is horrible. The Democrats and the Republicans are the same”, she added. “They both support capitalism.” …

Ann Arbor, Michigan

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, at least 500 people attended the candlelight vigil at the Federal Building downtown. …

IYSSE member Carlos addressed the crowd in Ann Arbor.

This video is called Lights4Liberty – Carlos Delgado (IYSSE) speaks at Ann Arbor vigil in defense of immigrants.

New York City, New York

Thousands of people gathered at Foley Square in New York City at a site where migrants are processed every day.

Kare, a paralegal in New York City, said, “Change certainly won’t be coming from the top. This has been going on too long, and now that people are aware of it, we have to stand up,” she said. “I don’t know what it will take to get [Trump] out of office. The atrocities are on the news every day. We can’t wait until there is no one left to stand up against this.”

Laith, a graphic designer in New York City, said, “The US government should take their hands off the Latin American countries. They are responsible for what is happening in Venezuela, in Mexico. We are the land of ‘freedom,’ but we are abusing children here. The Democrats are not fighting, or rather they aren’t serving the American people.

“It is not enough to just oppose Trump,” she added. “Any other country would have healthcare and free education.”

Berkeley, California

In Berkeley, California, more than 500 people gathered on Saturday to protest the concentration camps at the border. Alicia, a young community college student from Oakland, signed up to get involved with the IYSSE immediately after speaking to campaigners from the WSWS. After speaking with IYSSE campaigners, Alicia said, “I completely agree that we need a socialist revolution, every major problem today comes down to capitalism.”

Rachel, a young mother, told the WSWS that the camps were “disgusting”. She continued, “My daughter is reading the diary of Ann Frank. When I was telling her about what going on, she said, ‘Isn’t that like a concentration camp?’ We need to raise awareness about this crime.”

San Diego, California

In San Diego, a rally of several thousand was held at the San Ysidro port of entry, the busiest border crossings in the world.

Angel came up to WSWS reporters to take a picture of our sign. “This is one of the best signs here. No one else is bringing up the Democratic Party. The Democrats had nothing to say when the Deporter-in-Chief Obama was president.”

Angel told reporters he was moved by the revelations of Wikileaks and the WSWS campaign to free Julian Assange. “I love the World Socialist Web Site and read it often. Chelsea Manning and Assange are really in trouble. The ‘left’ loved Assange back in 2011 when revelations dragged Bush through the mud, but I saw how they turned on him in 2016. That really affected me and was a turning point in my politics.”

David told the WSWS, “I think they should close the camps. Follow the money; I think it’s an industry. I’m half Japanese. I have family that was interned at Manzanar. My great uncle was interned and had business in LA. His wife stayed in Manzanar and he fought in the Nisei regiment. So he had to deal with discrimination and imprisonment. I think what’s going on now is disgusting.”

Los Angeles, California

Some 500 people rallied at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Samantha, who is a junior in high school, said, “I’m here because I see this as an attack on humanity, families are getting separated. You hear about six-year-old children having to raise kids who aren’t even related to them. I can’t even fathom that this is happening,” she said.

Randy is a freshman at Long Beach State University whose parents migrated from Mexico. “There are millions of illegal immigrants here. We put a lot of money into the system, but we are living with the bare minimum. My dad has to be careful when he goes out. They used to do raids when he was at work. Immigrants get blamed for all kinds of problems, drugs, poverty. But who are the ones at fault? The
big corporations, the super-rich, who want quick money. But they are never blamed.”

Washington D.C.

At a rally of about 2,000 people in Washington D.C., Damon, an attorney, told our reports that he felt that Trump’s assault on immigrants was a “call to arms”.

“I’ve spent too much time looking at screens, watching ICE raids and deportations. Now I’m doing something about it.” Damon told the WSWS that he had volunteered to “bear witness” and represent immigrant families swept up by ICE if any raids happen in the region.

Emma, a Holocaust survivor, told our reporters that today’s world is “screaming”, and that people must use their right to protest now, because under dictatorship “you can trust no one.” Speaking about life in Germany, she said, “You could trade knitting patterns, or recipes with friends and neighbors, but you did not want to know what anyone really thought. You didn’t want to be forced to inform on anyone.”

Norfolk, Virginia

Kathy, a retired nurse, attended a small vigil in Norfolk, Virginia. “I’m a mother, a grandmother, a decent human being, and I’m appalled at what is being done in the name of me, an American, to people who only desire a better life. It’s morally wrong. I’ve also been upset about the Somalis coming to Italy that are left to drown in the Mediterranean Sea.”

When asked about the role of Trump and the extreme right she added, “If you talk about fascism, we’re there. This president does whatever the hell he wants to do and there are no consequences. And because there are no consequences, they continue to ramp it up. The rich talk about anything that helps people as socialism, so fixing the Flint water crisis is socialism and giving food to the poor is socialism. But what about all the tax breaks for corporations?”

GOP SILENT ON TRUMP’S RACIST RANT President Donald Trump’s urging of Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to the countries they came from has drawn widespread condemnation, with congressional Democrats declaring his rhetoric racist, xenophobic and bigoted. A rebuke from Republican counterparts has yet to materialize. [HuffPost]

IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL WON’T PROMISE NO FAMILY SEPARATIONS Acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli refused to guarantee that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids would not result in the separation of families. [HuffPost]

The growth of popular opposition found expression in the larger-than-expected demonstrations that took place this weekend in 700 cities across the country. In many areas, neighbors are using social media to warn immigrants of police activity. The Wall Street Journal reported that residents of two buildings in Harlem turned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents away during a raid on Saturday. The opposite sentiment predominates in the ruling class. In Tacoma, Washington, hours after a nearby pro-immigrant demonstration concluded Saturday, police shot and killed a 69-year-old protestor who lit an ICE van on fire at a for-profit detention center: here.