by Julie Liardet.. GENEVA – People strolling, music, smiles, bursts of laughter. Customers walk between clothes and trinkets, homegrown zucchini and children’s games, spread on tables or on the ground. A neighbor has brought his electric razor; another has just found a book by French sociologist Marcel Mauss.
This kind of flea-market-with-veggies could be coming to your neighborhood soon. With a twist: here everything is 100% free.
The gratiferia (free fair) concept originally comes from Argentina and then expanded to neighboring countries and all of Latin America. The idea was quickly taken up in the U.S. and Canada, and this year, it has arrived in the Old World. Sales and swaps are completely forbidden at gratiferias. Everything must be in good condition, and of course, a bit of civic sense is required. Do not show up with a van and load up everything in sight. This free fair aims at “liberation from materialism,” with the goal of leaving behind “the oppression of the economic system.”
Ariel Rodriguez Bosio, the brains behind the gratiferia, has posted a YouTube video entitled “gratiferia, una economia de la nueva era” (“gratiferia, an economy for the new age”). In the video, where he appears as a sort of philosophical/spiritual guru of the no-growth movement, the Argentinian explains that he started the first market of its kind in his apartment at the beginning of 2010.
Seven of the women who have started a hunger strike . | Photo: Association ‘ Velaluz ‘ Siete de las mujeres que han iniciado una huelga de hambre. | Foto: Asociación ‘Velaluz’
Ten women begin a fast to get ‘ real protection ‘
en español abajo They claim that the victims are living through judicial and institutional abuse ‘ They criticism that their ‘salary of freedom’ has been denied.
by Natalia Puga | A Coruña Comments 25
Ten Galician women are from 00.05 hours on Tuesday on hunger strike and will remain so indefinitely, ” until a real protection , a system that truly protects ” victims of domestic violence and their children is introduced. With their fast they intend to denounce the ” total helplessness ” suffered by victims at an institutional and judicial level .
The protest is promoted by the Galician Association for the Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence ‘SEE THE LIGHT (‘Ve – laluz ‘ ) and takes place in a room provided by an individual in the center of A Coruña in which from now on there will all kinds of actions to highlight the ” institutional and judicial abuse ” suffered by the victims once you made the decision to denounce the abuse, physical and / or psychological abuse from their partners.
” What we are experiencing today in Spain does not make sense . How can they call this a system to protect victims of domestic violence ? ” Asks Gloria Vazquez, president of the association . Like the other nine women who are taking part in the protest she defines herself as a ” survivor of gender violence ” and claims that it is equally important and necessary to protect themselves and their children , children who become victims of direct or indirect parental violence .
PROTESTS / A Coruña
One of the 10 women on hunger strike in the ‘See The Light’ group
rushed to the hospital
20/10/2013 –
One of the ten women who participated in the hunger strike in A Coruña by the Galician Association for the defense of victims of domestic violence ‘Ve- la Luz’ has been taken to hospital after 120 hours without eating, to undergo various medical tests .
The association began on Monday a hunger strike to claim a real protection system for this group and report their helplessness , and during this weekend the county responsible BNG Feminist Action , Victoria Louro joined the call .
In a statement, reported the transfer of one of the participants in the hunger strike , who refused to activation of a protocol for these situations, after the assistance of Emergency Health who advised her referral to a hospital.
The association says in the note that these women have been ” treated like nobodies by the responsible public institutions who should ensure the safety of all women and of these ten in particular.”
It also denounces the ” institutional neglect before an emergency situation is common in policies offered in this area ( domestic violence) .”
In any case , the association reiterates that will keep the hunger strike ” until they stop killing us for the sole crime of being women.”
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original en Castellano
10 mujeres han iniciado una huelga de hambre.
Diez mujeres empiezan un ayuno hasta conseguir ‘protección real’
Denuncian que las víctimas viven ‘maltrato institucional y judicial’
Critican que se ha eliminado el salario de la libertad
Diez mujeres gallegas están desde las 00.05 horas de este martes en huelga de hambre y seguirán así de forma indefinida, “hasta conseguir una protección real, un sistema que realmente proteja” a las víctimas de violencia de género y a sus hijos. Con su ayuno pretenden denunciar la “indefensión total” que sufren las víctimas y reclamar medias a nivel institucional y judicial.
La protesta está promovida desde la Asociación Gallega para la Defensa de Víctimas de Violencia de Género ‘Ve-laluz’ y se desarrolla en un local prestado por un particular en el centro de A Coruña en el que de aquí en adelante harán todo tipo de acciones para poner de relieve el “maltrato institucional y judicial” que sufre el colectivo de víctimas una vez que toman la determinación de denunciar el otro maltrato, el físico y/o psicológico de sus parejas.
“Lo que se está viviendo hoy en España no tiene sentido. ¿A esto le llaman sistema de protección a víctimas de violencia de género?”, se pregunta Gloria Vázquez, presidenta de la asociación. Como las otras nueve mujeres que secundan la protesta se define como una “superviviente de la violencia de género” y reclama que es igual de importante y necesaria la protección para ellas como para sus hijos, los menores que se convierten en víctimas de la violencia directa o indirecta de sus padres.
Una de las diez mujeres que participaba en la huelga de hambre convocada en A Coruña por la asociación gallega para la defensa de las víctimas de violencia de género Ve-la Luz ha sido trasladada al hospital tras 120 horas sin comer para someterse a diversas pruebas médicas.
La asociación inició el pasado lunes una huelga de hambre para reclamar una sistema de protección real para este colectivo y denunciar su indefensión, y durante este fin de semana se sumó a la convocatoria la responsable comarcal de Acción Feminista del BNG, Victoria Louro.
En un comunicado, Ve-la Luz ha informado del traslado de una de las participantes en la huelga de hambre, que se negaron a la activación de un protocolo para estas situaciones, tras la asistencia de efectivos de Urgencias Sanitarias que aconsejaron su derivación a un hospital.
La asociación asegura en la nota que estas mujeres han sido “ninguneadas por parte de los responsables de las instituciones públicas que deberían velar por la seguridad de todas las mujeres y de estas diez en particular”.
Asimismo, denuncia el “el abandono institucional ante una situación de emergencia algo habitual en las políticas ofrecidas en esta materia (violencia de género)”.
En todo caso, la asociación reitera que mantendrá la huelga de hambre “hasta que dejen de matarnos por cometer el único delito de ser mujeres”.
Many Indian women cry out for equality, but in Meghalaya
matrilineal cultures thrive with little parallel in the world.
The western Garo tribe are also matrilineal. ”The main features of the Garo tribes are the women. The Garo women are the property owners and there is a custom where the youngest daughter inherits the property from her mother. Unlike other marriages, in this tribe a man shifts to his wife’s place after the marriage rituals are over.”
Shillong, India – In a far corner of India, a country where women usually
have to cry out for equality, respect and protection, there’s a state
where women organise society, and everything works better.Meghalaya – “Home of Clouds” – is picturesque state with its capital Shillong a regional
hub for educationand the trend-setter for the Westernised culture that’s accepted
by most tribes in the country’s northeast.
The two major tribes of Meghalaya, Khasis and Jaintias, are very matrilineal.
Children take the mother’ssurname, daughters inherit the family property with
The Beatification Ceremony comes at a historic moment. For the first time an Interpol warrant has been issued for 2 notorious fascist criminals of the Franco regime, and the United Nations has called for an investigation into the thousands of ‘disappearances’ under ther dictatorship.
Murdered priests used for propaganda as victims still ignored
When right wing sections of the Spanish military tried to take power from the Republican Government the Catholic Hierarchy came out in their favour even signing a public Pastoral Declaration supporting them which may have swung the war in their favour.
The support of the all powerful Church helped turn a failed army mutiny into a Crusade against the popular desire for abolishing oppression, portrayed as the evils of anarchism and communism. This resulted in a giant horror, with over 500,000 deaths on all sides and 40 years of fascist/catholic dictatorship, plus the execution of 100,000 republican prisoners, the robbery of 200,000 babies, etc, etc Continue reading “522 Fascist Clergy to get made into Saints”
Anti Fascist Alarm against the imminent celebration of the fascist rally Oct. 12 at Plaza de Sants called by the coordinating group España en Marcha .
About 200 people have gathered in Sants barrio today in an open Assembly and we have agreed the following calls in the coming days. We need to be many, many people disseminating , hanging posters and handing out leaflets , encouraging our friends, colleagues and family to show our opposition to the views of this mob ! Continue reading “Barcelona: Anti Fascist Alarm, 12th Oct.”
A dying prisoner has been released in Louisiana after serving nearly 42 years in solitary confinement, longer than any other person in the United States.
Herman Wallace and two others, known as the Angola Three, were placed in solitary in 1972 following the murder of a prison guard. The Angola Three and their supporters say they were framed for the murder over their political activism as members of one of the first prison chapters of the Black Panthers.
In a surprise development on Tuesday, Wallace was released from prison after a federal judge overturned his conviction, saying he did not receive a fair trial. Wallace, who is near death from advanced liver cancer, was taken directly to a New Orleans hospital where supporters greeted his arrival.
We are joined by three guests: Robert King, who until Tuesday night was the only freed member of the Angola Three and helped deliver to Wallace the news of his release; Wallace’s defense attorney, George Kendall; and Jackie Sumell, an artist and Wallace supporter who is with him at the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans.
Albert is now the last one in prison..Free him NOW!
“This is a tremendous victory and a miracle that Herman Wallace will die a free man,” Sumell says. “He’s had 42 years of maintaining his innocence in solitary confinement, and if his last few breaths are as a free man, we’ve won.”
This morning we lost without a doubt the biggest, bravest, and brashest personality in the political prisoner world. It is with great sadness that we write with the news of Herman Wallace‘s passing.
Herman never did anything half way. He embraced his many quests and adventures in life with a tenacious gusto and fearless determination that will absolutely never be rivaled. He was exceptionally loyal and loving to those he considered friends, and always went out of his way to stand up for those causes and individuals in need of a strong voice or fierce advocate, no matter the consequences.
Anyone lucky enough to have spent any time with Herman knows that his indomitable spirit will live on through his work and the example he left behind. May each of us aspire to be as dedicated to something as Herman was to life, and to justice.
Below is a short obituary/press statement for those who didn’t know him well in case you wish to circulate something. Tributes from those who were closest to Herman and more information on how to help preserve his legacy by keeping his struggle alive will soon follow.
On October 4th, 2013, Herman Wallace, an icon of the modern prison reform movement and an innocent man, died a free man after spending an unimaginable 41 years in solitary confinement.
Herman spent the last four decades of his life fighting against all that is unjust in the criminal justice system, making international the inhuman plight that is long term solitary confinement, and struggling to prove that he was an innocent man.
Just 3 days before his passing, he succeeded, his conviction was overturned, and he was released to spend his final hours surrounded by loved ones. Despite his brief moments of freedom, his case will now forever serve as a tragic example that justice delayed is justice denied.
Herman Wallace’s early life in New Orleans during the heyday of an unforgiving and unjust Jim Crow south often found him on the wrong side of the law and eventually he was sent to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for armed robbery. While there, he was introduced to the Black Panther‘s powerful message of self determination and collective community action and quickly became one of its most persuasive and ardent practitioners.
Not long after he began to organize hunger and work strikes to protest the continued segregation, endemic corruption, and horrific abuse rampant at the prison, he and his fellow panther comrades Albert Woodfox and Robert King were charged with murders they did not commit and thrown in solitary.
Robert was released in 2001 after 29 years in solitary but Herman remained there for an unprecedented 41 years, and Albert is still in a 6×9 solitary cell.
The Free 