Category: leavenoonebehind

War in Europe, week three

We’re in the third week of the war and the seventy-first week of the second Covid-19 shutdown.

The Czar is continuing to murder for his personal gain, and Covid-19 is killing people, too; the incidence in Cologne is at 2525 right now. And I haven’t talked about the climate emergency yet.

Our government is too afraid to take decisive action against Russia and stop all energy imports – I’m not proud of them right now. At least we’re taking in refugees this time.

I’ve turned off our heating to minimize energy consumption and not fund Putin’s murders.

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(Gira Smart Home, Cologne, 3/13/22)

War in Europe, week two

The czar is still murdering people in Ukraine.

Thirty-five years after the end of the cold war, this new hot war reshapes our world and ends decades of peaceful cooperation.

The iron curtain is coming back up again. Sigh.

When the war started, Cologne was at the beginning of Carnival – we turned the annual parade into a peace rally, and many people attended. Not surprisingly, the incidence in Cologne skyrocketed during Carnival and is now at 2333.

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(Cathedral, Cologne, 3/6/22)

Shutdown two, week fifty-two

One year later and the incidence figures are rising again, as predicted; Cologne is at 151 right now.

The people with the highest risk are our most important and, at the same time, most vulnerable group: Our children – our future.

Why do we not do more to protect them?

We are not only failing them with Covid-19, but we’re also failing them in dealing with global heating. COP26 does not seem to be the breakthrough our planet needs. Our leaders are talking about reaching a compromise – as if they could discuss with Physics. It’s so simple: To stop the global warming of our planet, we need to stop burning fossil fuels. Now.

One place where we try to defend our planet is Lützerath – come and join activists from all over the world!

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(1.5 degree limit, Lützerath, 10/31/21)

Shutdown two, week fifty-one

Not surprisingly, the incidence in Cologne has gone up again; it’s at 93 right now and rising. Are we officially in the fourth wave yet?

Last Friday, we had another global climate strike in Berlin. We wanted to increase the pressure on the coalition talks underway between the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Liberals, to make sure they keep the climate emergency at the forefront of their negotiations. Also, COP26 is around the corner, and we need to focus on actions this time, not on another round of pledges.

The protest in Berlin was quite a success, with 20,000 people attending from all over the country.

The police, however, did not behave that well and used force against some protesters.

Also, the Social Democrats were quite upset at a social media post referencing one of their grave historical mistakes during the formation of the First Republic. Oh well.

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(Global Climate Strike, Berlin, 10/22/21)

Shutdown two, week forty-three

The incidence in Cologne is at 154 right now; in the most crucial age group of 10 to 14 years, it is at 865.

What are we doing to our kids?

Also, if only half of this update from the Kabul airlift charity is confirmed, our foreign and interior ministers need to resign.

At once.

Even if there are only four weeks left until the next general election.

To cope with all the doom and gloom, I resorted to retail therapy and got myself a nice new in-game outfit.

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(Cologne, Pokémon Go, 8/29/21)

Shutdown two, week forty-two

The incidence in Cologne is at 138. Need I say more?

Our climate camp is joining OKNB for the trip to Berlin and will take a break until mid-September, returning for the final week of climate election campaigning and the next global climate strike on September 24.

We desperately need a more competent government, one that values compassion and science. And doesn’t invent forms to prevent our Afghan friends from leaving the country and joining us.

On a private note, I’ve submitted my thesis on time. Wish me luck!

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(Directions, Klimacamp Cologne, 8/23/21)

Shutdown two, week nine

It came, and it went, my first virtual New Year’s Eve. Relatively uneventful, zooming with family and friends, and watching a Techno live stream on Twitch.

The start of the new year was not a big thing; we’re still in the first year of life in the age of pandemics, and nothing is going to change a lot in the short term. I hope that by the end of 2021, we will have made significant progress towards solving both crises, Covid-19, and the Climate Emergency!

To keep the momentum going, we started 2021 off with our first climate strike of the year, asking for #solidarity

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(Climate strike, Haymarket, 1/2/21)

Moria

The Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos was a disgrace for a long time already.

A devastating fire recently left 12,000 people without food and shelter.

And our Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, offers to accept between 100 and 150 minors into Germany and calls it a robust humanitarian gesture – even though many cities and counties in Germany have offered to take in several thousand.

I’m utterly ashamed and disgusted.

#NotMyGovernment

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(Mario Sixtus on Twitter, 9/12/20)

Anti-Sexist Social Club

Thursday last week I attended a great online meeting, organized by the Anti-Sexist Social Club and Next Gen Men; people from all over the world were attending.

Although I miss attending discussions in person, there’s a massive opportunity in remote events – I would not have been able to participate, had it taken place in New York.

During the event, Jackson Bird was reading from his memoir, Sorted, and Dane Woodland was reading from his collection of poems, transVersing.

The event focused on what we can do in the 2SLGBTQ+ community to be more inclusive and less sexist; all proceeds went to The Okra Project.

Many thanks to the organizers and their skillful moderation – I learned a lot, and I look forward to many more such events!

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(Sorted, Audio Book – I support Jackson on Patreon)