Call for demonstrations for the legalisation of abortion in Berlin and Karlsruhe!
On 07.12.2024, demonstrations for the legalisation of abortion will take place in Berlin and Karlsruhe. These will start in parallel at 13:00 at Alexanderplatz in Berlin and Kronenplatz in Karlsruhe with speeches, live musical acts and information stands. More than 100 associations, organisations and initiatives from all over Germany are calling for the abolition of Section 218 without replacement, a right to voluntary counselling instead of the current compulsory counselling and the full assumption of costs for all.
The demonstrations are taking place against the backdrop of a cross-party group motion in the Bundestag that seeks to reorganise abortion. The motion is expected to be debated in the Bundestag for the first time on 5 December 2024. The proposers are aiming for it to be passed before the next parliamentary elections, but politicians from the CDU/CSU, FDP and AfD are strongly attacking the proposal.’
The members of the Bundestag have a historic opportunity to legalise abortion before the next general election. We must not allow conservative and right-wing forces to prevent this. We will therefore show them on 7 December: We are the majority and we want legalisation,’ says Leonie Weber from the “Legalise abortion - now” campaign. Jascha Anders from the campaign adds: ‘By sticking to the 12-week deadline and the counselling requirement, the bill falls far short of our demands. The committees must now make adjustments. We don't want half measures, we want reproductive self-determination for everyone.’
The demonstrations are the culmination of the civil society campaign ‘Legalise abortion - now!’ and join a number of political efforts to legalise abortion this year, including the report of the expert commission on reproductive self-determination and reproductive medicine, the results of the ELSA study and a civil society bill to legalise abortion. The full list of signatories and further information on the demonstrations can be found at https://abtreibung-legalisieren.de/
Statement on budget cuts by the Berlin Museums Association
On 26 November, the Berlin Museum Association published a statement on the Berlin Senate's cuts to the cultural sector. According to the Senate's decision, the cultural budget is to be cut by 130 million euros, a 13 per cent reduction. This is in addition to the cuts in collective agreements. With a share of 2.1 per cent, the culture department is the smallest in the overall budget and the above-average cuts have a strong negative impact.
The Association of Berlin Museums supports the position of the #BerlinIstKultur alliance: "The cuts will permanently destroy the cultural infrastructure and lead to drastic programme cuts, redundancies and closures. Diversity, excellence, resilience and social cohesion are at stake."
Please see the following link for more information on the statement:
Leipzig Study on Authoritarianism: United in resentment (published 13 November 2024)
Die Leipziger Autoritarismus-Studie 2024 erschien am 13. November 2024.
How have right-wing extremist and authoritarian attitudes changed in Germany in 2024?
Are prejudices and resentments on the rise again in uncertain times? And how do Germans feel about democracy today? As a representative long-term survey, the Leipzig Authoritarianism Study 2024 can show the development of attitudes over time and offer explanations.
Since 2002, researchers at the University of Leipzig have been analysing the development of authoritarian and far-right attitudes in Germany, first as the Centre Study and since 2018 as the Authoritarianism Study. The Authoritarianism Study 2024 analyses in particular anti-Semitism, sexism and anti-feminism, disenchantment with democracy and the social conditions of resentment.
The study was edited by Oliver Decker, Johannes Kiess, Ayline Heller and Elmar Brähler. The study is supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Otto Brenner Foundation.
The full study can be downloaded from the following link:
On Saturday, 23 November 2024, the lantern demonstration "Rent down - dragon up" initiated by Bizim Kiez will take place at 4pm at Rio-Reiser-Platz. The aim of this demonstration is to show solidarity and fight against the displacement of tenants and small shops in Kreuzberg. Immediate measures against property speculation will be demanded, including a nationwide rent cap, the socialisation of housing companies and protection mechanisms against owner-occupier evictions.
The background to the initiative is the worrying development in neighbourhoods where there is an urgent lack of affordable housing, while at the same time there is an increase in tourist development. The event aims to draw attention to these shortcomings and to promote vibrant neighbourhoods and social justice.
Press release on the publication of Nicotine Explained by William Portner by the Non-Smokers' Association Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.
Ways out of nicotine addiction - A new book explains the psychology of nicotine addiction
Why can't so many people kick the habit of smoking or vaping? No other book presents the physical and psychological aspects of nicotine addiction as clearly and comprehensively as Nicotine Explained by William Porter, now available for the first time in German.
With the recent rise in the number of young people smoking and vaping in Germany, the new publication Nicotine Explained by English author William Porter is an essential contribution to raising awareness of nicotine and addiction.
The easy-to-read non-fiction and self-help book is aimed primarily at people who smoke, vape, or otherwise use nicotine and want to stop. Porter explains in great detail how nicotine affects our bodies and minds, why and how it is addictive, and why it seems so difficult to quit. He shows how the drug binds to the brain and changes its chemistry and how it damages the body and makes people sluggish, insecure, and restless. The interactions with hunger and obesity, sleep and fitness, and alcohol are also explained.
A way out of addiction
Because nicotine turns the brain's chemistry upside down, users find it indispensable. Cigarettes, vapes, heat-not-burn devices, nicotine patches, and chewing gum - they all manipulate us to see their poison as a cure and glamorize their use as positive. William Porter meticulously exposes the complex mechanisms of addiction and fantasy and prepares his readers for the mental gymnastics of nicotine withdrawal.
Rainer Herrmann, publisher and chairman of the Non-Smokers' Association Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., says of the book: "William Porter explains like no other why nicotine is so addictive, how it tricks our brain and how we can break the vicious circle. Once you see through the trickery, you will lose the desire for cigarettes, vapes, and the like. With this knowledge, it's virtually impossible to carry on.
Herrmann also explains why the non-profit organization publishes the book in German: "Compared to other countries, too little is being done in Germany to restrict the consumption of tobacco and nicotine products. However, nicotine is a drug that is still the biggest preventable cause of premature death and serious health problems in the population, which is why civil society initiatives like ours need to raise awareness".
DiMUS—Dieter Mennekes Umweltstiftung kindly supports the German edition of the book. It is available now (October 2024) in paperback, hardcover, and e-book on Amazon. An audiobook version is planned.
New publication:
William Porter: Nicotine Explained.
Find out why you smoke, vape, or use other nicotine products and how to stop.
Published by Nichtraucherbund Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.
Ab dem 01.07.2024 müssen wir die Mietpreise für unsere Veranstaltungsräume so moderat wie möglich erhöhen, um kostendeckend arbeiten zu können.
...from 1.2.2024
Petition "Wehrhafte Demokratie: Höcke stoppen!"
Björn Höcke ist ein wahrhaft gefährlicher Feind der freiheitlichen Demokratie. Das zeigt sich immer wieder. Doch es gibt eine Möglichkeit, ihn zu stoppen: Die Grundrechtsverwirkung nach Verfassungsartikel 18. Das ist niedrigschwelliger als ein Parteiverbot – und darum realistischer. Damit dürfte Höcke sich nicht mehr wählen lassen. Unterzeichnen Sie jetzt die WeAct-Petition von Indra Ghosh!
Weitere Informationen und zur Unterstützung der Petition:
By the end of Hitler's rule in 1945, around 200,000 people with physical, mental and psychological disabilities had fallen victim to the systematic mass murder of the Nazi system. In one of the most important hospital killing centers alone, Schloß Sonnenstein in Pirna, 13720 people with disabilities and 1031 concentration camp prisoners were murdered with the help of gas. The listed ensemble of buildings includes the so-called bus garage, which has been designated a "monument of national importance" and is a unique architectural testimony to the crime against humanity committed by the Nazis. Despite this, a private investor has begun the undocumented demolition of this building in order to convert it into a residential building. The inner structure created by the so-called T4 Action for the bus garage, with its track-bearing walls, floors and fixtures, has already been almost completely destroyed.
What is now taking place in Pirna is the irresponsible disposal of evidence of German history. We urgently call on those responsible to immediately secure and document the structural traces that still remain and to restore the building and preserve its immediate surroundings. What is needed is a form of use that, among other things, preserves the external appearance as a testimony to the T4 murders and leaves the gate front contiguous and unobstructed, visible and accessible to the public.
