For Lefties too Stubborn to Quit
As always, following on Dr. X’s suggestion, it’s all yours, “announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose”, feel free.
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Its probably been covered before, but I was talking to a Portuguese chap in work today who was explaining how Portugal have gotten rid of a number of public holidays to ‘increase productivity’.
Found a BBC article from May about it. Crazy stuff.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17998937
And how well it has worked, eh?
I think you will find that it has “worked” for the Portuguese capitalists and the multi-nationals who invest there in terms of an increase in profits.
Vladimir Putin comes out against Pussy Riot:
Pussy Riot supporters fear that the band members will be unsuccessful in their appeal of their sentence after Vladimir Putin said they had got what they deserved
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1010/pussy-riot-.html
The ‘Primetime’ programme last night seriously alarmed me:- here it was, as expected, the brainwashing of the proletariat, that: ‘Investors are the Good Guys’! and the usual speil of how they ‘only’ want to help tenants to progress to the understanding that eternally paying (to them) rent, is the cute way to being the prime/superior being. They even cited how, in Germany, over 50%? of housing is commercially rented.
About two years back I accessed a German website, that was German people, protesting, about there being too much private (investor) rent places. I will check again and try to bring the website to this post.
But, the Primetime programme; was an overt flexing of the present Government’s muscle power on behalf of the extant wealthy in this country and the new, venial, vampire investors. Both intent on being the free and clear Title Deed holders (monetarily) of all they can accumulate; and lecturing the proletariat on the virtues of owning nothing.
Any history teachers or second level students out there?
The Friends of the International Brigades in Ireland are launching our first essay competition for all second level students in Ireland. The winner will be invited to read their essay in Madrid on Friday 15th Febuary 2013, and to attend the annual Jarama commemoration on Saturday 16th, accompanied by a parent or guardian.Their flight and accommodation costs will be paid for them, as our guests, an
d guests of the AABI (Madrid-based friends of the International Brigades).
The essays can cover any aspect of the roles and experiences of the
members of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War that is related to Ireland, or which deals with the consequences for brigade members after the war ended.
Any student between the ages of 16 to 19 years, in any second level course anywhere in Ireland during the time of the competition, is eligible to enter, whether at school, in apprenticeship or at any kind of educational institution, provided the essay is submitted by 12.00, Monday 3rd December 2012, together with the contact details of the writer, and those of their teacher or course supervisor who can confirm the student’s age and second level course participation.
Essays should be in English, and not more than 1600 words in length; all sources should be acknowledged for facts quoted.
The email address to which essays with contact details must be sent is: fibispain36to39@gmail.com
Every competitor who fulfils the above conditions will receive a certificate attesting to their participation.
All decisions by the judges are final.
The organisers also hope to arrange an event for the authors of the essays placed first, second, and the most original essay, to read their essays here in Ireland. .
The aim of the competition is to develop young people’s interest in modern history, and in particular an appreciation of the ideals and activities of the volunteers in these brigades. We thus hope to carry out the words spoken by the great wartime Republican leader, Dolores Ibarruri, when she told those watching the Brigades’ farewell march in the autumn of 1938, to tell their children about these volunteers who came to Spain to defend democracy.
In today’s world we are living through times which recall the dangers and the challenges of the 1930s, and we need to recall the deeds and aspirations of those who risked their lives for a cause which remains as a lesson and a warning to us today.
Who are we?
The Friends of the International Brigade in Ireland are a group of people from differrent backgrounds who have been working together, organising and supporting events in Spain and throughout Europe for 25 years.
Many of us have been active in recording the oral history of veterans, organising talks and conferences and undertaking field work at battle sites; and planning, financing and erecting monuments in both Ireland and Spain.
The Press Ombudsman has found against the independent and Kevin Myers for his claims that
(a) “the liberalisation of the laws against homosexual acts” had resulted in the “catastrophic reality” of “at least 250,000 deaths from AIDS”;
(b) “the record of every society shows that boys without a strong stable male figure in their lives are an express train heading for trouble”; and
(c) Catholic adoption agencies have “closed rather than do something which they feel is immoral, which is to hand children over to homosexual couples”.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/marriage-equality-belongto-youth-services-and-others-and-the-irish-independent-3255604.html?i=1203450790847298
Emigration and Spain:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carlos-m-duarte/yesterday-my-daughter-emigrated_b_1948533.html
bjg
Walmart workers strike:
-.The first retail worker strike against Walmart has spread from Los Angeles, where it began last week, to stores in a dozen cities, a union official said Tuesday.-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/09/walmart-strike-dallas-arkansas-los-angeles-workers_n_1951867.html
I am horrified to learn that my wicked stepmother is in the running to be the next Governor of the Bank of England.
I see Romney has at long last deployed his long-rumoured “etch-a-sketch” campaign strategy. Will the US media call him on saying completely different things depending on the audience?
Obama’s strategy has been to portray Romney as an out-of-touch plutocrat who is not fit to be president. But Romney has successfully presented himself as a plausible alternative, before an audience of about 65 million people.
Obama’s lacklustre performance has further dispirited the Democratic base, whereas Romney has fired up the Republicans, so the respective turnouts will favour the Republicans.
Incidentally, ‘Atlas Shrugged’, the movie, Part 2, opens tomorrow. May give some insights into the Romney/Ryan mindset.
Over 200 mainly young people at anti-fascist public meetings, mural unveilings and gigs in Dublin last weekend. You’d think the SWP or SP might have sent a paper seller.
‘You’d think the SWP or SP might have sent a paper seller.’
A first for everything.
Is mise, srl.
‘I’m not here to defend privilege’ says Rankin’ Dave ‘I’m here to spread it’.
From the reddit forum “Propaganda Posters”, here’s a SF booklet on publicity methods, from 1974.
http://imgur.com/a/lXeRp#0
http://www.reddit.com/r/propaganda
Damn, I meant to put a link to the “Propaganda Posters” reddit.
http://www.reddit.com/r/PropagandaPosters
I posted that manual in pdf form in August.
http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/from-1974-sinn-fein-manual-of-publicity-prepared-solely-for-the-information-and-guidance-of-sinn-fein-members/
Fianna Fails anti Property Tax site
http://www.wrongtaxwrongtime.ie/#!home/mainPage
I’ve left them a message on that petition. Opportunist populists. Like that would do anything differently to FG if they were in power. TINA etc. Muppets.
Lose a point for using “Muppets” as a term of abuse.
I recall you raising that point before. Remind me what your reasoning was?
Partly that you wouldn’t say that to Miss Piggy’s face.
i thought right wing reactionaries usually were against muppets. Poor old big bird is getting a roasting isnt he.
‘getting a roasting’
This is going to be an odd question, but does anyone know if there was a problem with amphetamine abuse in the late 60′s to early 70′s in this country?
In 1969, regulations governing the supply of amphetamines were introduced (Medical Preparations (Control of Amphetamines) Regulations, 1969) . Essentially it meant that pharmacists wishing to fill a prescription containing amphetamines were required to send the particulars of the Rx and the patient to the pharmacy department of St James Hospital, who would dispense the amphetamines. The regulations were abolished in 2007. There are few licensed products on the market containing amphetamines and Ireland has a relatively low illegal usage of amphetamines, compared to other countries and other drugs (cue Heroin).
Just wondering if any historians or anyone interested in social history would know about it? It’s surprising that specific legislation was introduced at the time, given the fact that the heroin epidemic lead to huge social and political effects.
Does this help:
http://tinyurl.com/92sv2wd
A search for amphetamine in Dail debates between 1967 and 1972 throws up eight hits.
Indeed, it looks like moral panic. Volume 243, 4 December 1969, Health Bill.
Dr. Byrne: May I say how much I welcome the introduction of this legislation which will limit the availability of drugs, and in particular drugs in the amphetamine class, which the Minister has singled out? These drugs increase the socialising capabilities of the taker. They are the drugs responsible for the so-called “love-ins” taking place in England and other places.
[341] One of the big problems is the curtailment of drugs which are attractive to youth. Many clergy interested in the drug problem specify that the one group of drugs which they are particularly interested in curtailing are the drugs in relation to sex. We must, of course, remember that there is a step before the actual taking of the first amphetamine tablet. The usual precursor to this, in my experience, has been a compound, which is on sale to anyone without prescription, known as Pro-plus. It is advertised that this tablet will prolong the staying power at a dance. It is said if you do not feel up to going out to a party you should take a couple of these tablets and everything will be all right. The active ingredient in these tablets is caffeine and I would like to see provision for the curtailment of the sale of caffeine in the list of drugs which the Minister is going to include here. It is one of the initial drugs which teenagers take. We have all heard of the famous “ton-up” boys in England. These boys would do 100 miles an hour on their motor bikes on the M1 but prior to doing this they would go to a roadside café and drink between eight to 12 bottles of a particular soft drink, which has a very high degree of caffeine. Through extracting the caffeine they increased their general reflex muscle tone enabling them to be a little bit carefree and succeed in doing the “ton”. Unfortunately, we have isolated cases of amphetamine drugs being used in sport. As a student I did a survey and one particular athlete whom we approached for a sample said, “Do not examine that for benzedrine. I have just taken six.”
After 8 to 12 bottles of a soft drink I would think you would make a bit of a mess in your leathers!
Eamon Gilmore encounters érígí in Ballyfermott.
TRADE UNION LEFT FORUM
Just to let people know of a new website.
http://www.tuleftforum.com/
The purpose of the Forum is to encourage and initiate serious examination and debate from a Left/class perspective of the major questions facing the labour movement in Ireland.
The Forum will be a focus for socialist thought on these questions, not to provide ready made answers to complex problems, but to provide a viewpoint for discussion and debate.
The Forum will thus assist trade union activists to make practical interventions in their own workplaces and unions as they see appropriate.
The Trade Union Left Forum will initially be a discussion Forum; it may develop and acquire a wider role to the extent that participants find it of benefit and have confidence in it.
Check out the website and the forums first pamphlet
A chairde,
I have a request for information. The irishelectionliterature website has a leaflet/booklet from the Sinn Féin POW Department entitled ‘Know Your Rights’. The link is here:
http://irishelectionliterature.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/know-your-rights-advice-on-what-to-do-if-arrested-in-the-26-counties-sinn-fein-pow-department/
If anybody could tell me the date or approximate date of publication, I would be very grateful.
Is mise srl.,
Regrettably the library catalogue of Trinity College Dublin does not appear to be helpful on this occasion.
SecGen of Social Protection & the Troika shared a platform at today’s Ibec conference .
Congratulations to real SRFC on their well deserved title win. Great game this afternoon and 100 more passion and commitment on display from players and fans than last night’s sorry affair. I imagine EamonnCork is extremely happy right now.
Congratulations Eamonn. Just home from Sligo, didn’t think it was a peno and haven’t seen the recording yet, but regardless, the best team won the league.
Thanks lads, it was great. Haven’t the strength to type anything else.
Congratulations Eamonn from myself also. Well deserved….. whilst you were out celebrating I sat and watched the most spineless , gutless , dreadful performance in an awful long time from Rovers as they lost to Derry.
Hopefully Pats can win the cup to get Rovers into Europe next year.
Will Sean O’Connor be suspended for the final?
New podcast from the History Show on Near FM. Irish Radicalism in Scotland. http://archive.org/details/TheHistoryShowNearFmIrishRadicalismInScotland Previous episodes of the show are available here: http://nearpodcast.org/pcast/?tag=the-history-show
Yeah, fantastic football in Sligo today, even if the ref should’ve gone to Specsavers. Huge contrast to the night before with Pats fighting (ok, perhaps too literally) until the very end. I mentally excluded EamonnCork from the ‘Where were you? Where were you? Where were you when you were shit?’ chant after the first Sligo goal.
Whatever happened to Owen Carron?
From a republican perspective; one thing that’s note worthy about the F and S Tyrone constituency in the last 50 years or so, is that the republican and anti parliamentarian Ruairí Ó Brádaigh run in ’66 and received as an Independent Republican 10,370 and a 19% share. Before the most recent war. Which always makes me think why in the 70s did the media push the notion that the republicans had no support. they also elected an MP in the area in the 50s.
I see that the crowds came out for the local caudillo again in Ballyconnell today. Depressing.
Depressing doesn’t even begin to cover it! Jesus, what kind of a fucking s**thole do we live in where an anti-union billionaire, contempt of court mongering scumbag can draw out thousands of ordinary people? I blame the union leaders. Where people aren’t being educated regularly on their class interests, which they weren’t while we were in ‘partnership’ with scumbags like Quinn, the vacuum is filled with all kinds of crap.
Mirroring your thoughts tonight CMK. Though it looks like 5,000 rather than 10,000. Still, the planned anti-austerity demo in Dublin on 24th November will do well to get 5,000 out. And 5,000 comes out for Quinn in Ballyconnell! These same union leaders will use this to bemoan any attempt at mobilising. But still this is unexpected and requires some serious thinking by the left.
Part of it has to do with the region involved. Quinn has established himself as Paterfamilias in the Border area and there will always be people who support the big guy.
To be honest, I do wonder why the left did not gain more of a foothold in the border, midlands, or western regions. By and large, they were the ones to gain last and gain least from the boom; perversely, they are also the ones to be hit hardest by the crash due to a large dependence on the construction industry.
There is, quite possibly, an ‘astro-turf’ quality to this movement as well. I would not be surprised if Quinn and his family have retained PR consultants in anticipation of the huge public interest in his legal cases and in the fate of his holdings.
I wonder how easy it is to express any criticism of Quinn in Ballyconnell?
Well, look, if you were a reasonably intelligent person in their late twenties/early thirties, and of leftish persuasion, this kind of thing, the second time in a few weeks, should be enough to persuade you to book a ticket out of here. If I were in that bracket and had nothing to tie me down, I’d be out of here faster than lightning. What’s depressing about the Ballyconnell phenomenon is that these people are the kinds of people that we, on the Left, need to be reaching and connecting to. Instead, they have SF telling them to kow-tow to the Quinn dynasty (emphasis on nasty) and a union movement telling them that ‘ah well, there’s no real point in striking, sure the bosses will still win and aren’t the media agin’ us! By the way you missed your last sub, Liberty Hall isn’t going to refurbish itself!’.
I have to be honest and say that the Ballyconnell marches leave me more despondent than anything else. The union leaders decades of betrayal: we’re used to that and don’t expect anything else; but thousands of workers coming out to support a billionaire: we might as well give up. Quinn wages were never great, but they were wages where there was little else, so that counts for something. There is an understandable element to the whole thing, where there probably is a real fear that if Quinn goes under then Cavan/Fermanagh goes with him.
I don’t really care about the numbers; whatever way you slice it, it’s an enormous turnout and if replicated in Dublin would probably be more than 100,000. All I can say is that come the revolution Begg, O’Connor and McLoone should be first against the wall; there might be case for sparing Quinn, he has never betrayed workers but has fulfilled his function as a capitalist; the union leaders have fallen so far into disrepute that nothing they can do can redeem them. At least O’Connor, from what I can see, knows that ‘vingince’ is on its way and that the assault on workers, which is only beginning, can’t save him. Would it be cruel to argue that I hope O’Connor and Begg end their days in poverty, which is where they seem intent on driving Irish workers.
It is immensely depressing. But you only have to look at the ostensibly left-wing people who’ve posted on this site that Mick Wallace is a victim of a right wing conspiracy whose critics are beholden to bourgeois morality to see how tempting it is for people to support any kind of blackguard on the grounds that he’s ‘one of our own who done a lot for this area.’
10,000. These are mostly workers, small farmers and the petty bourgeoisie. We’d do well to mobilise this in Belfast even if all Socialists and Trade Unionists were on board. I Despair. But we build for O20, next Sat. All out against Austerity!
Entire panel attacking public sector pay and trade unions today on Marion-another-right-wing-panel-Finucine. Even Eamon Dunphy joined in with his two tier shite between public and private sector workers. Now I know he’s a loud and empty vessel. The lot of them are on six figure salaries I’d say.
Meanwhile the Sindo combines an expected attack on Vincent Browne (for attacking inequality) with a less expected defence by Elaine Byrne of private schools. Public sector allowances bad, private schools good. Island allowance for a nurse on call bad, Clongowes good.
Don’t listen to Marian Finucane generally as weekend mornings are full of kids activities etc. However, listening to the podcast now and it’s a wholly depressing spectacle. What a bunch of smug, self-satisfied gits. RTE letting its true colours come through with that line up. But Eamon Dunphy is such a baloney merchant and bullshiter; ditto for Niall Quinn. Is every Quinn in the country a right winger: Ruairi Quinn, Sean Quinn, Niall Quinn etc etc. But a disgusting and grotesquely imbalanced panel. And to think I’ve just paid my TV licence for this crap.
In fact the mix is similar to that of a potential fascist movement. The blame is directed at certain targets.
who said satire is dead?
http://www.economist.com/node/21564556
Jesus that really is drivel
Possibly the Stupid Statement of the Year, and worthy of the Sindo at its finest: “[N]o Wall Street financier has done as much damage to American social mobility as the teachers’ unions have.”
An interesting enough interview on Irish Radicalism in Scotland from the Irish Story.
http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/10/15/interview-irish-radicalism-in-scotland/#.UHvc92fF1t0
NYC Mayor Bloomberg addresses the Conservative Party Conference.
“So I couldn’t agree more with your opposition to the tax on financial transactions. If you want to send financial firms out of the country, a tax on transactions is as good a way to do it as any. That may not be the popular thing to say – but in a global economy, it’s the reality. And you are right for standing up and saying it”
Bloomberg’s right-wing policies have been so successful in NYC that 20,000 children are living in homeless shelters.
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2012b%2Fpr351-12.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1
I don’t know if this is old information but the Nevin Economic Research Institution looks like a very worthy enterprise:
The Nevin Economic Research Institute, with offices in Dublin and Belfast, is a research organisation which, at its core, has a vision of the achievement of a better, fairer society. It aims, through the provision of world-class research and analysis, to contribute towards the construction of alternative perspectives and possibilities that will lead to the creation of an economy that works for society. It is
supported by a number of unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions .
http://www.nerinstitute.net/
Striking South African miners have now set up a national coordinating committee to spread the strike across the country. It looks like the NUM but also the AMCU are being sidelined: http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-10-15-marikana-tragedy-marches-towards-platinum-rebellion
Here’s a revealing comment from an NUM spokeman about what’s needed to resolve the dispute:
“The NUM spokesperson called for an intensified police presence in Marikana and beyond, which he said would restore law and order in the mining sector. “The police have to be there, and they must be there in bigger numbers. Even if they are there now they are losing the battle to criminals. They are not losing the battle to strikers, but to criminals – those people are there to cause chaos, to ensure that property is burned, that people are killed. We can’t have the promotion of lawlessness,” Seshoka said.”
If that wasn’t bad enough it appears the NUM has been loansharking mineworkers in cooperation with the bosses! http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-10-12-marikana-the-debt-hole-that-fuelled-the-fire
“There’s one further issue: credit providers operating in mining towns aren’t all just small operations. As the M&G pointed out in September, one of the biggest players is Ubank, a bank with 500,000 customers, 60% of whom work in the mining industry. Ubank just happens to be owned by the National Union of Mineworkers and the Chamber of Mines.”
I gather you have the IMF in town today. No chance of any riots, I assume?
It never leaves town…
I know, but what I mean is, aren’t they specificaly in action today? There was something on the news about them. I particularly noticed because it was after an item showing rioting in Portugal, where they also never leave town. and obviously the absence of similar rioting in Ireland was noticeable.
(This may lead on to something else I’ve wanted to discuss, but I’ll probably leave it until the next Open Thread.)
Yep, they are in town along with the two other outfits. No, there will be no riots in connection with this. Very slight possibility of a riot in Abbotstown if the Faroes beat us tonight. I do hope, whatever the outcome of this crisis, that that shyster Denis O’Brien has no further involvement with Irish football.
There seems to be an implicit assumption that rioting is a good thing?
You can take it that in certain circumstances I think it a good deal better than nothing.
That’s precisely the time when it’s most dangerous for the class.
Whenever you are tempted to write “the class”, perhaps you should ask yourself whether you are
(a) writing a pamphlet
(b) addressing a meeting
(c) neither of the above.
I’ve always admired your ability to avoid the point ejh.
There would probably be riots and certainly sabotage if the PSNI handed over ‘Petey’ Quinn to the Free State. There has already been a semi-organised campaign of intimidation and vandalism of IRBC property in the Cavan border region. I’m afraid your looking in the wrong place for social upheaval ejh. We riot FOR our masters here.
+1
Castells & Paul Mason on the rise of alternative economic cultures since the financial crisis. Some very interesting stuff on Spain in particular
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01n9yg1/Analysis_Alternative_Economic_Cultures/