Breaking the Barcodes

Nov. 5th sees the world's first attempted co-ordinated action against commercialisation in education (including against fees for education). So far, activists in 22 countries have signed up to have mass co-ordinated events. This essay seeks to look at some of the issues involved in commercialism in education.

Since we have not reached the level of commercialism in our schools that pervade an education system such as the American one, perhaps now is the time to begin the fight against the commercialism that is present, before it becomes too much to be countered.

Related Links: Protest Against Education Cuts | Green Party Sponsor Garden for Private School in Cork | It'll Be a Winter of Discontent - The Old and the Young Arrived at the Dáil | Int. Day of Action (Nov. 5th) Against Commercialisation of Education | Opposing Tesco's "Computers for Schools" Voucher Scheme

Observe the Children of Ireland, Marching Towards the Dáil

Thousands protested outside the Dáil against the government's education cutbacks.

Related Links: Protest Against Education Cuts | Green Party Sponsor Garden for Private School in Cork | It'll Be a Winter of Discontent - The Old and the Young Arrived at the Dáil | Int. Day of Action (Nov. 5th) Against Commercialisation of Education

Ah there's the minister now ...

Today thousand of protesters, young and old, marched on the Dáil to tell our government to shove their plans, regarding fees and medical cards for the over 70's, where the sun don't shine.

Related Links: Medical Card Protest in Dublin - Photo Story | Students take to the street of Dublin to protest budget cutbacks | Students Respond to Batt Signal | Protest at Dail to maintain universal Medical Card for over 70s | Protest on Weds 29th Oct Against Education Cuts

Organise! at the UUP Office

The Alliance for Choice in Northern Ireland is heading up a campaign for the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland. On Wednesday 22nd there will be a vote on an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill in Westminster to extend the Act to NI - 41 years after its introduction in the rest of the UK.

Organise!, political activists, and pro-choice campaigners will be staging a series of protests in the next week in the run up to the Westminster vote on the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to NI. Organise! are currently carrying out pickets of the four main political parties in the north.

Related Links: Organise! Blog Abortion on Indy.ie Choice Ireland Aliance for Choice Alliance for Choice N.I.

This is the second of a series of articles covering the financial and money markets from a critical perspective.

In 'Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction', Paul Bowman examined the derivatives market and promised that the succeeding article would cover the 'story of the historical development of successive regimes of global financial orders' and would explain the role of the Eurodollars market 'in undermining the Keynesian Bretton Woods system'.

However, in the interests of space and relevance, I will only tell the story of the historical development of the regime of global financial order under US hegemony. I will begin by examining how the centre of capital accumulation shifted from Europe to the US in the first half of the twentieth century, and how following World War II the global financial order became centred around the US through the Bretton Woods system.

I will then look at how the Bretton Woods System was undermined, concentrating as much on the role of workers’ militancy as on the role of the Eurodollars market. After considering the response to the crisis of Bretton Woods, I'll look at the Clinton boom bringing us up to the current situation of the US’s current heavy dependence on foreign borrowing.