Video Of The Week

The WSM have written the following article which neatly sums up the various things happening in the news today and brings them together.

This morning squads of Garda around Dublin mounted dawn raids on the houses of water charges protesters over a sit in 3 months ago in Jobstown. At the same time across the city bankers and other speculators named in the HSBC Geneva Private Bank leaks slept soundly in their beds knowing no one was going to be knocking down their door. If you want to understand the nature of power the contrast provides an excellent example.

... read full story / add a comment

The WSM have written a timely article covering the recent sickening spectacle of the mainstream media expressing their moral outrage at a recent protest against the President after he signed into law another batch of laws to serve corporate interests and steal away the resources which belong to the Irish people, but they did not express any moral outrage over any of the austerity measures of the past 7 years which has resulted in people losing their homes, going without, committing suicide, dying for lack of proper care and treatments and waiting lists and the general misery inflicted upon the population. No, it is simply an opportunity to viciously attack and condemn anyone who dares challenge the ideology that everything must be sold off and run for profit and screw peoples needs and lives. ... read full story / add a comment

Murder yes. Suicide? Newsvid at link.

The project leader of the controversial film, “Gray State,” along with his wife and daughter, were found dead in their home in what authorities have labeled an “apparent murder-suicide.”

The bodies of David Crowley, 29, his wife Komel, 28, and their 5-year-old daughter were discovered lying in their home by a neighbor.

David and Komel Crowley David and Komel Crowley
The Crowley family had not been seen since before Christmas, and neighbors assumed that they were on an extended vacation. Neighbor Collin Prochnow said he grew concerned when packages piled up on the couple’s doorstep and he heard a dog barking inside ... read full story / add a comment

A Mayor who is himself a Muslim stands up for Democracy, Freedom and Secularism.

Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam -- the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world -- lashed out at Muslims living in the country saying if they didn't like freedom of speech, they should "f**k off".

"It is incomprehensible that you can turn against freedom," he said as he appeared on television program Nieuwsuur on Wednesday night. "But if you do not like freedom, in Heaven's name pack your bag and leave." The anger was apparently directed at Charlie Hebdo attackers. ... read full story / add a comment

This is an extremely important story and should be the final wakeup call to the public at large over the real dangers of weedkillers and GM crops. Even though the study applies to the USA, and generally we have GM food labeling, our animal feeds very likely contain significant amounts of GM crops. Also Roundup itself even on ordinary crops is used widespread both in agriculture and in gardens. It is highly likely we are all regularly exposed to residues of this weedkiller, although in all likelihood at the moment this is probably more prevalent in the USA where the situation is a lot worse. However, there are continual efforts all the time to introduce GM crops into Ireland and both FF and FG have given their support to the corporate lobbyists promoting its use. Hopefully news like this just might stop it in its tracks but it won't do anything for the tens of thousands of families already affected by autism ... read full story / add a comment

The fake "banking enquiry" is now underway and for those interested in the charade, Jordan Shilton has published a concise and incisive article on the subject on WSWS.org. I have republished it here as there is much deliberate sleight of hand and misdirection on this topic by the political elites and their henchmen in the media and it is important that such articles gets to a wider readership in the interests of truth and clarity on the subject.
... read full story / add a comment

SMOKED salmon is the easy part of Christmas. Throw it on brown bread, with lemon and black pepper, and the innocents will think it’s posh and that you’ve spent a lot.

But you can get 100g of Everyday Value smoked salmon in Tesco — “responsibly sourced from the waters around Scotland, Norway or Ireland” — for €3.59.

But, today, as many of us prepare for the big Christmas supermarket shop, the Friends of the Irish Environment have ramped up their boycott of farmed salmon, strengthened by the news that the international Slow Food Movement — which counts among its supporters Bridgestone’s Sally McKenna and that icon of Irish sustainable food, Darina Allen — has condemned intensive open-pen fish farms. ... read full story / add a comment

It's a Wonderful Life,produced and directed by Frank Capra , has become a television and video staple over the Christmas season. This Rawstory feature tells the little-known story of how Hollywood's evocation of bygone small town America at Christmas time with its Scrooge-like banker , Mr Potter,almost fell foul of Ayn Rand , the FBI and Senator Joe McCarthy's House of Un-American Activities Committee . ... read full story / add a comment

On Thursday night RTE Primetime presented what many have described as a 'regime broadcast', an utterly transparent hatchet job of the anti-Water Charges campaign. This featured, supposedly, an anonymous water meter installer describing being accosted by knife, hatchet, baseball bat, and golf club wielding maniacal protesters – the sinister fringe. The core message transmitted in the program was 'you can protest, but don't protest effectively'. If you watched it (link below), what did you think? ... read full story / add a comment

Issue 58 of
Red Banner: a magazine of socialist ideas
is out now
€2 / Ł1.50 from bookshops or the address above ... read full story / add a comment

Only one year ago, supertyphoon Haiyan killed thousands, displaced millions of people and caused billions of dollars in damage. Communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, grieving for loved ones lost and are now hit by another typhoon.

The toll in lives and rebuilding will continue to climb – and it’s up to us to stand with the people of the Philippines and hold Big Polluters to account.

Just a few dozen Big Polluters, including major oil, coal and gas companies, are responsible for two-thirds of the pollution. Communities like those affected by Haiyan are footing the bill for their destruction while Big Polluters continue to rake in billions in profits by selling their climate-killing coal, oil and gas.

Right now, negotiators are gathered at the Conference of Parties in Lima, Peru to discuss a global agreement on climate change. Many of them are still doing the bidding of the Big Polluters – but we can show them that the world is on the side of the people of the Philippines and won’t back down in this fight.

The resilient people of the Philippines are ready to take ambitious action, including legal, against the biggest polluters, and they need us all to stand with them. ... read full story / add a comment

I'm reproducing this post here because I think it needs wider circulation. I hope the original poster will forgive
my boldness but It is an important message that should get out to the widest possible audience.
Basically, under instruction from the EU, we will be giving private investors the interest on 28 billion of bank debt instead of paying it
back to the Irish central bank as is currently the case, all with barely a murmur from the Irish media. Meanwhile the distraction storm rages on over a piddling 280 million which MIGHT be repaid to junior bond holders some of which MAY actually be local credit unions etc who are very beneficial to our economy.
Furthermore If interest rates rise in the future we WILL be crucified by huge wasted interest repayments to greedy vulture capitalists. Meanwhile the media have us pissing and moaning over a hypothetical 280 million which MIGHT be repaid mainly to the likes of our own credit unions which will be peanuts compared to these other interest payments most likely going to foreign vulture capitalists ... read full story / add a comment

This article was written by the WSM and appears on their website and is the text for a 4 page PDF leaflet which you are encouraged to print and distribute.

In the face of massive opposition to the water charges, the government have made several clumsy attempts to placate us, while their partners in the media seek to frighten us off the streets. The latest attempt, delivered by Alan Kelly, Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government in the Dáil on the 19th of November, is the plan to charge us €160 per year for our water and to give ‘eligible households’ a water conservation grant of €100. ... read full story / add a comment

A podcast interview with US philosopher Steve Best about his new book.
... read full story / add a comment

This is a repost of an important article on the Irish Left Review website and goes into detail on the connection between the Water Charges and the upcoming Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) which is currently being concluded in secret by the EU and US.

*** The water charges can and must be defeated by resistance and non-payment but water, as a human right, must also be secured as a publicly owned and controlled resource universally available. Remember, we had to fight water charges in the 1980’s and again in the 1990’s so let’s make this win a permanent one. ... read full story / add a comment

This water charge FAQ from the WSM answers your questions about the water charge and the growing resistance to it. If there is a question you want to ask that is not here or if you think one of the answers could be improved contact us via https://twitter.com/wsmireland or https://www.facebook.com/WorkersSolidarityMovement with your suggestions. ... read full story / add a comment

The PEOPLES NEWS contains commentary on developments in the EU from an Irish and democratic perspective ... read full story / add a comment

The Phones4U scandal has a serious lesson for us all
about how completely amoral capitalism has become
and how at risk we all are from it's predations. ... read full story / add a comment

Irish Water have resorted to recruiting private military contractors..... Pathetic nasty people...

http://www.gumtree.ie/a-drivers-security/dublin/special...75909 ... read full story / add a comment

It seems the US has realised it can cynically exploit the current Ebola crisis to further increase it's military presence in Africa. Speaking at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia Tuesday afternoon, President Barack Obama declared: “Faced with this outbreak, the world is looking to the United States and it is a responsibility we are prepared to embrace. We are prepared to take leadership on this.” This is, of course a load of horseshit. It's just an excuse to bolster US military forces in a resource rich region. ... read full story / add a comment