People have been making a natural comparison between the Trump victory and the Brexit referendum result back in June. The comparison is natural because in both cases anti-immigrant hysteria and racism was used to agitate and energize the passions of a grassroots base which drew its support from new roots put down into politically alienated sections of the working class, many voting for the first time. But we need to recognise the differences as well as the commonalities.

Again, things have not went as intended. Kropotkin's Modern Science and Anarchy involves a lot more work than I expected. Simply put, the 1912 British edition is quite different to (Section I of) the 1913 French version. The latter was revised (along with the other sections) so there is quite a few additions. However, sometimes there are sentances in the British edition which do not exist in the French. Also, sometimes the words used by the translator are, well, interesting and sometimes the language is dated. So I am revising the whole essay "Modern Science and Anarchy" and the final book version will be significantly different from the 1912 version -- not least, because of the inclusion of material in the French edition not in it. Whether this was a abridgement or the French edition an expansion, I am not sure -- maybe both.

August 31st outside the GPO in Dublin and over 100 people gather to protest at the Turkish invasion of northern Syria.  The invasion seems to be intended to stop the two sections of Rojava linking up - a linkup would cut off ISIS from the Turkish border.

The demonstration was called by Rojava Calling and Saoirse Jin groups.  Saoirse is the Irish word for Freedom and Jin the Kurdish word for women. There were speakers from the Kurdish community, political organisations including the WSM and Sinn Fein and a trade union speaker.  You can hear most of these speeches in the video.

 The 2016 Census has again revealed there is no housing crisis. In fact about 1 in 8 houses were empty, a massive 259,562 dwellings in all.

This Irish Housing Network had a seminar on the land grabs happening on 3 major areas of Dublin at the moment as part of the housing crisis. The seminar was to inform residents and housing campaigners of DCC's plan, and to discuss how we can fight it together.

Early July saw Black Lives Matter solidarity protests happen in cities across Ireland, including Cork, Belfast, Galway and two seperate protests on different days in Dublin.

The largest of the Dublin protests was on July 12th when hundreds of people gathered across from the GPO on O'Connell street.  A second protest that Saturday at Central Blank plaza included a march to the GPO.

To mark todays 80th anniversary of the Spanish revolution and what is also the 4th anniversary of the Rojava revolution in Kobane this recording of a Kurdish version of A Las Barricadas has just been released.

It's recorded in Qamişlo, Rojava by members of the Mohamed Şêxo art and culture centre. The performers say "What happened in Barcelona on 19th July 1936 was repeated 76 years later. We started in Kobanê, and it was there that we put up our fiercest resistance. Countless comrades have fallen to defend this city against the fascists, just like the countless comrades who gave their live to defend the revolution in Catalonia and Spain.

It is now 20 years since An Anarchist FAQ (AFAQ) was officially launched and six years since the core of it was completed (version 14.0). Its has been published by AK Press as well as translated into numerous languages. It has been quoted and referenced by other works. So it has been a success – although when it was started I had no idea what it would end up like.

Well, the UK has – narrowly – voted to leave the EU. It was, in many ways, two-fingers to a system (neo-liberalism) which has failed so many across the UK – yet this failure was home-grown, in Thatcherism rather than the EU. Even areas which received large investment from the EU (such as parts of Wales and Cornwall) voted to leave – if the Westminster elite actually cared about these areas then the EU would not have needed to invest money there. So we can fully expect – once the Tory leadership campaign and its populist rhetoric has ended – that the money that will not be given to the EU will be spent by the Tories to cut taxes for the top 5%...

July 4th in Dublin saw homeless people occupy a 40 bed hostel they are being evicted from so that it can eventually be turned into long term housing.  The Irish Housing Network which is supporting the residents posted that Johns Lane West provided shelter and accommodation for over 40 people. A few months ago DCC and Focus Ireland announced they were closing the hostel to build apartments on the site. On Monday July 4th when the hostel was supposed to close, residents with nowhere else to go refused to leave and occupied the building.

The loss of 42 beds means another 42 people at risk of sleeping on the streets. With no new beds opened, if Johns Lane closes permanently more people will be forced onto the street.