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Protest and survive or injustice will thrive

Mon 17 Jun 2013 02:14 pm filed by admin - International

As protests continue in Turkey and the G8 meet in Northern Ireland, the right to peaceful assembly and free expression has never been more important, says Ruairí McKiernan (The Irish Examiner June 17th 2013).

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You are all Eichmanns. We are free.

Mon 17 Jun 2013 02:10 pm filed by admin - Human Rights, International

Letter to all the prison guards, other prison workers and all the cops. Partly written in a London police cell during the Stop G8 week, where police repression was at its highest To all the prison guards, other prison workers and all the cops. Since I'm trying not to talk to you, I'll write you this letter 'to have a chat'. I've seen several of you uniforms walking around here, all pretending to be busy with 'making London a safer place', or whatever your propaganda slogan might be. Some of you pretend to be nice, others pretend to be not. I don't really care. You're all wearing the same uniform, you're all working on the same project: oppressing those who do not meet up white heterosexual European male standards. So whether you do it in a nice looking way or not, you're all bastards for making yourself compliance to the crimes of the state and the capital you're protecting. I look at each of you in the same way. But there is one thing that keeps floating through my mind. And that is a question I would love to ask each one of you personally, if I didn't have anything better to do: do you actually like your job? Are you happy with what you're doing – that is, do you morally agree with the state paying you to protect the murderers, polluters and slave traders and to beat up those who rise against the machine? I mean, you are the arms and the shield of the machine – do you like taking up that role?

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Fine Gael to host European People's Party Congress to launch 2014 European election campaign

Sun 16 Jun 2013 01:42 pm filed by admin - Europe, Ireland

Fine Gael has been selected to host the Congress to launch the election campaign of the European People's Party (EPP). The Congress will take place in Dublin in late February/early March of 2014 at the Dublin Convention Centre. The exact dates are to be announced.

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Towards another biased referendum?

Thu 13 Jun 2013 12:51 pm filed by admin - Opinion

The statement released today by the Government that Richard Bruton is to lead the Fine Gael campaign for a 'Yes' vote in the scheduled referendum to abolish the Seanad should surely be a worrying sign of further impartiality on the hozizon.

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Irish Presidency secures preferable trade terms for Myanmar/Burma to promote economic development

Thu 13 Jun 2013 01:09 am filed by admin - Burma, Europe, Ireland

The Irish Presidency has secured the re-admittance of Myanmar/Burma to an EU Trade Scheme that will help promote the country's economic development, according to Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD.

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Over 30,000 Sign Thank-You Note to Edward Snowden

Tue 11 Jun 2013 09:10 pm filed by admin - Human Rights, International

Already over 30,000 people have signed a thank-you note to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden at SupportEdwardSnowden.org -- a website set up by RootsAction.org.

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Anti-Surveillance Campaigners reject government's Orwellian 'surveillance by consent'

Fri 7 Jun 2013 01:56 pm filed by admin - Human Rights, International, United Kingdom

On 8th June anti-surveillance campaigners around the world will issue a mass “we do not consent” on 1984 Action Day. This week the UK Home Office published its revised Surveillance Camera Code of Practice [1] following a brief consultation. Despite criticism from both anti-surveillance campaigners and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) the Code still contains the Orwellian concept of 'surveillance by consent'. Amazingly this new concept requires no actual consent, and no choice needs to be given to those who are surveilled. Instead the ticking of a 12-stage checklist, containing buzzwords such as 'transparency' and 'accountability', is enough to fulfil 'surveillance by consent'.

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Bradley Manning - no official court transcript "incomprehensible"

Fri 7 Jun 2013 01:23 am filed by admin - International

Reporters Without Borders said it greets with 'qualified satisfaction' a decision by Col. Denise Lind, the judge in the court martial of Bradley Manning, to authorize two private stenographers to transcribe the proceedings. But the press freedom organisation said it was 'incomprehensible' that no official transcript of the court martial was being made available.

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Pro-Fracking Spin on Public Radio

Tue 4 Jun 2013 03:01 pm filed by admin - Environment, International

The April edition of the monthly public radio program America Abroad, "Global Energy and Innovations," sounded like an infomercial for the natural gas "fracking" industry. Which, in essence, is what it was.

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Hindus urge adequate protection for Roma in Czech floods

Tue 4 Jun 2013 02:57 pm filed by admin - International, Czech/Slovakia, Europe

Hindus are urging the Czech Republic to offer adequate protection to their Roma (Gypsy) and other vulnerable populations during the current floods, which have reportedly claimed over seven lives.

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Bradley Manning court martial begins amid hypocrisy

Mon 3 Jun 2013 11:40 am filed by admin - International

By Gary Younge “I want people to see the truth ... regardless of who they are. Because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” In 2009 the American ambassador to Tunisia spent the evening at the home of Mohamed Sakher el-Materi, the President’s son-in-law. By any standards the dinner was lavish — yogurt and ice cream were flown in from St. Tropez — and the home was opulent. In a cable, made public by WikiLeaks, the diplomat wrote, “The house was recently renovated and includes an infinity pool ... there are ancient artefacts everywhere: Roman columns, frescos and even a lion’s head from which water pours into the pool. Mr. Materi insisted the pieces are real.” By Tunisian standards it was particularly obscene.

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Irish Presidency secures progress on another key EU Single Market measure

Wed 29 May 2013 07:18 pm filed by admin - Europe, Ireland

The Irish Presidency has 'secured progress' on another key EU Single Market measure that will boost intra-EU trade, according to Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton.

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