North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?
?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?
US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty
Anti-Empire >>
A bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by
The Saker >>
Australian Drugs Regulator Knew mRNA Vaccines Can Enter Nucleus and Integrate into Genome Despite Of... Wed Dec 18, 2024 17:07 | Rebekah Barnett
Emails released under FOI?reveal that senior staff at Australia's drugs regulator knew mRNA vaccines?can?enter the cell nucleus and integrate into the genome, despite the official line that such events are not possible.
The post Australian Drugs Regulator Knew mRNA Vaccines Can Enter Nucleus and Integrate into Genome Despite Official Denials, Emails Reveal appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Turkish Crime Boss Allowed to Remain in U.K. on Human Rights Grounds, Judges Rule Wed Dec 18, 2024 15:39 | Will Jones
A Turkish crime boss said to be one of Britain?s biggest?drug dealers?has won his human rights battle against deportation after the UN Refugee Agency intervened and judges rejected a Home Office appeal.
The post Turkish Crime Boss Allowed to Remain in U.K. on Human Rights Grounds, Judges Rule appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The New Scientific Priesthood Wants Complete Control of What We Are Told Wed Dec 18, 2024 13:32 | Dr David McGrogan
The ambition of elites to "manage the infodemic" amounts to the establishment of a scientific priesthood that wants full control of what we are told to ensure we only come to approved conclusions, says Dr David McGrogan.
The post The New Scientific Priesthood Wants Complete Control of What We Are Told appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
China Cancels Christmas in Hong Kong ? Leaving Churches Fearing for Their Future Wed Dec 18, 2024 11:22 | John MacNab
China has cancelled Christmas in Hong Kong this year. Officials have ordered that the usual celebrations be 'toned down'. It's part of a creeping intolerance that leaves churches fearing for the future, says John MacNab.
The post China Cancels Christmas in Hong Kong ? Leaving Churches Fearing for Their Future appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Brits Could Face Up to ?20 a Year Extra on Energy Bills to Fund ?Carbon Capture? Technology Wed Dec 18, 2024 09:00 | Will Jones
Brits could face an extra ?20 a year on energy bills to fund unproven carbon capture technology as the Government proposes to spend ?21.7 billion on projects to capture the gas from the air and store it underground.
The post Brits Could Face Up to ?20 a Year Extra on Energy Bills to Fund ‘Carbon Capture’ Technology appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
How Washington and Ankara Changed the Regime in Damascus , by Thierry Meyssan Tue Dec 17, 2024 06:58 | en
Statement by President Bashar al-Assad on the Circumstances Leading to his Depar... Mon Dec 16, 2024 13:26 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?112 Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:34 | en
Israel Passes Law Allowing Four-Year Detention Without Trial or Evidence Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:27 | en
Jihadist Mohammed al-Bashir, new Syrian Prime Minister Fri Dec 13, 2024 15:24 | en
Voltaire Network >>
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6Will the role of the Anarchists and the POUM be mentioned in this talk?
Without doubting the sincerity of the volunteers, I don't think the Communist Party should be allowed to get away with this without an examination of Stalinist terror in Spain also.
There might even be a re-enactment of the Stalinist Terror in Spain if any of you chaps get stroppy there!
will the fact that the POUM was made illegal be mentioned? Even though it was they who were first to arms against Franco and without whom there may not have been any resistence.
Also, will there be mention of the communist propeganda circulated throughout Europe citing the POUM as the cause of the May '37 street fights in Barcelona. The fact that this is not true did not bother the Communist Party at the time as they were too busy trying get as much power as they could by slandering the POUM as fascist collaborators (a blatant lie) and de-collectivising and re-centralising the industries won by the anarchist CNT(including the Telephone Exchange at Placa de Catalunya).
No disrespect to the Irish anti-fascists who fought in the war but serious questions would have to be asked if the Irish Communist Party does not address the lies propegated by the Spanish Communists during the war. I suspect they will not even be mentioned.
I'd recommend anyone who can get to the meeting to attend. It will be well worth while to hear this veteran speak.
Just in case anyone is interested, here is a site concened with Ireland and the Spanish Civil War.
It carries material on the pro-Republican forces, so not only are those from the International Brigade mentioned, but there is material on Jack White and others who served with the medical units, the POUM, etc.
While it may annoy some the site also contains material on the Irish supporters of Franco - the 700 or so strong Bandera.
The theatre behind New Books was fairly packed (and extremely hot) as the assembled sat patiently through a set of revolutionary numbers provided by one man and his guitar. Everybody stood for the Internationale at the end which was sorta touching (although his version sucked and discouraged crowd participation).
The meeting proper started at about 2.40 when Mick was introduced by a comrade (the bloke from the north that seems to live in New Books). The audience was a funny mix of old CPI members (who obviously hadn't seen each other for years) and younger heads. There had been a real sense of occasion in the bookshop beforehand and the crowd was ready to hear it from someone who was there.
Mick started by sketching the political situation in the Europe of the mid '30s. The overall impression was one of fascist dictatorships all over the continent. One repressive state which wasn't mentioned by Mick in this context was of course the Soviet Union. However, I don't think anyone really wanted to piss on his party by pointing this out.
Mick (eventually) went on to talk about Spain and peoples' motivations for going there. Again, some historical inaccuracies can be excused here. His discussion of the early fighting stressed the contribution of the militias formed by the communists (the party was relatively small at this stage) and ignored the contribution of the anarchist and trot organisations who acted immediately against what was in effect a military coup.
It got better when he talked about individual Irish volunteers. Amazingly, he's one of two Irish volunteers left alive. It would have been interesting to know how many of the Irish volunteers toed the CP line or even, if they had any choice in the matter. However, by this stage it was 4.00 and I had to split so I never found out if he was questioned further on the communist-led repression which eventually liquidated the anarchists and trots...
In a way, I hope he wasn't. O'Riordan dedicated his life to some sort of progressive cause by going to fight in Spain. Christ knows, being an active member of the CP in Ireland can't have been easy through the '40s and '50s, whatever about the late '60s. Anyway, at this stage in his life I hardly think he cares.
I remember though asking him at a similar occasion in the early '80s how, after fighting the fascists in Spain, he had reacted personally to the Stalin-Hitler pact of 1939? He had then looked me straight in the eye then and said 'next question'! That put me back in my (anarcho-syndicalist) box.
Maybe somebody out there can report on the rest of the meeting, or did everyone die of heat exhaustion?