Revisionists given a hammering by John Borgonovo . They are searching for an ouija board to contact Peter Hart for advice. Full text at link.

UCC historian John Borgonovo casts doubt on some claims made in the TV3 series ‘In The Name Of The Republic’
TV3’s TWO-PART documentary series, In the Name of the Republic has created a stir among historians, though perhaps not in the way the filmmakers intended. The programme illustrates the danger of accepting local folklore as historical fact, especially during this much-heralded “decade of centenaries”.

In the first episode, viewers met an aged Co Laois man who related his boyhood encounter with a neighbouring farmer, who claimed he had dug up a body while ploughing his field, one of three corpses supposedly buried there by the IRA. Series host Prof Eunan O’Halpin (of Trinity College Dublin) told the audience hisresearch had uncovered two civilians abducted by the Tipperary IRA and “never seen again”. The rest of the episode attempted to prove his theory that they were interred in this Laois field. The episode concluded with O’Halpin opening the sealed files, only to learn that both had survived the conflict. They were never killed by the IRA, much less secretly buried in Laois. The obvious lesson here is: Finish your research before you rent the JCB.

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The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week - including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks. ... read full story / add a comment

Call to action of the Indonesian People's Movement Against Neocolonialism-Imperialism toward Bali WTO Ministerial meeting on 3-6 of December 2013
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From 'traitor' to Hero - whistleblower Bradley Manning is nominated for Nobel Peace Prize ... read full story / add a comment

A course for movement practitioners and community educators who want to deepen their own practice ... read full story / add a comment

John and Louise are a Dublin couple who weep each evening in a cold house, their frustration ever growing. John is visibly angry but resigns to the fate that is meted by our leaders to comply with international dictate. We are being watched, pummelled and slowly destroyed. The busiest events are international job fairs. This is a synopsis of lives less than they should be. ... read full story / add a comment

CONTENTS

1. CAUSES FOR CONCERN: STOP EXTRADITION TO THE USA! GUANTANAMO HUNGER STRIKE
2. PEACE IN THE NORTH
3. 10 YEARS SINCE IRAQ AND ANOTHER MILITARY INTERVENTION ON THE OFFING
4. I AM BRADLEY MANNING
5. MAKE WAR NOT LOVE
6. RTE – NOTHING BUT THE SAME OLD STORY
7. CHINA – THE BOGEYMAN
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The Yes Vote in last year's Children's Rights Referendum began proceedings to change Children's Rights in Ireland. However, a legal challenge to the referendum has suspended the referendum process and, for now, prevents the Irish president signing this amendment into the constitution.

Ever wanted to know more about the Children's Rights Referendum and amendment 42a? Read on to find out.
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The top US commander in Europe told a Senate hearing Tuesday that the US military and NATO are drawing up plans for direct military intervention in Syria.

Adm. James Stavridis, head of the Pentagon’s European Command, speaking at a hearing by the Senate Armed Service Committee, said that the US military is “looking at a variety of options” and is “prepared if called upon to be engaged.” ... read full story / add a comment

The government is planning to sell off our national forests which are currently owned by Coillte. The plan would be to sell harvesting rights on 500,000 acres out of 1.2 million that they manage. They claim it is worth €700 million although in the Peter Bacon report on Forestry, he puts the true value at €360 million or the equivalent of 3 days of government expenditure. Bacon said: "economic rationale for the proposed sale of harvesting rights no longer stands up and cannot be justified." and that he further concluded it would actually cost the state €1,300 million to sell the harvesting rights of Coillte due to various liabilities. The report says that the forests should be developed further as a public resource. ... read full story / add a comment

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. Ten years ago, the world watched the “shock and awe” bombing campaign light up the nighttime sky of Baghdad with billowing clouds of flame and smoke.

This campaign and the bloody ten years of occupation that followed had a devastating impact on what was once among the most advanced societies in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed and millions were made homeless.

The American military’s conduct of the war produced crimes of staggering dimensions. This included the turning of Fallujah, a city of 350,000 people, into a free-fire zone, the bombarding of its occupants with white phosphorus shells, banned by international law, and the summary execution of wounded prisoners. Ten years later, the rates of child cancer and birth defects in Fallujah are similar to those in Hiroshima following the US atomic bombing. ... read full story / add a comment

An appreciation of the work and legacy of Commandante Chavez by James Petras . Full text at link.

President Hugo Chavez was unique in multiple areas of political, social and economic life. He made significant contributions to the advancement of humanity. The depth, scope and popularity of his accomplishments mark President Chavez as the ‘Renaissance President of the 21st Century’.

Many writers have noted one or another of his historic contributions highlighting his anti-poverty legislation, his success in winning popular elections with resounding majorities and his promotion of universal free public education and health coverage for all Venezuelans.

In this essay we will highlight the unique world-historic contributions that President Chavez made in the spheres of political economy, ethics and international law and in redefining relations between political leaders and citizens. We shall start with his enduring contribution to the development of civic culture in Venezuela and beyond.

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MA Community Education, Equality and Social Activism podcast

A podcast of this remarkable political intervention (March 13, 2013) is now available at the website of the MA in Community Education, Equality and Social Activism (CEESA). ... read full story / add a comment

The Woodland League wish to highlight the fact that Coillte since 2009 have already sold 108 million euros of trees with harvesting rights, to IFUT ( Irish Forestry Unit Trust ) a pension fund company, of which they are partners. In a bizarre situation, Coillte have used these proceeds to pay off some of its own large pension fund debts. The National Pension Reserve Fund has also been used by IFUT to fund these sales and its contribution obscured within IFUT’s bail out of Coillte. This is not how this vital Public NPRF funding should be used, it is supposed to be invested in the peoples future. http://www.nprf.ie/Publications/2011/NPRFReport2010.pdf
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The Chair of the Grass Roots Left Gerry Downing was summarily dismissed on Tuesday 12th by Metroline Travel at its Cricklewood garage a spurious charge of “inappropriate behaviour towards members of the public whilst driving a route 210”

The dismissal was clearly politically motivated during the election campaign of Jerry Hicks for General Secretary of Unite. It comes on the heel of the libel action taken by Unite against Gerry and the Weekly Worker by Unite’s Regional Industrial Officer Wayne King over an article defending sacked Sovereign buses Convenor Abdul Omer Mohsin on 12 January 2012. This action was initiated by Thompson’s solicitors on 5 December, the day after the snap General Secretary election was called by the Executive Council on 4 December.

His letter to Unite’s General Secretary and Executive Council on 30 December remains unanswered. Gerry has been a thorn in the side of Metroline for over two decades as he says in his submission to the hearing:
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Things are starting to happen, and we are organising ourselves to be an effective anti-corruption movement.

NOTICE OF MEETING - TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. You are cordially invited to attend a meeting of INTEGRITY IRELAND

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To defeat the property tax YOU have to get involved Don’t register for the tax – do not return the form which the Revenue Commissioners will send to you in March Go to your local public meeing when it is held and find out how you can become an acive member of the campaign Join any local or naional protests which the campaign organises. ... read full story / add a comment

From next week the latest bitter austerity pill will be administered to our hard pressed low and middle income earners as letters arrive in every home from the Revenue Commissioners demanding the new property tax. Although having the Revenue logo, they will arrive by edict of the Troika, the economic dictators who are being allowed to walk with jackboots over the living standards of our people, courtesy of the connivance of gutless politicians who comprise the Fine Gael and Labour parties, and before them, Fianna Fail. And never forget, this is another tribute exacted to bail out the private gambling debts of the bankers and bondholders who wrecked this economy. ... read full story / add a comment

The Legacy of Chavez, a talk by José Antonio Gutiérrez of LASC on Thursday 14th March, 19:30, at AP203 in Aras an Phiarsaigh, Trinity College Dublin. Organised by TCD Sinn Féin

Map: http://www.tcd.ie/Maps/map.php?q=Aras+an+Phiarsaigh ... read full story / add a comment

This month a group of socialist and republican activists from a variety of backgrounds throughout Ireland came together in Dublin to establish the Peadar O’Donnell Socialist Republican Forum. The concept of the forum arose from a series of seminars that in turn had their origin in a symposium on “Republicanism in the Twenty-First Century” hosted by the Communist Party in September last year.

The aim of the forum is to promote the ideas of socialist republicanism, as best expressed by James Connolly, Liam Mellows, and Peadar O’Donnell. The forum is named after Peadar O’Donnell in recognition of his outstanding role as a union organiser, republican soldier, author, enemy of fascism, friend of the worker and small farmer, committed socialist, and lifelong activist for peace and against imperialism.

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