Well I must say that although I have not seen much of the debate about Brexit I am impressed by Mrs. Teresa May. She has maintained a rational and forthright attitude. Many a good leader has been ditched long before the end of the road. But I hope she is able to lead this Brexit process to a satisfactory conclusion.

To be simplistic about it I do not think it is a case of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wrong; The European Union right. It's a big decision for EU as well as for UKGBNI. Candidly I think EU needs to review and adjust. There are many facets of the EU and The European Commission that are open to negative criticism. I need not retail them here. Most people can make out their own shopping list. read full story / add a comment

It seems that the fate of the Kurds and their allies and neighbours in this tormented part of the world depends on the quickly changing allegiances between a number of international players – none of which you would trust to walk your grandmother across a busy road read full story / add a comment

Is there not something absurd (if not for the cost in human suffering) in Turkey’s ruling coalition’s deep seated venom for the social and cultural presence of its not-Turkish people? read full story / add a comment

The Times did a valuable service by investigating the murder of a Palestinian medic by Israeli snipers, but undermined their own work with pro-apartheid framing and both-sides tropes. read full story / add a comment

This blog, my first, will in general aim to document the program and specifically my experiences on JobPath. Protecting their identities you will meet the other job seekers and staff, will there be villains and hero’s or stale biscuits and tea? The blog will be anonymous because I’m not sure how DSP or Seetec will feel about the real time, real person, review.

Why do a blog, I feel that it gives a window for the 115,000 people who will be invited to the mandatory scheme over the full 4+2 years. JobPath is discussed by politicians, by journalist and even on public forums, the vast majority of whom only get the opportunity to view from the outside in and so only see things from a superficial vantage point. My time embedded or if you like immersed in the scheme, gives a personal and unique opportunity to document my experience and is allowing me the privilege of blogging from the inside out. It requires some intrusion into my life and maybe some repetitive reading, it will require some commitment from myself and the thought of possible consequences leave me a little unhinged. However difficult it is personally, hopefully it will serve the purpose of shedding light on the truth in a way that turning up with a press pass or in a Ministerial car, never could do.

In November 2018, I received a second ‘invitation’ that I couldn’t refuse to do another 52 weeks of JobPath. Considering the amount of people who viewed the blog from all corners of the planet and the participants that the blog helped, along with the number of people who contact me for and offering me help, I’m going to do another 52 weeks of blogging under JobPath two. The aims will be the same. read full story / add a comment

UN will oblige Germany to pay reparations for occupation of Poland. read full story / add a comment

From fast food workers getting organised to fight for a living wage, to Uber drivers fighting a company infamous for its use of bogus self-employment models, to McDonalds’ workers in the US saying ‘No More’ to sexual harassment, a section of workers traditionally seen as “hard to organise” are proving their willingness to fight. Katia Hancke looks at what this trend represents. read full story / add a comment

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Prague Spring when the rule of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia and in the entire “Eastern Bloc” was threatened. Solidarity TD and Socialist Party member Mick Barry looks at the lessons of these explosive events. read full story / add a comment

This article argues for the inclusion of a "None of the above" option on all ballot papers in an election. It starts by explaining the benefits of its inclusion. Then it demonstrates how its inclusion can be achieved through activism. read full story / add a comment

The Integrity Initiative is now trying to smear and attack Seumas Milne, Jeremy Corbyn's communications director and a key voice on the anti-war, anti-capitalist left, tweeting a Times article that appears to have been contributed to by them. read full story / add a comment

In this issue:
Rebelling against the industrial capitalist system
“At the heart of this problem lies our sense of separation from nature”
Abolishing dissent
Does work set us free?
Save Whitehawk Hill!
Acorninfo read full story / add a comment

Orsola Casagrande, long-time journalist with the left-wing Italian Il manifesto, now freelance and currently living in Havana, Cuba, recently visited Rojava in Northern Syria read full story / add a comment

So far, due to a variety of ignoble reasons, not least public healthcare being farmed out to private laboratories, at least 221 Irish women have now been identified whose smear tests had been read incorrectly with tragic consequences read full story / add a comment

The two shameful actions have been decisive for securing him the first place in the polls and are also enough to pay him the cassation of his candidacy and his replacement by Ciro Gomes, third place in the first Brazilian round. read full story / add a comment

The present Irish farmer has proven over the last number of years that he is one of the finest producers of quality food in the world. By his dedication to his work in adapting to modern revolutionary methods and long hours in caring for his animals’ health and dietary needs he is first class. read full story / add a comment

What, in God’s name, can any President of Ireland achieve in a second term that could have been achieved in a single seven years term?

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The new scheme to improve the Dublin Bus network called Bus Connects on close inspection is nothing of the sort. It is more akin to Bus Disconnects. The reports and PR from Bus Connects maintains it will be better and while the theoretical basis for it may be correct, it doesn't deliver because they plan to do it with the same number of buses. For some routes there will be a reduction in capacity by 25%. For example they claim a bus every 4 minutes on the main backbone A-Route but this figure is misleading because it is for the 4 A-routes. Since you are only likely to be on one of these, then that means the real peak frequency is every 15 or so minutes which is no different to the present. read full story / add a comment

Only the second Papal visit in 2,000 years by the first non European Pope. Pope Francisco is from Argentina where the United States client state ruled with terror, kidnappings and politically motivated assassination. His papacy appears to have many proactive enemies from wiithin reactionary Catholicism globally and (neo) liberal elites in Irish media & NGO sector. The recent visit was in visual and audio contrast to the only other visit of the papacy to Ireland. Pope John Paul 2nd in 1979 (the year of the Mountbatten assassination, Warrenpoint, punk). What does this tell us about Papa Francisco and contemporary Irish society? read full story / add a comment

Imposing a President read full story / add a comment

The wildfires that struck Rafina, north east of Athens, have now claimed at least 80 lives with the number set to rise as many are still missing. This terrible catastrophe shows the interaction of climate change and austerity, both the result of a society that puts people before profit.

The fires in Greece take place in the context of an intense heat wave that is global in scale and has produced fires not only in Greece but in Northern Sweden above the Arctic Circle. Brid Smith TD visiting her sister in Sweden reports temperatures of 32C in the shade and 40C in the sun. In hotter parts of the world such as Algeria and Iran they are soaring well over 40C and approaching the limits of human habitability.

Fires, floods , droughts and intense storms – extreme weather in all its different forms – is what climate change means, not just rising sea levels in the future, and they are happening now. read full story / add a comment