Indymedia Ireland wish to pay tribute to the late leader Comrade Fidel Castro who died on Fri 25th Nov 2016, aged 90. He was an iconic figure of the 20th century and perhaps most famous for leading Cuba away from the clutches of a dictator and the mafia which ran the country on behalf of the US prior to that and then to events of the CIA backed failed invasion to overthrow him referred to as the Bay of Pigs and then later to the Cuban missile crisis which brought the world to the brink. This came about because the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey which were 15 minutes flight time to Moscow and Castro allowed the Soviet Union to respond in kind by placing Soviet missile in Cuba which were 15 minutes flight time to Washington.

Not only that he and Cuba defied the US for many decades simply by existing despite the US openly being hostile including imposing economic and financial sanctions against Cuba since the revolution and an estimated 600 assassination attempts against him and for daring to give the example that there is another way to exist than naked capitalism. A successful example on their doorstep of a state that provided benefits such as education, health and general well-being for their citizens is what the US most feared. Even to this day, the health system and life expectancy exceeds anything in Latin American and including huge swaths of the USA itself and this lesson is surely being brought home to many not just in the US but elsewhere where many are mired in puntative debt and are prey to vulture capitalists and increasing unstable and uncertain existence in their daily lives. read full story / add a comment

The burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB - Heroes Cemetery) was hurriedly and secretively carried out, with military-style logistical support. A military helicopter brought the body from Ilocos Norte, where the former dictator’s body was displayed in the Marcos Museum, to the LNMB. The marines and the police were mobilized to encircle the perimeter of the cemetery. They were placed on ‘red alert’.

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In August 1969 came a pivotal event in the collective experience of the Catholics of the North after the Unionist Pogrom of that month set off a defensive Insurrection. Things could never be the same again. And they weren't.
The Catholic community, let down in its hour of need by both the British Labour Government of the State and Jack Lynch's Government in Dublin, for the first time fell back on its own resources. In the vital hour it produced something from itself that transformed its situation, turning its position from one of subordination to that of equality.
The Insurrection turned into a 28 Year War that set out to solve, once and for all, the political predicament that the Catholic community of the North had been sealed into back in 1920-1 by Westminster. That was when Britain set up the perverse political construct known as 'Northern Ireland' that generated an eternal conflict between its two communities, in which ’the minority' always came off worst.
Volume One in this series, aptly titled Catastrophe, gives an account of what happened between 1914 and 1968. The present volume tells the rest of the story, putting military and political developments in context.

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LASC have written an good article by Liam Bradshaw covering the massacre of teachers and students by the police in Mexico back in 2014 and the join up the dots on this terrible event. It is republished here because to bring some attention to it.

On September 26, 2014, two years ago this week, student teachers form the Escuela Rural Normal Isidro Burgos in Ayotzinapa were attacked in Iguala, Guerrero by local police. Six people were killed, dozens injured, and 43 remain missing two years later. One of the murdered students had been tortured and his face cut off. Elements of the municipal, state and federal police as well as the army participated in the crime, making it a state crime. read full story / add a comment

Original article By Graham Vanbergen – http://truepublica.org.uk/global/decade-evidence-demons...tion/

According to wikipedia, Globalisation is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture. However, over the last ten years there has been a sea change decline in all the indicators that would measure the success of this model. Democracy, economic growth, freedom and an interchange of world views and culture has all but been abandoned to a vice like grip of globalisation driven more by the corporate principles of power and greed resulting in war, terrorism, a biblical refugee crisis, fear and a fully co-opted media. read full story / add a comment

The Irish Cancer Society are organising two talks to promote the unsafe HPV vaccine and thereby are implicated in promoting this dangerous vaccine. The talks are titled: 'The HPV Vaccine – Warts And All' and will take place in Galway on August 23 and Cork on August 24.

The Gardasil / HPV vaccine which has been pushed on first year secondary school girls around this country (and elsewhere) for the past number of years has destroyed the lives so far of over 300 girls leaving them with debilitating conditions. A parents support group called R.E.G.R.E.T. (Reaction and Effects of Gardasil Resulting in Extreme Trauma) has formed to provide support and document the damage. However this vaccine has been pushed by the Dept of Health on unsuspecting parents who foolishly put their trust in these authorities who told them and continue to claim the vaccine is safe. And all of this for a condition that is not even contagious.

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Dublin man, Simon Scriver will go for gold in the World Championship of Public Speaking in Washington DC, on August, 18th to 20th. Simon is the current Ireland and UK champion which he won recently in Limerick with his speech “Nuggets of Gold”. This is the final round of a contest with entrants from 15,400 Clubs in 135 countries!
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A new report from the independent progressive think tank TASC shows that consistent child poverty almost doubled during the recent economic recession. This data is contained in Cherishing All Equally 2016, the first annual update of TASC’s groundbreaking 2015 report on economic inequality in Ireland.

Cherishing All Equally 2016 – which was prepared by Dr Rory Hearne and Cian McMahon – updates 18 key economic inequality indicators including the distribution of income and wealth, as well as the provision of public services, taxation, family composition, people’s capacities and the cost of goods and services. In addition, the report includes two in-depth themed sections: ‘Children and economic inequality in Ireland’ and ‘Gender and economic inequality in Ireland’ – the latter section was prepared by UCD’s Dr Ursula Barry and Dr Maggie Feeley. read full story / add a comment

Nothing should inspire the public’s outrage more than the chasm that exists between the haves and have nots in Philippine society. And what better indicator can there be of inequality than when poor people suspected of involvement in drugs start dropping dead on the streets while the rich and powerful escape plunder charges through the courts? read full story / add a comment

Thankfully, before it's too late, I realized the truth; that is, anything which is organized by the Malaysia's Opposition ([especially by racist and fascist anti-Indigenous/anti-Muslim party of DAP (Democratic Action Party – ('democratic', my foot) - suspected to receive much hidden donation from ISrael, to the total of US 300 million and training from Mossad, through Singapore-based account] including under the guise of the so-called Human Rights March . read full story / add a comment

“The parliamentary regime leaves everything to the decision of majorities; how shall the great majorities outside parliament not want to decide? When you play the fiddle at the top of the state, what else is to be expected but that those down below dance”?
- Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, IV (1852) read full story / add a comment

On Thursday evening 2nd June 2016 I attended a meeting in St. Augustine’s school in Blackrock where parents expressed outrage at the withdrawal of the Saint John of God Community Services Supports on a phased basis commencing in September 2016. The school was described as a “centre of excellence” for its vocational programme which has had a very positive impact on the lives of many children with special needs in South Dublin, Wicklow and surrounding areas. read full story / add a comment

Polish organizations in Ireland are holding a solidarity rally with the events in Poland. We invite all political parties and organizations in Ireland with a commitment to civic freedoms to join us in this positive event promoting full equality and inclusion for everyone. On that day, we want to stand together, above nations, borders and political divisions, in a common quest for a just and democratic society.
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"New research also indicates that the frequency and severity of violence forcing women to leave their homes could be worse than previously documented"

SAFE Ireland warned that homeless figures and needs are being greatly under-estimated because over 4,000 women and children being accommodated on a yearly basis in emergency refuge accommodation are not being counted and recognised as being homeless.

At the launch today of a new SAFE Ireland report The State We Are In, CEO Sharon O’Halloran stressed that women and children forced to leave violent homes are being caught in the cross-fire of the national housing crisis. She said that 37 services that participated in new housing research as part of The State We Are In are reporting that they have never seen things so bad for women and children. read full story / add a comment

Human Safety or State Security? The global migrant crisis from a Latin American perspective.
A series of events around Ireland focusing on Latin America. Talks, documentary screening, music...

Bring your own vegetarian dish to share and celebrate Latin American Week with music, good food, conversation... read full story / add a comment

Big capital has constantly decreased its contribution to the state – creating a gap in the state’s coffers which is then filled by more and varied taxes on ordinary people – ultimately shrinking the very market big capital needs to sell its increased production of goods. read full story / add a comment

Recently David Gerstman of the Tower Blog (actually called “The Israel Project’s The Tower blog”) attacked the entire liberal arts Oberlin campus in Ohio as being lax on anti-Semitism because he doesn’t like what “one” of the college’s assistant professors wrote on her own personal face book page. Ironically Joy Karega, the alleged anti-Semite, was not really criticizing Jews in general, per se, but mostly what can be defined as some dirty politics of the State of Israel that is terrorist in nature. But conflating criticism of Zionists as supposed to mean anti-Semitism in general is what many propagandists are deliberately trying to d0—confuse various forms of debate in order to create a freeze on any negative criticism of the Zionist project in Israel as State for Jews or their Zionist influence here in America. read full story / add a comment

Dormit in Pace
2013:

Sitting in the cells beneath one of our country’s circuit courts, my travel-weary eyes settle briefly on my hands. Their stillness and my stoic-like composure belie my internal turmoil.

I cast a cold eye over my surroundings - stale urine and solid waste regurgitated from a steel toilet lays siege to the senses. Cigarette butts litter the floor; confetti of condemned men. Crude misspelt graffiti bears mute testimony to the length of their sentences and the shortness of their education. A reasonable inference using the inverse square law - my maths teacher would be proud. read full story / add a comment

The next Look Left Forum in Cork will be held on Saturday 9th April from 2pm to 5pm at Glen Rovers Hurling Club, Ballincollie Road (Spring Lane) Cork City. Parking is available on site and public transport is available from the city centre on 203 and 207 bus routes. read full story / add a comment

Students Against Fees today organised a banner drop during the Easter Sunday Parade. This was an attempt on the part of our campaign to challenge the hypocrisy surrounding the official 1916 commemorations. read full story / add a comment