|
Upcoming Eventsno events match your query! New Eventsno events posted in last week
Blog Feeds
Public InquiryInterested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
Human Rights in IrelandPromoting Human Rights in Ireland
Lockdown Skeptics
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international edition
|
dublin / environment Monday October 21, 2013 - 19:58 by T
 5 comments (last - wednesday october 30, 2013 - 16:18)  1 image
The latest news from Dublin City Council is that they plan to cut down 300 mature trees in order to improve Merrion Square park. Apparently it is all in the name of giving it a facelift! The council don't seem to realize that one of the most attractive features of the park is the 300 or so mature trees. Do they not realize it is a tourist attraction as it is? Who knows what their logic is but some lucky Tree Surgeon company is going to get a big windfall here which begs the question. Were the advisers behind this outlandish decision people who were going to gain by it in some way ? The story has been reported widely in the last week or so in the press. ... read full story / add a comment 
international / anti-war / imperialism Saturday October 19, 2013 - 14:06 by Turing
7 comments (last - friday february 21, 2014 - 16:58) 1 image
Yes, the level of the slaughter is being covered up. Full story at link. A UN report accuses the United States of downplaying the number of civilians killed in anti-terrorist drone operations, while failing to assist in the investigation by releasing its own figures. With the increased use of remotely piloted aircraft in military operations in a number of countries, the nagging question of civilian “collateral damage” as a consequence of these deadly technologies is a growing concern for the United Nations and human right groups. In Afghanistan, for example, the number of aerial drone strikes surged from 294 in 2011 to 447 during the first 11 months of 2012, according to data released by the US Air Force in November 2012, UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson noted in his interim report. Pakistan officials confirmed that out of 2,200 deaths “at least 400 civilians had been killed as a result of remotely piloted aircraft strikes and a further 200 individuals were regarded as probable non-combatants.” ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Saturday October 19, 2013 - 13:59 by Turing
1 comment (last - sunday march 30, 2014 - 14:02)
Free at last. Full story at link. Nine Shiite Lebanese pilgrims in Syria have finally been freed after being held hostage for nearly a year and a half. The release was reportedly part of a negotiated deal which is likely to lead to the release of two Turkish pilots being held in Lebanon. A group of Syrian rebels were holding the Lebanese civilians hostage since May 2012. The kidnappers kept issuing new demands, claiming they had captured “subversives from the Lebanese Hezbollah party.” The pilgrims were on a bus returning to Lebanon from Iran. In Aleppo province, their bus was stopped by a group of Syrian rebels who then abducted the passengers. Two of the hostages were later released, but the other nine remained in custody. The kidnapping exacerbated regional tensions, leading to the kidnapping of two Turkish Airlines pilots in Beirut, Lebanon. ... read full story / add a comment
international / eu Tuesday October 15, 2013 - 22:42 by Eugene 1 attached file
Delegations will find in annex the Operational Action Plan regarding the EU crime priority C: "Weaken the capacity of organised crime groups to facilitate illegal immigration to the EU, particularly via southern, south-eastern and eastern Europe and notably at the Greek-Turkish border and in crisis areas of the Mediterranean close to North Africa", developed under the overall responsibility of IT as the driver for this OAP and agreed by COSI on 8 December 2011. ... read full story / add a comment
international / racism & migration related issues Saturday October 12, 2013 - 19:05 by Acker 1 attached file
Operational Action Plan 2012: Priority Crime Area C: Illegal Immigration End of year status 2012 ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Friday October 11, 2013 - 13:05 by Turing
1 comment (last - friday october 11, 2013 - 23:57)
Full story, images & vid at link. At least 190 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage by Syrian rebels financed by private Gulf donors in an August 4 military offensive in the Latakia governorate, according to a Human Rights Watch report. At least 67 of the victims executed had lived in government-aligned Alawite villages, HRW said in its report, “You Can Still See Their Blood,” released Friday, which saw the events as the first evidence of planned crimes against humanity perpetrated by opposition forces. The killings took place when President Bashar Assad’s forces were overwhelmed by the militants, who then proceeded to enter the 10 Alawite villages nearby, sometimes rounding up and executing entire families, while taking others hostage. Torture and decapitations were also testament to the aggravated nature of the military offensive, proof of which was gathered by HRW through reports, witness statements, hospital records and materials recorded by the rebels themselves. ... read full story / add a comment
kilkenny / anti-capitalism Wednesday October 09, 2013 - 18:32 by Paul Ryan
 1 video file
Video showing the support for the Doctors Strike in Co. Kilkenny ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Saturday October 05, 2013 - 00:46 by Turing
2 comments (last - saturday october 05, 2013 - 07:28)
More on Saudi involvement in false flag attack. Full text at link. The August chemical weapons attack in the Syrian capital’s suburbs was done by a Saudi Arabian black operations team, Russian diplomatic sources have told a Russian news agency.“Based on data from a number of sources a picture can be pieced together. The criminal provocation in Eastern Ghouta was done by a black op team that the Saudi’s sent through Jordan and which acted with support of the Liwa Al-Islam group,” a source in the diplomatic circles told Interfax. The attack and its consequences had a huge impact on the Syrian situation, another source said. ... read full story / add a comment 
international / anti-war / imperialism Saturday September 28, 2013 - 14:13 by Turing
3 comments (last - sunday september 29, 2013 - 19:19) 1 image
Mother Agnes continues her investigations into the fake viseos. Full text at link. A new version of a study produced by Mother Agnes, a catholic nun, pointing to a number of fabricated videos used as evidence of complicity by the Assad government in a recent chemical attack is in the works, she told RT. The report by the Christian nun, Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib, mother superior of St. James Monastery in Qara, Syria, has alleged that many videos featuring supposed victims of the chemical weapons attack in the Syrian village of Guta in August were in fact staged and scripted. The question for the nun now revolves around the “humanitarian” question of what happened to the children featured in the video. “Those children are the children of whom? From where did you get them? Why are you using them and manipulating them?” ... read full story / add a comment
national / anti-capitalism Saturday September 21, 2013 - 16:45 by Red Banner
Issue 53 of Red Banner: a magazine of socialist ideas is available now from bookshops or from the address above for €2 / Ł1.50 ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Saturday September 21, 2013 - 13:48 by John Cornford
1 comment (last - sunday september 22, 2013 - 13:20)
As well as covering the latest Syrian developments, Yassamine Mather writes on the effects of sanctions in Iran. The events we are now witnessing in the Middle East, the “United States’ accidental diplomacy” regarding Syria1 and renewed talk of the resolution of Iran’s nuclear programme were unexpected a few weeks ago. Having declared that the use of chemical weapons was the “red line” the Syrian leadership should not cross, the US has now accepted Russian proposals for a ‘diplomatic solution’ ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Tuesday September 17, 2013 - 19:06 by Turing
4 comments (last - thursday september 19, 2013 - 12:47)
Tariq Ali looks at the various "revolutions" in the Middle East and writes: The idea that the Saudis, Qatar, and Turkey backed by NATO are going to create a revolutionary democracy or even a democratic set-up is challenged by what is happening elsewhere in the Arab world. Full text at link. Ever since the beginning of the Arab Spring there has been much talk of revolutions. Not from me. I’ve argued against the position that mass uprisings on their own constitute a revolution, i.e., a transfer of power from one social class (or even a layer) to another that leads to fundamental change. The actual size of the crowd is not a determinant—members of a crowd become a revolution only when they have, in their majority, a clear set of social and political aims. If they do not, they will always be outflanked by those who do, or by the state that will recapture lost ground very rapidly. ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Wednesday September 11, 2013 - 23:51 by T
On this anniversary of Sept 11th 1973 when a US backup coup took place that overthrew the democratically elected leader of Chile and replaced by the dictator Pinochet who proceeded to murder thousands of innocent people with full US backing and knowledge, Mint Press carry this report to reflect on the 40 years that have past and the search for justice. Perhaps some people will remember the television pictures from the day after the coup, Sept 12th when things changed dramatically where thousands of people including teachers and students were taken to the Chile Stadium-over night pressed into service as a detention center - and many were subsequently attacked and killed. "The Chile Stadium was no joke. We saw them kill people right in front of us, we saw how people went crazy from that terrible, tense situation. Torture is not only when the torturers are in front of you, abusing you directly, destroying you, but that atmosphere was also torture." ("Chile. La Memoria Prohibida" ... read full story / add a comment
national / health / disability issues Monday September 02, 2013 - 06:29 by oldhack
1 comment (last - monday september 02, 2013 - 11:47)
I have spent over 30 years working in journalism as a chief reporter and as news editor. In May 2012 I suffered permanent damage to my eyesight following an assault. One year later, in May 2013, the Department of Social Protection awarded me a disability allowance on the basis of the hospital surgeon's medical report regarding my condition, backdated to the date of my injury in 2012. ... read full story / add a comment 
national / miscellaneous Wednesday August 28, 2013 - 16:26 by nmn
4 images
This morning I received the attached letter from AIB requesting that I provide 'proof' of my identity. ... read full story / add a comment 
international / miscellaneous Sunday August 25, 2013 - 00:01 by xxx
1 image
Few industrial accidents can match the severity of the Seveso disaster of 1976. Despite the resulting long-term health problems and environmental risks, however, the accidental release of gases including TCDD -- a form of cancer-causing dioxin -- into a residential area of Italy had some positive legacies, including the creation of tighter environmental regulations and health protections throughout Europe. ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Wednesday August 21, 2013 - 12:54 by Turing
2 comments (last - wednesday september 04, 2013 - 21:28)
Several hundred Iranian political and human rights activists, academics, and students inside and outside Iran wrote a letter this week to US President Barack Obama asking him to engage with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to “work towards the elimination of sanctions and the lowering of tensions between Iran and the United States.” The letter also expresses support for the 55 Iranian political prisoners who wrote a separate letter to President Obama about the impact of sanctions on Iranians. “Economic sanctions, particularly those imposed unilaterally by the United States, have taken a terrible toll on the Iranian people’s standard of living,” the group writes. They add, “We are concerned that the constant pressure applied by Congress to encourage a policy of confrontation will have negative repercussions on the nuclear negotiations.” These letters join many others that have support from civil society both within and outside Iran, including from journalists, activists, and intellectuals well known for criticizing the Iranian government, urging the removal of crippling sanctions. The full text of the letter is below. ... read full story / add a comment 
international / anti-capitalism Monday August 19, 2013 - 23:04 by Turing
6 comments (last - friday august 23, 2013 - 10:25) 1 image 1 video file  1 audio file
This article by the Revolutionary Socialists of Egypt is directed to their supporters, explaining in detail the principled stance they have taken. No to the Military Junta and No to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Full text at link. Terrible massacres and violent repression, a huge escalation in attacks on Egyptian Christians and churches, the consolidation of the repressive military state continues apace. These are the momentous political developments we have experienced during the last few weeks. They pose enormous challenges to the revolution, but they also contain opportunities toprepare for the coming waves of the revolution, which the Revolutionary Socialists can use effectively to build the movement, provided that we develop tactics capable of dealing with changing circumstances. ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Sunday August 18, 2013 - 01:38 by Turing
2 comments (last - monday august 26, 2013 - 12:19)
Franklin Lamb gives an eyewitness report on the immediate aftermath of the bombing. Full text at link. I stood for more than an hour just inside a women’s shoe store sometimes moving along the sidewalk, which front had been blown off and wanting to stay out of the way, just watching and grimacing as emergency vehicles began to arrive and thousands, not hundreds, of Hezbollah security and supporters, many armed, arrived and directed the fire trucks and ambulance, helped wounded neighbors among much shouting and emotion. Grown men crying, women praying, and before long a group of young men beating their chests in defiance, chanting “Haidar, Haidar, Haidar’ and Shia ritual meant to identify with the events of Karba in 680 when Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) sacrificed himself in defense of Islam. ... read full story / add a comment
international / anti-war / imperialism Friday August 16, 2013 - 02:26 by Turing
The despotic House of Saud scatters its money around, causing mayhem throughout the Arab World. Money that is stolen from ordinary Saudis by the parasitic royal family. Finian Cunningham explains what is really going on. Full text at link. If Saudi rulers had more brains, they might be formidably dangerous. Even with lackluster intelligence assets, they are already causing enough havoc and bloodshed across the Middle East and North Africa regions, pouring millions-of-dollars-worth of weaponry into Al Qaeda and other Takfiri networks that are destroying once proud civilizations in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Libya through nihilistic sectarianism. And if the Saudi paymasters of terrorism could have it all their way, they would salivate at the chance of extending this destruction to Iran - the Shia power that they fear as their nemesis. Fortunately, the Saudi rulers’ agenda of covert terrorism - an agenda that serves its Western masters - is not well concealed. This is because “Saudi state intelligence” is something of an oxymoron and leaves a trail of self-incriminating clues wherever it goes ... read full story / add a comment |
|
|
