tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16100987012950039852024-03-13T23:14:18.602-07:00UNREPENTANT.....A person who maintains a commitment to Social Justice, Progress, and Peace observes the world and continues to think....Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-85990350806971926592011-06-11T05:14:00.000-07:002011-06-11T06:58:35.519-07:00DEBTOCRACY- A GREEK FILM WITH LESSONS FOR IRELAND<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qKpxPo-lInk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />An important film with a profound analysis of the EU debt crisis which has a particular relevance for Irish viewers, we are currently in some form of extended honeymoon for the FG/Labour government. In a haze of relief at seeing the back the FF gang, the Irish people are in a state of suspended animation, wowed by visits from the Queen of England and President Obama, and following a spate of funerals for leading honourable politicians, creating the effect of disarming false national unity, there is a summer ahead for us in Ireland, akin to the 'phony war' period the early stages of World War II in Britain. People know theres a crisis going on and looming larger and larger, but theres a sense that in some way its in some way gone away. The IMF has deliberately contributed to this with the repeated assurance that we 'are on track' by which it means we have only just BEGUN the process Greece has been on for a lot longer. This sense of inevitability and supine trust in Fine Gael/ Labour is encouraged by their politicians constant reference to the terms of the EU/IMF deal 'negotiated' by the previous administration, ie for that read 'we're stuck with it..nothing we can do about it'. <br /><br />Labour lead by Gilmore could not be more pliable and passive, they have disarmed the trade unions appetite for resistance by a coded promise to 'watch the backs' of the trade union heavy public sector, when the hawks in the Dept of Finance, and Fine Gael, go for the welfare system and the pay of all workers in public sector jobs in December...Meanwhile the phony war goes on, with Labour and Fine Gael softening up a punch drunk Irish public for a merciless whipping at the end of 2011, convincing us with week after week of propoganda, that we in some way 'deserve' the pain...A sort of warped utilization of vestigial remnants of Roman Catholic guilt...<br /><br />The article below appeared recently in the UK Guardian, and it in turn alerted me to the film which is worth watching for anyone in Ireland, as they say in Greece, Ireland is only six months behind us...I fear that despite all the spin about our 'Export Success', there is a lot more that unites us with Greece and Portugal, than distinguishes us from them...This is despite Pat Kenny making the ludicrously childish assertion that we in Ireland are the 'best boy in the class'...What this film shows is that in a classroom where the IMF/ECB "teacher" is the educational equivalent of a sadistic Christian Brother on acid, being the 'best boy' is no guarantee of fair treatment <br /><br />"<span style="font-style:italic;">One might not expect a butcher in rural Greece to recognise Costas Lapavitsas. He is, after all, an economist, a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. His research interests include the evolution and function of the Japanese financial system and his books include The Political Economy of Money and Finance – probably not staples of discussion among rural Greek butchers.<br /><br />But when, just before Easter, the Lapavitsas went shopping for groceries in Kopanos ("A godforsaken village," apparently, "ugly as hell"), said butcher spotted his name. "I know of a Costas Lapavitsas," he said. "I have seen him in a video on the internet." On being told that video star and customer were one and the same, the butcher responded with more excitement than is desirable from someone wielding a cleaver: "Ah, Debtocracy!"<br /><br />Lapavitsas does have a star turn in Debtocracy, a film whose success is as unlikely as the academic's celebrity. It's a documentary about the financial crisis that has struck Greece; the collapse of public finances; the €110bn loan from Europe and the International Monetary Fund; and the savage spending cuts to come.<br /><br />Unlike other entries to the nascent credit-crunch movie genre, the film-makers do not go looking for guilty men and women. No Inside Job, this. Instead what you get is a polemic against the European system; an explanation of how Greece was always doomed to struggle against the likes of Germany. "So are we the black sheep of an all-successful Europe?" asks the voiceover. "Or has the system been ailing since its youth?"<br /><br />Debtocracy makes a compelling case that the entire euro system was rotten from the start, with bankers in Frankfurt and Paris left with piles of surplus cash, and southern Europeans getting by on cheap loans. Made on a budget of €8,000 (£7,110) and with very little flashy camera work or fancy use of archive, this is still – I can confidently say, without delving too far into history – the best film of Marxian economic analysis yet produced.<br /><br />Stuck up on a website and YouTube in early April, Debtocracy has garnered something close to a million views and has been broadcast on small Greek television channels, gradually building an audience. "At first, it was young Greeks with broadband connections," says Aris Chatzistefanou – who co-wrote and co-directed the film with Katerina Kitidi. "But then we heard stories of how small villages were screening it, and how old men in the countryside were asking their sons to download it on to DVDs." In the process, the film has become an artefact in the popular resistance to the austerity package imposed on Greece – and across southern Europe. In Portugal, the Left Bloc put on a showing of Debtocracy in a small cinema to launch its recent election campaign. The film was also scheduled to be screened to 4,000 protesters in Barcelona's Plaza Catalunya before the authorities broke up proceedings.<br /><br />When I speak to Chatzistefanou, he is still recovering from showing his film in the central Syntagma square in Athens. The screening only got going at 2.30am "and then the audience wanted to discuss it. We still had 400 people arguing over the Greek financial crisis at five in the morning."<br /><br />Timing has a lot to do with Debtocracy's success. Greece's economy has sunk deeper into crisis, buttressing the film's argument that the nation is being broken, not fixed, by the IMF and the eurozone. Yet the film's suggestion that Greeks should renegotiate, and refuse to pay some of its ruinous debts, still barely features in mainstream Greek politics or media. Which leaves one video on the internet to be passed around a swelling band of dissenters.<br /><br />After returning from Kopanos to London, Lapavitsas received an email: "Greetings from the village!" began the butcher. "I just want to congratulate you on your film. When you come back we can have a proper discussion.</span>"Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com417tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-285425205541543552010-12-09T18:04:00.000-08:002010-12-09T18:09:47.933-08:00One Irishman in Canada expressing shocking candour<span id="ecxresult_box" lang="el"><span style="" title="">Irresistable in his candour....A not uncommon view all over Ireland today<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="" title=""></span></span><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/koY6kXhQDQo?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/koY6kXhQDQo?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com71tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-57797590965004840542010-11-25T16:17:00.000-08:002010-11-25T16:36:27.863-08:00Ireland in crisis: the stories they're not telling you - by Brian Whelan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6_50fi4Ze_iFVv3r8ESGp57owfl0X86s4LMjiBm1jruMwn5v4Q_64XRLB4DJQzMr3q71gifgDeVI8wjaQ0y5SEq43wNd_o6P1tNiO0-PZcZ0bou6QXKQiC6uKm8g3wvSWsUAIAVPyhZ5/s1600/cowan.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6_50fi4Ze_iFVv3r8ESGp57owfl0X86s4LMjiBm1jruMwn5v4Q_64XRLB4DJQzMr3q71gifgDeVI8wjaQ0y5SEq43wNd_o6P1tNiO0-PZcZ0bou6QXKQiC6uKm8g3wvSWsUAIAVPyhZ5/s320/cowan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543647085712712594" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ireland in crisis: the stories they're not telling you</span></span><br /><br /><br />By Brian Whelan<br /><br />Ireland's economic and political crisis has continued to develop at such a pace that many stories are being entirely missed by the nation's media.<br /><br />Discontent with RTE has reached a new high after its decision to cut away from a live broadcast on Sunday night when TV3's Vincent Browne began to ask tough questions of the Taoiseach in front of the world's media.<br /><br />Along with 80 official complaints, RTE's Facebook page has been filled with thousands of comments from angry viewers who say they have been forced to switch to BBC News 24 and Sky News to watch ‘unbiased' reports on the bailout. Some users have gone so far as to liken the state broadcaster to the Soviet Union's official mouthpiece Pravda.<br /><br />See now: RTE's Facebook page<br /><br />Former RTE director of television Helen O'Rahilly criticised the station for cutting away during a report on a matter of such ‘historical importance'. They dropped the ball again the following day with no live coverage of the Green Party's press conference announcing general election plans.<br /><br />An incident later on Sunday night where an 18-year-old Dubliner was knocked down, allegedly by a minister's car, was only considered newsworthy by the Belfast Telegraph. The teen was rushed from the scene to hospital where he was X-rayed for a suspected broken leg.<br /><br />Read now: Belfast Telegraph<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The following day a rowdy protest at Government buildings saw Sinn Féin supporters enter the gates, only to come under attack from baton-wielding motorcycle garda.<br /><br />What the garda may have failed to notice while striking out and grabbing one protestor by the throat, is that he was manhandling Aengus O'Snodaigh, an elected member of the Dáil who should be free to pass through the gates as he wished."<br /><br />Deputy Ó Snodaigh can be seen in footage broadcast by the BBC and later spread across YouTube trying to calm the situation and move the protestors back outside the gate for their own safety.<br /><br />While Green Party TD Paul Gogarty's bizarre decision to bring his child to <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0KpUSIn_x0VVtxDn1Jq-zr3RYRp_i24K0ID_5_jmwt-XYQ_6b-0D9hXgZOxjlCUe8i1GEMKwFI1YRTP5-tQB-spDilZR9YtQNNTPHOM5KOIrQPP_NsP-yToEaYVY5Z5_AvRBpW66lo6M/s1600/snodaigh.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0KpUSIn_x0VVtxDn1Jq-zr3RYRp_i24K0ID_5_jmwt-XYQ_6b-0D9hXgZOxjlCUe8i1GEMKwFI1YRTP5-tQB-spDilZR9YtQNNTPHOM5KOIrQPP_NsP-yToEaYVY5Z5_AvRBpW66lo6M/s320/snodaigh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543647259022589234" border="0" /></a>the Green Party press conference on Monday was the subject of lively debate on Liveline yesterday, many news outlets missed the storm he has been creating on Twitter.<br /><br />While the nation was falling into economic and political chaos, deputy Gogarty was using his Twitter account to bicker with members of the public, who were calling on him to pull out of government.<br /><br />The deputy's tweets have provoked much controversy, not least because he has chosen to block scores of critics - including high profile reporters, elected representatives and academics.<br /><br />David Cochrane, head of the politics.ie discussion forums, came in for particular scorn, being dubbed ‘master of the online pit of scurrilous vipers'.<br /><br />See now: Paul Gogarty's Twitter page<br /><br /><br />Many Internet users are outraged at the ‘failure' of RTE to be critical of the government's bailout plans and have begun to distribute articles from smaller news sites and even foreign newspapers via social networking sites.<br /><br />Dean Baker, writing in the Guardian, has suggested Ireland learn from the lesson of the IMF's involvement in Argentina and make a break from the euro, stating that if Ireland ‘plays by the bankers' rules, [it] will lose'.<br /><br />Read now: The Guardian<br /><br />Meanwhile Matthew Lynn, writing for Bloomberg, believes that Ireland would be better off going bust rather than taking a loan, as the conditions attached ‘aren't worth it'.<br /><br />Read now: Bloomberg<br /><br />Veteran reporter Vincent Browne has called the government a ‘junta' led by an ‘IMF minder' and claims ‘Saving banks to pursue a low-paid jobs policy is par for the course given the dysfunctionality of our rulers' ideology'.<br /><br />Read now: Politico<br /><br />These critical o<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPxgliD-SjkGTIKL6mzR73qg-YVxSjqesrdHe_WyMUX14kb-ifkmjifL5B2foXkX6BwI1YetNagvT9URouOeNL-MIAVXuB7oxzFLsZoGTFtFVyvq8dE1io77_hBW3PoxmxIcETqa-39eb/s1600/green.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPxgliD-SjkGTIKL6mzR73qg-YVxSjqesrdHe_WyMUX14kb-ifkmjifL5B2foXkX6BwI1YetNagvT9URouOeNL-MIAVXuB7oxzFLsZoGTFtFVyvq8dE1io77_hBW3PoxmxIcETqa-39eb/s320/green.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543648356791986498" border="0" /></a>pposition voices are missing in a country where the debate is reduced to guessing how long the current government will last before the next government steps up to implement the IMF-led cuts in a nicer way.<br /><br />This Friday's by-election will act as a barometer of the nation's mood, but surely the biggest test will be the ICTU march on Saturday, where the countless armchair critics who demand ‘why is there nobody on the streets' will have their day.<br /><br />The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union have now officially called for ‘civil disobedience' to bring the government down and hope to build on this weekend's protests. Their general secretary has declared ‘we are on the brink of significant civil unrest in this country'.<br /><br />Read now: The TEEU site<br /><br />The only protest being mentioned in the media however is a ‘silent protest' organised by a comedian via Twitter, where people are urged to bring placards telling the government they're fired - though this is surely missing the point that if they were listening to public opinion they would have fled weeks ago.<br /><br />On the other end of the spectrum the emergence of a new right wing grouping in Ireland has failed to inspire much interest. It brings together economics journalist Marc Coleman, former Libertas PR man John McGuirk and Iona Institute director David Quinn.<br /><br />The group hopes to end civil war politics and introduce a European left-right political system here and despite their unfortunate name - National Alliance - they are progressive right unlike their extremist ‘white power' American namesakes.<br /><br />Read now: National Alliance<br /><br />Are you fed up with how the country is being run or how the bailout is being reported?<br />We are and thats why we welcome the formation of the United Left Alliance.......<br /><br /><br /><p style="margin: 0.3em 0pt; font-style: italic;" align="center"> <b><span style="font-size:+1;">March to GPO against the IMF/EU Sellout and Cuts. Sat 27th Nov.</span></b> </p><table style="font-style: italic;"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://www.indymedia.ie/attachments/nov2010/placardmakethempay.gif" title="1% own 34% of the wealth. Make them pay" width="150" height="190" /> </td><td valign="top" align="center"><b>This march is supported by a wide range of groups. Please come out and show your support! </b><br /><br /><b>Assemble <u>12 noon</u>, on November 27th at <u>Wood Quay</u>, Dublin</b><br /><br />The ICTU have called for the march on Sat but it is only on the basis of 'fairer' cuts. But we shouldn't accept this. See the <a href="https://www.indymedia.ie/article/98225">statement</a> from the <b>1% Network</b> on the analysis of the problem. It would seem the unions were co-opted long ago and serve to allow political pressure to be vented safely by making token gestures of opposition.<br />Ignore the govt spin that tries to focus on those relying on social welfare or those working in the public service. These are all designed to redirect the focus and anger away from the bankers, developers and speculators and challenge it amongst the masses to prevent any fightback. <br /><br /><span style="color:blue;">"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini..</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-65903249661358507952010-11-06T07:42:00.000-07:002010-11-06T07:53:27.799-07:00Cows With Guns....Very very funny<object width="395" height="321"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FQMbXvn2RNI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FQMbXvn2RNI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="395" height="321"></embed></object><br /><br />Whilst the hiatus created by the posting and then sudden pulling on youtube of John Websters youtube video of John Leppers poem about Jarama continues I thought I would put up a little known but in my opinion very funny song indeed.<br />click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI<br /> Apologies for those who came looking for the Jarama clip which featured a number of my own photos of the battlefield in Jarama, but it seems to have been pulled off youtube for some reason.<br />Song By Dana Lyons<br />Animation by Bjorn-Mange Stuestol<br /><br />All credit to them, links to their site at the endGabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com80tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-58632345241744768402010-10-04T08:12:00.000-07:002010-10-04T08:41:00.676-07:00F*** the lot of yeh.....Bertie Ahern...from milking the Celtic Tiger to licking its Nauseating Litter Tray...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpi8quOGMT7-KfHDeUC3Jh7Pb2hdmvpwN4UMWi9x67mFRMhPW33J_CGJu6wRJMq2N9fuw0nLemcQ4AiPoyOQ1Yxk9cO7RwVVM9wK_uSMXnk3_7tN3hLYUCffRIUukEeN3CFKNrywiukzx/s1600/bertie1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpi8quOGMT7-KfHDeUC3Jh7Pb2hdmvpwN4UMWi9x67mFRMhPW33J_CGJu6wRJMq2N9fuw0nLemcQ4AiPoyOQ1Yxk9cO7RwVVM9wK_uSMXnk3_7tN3hLYUCffRIUukEeN3CFKNrywiukzx/s320/bertie1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524215796401486066" /></a><br />He was always the man of the people, quaffing a pint with the lads at Fagans, eschewing any interest in the trappings of power. BUT Behind the well cultivated image, Bertie Ahern , former Taoiseach of Celtic Tiger Ireland, was always deeply deeply interested in money. So much so that he claimed the 'artists' exemption from paying tax on the sales of his recent 'memoirs'. He also is entitled to a permanent driver and car for life, and will be accompanied by a Garda driver for the rest of his days, as well as being in receipt of his Prime Ministerial, index linked, pension, from the day he resigned the post, this despite the fact he is still in receipt of his handsome salary as a TD (or member of the Irish Parliament). His love of money has now taken him to the point of appearing in an advert for the Irish version of Rupert Murdoch's 'News of the World' where he now appears as a regular 'sports columnist'. He appears crouched in a kitchen press, and appears as the house owner opens his cupboard door. I can think of another enclosed space that a lot of people would like him consigned to, a space with a lot thicker and more durable walls than a cupboard... <br /><object width="580" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j-0PQATQuQI?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j-0PQATQuQI?fs=1&hl=en_GB&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="360"></embed></object><br />Apparently he did it for 'the cráic' (the fun of it), he is just a japester and a barrel of laughs is'nt he?? He did'nt fiddle whilst Rome burnt, but its good to see someone seems immune to concerns about dignity of office, and what a former taoiseach and sitting TD will do to garner a few extra grubby notes..<br />Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh has called for the ending of the perk which provides two salaried secretaries to former Taoisigh, including Bertie Ahern. Deputy Ó Snodaigh was commenting on the controversy over the former Taoiseach’s participation in a tv ad for his News of the World column. </p><p>Deputy Ó Snodaigh said: </p><p>“The sight of Bertie Ahern’s head appearing in a kitchen press has caused amusement to some and disgust to many. His venture into tv advertising to promote his column in the News of the World adds to his already tarnished political reputation. </p><p>“The serious side of this, though, is that the State is paying very generous pensions and perks to former Taoisigh, including Bertie Ahern. </p><p>“Last June it was revealed in reply to a Sinn Féin Dáil Question that the Department of the Taoiseach is paying salaries to secretarial assistants employed by four former Taoisigh, including Bertie Ahern. </p><p>“As a TD, Bertie Ahern is already entitled to salaries for a parliamentary assistant and a secretarial assistant. But according to the current Taoiseach’s reply, Deputy Ahern also benefits from the former Taoisigh scheme by having the salaries of two secretarial assistants paid for up to five years after his retirement as Taoiseach, and the salary of one secretarial assistant indefinitely after five years. </p><p>“In Deputy Ahern’s case the secretarial allowance amounted to €114,000 in 2009 alone. </p><p>“This lavish expenditure on former Taoisigh is in addition to their very generous pensions and the State cars and Garda drivers at their disposal. </p>“Home help hours for elderly citizens are being cut and we must ask how many such hours would this scheme pay for? It should be ended and the funds made available for a useful purposeGabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-73098282402975434892010-09-30T04:58:00.001-07:002010-09-30T05:47:23.940-07:00Anglo Cement Lorry Protester Morphing into Hero in an Ireland Seething with Pent-UP Fury<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdXPENlwxstF2RYx_i9AtDjKENGKhtoH1UUiPkKsMOxmkDp0pXW8TWvqgbFzoD22LNqSAVp6BWYm3kDTZ3GirYw8mcqsKg5Vc8PjsnddADRh-63yEgwid0w2Q_L1dmo51CuEqGtTUli32/s1600/angloavenger.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdXPENlwxstF2RYx_i9AtDjKENGKhtoH1UUiPkKsMOxmkDp0pXW8TWvqgbFzoD22LNqSAVp6BWYm3kDTZ3GirYw8mcqsKg5Vc8PjsnddADRh-63yEgwid0w2Q_L1dmo51CuEqGtTUli32/s320/angloavenger.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522684691033270354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yesterday was the opening day of the Dáil, our Parliament, once a revolutionary institution set up as an alternative centre of democratic power in Ireland before the British state relinquished political control of Ireland. Nowadays the Dáil is widely derided by the people of Ireland as the soiled and festering bed of parasites, gougers, shoneens, gombeens, and gobshites who run this poor benighted country. So as a result I have'nt heard anything but sympathy for the man who rammed the gates the Dáil building y<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBXhe99-qdRABO1IbiA5oa__VUxXP9rXu52jsRc-Uj0gJeBVCTYWeT1ZUM-YZ1i8MPcCCfpaeIlq4xHS56Qb0inehzFcUbT3fknk7YAmiac40tkKN1_XBPKLkp7mtt_7mQkDKt9OCoqrU/s1600/seaniefitzgolf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBXhe99-qdRABO1IbiA5oa__VUxXP9rXu52jsRc-Uj0gJeBVCTYWeT1ZUM-YZ1i8MPcCCfpaeIlq4xHS56Qb0inehzFcUbT3fknk7YAmiac40tkKN1_XBPKLkp7mtt_7mQkDKt9OCoqrU/s320/seaniefitzgolf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522685466607164050" border="0" /></a>esterday morning with a cement lorry, covered with slogans protesting about how the debts of Anglo-Irish bank being shouldered by the people of Ireland is grinding this country and its people into a morass of unemployment and sovereign debt that this state will be paying off for generations.<p>The cost of bailing out <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/anglo-irish-bank" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Anglo Irish Bank">Anglo Irish Bank</a>, the lender at the centre of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ireland" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Ireland">Ireland</a>'s <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/financial-crisis" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Financial crisis">financial crisis</a>, could rise to €34bn (£29.1bn) under a worst case scenario, the Irish central bank admitted today. The news came as the country's finance minister warned that the failure of the nationalised bank would "bring down" Ireland, and warned of further austerity measures.</p><p>In an <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/025f321a-cbf5-11df-bd28-00144feab49a.html" title="FT.com: Anglo failure would 'bring down' Ireland">interview with the Financial Times</a>, Brian Lenihan said Ireland had no choice but to act. "Any Anglo failure would bring down the sovereign. It is systemically important not because of any intrinsic merit in the bank, I can assure [you] I don't see any. But because of its size relative to the national balance sheet. No country could contemplate the failure of such an institution," he said."The soaring costs of supporting the Irish banking system will cause the government's budget deficit to rise to 32% of gross domestic product this year, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said in his statement on Thursday.The EU limits only permit a deficit to reach 3% of GDP ideally....That estimate places the deepest deficit for any euro-zone country since the launch of the shared currency in 1999. Ireland, like other fiscally weakened countries such as Greece and Portugal and Spain, has been struggling to imposed radical spending cuts and tax increases to close budg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRj588y8SFsP57pebSbcYJMgsNoZzxAsZdoei97FJ-IQq49OzVB0ZVKEZBVOTbszR-J4pZLamubh2Of7yLl0qztbmynV1W1P_LFqQ3wdxfOjZFHHGnIe_ROccV0XaJDMp9KYoXN4-yiqA5/s1600/seanieswife.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRj588y8SFsP57pebSbcYJMgsNoZzxAsZdoei97FJ-IQq49OzVB0ZVKEZBVOTbszR-J4pZLamubh2Of7yLl0qztbmynV1W1P_LFqQ3wdxfOjZFHHGnIe_ROccV0XaJDMp9KYoXN4-yiqA5/s320/seanieswife.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522684968742164834" border="0" /></a>et gaps without triggering another recession.<br /></p><p>What really infuriates people here is that....</p><p>i) the bankers and their cronies who brought the country to ruin are still swanning around Ireland and the world apparently completely immune to prosecution..Michael Lynn the lawyer who shafted €40 million off of his clients is sunning himself in the Algarve apparently without seemingly a care in the world. Sean Fitzpatrick the former boss of Anglo would have the courts believe he is on €188 a month when he continues to live a millionaire lifestyle.. (see seanie golfing pic) A lifefestyle he is enjoying courtesy of his wife who seems to have ready access to millions surprise surprise....seen here driving that battered old vehicle ...There is a widespread feeling that these creatures are beneficiaries of a discreet web of protection from the highest levels of gombeenism in this disfunctional (even by capitalist standards) state.<br /></p><p>ii) The so called 'small people' who owe money or who protest are pursued with the full force of the state, the Anglo Avenger cement lorry driver is to be charged by the Director of Public Prosecutions with criminal damage, and no doubt fined heavily or even imprisoned. A young man made jobless in the crisis was jailed for failing to pay a €240 euro fine, he was released only when his father drew attention to this on the Joe Duffy liveline programme on RTE radio 1</p><p>People here are angry, but they have'nt got a focus to trigger a mass response. the organised trade union movement grew scared at the strength of workers responses to the few days of action organised in the Spring...the Trade Union bosses at SIPTU sold us out and signed a deal with government to stymie public sector resistance. The so called 'Labour Party' lead by ex-stickie Eamon Gilmore is so desperate to get into government they are not leading anything other than token verbal resistance. Quite frankly Sinn Féin seems paralysed and unimaginative and unwilling to mobilise mass protest.<br /></p><p>Popular mass protests<span style="font-weight: bold;"> WILL </span>erupt here, all that is required is the spark to ignite the blue touchpaper leading to the huge powder keg of anger waiting to explode....<br /></p>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-42309341458456114182010-09-30T04:27:00.000-07:002010-09-30T04:30:56.021-07:00European Workers Stir....Resistance is on the Agenda<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndZHWOb2BcOVOQZiImBIp9aaJdFkQnPJUZq27O_sOtTFusD33OMMTzvR3YJRWSqnFWKNAIXsNOIUSufyJSysTwhwL74xogXCt0yGh68w5KHRdpSNHDjBN525t2nAtZfaakcbrQbA6rPBg/s1600/no+to+austerity.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndZHWOb2BcOVOQZiImBIp9aaJdFkQnPJUZq27O_sOtTFusD33OMMTzvR3YJRWSqnFWKNAIXsNOIUSufyJSysTwhwL74xogXCt0yGh68w5KHRdpSNHDjBN525t2nAtZfaakcbrQbA6rPBg/s320/no+to+austerity.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522667266845962738" border="0" /></a><a href="http://permanentred.blogspot.com/2010/09/austerity-mongers-rattled-by-huge.html">Derek Kotz in Brussels, in Morning Star, Wednesday 29 September 2010</a><br /><br />CLEAR MESSAGE: Protestors walk past a billboard which reads: 'No to austerity' during a demonstration in Brussels on Wednesday<br /><br />The halls of EU power in Brussels trembled to the footsteps of more than 100,000 workers on Wednesday as they converged from across Europe to reject crippling austerity cuts.<br /><br />Trade unions and activists representing 24 countries brought the city to a standstill as they snaked their way through the streets with a thunderous march that ended in a rally at the Esplanade du Cinquantenaire park.<br /><br />As Spanish workers staged a general strike and Greek rail staff walked out over privatisation, the common call in a multitude of languages was for co-ordinated action against the biggest attack on Europe's working class since the 1930s.<br /><br />A sea of banners proclaimed that workers would not be forced to pay with their jobs and services for a crisis caused by the unmitigated greed of bankers.<br /><br />Banners and flags from RMT, PCS, NUT, TSSA, CWU, Napo, Unite and Usdaw were prominent among a noisy British contingent.<br /><br />Brussels police were out in force, barricading the entrance of every bank in the city as well as the European Commission headquarters. But the massive event passed peacefully.<br /><br />As the day of action - called by trade union umbrella organisation ETUC - took place outside, the EU Commission announced a package of proposals to crack down on hard-pressed member states, threatening them with huge fines if they failed to run their economies "efficiently."<br /><br />Speaking to the Star from the rally, RMT leader Bob Crow condemned dangerous EU moves to impose centralised caps on public-sector pay and sanctions against member states deemed not to be cutting deep or fast enough.<br /><br />"Workers across Europe face the same threat to jobs, public services and pensions, and that threat originates from exactly the same source - the centralised banks and the political elite who do their bidding," he explained.<br /><br />Twinings Usdaw convenor Pete Millward emphasised the importance of public and private sector workers struggling together against the cuts, warning that the British government's plans to cut 600,000 public sector jobs would also mean "700,000 private sector job losses."<br /><br />And he rubbished government claims that there was no alternative.<br /><br />Unison youth delegate Gerry Cowell, a musician outreach worker from Colchester, was proud to be on the march alongside other workers and pensioners.<br /><br />"It is important for us all to unite to oppose cuts wherever and to make our protest locally, nationally and acros Europe," she told the Star.<br /><br />FBU national officer Dave Green hailed the "fantastic turnout" saying that it showed "the enormous level of resistance to austerity measures that governments will face."<br /><br />He added: "Economies across Europe have been brought to the verge of collapse by the out-of-control greed of bankers."<br /><br />Portuguese union UGT international officer Wanda Guimaraes made the point that workers "draw their strength from unity.<br /><br />"Today's demonstration shows the trade union movement is a huge family that is united against cuts and poverty and against non-inclusive societies."<br /><br />She stressed that unions had a responsibility to lead the fight to save services and jobs across the continent.<br /><br />Organised pensioners across the continent also joined the march, with Dot Gibson of the British-based National Pensioners Convention stressing: "It is important for pensioners to link up with the union movement in opposing the cuts and attacks on workers pensions."<br /><br />She said she was looking forward to a meeting next week with French, Italian and Spanish pensioners' organisations held in Paris to discuss their united response to the cuts.<br /><br />Cedric Mahu of France's CGT union, which had 10,000 delegates on the march, said he would be on strike again on October 12 in his country's national strike against attempts by the Sarkozy government to take the hatchet to French workers' pensions.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com59tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-83172286963300784782010-09-02T04:22:00.000-07:002010-09-06T06:28:13.113-07:00Leitrim’s Unrepentant Communist- Jim Gralton<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3KdwEeq7VA0v4JExRkjQLgXE23mfEso1dh9uEMUA0OiVfwP5MgJDOLqkioRFtHF_gvbduzif3F4ND_iA5suKaLqdzdyoqCeoa4xU5qZpLQaRRatqYO3tTwF3yoz4a7Jv5ocE9RIny2h6/s1600/index.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 82px; height: 106px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3KdwEeq7VA0v4JExRkjQLgXE23mfEso1dh9uEMUA0OiVfwP5MgJDOLqkioRFtHF_gvbduzif3F4ND_iA5suKaLqdzdyoqCeoa4xU5qZpLQaRRatqYO3tTwF3yoz4a7Jv5ocE9RIny2h6/s320/index.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512279468458227586" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On August 13, 1933 Jim Gralton was forced to board a Trans-Atlantic Liner in Cork which was to set sail for the USA. Jim had been arrested on August 10 at a friend’s house in Gorvagh, County Leitrim and brought to Ballinamore Barracks where he was detained before being brought to Cork for his deportation. He had been living on the run since February of that year following the issuing of a deportation order by the courts who ruled that he had to leave Ireland by March 5. His deportation 77 years ago makes him the only native Irishman to be deported from this state.<br /><br />He was born in Effernagh close to Carrick on Shannon in County Leitrim on April 17 1886. His education, such as it was, was received in nearby Kiltoghert school. Like most young people at the time, he left school early, aged just 14. After working for a number of employers in the local area, fed up with the harsh treatment he and others suffered at their hands, Jim headed for Dublin where he enlisted in the British army.<br /><br />His rebellious behaviour was not long coming through and he endured punishment of 84 days on “bread and water” for his refusal to shine the leggings and buttons of one of his officers. He was then posted to India, but refused to go in protest at British policies in Ireland. For his defiance and protest, Jim was jailed for a year and subsequently deserted the army, going to work for a time in the coal mines of Wales and in Liverpool docks.<br /><br />He then got employment as a ship’s stoker and eventually settled in New York where he became a US citizen in 1909. In the midst of the great wealth in the USA, Jim was appalled at the harsh, slave-like conditions that workers endured, which led him to become a firm believer in supporting the rights of workers and in socialism.<br /><br />From the time he arrived in the US, Jim was active in supporting and raising much needed funds for both the Irish republican struggle and for fellow workers in New York. He became a member of the US Communist Party and became heavily involved in trade union activity. In the wake of the 1916 Rising, and after studying of the writings of James Connolly, Jim became a founding member of the James Connolly Club in New York.<br /><br />Almost a decade and a half after arriving in the US, Jim decided to return home to Ireland in June 1921, just a month before the truce in the Tan War commenced on the 11th of July. During the war, the notorious Black and Tans had burnt the local Temperance Hall beside Gowel Church to the ground. On his return, Jim promised local people he would replace it and set about, with his own money and with local support, building a new hall on his father’s land near Effernagh crossroads.<br /><br />The new hall, named the Pearse-Connolly Hall, was eventually opened on December 31 1921 and became an inte<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qJ25UR_Sj2-HTLrh-4KXEBGV6P-QAtiMdN0JRA5SGxvQ-ph7P2iF_Hta6N5TKbAL8SUPFkSJ9r20QxXpBJtRyDofd2hE9pQQT4TU5sDXCQUK4G72SNKCOAJbwmmjm_xfD9j2mLx6q2xB/s1600/site_of_the_pearse_connolly_memorial_hall.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qJ25UR_Sj2-HTLrh-4KXEBGV6P-QAtiMdN0JRA5SGxvQ-ph7P2iF_Hta6N5TKbAL8SUPFkSJ9r20QxXpBJtRyDofd2hE9pQQT4TU5sDXCQUK4G72SNKCOAJbwmmjm_xfD9j2mLx6q2xB/s320/site_of_the_pearse_connolly_memorial_hall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512279223176299314" border="0" /></a>gral part of the everyday lives of the local community. Amongst its many uses was the holding in classes of a wide range of subjects including Irish, English, music, dancing, civics and agricultural science. This was also a time of many land disputes and the Hall was also used to hold Land Courts to settle many of these disputes. Despite the good work Jim was doing for his community and despite the valuable educational service that was been provided, not everyone was happy.<br /><br />The Catholic Church in particular were extremely unhappy. They denounced him at every opportunity, at the pulpit during mass and in letters, going as far as to describe him as an extremely dangerous socialist and even an “Anti-Christ”. They accused him of “leading a campaign of Land agitation”, of trying to take the youth of the area away from the Catholic Church and of teaching communism to them in his classes.<br /><br />The Free State forces also were unhappy with his activities, and on May 24 1922, they raided the Hall in a failed attempt to arrest Jim. The following month, as Civil War loomed, he got out and returned to the US. He did not return to Ireland until 1932 following the death of his brother Charlie who looked after and ran the family farm and following the securing of power in the Twenty-Six Counties by Fianna Fáil. Like many other people at that time, Jim was of the mistaken belief that a Fianna Fáil government would allow for the development of progressive politics in his homeland.<br /><br />Following his return to Ireland, Jim re-opened the Pearse-Connolly Hall which had been closed for many years while he was in the US. He also involved himself once again in left-wing agitation, joining the Revolutionary Workers’ Group [a forerunner of the Communist Party of Ireland]. As well as the hall being used for dances and other social activities, meetings were also held there highlighting issues such as unemployment and the rights of workers and tenants.<br /><br />He spoke at many anti-eviction meetings and following the eviction of a worker from his home in Keadue, in Co Roscommon, Jim joined with a local IRA group in re-instating the worker and his family back into their family home. This radicalism and persistent campaigning on such issues was of major concern once again to conservatives in general and to the Catholic Church and Fianna Fáil in particular.<br /><br />Once again, Jim was denounced as a massive campaign was launched by the clergy against him and the views he represented. Shamefully, many of his former comrades turned their backs on him, as the church demanded that the Hall, which they described as a “den of iniquity” be shut down.<br /><br />The Hall came under physical attack on many occasions. Shots were fired into it during a dance and an attempt to blow it up with a bomb failed. Finally, on Christmas Eve 1932, the Hall was eventually destroyed when it was burned to the ground.<br /><br />In February of 1933, at the behest of the Catholic Church, the Fianna Fáil government ordered the deportation of Jim from his homeland by March 5 on the spurious grounds of him being an “undesirable alien”. Instead of complying with the order, Jim went on the run, staying with friends and neighbours in the area. During his time on the run, the Revolutionary Workers’ Group organised a campaign in support of Jim. Public meetings were organised and addressed by Jim himself, and by other prominent republican socialists of the time such as George Gilmore and Peadar O’Donnell. Many of these meetings were attacked and broken up by reactionaries.<br /><br />Finally on August 10 1933, the Free State caught up with Jim, capturing him at a friend’s house in Gorvagh. He was taken to Ballinamore Barracks where he was detained before being transported to Cork where he was put on board a Trans-Atlantic Liner and deported to the US against his will. He was never again allowed to return to Ireland.<br /><br />Undeterred, upon his arrival back in the US, Jim once again got involved in trade unionism and left wing politics. Along with Gerald O’Reilly, a close colleague of George Gilmore, Jim set up the Irish Workers’ Group in New York. He became a trade union organiser, encouraging the involvement of women within the unions, and set about promoting, republishing and distributing the works of James Connolly. During the Spanish Civil War, he raised funds for the International Brigades who were going to Spain to fight against fascism and in defence of the Republic.<br /><br />A committed and unrepentant communist up to his last breath, Jim Gralton died in exile in New York on December 29 1945 and is buried in Woodlawn cemetery in the Bronx area of the City.<br /><br />To conclude fittingly, the final words go to a comrade of Jim’s, Charlie Byrne. Speaking at Jim’s Graveside in the Bronx in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his death, Charlie said:<br /><br />“Let all of us who believe in the principles for which Gralton stood, pledge ourselves anew to the continuation of the fight for the complete political, cultural and economic rights of the working classes in all lands, no crying, no weeping over his grave at Woodlawn. There is work to be done, so let us carry on; Gralton would have it that way.”Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-62450132168405707312010-07-06T03:06:00.000-07:002010-07-06T03:39:42.422-07:00Kevin Myers Gets the 'Downfall' Treatment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2Ttcwfmt0iKWtqwe19XQvhSr6-_NlxV0jXknJtQnnHW_nOsyCxJ4ay23NLN7gC8d_GMfuzqKfLYRl_hP_np9vUVuvi2xjCW5sm69Oz-mwP_HGFADYVEYbUhNzibiQJibC93N__d-9OqX/s1600/the+real+kevin+myers.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 81px; height: 124px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2Ttcwfmt0iKWtqwe19XQvhSr6-_NlxV0jXknJtQnnHW_nOsyCxJ4ay23NLN7gC8d_GMfuzqKfLYRl_hP_np9vUVuvi2xjCW5sm69Oz-mwP_HGFADYVEYbUhNzibiQJibC93N__d-9OqX/s320/the+real+kevin+myers.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490739971296946322" /></a><br />This posting will appeal mainly to those readers familiar with the subtleties of the politics associated with the Irish language here in Ireland... Kevin Myers is a columnist in the leading Irish daily paper 'The Independent' owned by 'Sir' Antony O'Reilly. Kevin Myers and his boss, O'Reilly, would roughly share the same politics, namely a right wing neo-liberal economic viewpoint amalgamated with a peculiar brand of right wing ideology found here in Ireland, namely an ideological antipathy to all things associated with Irish Republicanism, Irish national identity, and a sort of permanent apologia for Ireland severing the colonial link to the UK.<br /><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12683771&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12683771&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/12683771">Kevin Myers' Downfall</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user4073207">Myles na gCapailín</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /><br />An interesting contradiction emerges here, since those who may in some ways regret the establishment of an Irish Republic, can not be overtly antagonistic to the state itself, since this would imply loyalty to another state. But there is nevertheless an hidden agenda in Myers columns continually attacking the teaching of the Irish language in our schools, as well as trusty old themes such as the heroic role of the Irish in the British Army, wearing a poppy on Remembrance day, welcoming a visit of the Queen of England to Ireland etc etc ad nauseam.<br />Despite the huge pressure placed upon it by globalisation, the Irish language stubbornly refuses to disappear,and in fact is gaining in strength and popularity as an accompaniment as well as an alternative to the hiberno-english spoken by most people here. The theme of the attached video is the likely reaction of Myers (a la Hitler) to the real news that Sir Antony O'Reilly's flagship newspaper the Irish Independent has picked up the Irish language newspaper <span style="font-style:italic;">Foinnse</span> and incorporated it into it publishing output as a free sheet. A good deal for the readers, most of who can read Irish, a good deal for the language, but a move that somewhat undermines Kevin Myers oft stated opinion in the very same newspaper that the language is irrelevant...I know that altering the subtitles for this famousscene from the German film classic has been done before, but the humour in these ( completely erroneous) subtitles is particularly well targeted.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-44385861092375815432010-06-22T08:12:00.000-07:002010-06-22T08:25:01.973-07:00Sex and the City II....Brilliantly Demolished by Mark KermodeI have despised <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'Sex and the City'</span> since I first had the misfortune of having seen parts of it when it was on the TV. I note that a second film has been made, and I know that not having seen it I should not participate in slagging it off...Yes I know that I am not part of the target market, but there is an authenticity to Mark Kermode's criticism that suggests to me that I would in all likelihood find myself in complete agreement with him..<div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre; "><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uHeQeHstrsc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uHeQeHstrsc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></span>That apart I just have to admit that this outpouring by Mark Kermode, is despite his promise NOT to indulge in a rant, is one of the highest class rants I have heard in recent times....and boy that film sounds like it thoroughly deserved it....Yet otherwise reasonably intelligent women will still go and see it....It is one of many aspects of human life that is a complete mystery to me, the older I become, the more mysterious and puzzling certain aspects of human life and culture become....</div></div></div>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-32538243776499309882010-06-11T17:07:00.000-07:002010-06-11T17:52:31.243-07:00Anti-Communism....Or How to Turn Heroes into Villains<span style="font-style:italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJiuJGZqMH4PR1fO7Vnx1gvV-a6yOJhMGxLaRYTfZkQb1izvW_ta8lyHzQ4dOWujlYwWCutO8CykcpEuNYN9WLZlIhrbe3fXStZsC320cgFIpEAGTdLguTM0oy9JVbN95ssDp0udIkLzk/s320/captive_banners.jpg" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(231, 123, 51); font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-style:italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(231, 123, 51); font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br />Two hundred captive Nazi military banners and standards were chosen out of thousands , and paraded in front of the people of the USSR during the Great Victory Parade in Red Square in Moscow on the 24th June 1945...British YCL General Secretary George Waterhouse explains the background behind the decision of the Polish government to ban the dissemination of "communist symbolism" and charts the growing rise of anti-communism across Europe</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(231, 123, 51); font-family: 'times new roman'; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "> "Last month US, French and British troops marched across Moscow's Red Square in a Victory Day parade to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the defeat of fascism in EuropeYet elements within the European Union are currently embarking on an anti-communist crusade that seeks to equate communism with nazi fascism, as part of a much wider offensive against any opposition to the neoliberal agenda.</span></span></div><div><div><div><div><br />This gross distortion of history has at its heart a revisionism that attacks the role of communists and socialists while, at the same time, downplaying the crimes of fascism.<br /><br />Revisionist historians, most notably Niall Ferguson, have claimed that the "blame" for the second world war should be equally shared by the Soviet Union and nazi Germany. Ferguson has stated that Stalin was "as much an aggressor as Hitler." However, attempts to equate communism and fascism hint that the former was worse than the latter.<br /><br />In history lessons in schools across Britain children are taught a module on the "great dictators" where they study Hitler, Stalin and Fidel Castro. Communism, we are taught, is worse than nazism because, according to figures attained by dubious and ahistorical methodology, it is "responsible" for the deaths of more people.<br /><br />This outrageous claim has been supported by "historian" Orlando Figes who described the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact as "the licence for the Holocaust." This view of the second world war is complete nonsense. It is a disgraceful insult to the great sacrifices made by the Soviet people, partisans and ordinary people across Europe in pursuit of the defeat of fascism.<br /><br />How can a conscious genocide carried out along racial lines by death camps be compared to communism?<br /><br />For all its faults the Soviet Union built an egalitarian society that provided top-quality health, education, cultural activities and employment for all its citizens. The Soviet Union sought to end the violent racism and anti-semitism that traditionally plagued Russian society as well as to bring about the emancipation of women by introducing unparalleled childcare provision and enforcing equ<br /><br />The socialist camp provided crucial assistance to national liberation and anti-colonialist movements across the globe. The Soviet Union's contribution to this struggle has been recognised by Nelson Mandela among others.<br /><br />On June 8 the Polish government will implement an amendment to the penal code criminalising the dissemination of "communist symbolism." Anyone who "produces, perpetuates, imports, stores, possesses, presents, carries or sends a printout, a recording or other object" carrying "communist or other totalitarian symbolism" would be punished with up to two years in prison.<br /><br />Not only would this mean the banning of the international symbol of the communist movement - the hammer and sickle - but also the five-pointed red star, a symbol used by many socialists and social democrats across the world.<br /><br />From the pronouncements made by government ministers and other right-wing politicians in Poland it is likely that the ban could also extend to other symbols and icons including pictures of Che Guevara and Lenin on T-shirts and posters.<br /><br />This latest piece of anti-communist repression follows a wave of similar legislation across Europe. Bans on communist symbols have already been implemented in Hungary and Lithuania, while attempts and similar legislation have been pursued in Slovakia and many other countries in eastern Europe.<br /><br />In 2006 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution that attempted to condemn communism as a "totalitarian" ideology. Speakers denounced the existence of "monuments, street names and other external symbols associated with the history of communism." The PACE resolution also called on all communist and post-communist parties of the Council of Europe member countries "to revise the history of communism and of their own history and unequivocally condemn them."<br /><br />In 2007 the Czech government outlawed the Communist Youth Union because of its support for public ownership of the means of production. The Czech government has also attempted to outlaw its parent party the Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia - a party with mass popular support that finished second in the 2004 European Parliament elections and continues to be an influential party in the Czech parliament.<br /><br />In 2009 Moldovan anti-communists organised riots across the country after the Moldovan Communist Party won the election. In the Baltic republics anti-communism is being used in order to rehabilitate nazism. Veterans of the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS now parade through the streets of Riga and Estonian parliamentarians have honoured those who served the Third Reich as "fighters for independence."<br /><br />Most shamefully, Nato and EU member Lithuania opened a war crimes investigation into four Jewish veterans of the country's partisans. Efraim Zuroff, the famous nazi hunter, has stated: "People need to wake up to what is going on. This attempt to create a false symmetry between communism and the nazi genocide is aimed at covering up these countries' participation in mass murder."<br /><br />There are two elements to this anti-communist offensive by the European Union.<br /><br />The first and most predominant element is an attempt to whitewash the crimes of capitalism and to silence opposition to the commitment of the European Union to capitalism and imperialism.<br /><br />It is no accident that this upswing in the rising tide of anti-communism comes at a time when millions of people across Europe are being mobilised in opposition to the swingeing cuts being pursued by the neoliberalist EU to fund the bailout of the banks and financial institutions.<br /><br />Communists across Europe have assumed a prominent role in this struggle against an intensification of competition, the surge in privatisation, and the ripping up of trade unionist's rights. Those labour movement battles that have seen most success contain a cohort of communists at their heart.<br /><br />The great anti-communist crusade is inseparable from the European Union's enforcement of austerity measures across the continent. The campaign to outlaw communism also runs hand in hand with the expansion of Nato into eastern Europe. Along with the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq imperialism is conducting repression on a massive scale in the name of "democracy" and "freedom."<br /><br />This historical revisionism is being used by a rising tide of fascists to justify attacks on immigrants, socialists and communists. Ultimately, these measures act as a catalyst for the full rehabilitation of nazism.<br /><br />This disgraceful censorship contradicts the "democratic ideals" professed by the European Union.<br /><br />It is incumbent on all communists, socialists and progressives to oppose this latest move in the anti-communist offensive. "</div></div></div></div>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com173tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-58641929773389132602010-05-18T09:30:00.000-07:002010-05-24T08:04:49.850-07:00Dan and Dan...The Daily Mail SongI spent many years when working in the UK being totally astonished at the amount of people in the UK who seemed to think that the rabid right wing bile pumped out by the right wing middle-class tabloid the Daily Mail was in some sense a reflection of reality.<br />I was delighted and very tickled by this video that these comics have put together on the subject of the Daily Mail, the two who are apparently both called Dan, seem to have a developed a nice line in that understated humour that can be so devastatingly funny.<br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5eBT6OSr1TI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5eBT6OSr1TI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br />Good also to see a couple of new faces who are using Facebook and the internet to good purpose in promoting their humour...I wish them both the very best, one of the funniest things I have seen for a while...here's their sketch on taxation...<br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zSlOZaYO1Rg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zSlOZaYO1Rg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />You can keep in touch with their video output by logging on to their Youtube channel at <br />http://www.youtube.com/dananddanfilms<br />Or their blogpage at http://www.dananddan.com/<br /><br />Spread the word these guys could go far.....( ha ha) ( or this GUY ;) )Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-37460003653940171452010-05-10T04:41:00.000-07:002010-05-10T06:27:29.821-07:00Ireland Requires Political Actions Such as These....I have always been an admirer of the KKE (The Communist Party of Greece), I encountered the KKE and the KNE when at University in Britain in the early 1980's and was always impressed by their combination of militancy, imaginative political actions, and a sound theoretical grasp of complex political situations.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rQ-GxpfP27o&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rQ-GxpfP27o&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />Far from being cowed by the enormous intimidation being applied to the people of Greece by the forces of international finance capital, they have reacted in a truly heroic and imaginative manner which points the finger of blame squarely at those responsible for the economic collapse since 2008.<br /><br />In common with here in Ireland, in Greece strenuous attempts are being made to make the ordinary working people pay for the crisis created by the greed of the bankers and property developers. Now it is 'the markets' and 'bond investors' who must be heeded at all costs. Who are these if not the investing arms of the same financial structures which wrought this havoc in the first place.<br /><br />Here in Ireland, I was depressed to see that Sinn Féin had mounted a nationwide campaign against mass unemployment, which consisted of Sinn Féin activists attending job centres and getting jobless workers to sign post cards of protest to the Government. That deluge of post cards is really going to have the gombeens leading Fianna Fáil and the Green party quaking in their boots...<br /><br />We need militant and imaginative street based campaigns of the sort undertaken recently by the KKE and depicted in this video. There is no shortage of anger out there but the much commented upon passivity of the Irish public's response has been determined by a complete absence of any imaginative and colourful means to focus that anger. Instead the anger in Ireland is being internalised, with the repetition by the right wing media and the corporate media pundits of the mantra 'We are Where we Are' (WAWWA), which is a bit like the sort of thing yu might say to a toddler that has'nt quite made it in time to the potty...'never mind love ,we' ll clean it up, sure nothing can be done about it now', the subtext of which is that it IS in fact your fault. As psychologists tell us, internalised anger merely prompts depression. This is taking the form here in Ireland of sullen resentment and resignation. Which is precisely the response that our corporate masters would wish for.<br /><br />Organisations such as Sinn Féin and the Labour Party should be devising ways to channel the anger that exists, or seem increasingly irrelevant as the 'WAWWA' brigade dominate the public discourse here in Ireland. Hats off to Dr Chris Sparks of Sligo IT in the 'Ghost Estates' RTE documentary last night for articulating the sort of sincere anger and exasperation that spokespeople of Sinn Féin and the Labour Party need to be expressing.<br /><br />Though small this action recently by Eírigi is to be congratulated for its imaginativeness and its militancy, if anyone doubts that it was supported just listen to the car horns hooting as Dublin motorists voiced their approval..<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h4W_edUYJyY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h4W_edUYJyY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />What has happened here in Ireland is the biggest treason ever committed against the people of this country since the Civil War. It demands an adequate political response, Sinn Féin has the organisational capacity, why not mount a national three pronged cross country march of the unemployed from the South, North West and South East along the lines of the Unemployed marches of the 1930s and 1980's in the UK?Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-28720782346504739212010-04-22T07:08:00.000-07:002010-04-22T07:28:07.387-07:00Collateral Murder in Iraq-Definitely NOT for the Faint Heated...The following video was something that I watched with a growing sense of absolute bone chilling horror, I was an opponent of the US invasion of Iraq, but the political stance of opposition is a stance of the intellect. This footage is chilling, and evokes a horror of the heart and the soul, because it is clear that the perpetrators of the murders, clearly are deriving some warped satisfaction at the killings, and also have ceased to see their targets as real people.<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-byU_92NcN8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-byU_92NcN8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> The process of dehumanization is a prerequisite of atrocity. I wonder if those who see war as a sort of video game should look at this footage, it is the ultimate sick video 'game'.<br />WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. <br /><br />The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. For further information please visit the special project website www.collateralmurder.com.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-41801200997552814952010-04-08T10:51:00.000-07:002010-04-14T04:30:46.149-07:00Greek Cops Hospitalize Manolis Glezos WWII Anti-Nazi Veteran<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcd4o0Z0WcZJo5wgMefAXkPp1L04FMnk9YsUgrI8SKTH30UkVWUApG80fthXinPO8rHWNx6XUkJqCPs5fh9KY7yMWeEaXll2WmiWo7RiGcwloBDqe1pNFub6gZlXh8CXlzG0Blk1ZGRHp/s1600/greece12.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457829461918646626" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcd4o0Z0WcZJo5wgMefAXkPp1L04FMnk9YsUgrI8SKTH30UkVWUApG80fthXinPO8rHWNx6XUkJqCPs5fh9KY7yMWeEaXll2WmiWo7RiGcwloBDqe1pNFub6gZlXh8CXlzG0Blk1ZGRHp/s320/greece12.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">I hope that 87 year old comrade Manolis Glezos is recovering from his ordeal at the hands of the Greek anti-riot police. The veteran hero of the fight against nazi occupation of Greece<span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic"></span> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">(who in 1959 had a Soviet postage stamp issued to commemorate his actions see below)</span> </div><div><br /></div><div>received a direct spray of tear gas in to his eyes in the recent anti-government austerity protests in Athen. One Greek commentator pithily observed<br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">T<span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">he point is that Glezos , fell wounded in front of [the Monument of] the Unknown Soldier, struck by a greek employee of the Greek State, at the same time that the Head of [that] State was begging in Germany </span><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-DL3zV5E6l4UaOw1zNU7_ur970He70-b6BXvVFCvb7tjPyldkf1PxYvfh_uPj2zlfutE9gaBmY0KonsxtxVuJXVVgLNJ1EEl5uSkZG_Ikei_Pf8MM4vUW-6JR3L9Cx7VitYTRK2xruYP/s320/Glezos.jpg" /><br />On May 30, 1941, he and Apostolos Santas climbed on the Acropolis and tore down the Swastika, which had been there since April 27, 1941, when the Nazi forces had entered Athens. That was the first resistance act that took place in Greece, and probably among the very first ones in Europe. It inspired not only the Greeks, but all subjected people, to resist against the occupation, and established them both as two international anti-Nazi heroes.<br />The Nazi regime responded by sentencing Glezos and Santas to death in absentia. Glezos was arrested by the German occupation forces on March 24, 1942, and he was subjected to imprisonment and torture. As a result of this treatment, he was gravely affected by tuberculosis. He was arrested on April 21, 1943 by the Italian occupation forces and spent three months in jail. In February 7, 1944 he was arrested again, this time by Greek Nazi collaborators. He spent another seven and a half months in jail, until he finally escaped on September 21 of the same year.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic"><br /></span></div><div>I only hope that Manolis recovers from his ordeal, and sincerely hope that every one of us are able to display such vim and vitality when we reach our 87th year!</div></span>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-5457295857746738512010-03-25T08:13:00.000-07:002010-03-25T08:57:05.677-07:00Edward Upward's Complete Works Now Available for Electronic Download<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2b6zN5fqAm6KAYgrH9rdLum78rTdfAHgv6Yf7NFa28NV0H_2nz5OMd4K5BtFwaQaQoArjsHUNj2rA485WC1b9lqEV3oPATouu2t-2MMVHNmjAYAO3XPEEvni3oP9gHBEchPNlDXFkFJs/s1600/cable-street-battle-joined.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 425px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ2b6zN5fqAm6KAYgrH9rdLum78rTdfAHgv6Yf7NFa28NV0H_2nz5OMd4K5BtFwaQaQoArjsHUNj2rA485WC1b9lqEV3oPATouu2t-2MMVHNmjAYAO3XPEEvni3oP9gHBEchPNlDXFkFJs/s320/cable-street-battle-joined.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452600074018118994" border="0" /></a>I was delighted to see that relatives of the late Marxist writer Edward Upward have put together a superb commemorative website, which provides a definitive source of data and information connected to Edward Upward.
<br />
<br />The writer fully acknowledges with gratitude material provided in the piece below derived from the Edward Upward website described. I wrote earlier at the time of Edward death about my connection with him and my great regard for his work<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJOHN%7E1.COR%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJOHN%7E1.COR%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJOHN%7E1.COR%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-IE</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont val="Cambria Math"> <m:brkbin val="before"> <m:brkbinsub val="--"> <m:smallfrac val="off"> <m:dispdef/> <m:lmargin val="0"> <m:rmargin val="0"> <m:defjc val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent val="1440"> <m:intlim val="subSup"> <m:narylim val="undOvr"> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" defunhidewhenused="true" defsemihidden="true" defqformat="false" defpriority="99" latentstylecount="267"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="0" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Normal"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="heading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="35" qformat="true" name="caption"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="10" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" name="Default Paragraph Font"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="11" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtitle"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="22" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Strong"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="20" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="59" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Table Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Placeholder Text"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="No Spacing"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Revision"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="34" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="List Paragraph"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="29" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="30" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><a href="http://unrepentantcommunist.blogspot.com/search?q=edward+upward"> HERE</a><p class="MsoNormal"> </p> Of particular interest to readers of 'Unrepentant Communist' will be the opportunity to download in its entirety 'the Spiral Ascent' dialectical triad of novels, set in the period of the 1930's, 1940's, and the 1950's and early 1960s. Charting the developments both artistically and politically surrounding the Communist teacher and writer Alan Sebbrill. Picture above the Battle of Cable street, antifascist activity is described in wonderful detail in the first section of the triad, 'In the Thirties'.
<br />
<br /><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJOHN%7E1.COR%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;" rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJOHN%7E1.COR%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;" rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CJOHN%7E1.COR%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-IE</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont val="Cambria Math"> <m:brkbin val="before"> <m:brkbinsub val="--"> <m:smallfrac val="off"> <m:dispdef/> <m:lmargin val="0"> <m:rmargin val="0"> <m:defjc val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent val="1440"> <m:intlim val="subSup"> <m:narylim val="undOvr"> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" defunhidewhenused="true" defsemihidden="true" defqformat="false" defpriority="99" latentstylecount="267"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="0" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Normal"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="heading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="9" qformat="true" name="heading 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 7"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 8"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" name="toc 9"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="35" qformat="true" name="caption"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="10" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" name="Default Paragraph Font"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="11" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtitle"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="22" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Strong"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="20" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="59" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Table Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Placeholder Text"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="1" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="No Spacing"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Revision"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="34" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="List Paragraph"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="29" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="30" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Quote"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="60" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="61" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="62" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Light Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="63" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="64" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="65" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="66" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="67" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="68" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="69" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">You can access the Spiral Ascent and download in its entirety electronically<a href="http://www.edwardupward.info/spiral.html"> <span style="font-size:130%;">here </span></a></span> </p>
<br />Edward Upward was a writer of novels and short stories from the 1920s until into the present century. His literary associates included Christopher Isherwood, W. H. Auden and Stephen Spender. Upward's early and late stories often involve a fantastical element, whilst his trilogy of novels <span style="font-style: italic;">The Spiral Ascent</span> recalls the events and atmosphere of his overlapping literary, political and educational worlds. The question of how art should relate to real life and, more specifically, how a socialist can combine artistic creativity with political commitment, is central to his mature work.
<br />
<br />Although The Spiral Ascent is not strictly autobiographical, most of the characters and incidents in it are very similar to real-life counterparts, with Alan and Elsie being based on Upward and his wife Hilda, and Richard on Isherwood. One of the obvious divergences from reality is that Alan is a poet in the book rather than a writer of prose.
<br />
<br />In the Thirties recounts Alan Sebrill's attempts to write and find love, his personal crisis, and then his involvement in the Communist Party, his job as a teacher and his marriage to Elsie. The opening chapter by the seaside sees the young writers Alan and Richard glorying in language and nature but also deliberately making contact with 'the so-called lower classes'. This may seem strange until the reader realises that they have had the same isolated, privileged upbringing as the 'poshocrats' they despise. Later in the book we find Alan sometimes fighting to suppress some lingering snobbish attitudes, but he doesn't waver in his commitment to the side of the workers.
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Jw3EIa1sX1XpaRlFvONnslNVlJ43W0k62G-KRU5Iqy5jb_e52zUwQCiqQMqwDNPBC0DSz9x7QLGW0Ya9GpaulPc1uD0jDG03P0D_W3xusZycm1u-r4LDoZEZ-imOzbAmP2w6I5qE09k8/s1600/Upward+in+1930%27s.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Jw3EIa1sX1XpaRlFvONnslNVlJ43W0k62G-KRU5Iqy5jb_e52zUwQCiqQMqwDNPBC0DSz9x7QLGW0Ya9GpaulPc1uD0jDG03P0D_W3xusZycm1u-r4LDoZEZ-imOzbAmP2w6I5qE09k8/s320/Upward+in+1930%27s.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452595454636195362" border="0" /></a>
<br />Later chapters give a vivid picture of the activities of CP members, including opposition to Oswald Mosley's blackshirts and routine leafleting. Upward is not afraid to put the opinions of the time into Alan's mouth without the benefit of hindsight, including those showing his ignorance of the extent of Stalin's crimes. He thus provides a truthful account of the events, atmosphere and his own feelings of the 1930s. This is one of the most notable achievements of the trilogy, and one which is partly a result of Upward retaining his revolutionary politics. Many writers about the period who were on the left in the thirties moved to the right during the Cold War and easily fell into cynicism or opposition to their earlier ideas, whereas Upward is still able to recognize the genuine motivations and positive results of the actions of ordinary CP members despite the effects of Stalinism on the Party. The final chapter closes shortly before the war begins, with comrades on a walk in the country, and includes what is effectively a prose ode to trees, reflecting Upward's own love of the natural world as well as his observational and descriptive powers.
<br />
<br />Whereas In the Thirties has Alan and Elsie going along with the Party's condemnation of a dissident member, the subject of The Rotten Elements is their own disagreement with the Party's post-war policy in Britain, which they believe is a reformist betrayal of Leninism. This involves them in a theoretical confrontation with the Party leadership in which their reasoned arguments are arrogantly dismissed. The novel soon begins to take on some of the colouring of a political thriller. There is good cause for paranoia given both the hostility of the Party leadership and state surveillance, although Elsie has a more level-headed reaction to events than Alan, who has a tendency to emphasize the ominous.
<br />
<br />Upward's intermittent discussion of religion in the trilogy features strongly in The Rotten Elements, where Alan and Elsie are shown having conversations with their children about Christianity and a Communist ex-minister plays a prominent part. Whilst Alan sometimes compares his attitudes to those of a religious person, he has long been an atheist and does not impute any religious aspect to Marxism itself.
<br />
<br />In the final volume of the trilogy, No Home But the Struggle, Alan (like Upward as he was writing) has retired from teaching and is able to write full-time. The narration is now in the first person and the book is full of reminiscences of Alan's childhood and university days, told in a relaxed, Proustian manner. These are interspersed with accounts of Alan and Elsie's political activities in the post-war decades, particularly as members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. But the dominant thread, as throughout The Spiral Ascent, is Alan's ongoing struggle to write poetry which will be both artistically truthful and contribute to the fight for a better world.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-77912747468077677822010-03-09T06:21:00.000-08:002010-03-09T08:15:20.679-08:00Snow, Ice, Listowel, Crashed Almeras, A Bought 1.9 Skoda Fabia, a Conversion to Hats...ALL Conspire to Delay Unrepentant Communist Postings....Apologies to all the regular readers of Unrepentant Communist for an absence of posts since my wildly optimistic January posting, ah that wonderful space rocket and that progressive wish list...We embarked upon the hardest winter that we have seen in Ireland for at least 40 years and this had a huge impact upon me. I thoroughly enjoyed the sharpness of the air and the extremity of the weather. Something about those sub zero temperatures were much more ascetic than that kind of drab rainy nothingness we have been experiencing in rece<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69AWa7k90F0Uc5iqDAOOfwuXdd4VX0pplobvzLrSqYXLhQeanHgH_qM7z3Zl4JCRQgaUfJJekwkH48CqeXm0QLjG9USDr1TunwdGwBFZLzOtK1FqtEtc8fVbXDuS4vs_rXl-nlPGM5OSx/s1600-h/mehatsnow.aspx"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69AWa7k90F0Uc5iqDAOOfwuXdd4VX0pplobvzLrSqYXLhQeanHgH_qM7z3Zl4JCRQgaUfJJekwkH48CqeXm0QLjG9USDr1TunwdGwBFZLzOtK1FqtEtc8fVbXDuS4vs_rXl-nlPGM5OSx/s320/mehatsnow.aspx" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446657977191597266" border="0" /></a>nt years. We are all encouraged to put this down to <span style="font-style: italic;">'global warming'</span> but this wonderful hard old fashioned winter has hardened my scepticism about this whole global warming concept. In fact my scepticism about many 'Green' issues have been growing in direct proportion to the length of time that the utterly laughable Irish Green Party, led by the hapless careerist John Gormley, continues to prop up this horrendously incompetent Fianna Fail government. Basically Ireland is governed by a kleptocratic majority party acting in the interests of the very w<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu366ySXRGLyVTO7GV-4g7FHTY9ZU55nbhkp_V_c5G5cIh81EPhZSnkLU8vQuTFi-BkGJH7e1a0hxd4A4EtyQ04FsmFVjdahFwDYPrG7eVNdqqD_t63Fyh_q8R7RE9NTGymqRQMMACX_zo/s1600-h/listowelsnow1.aspx"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu366ySXRGLyVTO7GV-4g7FHTY9ZU55nbhkp_V_c5G5cIh81EPhZSnkLU8vQuTFi-BkGJH7e1a0hxd4A4EtyQ04FsmFVjdahFwDYPrG7eVNdqqD_t63Fyh_q8R7RE9NTGymqRQMMACX_zo/s320/listowelsnow1.aspx" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446656943645416290" border="0" /></a>ell feather bedded Irish rich, that bunch of Fianna Fáil gangsters, have been loyally supported through thin and thinner by a crowd of carrot crunchers, the 'Green Party', who have sold out any principles they once held for the taste of power and the tasty prospect of the lavish ministerial pensions dished out to all ex-ministers here, Martin Cullen the recently resigned Minister and TD for Waterford, will receive a €140,000 payoff and an annual ministerial pension of €110,000 per annum for life, thats going to buy him an awful lot of Ralgex for the old back pain.<br />Despite my liking of the winter weather I paid the price for the love affair, writing off the trusty Nissan Almera in a spectacular ice derived overturning in West Limerick. I was rescued by some local neighbours who were the epitome of good grace and hospitality. Martin, the man whose land I crashed onto, not only provided me with tea, but also pulled the car out of the field and kindly transported me back <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4Ao8GCLfeeQajcvcsxXXP5s1NRfZsQ0bn5nd1oPw8adCPwM6plje0cbgwsA9zFthDWBBAT6W09eRF-5DyOpES7kMPsk846gBHFui_tQF9soCxsbq7RDFCQ1kxh5ir_8o3Qeyl9EI0BHT/s1600-h/fealesnow2010.aspx"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4Ao8GCLfeeQajcvcsxXXP5s1NRfZsQ0bn5nd1oPw8adCPwM6plje0cbgwsA9zFthDWBBAT6W09eRF-5DyOpES7kMPsk846gBHFui_tQF9soCxsbq7RDFCQ1kxh5ir_8o3Qeyl9EI0BHT/s320/fealesnow2010.aspx" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446658191750194738" border="0" /></a>to my home about 17 miles away. Events like this confim in me my belief that fundamentally people are hard wired to be helpful and kind to each other, and that it is only the capitalist system that sustains and nurtures that selfish side we all possess.<br />The outcome of Nissan destruction day was<br />a) the purchase of a Skoda Fabia,which delightfully still retains something of the old Lada about it I think...ha ha... Whether that is true or not I must say that the 1.9 Skoda Fabia diesel is a better car than the Nissan 1.4 Almera, it is saving me A FORTUNE in running costs, I would estimate, a pproximately 35% cheaper per month.<br />b) a delayed reaction in terms of the fact, that although not physically damaged, I think that the whole incident shook me up FAR more than I first thought. Everything became a struggle and I think that I was suffering from a bit of shock. This culminated in a day or two of gloomy and negative thoughts a full week and a half after the accident.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97Lj5DOeGpBD1IYSzaXUOtRvTqaii32GlmbiOHOedsQCwjr8qtoxNBPiFIJS_xjPxPXb-LKarnoae71pBoSFHFhtSzB3vvcv7DPZskcEha_OvIlNsJvdRpVkBj2XQqvLsWgO-IGFn00Ce/s1600-h/nissankaput.aspx"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97Lj5DOeGpBD1IYSzaXUOtRvTqaii32GlmbiOHOedsQCwjr8qtoxNBPiFIJS_xjPxPXb-LKarnoae71pBoSFHFhtSzB3vvcv7DPZskcEha_OvIlNsJvdRpVkBj2XQqvLsWgO-IGFn00Ce/s320/nissankaput.aspx" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446656179625454162" border="0" /></a><br />c) A kind of scaling down of activities of all sorts and a period of just kind of hibernating, this involved sadly, a failure to post on the old 'Unrepentant Communist' blog. My belief systems were not altered in the slightest, just I could not summon up the energies to be posting as normal. I hummed the Soviet national anthem a few times in a desultory way and even tried to force motivation by a rousing chorus of Eisler and Brechts Einheitsfrontlied but the energy would not come...<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R4ExkGrnUzo&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R4ExkGrnUzo&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br />d) last but not least I have discovered that if it is cold, minus 4 and 5 on a regular basis, then ones head gets cold, for this there is an old fashioned and rather pleasingly sartorially distinctive remedy, namely, the wearing of a hat. I find that wearing a hat is now as natural to me as putting on a coat. It is distinctive and above all it keeps your head warm. A furthe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHjKKgpa474ytO2-hwhKasqwCZSGnpTamvTzW6Rv2vW9i4MyVvLnoqF6d-IoVAM8Zz6GD_kCtZGmI6I4TwGO9b-4D9jlYOm21GsqFyxiwXjL-dNKjtmbl2MRdZWbOeGubnXn3ML7DYDf5/s1600-h/listowelsnow2.aspx"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHjKKgpa474ytO2-hwhKasqwCZSGnpTamvTzW6Rv2vW9i4MyVvLnoqF6d-IoVAM8Zz6GD_kCtZGmI6I4TwGO9b-4D9jlYOm21GsqFyxiwXjL-dNKjtmbl2MRdZWbOeGubnXn3ML7DYDf5/s320/listowelsnow2.aspx" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446656444922918706" border="0" /></a>r aspect of it, is that once you have grown used to wearing a hat, it is difficult to go out without one, without feeling somewhat exposed and naked...<br /><br />I suppose the very fact that this post has appeared is self evidence of the fact that I am at last returning to my old form...I hope that we will share many more posts together in 2010, now that we are almost entering something akin to Spring, even though it is still regularly registering minus 4 every night by 8pm in South West Ireland....As for Global Warming???...My John Gormley!Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-91515319759850273112010-01-01T11:53:00.000-08:002010-01-01T12:12:21.542-08:00A PROGESSIVE 2010...TO ALL OUR READERS.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYT2zw3qOkbTLkPANue0e4qbVUl9-JzcA6ojXILhBnlaUnKEnE3oh0u4MxfPymuLRCTHa66wYcf3Y7X1pcBvAW3gCiLcK95i2Z82cAn1ixEKZ9wWplf4rXi2sSGZ0udqaxRtAgTAlYH7a/s1600-h/sovietxmas2010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYT2zw3qOkbTLkPANue0e4qbVUl9-JzcA6ojXILhBnlaUnKEnE3oh0u4MxfPymuLRCTHa66wYcf3Y7X1pcBvAW3gCiLcK95i2Z82cAn1ixEKZ9wWplf4rXi2sSGZ0udqaxRtAgTAlYH7a/s320/sovietxmas2010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421866325163080514" /></a><br />Here at Unrepentant Communist we are extending to you our warmest New Year greetings, and we continue to hope for a Progressive 2010.... What could that mean...<br /><br />1) The USA will resist the growing internal neo-con lobby within the military industrial complex for a conflict with Iran or Venezuela<br /><br />2) The forces of progress will continue to hold firm and hopefully advance in Latin America<br /><br />3) The onslaught against public and private sector wages here in the Republic of Ireland will be resisted by a united trade union and labour movement.<br /><br />4) In the UK the coming onslaught against the Public sector will be stymied by a united resistance from the labour movement.<br /><br />5) Some progress will be made to resolve the continued scandal of the occupation of the lands of the Palestinian people by the Zionist state.<br /><br />6) Russia will maintain its autonomous foreign policy and hopefully progressive forces will advance in the former USSR in the wake of the deepening economic crisis.<br /><br />7) In the wake of a deepening capitalist crisis, the alternative as proposed by socialists throughout the world will be increasingly heard as being relevant by new generations. The burgeoning anti-democratic power of the EU in our everyday lives will be tempered by resistance led by progressives such as Irish MEP Joe Higgins and others of a similar perceptive viewpoint.<br /><br />8) Cuba will retain its socialist identity and resist pressure for 'reform' which is an ill disguised code for the dismantling of the socialist state. Many greedy eyes in the USA are eying Cuba with undisguised relish. The reversal of socialist power in Cuba would be a major set back<br /><br />9) The USA and the UK and the other 'allied powers' will withdraw from Afghanistan and save the shedding of any more wasted young lives in a futile attempt to prop up the the thoroughly corrupt Karzai regime.<br /><br />10) China will recognize that its 'great experiment' with capitalism has been an unmitigated disaster for its people, its environment, and the hopes of the people of the world for social and economic progress in China.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com117tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-55258624351813026972009-12-12T11:50:00.000-08:002009-12-12T12:12:59.359-08:00Me? A Leftist Authoritarian- Like it says on the tin.- My response to the endless celebrations of 20 years since the Iron curtain came down etc etc...Some days you are just sitting there in the throes of a nasty flu, having just been informed that the ruling class in this country are cutting public sector wages again, that they are cutting payments to the blind, single mothers and the unemployed.<div>
<br /></div><div>That the bankers and the various scumbags who run capitalism here and elsewhere are getting away with blue murder once again...all over the world...</div><div>
<br /></div><div>And you know what you just don't feel like being democratic or 'right on' anymore. You just think of what really used to scare the capitalists of the world, what really used to get under their skin and make them wet their right wing pants.</div><div>
<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ZS2GthG1hQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9ZS2GthG1hQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div>
<br />Then you see a video like this and suddenly that flu doesnt seem so bad after all, you are empowered and you know what? I am going to be brutally honest here, <span style="font-weight:bold;">I don't care if you don't like it</span> and find it 'disturbing' or 'authoritarian' ....
<br />This <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">was the real deal</span> guys, this was what the capitalists and imperialists were shit scared of ....and I would'nt have the slightest problem at all about this particular boot being donned by the oppressed and workers of the world, who have been getting it in the ass since the demise of the USSR.</div><diI would'nt mind that boot being donned again and being used to march the whole scum-bag welter that is capitalism and imperialism into the ground.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>That is my considered reaction to the endless round the clock 'celebrations' of the end of socialism which are being pumped out on the media all over the capitalist world day and night.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>No wonder they are celebrating, it was the biggest let-off that the collective kleptocracy of global capitalism ever got, when they fooled the people of the socialist world into entering the hall of mirrors of capitalism.....Somehow, however, I feel certain that capitalism's reprieve is only in the long run scheme of things only temporary.</div>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-44358921536405270592009-11-24T09:30:00.000-08:002009-11-24T09:56:53.688-08:00THE RESTORATION OF CAPITALISM IS " NEITHER DEFINITE NOR IRREVERSIBLE...."<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYQ4JVhsJHbf3R3tJLtSVaz9uccchyphenhyphenrVLWwBKOWiZfk01YwMTbYQ3w0uFTmLpkOLfrrAQfRt2g8FRydjBvp-YhIMVbX3yHd2-wz1zgr2ScFO4j8kUp6-kB3L2AzIKpahfieeVBsrtlpWu/s1600/getImage.do.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYQ4JVhsJHbf3R3tJLtSVaz9uccchyphenhyphenrVLWwBKOWiZfk01YwMTbYQ3w0uFTmLpkOLfrrAQfRt2g8FRydjBvp-YhIMVbX3yHd2-wz1zgr2ScFO4j8kUp6-kB3L2AzIKpahfieeVBsrtlpWu/s320/getImage.do.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407726696801303746" /></a><br />A powerful statement issued by the impressive Aleka Papariga, General Secretary of the CC of KKE ( Communist Party of Greece)<br /><br />On November 9, 2009, in the rifle range of Kesariani, KKE honoured the communists and other militants who gave their life for the cause of Socialism, as a response to the anticommunist events that take place in Berlin.<br /><br />With a simple event, filled with messages and symbolisms, KKE honoured in the rifle range of Kesariani the 200 communists and other militants who withstood the forces of fascism, recognizing in their example the heroism of all those who were not frightened, did not retreat, did not relent in view of the difficulties and the setbacks of the confrontation with imperialism.<br /><br />The time and place of the event has its own symbolism and has been chosen as people’s response to the anticommunist events of lies and calumniation that take place these days on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the overthrow of the socialism in the German Democratic Republic.<br /><br />The course of history cannot be stopped<br /><br />Shortly afterwards, the General Secretary in her statement regarding the anticommunist events in Berlin noted:<br /><br />“<span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">We felt the need to be here today, in this sacred place for our people, where Greeks turned in to the Germans, unrepentant communists loyal to the struggle for the liberation of their homeland, knowing that they would be executed, or that they would be sent to the known camps in Germany. They preferred the unrepentant and fighting communists to be dead than alive struggling for freedom.<br /><br />We felt the need to be here because today in Berlin the elite of the imperialists and their second class executives and allies, among whom the Greek prime minister, have met for the celebration of the Fall of the Wall.<br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheoHfKKyaXsDOQS3DA958a_6d2aj6JhHGFw0156JL6R1R07ry6fJIk2w2vt7D6vnCELKM8P2MlBy8epnRvioeZ-VTFBCBrAvjgSM3MTkvrXWbd4MHRvmGlwZ4VL4lG3OQpCobRx-kamxLY/s320/papariga.JPG" /><br />In reality they are celebrating the capitalist restoration, the overthrow of socialism, because they believe that this overthrow is final and irreversible. However they understand that the course of history cannot be stopped and that sooner or later the timeliness of socialism will become reality. We do not forget the great contribution of socialism nor its achievements that benefited the humanity as a whole. No one can erase the fact that the overthrow of socialism made imperialism even more aggressive against peoples.</span></span><div><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Freedom has class content<br /><br />They celebrate and we understand why. They celebrate because freedom and democracy for them are consolidated in an exploitative class society; freedom and democracy for them means to violate people’s rights, plunder the working class, divide peoples, fragment and forcibly annex states. Freedom and democracy for them, are synonymous with the war of the capital, with the war of arms. All those who gathered in Berlin have forgotten their responsibilities and obligations regarding the wall raised by the Israelis in Palestine.<br /><br />However, I would like to remind some facts in order to make it clear for the people and particularly the youth: Both West and East Berlin were in the centre of the German Democratic Republic. The erection of the Wall was imposed by imperialism when the NATO troops threatened to invade Berlin, especially the East part, in the territory of the German Democratic Republic. So I’m asking you: don’t the people, the workers’ power or any government have the right to respect their borders and erect a wall in their territories? For example, if there were 3 or 4 municipalities in Athens that belonged to the occupation army would people be free to come and go? At that time West Germany, with NATO and the Americans, was like an occupation army. On one hand it was responsible for the division of Germany and on the other it tried to forcibly annex it.<br /><br />We will never abandon the struggle for Socialism<br /><br />Once more we underline that we are on the side of socialism. We defend socialism we have known due to its great contribution to the people who experienced it and for the humanity as a whole and we have the courage and boldness to deepen and highlight the causes that led to the restoration of capitalism. That’s what we are fighting with all our strength and we won’t give up struggling for socialism. Socialism in Greece will include the contribution of socialism we have known and the lessons learned from the negative experience.<br /><br />If those who gather today in Berlin think that the peoples will reconcile with the imperialist reality they are mistaken. Sooner or later people will rise even higher than in the 20th century.”<br /></span><br /></span></div>Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-74110968291288763762009-10-31T17:14:00.000-07:002009-10-31T17:24:45.340-07:00Majority of Eastern Germans Believe that 'Life was better" in the German Democratic Republic.By Julia Bonstein<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcR9-iht93em9Rf_LMoFcEnVioeEOoeHUcnfg2SJIj9ANgAvU2qz6nEJ_pkLHasVuuXbiVZj3WJFhsccLvJVVWGKmf5rjj5VeW5L_2cWwNfEth-mU1xHM3oBLIkZAUVjz_6XqxhHN6yT1f/s1600-h/ddrfoto.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcR9-iht93em9Rf_LMoFcEnVioeEOoeHUcnfg2SJIj9ANgAvU2qz6nEJ_pkLHasVuuXbiVZj3WJFhsccLvJVVWGKmf5rjj5VeW5L_2cWwNfEth-mU1xHM3oBLIkZAUVjz_6XqxhHN6yT1f/s320/ddrfoto.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398924187510788082" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">This article from Der Spiegel, no friend of socialism, existing , past , or future, makes fascinating reading and as someone who had some familiarity with some of the many positive aspects of life in the DDR, as well as the undoubted problems, I can only add that the sentiments being expressed come as little or no surprise to me personally ....</span><br /><br /><br />Glorification of the German Democratic Republic is on the rise two decades after the Berlin Wall fell. Young people and the better off are among those rebuffing criticism of East Germany as an "illegitimate state." In a new poll, more than half of former eastern Germans defend the GDR.<br />The life of Birger, a native of the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania in northeastern Germany, could read as an all-German success story. The Berlin Wall came down when he was 10. After graduating from high school, he studied economics and business administration in Hamburg, lived in India and South Africa, and eventually got a job with a company in the western German city of Duisburg. Today Birger, 30, is planning a sailing trip in the Mediterranean. He isn't using his real name for this story, because he doesn't want it to be associated with the former East Germany, which he sees as "a label with negative connotations."<br />And yet Birger is sitting in a Hamburg cafe, defending the former communist country. "Most East German citizens had a nice life," he says. "I certainly don't think that it's better here." By "here," he means reunified Germany, which he subjects to questionable comparisons. "In the past there was the Stasi, and today (German Interior Minister Wolfgang) Schäuble -- or the GEZ (the fee collection center of Germany's public broadcasting institutions) -- are collecting information about us." In Birger's opinion, there is no fundamental difference between dictatorship and freedom. "The people who live on the poverty line today also lack the freedom to travel."<br />Birger is by no means an uneducated young man. He is aware of the spying and repression that went on in the former East Germany, and, as he says, it was "not a good thing that people couldn't leave the country and many were oppressed." He is no fan of what he characterizes as contemptible nostalgia for the former East Germany. "I haven't erected a shrine to Spreewald pickles in my house," he says, referring to a snack that was part of a the East German identity. Nevertheless, he is quick to argue with those who would criticize the place his parents called home: "You can't say that the GDR was an illegitimate state, and that everything is fine today."<br />As an apologist for the former East German dictatorship, the young Mecklenburg native shares a majority view of people from eastern Germany. Today, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, 57 percent, or an absolute majority, of eastern Germans defend the former East Germany. "The GDR had more good sides than bad sides. There were some problems, but life was good there," say 49 percent of those polled. Eight percent of eastern Germans flatly oppose all criticism of their former home and agree with the statement: "The GDR had, for the most part, good sides. Life there was happier and better than in reunified Germany today."<br />These poll results, released last Friday in Berlin, reveal that glorification of the former East Germany has reached the center of society. Today, it is no longer merely the eternally nostalgic who mourn the loss of the GDR. "A new form of Ostalgie (nostalgia for the former GDR) has taken shape," says historian Stefan Wolle. "The yearning for the ideal world of the dictatorship goes well beyond former government officials." Even young people who had almost no experiences with the GDR are idealizing it today. "The value of their own history is at stake," says Wolle.<br />People are whitewashing the dictatorship, as if reproaching the state meant calling their own past into question. "Many eastern Germans perceive all criticism of the system as a personal attack," says political scientist Klaus Schroeder, 59, director of an institute at Berlin's Free University that studies the former communist state. He warns against efforts to downplay the SED dictatorship by young people whose knowledge about the GDR is derived mainly from family conversations, and not as much from what they have learned in school. "Not even half of young people in eastern Germany describe the GDR as a dictatorship, and a majority believe the Stasi was a normal intelligence service," Schroeder concluded in a 2008 study of school students. "These young people cannot, and in fact have no desire to, recognize the dark sides of the GDR."<br />"Driven Out of Paradise"<br />Schroeder has made enemies with statements like these. He received more than 4,000 letters, some of them furious, in reaction to reporting on his study. The 30-year-old Birger also sent an e-mail to Schroeder. The political scientist has now compiled a selection of typical letters to document the climate of opinion in which the GDR and unified Germany are discussed in eastern Germany. Some of the material gives a shocking insight into the thoughts of disappointed and angry citizens. "From today's perspective, I believe that we were driven out of paradise when the Wall came down," one person writes, and a 38-year-old man "thanks God" that he was able to experience living in the GDR, noting that it wasn't until after German reunification that he witnessed people who feared for their existence, beggars and homeless people.<br />Today's Germany is described as a "slave state" and a "dictatorship of capital," and some letter writers reject Germany for being, in their opinion, too capitalist or dictatorial, and certainly not democratic. Schroeder finds such statements alarming. "I am afraid that a majority of eastern Germans do not identify with the current sociopolitical system."<br />Many of the letter writers are either people who did not benefit from German reunification or those who prefer to live in the past. But they also include people like Thorsten Schön.<br />After 1989 Schön, a master craftsman from Stralsund, a city on the Baltic Sea, initially racked up one success after the next. Although he no longer owns the Porsche he bought after reunification, the lion skin rug he bought on a vacation trip to South Africa -- one of many overseas trips he has made in the past 20 years -- is still lying on his living room floor. "There's no doubt it: I've been fortunate," says the 51-year-old today. A major contract he scored during the period following reunification made it easier for Schön to start his own business. Today he has a clear view of the Strelasund sound from the window of his terraced house.<br />'People Lie and Cheat Everywhere Today'<br />Wall decorations from Bali decorate his living room, and a miniature version of the Statue of Liberty stands next to the DVD player. All the same, Schön sits on his sofa and rhapsodizes about the good old days in East Germany. "In the past, a campground was a place where people enjoyed their freedom together," he says. What he misses most today is "that feeling of companionship and solidarity." The economy of scarcity, complete with barter transactions, was "more like a hobby." Does he have a Stasi file? "I'm not interested in that," says Schön. "Besides, it would be too disappointing."<br />His verdict on the GDR is clear: "As far as I'm concerned, what we had in those days was less of a dictatorship than what we have today." He wants to see equal wages and equal pensions for residents of the former East Germany. And when Schön starts to complain about unified Germany, his voice contains an element of self-satisfaction. People lie and cheat everywhere today, he says, and today's injustices are simply perpetrated in a more cunning way than in the GDR, where starvation wages and slashed car tires were unheard of. Schön cannot offer any accounts of his own bad experiences in present-day Germany. "I'm better off today than I was before," he says, "but I am not more satisfied."<br />Schön's reasoning is less about cool logic than it is about settling scores. What makes him particularly dissatisfied is "the false picture of the East that the West is painting today." The GDR, he says, was "not an unjust state," but "my home, where my achievements were recognized." Schön doggedly repeats the story of how it took him years of hard work before starting his own business in 1989 -- before reunification, he is quick to add. "Those who worked hard were also able to do well for themselves in the GDR." This, he says, is one of the truths that are persistently denied on talk shows, when western Germans act "as if eastern Germans were all a little stupid and should still be falling to their knees today in gratitude for reunification." What exactly is there to celebrate, Schön asks himself?<br />"Rose-tinted memories are stronger than the statistics about people trying to escape and applications for exit visas, and even stronger than the files about killings at the Wall and unjust political sentences," says historian Wolle.<br />These are memories of people whose families were not persecuted and victimized in East Germany, of people like 30-year-old Birger, who says today: "If reunification hadn't happened, I would also have had a good life."<br />Life as a GDR Citizen<br />After completing his university degree, he says, he would undoubtedly have accepted a "management position in some business enterprise," perhaps not unlike his father, who was the chairman of a farmers' collective. "The GDR played no role in the life of a GDR citizen," Birger concludes. This view is shared by his friends, all of them college-educated children of the former East Germany who were born in 1978. "Reunification or not," the group of friends recently concluded, it really makes no difference to them. Without reunification, their travel destinations simply would have been Moscow and Prague, instead of London and Brussels. And the friend who is a government official in Mecklenburg today would probably have been a loyal party official in the GDR.<br />The young man expresses his views levelheadedly and with few words, although he looks slightly defiant at times, like when he says: "I know, what I'm telling you isn't all that interesting. The stories of victims are easier to tell."<br />Birger doesn't usually mention his origins. In Duisburg, where he works, hardly anyone knows that he is originally from East Germany. But on this afternoon, Birger is adamant about contradicting the "victors' writing of history." "In the public's perception, there are only victims and perpetrators. But the masses fall by the wayside."<br />This is someone who feels personally affected when Stasi terror and repression are mentioned. He is an academic who knows "that one cannot sanction the killings at the Berlin Wall." However, when it comes to the border guards' orders to shoot would-be escapees, he says: "If there is a big sign there, you shouldn't go there. It was completely negligent."<br />This brings up an old question once again: Did a real life exist in the midst of a sham? Downplaying the dictatorship is seen as the price people pay to preserve their self-respect. "People are defending their own lives," writes political scientist Schroeder, describing the tragedy of a divided country.<br />Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-11209427130146700982009-09-29T06:14:00.000-07:002009-09-29T06:29:31.830-07:00THIS REWRITING OF HISTORY IS SPREADING EUROPE'S POISON by Seamus Milne<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhOpDtRoVM2RS5ho3D4AWt3Mjt1CbBPLl-76-Rw9KWpsdxFZ1D_l1wGZARfUbkTJSSZvQaX89SPyFPsGaCfwZETduQwD1GKcwp8AwUvNowJ6Cr3g1JAhO43aSZeiLffaK1AbEWIFB4XB8/s1600-h/glory_to_the_red_army.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhOpDtRoVM2RS5ho3D4AWt3Mjt1CbBPLl-76-Rw9KWpsdxFZ1D_l1wGZARfUbkTJSSZvQaX89SPyFPsGaCfwZETduQwD1GKcwp8AwUvNowJ6Cr3g1JAhO43aSZeiLffaK1AbEWIFB4XB8/s320/glory_to_the_red_army.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386880970412821362" /></a><br />Blaming the USSR for the second world war is not only absurd – it boosts the heirs of the Nazis' wartime collaborators<br /><br />Through decades of British commemorations and coverage of the second world war – from Dunkirk to D-day – there has never been any doubt about who started it. However dishonestly the story of 1939 has been abused to justify new wars against quite different kinds of enemies, the responsibility for the greatest conflagration in human history has always been laid at the door of Hitler and his genocidal Nazi regime.<br /><br />That is until now. Fed by the revival of the nationalist right in eastern Europe and a creeping historical revisionism that tries to equate nazism and communism, some western historians and commentators have seized on the 70th anniversary of Hitler's invasion of Poland this month to claim the Soviet Union was equally to blame for the outbreak of war. Stalin was "Hitler's accomplice", the Economist insisted, after Russian and Polish politicians traded accusations over the events of the late 1930s.<br /><br />In his introduction to this week's Guardian history of the war, the neoconservative historian Niall Ferguson declared that Stalin was "as much an aggressor as Hitler". Last month, the ostensibly more liberal Orlando Figes went further, insisting the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact was "the licence for the Holocaust".<br /><br />Given that the Soviet Union played the decisive military role in Hitler's defeat at the cost of 25 million dead, it's scarcely surprising that Russians are outraged by such accusations. When the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev last week denounced attempts to draw parallels between the role of the Nazis and the Soviet Union as a "cynical lie", he wasn't just speaking for his government, but the whole country – and a good deal of the rest of the world besides.<br /><br />There's no doubt that the pact of August 1939 was a shocking act of realpolitik by the state that had led the campaign against fascism since before the Spanish civil war. You can argue about how Stalin used it to buy time, his delusions about delaying the Nazi onslaught, or whether the Soviet occupation of the mainly Ukrainian and Byelorussian parts of Poland was, as Churchill maintained at the time, "necessary for the safety of Russia against the Nazi menace".<br /><br />But to claim that without the pact there would have been no war is simply absurd – and, in the words of the historian Mark Mazower, "too tainted by present day political concerns to be taken seriously". Hitler had given the order to attack and occupy Poland much earlier. As fellow historian Geoff Roberts puts it, the pact was an "instrument of defence, not aggression".<br /><br />That was a good deal less true of the previous year's Munich agreement, in which British and French politicians dismembered Czechoslovakia at the Nazi dictator's pleasure. The one pact that could conceivably have prevented war, a collective security alliance with the Soviet Union, was in effect blocked by the appeaser Chamberlain and an authoritarian Polish government that refused to allow Soviet troops on Polish soil.<br /><br />Poland had signed its own non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany and seized Czech territory, which puts last week's description by the Polish president Lech Kaczynski of a Soviet "stab in the back" in perspective. The case against the Anglo-French appeasers and the Polish colonels' regime over the failure to prevent war is a good deal stronger than against the Soviet Union, which perhaps helps to explain the enthusiasm for the new revisionism in both parts of the continent.<br /><br />But across eastern Europe, the Baltic republics and the Ukraine, the drive to rewrite history is being used to relativise Nazi crimes and rehabilitate collaborators. At the official level, it has focused on a campaign to turn August 23 – the anniversary of the non-aggression pact – into a day of commemoration for the victims of communism and nazism.<br /><br />In July that was backed by the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe, following a similar vote in the European parliament and a declaration signed by Vaclav Havel and others branding "communism and nazism as a common legacy" of Europe that should be jointly commemorated because of "substantial similarities".<br /><br />That east Europeans should want to remember the deportations and killings of "class enemies" by the Soviet Union during and after the war is entirely understandable. So is their pressure on Russia to account, say, for the killing of Polish officers at Katyn – even if Soviet and Russian acknowledgment of Stalin's crimes already goes far beyond, for example, any such apologies by Britain or France for the crimes of colonialism.<br /><br />But the pretence that Soviet repression reached anything like the scale or depths of Nazi savagery – or that the postwar "enslavement" of eastern Europe can be equated with wartime Nazi genocide – is a mendacity that tips towards Holocaust denial. It is certainly not a mistake that could have been made by the Auschwitz survivors liberated by the Red Army in 1945.<br /><br />The real meaning of the attempt to equate Nazi genocide with Soviet repression is clearest in the Baltic republics, where collaboration with SS death squads and direct participation in the mass murder of Jews was at its most extreme, and politicians are at pains to turn perpetrators into victims. Veterans of the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS now parade through Riga, Vilnius's Museum of Genocide Victims barely mentions the 200,000 Lithuanian Jews murdered in the Holocaust and Estonian parliamentarians honour those who served the Third Reich as "fighters for independence".<br /><br />Most repulsively of all, while rehabilitating convicted Nazi war criminals, the state prosecutor in Lithuania – a member of the EU and Nato – last year opened a war crimes investigation into four Lithuanian Jewish resistance veterans who fought with Soviet partisans: a case only abandoned for lack of evidence. As Efraim Zuroff, veteran Nazi hunter and director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, puts it: "People need to wake up to what is going on. This attempt to create a false symmetry between communism and the Nazi genocide is aimed at covering up these countries' participation in mass murder."<br /><br />As the political heirs of the Nazis' collaborators in eastern Europe gain strength on the back of growing unemployment and poverty, and antisemitism and racist violence against Roma grow across the region, the current indulgence of historical falsehoods about the second world war can only spread this poison.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-75756120994027005702009-09-10T05:09:00.000-07:002009-09-10T05:42:03.570-07:00Double Dip Recession Very Likely<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbGOuvVYEjbrkd2pv_u63Dena-I3K_owwZDq1xdtcKd0CC517wcPfyeZN8keQ1AypLOzpcziqoXT1VfJbnyaI7VF4VL9aVSXSB_vCyw-5Qsn6t1raQnmFWMWlR_pqLLwimue-0S5-aJzg/s1600-h/roubini2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 141px; height: 103px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsbGOuvVYEjbrkd2pv_u63Dena-I3K_owwZDq1xdtcKd0CC517wcPfyeZN8keQ1AypLOzpcziqoXT1VfJbnyaI7VF4VL9aVSXSB_vCyw-5Qsn6t1raQnmFWMWlR_pqLLwimue-0S5-aJzg/s320/roubini2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379814651260597330" border="0" /></a>
<br />Much media blather about positive economic data from the USA and the prospects of 'green shoots' in the the EU, notably a recording of the fact that Germany and France had stopped shrinking in growth terms, ignores the fact that so much of the steam now apparently being picked up by the world economy is driven by entirely artificial 'monetary and fiscal easing'. This is in fact a posh way of describing the process of 'printing money'. The problem is, what will happen to this 'recovery' once it is no longer sustained by this artificial stimulus.. The stimuli will have to be curtailed, its just a matter of timing. Leave the money presses rolling for too long and you will certainly generate inflation, stop too early and the sickly weak recovery shoots will wither.
<br />Two notable economists, Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Nouriel Roubini of the New York University, have alerted us to this prospect...
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp3pItuxydSWfW7W7v9bYWb95cPvmIipkpCIl-E2RWF4FSRMZWLRsHEdTcf4SNjhXBgaLuOouYKagOwxImhdASb-VPK5iGK970M3Q5j_q9FEwf4pIZZOyf4ZxTppIHHB5GT0nurOiISf3/s1600-h/stiglitz.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFp3pItuxydSWfW7W7v9bYWb95cPvmIipkpCIl-E2RWF4FSRMZWLRsHEdTcf4SNjhXBgaLuOouYKagOwxImhdASb-VPK5iGK970M3Q5j_q9FEwf4pIZZOyf4ZxTppIHHB5GT0nurOiISf3/s320/stiglitz.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379814929149319266" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><object id="cnbcplayer" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="400" height="380">
<br /><param name="type" value="application/x-shockwave-flash">
<br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true">
<br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">
<br /><param name="quality" value="best">
<br /><param name="scale" value="noscale">
<br />"Employment is still falling sharply in the US and elsewhere – in advanced economies, unemployment will be above 10 per cent by 2010. This is bad news for demand and bank losses, but also for workers’ skills, a key factor behind long-term labour productivity growth.
<br />
<br />Second, this is a crisis of solvency, not just liquidity, but true deleveraging has not begun yet because the losses of financial institutions have been socialised and put on government balance sheets. This limits the ability of banks to lend, households to spend and companies to invest.
<br />
<br />Third, in countries running current account deficits, consumers need to cut spending and save much more, yet debt-burdened consumers face a wealth shock from falling home prices and stock markets and shrinking incomes and employment.
<br />
<br />Fourth, the financial system – despite the policy support – is still severely damaged. Most of the shadow banking system has disappeared, and traditional banks are saddled with trillions of dollars in expected losses on loans and securities while still being seriously undercapitalised.
<br />
<br />Fifth, weak profitability – owing to high debts and default risks, low growth and persistent deflationary pressures on corporate margins – will constrain companies’ willingness to produce, hire workers and invest.
<br />
<br />Sixth, the releveraging of the public sector through its build-up of large fiscal deficits risks crowding out a recovery in private sector spending. The effects of the policy stimulus, moreover, will fizzle out by early next year, requiring greater private demand to support continued growth.
<br />
<br />Seventh, the reduction of global imbalances implies that the current account deficits of profligate economies, such as the US, will narrow the surpluses of countries that over-save (China and other emerging markets, Germany and Japan). But if domestic demand does not grow fast enough in surplus countries, this will lead to a weaker recovery in global growth.
<br />
<br />There are also now two reasons why there is a rising risk of a double-dip W-shaped recession. For a start, there are risks associated with exit strategies from the massive monetary and fiscal easing: policymakers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. If they take large fiscal deficits seriously and raise taxes, cut spending and mop up excess liquidity soon, they would undermine recovery and tip the economy back into stag-deflation (recession and deflation).
<br />
<br />But if they maintain large budget deficits, bond market vigilantes will punish policymakers. Then, inflationary expectations will increase, long-term government bond yields would rise and borrowing rates will go up sharply, leading to stagflation.
<br />
<br />Another reason to fear a double-dip recession is that oil, energy and food prices are now rising faster than economic fundamentals warrant, and could be driven higher by excessive liquidity chasing assets and by speculative demand. Last year, oil at $145 a barrel was a tipping point for the global economy, as it created negative terms of trade and a disposable income shock for oil importing economies. The global economy could not withstand another contractionary shock if similar speculation drives oil rapidly towards $100 a barrel.</object></span> "
<br />
<br /><object id="cnbcplayer" height="380" width="400" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" >
<br /><param name="type" value="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>
<br /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/>
<br /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/>
<br /><param name="quality" value="best"/>
<br /><param name="scale" value="noscale" />
<br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/>
<br /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"/>
<br /><param name="salign" value="lt"/>
<br /><param name="movie" value="http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1212536422/code/cnbcplayershare"/>
<br /><embed name="cnbcplayer" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#000000" height="380" width="400" quality="best" wmode="transparent" scale="noscale" salign="lt" src="http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/1212536422/code/cnbcplayershare" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" />
<br /></object>
<br />
<br />In addition , Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, has warned that the global economy could suffer a double dip, a pronounced rebound giving way to another slide.
<br />
<br />'It is difficult to know whether or when there will be a W,' as such a course of events is often described, Stiglitz said.
<br />
<br />Stiglitz, a former World Bank chief economist and an advisor to US former president Bill Clinton, said household balance sheets had been 'destroyed', which has meant that savings have gone up from zero to 7-9%.
<br />Advertisement
<br />
<br />A rising savings rate cuts into consumer spending, which is responsible for roughly two thirds of US economic growth. An 'inventory adjustment' is under way, as companies build up their stocks, Stiglitz said.
<br />
<br />But 'because of the uncertainties, people are not hiring, unemployment is very high and foreclosures are likely to remain high,' he said.
<br />
<br />Stiglitz has been a sharp critic of policies advocated by the International Monetary Fund, contending that they aggravate crises and impose public hardship.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-65429831345350400842009-08-12T18:25:00.000-07:002009-08-12T18:52:43.923-07:00CAMINO de SANTIAGO de COMPOSTELLA- Back from a 500 mile trek across Northern Spain..If you are in any way a regular or semi-regular visitor to the Unrepentant Communist blog you may have noticed I have been rather low on postings in the past 6 weeks or so. This is because I have been engaged in a bit of recidivist catholic behaviour, that is indulging my ambition to complete the ancient and very challenging Camino pilgrimage. <br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9nJpes7GPvs&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9nJpes7GPvs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />I did it to mark my 50th birthday on the 14th of August, and it proved a suitably challenging and memorable way of marking my impending half century on this beautiful but sadly very mismanaged planet. I dont think there is anything I can say that will sum up the experience, save that I met some wonderful people whilst walking across Spain for 5 and a half weeks, and that I would recommend it to any one interested in an unforgettable and very moving personal experience. I dare say that 'Unrepentant' will resume its outpourings of nostalgic and whimsical as well as occasionally topical quasi-stalinist musings, but I suspect that the perspective I have derived from walking the Camino will stay with me for better or worse, probably I suspect, the better. Above I have posted some striking photos of the Camino to give people a flavour of this ancient and emotionally evocative journey.Gabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1610098701295003985.post-66068408596915034092009-06-15T15:50:00.000-07:002009-06-15T16:09:52.268-07:00'The Spirit Level' by Pickett and Wilkinson Represents a Vindication of What Marxists and Progressives Have Said for Years<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWXY7XwMBJ4Mw1KlQiYLp63Amr4BQ2a-5u4pJQnnTEGutendVjsE3W8o8BSsNWazxuPldmbeALAejyLxhvsKdwsdh04Y1CSbtokUq6IUA1gFxHQAOEj4R6iqhk_X-zFSZLZR4TKUaW5NH/s1600-h/the_spirit_level_large.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 286px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWXY7XwMBJ4Mw1KlQiYLp63Amr4BQ2a-5u4pJQnnTEGutendVjsE3W8o8BSsNWazxuPldmbeALAejyLxhvsKdwsdh04Y1CSbtokUq6IUA1gFxHQAOEj4R6iqhk_X-zFSZLZR4TKUaW5NH/s320/the_spirit_level_large.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347695420112175826" /></a>"The Spirit Level- Why more equal societies almost always do better" Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (Penguin, £20)- Reviewed by Mile Pentelow- Courtesy of the Morning Star<br /><br />IT RECENTLY took an ambulance crew so long to break through the home security system of a wealthy man suffering from a heart attack that he was dead before they could reach him.<br /><br />The report of this in my local paper confirmed a view that grotesque inequalities of wealth not only lead to homelessness and squalid overcrowding for the poor but also the rich have to practically lock themselves up in miserable, albeit luxurious, isolation.<br /><br />The life quality of both would therefore be improved if there was greater equality of income distribution - which is very much the theme of this book.<br /><br />The authors, who are both epidemiologists, produce a wealth of graphs based on official statistics to show that the more unequal countries are, the worse are their health and social problems.<br /><br />This is done by comparing the records of the richest 23 countries in the world on levels of trust, mental illness, life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity, children's educational performances, teenage births, homicides, imprisonment rates and social mobility.<br /><br />Britain, the US and Portugal are the most unequal countries with the worst health and social problems, while Japan and the Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden, are the most equal with the least problems.<br /><br />The authors compare the life expectancy and life quality of people from specific income groups in different countries. Even the well-off fare better in more equal societies than people paid the same as them in richer but more unequal countries.<br /><br />Records over time in the same countries are also compared. In Britain, for example, over the last 30 years of Conservative and so-called "new" Labour government, inequality has rocketed along with social problems.<br /><br />Plenty of examples are given of co-operation and sharing being successful and the overall historical trend of society towards equality.<br /><br />The authors dismiss state socialism as a failed experiment, even though recognising life expectancy has dramatically decreased and chronic stress increased in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe since changing from planned to market economies. <span style="font-style:italic;">{ Editorial Note- In a recent interview on Irish TV3 with Vincent Browne, Richard Wilkinson pointed out that health levels in Cuba are equal to that of the USA where there is vastly higher amount of resources dedicated to health expenditure per capita}</span><br /><br />"It doesn't take a revolution to put things right," said one author at a conference in an attempt to allay fears about introducing more equality - who was then surprised at how many people thought it would take just that because of the current concentration of power.<br /><br />The book proposes government support for companies to be 100 per cent owned and managed by employees, but recognises that, if these compete in the existing "amoral" market, anti-social production would continue.<br /><br />Overall, they conclude, there must be a sustained movement for a better society that is both achievable and inspiring to produce the political will for change.<br /><br />To arm such a campaign with facts, the authors publish all their latest research on the Equality TrustGabrielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11842473772696324319noreply@blogger.com86