Friday, Jan 27th 2012
Paul Mason, the economics editor of BBC2’s “Newsnight” and author of “Meltdown: the End of the Age of Greed” has an excellent article in the May 19th edition of the New Statesman. Like the Simon Johnson and Peter Boone article in the New York Times Economix blog on Ireland yesterday, its one of those [...]
New Statesman - Philosophers united against cuts
Mike Sweeney on the axing of the Dept of Philosophy at Middlesex.
"This month, plans to axe the highly regarded philosophy department at Middlesex - one of the most successful in the university - prompted a twelve day student occupation of the university's Trent Park campus. Amongst those expressing [...]
Irish Miracle — or Mirage? | Economix Blog - NYTimes.com
Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and Peter Boone explore Ireland's economic problems in an uncompromising way.
"When we adjust Ireland’s figures accordingly, the situation is dire. The budget deficit was about 17.9 percent of G.N.P. in 2009, and based on European [...]
A baker’s dozen of little-known facts about those giants of light entertainment The Muppets.
1: The original names for Statler and Waldorf were Heckler and Cock
2: The word “Muppet” has a Victorian origin. It was coined to refer to “musical pets” such as singing canaries, piano-playing dogs, and catskull maracas.
3: The gobbledygook-spouting, weird-looking cook [...]
Book Review: Max Lane, Unfinished Nation: Indonesia before and after Suharto, Verso, 2008
There was a time when everyone seemed to be talking about Indonesia. Well, they were talking about it on Joe Duffy and Pat Kenny at least, and that’s as near as makes no difference in this country. As East Timor voted to extricate [...]
Danielle Sabai | Thailand: A point of No Return
In an article written on the 16th of May 2010, Danielle Sabai provides a comprehensive account of recent Thai political history, and a thorough and compelling analysis of the current trouble between the Abhisit government and the Red Shirt Movement, which are described as “a political movement [...]
Anti-Capitalist Protest in Dublin - May 18th 2010 | Workers Solidarity Movement
Chekov of WSM on events last night around the Anti-Capitalist bloc march - Stephen's Green to Kildare Street and the Right to Work meet up outside the Dail. Has plenty of pictures too.
The WSM and Semora Spraoi callout for the anti-capitalist bloc was [...]
Fringe Thoughts - Life after partnership
As it becomes clear not only that “partnership” is being abolished from above across what the Irish state sees as different “sectors” - unions, community organising, women’s groups, LGBTQ activism, disability rights, environmentalism, development / solidarity work etc. etc. but also that we are heading into an assault on social [...]
Monday night’s Frontline discussion was an object lesson in how to miss the point - a really big point in a really big way. In discussing spending cuts we were treated to all sorts of suggestions - from getting rid of Minister’s drivers to shaving departmental estimates; all with a view to saving a few [...]
The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again. By Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols — Nation Books
What would Thomas Jefferson do?
That might seem an odd question for 21st-century analysts and activists to be posing. But the answer to that question in regards to journalism — that [...]
