When it comes to the public meeting, Arthur Scargill is one of the best performers around. He has it down to fine art. Perhaps this is down to his political up bringing as a member of the Young Communist League, where great stress was placed on the importance of making inspiring speeches. Or perhaps it has something to do with that fact that much maligned figure like Scargill needs the medium of the public meeting more than most to get across his points, and has thus has a particualr understanding of how to use public meetings to maximum effect.

Audio of Interview:

Download The Art of Scargill 7.09 Mb

During Noam Chomsky's recent visit to Ireland five members of the Workers Solidarity Movement met him over breakfast to talk over a range of issues from Palestine to the capitalist crisis to social partnership to Iran to Obama and the US Labour Movement. Notes on the discussion are below.

Audio of Discussion with Noam Chomsky:

Noam Chomsky & the WSM discuss politics over breakfast 23.98 Mb

The conversation is about 52 minutes long and as its recorded over breakfast there is a fair bit of cutlery noise included. The notes below are a very rough outline to the conversation noted down as I edited the audio file, its is not a transcript but a summary and there are substantial gaps in it as the conversation goes back and forth.

Marching Is Not Enough, Organise for a general strike

Related Links:
Workplaces March to November 6th Protest venues | Updated list of workplaces walking out and services affected on November 6th Day Of Action | ICTU GET UP STAND UP | ICTU: National Day of Action

M30: Make Indymedia The Source For Struggle

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ ‘Get Up Stand Up’ protest on Friday 6th November is of huge importance. The government have made it clear that they intend to make ordinary workers pay for the financial crisis. Friday can be the start of us finally standing up and saying that we are not going to accept this.

Huge efforts have been made by politicians and economic commentators in recent months to drive a wedge between private sector workers and public sector workers. Friday provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate that they have been unsuccessful and that workers will stand together and defend our common interests.

The Iranian government’s campaign to mold ‘model’ Islamic citizens has not only fashioned a profound crisis of loyalty to the religious ‘ideals of the revolution’, it has nurtured action that many have silently prayed for - as the public sphere, the last bastion of the religious elite's grip on power, was shot open by their own guns Sunday.

Related Links: Secret Police Open Fire At Opposition Demo In Tehran | Support the Mass Stuggles in Iran | Iran: Leader Remains Supreme | Hands off the People of Iran -www.hopoi.org

Legacy of martyred flowers committed me to life,
Legacy of martyred flowers,
Don’t you see?
--Forough Farokhzad, Only the Sound Will Last

Since the close of polling late Friday, and the hasty confirmation of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s second term in office, protests have broken out across Iran. Many Iranians, who consider the landslide victory for Ahmadinejad a symbol of their country’s deeply corrupt political system, have endeavoured to force the government to nullify the results and hold another election.

In what can only be considered a classic case of state-repression, police and Revolutionary Guards have soaked the streets in blood; shooting into crowds of peaceful protestors, arresting scores of demonstrators, and targeting constituencies known for their criticism of the government. Just yesterday, the Guardian conservatively reported that as many as twelve students from universities throughout the country lost their lives as they courageously and openly opposed state forces.

Hi folks!
In the most hysterical hatchet-job to date on the campaign against Shell's discredited and disastrous inland refinery experiment in north Mayo, Sunday World crime-fighter Paul Williams turns shock jock as he presents a "documentary" about the Corrib Gas project on TV3 at 9pm on Tuesday, 2nd June. To accompany what is set to be an entertaining farce, we bring you a one-off Telly Bingo game so you can track whether any facts, relevant information or editorial balance creeps into the show.

The Boxes You'll Be Looking to Have Ticked:

* Pipeline Safety
* Trevor Sargent
* The Giveaway of Irish Gas and Oil
* Michael D. HIggins
* Opinion Polls
* Joe Higgins
* Kevin Moore's Verdict
* Colm Rapple
* Shell's Lawbreaking
* Rossport 5
* Minister Eamonn Ryan
* Local Organisations
* Denis Halliday
* Parish Priests
* Goldman Prize
* Michael McCaughan
* Shell on Trial in New York
* Project-Splitting
* Experts
* The Paul Williams Factor