Shannon District Court today threw out charges against four anti-war protestors who were arrested following a peace demonstration at Shannon Airport last September.

Niall Harnett of Dublin and Liscannor, and Conor Cregan of Cronin Lawns, Shannon had charges of failing to obey airport police officers withdrawn by the state.

The two had gained access to a balcony in the main airport terminal to display anti-war banners on September 17 last.

Another two protesters, Margaret Liddy and St. John O'Donnabhain had charges of failing to provide names and addresses to Shannon Airport Police withdrawn. read full story / add a comment

McDowell accuses Green Party supporters of vandalism read full story / add a comment

Sorry about the short notice but

Democracy Now!, america's syndicated, community radio news &
current affairs show will be broadcasting from London for the next few
days. read full story / add a comment

'When Voltaire wrote the play in 1741, Roman Catholic clergymen denounced it as a thinly veiled anti-Christian tract. Their protests forced the cancellation of a staging in Paris after three performances' read full story / add a comment

Bush and his ultra-right honchos are really pissed this time – in their efforts to track down a US loyalist, who spilt the beans on domestic spying, the Bush gestapo are now targeting journos and the free press. All the ‘security’ agencies at this megalomaniac’s disposal have been commandeered for the task. This attack on the free press is yet another devastating blow directed at the already battered body of American democracy and liberty. America, the home of the brave and the land of the free, has been relegated to the historical record. This new land is an abominable aberration of the original.

“..and we all shine on..” – in the dark!

[History does record that the American revolution was won by a brave and fearless people – they are without doubt in extremely short supply today!] read full story / add a comment

Ground & Pound: To do away with any prejudices right at the beginning: What are you exactly Mr. Monson? Anarchist, communist, terrorist, vandalist?

Jeff Monson: I am an anarchist, someone who would like to do away with all class hierarchy in society and the institutions that promote this inequality. read full story / add a comment

Another use for cartoons but these are ones which Islamists are very happy to see and propagate. But these are also cartoons which encourage attacks on Israelis so it will cause little discontent in Ireland. read full story / add a comment

Suw Charman's talk from TCD entitled 'Government and Privacy in the Digital Age' is available at http://www.digitalrights.ie read full story / add a comment

On Monday 6th March 2006 anti-choice activists celebrated when South Dakota's governor signed into law one of the most restrictive abortion measures in the country, helping set up a court battle intended to challenge the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

The South Dakota law signed by Governor Mike Rounds makes it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless it is necessary to save the woman's life, with no exception in cases of rape or incest. read full story / add a comment

Man dies in Garda custody after being arrested in connection with the murder of Donna Cleary. read full story / add a comment

Speaking to a meeting of 76 ambassadors in Copenhagen on Friday 3 March, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen deplored the publication of twelve cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper last September and asserted that Danish freedom of expression is tempered with tolerance and respect for different religions.

Up to very recently, referring to freedom of expression as “the very foundation of Danish society”, Danish prime minister and minister for the press Anders Fogh Rasmussen had refused to meet with a group of Muslim ambassadors to discuss what they perceive as an “ongoing smear campaign” against Islam.

The ambassadors quote four instances where Danish politicians and media have expressed hatred for Muslims:
Speaking two months before the publication of the controversial Muhammad cartoons, radio host Kaj Vilhelmsen suggested that Islamic terrorism could only be combated by expelling or killing Muslims.
Writing on her website two weeks before the cartoons were published, member of parliament for the Danish People’s Party Louise Frevert compared “the Muslim menace” with “a tumour which we know will kill us, if we don’t find and annihilate it ...”
In a speech at the Conservative Party’s national conference six days before the Muhammad cartoons were published, Minister for Culture Brian Mikkelsen accused Muslims of developing a “parallel society” within Denmark, “where minorities practise their medieval norms and undemocratic ways of thinking.”
And, of course, there are the infamous cartoons themselves, published in Jyllands-Posten on 30 September last. The text of the accompanying article states explicitly that the cartoons were commissioned specifically to offend against the Islamic taboo on depicting the Prophet – and not, for example, to tackle the issue of terrorism.

Please read the excerpts from the website of the Danish national broadcasting station, DR, and from the centre-left daily, Politiken, in translation: read full story / add a comment

Two Respect Councillors resign read full story / add a comment

Un-FAIR face of Love Ulster

One of the Love Ulster campaign organisers praises old South African system

Ciarán Barnes Daily Ireland March 4 2006

Jim Dixon:

“Under apartheid, the black man was better paid, they had better jobs, better everything.”

“I couldn’t care less if people call me
a racist. I couldn’t care less what they think. Apartheid meant the black man was better treated and respected." read full story / add a comment

Bush is not very good at anything, with that fact the world is fully acquainted, however, even the lowliest morons are usually good liars but recent video evidence has proven that Bush is not even skilled in the lowly art of lying. All doubts regarding Bush’s prior knowledge of the magnitude and destructive impact expected of Katrina have been dispelled by the release of video evidence clearly portraying Bush in full knowledge of the then pending emergency. We leave the pathological problem of Bush and the lying neo-cons in the incapable hands of the American people; the Bush regime is internationally known as the most deceitful and tawdry in American history. Good luck doodles, China and Russia could not hope for better! read full story / add a comment

Two Labour Party councillors in Stoke -on-Trent have resigned and joined the Socialist Party in response to threatened disciplinary action over their refusal to support budget cuts. read full story / add a comment

Irish Press coverage of the riots in Dublin (Feb 25th 2006). Scanned copies of the stories. read full story / add a comment

We laugh when we see a dog chase its tail, yet are we so superior? Do we not seek what we already possess? The dog’s tail is not elsewhere or ‘external’, the dog thinks/believes its tail must be captured though it was never lost or disconnected. When people chase externals, Gods, religions, ideologies they seek that which they already possess (solace/identity/security/redemption/joy/harmony) yet it is the same canine ignorance that deludes people as deludes the poor dumb beast. To seek what one possesses is to lose it through the process of seeking – seeking is not possessing! read full story / add a comment

In a deeply alarming Democracy Now interview with Liz McIntyre and Annalee Newitz, a future world of nightmarish aspect, of total intrusion is painted.

"Imagine a world of no more privacy.
"Where your every purchase is monitored and recorded in a database, and your every belonging is numbered. Where someone many states away or perhaps in another country has a record of everything you have ever bought, of everything you have ever owned, of every item of clothing in your closet -- every pair of shoes. What's more, these items can even be tracked remotely.

"Once your every possession is recorded in a database and can be tracked, you can also be tracked and monitored remotely through the things you wear, carry and interact with every day.

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Heres a group of writers who are prepared to stand up for democracy against Islamic Fundamentalism. The writers include Salman Rushdie , Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Somali-born Dutch MP, Maryam Namazie - Iranian writer living in Britain and Taslima Nasreen - exiled Bangladeshi writer, with fatwa issued ordering her execution. Their statement deserves the support of every socialist and secularist.

pat

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Even after 40 years we can still be taken by surprise. No one anticipated the scenes in Dublin on Saturday afternoon. Even the Gardai, who turned up with riot shields, were wrong-footed by the ferocity and scale of the disturbances.

Most of us expected a lacklustre imitation of an Orange parade trundling its way along O'Connell Street, followed by loyal sons piling onto buses to make their way home.

No fuss. No impact. No point. read full story / add a comment