Archive for the ‘Healthcare’ Category
A tribute to the outstanding journalist Ed Moloney, who passed away in New York Aged 77
Ed was a great friend and will be missed.
Condolences to Joan McKiernan, and all friends, colleagues, and comrades.
A reminder : Ed Moloney’s work on issues concerning child abuse in the six-county bit of Ireland which remain unsolved :
John Meehan October 20 2025
Matt Morrison would not survive in an American immigration holding cell – he boarded a one-way flight to Dublin leaving behind a life he had built in the USA
The numbers of people leaving the USA to live in Ireland (26 county bit) are increasing. All the numbers are here.
I am guessing, but I think this may be the first time since records began that more people emigrated from the USA to Ireland than the other way around. It would be interesting to view population flows between the US and the 6 county bit of Ireland. Readers may wish to discuss changing times.
Far-right crazies such as Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are destroying the lives of of ordinary people everywhere.
Matthew Morrison’s personal story offers context.
John Meehan September 2 2025
‘The walls were closing in,’ says ex-IRA man who self-deported over ICE fears
Catherine Fegan, Belfast Telegraph, September 1st, 2025
Matthew ‘Matt’ Morrison said he wouldn’t survive in an American immigration holding cell.
“I wouldn’t have my medication,” the 69-year-old told the Irish Independent this week.
“They would take my brace off my legs. They would take my stick. The fact is 12 or 13 people have died this year alone [in US immigration detention centres]. So, you understand the type of fear I had.”
Morrison, a former member of the IRA, had been living in the US for almost 40 years when he decided to “self-deport” back to Ireland over fears that he might be picked up by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Originally from Derry, Morrison moved to St Louis, Missouri, in 1985 after spending 10 years in prison.
In 1976, he was imprisoned over attempted murder in an IRA raid on a British army barracks.
Read the rest of this entry »Yes, RFK Jr. (USA Health Secretary in the Trump-Vance Government) took grandkids swimming in sewage-contaminated creek on Mother’s Day 2025 – News from a reliable source, Snopes Fact-Check
The internet is plagued with false and dubious stories. A great resource for fact-checking is Snopes. Many readers, including this one, thought the claim headlined here could not possibly be true – the facts suggest the opposite.
Yes, RFK Jr. took grandkids swimming in sewage-contaminated creek on Mother’s Day 2025
The U.S. Secretary of Health posted one photo of himself surrounded by his family as he fully immersed himself in the contaminated creek’s water.
Link :
Trump’s Health Boss RFK Junior Swimming in Polluted Creek
RFK Junior has form :
MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘a lot of aborted fetus debris,’ contrary to RFK Jr.’s assertion
The claim stems from a misunderstanding of how the MMR vaccine is produced.
Link :
MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘a lot of aborted fetus debris,’ contrary to RFK Jr.’s assertion
If this Irish-American ever visits Ireland again, he should be boycotted.
John Meehan May 15 2025
Ireland’s Closed Border at Dublin Airport – Two disgraceful incidents as 2025 begins
During the opening days of most new years important stories can pass us by, unnoticed. Hats off to two journalists, Conor Pope and Alexon Lacerda, who spotlighted disturbing incidents at Dublin Airport. These stories come from the Irish Times, January 3 2025. Are they isolated regrettable incidents, or are they typical examples of a “get tough” state anti-immigrant policy?
Brazilian Student Deported from Ireland over Christmas – He claims paperwork error left him “helpless”
A Brazilian student who says he was deported in error over Christmas by Irish immigration authorities has described feeling “helpless” and “abandoned” after a mini-trip away from Dublin turned into a nightmare.
Read the rest of this entry »Luigi Mangione killed a Chief Executive Officer in New York – Why do so many Americans blame the private health industry?
Young, well educated Luigi Mangione is certainly learning that corporate America does not take kindly to the killing of one of their own. When he took the life of Brian Thompson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Healthcare, one of the largest US health insurance providers, there was an immediate shocked reaction by corporations, the media, and politicians.
They saw it as a threat to all corporate leaders, who now feared for their lives. Bullet casings found at the scene had the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” scrawled on them. These are phrases used by health insurance companies in the US to avoid paying claims. The corporate heads were shocked. On the other hand, the media was inundated by people reporting their bad experiences with health insurance companies who denied their claims for needed treatments, surgeries and procedures.
The (undemocratic) Democratic Party machine lurches toward the election – Grim Presidential Tales from the USA
Sharon Smith, writing for International Socialism, explores the control wielded by the Democratic Party establishment over the nomination process in her article, “The (undemocratic) Democratic Party machine lurches toward the election.
Foreword : USA Presidential elections are shit-shows – mud-slinging works.
Readers may know a famous Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) quip about why he called his opponent a pig fucker. Johnson admitted it wasn’t true, but “I want him to have to deny it,” he explained.
Mr Johnson became President of the USA in November 1963, taking over from the assassinated John F Kennedy.
Johnson won an election landslide in 1964 claiming his opponent Barry Goldwater was a fanatical warmonger. By 1968 demonstrators all over the globe were marching against the USA invasion of Vietnam – a favourite chant was :
“Hey, Hey, LBJ
How many kids did you kill today”
Donald Trump (age 78) looked more mentally capable than President Joe Biden (age 82) in a recent TV debate. The New York felon, convicted in a jury trial and fined 86 million dollars for sexually assaulting the writer E Jean Carroll, is now up against a more formidable Democratic party opponent Kamala Harris (age 59). The gloves are off :
“Ms Harris, speaking at a private fundraiser headlined by singer-songwriter James Taylor in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, said much of the rhetoric coming from Mr Trump and his running mate, US Senator JD Vance, was “just plain weird.”
Her use of the word “weird” to describe her opponents was part of a new strategy from Democrats.
The Harris campaign called Mr Trump “old and quite weird” following his appearance on Fox News on Thursday, and at least one supporter showed up outside the event yesterday holding a sign proclaiming “Trump is weird.” – RTÉ News Report
The (undemocratic) Democratic Party machine lurches toward the election – by Sharon Smith
What the Democratic Party establishment wants, it gets—and that includes its chosen presidential candidate. It had anointed Joe Biden well before the election primary season got underway in early 2024. This is why Biden ran virtually unopposed and predictably won every Democratic primary.
But the path to Biden’s reelection was not as smooth as Democratic Party leaders envisioned, mainly because Biden’s cognitive decline—underway for several years—has accelerated in recent months. Perhaps the leaders of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) believed they could shield the public from Biden’s decline through the entire election cycle by limiting his time in the public eye. That strategy backfired badly. The Party leadership is entirely to blame for the ensuing chaos. But don’t expect them to change course.
Read the rest of this entry »Swiss Grannies Win Historic Climate Change European Court of Human Rights Victory – Irish Green Party Minister Éamon Ryan Fought Them – and Lost
You could not make it up. The Irish Green Party Leader Éamon Ryan is a Minister for Climate Change in the FFFGGG (Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Greens and Gombeens) Dublin Coalition Government. In a display of pure gombeen politics, the Green Irish TD fought the “Swiss Grannies” (“Aînées pour le climat”) in the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) – and lost.
The “Aînées pour le climat” won a historic victory.
Heat-related deaths were at the heart of a recent landmark legal case taken by the so-called ‘Swiss Grannies’ in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The group, representing 2,400 older women, had argued that senior citizens were more likely to die in heatwaves. Earlier this month the court found that weak Swiss government climate policies had violated their human rights.
Jennifer Whitmore TD, Social Democrats, Wicklow
Marielle Budry describes the case :
Source : International Viewpoint,
Historic victory for the “Aînées pour le climat”
Link : Swiss Grannies – Historic victory for the “Aînées pour le climat”
On 9 April, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights handed down a historic verdict, ruling that Switzerland is violating the human rights of older women because the country is not taking the necessary measures to combat global warming. [Aînées pour le climat – Older Women for Climate]
Read the rest of this entry »“Road to Repeal: 50 years of struggle in Ireland for contraception and abortion” – An outstanding PhotoBook – Interview with Co-Author Therese Caherty
We’ve come a long way!
The fight for reproductive freedom in Ireland
Irish publisher Lilliput Press recently launched the photobook, Road to Repeal: 50 years of struggle in Ireland for contraception and abortion, in Dublin’s Mansion House. Social policy analyst Pauline Conroy, photographer Derek Speirs and journalist. Therese Caherty have documented in pictures and words Ireland’s choice movement over half a century.
John Meehan interviews Therese about the project, where it came from and the future for reproductive rights in Ireland.
John Meehan – What gave you idea for the book?
Therese Caherty – Our project began in 2013 at Against the Tide, a retrospective of 1980s activism by photographer Rose Comiskey. At a closing discussion on Irish feminism, a young woman asked some of us oldies – Why did you let the 8th Amendment happen? It wasn’t a view we were familiar with. But you could see where she was coming from. She had arrived into the world of the Eighth and seen, maybe experienced, its effects. And she was angry.
In 2014 we answered her question with Women to Blame, a multimedia exhibition on the struggle in Ireland for contraception and abortion. Today, thanks to Lilliput Press, we have what we always wanted – a permanent home for that exhibition. Road to Repeal commemorates in pictures and words a people– powered movement that believed in a more equal Ireland for women and pregnant people, and their unfettered right to independent decision– making about parenthood.
We see our book as part of that movement of activists and participants and a contribution to it. It’s not for profit and all royalties go to the National Women’s Council of Ireland.
Read the rest of this entry »“When more than 70,000 demonstrators gathered in Prague on 3rd September, two different stories immediately emerged” – The Art of Telling Stories and A Wake-Up Call for the Left
In 2022, Previously stable political certainties have been shredded on the European Continent. One example comes from Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic. It is dramatic. The far-right : anti-vaxxers, anti-Ukrainian racists, fans of ultra-racist imperialists Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin – led the demonstrators. Vivek Prokop explores “a wake-up call for the left”
Source : http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article63953
Czechia: the crowd on Wenceslas Square
Sunday 11 September 2022, by PROKOP Vítek
They say that politics is an art: the art of compromise, the art of getting along with people, but also the art of telling stories. When more than 70,000 demonstrators gathered in Prague on 3rdSeptember, two different stories immediately emerged. According to one story, it was an action by the Russian fifth column, according to the other story, it was a protest by desperate citizens. So what was really happening on Wenceslas Square?
At first glance, it seems that everything important about this “Czech Republic First “protest has already been said. For example, the fact that one of the organizers, Ladislav Vrabel, has big debts, and that the money to organize the protest was sent to a non-transparent account belonging to his wife. Another key organizer, Jiří Havel, has become famous for recommending chlorine dioxide, which is otherwise used as bleach, for the treatment of covid. Both men are members of the anti-globalisation movement “Restart World Freedom,” which was launched by the American investment banker and Donald Trump supporter Catherine Austin Fitts.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 