Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

My Dad’s Jewish so I grabbed Nazi flag at Sanders rally – The Forward

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An American Hero – thanks to Dave Schubert for the link.

 

Courageous Youths Tear Down Nazi Flag at a Bernie Sanders Rally in Phoenix, Arizona, USA

 

Editor’s note: A teenaged boy and a friend tore down the Nazi flag a protestor unfurled at Thursday’s Bernie Sanders rally in Phoenix. This is the teenager’s account of the event, lightly edited for clarity. He spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concerns for his personal safety.

I decided to go to the rally because Bernie is a politician who interests me. His family’s background is similar to my family’s background. My dad’s side of the family, they moved to America because of anti-Semitism in Europe. They came here from Romania and moved here just like Bernie’s dad. They didn’t have much English, and they worked hard. I wouldn’t say I’m Jewish, but a large part of my identity is Jewish.

Bernie came on, and we’re all cheering, and then two or three minutes after he started speaking, we heard shouting. I heard someone yell “Fuck you, Bernie!” I turned around, and I saw him trying to unravel this flag, and even though I’m not very religious, it kind of hurt, seeing that. And the moment I saw it I just felt sick to my stomach. He said, “Fuck you Bernie, you stupid Jew,” and then he kept yelling.

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Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 8, 2020 at 11:39 am

USA Conservative Political Action Conference attendee tested positive for coronavirus – CNNPolitics – President Donald Trump Was There!

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A correspondent suggests :

Could President Trump get coronavirus from having shaken hands or made selfies or inappropriately groped someone at CPAC?

The White House said earlier Saturday in a statement that it was aware of an individual testing positive for coronavirus after attending the CPAC conference.
“At this time there is no indication that either President Trump or Vice President Pence met with or were in close proximity to the attendee. The President’s physician and United States Secret Service have been working closely with White House Staff and various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First Family and the entire White House Complex safe and healthy,” according to the White House.
The ACU noted that it has been in contact with the state of Maryland’s health department and would follow guidance from health experts.
“The exposure occurred previous to the conference. A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and CDC confirmed the positive result,” the ACU said in a statement. “The individual is under the care of medical professionals in the state of New Jersey, and has been quarantined.”
“Our children, spouses, extended family, and friends attended CPAC. During this time, we need to remain calm, listen to our health care professionals, and support each other. We send this message in that spirit,” the group said.
— Read on edition.cnn.com/2020/03/07/politics/cpac-coronavirus-tested-positive/index.html

Written by tomasoflatharta

Mar 8, 2020 at 10:55 am

Coronavirus and COVID19 – Government Must Act to Restrict Spread and Protect Incomes

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Press statement – 7 March 2020 – immediate release

Paul Murphy TD – RISE

  • Corona virus: government must act to restrict spread and protect incomes

On foot of the briefing to health workers circulated by the Deputy Dean of the RCSI, Samuel McConkey, I’m calling for urgent action by the government,” said Deputy Paul Murphy.

This briefing is a sharp warning of the potential number of deaths from the Corona virus. The government needs to act decisively now to restrict the spread. The RCSI advice is to copy what has been done in China – which our government is nowhere near doing.

The first step is to ensure people can self-isolate by providing full sick-pay for anyone who needs to stay at home because they are ill or they need to care for others – with state support for small firms, based upon proven need. Health and care workers in particular need immediate support and full sick pay: end the six day wait.

All big public gatherings which present a danger of spread of infection should be cancelled, including St Patrick’s Day parades, sports and large social events. Non-essential travel should stop. Home schooling should be arranged for schools and universities – with support for childcare – and working from home should happen where possible.

Free hand sanitizer should be provided in public buildings and spaces – and at all workplaces, shops and public transport. There must be a clamp-down on price gouging of sanitizer and soap..

In order to ensure access to ICU isolation facilities, space for non-infectious patients should be requisitioned from private hospitals.

While the medical advice on personal hygiene should be acted on by everyone, this is a much bigger issue and the government must act before worst-case scenarios come into play.”
COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 for health care workers Samuel McConkey Deputy Dean RCSI. Contents 1. What happened 2. Clinical presentation. 3. Complications 4. Management interventions. 5. Outcomes 6. Health-care workers. 7. What should we do. Coronaviruses 1965 HCoV OC43 (David A Tyrrell) 1967 HCoV 229E …
— Read on www.docdroid.net/8Gq6PxZ/covid19for-healthcareworkers20205mar.pptx

Coronavirus is not responsible for the fall of stock prices – International Viewpoint – online socialist magazine

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When the air is replete with inflammable materials, any given spark can cause a financial explosion, at any time.

Éric Toussaint of CADTM examines a worldwide stock market collapse.

Eric Toussaint is a historian and political scientist who completed his Ph.D. at the universities of Paris VIII and Liège, is the international spokesperson of the CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt) , and sits on the Scientific Council of ATTAC France. 
He is the author of Debt System (2019), Bankocracy (2015); Glance in the Rear View Mirror. Neoliberal Ideology From its Origins to the Present, Haymarket books, Chicago; “Debt, the IMF, and the World Bank, Sixty Questions, Sixty Answers”, Monthly Review Press, New York, 2010. He has published extensively in this field. He is a member of the Fourth International leadership. Read the rest of this entry »

Open the Borders! Let Refugees Enter Europe! Shameful Scenes at Greece-Turkey Border – Huge Anti-Racist Demonstrations in Athens

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Brendan Young :

Great to see this demonstration in solidarity with Syrian and other refugees seeking escape from the terrible conditions of the camps in Turkey and Northern Syria. The Irish government should publicly distance itself from the despicable and shameful stance of the president of the European Commission who has praised the current right wing government of Greece as the ‘shield’ of Europe – by physically driving refugees from the border and killing some in the process. Urusla von der Leyen may speak in the name of the ruling bureaucracy of the EU and the governing parties of EU member states and be cheered by racists and neo-nazis, but she evidently does not speak for the ordinary people of Greece and many others across Europe. Open the borders: let refugees into Europe. Provide money to move people out of the overcrowded camps on the Greek Islands – not to further militarise the borders. End the struggle between the poor and the very poor for scarce resources caused by the the austerity which the EU imposed to pay for the bank bailouts, a struggle that is fueling racism and the far right, by lifting the EU restrictions on public spending so as to fund the housing, health and social services needed by both the existing population and migrants.

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Dubai ruler organised kidnapping of his children, UK court rules | World news | The Guardian

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The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, is an international criminal. Perhaps he will be the next monarch visiting President Michael D Higgins of Ireland in the Phoenix Park. It is time to stop grovelling to Royal Parasites. Read the rest of this entry »

Every state is a battleground – Howie Hawkins, Green Party USA Presidential Candidate in 2020 – Standing on the Ecosocialist Left Against the Democrats and Republicans

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Every state is a battleground
— Read on solidarity-us.org/every-state-is-a-battleground/

Howie Hawkins is the Green Party Candidate in the USA 2020 Presidential Election.

He eloquently presents the case against making a “lesser evil” choice between the two wings of one American Capitalist Party – the Republicans and the Democrats.

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FFFGGG Government Emerges in Ireland

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A Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael/Green/Gombeen (FFFGGG) Government Emerges – a Treble F Treble G GeeGee is galloping towards the winning post – lots of dosh waiting in the trough for the greedy nags.

Sinn Féin Talking to Fine Gael – and the Social Democrats Offering Coalition With Either Leo Varadkar or Mícheál Matrtin

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A useful post from the Cedar Lounge Revolution Blog :

Okay, intriguing that FG are willing to talk to SF. Perhaps the penny has dropped with some that not talking is a bad look for political parties in a democracy. Can FF hold their line in light of this?
But more interesting again is the following from the SDs:
Ms Shortall and Ms Murphy reiterated the party’s position that they would not enter government with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, but would consider serving in government with one of the two parties and Sinn Féin.

https://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2020/03/04/an-interesting-distinction/

The ballroom dances are not over! Coalition with FFFG is a one-way ticket into Dante’s Inferno.

Words on Des Bonass (died 26th September 2019), commemorative evening, Teachers Club, 29th February 2020.

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Words on Des Bonass (died 26th September 2019), commemorative evening, Teachers Club, 29th February 2020.

Delivered by Des Derwin, on behalf of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions.

Des Bonass May 2019

Des Bonass, a constant campaigner in a long life of activity in the most stirring and also the most unproductive political times, is missing, just missing, the extraordinary outcome of this month’s general election. The upending of a century of duopoly by Tweedle Fail and Tweedle Gael, a surge for change at the ballot box, the development of a left-right configuration, however confused, and a crisis in mainstream, establishment politics. ‘Who would have thunk it’? An overflow crowd outside a political meeting in Liberty Hall [25th February 2020] addressed in the biting wind by one the speakers who has come out to speak to them too. In the 21st century.

Well, such is the lot of many a life-long political activist. Things happen just after you are gone. But that is not the way we think and its not the way Des would have thought. Because he worked and acted in the here and now; he did what could be done at the time. And because he helped set the present in motion, and a lot of other big steps too in the past. And because we are this evening giving Des his rightful place in whatever is happening now, because of his contribution, and because he would have been no less a part of the big things, and the small less-noticed things, than he ever was. And finally, what is happening this month is – if indeed it keeps up and develops – only a small proportion of the eventual historical events that will be needed, and that will follow, and will probably be missed by most of us here too, to bring about the really momentous social change that Des Bonass stood for, and worked for and carried a clear vision of in his head, throughout his long trade union, republican and socialist life. Read the rest of this entry »