Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is availableThu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb
The Saker blog is now frozenTue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?
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The post How Far Down Does the Slippery Slope Go? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
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Trump Threatens to Unleash ?Hell? if Hamas Doesn?t Release Hostages by January 20thTue Dec 03, 2024 09:00 | Will Jones President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to unleash "hell" in the Middle East if hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are not released before his inauguration on January 20th.
The post Trump Threatens to Unleash “Hell” if Hamas Doesn?t Release Hostages by January 20th appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Has Tony Blair Forgotten That it Was His Labour Government That Blocked Nuclear Power?Tue Dec 03, 2024 07:00 | Ben Pile Tony Blair is now promoting nuclear power in a new report from his Institute for Global Change. Has he forgotten that it was his Labour Government in the 1990s and 2000s that blocked its development, asks Ben Pile.
The post Has Tony Blair Forgotten That it Was His Labour Government That Blocked Nuclear Power? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-UpTue Dec 03, 2024 00:43 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
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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.
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.
Note the acronym BDS is used a couple of times in the conversation, this stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
Farah -
Voices in the Wilderness, going to Iraq and Lebanon, what the Israelis
did to Lebanon in 2006, problems getting the facts to the American
people Chomsky -
you can't non violently shoot down fighter jets Etain - Gaza
protests in Ireland Ger -
Palestinian solidarity groups in Ireland, the Goldstone report and
Israeli war crimes Chomsky -
the flaws of the Goldstone report, lies in the NY Times, unprovoked
aggression is a war crime, problems with the tactics of the Palestinian
solidarity movement, have to change US policy, the successful South
African example Ger - Irish
activists should target our government, suspend EuroMed agreement,
Irish government position is just rhetoric Chomsky -
Europe voted with US to block an International Atomic Energy Commission
demand that Israel open its reactors for inspection, did Ireland vote
for this. Farah - the
difficult of pro Palestinian activism in the US Chomsky -
experience of protests against him speaking on the issue at US colleges
and using that to build events Julian -
how is the financial crisis being reported to the working class in the
mainstream media Chomsky -
somewhat accurate but it doesn't explain why the crisis is happening
and so the Murdoch right press and lunatics are providing cry answers.
The Liberal Democrats can't give the right answers so they are stuck
with Rush Limbugh and Sarah Palin. Etain - what
should the anarchist response be Chomsky -
explain how the policies of the last 30 years enrich rich people, these
are policies of Carter, Clinton and Obama. Obama's financial advisors
should be in jail. Etain -
Irish media trying to divide public and private sector workers, unions
only strong in public sector, what can we do Chomsky -
build the labour movement, there has been a major campaign since WWII
to undermine unions, its part of the reason the US has no health care,
UAW in the US only fought for its own workers, in Canada the unions
fought for everyone. Johnny - how
can anarchists and Irish workers counter anti-union Chomsky -
education, organization and tactics that are at the level of people's
understanding, union bureaucracy is usually the enemy but the workforce
may trust them so you can't simply say they are the enemy. Gerry - we
need to go back to Larkin Chomsky -
the working class is in trouble if it accepts the one big family line.
There was some rational to partnership in giving a broader range of the
workforce the benefits of the Celtic Tiger. Etain - the
fear of a return to emigration and unemployment is real Julian -
heads of ICTU put pension levy on the table, 120k workers wanted a
general strike but the strike never happened, was very demoralizing Chomsky -
the degeneration of workers solidarity has been pretty remarkable,
Obama spoke at a Caterpillar factory but there were no protests from
the Labor Movement, it was the first factory in generations back in the
80's to call in scabs, strikers did not get community support because
of collapse of working class culture, that's where Obama goes to give
his solidarity speech Ger - how
does that compare with workers struggles in Argentina in 2001 Chomsky -
that crisis really destroyed the economy, there have been little
revolts in the US like the Republic Windows and Doors sit in in
Chicago, lot of the workers got their jobs back, auto plants are being
shut down but high speed rail could be build in those plants Ger -
Waterford crystal & Visteon occupations in Ireland Chomsky - I
followed that. In the New Deal as soon as workers started sitting in
that is when legislation was passed. In Argentina it happened after
everything collapsed, you don't want to wait till that. Youngstown,
Ohio saw an attempt to have a legal take over of the plants by the
workers rather than a closure, that is where anarchists should be
pushing to take the next step. From giving talks in working class areas
people think its kinda reasonable, that is labor history, someone has
got to light that spark. Etain -
importance of education, how do you deal with apart and people not
getting terms like anarchist Chomsky -
subtract the terms, they scare people, just talk about taking over the
plant Etain - what
is the best way to communicate that Chomsky -
house to house organizing, neighborhood meetings, remember antiwar and
civil rights movement started with small meetings of 4 people Johnny -
what is the medias role in driving a wedge between workers Ger - media
furore about the release of last two (provo) IRA prisoners but no
reporting of military refueling at Shannon Chomsky -
they are doing their job, they are part of the state corporate system,
praise them for occasionally breaking out. Journalists believe in what
they are doing just like soviet party hacks. They can criticize someone
else's crimes but not those of their own state. Julian -
media crusade against Shell to Sea campaign Chomsky -
media critique is a good thing to do but you can't act if your
surprised. Purpose of critique is not to change media but to get people
to understand the filters Etain -
should grassroots groups be advocating strikes or a building social
centers Chomsky -
does the population understand what tomorrows (ICTU) demonstration is
about? Impressions of the audience at the Pat Kenny discussion about
the demonstration, they seemed very split about it. This can be
harmful, happened to the anti-war protests in the 60's with split to
maoist cults and weathermen which turned into a gift for Nixon. People
can understand taking over a factory. It's pretty straightforward. All
tactics need to be adopted to the circumstance Etain - why
are so few women involved in politics Chomsky -
are you sure its true, there are plenty of women now and in the past
e.g. Women's Strike for Peace. The anarchist tradition has plenty,
participation is better now then before due to feminist movement, there
are less barriers. Back in the Spanish Civil War the women anarchist
leaders were supporting sexist practise that wouldn't happen now. Farah -
some of biggest social justice movement in Middle East are women's
movements, even on agenda of Iranian election Chomsky - a
bit on Iranian election, feminist movement in Afghanistan preceded that
in the US. Farah -
perception that women don't have rights in a lot of Islamic countries,
going to a protest after that about execution of scholars, do you have
thoughts on Iran Chomsky -
will there be a demonstration in Iran outside the US embassy tomorrow
as they have banned all demonstrations. It's a very touchy situation,
its unclear how we can best help, a strong stand against the government
is good from one point of view but it helps the government paint the
demonstrations as a western plot. You don't want protest to take a form
that can be exploited by the ruling clerics. On Afghanistan we can make
sure their voices are heard. Farah - Code
Pink recently came out against a timetable for US withdrawal after
visiting Afghanistan, it was very disappointing Chomsky -
who did they talk to, Afghan women are caught between awful forces,
where do you find a way out that doesn't leave one of these forces in
power. Farah - EU
ambassadors saying they don't want to tell Afghan government how to
treat their women as its culturally insensitive Chomsky -
best period for women in Kabul was probably during the Russian
occupation, big problem was with US backed Islamic radicals, wasn't
possible to get stuff published that said this. Ger - can I
ask for your opinions on Free Gaza and Viva Palestina movement Chomsky -
really inspiring development, something totally new in the history of
imperialism, if Israel rams the boats its an organizing technique, if
they get through its great, people have been beaten and kidnapped by
Israeli forces, one thing that can turn US government policy and that's
the real target. One goal is to help the Palestinians directly which is
fine but also tactics that can shift US policy is critically
significant. Europe can take an independent stand and Ireland could
help this happen.
---
When Chomsky was in Dublin in 2006 he did a private questions and answers session for the WSM and guests at the Teachers Club. You can view the video recording of this at our youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/wsmireland#p/u/12/R5HO0O4-Kck
That presentation if more focused on a discussion of anarchism and anarchist history
Noam Chomsky on Anarchism, Marxism & Hope for the Future - http://www.wsm.ie/story/448
Interview between Noam Chomsky and Kevin Doyle of the WSM from 1995
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