$6 billion and over a year of
campaigning later, and it would appear that the status quo remains.
Obama is still the president; the Democrats control the Senate; and the
Republicans control the House of Representatives. On the surface,
"nothing has changed."
In the past two months a handful of tiny Islands off the coast of China have been making headlines across the world. But why are these seemingly irrelevant islands so significant?
News that Enda Kenny has been chosen as “European of the year” by a
group of German Magazine Publishers makes sense only in the context that
recently the European Union itself recently won the Nobel peace prize.
We would have to ask the question “European what of the year?”
We have received the following report
from a Spanish comrade living in Edinburgh, Julia S. Vidania, on her
recent visit to her home city of Madrid. She gives a vivid account of
the almost revolutionary tension in the city as the European austerity
programme and the crisis of capitalism erodes the veneer of stability in
society, exposing the deep fault-lines of the class struggle.
Ireland: The decision of the Workers and Unemployed Action Group to withdraw
from the United Left Alliance is an unwelcome symptom of the growing
impasse within the ULA, previously reflected in the controversy over
Mick Wallace and the departure of Clare Daly from the Socialist Party.
The WUAG has a long standing base in South Tipperary and its departure
will have an influence on the development of the ULA at a national
level.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez has
won, yet again, the presidential elections on Sunday October 7, with a
comfortable margin of 54.84% against the 44.55% of his opponent Henrique
Capriles. This is another victory for the Bolivarian revolution which
should be used in order to carry out the revolution to the end.
Across Europe it is the sick the old and especially the young that
are being forced to pay for the economic crisis. In Spain and Greece
youth unemployment stands at over 50%. In Ireland although that figure
is somewhat lower at 17.9% but this still means nearly 1 in 5 youth are
workless.
USA: One year ago, Occupy Wall Street burst
into the public consciousness. Similar actions had been tried just
months earlier, but failed to take root. Up until its second week, OWS
itself seemed to be yet another localized action that would fail to make
a real splash.
The presidential election due on
October 7 represents a decisive moment in the history of Venezuela. The
outcome of this election will have a major impact throughout the
continent and internationally. It goes without saying that the Hands Off
Venezuela campaign is actively supporting the Bolivarian candidate Hugo
Chavez and fighting against any attempt of the oligarchy and
imperialism to sabotage the elections. The IMT stands firmly for the
re-election of Hugo Chávez. Why have we taken this position?
A cheap, crude, anti-Islamic film entitled The Innocence of Muslims,
produced and promoted by reactionary Christian fundamentalists in the
United States and posted on the internet in July, has led to
demonstrations in many countries around the world, including attacks on
US embassies and in the case of Libya to the killing of four US
diplomats at the US Consulate in Benghazi. We look into why all this is
happening?
The picture of the Chinese economy painted by commentators in the West is often one of strength; an economy dominated by exports, with unstoppable growth and development; in short, a model to emulate. Recent figures released by the International Monetary Fund, however, describe a very different situation; a situation where contradictions are intensifying below the surface; a situation that is pregnant with crisis and revolutionary consequences.
The persecution of Julian Assange
represents an all-out assault on democratic rights. For what “crime” is
this man being persecuted? The Swedish authorities are trying to get him
extradited on a trumped up “rape” case that has long been exposed as
fraudulent. No serious person will believe for a single moment that this
is the real reason for the witch-hunting of the founder of Wikileaks.