The Free

Donal O Ceallaigh walked free on Wednesday to congratulations of his supporters after four years under the threat of a ten-year jail sentence and/ or unlimited fine. He had been charged with “violent disorder” arising out events in February 2016.

from rebelbreeze On October 31, 2022 Diarmuid Breatnach shared with thanks via thefreeonline

DUBLIN ANTI-FASCIST CLEARED OF “VIOLENT DISORDER”

(Reading time: 8 mins.)

The charging of antifascists with “violent disorder” was a first use by the State against political activists of this vicious piece of legislation with such a heavy penalty and for which the burden of proof seems very slight.

All that seems required is for the State to prove that a situation of violence occurred or was threatened in which the accused were present (minimum of three) and “that would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at that place to fear for his or another person’s safety.”¹

The background to the charges was the boast of fascist islamophobic organisation Pegida in 2016 that it would organise a public rally – and founding meeting – in every capital city in Europe and the rally they planned to take place outside the GPO on 6^th February 2016.

In response, antifascists mobilised in Dublin with the intention of preventing Pegida’s launch.

IRELAND’S ANTIFASCIST RESPONSE

The mobilisation took a number of forms:

1) a large diverse group gathered outside the GPO, occupying the space well before the advertised time. A large proportion of these included religious and liberal organisations and individuals.

2) Another large group,#, of Republicans and Socialists of different organisations — and none –gathered in O’Connell Street, on the central pedestrian reservation and on the east side of the street.

3) Irish fascists arriving by Luas (tram system) were met on the tram itself by young antifascists.²

It appears that there were no confrontations between the GPO group and fascists which was fortunate, since some of the participants had publicly advocated non-violence and even encouraged bringing children to the event,³ no doubt in order to emphasise their pacifist nature.

The handful of known fascists of Irish background, whose intended movements were known in advance, apparently noticed or guessed the sympathies of some of the antifascist youth travelling in the Luas, addressed some unkind words to them and violence quickly resulted⁴.

The fascists concerned apparently abandoned their plan to attend the rally and some reportedly felt the necessity to attend A&E department in hospital instead.

There is no doubt that the longest-running conflict with the most people involved on both sides occurred around the east side of O’Connell Street and streets running off it, in particular North Earl Street and Cathedral Street.

The fascists who were involved there appeared to be all of East European origin. It seemed that they had not been spotted until some of them began to insult some women and when filmed, to make a negative comment along the lines of “your f..king communist filming”.

Once having identified themselves, a crowd of antifascists gathered around them and the situation developed quickly. The fascists were soon running, in the course of which one ran into a Euro-shop in North Earl Street with a number of anti-fascists behind.⁵

Some Gardaí lashed out with batons at people leaving the shop (which could clearly be seen on the police compilation of video footage shown in court), including an RTÉ cameraman.⁶

From hatchardreport.com In 1923 three of America’s largest corporations formed a company to add tetraethyl lead to petrol. They omitted to mention it included lead and simply called their additive ‘ethyl’. Almost immediately, production workers began to exhibit the discoordination and confusion that mark those severely poisoned by lead. Bill Bryson records that almost immediately, […]

Overseas rates of cancer, cardiac events & respiratory conditions are up, yet NZ figures are not being made available… Why?

The colorful parades for the Day of the Dead reach the streets of Mexico and Nicaragua.. The streets are filled with masks, feathers, skeletons and flowers in the famous Day of the Dead parades.

from Stigmatis By Elena Garcia Viscasillas | Oct 30, 2022 shared with thanks! via thefreeonline

In Mexico City, more than a million Mexicans have enjoyed this colorful parade in which eight illuminated allegorical cars and more than 300 musicians participated under the motto “The navel of the moon”.

The event, which had to be suspended during the pandemic and was only celebrated again in 2021, has generated a lot of enthusiasm among Mexicans, such as Javier Alemán.

What I love is the ingenuity of the designers in the costumes of each one of those who represent the parade, in how they are going to capture it inside a person, the cempasuchitl flower, the Mictlan, the monarch butterflies, everything that is costume I love.
Javier Aleman | Entrepreneur

The holiday is celebrated every year on November 1 and 2 to remember deceased loved ones. Some symbols such as flower altars have become characteristic elements of this festival. It is an ancestral tradition that is not only celebrated in Mexico.

In Masaya, southern Nicaragua, the inhabitants have dressed in their most terrifying costumes to celebrate the “Los Agüizotes” carnival. The festival of myths and legends has been celebrated since 1976.

It brings together most of the characters from the most popular ancient horror stories and is a reference to traditional Nicaraguan culture that some citizens, like Winston Báez, proudly celebrate:

The festival of the Agüizotes here in Masaya is the artistic expression of all our traditions, our myths and legends, tales of our ancestors who have grown up with these stories since we were little.
Winston Báez Resident of Masaya

In both Mexico and Nicaragua, the tradition seems to be more alive than ever.

“Biden quietly moves world closer towards armageddon. Finland ready to host nukes” U.S. plan to trap Russia by positioning its nuclear missiles about 500 miles or 7 minutes of missile-flying distance from The Kremlin

A “checkmate” (a beheading of Russia’s central command so that Russia won’t have enough time to launch its retaliatory missiles) and demand Russia’s surrender (since there is no way that Russia’s central command would be able to assess the situation within only 7 minutes and get its missiles launched).

Swedish JAS 39 Gripens with a Norwegian F-35 and a US B-52 over Andøya in northern Norway, August 18, 2022. Norwegian Armed Forces

There is a history to this plan, and the U.S. Government decision to do this seems to have been made in or around 2006, when America’s two most prestigious national security academic journals, Foreign Affairs and National Security, both recommended (though ever so tactfully) replacing the idea (actually meta-strategy) of “Mutually Assured Destruction” or “M.A.D.” (that nuclear weapons exist only in order to prevent a WW III), by the new U.S. meta-strategy, of “Nuclear Primacy” — that America will use them so as to win a nuclear war, WW III, against Russia.

“Ruling the world is what the so-called West has staked in this game, which is certainly dangerous, bloody, and – I would say – dirty. It denies the sovereignty of countries and peoples, their identity and uniqueness, and disregards any interests of other states,” the Russian president explained. In their so-called “rules-based world order,” only those making the “rules” have any agency, while everyone else must simply obey.

Positioning those missiles in Ukraine was supposed to be the way to do this, but, since that is looking increasingly unlikely now, it is to be Finland (the second-nearest nation to The Kremlin) which is taking on this function (if Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan will allow it into NATO, which will be his most fateful decision ever).

Then, on 1 March 2017, two leading American experts on nuclear-arms control published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists saying that a new type of nuclear fuse that was being installed on U.S. missiles “creates exactly what one would expect to see, if a nuclear-armed state were planning to have the capacity to fight and win a nuclear war by disarming enemies with a surprise first strike.” That strike now is expected to be coming from Finland, instead of from Ukraine.

On October 28th, Russia’s RT News bannered “Biden backtracks on nuclear pledge: The Pentagon has failed to impose a limit on use of the atomic option despite president’s promise”, and reported that President Biden had switched his policy because of advice from The Pentagon, which says that America will need to have an option to start nuclear war with Russia — not merely to respond to it from Russia. Russia’s policy on nuclear first-use is very clear — and is NO Russian version of America’s Nuclear-Primacy policy:

US pours in Arms, Bases, War-games promoting far-right nationalist vassals on Russian borders/ videos..https://thefreeonline.com/2021/10/

by Relational Thinking on Oct 27, 2022 from peoplenatureblog via thefreeonline

Interview…Zabentungwa Hlongwane and protein rich creepy crawlers that ‘can save humanity’

For Black History Month, the British Ecological Society (BES) journals are celebrating the work of Black ecologists from around the world and sharing their stories. The theme for UK Black History Month this year is Time for Change: Action Not Words. Zabentungwa Hlongwane—a biology lecturer at University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa—shares her story below.

How did you get into ecology?

My name is Zabentungwa Hlongwane and my main research interests are Entomophagy, Entomology, and Ecology. I am interested in the use of edible insects as a sustainable protein-rich food resource that can contribute to food and nutrition insecurity in resource-poor communities.

Nice And Juicy!: 15 Edible African Bugs

My interest in ecology started at an early age—I’ve always appreciated nature and its diversity. My interest in ecology has been mainly influenced by where I come from. I am from Bergville—a small village situated in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains—in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Growing up in this environment, I got to appreciate the diversity of plants and animals from an early age. This then led me to develop my passion for learning about the diversity of nature.