Thursday, November 08, 2007



NEW POLL SHOWS MASSIVE
DROP IN SUPPORT FOR
EU “REFORM TREATY”

(Photo:FFML)

Only days after choking on their cornflakes at the “Irish Times” headlines of a 9% drop in electoral support for Fianna Failure, the Soldiers of Multiple Disasters faced a new and shocking poll which shows support for the so-called “EU Reform Treaty”, which is nothing less than the rejected “Constitution” under a different name, has evaporated in the last two years and is now at a new low of only 25% positive support with 62% in the “don’t know” camp and definite Noes up to 13%. This is a 50% drop in support from the polls in 2005 on the previous “EU Constitution” document which was scuppered by voters in France and Netherlands referenda.

This is shattering news for the Leinster House political elite and their business cronies who were hoping for a no-discussion walkover referendum next summer. Now they will have to get up off their lazy a$$es and, horror of horrors, spend money trying to convince the Irish electorate to buy this latest pig-in-a-poke from the Brussels Bureaucrats Club.

The People "need to be informed about its contents and to hear the arguments for and against before they can be expected to make a real political choice next year…." whinged the “Irish Times” editorial of Monday, 5th Samhain/November 2007. Never mind that it and the Irish media in general have failed to supply any coherent analysis of this Treaty and explain to the public what they might be voting for. There is a deliberate attempt to curtail discussion of this disgraceful anti-democratic document and Fianna Failure have set up a “dirty-tricks” committee to discredit any opposition to it. The main thrust of this committee will be to try and dismiss the opposition as “head-bangers” and “right-wing fanatics” as Foreign Minister, Dermot Ahern, tried to do in a statement , Tuesday, 06 Samhain/November 2007 in Dundalk.

Ahern, who has turned a blind eye to CIA “Rendition” Torture Camp Shuttle Planes landing at Shannon Airport and who lied to the European Parliament inquiry into such matters, had the brass neck to try and link the democratic opposition to this treaty to such as Le Pen, the French fascist agitator and racist politician. It is imperative therefore that the democratic opposition present a clear message of anti-bureaucratic protest and distinct anti-militarisation policies and not anti-European sentiment which would only serve the lying propaganda of Fianna Failure’s Dirty-Tricks Committee.

In a disgraceful attempt at manipulation, it has become known that certain journalists at the “Irish Times” have been calling Le Pen and slyly trying to inveigle the openly racist politician to come to Ireland and intervene in the Irish referendum.



As the date of the referendum approaches the pressure will mount, especially as Ireland is the only member-state, so far, to hold an official referendum on the ratification of the Treaty. There is, however a ground-swell of opinion in other countries for their voters to be given the chance to express an opinion and this might become unstoppable by next year. Thus, the Irish referendum will be followed closely on the continent and the Brussels Bureaucrats Club will be pulling out all the stops to ensure victory. Blank-Cheque Bertie has staked his reputation (what’s left of it) on it in the hopes of getting the sinecure of EU Presidency later on. Let’s make sure he doesn’t get his wish.

It is true to say that the EU is at a crossroads of history in this campaign. The choice is between a free, democratic, independent, socially progressive Europe and a monoploly capitalist, monopoly market, militarised bureaucratic dictatorship subservient to the USA and embroiled in its military neo-colonialist follies around the world.


This so-called “Reform Treaty" does not bring the European Union towards more democracy, quite the contrary; it is a regression in the democratic processes already established. This Treaty transfers more powers to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who will be making 90% of the legislation we will be forced to live under. Open fascism like Le Pen in France, Haidar in Austria and the revived Mussolini dynasty in Italy is publicly condemned by Brussels but, their so-called “Reform Treaty” is itself incipient fascism, more subtly presented, but fascism nevertheless. The new “4th Reich”, in fact. The “Reform” EU will be a union of Monopoly Capitalism, the Military(NATO) and State bureaucracy, not a union of free, independent peoples with democratic and accountable national governments.

In the economic sphere, OECD plans for worldwide capitalist monopoly by forming so called Multilateral Agreement on Investments. The EU would be a regional part of this system. MAI was delayed especially because of the resistance by France, but with Sarkynoze now in power this resistance is likely to crumble. The plan is for complete freedom for finance and speculative Capital in and out of the EU and restrictions on labour and Trade Union rights. There are NO guarantees of Trade Union rights in this Treaty only aspirational shibboleths with no legal or statutory foundation.


The plan is for massive privatisation of every aspect of life, Health, Education, Welfare, Domestic Water Supply, Transport and anything that moves. If they could privatise the air we breathe, they would. Privatisation is enshrined in this Treaty as the NEW GOD of Monopoly Capitalist EU. We have already had a taste of this with Eircom, Aer Lingus and now ESB as the next target. Water privatisation will follow in a snap if this rotten Treaty is ratified.


WITH MALICE AFORETHOUGHT

The plan is for continued restrictions of democratic rights, free expression and curtailment of the right to protest sometimes, conveniently, under the guise of “anti-terror” legislation. We have seen examples of this too. In March, 2003, in Poland, a massive NATO military operation with 15,000 troops from twelve countries, was held at the country’s largest military base near Stettin, on the German border. “Defending Democracy” – no, not on your NATO Nellie – they were trying out new tactics of crowd control and suppression of street protest in the EU. The Polish Army bussed in hundreds of civilians from surrounding towns and villages to act as “rioters” and these were confronted by the NATO jackboots and rounded up en masse and then taken into the base where Guantanamo-like “detention centres” were set up to hold them. There wasn’t a whisper of this event in the Irish media.


The US armaments company, Raytheon, which has a factory in Derry, in Northern Ireland, is engaged with the US Military in inventing exotic new methods of “crowd control” and anti-personnel weaponry such as intense laser beams which create unbearable heat on human targets. Raytheon, based in Palo Alto, Calif., is testing numerous "non-lethal" weapons for military use, with funding from the National Institute of Justice.


According to FOIA documents obtained by the U.S. Sunshine Project, Raytheon's Pulsed Energy Projectiles (PEPs) fire a laser burst of expanding plasma--a collection of charged particles containing equal parts positive ions and electrons. (In science fiction terms, this could best be described as a "raygun.")PEPs can be used from as far as two kilometers away, and are designed to create severe and debilitating pain resulting in temporary paralysis. Of particular concern is the fact that PEPs, apparently ready for use as early as 2007, are being investigated for use against "rioters," according to the British science magazine New Scientist.

Raytheon is also pursuing a microwave-technology-based weapon, named the Active Denial System (ADS), which fires a 95-gigahertz beam at its targets. Thus far, what is known about ADS is that people hit by the weapon's beam experience a sharp rise in body heat and severe pain within five seconds of contact, an experience that is supposed to prompt targets to run in the other direction. A vehicle-mounted version of the weapon is already being designed for use in Iraq, while other portable versions are being designed for both U.S. Marine Corps and domestic law enforcement use.A 2005 Reuters article noted that tests of the weapon have taken place at the Kirtland Air Force base in Albuquerque, N.M. As a part of those tests, researchers first made sure that participants removed all glasses, contact lenses and metal objects like keys, to prevent serious injury--of course, the conditions of real-world use are less controlled.


These developments show the malicious intentions of the Brussels Bureaucrats towards the democratic-minded people of Europe. Slimeball Solana is busy setting up an EU-wide Internal Security Police which will have supra-national powers of arrest in any EU state regardless of local laws if they get this Treaty ratified.

This week, again, we have seen democracy set aside in NATO allies Pakistan ,where military dictator Musharraf has declared a "State of Emergency" and today in Georgia where would-be dictator Saakashvili has also declared a "State of Emergency". In both countries civil rights have been suspended and public protests responded to with brutal police suppression tactics as described above which the NATO jackboots have been practicing for years. In both countries the excuse offered has been "anti-terrorism" and their military and police have received substantial financial aid and NATO/EU training. Only the mildest rebuke has emanated from Washington and Brussels with "hopes" that civil rule be restored "as soon as possible". If this were happening in Venezuela, for example, there would be front-page screaming headlines of condemnation and calls for "sanctions". NATO/EU hypocrisy seen now in its full lying, anti-democratic, anti-people conspiracy and corruption.










FearFeasa Mac Léinn, Áth Cliath/Dublin,

08 SAMHAIN/NOVEMBER 2007.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Ma! I’m in a Big Stew!
Ma! What’ll I Do?


Art by 'Plif'. Concept FFML. Download free for personal use. Commercial & Syndication rights reserved.


SHOCK-HORROR POLL RESULT
SENDS FIANNA FAILURE
STAGGERING:


Only months after re-gaining power the floundering FF Coalition Government has found the Party of “Reality” losing 9% of its support since the General Election last May. The poll results were published by the “Irish Times” last week. The shocking reversal is supposedly due to the shambolic performance of Blank-Cheque Bertie and his ministers in the few short months since the May election. The incompetent mishandling of the Aer-Lingus Shannon Airport withdrawal and the resultant furore in the western counties, with ministers publicly contradicting each other and some running with the hare and hunting with the hounds along with several FF Td’s in a desperate attempt to retain support; Blank-Cheque’s fumbling, bumbling appearance at the Mahon tribunal and the latest Noel “Disaster” Dempsey’s clumsy attempt to rationalise the chaotic learner driver permit system; the arrogant announcement of large pay rises for Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State, with special legislation to provide additional pension payments for one individual, have all accumulated to create an impression with the public that the Government is out of touch with reality and only interested in feathering its own nest.



Blank-Cheque Bertie, the “Teflon” Taoiseach, had to sweat it out at the Mahon Tribunal in Dublin Castle where he lost further credibility in his attempted explanations of his bizarre financial arrangements in the late 1990’s when he first became leader of Fianna Fáil after the resignation of Albert Reynolds as Taoiseach.

“Teflon” didn’t seem to do much good as the Blank-Cheque Supremo was given the standard roasting by the Four Courts Brigade forensic vivisection squad on their juiciest target yet at the marathon tribunal investigation into planning corruption in Dublin County. Bertie has changed his story yet again about the now infamous “Manchester Dig-out” where he has admitted receiving substantial cash gifts from a prominent businessman following a supporters’ dinner in the city where he went to attend a football match. According to Bertie, the donations were unsolicited and were purely as a result of sympathy for him due to his personal circumstances following separation from his wife.

When the Dáil resumed last month, newly elected Labour Party leader, Éamonn Gilmore upped the political ante by submitting a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach for the first session of the new Dáil Éireann since the general election in May. The predictable phalanx of Fianna Failure Ministers and TD’s emerged to surround Bertie, but, were joined by former Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent, who also made an astonishingly hypocritical statement attacking the Labour Party for not raising the issue during the general election campaign. Clever Trevor is now Minister of State in the Agriculture Department, having signed himself and his party into government with the same man he is now accusing the Labour Party of not being hard enough in criticising. It didn’t take long, did it, for the once oppositional Greens to turn into brass-faced hypocrites of the style we have come to expect from the FF camp. All boys together, The Greens trooped into the lobbies with the Phalanx to save Bertie’s skin.

At the Tribunal itself, Blank-Cheque Bertie’s lawyers have been trying their best to discredit the evidence of Tom Gilmartin whose allegation that Cork businessman Owen O’Callaghan (who denies the allegations) told him that Bertie had received inappropriate cash payments in the late 90’s started the inquiries into Bertie’s personal finances, but, last month’s testimony by well-known broadcaster Eamonn Dunphy that O’Callaghan had made a similar statement to him, Dunphy, intimating that Bertie had been “bought off” or “taken care of” has severely undermined their efforts to get Bertie off the hook. Blank-Cheque Bertie’s own rambling, muddled, amnesiac testimony has only served to undermine his credibility further. His tardiness in providing documentation requested by the tribunal could do nothing but evoke suspicion that he had something to hide despite repeated denials.

Whether or not Bertie did wrong by statute remains to be proven but, the attitude of his ministers and supporters in rallying around him regardless of wrongdoing shows a shocking level of amoral political practice which would shame the worst banana republics of Latin America. Further woes are expected form Blank Cheque’s next appearance at the tribunal later this month. It could be a Winter of Much Discontent!





FearFeasa Mac Léinn
Áth Cliath/Dublin, 07 SAMHAIN /NOVEMBER 2007.

FIRST USE OF IRISH TROOPS IN

“EU PEACE MISSION” IN AFRICA:

The despatch of the first of 350 Irish troops to Chad in Central Africa as part of an EU Battle Group being deployed under a UN resolution raises once again the debate about the function of the Irish Defence Forces and its deployments abroad. This is the first occasion that our forces are going out under EU Command rather than direct UN Command as in all previous cases. While this mission is basically humanitarian assistance in its content under UN Resolution 1778 which proposes to keep the peace and defend the refugees from conflict in the Darfur province of Sudan who have fled across the border to Chad, the question of mission control and policy matters has not been debated or outlined in any fashion available to the public or Dáil Éireann.


The rank and file representative body, PDFORRA, has also raised the question of funding of this operation as the EU does not pay for individual countries supplying troops like the UN does. Thus the question arises as to whether the Department of Defence is going to fund this from current budgets or whether the Government will provide a supplementary budget for the purpose. Although this endeavour is being promoted as an EU operation “under mandate of the United Nations” it is for all practical purposes a NATO operation as EU military affairs were allocated to NATO under the Nice Treaty of 2003. As pointed out by Susan George, the distinguished US political scientist, at a meeting in Liberty Hall, Dublin, last Saturday, 03 Samhain/November 2007,
NATO is not an EU institution but is run by the USA.

The EU Command is headed by Javier Solana, former Secretary General of NATO and currently EU “Security” Commissioner. Solana, a complete imperialist stooge and a$$-lick of Buckfush and Blairschmuck, supports the illegal war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan and is the prime agitator of further militarisation of the EU as outlined in the so-called “Reform Treaty”, the rejected EU “Constitution” under another name. Solana was also a leading shriek-owl in the illegal and barbaric bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 in which hundreds of civilians were killed and thousands forced from their homes in massive destruction of Yugoslav cities and towns. Hospitals, schools and working public transport were indiscriminately bombed in an unprecedented onslaught on a European country by NATO air strikes in an effort to intimidate Yugoslavia into compliance with NATO diktat.


In 2001, Solana bullied and intimidated the Macedonian Government into accepting completely unjustified demands by the KLA terrorist organisation for concessions for “ethnic” Albanians living in Macedonia. Solana threatened to withdraw EU aid from Macedonia and block its application for EU membership unless it complied with NATO’s diktat. Intimidation, murderous violence, blackmail, bribery, mafia gangsterism, all used in NATO’s plan to establish military bases in all the former Eastern Bloc countries bordering Russia.

This unelected, despicable parasite Solana, is the individual to whom Irish troops in Chad must now report and with whose instructions they must comply. The Irish Government has agreed to send our troops overseas without any public debate and on a mission whose parameters have been decided behind closed doors by unelected officials.

This is an example of what we may expect as routine under the so-called EU “Reform Treaty” which was accepted by the Council of Ministers without debate in Lisbon last month. Ireland is now the only EU member which must hold a referendum on this monstrous bureaucratic assault on European Democracy and Citizens’ Rights and it is vitally important that it be decisively rejected by the Irish people.

If this “Treaty” is ratified then large areas of decision-making will be removed from democratic control and scrutiny. EU bureaucrats we don’t elect can make laws we can’t change or challenge and our parliament, Dáil Éireann, will have no say in it. EU Officials will be immune from prosecutuion, but, Europol Police will be able to travel here and arrest anyone on their own warrants without any hearing in an Irish court. This is the worst attack on civil liberties in Europe since Hitler’s Nazi regime!


Photo: FFML.
FearFeasa Mac Léinn
Áth Cliath/Dublin, 07 SAMHAIN /NOVEMBER 2007.