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Anthony McIntyre ☠ Tomorrow night the Irish national soccer team is scheduled to play the nation of child killers.

The game will take place in Hungary, if the last men standing decide not to stand against genocide,

Many of the players, we are told by the team head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, feel 'really uncomfortable playing".

That discomfort has to have intensified after witnessing the actions of the Israeli goal scorer in the child killers 3-1 defeat to Austria, the only part of the game I did watch when my son brought to my attention the murderous celebration of the player. Picking up the corner flag the monster assumed the firing posture, the corner flagpole positioned to simulate the rifle. He was red carded for the worst type of simulation to have taken place on a soccer pitch. It conjured up an image of the IDF child killers deliberately aiming at the genitals of Palestinian kids for sport. If they failed to murder the children they left them maimed for life.

We are reminded of when Professor Nick Maynard bore witness to this heinous activity:

almost like the Israeli soldiers were having target practice . . . One day we would see mainly gunshot wounds to the head and neck. Another day we would see gunshot wounds mainly to the abdomen or the chest. Another day, the legs and even on one day, about 12 days ago, we saw four young teenage boys coming in, all of whom had been shot in the testicles.

There is no moral maze to be negotiated here. There simply are no grounds for a person of conscience to take to the field alongside these people. To do so would be to step down to the same moral nadir as an Irish soccer team playing against Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, and whose players hissed each time they found the opposition net in a macabre emulation of the sound of Zyklon B gas being released from its capsule before making its way into the airways and lungs of its Jewish victims in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

At this late stage all the people in authority have refused to follow the proper course of action. While Taoiseach Micheal Martin made a laudable speech to the UN General Assembly a few days ago, his government refused to join the walk out when the man wanted by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of crimes against humanity took to the podium to lie through his teeth. What sort of message was being transmitted to the players here other than say one thing but do another?

Regrettable as it is no one else can now cut the Gordian knot - just the players.

We can accept that the players have been failed by sporting authority and government alike. We cannot accept that there is any compelling reason for the players to now fail themselves. They have a choice. As moral actors they should make the right one just as the Dunnes Stores women did against Apartheid White South Africa in the 1980s and who have been remembered fondly ever since.

The choice is very clear for the players. Celebrity does not remove their responsibility to behave as moral actors. Ed Sheeran's supporting acts demonstrated this in crystal clear terms when they walked away from him in support of the billionaire-cancelled Macklemore. Regrettably but unavoidably, it is now down to the players, as the powerful have displaced the difficult responsibility away from themselves and onto the shoulders of those about to take to the field. No matter what choice the players make they are going to walk away. They either walk away from the child killers or walk away from the children killed.

⏩Follow on Bluesky.

Walk Away

Hedley Lamarr ✍ The Drumcree challenge should focus on the fact that mediation was suggested before a decision was made and mediation didn't happen so a decision should have been postponed. 

It isn't Drumcree Sunday so after waiting 28 years a further delay or exploration can't be too much to ask.

The mediators themselves said that if one party wasn't happy with it then their views should be respected. The residents can't be punished for not going along with mediators who the Orange Order themselves employed in the past. They're not at arm's length. Bias is a real danger. One party has an existing relationship with the mediators.

The residents should have to agree. Most human rights can be trumped by other human rights and in this case the right to assembly should be trumped by the residents' rights. They're the host community.

Not only the residents' rights but opening this Pandora's Box could cause instability and conflict. The rights of society as a whole to prosper and live in peace and relative harmony should be respected. The public order threat is real not from the marchers or the residents but from the touch paper of societal strife being lit. The tension is palpable.

This march hasn't happened in 28 years so there's more of a tradition of it not happening than happening in 50 years.

There is also the elephant in the room that the Orange Order isn't purely a religious organisation. It and it's spokesmen often intervene in the political arena.

The Orange Order have unilaterally changed countless other routes over the last 28 years. The Field has been in Ormeau Park, The Giants Ring and also Barnett's Demesne for example and all feeder parade routes changed also to suit this.

There is an alternative marching route back from the church.

There is undoubtedly a triumphalist nature to this march as was witnessed in the years before it was stopped. It is designed to provoke and agitate.

The strife that will be created will undoubtedly next year shore up DUP votes after a number of high profile scandals. No demographic or organisation is immune from sex abuse but do the DUP kick-start an education drive on consent for our young people or a respect for women campaign? No, they campaign for the ghost of Drumcree to be reawakened.

Supporters of the Drumcree March killed people to get it down this road and they shouldn't be rewarded even indirectly.

A decision not only has to be fair it has to be seen to be fair.

They obviously panicked after the Portadown Orange Order member's successful judicial review. The court didn't say that banning the march was the wrong decision just that it was decided the wrong way. The Commission probably and quite rightly thought that it was a no-brainer and unsurprisingly got fed up crossing T's and dotting I's.

The daftest thing about the decision to allow the march is that it was made because community relations in Portadown have improved dramatically so violence is unlikely. It is widely acknowledged that community relations have improved because the Drumcree Parade was banned.

You couldn't make it up.

⏩ Hedley Lamarr is a student of the conflict out of which has developed his strong interest in justice.

Touch Paper Of Societal Strife

Christopher Owens 🎵 with the 67th in his Predominance series alongside some observations on a new magazine.

It’s always gratifying to see new magazines hit the shelves, particularly ones that try to add to the discussion rather than just operate as an excuse for adverts.

And it’s even better when well established ones (in this case Shindig!) put out a one-off edition dedicated to a topic that could fill a magazine in itself.

Such is the case here.

The top 100 tracks has the obvious (Robyn Hitchcock, The Cult), the less obvious (Psychic TV, Strawberry Switchblade) and the ‘ever so slightly stretching it’ (A Guy Called Gerald, John Foxx) but plenty of obscure numbers to ensure you go down a YouTube rabbit hole for a while. Alongside pieces on the Television Personalities, Spacemen 3, The Prisoners and Siouxsie and the Banshees, the issue makes it plain how the year zero approach (“No Elvis, Beatles or Stones in 1977”) had given way to a love of 60’s psychedelia and garage rock, setting the stage for some astonishing bands (and Dr. And the Medics) to come to the fore.


🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵


Horns up 

New Horizons



The Rezillos – Psycho Tornado

The legendary Scottish cartoon punk/rockabilly act return with their first new album in over a decade and it’s just what you expect: upbeat rock n roll that makes you click your fingers like a hip daddy-o. ‘Cranium’ is a perfect example of just how joyous and inventive this band can be, while ‘Peppermint Lounge’ salutes the legendary New York nightclub.

The album can be streamed here and purchased here.

Godflesh – Decay

After the solid, if unspectacular, release of Purge, it seemed that the industrial metal legends were settling comfortably into a holding pattern. Thankfully, Justin Broadrick realised this and produced their best album since ‘Post Self’. Opener ‘Master and Slave’ pulverises while ‘Ferel Colony’ feels like a homage to ‘Eighties’ by Killing Joke and ‘Consume Me’ isn’t for lightweights.

The album can be streamed and purchased here.


Golden Oldies


The Slits – Cut

One of the pioneering post-punk records, this astonishing debut sees the band creating a hybrid of reggae, punk, indie and jazz. Songs like ‘Instant Hit’ and ‘Shoplifting’ (where you can hear singer Ari Up admit to pissing herself) have a girlish enthusiasm and sensibility that’s impossible to replicate. Bassist Tessa is the secret weapon as her basslines can make dead men jump.



Gang of Four – Entertainment

Another masterpiece from 1979 that changed so many lives. From the likes of INXS, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana and Bloc Party, the combination of black funk and white noise continues to influence today. Lyrically, songs like ‘Ether’ compare British rule in Ireland to finding oil in Rockall, while ‘Anthrax’ criticises the concept of love while deconstructing the love song.

  

⏩ Christopher Owens was a reviewer for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland. He is currently the TPQ Friday columnist and is the author of A Vortex of Securocrats and “dethrone god”.

Kaleidoscope 🎵 The Effect of Psychedelia on the 80’s + Predominance 67

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of Two Thousand One Hundred And Four

 

A Morning Thought @ 3276

Ian Major  ✒ In the UK, no group have the right to parade public roads; and right of veto exists for locals along any parade route. It is not a matter of rights either way. So what is the issue? 

I am conscious of the hurt felt by Irish Nationalists living on the Garvaghy Road at the prospect of an Orange church parade passing through their area. Most of the Unionist people would find no offence if such a parade passed through their area - but we would not want a similar Nationalist parade passing down our street. Having said that, both communities do accept Orange or Hibernian parades in some areas and circumstances. We may not agree with the aims and beliefs of the marchers, but we have tolerance on those occasions. 

The trouble arises where the particular parade has had a history of contention associated with it. That moves it from being a mere parade to be a win or lose contention. So what considerations remain when we Christians consider contentious parades, parades that are opposed by a majority of locals in the route of the march? In our calling to love our fellowman we should give due weight to their feelings.

Where there are definite and fixed objections from the local community, Orangemen who are believers should respect that and urge their colleagues to choose a different route. They would not be conceding rights, just respecting others' feelings. There are real concerns about the threat to civil & religious liberties in the UK - but they come from ideologies unrelated to Nationalism and Unionism. The British and Irish of Northern Ireland should direct their attention to those, and avoid disrespecting the feelings of our fellow-citizens about the events of 1690 and 1916.

⏩Ian Major grew up a heathen Protestant, was converted at 17. He lives out his Evangelical faith as a Baptist. 

A Christian Reflection On Contentious Parades

Dixie Elliot ✊Sinn Féin calling for a protest, at Free Derry Wall, against the decision of the Parades Commission to allow the bigots to march down the Garvaghy Road is nothing more than a face saving exercise.


It will achieve nothing.
 
Just as nothing has been achieved since the signing of the GFA.
 
'There's no going back' appears to be their slogan for this protest.
 
But they have gone back.
 
They returned to Stormont after repeatedly saying that 'there would be no return to the status quo.
 
They went back so that Michelle O'Neill could become the Colonial First Minister.
 
And the status quo swallowed them up then spat them back out with the reminder that Stormont was still an Orange Parliament for the Orange Order, regardless of whether or not Sinn Féin was the largest party in the North or Michelle O'Neill was the Colonial First Minister.

If Sinn Féin want to protest they should pull out of Stormont instead of propping it up. 

And they should never return.

Thomas Dixie Elliot is a Derry artist and a former H Block Blanketman.
Follow Dixie Elliot on Twitter @IsMise_Dixie

Going Back Is The New Phase Of Struggle

Gearóid Ó Loingsigh ☭ writing in Substack on 20-September-2026.


Ed Sheeran may be a good musician, I really don’t know as I have only listened to one of his songs from start to finish, Galway Girl, which, for obvious reasons, is the only song I will mention in this article that I will not provide a link to in the footnotes. He sacked Macklemore at the behest of a Zionist mentioned in the Epstein files and thought that was it. How wrong he was. The backlash has been swift and brutal, though not as brutal as the genocide in Gaza that Sheeran and his Zionist friends like Kraft pretend is not happening.

To be clear Kraft appears in the Epstein list and was also charged with solicitation of prostitutes but the video of him with migrant prostitutes was ruled inadmissible. And he is a close associate of Donald Trump and to nobody’s surprise Benjamin Nethanyahu.[1] Sheeran also played at Kraft’s 2022 wedding. Not so squeaky clean.

Sheeran says he just wants to sing, to entertain to sing love songs and the like. None of it is political he says and his defenders have gone that extra step to say that music shouldn’t be political. Of course, what they mean is that it shouldn’t espouse causes they disagree with, only safe causes that won’t upset the evening tapas and wine soirées in Dublin 4 and posh areas of other cities around the world. And when an event has passed into history, it is very easy to consider the cause safe and sing about it. Not so much when the struggle is going on. Famously, Brian Cowen - the former Irish Taoiseach (prime minister)  - was after a few pints of Guinness able to give rousing renditions of the Fields of Athenry[2] at his party’s Ard Fheis (AGM) whilst he prepared to hand over the property deeds of half the country to the IMF, ECB and any vulture fund wishing to make a quick buck or two on the fields in Athenry or even just a backyard in Tallaght. But the “Famine” which the song is about was safe history.

These same people have no problem with musicians being political when they support the cause. They did not complain about Sheeran speaking and performing about Ukraine. But of course, that was different - they had the support of NATO, UN, EU, USA, the media, the banks etc. So safe, you could invest in it. And they did. He also met with Noa Argamani following her release by Hamas, but not with Palestinians released in the same period. 

Sheeran, is a coward, a liar and very political when it suits him and his Zionist backers.[3] Sheeran went into damage limitation mode at his first concert after sacking Macklemore. He threw in October 7th, and said what is happening now is unjustifiable, but he didn’t mention who was carrying out the genocide, in fact he didn’t use that word at all. He said it was the most complicated issue in the world, when in fact it is simple: genocide is wrong at all times. He portrayed himself as a victim caught up in a maelstrom not of his own making and again lied that he is never political. He talked of neutrality in the midst of it all. In all it was a self-serving statement that mixed up issues and had little of substance to say.

He also said that he was worried that artists performance material would have to be preapproved by venues.[4] But that is exactly what he did. There is a long history of this in the USA, particularly during the McCarthy period but also long after. Sheeran and Kraft just revived the practice. One of the stadiums to ban Macklemore was the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Georgia, a place that once hounded black artists. The car company doesn’t own the stadium, it just has the naming rights, but it is ironic that a stadium in Georgia of all places named after a company that once happily supplied the Nazis with vehicles and made lots of money out of it should not like people complaining about genocide. This is the same state that effectively banned Ray Charles because he refused to play to segregated audiences.

These people are wrong on every level. Not just about Palestine, but about music being neutral. It never has been, though some have tried to excuse Sheeran as not having realised that some shift had taken place in audiences' expectations. Not so. Music has always being political. Woody Guthrie, who inspired Dylan and countless folk singers, famously inscribed This Machine Kills Fascists on his guitar, something which might land him in jail nowadays. Music is a weapon and a battleground, and he sang about people’s struggles, from the dustbowl poverty[5] to the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti.[6]


Acts that are safe politically speaking get promoted and always have. Those musicians who are not safe anymore are cancelled. In some cases they are murdered by the state. The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca is perhaps the most internationally recognised Spanish poet. He was famous in life as a campaigner not only for social causes but for art. He is internationally remembered in part because he was murdered by the Fascists. Victor Jara is perhaps the most famous Chilean singer. He became famous due to his allegiance to the causes of the working class whilst alive and the songs he sang as part of that struggle such as El Derecho de Vivir en Paz[7] (The Right to Live in Peace) against the war in Vietnam. The lyrics are so relevant to Gaza now.

To all humanity

No Cannon will erase

The furrow of your rice field

The right to live in peace.

The Pinochet dictatorship feared him so much they felt compelled to silence his voice and murdered him only days after the coup. Sheeran need not worry, they will never do that to the likes of him, he is their useful complicit fool.

The world is full of musicians and composers who have been murdered, censored or forced into exile. In the Spanish State we have Catalan musicians such as Lluís Llach who wrote many anti-Franco songs such as L’Estaca,[8] which called for the overthrow of the Fascist dictatorship in Spain. He even recorded one on exile itself, Corrandes d’Exili(Verses on Exile),[9] or Paco Ibañez who dedicated his life to putting music to the words of countless poets such as Antonio Machado who died in exile, Miguel Hernández who was captured and imprisoned where he died from tuberculosis, García Lorca murdered at the beginning of the Fascist take over and Rafael Alberti who spent 39 years in exile. In Latin America musicians such as Daniel Viglietti also went into exile following his release from prison in Uruguay and Mercedes Sosa fled Argentina. These might seem like they belong to a faraway time, but at the moment Pablo Hasél is in jail in Spain serving a sentence for singing a song critical of the Spanish king, Juan Carlos I.[10] The song refers to his alcohol abuse, use of prostitutes, trophy hunting of animals in Africa and his plundering of the Spanish finances. All of Hasél’s statements are factually accurate.[11] The former Spanish king appointed by the Fascist dictator Franco, is currently on the run in Abu Dhabi, due to his involvement in financial irregularities as they like to put it, whilst Hasél languishes in prison for the crime of insulting the crown.

Sheeran likes to flout his Irish heritage, which at this stage has been reduced at best to his ginger hair. Irish music is full of references to rebellion, from Robert Emmet,[12] to the Fenians,[13] the 1916 Rising,[14] the effects of the great hunger which saw massive migration,[15] Internment in 1971[16], Bloody Sunday in 1972, recorded by John Lennon,[17] the Hunger Strikes[18] and so forth. Some of it is very political, other songs not so much. You’d think a man who claims to be culturally Irish would know this. But there have always been those who strived to put forward nonsense about music and politics not mixing. Blacks in the US expressed their plight through music, time and again. Whole genres arose due to that and in case Sheeran was in doubt, what does he think the spiritual Oh Freedom[19] is about? Does he think it is just a pretty tune? Does he think it was sung as part of the civil rights movement in the USA for light entertainment?

Oh freedom, oh freedom

Before I’ll be a slave

I’ll be buried in my grave

Black musicians began refusing to play Jim Crow segregated concerts in the 1950s and 1960s. Even The Beatles at the height of their commercial success before they became more political emulated Ray Charles and refused to play Gator Bowl stadium in 1964 because it was segregated. They stood up to the city and the city backed down. Sheeran has no such backbone, he could regress a few million years in evolutionary terms and we wouldn’t notice the difference.

Pete Seeger put it succinctly in a reworked Methodist Hymn, How Can I Keep from Singing?[20]

When tyrants tremble, sick with fear

And hear their death-knell ringing

When friends rejoice both far and near

How can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile

Our thoughts to them are winging

When friends by shame are undefiled

How can I keep from singing?

Of course Sheeran’s answer to this, is how can I count my money over the cries and wailing of mothers holding their dead infants in their arms? Put on your headphones and listen to some banal shite on Spotify would seem to be the answer.

There would be no modern folk music without politics, no reggae either nor Ska which was a musical form popular amongst working class Jamaicans.[21] No Hugh Masekela and South African Jazz without the struggle against Apartheid and of course no Miriam Makeba either. All music is political in nature. Some of the folk songs in the US were composed,by the executed trade union leader Joe Hill, amongst others, to stop the Salvation Army from breaking up trade union meetings. The SA would turn up at meetings with their bands to stop the godless trade unionists from organising the working class. So the IWW (the Wobblies as they were known) composed trade union songs to the same melodies as the reactionary songs of the Salvation Army. As Utah Phillips put it, they took the melodies because they were pretty and changed the lyrics so they made more sense. So when the SA turned up, the trade unionists burst into song and the SA went away, with Lucifer’s tale between their legs. One of the songs of that nature is The Preacher and the Slave, also known as Pie in the Sky.[22]

The point of it all is that music has always been political and Ed “butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth” Sheeran is eminently political. He makes statements about Ukraine because he knows the great and powerful agree with him, he says nothing about Palestine because these same forces are on the side of genocide. He meets with released captives of Hamas but has never met, nor will he ever meet a Palestinian detained as a child with no charge and released many years later as an adult, having never been convicted or even charged with a crime. Sheeran is very political, just like Trump. Stupid, crass, self-serving, egotistical, but political: always political. And like Trump he is always treacherous.

References

[1] The Independent (18/09/2026) Robert Kraft: The man named in the Epstein files who is behind Ed Sheeran’s concert controversy. 

[2] Written by Pete St. John and first recorded by Paddy Reilly. 

[3] The Tab (16/09/2026) Ed Sheeran branded ‘coward’ as treasure trove of receipts resurfaces after response to Macklemore. Kieran Galpin.

[4] The Guardian (20/09/2026) Ed Sheeran says the situation in Gaza ‘unjustifiable’ in first show since tour plunged into turmoil.

[5] See Woody Guthrie Dust Bowl Blues.

[6] See Woddy Guthrie Two Good Men.

[7] See Victor Jara, El Derecho de Vivir en Paz.

[8] See Lluís Llach al Palau dels Esports Barcelona 1976.

[9] See Lluís Llach Corrandes d’Exili

[10] See autobiography 

[11] See Pablo Hasél Juan Carlos el Bobón

[12] See Dublin City Ramblers, Bold Robert Emmet

[13] See The Bold Fenian Men

[14] See The Wolfe Tones Grace Live in Belfast

[15] See Robbie O’Connell, Kilkelly Ireland

[16] See The Wolfe Tones, The Men Behind the Wire

[17] See John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

[18] See Christy Moore, The Time Has Come

[19] See Harry Belafonte Oh Freedom

[20] See Pete Seeger How Can I Keep From Singing

[21] Dogukanejderr (03/10/2022) The History of Ska and Its Association with Subcultures. 

[22] See The Preacher and the Slave from Joe Hill (1971).

⏩ Gearóid Ó Loingsigh is a political and human rights activist with extensive experience in Latin America.

Music Is Not Political, Says Political Ed Sheeran

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of Two Thousand One Hundred And Three

 

A Morning Thought @ 3275

Tommy McKearney ☭ A question for our readers. Is the Trump presidency an aberration in an otherwise properly functioning governmental structure, or is this bizarre regime symptomatic of a deeper malaise?


 Let us examine the situation.

Donald Trump is an obnoxious, unscrupulous, vainglorious, unprincipled thug. He is also a convicted felon who, as president, has used that position to greatly enlarge his personal wealth. Since returning to the White House in 2025, he has used executive orders to introduce a plethora of tariffs that have caused turmoil not only in states traditionally viewed as out of favour with Washington but among long-term allies as well. Coupled with his threat to annex countries that are members of NATO, he has destabilised what, for long, was a solidly united bloc of leading capitalist countries.

Moreover, and in contradiction to his election campaign promise not to embark on foreign wars, he has launched several military operations. Most recently, he has decided to attack Iran. An unwise option as it turned out, resulting in his popularity falling due to the inflationary impact of rising oil prices. Consequently, there is an opinion growing in some quarters that as his influence declines, his presidency will be viewed as an aberration never to be repeated.

Whatever about the Trump style of running the office being a bizarre, one-off phenomenon, the essence of the US presidency and its dictatorial use of economic power backed by flagrant use of military might will not change voluntarily. While Donald Trump may well pass into history as a boorish anomaly, he is not an aberration in terms of the United States’ exercise of power.

In reality, while the Trumpian delivery is theatrical to the point of ludicrousness, his underlying theme of ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) is something that the US ruling class wholeheartedly endorses. The reason is simply that the American Century is no more and the empire is in decline. A condition brought about largely through its adoption of neo-liberal economic policies at the beginning of the 1980s.

A policy found necessary by the US bourgeoisie in what might be described as an example of the inherent contradictions within capitalism. Three decades after the end of the Second World War and the Western bloc’s compromise with its working class in order to offset the attraction of Soviet-style socialism, the capitalist order was feeling threatened by the increasing power of labour. Drawing on the theories of the Chicago School of Economics led by Milton Friedman, the government of Ronald Reagan (and that of Margaret Thatcher) embarked on a mission to crush organised labour.

Utilising a strategy of ostensibly promoting the supremacy of free market capitalism, no consideration of how this impacted on employment or working-class living standards was to be tolerated. In practice, this meant that the state not only refused to consider any input from organised labour but actively worked to break trade union bargaining power.

Consequently, big business found it politically possible to move its manufacturing plants from the USA and relocate abroad in order to take advantage of lower labour costs. (A similar process was also underway in Thatcher’s Britain.) Over time, deindustrialisation led to what became known as the ‘Rust Belt’ across the Midwest and Great Lakes, accompanied inevitably by mass unemployment.

As Lenin had identified in his classic work Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, the export of capital replaced the export of manufactured commodities. For several decades thereafter, the US financial sector benefitted as central government paid little attention to the hardship being endured by many working-class Americans.

By the same token, the US ruling class was initially indifferent to the outworking of facilitating the transfer of much of its manufacturing base abroad. Eventually, though, they came to realise that by doing so other countries, particularly China, had built a viable indigenous manufacturing base. Further concern was created by the fact that the People’s Republic had used its enormous sophisticated educational structures to enhance manufacturing processes once controlled solely by the USA.

This has resulted in China’s manufacturing sector now being significantly greater than that of the US. In the mid-1980s, China’s share of global manufacturing stood at less than 5 per cent, in contrast to the US share of approximately 27 per cent. Current figures show that China’s share stands at nearly 30 per cent while the US has declined to just over 17 per cent. Moreover, the PRC is leading global markets in crucial fields, among which are green energy, electronics, heavy industry and industrial automation tools.

Faced with the prospect of being comprehensively outperformed economically by what is deemed as Communist China, the US ruling capitalist class along with its Deep State are reacting despotically. This is evidenced by the fact that Trump was allowed leeway that would not have been tolerated if opposed by the embedded establishment. Between his abuse of office to self-enrich, his criminal conviction and the distinct likelihood of incriminating material in the Epstein files, there were ample grounds for impeachment if so desired.

There can only be one conclusion, and that is, regardless of his style, Trump is allowed, even encouraged, to launch a programme of measures compatible with the interests of the empire.

In short, to answer the question with which we opened: Donald Trump is undoubtedly a boorish charlatan, but he is not in any way an aberration in terms of the methodology, practices and strategy of the Yankee empire. Therein lies the dangerous malaise at the heart of that system.

Reference

¹ Felix Richter, ‘China’s Rise to Manufacturing Dominance’, Statista.

Tommy McKearney is a left wing and trade union activist.
He is author of The Provisional IRA: From Insurrection to Parliament.
Follow on Twitter @Tommymckearney



Trump Is Not An Aberration But The Continuum

Anthony McIntyre ⚽ Just the two of us for this one. Neither Jay nor his mates tagged along.


First stop the Windmill for a double whiskey to top up the house glass I had already imbibed at home before setting out for the game. It is as well Paddy has the patience of a saint as a bane to my aversion to the sobriety of a judge. The Drogheda prices are much better than Dublin. In one of the bars yesterday I forked out 9.5 yo yo for a shot of Black Bush. I took Powers at 2.50 cheaper the round after that. Even then, considerably pricier than Drogheda pubs. 

It reveals a lot about our loss of confidence in this Drogheda side when the brace of us predicted a defeat going into the game. It's Sligo FFS but the performances from Drogheda throughout a string of matches has been so consistently poor that even the bottom team seems more than capable of walking away from Sullivan and Lamb Park three points to the good. Not a home win in the league in four months helps explain why the Drogs are facing yet another relegation battle and increasing disappointment on the terraces. 

On the night our Jeremiah perspective of doom and gloom was subverted by a commanding performance from the claret and blue who emerged 2-0 winners, game wrapped up in the first half with strikes from Warren Davis and Edwin Agbaje. The latter had played magnificently from start to finish, delivering the killer blow at the most psychologically demoralising moment for Sligo - just before the ref called time on the first half. 

It keeps the Drogs within touching distance of a resurgent Waterford, two points north and only 6 games left. It has also hammered another nail into the Sligo coffin, the Bit O'Red on the precipice almost certain to disappear into the abyss of the lower division for the first time in twenty two years. I wasn't even living in Drogheda when that happened.

Despite the weakness of the opposition the win should not be understated. Kevin Doherty was without seven of his first team regulars either due to injury or suspension. The Drogs allowed Sligo most of the possession, seemingly happy for them to pass the ball in areas they were never going to score from. Off the ball the Drogs put up a shield wall. On the ball they gave the Bit O' Red a bit o' lead. While the home exuded an uncharacteristic confidence, Sligo looked like a team that had lost all self belief, projecting a picture of dejection. 

Still, ninth with 31 points, with a maximum of 18 to be taken from the remaining fixtures, it is a precarious time for Drogheda United. Jeremiah might have taken a back seat for the evening but it is not quite time for Pollyanna to take his place.

⏩Follow on Bluesky.


Drogs ⚽ Bit O'Red ⚽ Bit O' Lead


Q&A: Student activism on American campuses in response to the war in Gaza has become a national debate over where to draw the line between political dissent and antisemitism.

Even as many universities have moved to restrict, disperse or discipline protest activity, demonstrations — and the arguments about how to describe them — have continued, raising questions about free speech, campus safety and whether criticism of Israel is being conflated with anti-Jewish hatred.

Alan Wald, the H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, is a historian of the 20th-century U.S. cultural Left. He discusses parallels to Cold War-era campus politics, Zionism and how debates over the meaning of antisemitism shape campus protests over Israel and Palestine.

Q/ What is Zionism — and why do you describe becoming a Zionist as a “choice” rather than an identity?

A/ Understanding Zionism requires one to enter complex political terrain. The assertion that Zionism is essential to Jewish identity is misleading for several reasons. Judaism is a monotheistic religion at least 3,000 years old, whereas Zionism began as a secular-led political movement in the late 19th century. 

Continue @ ESSF. 

Zionism Is A Political Choice 🪶 Not Always A Part Of Jewish Identity

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