Mayday events (2 Viewers)

[broken arm]

The more I think about how complex the political and socioeconomic conditions of the world actually are, the less I can see how one can really isolate the economic system as being the root of it all.

some of the functioning aspects are quite simple though. one important factor of the 'economic system' and inequality is international trade and how international trade organisations and trade rules need to be democratised in order for it to work for the benefit of everyone. There is a huge amount of empirical evidence to prove that there are mechanistic elements and barriers within the global trade rules system that foster and perpetuate poverty. You only need to look at facts such as that the average OECD tariff on manufactured goods from the developing countries is more than four times those on manufactured goods from other OECD countries and the UN estimates that poor countries are denied $700 billion because of unfair trade rules.

The main responsibility for this remains with the countries involved in the WTO (last time i looked there was 139 and each has the power of veto). There is so much to be worked on even this issue - e.g. in the WTO there is an urgent need to look closely at the current formation of the consensus-based system and the ‘single-undertaking’ format (agreements as all-or-nothing packages) , both of which can allow bullying of poorer countries. Developing countries must be allowed to consolidate potential gains without being forced into a "quid pro quo" situation.
I wouldn't call for the removal of the WTO because it has shown itself capable of working in the interests of the smaller countries - Off the top of my head is a case of the blocking of imports of Costa Rican underwear by the US - C.R appealed to the WTO and the WTO ruled in favour of C.R. - stupid example but you see what I mean. Somebody somewhere said that the only thing worse than a world with international trade rules is a world with no trade rules at all. And the smaller countries involved see this but there is a massive reform required.

actually Id better not start ranting now but trust me there are relatively simple measures and they dont involve smashing anything - sort of anyway............................

 

[broken arm]

Off the top of my head is a case of the blocking of imports of Costa Rican underwear by the US - C.R appealed to the WTO and the WTO ruled in favour of C.R.

damn, its hard to get things acroos in a coherent way in small posts.

 

[broken arm]

would

"an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market"

be too controversial?

thats too cold.

In this case what do you mean by development? Is control of the means the only method of gain?

 

[spiritualtramp]

tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of Joey's (family budgie) death

heart attack caused by our cat's intimidation of him

a friend of mine had a pet budgie as a child .

her family were going on holiday to galway and decided to bring the beloved budgie with them .

as there was no room in the car they secured the budgies cage , which had plastic bags wrapped around it to protect said budgie , to the roof rack and drove off .


on their arrival to galway they noticed that the plastic bags had been blown away by the wind . the budgie was totally bald . despite recieving mouth to beak resuscitation it died a few days later .

 

[pete]

22/04/2004 - 1:41:45 PM

Anti-EU protestors hold talks with Dublin gardaí

One of the groups organising a demonstration to coincide with next weekend’s EU summit in Dublin has met with gardaí to demand the right to protest without interference.

The Another Europe is Possible group is planning a march from Dublin city centre to a meeting of EU leaders in the Phoenix Park on May 1, but the gardaí are planning to prevent them from entering the park.

The group said it informed gardaí of the plans more than a month ago and should be allowed
to hold a carnival in the park as planned.

Speaking after today’s talks, Another Europe is Possible said it was disappointed that it had failed to reach agreement with the gardaí about the march, which it guaranteed would be peaceful.

​

It also expressed disappointment that the gardaí had refused to say under what circumstances they would deploy water cannons or armed officers against the protestors.

Another Europe is Possible said it planned to write a letter to the Garda Commissioner urging him to overturn the decision to seal off the entire Phoenix Park while the leaders of the EU member states are having their banquet in Farmleigh House. </SPAN>

 

[nlgbbbblth]

People were handing out Mayday leaflets (Dublin Grassroots Network) today in the city centre

I walked past three of them and none of them handed/offered me a leaflet

In the end I had to ask a fourth person for one and said to him "do you think because I'm wearing a suit I might not be interested"

He just looked at me blankly

A genuine oversight or a bunch of fucking snobby judgmental cunts?

pricks

 

[jane]

People were handing out Mayday leaflets (Dublin Grassroots Network) today in the city centre

I walked past three of them and none of them handed/offered me a leaflet

In the end I had to ask a fourth person for one and said to him "do you think because I'm wearing a suit I might not be interested"

He just looked at me blankly

A genuine oversight or a bunch of fucking snobby judgmental cunts?

pricks

Yeah, it's funny. I dress pretty conservatively (or at least not exactly 'punk'), so I don't get given leaflets a lot of the time. I always find it amusing when people make remarks about the way I dress, which they occasionally do. So I like to look presentable, to wear clothes I like -- so what? Whenever there's a little flash of tattoo or something, people are less shocked that I have them than they are about not expecting me to. Does that make sense? I'm a bit tipsy.

I think it's funny the way people sometimes assume that just because you don't dress to make a statement means you don't have one to make. I wouldn't imagine that they realise they have these prejudices, but everyone makes judgements whether we like it or not. I don't think it's deliberate, but that doesn't mean judgements aren't being made.

More wine.

 

[Super Dexta]

A genuine oversight or a bunch of fucking snobby judgmental cunts?

A bit of both maybe. Or somewhere between the two. This is why I maintain that everybody, no matter how much they insist the contrary is true, cares about image to some degree. We all project an image of ourselves through the way we dress, accessorise, do our hair, etc, and we all make judgements to some degree about other people based on the image of them we perceive. Usually subconsciously, but it happens nonetheless. It's a very rare person who can genuinely say that their own image and the image of others is not important to them.
edited to add: or at least that it has no bearing at all on the way they treat and are treated by other people.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

I think it's funny the way people sometimes assume that just because you don't dress to make a statement means you don't have one to make.

exactly
or else they make throwaway comments about "suits" (as in people who wear them)

I wouldn't imagine that they realise they have these prejudices, but everyone makes judgements whether we like it or not. I don't think it's deliberate, but that doesn't mean judgements aren't being made.

true; we are all capable of pre-judging people. And, yes, some people definitely don't think they're being judgmental

More wine.

I'm having some now too. Can't beat it after a shitty week at work.

 

[Super Dexta]

What I like a lot actually is being told that I'm unacceptably image-conscious, for dressing like your average 19-year-old girl (nearly 20), by someone who's obviously spent hours shaving and bleaching and dying their hair and sewing patches on their clothes. Not that there's anything wrong with said activities, but a bit of consistency would be nice.

 

[jane]

What I like a lot actually is being told that I'm unacceptably image-conscious, for dressing like your average 19-year-old girl (nearly 20), by someone who's obviously spent hours shaving and bleaching and dying their hair and sewing patches on their clothes. Not that there's anything wrong with said activities, but a bit of consistency would be nice.

Ha ha! I get a kick out of this, too. Even when I used to do the door at GZ, I used to get some funny looks and comments. I never took them personally, but somehow, I like to think it challenged people's perceptions. People have always thought I was a bit 'weird', and when I was younger, I used to indulge that, advertise it, send a message that I didn't want to be held to the same standard as everyone else. As I got older, I realised that, for one, people who really 'get' me don't think I'm weird, and that I prefer other methods of challenging the 'standard'. Plus, the criteria I once believed were set in stone are not so clear after all.

We all judge, whether we want to or not. I got a big wake-up when I had my first students of my own. Here was a group of people, some of whom were technically adults, but who were not in my peer group, whether they were older or younger than me. I always tried to make a point of responding to them as individuals, on their own merits. The biggest shock to me in terms of my own prejudices, was when I would get beautifully-written, well-argued, insightful essays from people I would normally view as dolly-bird types. It really challenged the way I perceived people. I'm sure I still judge, but it taught me a lot about the ways in which people are more than meets the eye. It was precisely because I found it so easy to treat the students as individuals that my perceptions were challenged. Some of them turned out to be truly interesting people, and I might never have given myself the chance to meet them.

It's made me a little more open to paying attention to people I might not have acknowledged, though I know it's only human that I still have preconceived notions about what people who look a certain way 'should' be like.

In the same way that people who dress 'punk' want their individuality to be acknowledged, we can't assume that just because someone wears fake tan is just a bimbo.

 

[spiritualtramp]

shock ! horror !

May Day Poison threats to Dublin received by The Sun .

http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=64558

 

[treelo]

People were handing out Mayday leaflets (Dublin Grassroots Network) today in the city centre

I walked past three of them and none of them handed/offered me a leaflet

In the end I had to ask a fourth person for one and said to him "do you think because I'm wearing a suit I might not be interested"

He just looked at me blankly

A genuine oversight or a bunch of fucking snobby judgmental cunts?

pricks

not to break the tone here or anything, but possibly a genuine oversight? grassroots have been doing leaflet runs all over the place, including going door to door in residential areas. which hardly sounds like a group only interested in folks with funny haircuts.
i've always found the grassroots network, specifically the grassroots gatherings, to be extraordinarily inclusive. one of the primary aims i heard discussed when they were putting the leaflet together was to involve and inform as many sections of society as possible, specifically those traditionally outside the protest/activist movement.
calling them 'pricks' and 'fucking snobby judgemental cunts' strikes me as pretty aggressive, and funnily enough, pretty fucking judgemental.

 

[spiritualtramp]

calling them 'pricks' and 'fucking snobby judgemental cunts' strikes me as pretty aggressive, and funnily enough, pretty fucking judgemental.

don't get your knickers in a twist . nlgbbbblth calls everyone 'pricks' . it is indeed a rare sight to see a post by him that does not contain the word 'pricks' .

 

[rape the drummer]

those people may also have had shitty comments made to them and general obnoxiousness thrown their way by trying to offer leaflets to people in 'suits' or what not and could have been fed up trying.

just a possibility.

i'm not one for making big posts here so just another short note on the whole earlier issue of an alternative economic system etc. (i didn't really read too much of it just this page). anyone interested in the topic should read 'Parecon' by Michael albert- its a monumental book on the topic and offers a whole new economic system that in practice could prove far more virtuous than capitalism or socialism or communism or any other type of economic system, given a chance it really could work. Such ideas as- "the solution to bad institutions is not no institutions, but good instituitions".

you get it here: www.akuk.com and Michael albert does a lot of work for the Znet magazine. not sure of the web address right now but it might be www.Znet.org
............put it in a search engine. later

 

[egg_]

Ah Jane
Take off your Ph.D. hat for a minute - you don't need to define a term to have a good idea of what it means to the person who is using it ... and even if you do define it it doesn't mean that different people won't have different ideas about what it means

Example: "jazz"

 

[Latex lizzie]

jazz=NICE.

 

[egg_]

You see?
I think jazz=BORING

 

[pete]

Artistic motorbike mechanics beware:

Three people, two men and a woman, will appear in court in Dublin this morning to face charges under the Public Order Act.

They were arrested in Leeson Place last night on suspicion that they were preparing for a potential disturbance over the May Day weekend.

A number of items, including crash helmets, assorted tools and poster-making equipment were seized.


The men are aged 38 and 19; the woman is 20 years old.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0428/mayday.html

 

[pete]

Three charged with trespassing in Dublin


Two men and a woman have been charged with trespassing at the Dublin District Court following arrests in the city last night.
They are 38-year-old Giuseppie Gisardi and 19-year-old Niall Kitchly, with addresses in the United Kingdom, and 20-year-old Polly Murphy, with an address in London.

Gisardi was also charged with possession of an implement that could cause danger.
All three have surrendered their passports and were remanded in custody until 5 May.

When arrested at Leeson Place in Dublin at 10.15pm last night, all three gave their addresses as no fixed abode.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0428/mayday.html