Fidel and Che: A Revolutionary Friendship - A review

I first picked up Fidel and Che about six months ago in a bookshop. At the time, looking through it in the store, I didn't think it was worth either my time or my money.

However, a few months later, I have been proven quite wrong. Having seen it once again, in my local library, I decided to take a chance on it. And I'm glad that I did so.

Fidel and Che purports itself to be a biography of the two men: how they grew up,how they met, how their friendship blossomed etc. But it is more than that. It reads like no other biography I have read before. In fact, at times, it doesn't even feel like a biography: it feels like a marvellous piece of fiction, so well is it written.

This is even more surprising than it should be considering the author is a university lecturer. You might expect it to read like a history essay; long, boring and laborious. But it doesn't, and the author, Simon Reid-Henry, deserves much credit for this.

Were all historical biographies written as well, the subject might become more popular. But for now, I'm urging you to read this revolutionary piece of work. I promise that you won't be disappointed.

Attempt at online magazine

http://www.openzine.com/aspx/zine.aspx?IssueID=17341

Why do we put up with politicians?

Why do we put up with politicians?

It's an infuriating question and one that has never seemed more relevant.

I say it's an infuriating question because there are usually infuriating answers. For the past few years here in Ireland, we have been complaining consistently about our elected representatives. They earn too much, they don't do what they said they would, they're liars, they'r corrupt etc. etc. And yes, that stands true for many politicians not just in Ireland, but around the world.

But when you ask people "Why do you putup with it? Why don't you go and do something about it?", their answer is often, "well, what could I do about it?" and " Why? Whoever we elect will be just as bad or worse".

That's not the answer we need. People need to believe that whomever gets elected will do the best for the citizens that they are supposed to represent. But people alone cannot change things. The system and the political mindset must change if we are to progress.

Especially in Ireland, politics is seen as a last resort for people who can't get a real job. It is seen not as a privilege, but as a right because their father or mother or uncle held the position. They instantly assume that the seat will one day be theirs. Indeed, some TD's seats are even referred to as the 'family seat'.

Democracy and politics must be restored to it's original purpose. Itmust be seen as nothing more a public service, nothing more, nothing less. It was the Ancient Greeks who came up with the first democratic method, choosing 300 citizens to make laws throughout the year. Afterwards, they would go back to their farms, having done their service. The same was through of Rome, at least at first. When their was a crisis, one man was appointed to lead the empire. It wasn't seen as an honour, or a chance to impose their will. It was seen as doing their duty for their empire.

If we had that mentality here in Ireland, perhaps we would not be in this crisis. And even if we were, then we would be better-suited to come out of it in good shape. But politics has become nothing more than a job to people, a way to squeeze the people for everything they can.

Tea Party Madness

THE 'MAD' TEA PARTY

Do you remember the scene in Alice in Wonderland with the Mad Hatter’s tea party? Well, if you can imagine Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Christine O’Donnell along with other right wing leaders sitting around a table, then that’s the Tea Party movement in a nutshell. Or a tea pot, whichever you prefer.

The Tea Party movement, which is really a conglomerate made up of a bunch of smaller movements and protest groups, has become the premium rightwing party in America. Everything they have touched has turned to gold in Republican eyes. No matter how intolerant their candidates have been, they have been backed all the way. Even the influential and powerful Karl Rove, former policy maker for the Bush administration, has been forced to back down over previous negative comments over the movement.

All of this is despite their lack of success in the mid-term elections held earlier this month. Critics have pointed out that had the Republican Party put forward more “mainstream” candidates in the races they lost, then the right could have controlled the whole of Congress. This was especially true in the Delaware and Nevada elections, which had been targeted as seats to win.

The fate of their spiritual leader Sarah Palin remains unclear. Many of the candidates she backed in the elections were defeated. The defeat of Joe Miller in Alaska was particularly embarrassing, coming as it did in her own home state. It was made even worse by the fact that he was defeated by the Republican’s rejected candidate, Lisa Murkowski, who won the election as a write-in candidate, the first in nearly 50 years.

Since the elections, the question has been whether Palin will run in 2012. With a successful book tour and a primetime TV series, the likelihood has been diminished. But her refusal to commit to running, or not running has left the door open for her and her dog-faithful supporters.

The only question left for her to answer is whether she will walk through it.

The 4 M's

The 4 M's have become incredibly important in the world today. These M's stand for oppression, media bias, stirring up hatred and a severe curtailing on what we see, hear and read.  

Of course, they also stand for something else. Murdoch's Maniacal Media Machine.

Rupert Murdoch is undoubtedly one of the most powerful people on the face of this planet. He wields his influence globally through his media conglomerate News Corporation. There is barely anywhere in the world that you could go without seeing some form of media controlled by Murdoch.

Known throughout the world mainly for his ownership of FOX, he has amassed the type of power that an old style emperor might have. He has been at the forefront of several aggressive takeovers of smaller media outlets, and is currently involved in a battle of wits with the British Government over his proposed takeover of BSkyB.

But with such power, there should surely come some sort of responsibility for Murdoch to be a fair and just voice through his media machine. Alas, it would be easier to ask a penguin to paint my garden wall.

He has used the once noble vocation of journalism like a child uses a cheap toy. They play around with it, chew it up, spit it up and finally, when they no longer care for it, throw it away to let the dog have its way with it. Once Murdoch is taken from us , journalism will be left to fight for the scraps. His empire will crumble and fall and be divided amongst his children, friends, enemies and lovers (if anyone ever loved him.)

But before he goes he is determined to amass as much power as possible. Should he acquire BSkyB, he will essentially control the majority of the media in Britain. The BBC nad Channel 4 will be the only voices of reason left in television, with the Guardian left fighting off the hordes of Nurdoch owned papers.

It is ironic that the Murdoch University in Australia, completely unconnected to him, is known as one of the best colleges of journalism in the country. While journalism has changed as a profession, there can be no doubt that with him at the forefront, it has become lazy and sleazy.

When the time eventually comes for him to go to that Sky box in the sky, I, for one, will not be mourning him. I will be making a desperate grab to take over one of his papers like everyone else.

After all, he is the Devil.


( For legal purpose, Rupert Murdoch is not the actual Devil. Comments made here are the opinion of the author and the author alone, and in no way represent the views of blogspot.com)

 

When I was growing up, one of the first things I remember hearing on television was Bill Clinton’s now immortal statement “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. Ever since then, I, like a lot of the western world, have developed an innate curiosity with US politics in general. And now, with the mid-term elections looming, it’s time to look forward to the rollercoaster yet again.

Mid-term elections are a curious thing for many people living in Ireland, England and most of Europe. In many countries, elections are only held if the government collapses, if there is a change of leader, deaths or retirements. The United States, however, is different.

The mid-term elections are considered extremely important in US politics. As the name suggests, they are held midway throughout the incumbent president’s term. This means that they are generally held every four years, with the most recent being in 2006.

In a mid-term election, control of both Houses of Congress is in essence up for grabs. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives all face re-election, while a third of the members in the Senate have to face the voters, regardless of whether they’ve been there for two years or twenty years. This time round, 37 Senate seats are being contested.

These elections are being held amid the recessionary gloom and doom, which many experts have predicted will mean bad things for the Democrats. Currently in control of the House of Representatives (257 seats to 178), and also the Senate (59 seats to 41), they have been campaigning furiously in order to limit the number of losses. However, many commentators are predicting that this campaigning will ultimately be futile. The common consensus in America is that the Republicans will gain seats and once again regain control of the House of Representatives. The Senate has been a lot closer to call, with no-one able to make a solid prediction as to who will be in control after the election.

This has been in part due to the emergence of the Tea Party movement. This movement was started mainly by people angry at “big government” spending. Mainly composed of Republicans dissatisfied with the way the party is being run, they have proven to be effective at garnering support away from conventional candidates. This was seen in the Delaware primary, where Christine O’Donnell, backed by the Tea Party and Sarah Palin, defeated Republican backed candidate Mike Castle.

This has been seen as a good thing for her Democrat opponent, as Tea Party supporters are seen as very right-wing, much more so than the Republican Party in general. But with the strong anti-incumbent, anti-government feeling currently sweeping across the country, this may not translate into any success whatsoever.

It will be a difficult election for Barack Obama, no matter the results. He approaches these elections in what can only be described as a terrible political state. He has been attacked on all sides because of what has been seen as his failure to control government spending and the vast number of unemployed. His approval rating has fallen to under 50% and even those who would have voted for him two years ago are turning their back on him for what they perceive as the lack of change he has brought to the country.

The healthcare reform that Obama has committed himself, and indeed his party to, has cost him much of the popularity that swept him to power a little under two years ago. He has been slammed for spending what has been described as an exorbitant amount of money at a time when there are millions of people in the United States unemployed.

With the Democrats poised to lose control of at least one House of Congress, questions will be asked whether the rest of Obama’s term will be marked by Republican blocking of any legislation. This has occurred often enough throughout history that it will be a real concern for Obama’s administration.

It will be a concern for them because despite the common consensus of the US president being the “most powerful man in the world”, it is in fact Congress who holds the power to make or break any piece of legislation. This means that had the Republicans held any sort of majority in either house when the healthcare legislation was proposed, then its defeat would have been a certainty.

President Obama still has a little over two years to ensure he makes the kind of changes he so emphatically promised on the campaign trail only two years ago. But without Congress on his side, and with the American people only a few steps away from revolting in the streets, the challenges he faces are overwhelming. It will be interesting to see whether he will be able to overcome them.

Welcome to a new era of information!

Welcome! Wilkommen! Failte Roit! Plus other language welcomes as well. I9 apologise for not knowing more, but that's not what I do.

You have decided to look at my blog. Congratulations to you! I promise you, whoever you are, and wherever you may be, that I will seek to inform you about anything political worldwide.

This is my first venture into the blogging world, so it may take me a while to come fully to grips, but once I'm in control, there will be no stopping me.

I do hope you check back for my first article. Guten Tag!