Roobin's blog

The case against 24 hour news

Mon, 2005-12-12 07:17 — Roobin

The case against 24 hour news

Fire crews move to quell infernoFlames reaching into the sky were seen from miles awayFirefighters are mounting a massive operation to smother the ferocious fire still raging at a Hertfordshire oil depot after more than 24 hours.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4520430.stmREPORTS OF LOUD BANG: SOMETHING TO DO WITH A FIRE...!Anchorman: Let's go over, live, to the scene where Michael Dashingreporter is reporting... live!Michael Dashingreporter: Thanks, Anchorman. And, I can exclusively reveal the depot is still on fire, yes still on fire.

Charges likely over De Menezes shooting

Fri, 2005-12-09 09:14 — Roobin

The chair of the commission investigating the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes today said it was "likely" its findings would be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. Mr de Menezes, a Brazilian national, was shot seven times in the head by armed police officers at Stockwell underground station, in south London, who thought he was a suicide bomber. The handing over of the report from the Independent Police Complaints Commission could lead to criminal charges being brought against the officers. Asked whether the report would be handed over, Nick Hardwick, the IPCC chair, said: "I think that is likely". Mr Hardwick said the IPCC had to decide whether its findings indicated criminal offences might have taken place. The CPS would then have to decide whether to bring charges against any of the Scotland Yard officers involved. Damn Right: http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1663778,00.html

Big up to Vladimir, word!

Mon, 2005-12-05 11:51 — Roobin

Put simply, Karl Marx invented socialism as a science but Lenin perfected it as an art.Like it or lump it, Lenin founded a party that led the working class to its one, undeniable victory. For this alone, Lenin is a figure of world importance.Civil war and Stalin destroyed the physical legacy of the workers republic, but we still have Lenin’s works. They mostly consist of letters and polemics, appeals and decrees. He wrote almost nothing with an eye to posterity. Every fibre of his being, every sinew of his mind was dedicated to the immediate tasks of his party and the movement.If there he made one breakthrough it was the theory of the revolutionary party, pretty much everything else stems from that discovery. Yet there is not one document that completely captures this theory. No single work ever could. Only by getting to grips with the totality of Lenin’s life and work can we start to appreciate it. The needs of the movement would change from one moment to the next, and the revolutionary party would change and adapt.

French Stuff... Oh Yeah

Mon, 2005-12-05 11:35 — Roobin

French Stuff... Yeah.

The recent French riots should be seen both as an inspiration and a warning.They can only be seen in the context of the general social unrest that is accelerating across Europe, and in particular France. It’s a conflict best described as the struggle between social and neo-liberal Europe.When you think anti-capitalism and Europe you think France. This is a country where revolution is part tradition and living memory. This is the country of ATTAC, the sans papiers and Jose Bove. This is the country of numerous social explosions; the general strike in 1995, which toppled the Tory government of the time; the 2003 summer strike wave that threatened to do the same.
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