Bernard Moffatt's blog

I have often seen the Irish War of Independence (1919-21) as being the defining moment when the colonised people of the globe started to throw of the shackles of their colonial occupiers. However in parallel with the struggle in these Islands many hundreds of miles to the south on the coast of what is now Morrocco a now forgotten leader led a successful guerrilla war starting in 1920 which established the ‘Republic of the Rif’ (1921 - 1927).

“the employment of workers in the occupations in which they can have the satisfaction of giving the fullest measure of their skill and attainments and make their greatest contribution to the common wellbeing” (Extract from the Declaration of Philadelphia - ILO)

Curious little news item here from Manx Radio which interviews a ships officer on HMS Mersey which is apparently now in the Irish Sea on ‘Fishery Protection’ duties:

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/royal-navy-will-follow-o...

The vessel was previously in the Channel on anti-migrant patrols. So why the pre Brexit deployment to these waters now and why visit Mann who have their own Fishery protection vessel to cover the Manx territorial sea area?

News from the Celtic League:

The Celtic League have written to the IAEA (Acting) Secretary General Cornel Feruta asking if the UN nuclear safety agency endorses a decision of the UK ONR to relax safety rules to allow Hunterston Power Station to be restarted:

“The Acting Secretary General
Cornel Feruta
International Atomic Energy Agency
PO Box 100
1400 Vienna
Austria

By email

20/08/2019

Dear Sir

News from the Celtic League:

The UK Nuclear regulator the ONR is to allow Hunterston B nuclear power plant to restart the plant had been taken out of drive because of cracking in the reactor core. However astonishingly the decision is not because the reactor is safe but because the regulator has allowed the safety margins to be relaxed.

Previously operational cracking was not allowed to exceed 350 axillary cracked bricks bit this allowance has now been DOUBLED to 700.

Here is the relevant section of the report:

‘to behave ethically in terms of trade with Africa it could be achieved overnight it just takes a government and Tynwald to stop allowing us to be part of the exploitation of Africa it may make a difference’

That Manx Radio story got me thinking about our links as an Island with Africa. I’ve been interested in this topic since the late 1970s when I was a campaigner against apartheid and the white regime in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

The Isle of Man government is proud of its overseas aid record and keeps ‘plugging’ the digging of bore holes in Kenya or passing on a redundant fishery protection vessel to Sierra Leone etc. But when we are not involved in aid to Africa we can also be aiding rich Africans with their property purchases it seems.

According to this report (sourced from Manx Radio) an Angolan woman reputed to be worth £2 billion has just used IOM offshore interests to purchase a home.

Here’s the section from the finance uncovered.org story:

So what has the demonstrations by Irish Beef Farmers during late July and August got to do with the fate of the Amazon Rainforest. More to the point why are the Socialist Left in Ireland aligning themselves with the plight of small farmers?

Langouet in Brittany is just a small town of 600 people but its Major is in trouble for defying the central authorities. He’s banned pesticides and he and his fellow citizens are taking other unilateral steps to protect their environment.

Methane concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere are linked to fracking says Green News.ie. Fracking is controversial with opposition in Britain and Ireland to the practice. Now Green News posits a link to methane:

“Increasing methane concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere over the past decade is likely linked to emissions from the fracking industry, a new US study has found.