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Hi folks, as usual a busy time on the blog, although we have all been busy with other stuff like work-work, children and family, political activities and so on. We are just about to start our Imperialism study group and we're currently discussing with some other people around the country the idea of a national educational event later in the year. If you're interested in either of these, please get in touch asap. Now to the new stuff on the blog: Are public hospitals, like Dunedin hospital, examples of 'socialism in action', a view recently put forward by Andrew Tait, one of the leaders of ISO. We say no. Read our articles - and you can link to Andrew's from there: Sloppy food and politics: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/sloppy-food-and-politics/ Is Dunedin Hospital red? How (not) to propagandise for socialism: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/is-dunedin-hospital-red-how-not-to-propagandise-for-socialism/ We reprint a statement by a British socialist group on the Hillborough Stadium collapse in which 96 soccer fans lost their lives and where the state and the media continually blamed the fans. Finally, after almost 30 years, the fans have been vindicated. See: : https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/british-marxist-workers-group-on-hillsborough-findings/ Radio NZ recently interviewed veteran Iranian Marxist Yassamine Mather, whose work we regularly feature on Redline: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/05/18/interview-on-iran-with-yassamine-mather/ Also see our own interview with Yassamine from a couple of years ago: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/repression-and-resistance-in-iran-interview-with-yassamine-mather/ And Yassamine's article on what happened in Iran following the 1979 toppling of the shah: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/marxism-and-the-iranian-revolution/ Further on Iran, we have run several articles by Torab Saleth, who was a leader of the Iranian section of the Fourth International during the 1979 revolution and for a short period thereafter. See, for instance, his analyses of how the mullahs, rather than the socialists, ended up in power in 1979 and how they have been able to hold onto it ever since: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/12/23/veteran-iranian-revolutionary-on-the-class-nature-of-the-regime/ Torab also wrote recently about the current state of the workers' movement in Iran: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/06/14/the-working-class-movement-in-iran-2014-and-a-2008-interview-with-torab-saleth/ Along with (directly below) the article on the workers' movement is a 2008 interview I did with Torab. Sean Bresnahan of the 1916 Societies looks at the low turnout in the Stormont Assembly elections: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/low-election-turnout-voters-withdrawing-consent-the-stormont-case/ We run a statement by a US socialist group on the current political and economic situation there: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/us-marxist-workers-group-on-political-and-social-situation-there/ Happy reading! _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
