Workers Solidarity Movement

A Taiwanese news channel has produced this amusing (were it not so serious) animation that tells the story of the rise of the Celtic Tiger and the bank bail now in process.  It gets some of the historical context right - the famine and mass migration - but sometimes it has an odd view of Ireland. They reckon we we will be back to driving ox-drawn carriages - someone should tell them about the donkeys.  It shows bankers holding a gun to the state's head and a beer-drinking Cowen is later depicted as a leprechaun who is knocked to the ground and kicked by angry protesters, as is a Fianna Fáiler giving out cheese (but it's Edam rather than Cheddar).

Well their Oxen prediction is a bit off, but perhaps they'll prove right about Cowen getting the kicking.

Further reading

• A radical analysis of the four year plan and call to action
• The need for a general strike
• Understanding the IMF / ECB intervention

Video - Understanding the origins of the crisis
A very detailed talk on the cause of the current world financial crisis, that starts off by explaining the background economics in an easy to understand manner, and moves on to the role the war and other events apart from the sub-prime crash played .