As the slow but interminable drip feed of Wikileaks revelations continues, there has been a lot of coverage of American reaction to the release of diplomatic secrets. Some interesting pieces include this in The Economist, which was inspired by a piece in The New York Times here.

America stood as the last superpower after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Unrivalled, American values spread as globalisation increased, perhaps embodied by Francis Fukuyama's call for an 'end of History' (in a 1989 essay and also a book in 1992). What was Fukuyama arguing for? Does his hypothesis still make sense? By Shane Creevy

J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace (1999) challenges its readers and, indeed, literary history itself. By Shane Creevy.

The legacy of literary traditions is an important one. Too often throughout the centuries the English language has been used as a tool of domination; from Edmund Spenser's polemic on the barbarians of Ireland to Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

In editing the recent review of Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing, so much was taken out. For those interested in the novel, here is another exposition of a key scene. By Shane Creevy.

The Crossing (1994) is Cormac McCarthy's finest achievement, but read less often than his other blockbusters. It is the middle novel within The Border Trilogy, which also comprises All The Pretty Horses and Cities of the Plain. The following is an appraisal of one of the greatest novels of modern times. By Shane Creevy.

Cormac McCarthy rarely appears for interviews. Reflections on his own work remain somewhat mysterious.

Don Wycherley owns the stage in the latest Blood in the Alley production. By Shane Creevy.

Jumping The Sharks is a new play, written by the Stewart Parker-nominated Micheál Lovett and directed by Blood in the Alley's Geoff Gould, running in the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin.

Tens of thousands of students marched in Dublin today to protest education cutbacks mooted for December's budget. But protest turned to violence as riot police attempted to move protestors from outside the Department of Finance. By Shane Creevy

The group had been attempting a 'sit-in' outside the Department as the large crowds were dispersing after the main event had finished.

The Community Platform today launched a campaign for a more progressive tax system. Speakers at the launch criticised government cutbacks and media reportage of the cuts. By Shane Creevy.

Chaired by Fergus Finlay in Buswells Hotel, The Community Platform (consisting of 29 national networks and organisations) launched a campaign to influence public opinion in advance of Budget 2011. The group proposes that cuts are not the only option for the government to reduce the budget deficit.

At a public meeting in Dublin last night, an audience was told of the socialist alternative to capitalism. An outline was also given of the efficiencies in socialist democracies. By Shane Creevy.

Hosted by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), and led by UCD sociologist Kieran Allen, the audience was told that the need for societal change was unarguable.

Arrest comes as Shell To Sea campaign digs the sand in search for Corrib pipe. By Shane Creevy.