Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Disabled Face Poverty
Disabled people are more likely to live in hardship now than a decade ago. The poverty trap is largely due to higher day-to-day living costs for basics needs such as mobility aids, care and transport for people with disabilities which can be up to 25 per cent more than for able-bodied people .
The report, 'Disability Poverty in the UK' finds that disabled people are twice as likely to live in hardship than others. The report says that more than one-third of children living in poverty in the UK live in low-income disabled households.
Mr Parckar warns that while deprivation faced by children and elderly people has received much government attention, the hardship of people with disabilities has not been recognised.
Yet another group of people who suffer poverty . But there should not be league table of "i am more poverty-stricken than thou" and for those who suffer such impoverishment and for those who campaign to eliminate it , be prepared for all those worthy practical proposals by politicians and charity professionals to fall on stoney barren ground .
Monday, January 07, 2008
Blue Monday
Triggers for Blue Monday include the weather and the arrival of the Christmas credit card bill. The formula was calculated from research carried out by Dr Cliff Arnall from the University of Cardiff.
Jeni McCabe from HR consultancy Simple Corporate Resource Solutions said : "Problems can arise with the festivities being over, 'real life' resuming, foul weather, first credit card bills of the year coming through our doors and so on. But in reality these symptoms cause year-round headaches for employers. Our event will help delegates prevent and treat these common workplace ailments. There's no doubt that a happy workforce is a productive workforce."
Every day is a Blue Monday for the world's working class and everyday the capitalist class wants us to be more productive .
Keir Hardie on Migrant Labour
James Keir Hardie in 1889 said said :-
"Dr. Johnson said God made Scotland for Scotchmen, and I would keep it so" .
Speaking of the Poles at Glengarnock, he said "their habits are very filthy, six or seven males occupying a one-roomed house, and having women to cook for them"
He suggested that the employment of foreigners by British employers should be prohibited, unless they were political exiles or had fled from religious persecution or if they came from countries where the wage rates were the same as in Britain.
Instead of directing his wrath at the capitalist class which exploits and takes advantage of the lack of working class unity , Hardie simply parrots the commonly held mis-conception that it is the poor unfortunate immigrant who is responsible for wage cuts .
Members of the capitalist class don't stay put. They travel freely round the world, from London to Paris, from grouse moor to ski slope, from Caribbean island to Mediterranean cruise, from the chateau in Switzerland to the ranch in Arizona. And no-one dreams of telling them that they can't. Like many laws enacted by the ruling class, restrictions on the crossing of borders really only hit at members of the working class. The apologists for capitalism who try to foment ill-feeling towards "foreigners" landing here, whether they come to escape persecution, or to obtain slightly higher wages, never attack those many members of the upper class who swan about the world as if there were no such thing as state boundaries.
Vultures of War
Saturday, January 05, 2008
ALL RIGHT FOR SOME
"Any talk of a downturn in UK manufacturing seems very distant to Ian Robertson, chairman of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the upmarket UK vehicle maker owned by BMW of Germany. In 2007, Rolls-Royce’s plant in Goodwood, West Sussex, is likely to make just under 1,000 cars, a quarter up on 2006, while in 2008 Mr Robertson is pencilling in further growth of at least 10 per cent." (Financial Times, 27 December) RD
Friday, January 04, 2008
AN ILL-DIVIDED WORLD
"One of the most famously flawed stamps in U.S. history sold for $825,000 to a New York man who bought it slightly cheaper than the record price another "Inverted Jenny" copy fetched at auction last month. The rare 1918 24-cent stamp, depicting an upside-down Curtis JN-4 biplane known as "Jenny," was sold privately this week to a Wall Street executive who did not want to be identified. Heritage Auction Gallerie’s president Greg Rohan, who brokered the sale, said the buyer is the same collector who lost an auction last month in which another "Inverted Jenny" sold for $977,500. Rohan said his client, whom he described as not being a rare stamp collector, was glad to get another chance at the prized misprint. "I suspect he's going to enjoy owning it and showing it to a few close friends," Rohan said." (Yahoo News, 27 December) RD
TEN WASTED YEARS
"There are 1.4 million children living below the poverty line in Britain, even though at least one of their parents has a job. Despite the changes to taxes and benefits, and the introduction of the national minimum wage, the number of poor children in working households is no lower than in 1997, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research says. (Times, 3 January) RD
Definitely not for the homeless
10. 2 OSWALD ROAD EDINBURGH
Some buyers are looking for a house they can make their mark on, others are looking for a home that has already been renovated to the highest standard. This traditional Victorian stone villa in the perennially popular Grange area is in the latter category. From the outside, it has a traditional appearance, but the inside has been made over with a light, contemporary feel and state-of-the-art fixtures and fittings. It has a cinema room and substantial Victorian conservatory, and a guest flat was recently added above the triple garage.SOLD FOR £3,500,000 (April 07)
9. 37 DRUMSHEUGH GARDENS, EDINBURGH
A former architect's office over seven floors, this property was converted by its former owners into a family home. The house is now one of the biggest in the West End of Edinburgh and includes a fully-equipped gym with stunning panoramic views over the city. The garden looks out on to Dean Village and the Water of Leith, while the front of the house has views of the castle. Converting former offices into top end residential homes is one of the big trends at the top end of the market.Blair Stewart, who is head of residential sales for Strutt and Parker, said: "The beauty of the West End is the easy access to the financial district and to the airport."SOLD FOR £3,500,000 (Jan 07)
8. 22 HERMITAGE DRIVE, EDINBURGH
Buyers are sometimes willing to pay a premium for homes that have not been modernised and renovated to someone else's taste – which is one of the reasons this Edwardian property raised more than a million over the asking price.Properties in Hermitage Drive come on the market rarely and before it went up for sale, Allanton, built in 1904, had been in the same family for 40 years. A fine redstone property, it still retained a lot of the original features but was ripe to be renovated. It also features a ground-floor annexe.SOLD FOR £3,729,500, Oct 2007
7. GREEN GABLES, CALEDONIAN CRESCENT, GLENEAGLES
The fashion here is for huge American-style modern mansions, but there are a few older homes from the 1920s when the street was originally built.Green Gables, a large traditional family home, which dates from that period, is on one of the biggest plots on this private road, which enjoys a peaceful wooded setting.Recently sold, it is likely to be extensively remodelled or perhaps even demolished if the buyers want a home to compete with the vast marble mansions of their nearest neighbours.SOLD FOR £3,750,000 (Sept 07)
6. STRATHEARN LODGE, CALEDONIAN CRES, GLENEAGLES
Caledonian Crescent, overlooking the famous golf course, is the new must-have address for Scotland's multimillionaires.Built in 2004, Strathearn Lodge is, by our reckoning, the most expensive modern home in Scotland. With marble floors and a bright airy feel, it has everything the modern tycoon needs, with four huge bedroom suites, a games room, cinema and built-in three-car garage. Homes in this private crescent benefit from high security, with houses hidden behind huge hedges and electronic gates. SOLD FOR £3,750,000 (Dec 07)
4. WOODCROFT, BARNTON AVENUE, EDINBURGH
There were people who said David Murray had paid over the odds for Woodcroft when he bought it at the end of 2006. But he proved them wrong by selling ten months later at a big profit. The official sale of Barnton Avenue came on the same day as The Scotsman concluded its series of Scotland's most expensive homes in 2006 – so it was too late to make our list. But at the time, it broke all records as Scotland's first £4 million home.The new buyer was rumoured to be an Edinburgh businessman.SOLD FOR £4,500,000 (Oct 06)
5. FORDELL CASTLE, NEAR DUNFERMLINE, FIFE
A Fife property record was set at the end of last year with the sale of 16th- century Fordell Castle, which has been renovated to become a luxurious family home –owning it also traditionally confers the title of Baron and Baroness of Fordell. Set in 210 acres of woodland and formal gardens, it has an imposing great hall and oak-panelled bedrooms. Set in the gardens is St Theriot's private chapel, an aviary and an icehouse. Although both the castle and the chapel are A listed the building has been remodelled and modernised. SOLD FOR £3,850,000 (Nov 07)
3. 1 EASTER BELMONT ROAD, EDINBURGH
Secluded, private and with views across to the Pentland Hills, Easter Belmont Road is one of Edinburgh's most sought after addresses. In the words of Simon Rettie, of Rettie and Co: "This is the most exclusive residential street in Edinburgh."This property, which came on to the market a few months ago, is a large arts and crafts period family home, set in extensive grounds. The property needed renovation but attracted so much interest from buyers that it was able to attract a record price.SOLD FOR £4,875,000 (Sept 07)
2. WOODCROFT, 39 BARNTON AVE, EDINBURGH
The arts and crafts mansion on Edinburgh's "Millionaire's Row" was the first property in Scotland to break the £4 million barrier, when it was bought by Rangers chairman Sir David Murray at the end of 2006. But he never lived in the six-bedroom house, and it was sold ten months later for a £450,000 profit. Barnton Avenue is a secluded, tree-lined street with views over the Royal Burgess golf course. Popular with bankers and industrialists because of its proximity to the airport, it includes many huge family homes.SOLD FOR £4,950,000 (Aug 07)
1. SETON CASTLE, LONGNIDDRY
Built by classical architect Robert Adam using the stones of the ruined Seton Palace, this grand Georgian, 14-bedroom house, formerly owned by the Wemyss family, was extensively refurbished by an Edinburgh entrepreneur, who put it on the market for £15 million, hoping to attract an overseas buyer. After two years, the price was reduced to £7 million and more recently to £5 million, when it was snapped up by Stephen Leach and Heather Luscombe, founders of internet marketing company Bigmouthmedia.The four-storey house has a gallery, library, billiards room, nursery and staff quarters, which include a laundry room and butler's pantry. It is set in 13 acres of wooded parkland, overlooking the Firth of Forth and includes stabling for six horses, a coachman's cottage and the ruins of a medieval mill.SOLD FOR £5,000,000 (February 2007)
The criteria for what constitutes prime property is gradually changing, from homes above £1 million to those costing more than £2 million.
The ragged trousered philanthropists
The number of employees in Scotland working unpaid increased by 20,000 in 2007, bringing the total to 436,000. The average amount of unpaid overtime is six hours and 54 minutes a week.
The STUC has calculated that if everyone in the UK who works unpaid overtime did all their unpaid work at the start of the year, the first day they would get paid would be February 22.
The number of employees working unpaid overtime across the UK increased by 103,000 to nearly five million; about one in five of the working population. The average annual value of unpaid overtime in the UK is £4955 per employee.
"..today's figures suggest many people are not even being paid for putting in these extra hours.Workers in Scotland are giving away over £4500 a year in unpaid overtime. That's too much time and money that could be better spent with friends and family..." Grahame Smith, general secretary of the STUC said
Thursday, January 03, 2008
The working poor
Government efforts to tackle child poverty have "forgotten" to help poor parents who work.
Kate Stanley, head of social policy at the IPPR, said the challenge now was "to ensure that work really is a route out of poverty...Tax credits and the minimum wage have 'made work pay' relative to being on benefits, but these don't yet go far enough to ensure more children are lifted out of poverty. More action is needed to combine financial support and measures to boost parental employment with action to deliver fairness on pay and opportunities for progression at work."
Socialist Courier has news for this highly prestigious research institute - the slogan 'a fair days work for a fair days pay' is as old as the hills and for the working class it is a demand that is never fulfilled .
Poverty will end when the wages system itself ends .
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Bankrupt Solutions
The Scottish Government said it would allow so-called "Ninas" - people with no income and no assets - to declare themselves bankrupt for a fee of just £100.
The new "cheapie" bankruptcy will be available only to people who earn less than £220 a week, the equivalent of 40 hours on the minimum wage, and have less than £1000 in assets.
A capital(ist) solution to the problem of poverty !!
Meanwhile the Independent reports the accountancy firm Grant Thornton predicts the total number of personal insolvencies nationally will jump to at least 120,000 this year, almost triple the equivalent figure in 2004. As many as one third of bankruptcies in the first three months of the year will be caused by "excessive Christmas spending".
Steady increases in the cost of living are expected to tighten the screw. In only 12 months, the cost of filling up a vehicle with unleaded petrol had increased by 16 per cent, which meant the public was having to find an extra £155 a year to fill up the car.
Mr Gerrard , head of Grant Thornton's personal insolvency practice , said: "Coupled with rapidly increasing gas and electricity prices, which are forecast to jump by more than 10 per cent early this year, it's easy to see how those already struggling to pay off credit, particularly those servicing mortgages, are caving in to the pressure." He warned: "I believe personal insolvency numbers will move forward at a much faster pace than anticipated."
Howard Archer, the chief UK economist at Global Insight, suggested that in general people would have to be more frugal this year. "Household purchasing power is likely to be dented by higher energy and food prices over the coming months, while many home owners face having to re-fix their mortgages at significantly higher rates."
But there is always a silver lining inside capitalism since also according to the Independent , the debt collection industry grew sharply last year .There are now estimated to be 5,200 enforcement agents in England and Wales, including 600 county court bailiffs and more than 1,000 unregistered debt collection companies. Since 2003 the size of the industry has almost trebled, growing from £8.6bn of debt sold on to professional collection agencies to £22.7bn by the end of last year. It is forecast to grow to £24.1bn by the end of this year.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Holy rolling,bankrolling.Big upsurge in pious patronising patter disguised as hopes over New Year in Scotland
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Loan sharks condemned by cardinal Presumably less extortionate rates are better. Speaking at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, Cardinal Keith O'Brien urged those crippled by debt to seek help. Is he going to dig in deep and make interest free loans to help them out of the Vaticans swelling coffers,not a chance. The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland spoke of her wishes for a world "transformed" by love and hope. The Right Reverend Sheilagh Kesting wants "selfish ambition" cast aside. Cardinal O'Brien, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, will say the holiday season sees many families trapped in an ever increasing spiral of debt. 'Narrow interests' He points out that many families find themselves in the grip of loan companies and loan sharks, who demand an extortionate rate of interest, ensuring they remain trapped. He will condemn such practices and applaude the work done by many in the churches and wider society to help people out of debt, through credit unions and advice clinics. But, he doesnt condemn the very system which will keep those workers trapped in poverty and wage slavery.Debt or no debt. His call comes in a sermon to mark a world day of prayer for peace, in which he also speaks out against nuclear weapons, arguing that the pressure to keep the issue in the forefront of civil and church life must remain in the coming year. Peace will not come on a wing or a prayer.Peace will only come when the cause of war, the capitalist system and its intense competition, for markets, raw goods and materials,with powerful global rivalry is ended.War is an inevitable concommitant of capitalism. So let's get rid of capitalism then, root, branch and all . It is capitalism which is the cause of poverty, not high or low interest rates. Capitalism depends on us selling our mental and physical energies for a wage,or salary in order that we might live. With the exception of the capitalist class or social parasites such as religious orders, the vast majority are born poor and die poor, in order for us to service the capitalist system,to the end of making profits for a minority. As verily ,verily, we say unto youse, the poor shall always be with youse, for the pious claptrappists to mouth meaningless platitudes, ad infinitum. Amen. |
The wonderful world of capitalism
Sharp increase in prison suicides The Ministry of Justice has confirmed there were 92 apparent self-inflicted deaths in England and Wales in the same year as a record prison population. The deaths do not represent a record - but are almost 40% higher than 2006, reversing two years of falls. According to the Ministry of Justice figures, the number of apparent suicides in jail rose from a low of 67 in 2006 and 78 in 2005. The record number in recent years has been 95 deaths in both 2004 and 2002.
Four people on indeterminate sentences for public protection and 19 on life sentence were among the deaths. The figures show that, while 92 people killed themselves, more than 100 others were resuscitated after self-harm incidents that would have led to death. |
HOMES FIT FOR HEROES?
"A spokeswoman for the Royal British Legion said there were around 2,500 former servicemen and women living on the streets, and that the legion had received 1,485 calls from homeless ex-service personnel in the past year." (Times, 26 December) RD
Monday, December 31, 2007
Poor health
The charity Cancer Research UK studied nearly 13,000 patients from England's Northern and Yorkshire health regions. It found deprived women were less likely to be diagnosed in the early stages of disease, when treatment is most likely to be effective. They were also less likely to have surgery or radiotherapy.
The British Journal of Cancer study found that among the most affluent group, 40% had lumpectomies, which allow breast conservation, rather than full mastectomies to remove the breast. However, the figure among the most deprived group was just 31%.
They said that more women from deprived areas were likely to favour a mastectomy because it is a one-off treatment, whereas lumpectomy requires a course of radiotherapy, and therefore regular trips to a clinic, which can be difficult and costly.
The study also found that more than 22% of women from deprived backgrounds did not receive surgery, compared with just over 13% of more affluent women. Part of the reason for this disparity was due to late presentation, but the researchers also found women from deprived backgrounds were also more likely to have other health problems which made them unfit for surgery, or to turn down the option.
A slightly higher proportion of affluent women were seen within 14 days of referral by their doctor than women from more deprived areas. Women in deprived areas were less likely to be given radiotherapy and, on average, had a lower rate of five-year survival.
Dr Rosemary Gillespie, of the charity Breast Cancer Care, said: "The persistence of inequalities in treatment and outcomes highlights that key messages about breast health and screening are still not reaching those in deprived communities who need them."
education , once more
Shadow Schools Secretary Michael Gove highlighted figures showing a widening of the social gap in achievement. The figures show a 43.1% gap between the proportions of wealthy and deprived pupils achieving five good GCSEs including English and maths in 2007. In 2006, this gap in GCSEs, in favour of the wealthiest, had been 28.4%. The figures are based on comparisons of the GCSE results of pupils from the ten percent most affluent areas and the ten percent most deprived. These figures reflect the attainment gap using another poverty indicator - free-school meals.
This social divide in exam results shows "the education system is letting down the poorest," says Mr Gove
The government figures show how the link between home background and achievement stubbornly persists throughout children's years in school. When the school population is divided into 10 bands of affluence and deprivation, the level of achievement rises in precise step with increased wealth in every subject and at every level.
No matter what the palliatives that will be promised to address the problems , the cause is capitalism and poverty and those will not be challenged in any meaningful manner and inequalities of opportunity shall continue .
BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
COMIC BOOK CAPITALISM
BIG BROTHER IS HERE
Sunday, December 30, 2007
WHAT ARE YOU WORTH?
“MPs ARE preparing to rebel over Gordon Brown's plans to keep their pay rise well below inflation, with some saying they should be paid £100,000 a year.”
Will this lead to strike? In a previous report on this blog, it was pointed out that
They don’t have to, they just hold reviews and then vote themselves an increase, saves them striking and allows them to get on with running the country.
Last year they were set to award themselves £10,000-a-year “communications budget” just days after it emerges they make around £200,000 each from their generous existing pay and expenses package.
So what is it that makes the MPs discontent? “Politicians from all parties told Scotland on Sunday they expected to receive the above inflation figure of 2.5% as they have had no increases in real terms for six years. With another review not due until 2010, they plan to seize this opportunity to boost their basic salary of £ 6O, 277 a year. It was claimed last night that the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) may recommend an increase over three years of 10%, which would take their salaries to £65,500 by 2010. Many MPs are now expected to back that recommendation against Brown's advice.”
What do MPs think they are worth? “A submission to the SSRB by a cross-party advisory panel says MPs should be paid around £100, 000 a year to keep their salaries in line with comparable workers, such as chief executives of small and medium-size councils and directors of services in larger councils.”
The MPs think they are worth a 40% rise in wages and no doubt they don’t think their proposed rise will bring the country to its knees, only the every day worker, the ones who produce all the wealth, can bring the country to its knees, "that is what they would have us believe.”
Still, you have to feel for them, “When you’re looking at police and nurses’ pay awards of around 2%, it’s very difficult for us to justify a higher figure, but….we are getting paid only about half the salary of people in comparable jobs.” Sad isn’t it!
THIS IS LIBERATION?
"More than four years after the United States invaded Iraq , the country's children continue to face a litany of problems from disrupted educations to unsafe drinking water, detentions and violence, UNICEF reported Friday. Violence and displacement often kept Iraqi children out of school this year. The organization estimates that 2 million educations were interrupted, especially among primary-school students. .. Eighty percent of children outside Baghdad don't have working sewers in their communities, limiting access to safe water. ...An average of 25,000 children per month were displaced within Iraq by violence or intimidation. ...By the end of 2007, about 75,000 children were living in camps or temporary shelter. ...About 1,350 children were detained by military and police, "many for alleged security violations." (Yahoo News, 21 December) RD
Saturday, December 29, 2007
bankers
Lynn Peacock, chief executive the Clydesdale bank pay almost doubled to £2.1m. , compared with £1.1m in the preceding year. She also became entitled to an undisclosed number of shares under an incentive scheme operated by the parent company, National Australia group .
Friday, December 28, 2007
WALL STREET CASINO
That is capitalism for you, millions face homelessness while a small group of parasites rake it in! RD
CALIFORNIAN CATASTROPHE
"Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes sits "tent city," a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as might be expected, in a blighted city centre, but in the once-booming suburbia of Southern California. The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing crisis. The unravelling of the region known as the Inland Empire reads like a 21st century version of "The Grapes of Wrath" John Steinbeck's novel about families driven from their lands by the Great Depression. As more families throw in the towel and head to foreclosure here and across the nation, the social costs of collapse are adding up in the form of higher rates of homelessness, crime and even disease." (Yahoo News, 21 December) RD
Gilbert and riches
Thursday, December 27, 2007
A Very Merry Christmas ?
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
An Anti-Bolshevik Approach to Revolution
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
A Vision of Socialism
Monday, December 24, 2007
WORLD HUNGER WORSENS
THE CLASS DIVIDE
Branson Virgin Rail - Just the ticket
Richard Murphy, the director of Tax Research, an independent consultancy firm, said: "He's stripping the company of cash while saying at the same time, 'I need more public subsidy'."
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Minimum Wages - Maximum Exploitation
Around 150,000 staff are being denied rate of £5.52 an hour for adults and £4.60 for 18 to 21-year-olds, it says. Those in restaurants, hotels, cleaning, hairdressing and childcare were said to be the most likely to be underpaid.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "There should be no hiding place for bosses who are deliberately cheating their workers out of the minimum wage."
Socialist Courier will go further and say all wages and wage labour is theft . That it is slavery . Within capitalism , the fight to improve wages is indispensible but workers should take the next step - campaign to abolish wages .
Ernest Belfort Bax - A Socialist Thinker
This lecture is about the 19th Century Socialist thinker Ernest Belfort Bax .
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The property ladder
The average property is now out of reach of first-time buyers in 95% of places, according to the fifth annual First Time Buyer Review. Edinburgh and Helensburgh are the least affordable places for first-time buyers and properties there are 8.2 and 7.5 times the average income of a first-time buyer household. The deposit required by first-time buyers has soared 238% since 2002 and the average amount put down for a first property in Scotland is £25,951 - 95% of an average full-time worker's salary. Five years ago it was only 35% of an average worker's full-time earnings.
"It is beyond the reach of people who are earning between £12,000 and £16,000 a year to save up for that kind of deposit. " Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance said. "People are putting themselves in more risky positions and it will be people who are on the low end of the income scale who will pay the price for that."
Housing charity Shelter Scotland said that an additional 30,000 affordable rented homes, not including general housebuilding, were needed by 2011. It said that more than 200,000 people were on waiting lists and 9000 households were in temporary accommodation in March this year.
For a socialist take on housing read Building Profits Versus Building Houses
And for a more recent article on the house property price bubble read here
Nor should we think of the lack of shelter as just a Scottish problem , of course .
A man, believed to be in his sixties, was found dead on a wooden pallet in the Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris victims of homelessness and the cold . Another man, 62, was found dead in his car in Vanves, just west of the capital. The deaths have provoked new quarrels over the alleged failure of successive governments to provide lodgings for France's alleged 200,000 homeless people. One pressure group, Les Morts de la Rue (the dead on the street), claimed that at least 200 people, between 18 and 80, had died prematurely while sleeping rough in France in the past 12 months.
Jean-Paul Bolufer, the head of the private office of the Housing minister, Christine Boutin , said last month that it was "scandalous" that some relatively wealthy people lived in subsidised, publicly owned housing while others lived on the streets. a newspaper revealed that he was paying 1,200 Euros (£870) a month rent – a quarter of the market price – for a 190 square metre apartment in an upmarket area of the Left Bank. There were at "least 200,000" other well-off people living in subsidised flats in Paris, he said.
The Price of Learning
He can also expect to have an annual pension of £65,000 waiting for him at age 65.
The latest increase is likely to make Sir Muir one of the highest-paid principals in the country, depending on the increases enjoyed by other university leaders which have not yet been revealed. Last year, the highest-paid principals in Scotland were Professor Duncan Rice from Aberdeen University (£215,000), Dr Brian Lang from St Andrews (£209,000), and Sir Alan Langlands from Dundee (£202,000).
"There is a growing feeling that universities are being turned into businesses in which the collegiality on which their past successes have depended is abandoned and senior managers are paid inflated salaries to get as much as possible out of their junior employees for as little reward as possible." - Terry Brotherstone, who is president of the lecturers' union UCU Scotland
Karl Kautsky
The subject is Karl Kautsky and the Socialist Critique of Religion
Friday, December 21, 2007
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE ...
Is it? Hardly when you look at the facts.
"The full scale of the chaos left behind by British forces in Basra was revealed yesterday as the city's police chief described a province in the grip of well-armed militias strong enough to overpower security forces and brutal enough to behead women considered not sufficiently Islamic. As British forces finally handed over security in Basra province, marking the end of 4½ years of control in southern Iraq, Major General Jalil Khalaf, the new police commander, said the occupation had left him with a situation close to mayhem. "They left me militia, they left me gangsters, and they left me all the troubles in the world," he said in an interview for Guardian Films and ITV. Khalaf painted a very different picture from that of British officials who, while acknowledging problems in southern Iraq, said yesterday's handover at Basra airbase was timely and appropriate”. (Guardian, 17 December) RD
THIS IS "COMING GOOD"?
Capitalism has a strange set of values when 20 civilian corpses a day and 4,500 US soldier dead is looked upon as "coming good". RD
HEROISM AND REALITY
Bowman's parents may be puzzled about the lack of information of veterans' suicide, but it isn't hard to figure that such statistics would hardly help recruiting efforts. RD
Thursday, December 20, 2007
AMERICAN NIGHTMARE (2)
AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
"The current deflation of home prices is changing America. It's a real estate storm that made landfall like a slow-moving Gulf Coast hurricane here in south Florida and in other once-booming housing markets last year. In recent months it has gathered momentum and spread, shaping up to become perhaps the worst home-price slump since the 1920s and '30s. The bust promises to have lasting effects. Among them: It is defining the limits, for now, of what President Bush has called the "ownership society." A surging foreclosure rate means that the rate of homeownership, after a historic rise, is falling." (Yahoo News, 10 December) RD
Some Socialist Theory
Capitalist Charity
The £5 billion sale to Pearl of the group he founded netted him a personal £150 million . Cowdery's stake grew in value by some £25 million in the few weeks between him announcing a merger with Friends Provident, with Resolution shares at 616p, and selling to rival Hugh Osmond of Pearl for 720p, thanks partly to sparking a bidding war between Pearl and Standard Life. So he can well afford to be generous with his philanthropic gestures . And what , pray we ask , is this charitable institution he is financing .
The Resolution Foundation is an independent research and policy organisation formed in September 2005 to study "how people on low to moderate incomes fair in the mixed welfare economy" with a particular interest in promoting increased social mobility. The foundation's first project was the forerunner of the government's review chaired by Aegon UK chief executive Otto Thoresen into the creation of a national advice service dispensing "generic" financial guidance. It commissioned a study from McKinsey and Deloitte, whose proposed model "led to extensive lobbying on the benefits to individuals and the nation", the foundation said. It is now embarking on a new project, "to promote a fair and efficient supply of elderly care, with a focus on people on low to moderate incomes".
Forgive my ignorance , but doesn't all that just add up to a fancy way of saying it does market research and offer financial advice for investment funds ? Tax-free , of course .
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Citizens Advice - Workers being exploited
Last year Citizens Advice Bureaux across the UK dealt with more than half a million employment related queries. It estimates 60% of these involved the denial of statutory workplace rights such as the minimum wage, paid holiday and sick leave and pay. Some workers were also required to work excessively long hours or were denied proper rest breaks, the report said. Others were summarily dismissed for being pregnant. Other high risk groups include migrant workers and those who because of age, disability of lack of skills, would struggle to find another job .
"There are still far too many rogues out there, flouting the law, ignoring rules without sanction and profiting from vulnerable workers " -David Harker, Citizens Advice
As always , with people acting with good intentions , this report simply puts it all down to the some "bad apple" bosses who are using unfair practices to gain an advantage over the "responsible" employer and the problem can be removed by government reform of the law and the creation of government watch-dogs . That isn't the real problem or the real solution .
First , workers , especially the disadvantaged worker , must organise industrially through trade unionism to combat the immediate effects of exploitation , the stronger defending the weaker . An injury to one , is an injury to all .
But , then , it is necessary to move beyond mere defence and to-wards a position where the root cause of exploitation is recognised - the real problem - and that would be the capitalist system . And the political solution is not going cap-in-hand to the apologist parties of capital for amelioration but to once again organise but this time to abolish for once and for all this parasitic society where a minority live off the labours of the majority .
GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL (2)
" Emirates now offers enhanced private suites in First Class on selected aircraft. The new private suite is fully equipped with individual storage, a coat closet, vanity desk and personal mini bar. The extra-large seat reclines to become a fully flat bed, and the 23" wide-screen LCD screen features over 600 channels of nice entertainment. Our award winning, multilingual cabin crew provide an unprecedented level of personal service, including a la carte gourmet cuisine and an extensive wine list." RD
GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL
All very fishy
The journey for the scampi that ends up on dinner plates and in pub baskets across the country starts in traditional style - the catch being landed by inshore fishing boats in ports like Stornoway. From there it is taken by lorry to the Scottish border town of Annan, which is where things start to change.
In the past the scampi was shelled by machine in Scotland. Now it is taken first to Grangemouth and loaded into containers, which are in effect giant freezers.
They are shipped to Rotterdam before being loaded onto a huge container ship alongside around 7,000 other containers for the long haul to Bangkok.
The key part of the process takes place in Thailand, as the langoustine are peeled by hand .
The long journey home from Bangkok takes the frozen, peeled langoustine through Rotterdam again before a short hop across the North Sea to Grimsby, where the scampi is breaded - and then delivered to our supermarkets and our plates.
The whole round-trip is about 17,000 miles (27,353km).
"They cover this up and distract it by saying it's carbon neutral, but in truth this is about minimising costs and maximising profits." says Willie Mackenzie of Greenpeace.
The motives of Youngs Seafoods is indeed exactly what Greenpeace claim , grubby lucre, and nothing at all to do with energy conservation or protecting the enviroment from CO2 emissions . The local workers cannot compete, even if, on Britain's minimum wage, with the Thai prawn-peelers who are paid 25p per hour.
The company announced 120 job cuts when it transferred scampi shelling operations to Thailand and leaves less than 50 workers at the Dumfries facility.
John Holroyd, of the T&G, said: “This is all about exploiting cheap labour abroad..."
Another company , Dawnfresh of Uddingston , in 2006 shed 70 staff to send Scottish prawns to China for shelling before being returned to the UK for sale.
Horse Sense
Research published today will cast doubt on the rationale that bringing champion horses together will produce potentially race-winning foals. a horse's lineage is far less important than was previously thought. Genes account for only 10% of the prize money a horse wins in its lifetime
"The offspring of expensive stallions might tend to win more money, but not necessarily because they have inherited the best genes . It is likely those breeders best able to pay high stud fees are also those who are able to spend more on care of the horse, how it is trained, and who rides it - all of which will contribute more to how much it will win."
We in the socialist movement have been arguing that what genes determine in humans are the physical characteristics and the capacities of the brain, but not the actual behaviour and behaviour patterns . In other words, human nature is one thing, human behaviour another.
It makes horse sense .
Chocolate Class War
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Xmas Presents
Such presents have been growing in popularity and last year Oxfam sold £3.9 million worth of ethical gifts . The charity has this year launched a celebrity-led campaign to encourage more of us to send useful gifts - which may include items such as dung, condoms or even a can of worms - to help communities in the developing world.
However UK-based education charity Worldwrite says that far from being welcome, these gifts are often seen as "demeaning and patronising". Worldwrite also argues that far from encouraging development, buying someone a goat or a hoe for Christmas only conspires to keep recipients at the same subsistence levels year after year. "People in the developing world are like us - they know the sorts of things we have and they want them too " . They felt some projects epitomised "low horizons" and irritated locals who say they are offered "peanuts" with endless "accountability" and "target" forms to fill out.
Worldwrite's views are echoed by Ghanaian De Roy Kwesi Andrew, a teacher and translator, who says: "Our people and government have become merely the passive, obedient pupils to be preached to."
As a local teacher in Ghana , Godbless Ashie , puts it : "Africans have big brains, big aspirations and want to live in liberty."
We at Socialist Courier say the best Xmas present for everybody would be for all of us to put an end to capitalism and for us all to achieve socialism and put an end to exploitation and pauperism .
Monday, December 17, 2007
Coleman on Dietzgen
CRISIS, WHAT CRISIS?
"Thousands of bankers at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers will celebrate record bonus payments today, despite the global credit crunch. Lehman kicked off the good cheer as it emerged that it had handed Richard Fuld, 61, its chief executive, a $35 million (£17 million) share award. Goldman began to tell staff on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday of their share of what is expected to be an $18.8 billion pool - $2.3 billion more than last year's awards." (Times, 13 December)
Being a plumber, an engineer or a clerk doesn't seem such a good idea, does it? Ever heard of a clerk with a £17 million bonus? RD
Sunday, December 16, 2007
The usual Xmas story
The Tories claim the impact of homelessness on children goes beyond the misery of not having a permanent roof above their heads, making them far more likely to suffer from medical and social problems. The "social failure" of child homelessness is often followed by mental, physical and educational disadvantage. A homeless child is twice as likely to be admitted to an Accident & Emergency department, four times as likely to have respiratory infections and six times as likely to suffer speech impediments, as a child with a fixed address.
Director of the homeless charity the Simon Community, welcomed the report and its conclusions, saying: "What children need is a stable, healthy environment with people who love them, but also where they aren't constantly moving from one piece of low-quality housing to another, or have the threat of that hanging over them, because the housing stock in the UK is so desperately limited."
Mr Shapps said: "For 130,000 homeless children in England, this Christmas is unlikely to be much fun... "
Saturday, December 15, 2007
PROPERTY OWNING DEMOCRACY?
"In a damning report, the Citizens Advice Bureau said that irresponsible lending decisions and "aggressive arrears management" by sub-prime lenders was causing increasing numbers of house owners with credit problems to miss mortgage payments or to have their homes repossessed. Numbers of home repossessions, already at a seven year high, are expected to rise by 50 per cent this year to 45,000, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders."
(Times, 12 December) RD
HOW FAST IS FAST FOOD?
In order to maximize profits McDonalds are resorting to bailiffs and courts. Capitalism just gets crazier and crazier RD
Rich Pickings
Friday, December 14, 2007
Troops Out of Iraq
IT IS GRIM UP NORTH
"Rising energy prices means that more than half a million households are living in fuel poverty in Scotland. Figures published today show that households spending more than 10% of their income ,on heating has worsened since 2004 when it accounted for 18% of households. Now the total is 23%, or 543,000 homes, according to Scottish Government figures." (Herald, 11 December)
Half a million households shivering in the cold is far from being an idyllic Scottish scene. RD
TOUGH AT THE TOP?
No worries about sub-prime loans there, we would imagine! RD
Chartist Thinkers
Again , many thanks to "Brooklyn" Darren for taking time to make these talks available to the internet .
Thursday, December 13, 2007
A MERRY XMAS - FOR SOME
When Neleen Strauss asked for a budget, the client told her £50,000. Strauss set about putting together the special hamper - believed to be the most expensive on sale in the UK - which is stuffed with 22 bottles of prized wines, champagnes and spirits. They include the sought-after Meinert Merlot 2000, ...Strauss describes it as "priceless". Also thrown in for good measure is a £15,000 bottle of Romanee Conti 1970 - one of the best burgundies in the world - and a Chateau d'Yquem 1959 dessert wine (£2,400). The restaurant, which straddles Clerkenwell and the City of London, is a haunt of lawyers, bankers and City financiers who are often flush with bonuses. Word got around in the restaurant of the £50,000 hamper assembled for the customer, a banker. "Then, before I knew it, a lady had ordered another two" said Strauss". (Guardian, 11 December) RD
DEATH AND DESPERATION
"A boat carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkey's Aegean coast and at least 43 people died, an official said yesterday. The 50-foot boat sank in rough weather late on Saturday off the coast of Seferihisar, a town south of the city of Izmir, local Governor Orhan Sefik Guldibi said. Six migrants were rescued and hospitalized, mostly for shock. Citing survivors, the Coast Guard said a total of 85 people were on board. Guldibi said 43 bodies had been recovered."We are trying to keep our hopes alive but the possibility of more survivors is diminishing," Guldibi said." (Independent, 11 December) RD
A lesson that goes unlearned
Yet again the media carries the same old story , privilege over poverty in education . Clever children from poor families face being overtaken by less bright children from affluent homes . The findings are part of a study for the Sutton Trust which says UK social mobility has not improved since 1970.
"It's a terrible thing that children from poor backgrounds, who are bright, end up actually not getting a very good start in life. They end up in schools that aren't very good and end up poor as adults and that's a terrible waste of talent and it's also basically wrong, it's just unfair." trust chairman Sir Peter Lampl said.
The trust's study by the London School of Economics and the University of Surrey concludes that the UK remains very low on the international rankings of social mobility.
Children from the poorest fifth of households who score some of the best results in tests aged three have fallen behind by the age of five. The report said that children in the poorest fifth of households but in the brightest group drop from the 88th percentile on cognitive tests at age three to the 65th percentile at age five . Meanwhile those from the richest households who are least able at age three move up from the 15th percentile to the 45th percentile by age five. The report authors conclude: "If this trend were to continue, the children from affluent backgrounds would be likely to overtake the poorer children in test scores by age seven".
They also said while 44% of young people from the richest 20% of households were awarded degrees in 2002, only 10% from the poorest 20% did so.
The report concludes: "Parental background continues to exert a significant influence on the academic progress of recent generations of children. Stark inequalities are emerging for today's children in early cognitive test scores - mirroring the gaps that existed and widened with age for children born 30 years previously."
It has also been reported on the BBC The children who could benefit most from out of school clubs are least likely to have access to them . Young people on free school meals were less likely to participate in after school activities than those from more affluent homes, research suggested. This was because rich parents were able to buy their children access to such clubs, while poorer parents could not.
"It's probably the kids who don't get much support at home who need activity programmes the most. Yet struggling schools in disadvantaged areas often lack the resources to offer them."
And in Scotland , the BBC reports , it is children from deprived areas of Scotland that are more likely to truant or be absent from school than other pupils . Latest attendance figures showed pupils registered for free school meals were away for an average of 10 days more than those who do not receive them .
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
FEET OF CLAY?
A case in point was President George Bush saying "The trouble with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur".
If that was a schoolboy error made by a "great man", what about the following?
US homeowners searching for help with their mortgages struggled to get through on a telephone number that President Bush gave them on Thursday.
"I have a message for every homeowner worried about rising mortgage payments: the best you can do for your family is to call 1-800-995-HOPE," he said. But those who went in search of hope got a busy signal - the president had given them the wrong number. The number Bush gave was for the Freedom Christian Academy in Texas. The school phone rang non-stop when Bush gave out the number. "I've tried my best to give the correct number to these people when they called," the academy's Ms Karen Pulaski told the Dallas Morning News, having spoken to more than 50 people in an hour. "But it got a little overwhelming because I couldn't do anything except answer these calls." Ms Pulaski later disconnected the phone." (BBC News, 10 December)
Feet of clay? Right up to the elbows! RD
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Paternalism is a common attitude among well-meaning social reformers. Stemming from the root pater, or father, paternalism implies a patria...