NOT SO HOLY

Japanese high school students wearing masks in Tokyo May 17, 2009

"Catholic churchgoers in Tokyo will have to do without holy water for now as the H1N1 influenza outbreak prompts Japanese churches to take steps to prevent the spread of the virus. The Franciscan Chapel Centre in Tokyo is one church that has decided to empty the holy water basins, into which parishioners traditionally dip their fingers and bless themselves by making a sign of the cross." (Yahoo News, 21 August) RD

GREEN SHOOTS? WHERE?

"Network Rail has revealed plans to cut 1,800 maintenance jobs ... Fujitsu, the computer giant, is cutting 1,200 jobs - one in ten of its workforce in Britain. Lloyds Banking Group is shedding a further 200 posts in a fresh round of cuts that takes its total job losses this year to 7,500. About 850 jobs were lost with the closure of 142 Allied Carpets outlets by administrators. GKN, the engineering group, announced that a further 1,200 workers would be made redundant, in addition to the 2,500 jobs already cut. In the three months to June, unemployment climbed to 7.8 per cent - its highest level in 13 years. Economists are predicting that jobless numbers will soon pass three million to rival the worst levels of the 1980s. (Times, 28 August) RD

CAPITALISM IS MAD

Elsie Poncher is selling her husband's burial spot directly above film legend
Marilyn Monroe so that she can pay off pay off the $1.6 million mortgage on her
Beverly Hills home.

When socialists explain that world socialism is a new society wherein all wealth will be produced solely for use and not sale and that there will be no wages, prices or rent inside socialism we are often accused of madness! To these defenders of capitalism there is something sane about people starving while food is destroyed. We wonder what they make of the following news item though. There are people today trying to survive on less than $2 a day at the same time as some crazed millionaires can get away with this madness. "Even in death, Marilyn Monroe is still snagging millionaires. An unidentified deep-pocketed fan who clearly prefers blonds placed the winning $4.6 million bid Monday in an eBay auction for the crypt directly above the sexy screen icon's grave. Beverly Hills widow Elsie Poncher put her husband's strategically positioned crypt on the auction block with a starting price of $500,000. Bidding soared to $4.5 million three days later." (Daily News, 24 August) Elsie Poncher is selling her husband's burial spot directly above film legend Marilyn Monroe so that she can pay off pay off the $1.6 million mortgage on her Beverly Hills home. RD

RELIGIOUS ROOTS

"In brief, the number of American non-believers has doubled since 1990, a 2008 Pew survey found, and increased even more in some other advanced democracies. What's curious is not so much the overall decline of belief (which has caused the Vatican to lament the de-Christianization of Europe) as the pattern. In a paper last month in the online journal Evolutionary Psychology, Gregory Paul finds that countries with the lowest rates of social dysfunction—based on 25 measures, including rates of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, unemployment, and poverty—have become the most secular. Those with the most dysfunction, such as Portugal and the U.S., are the most religious, as measured by self-professed belief, church attendance, habits of prayer, and the like." (Newsweek, 31 August) RD

HONG KONG HOUSING

"It's cramped and stale in what Lau Chi-lok calls home: a 20-square-foot portion of an apartment that he shares with 21 other men. For $167 a month, Lau gets the top bunk in what the government euphemistically calls a "bed space," or cubicle dwelling — a tiny rectangular area, partitioned by thin wooden slabs or steel mesh wire to safeguard the resident's belongings, barely large enough for a mattress. At least there's air-conditioning, turned on at 9 p.m. every summer night. For most people in Hong Kong, the lives of Lau and his roommates are a world apart, hidden behind gated doors and dark stairways. But this is home to thousands of Hong Kong's urban slum dwellers, who are barely making ends meet and — in this year's downturn — putting off dreams of a better life. Across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong's central business district, in a neighbourhood of bright neon signs and bustling vendors, 33-year-old Lai Man-law has been looking for a job for the past year while living in a mesh-wire 18-square-foot cage. "It's dirty and hot. There are cockroaches and bedbugs, and the air-conditioning doesn't work," he says. Every major metropolis has its share of slums; the U.N. estimates that one-third of the developing world's urban population lives in them, with nearly 40% of East Asian urban dwellers living in slum conditions." (Time, 21 August) RD

LA BELLE FRANCE?

French Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie visits the prison of Orleans in
central France. Alliot-Marie.

"France's overcrowded prisons are to be issued with preventive "kits" to help stem an alarming rise in suicide rates among inmates, the justice minister said on Tuesday. Since the start of the year, 81 prisoners have killed themselves in French jails, which are designed for a maximum of 51,000 inmates but currently house more than 62,000, according to official government figures. The International Prison Observatory this month put the figure even higher, at 88, attacking what it called a "worrying" trend in French jails. Under new measures, inmates identified as high risk will receive kits with tear-proof bedding and single-use paper pyjamas to prevent in-cell hangings, which accounts for 96 percent of all suicides." (Yahoo News, 18 August) RD

POISONED BY CAPITALISM

"More than 2,000 children have been found to have lead poisoning because Chinese factories greedy for profit have spewed out pollutants without carrying out even the most minor environmental monitoring. Officials announced yesterday that 1,354 children under 14, who had been living and going to school for more than two years within a few hundred metres of a manganese smelter, had excess lead in their blood. Local officials said that the numbers could rise when further tests were carried out." (Times, 21 August) RD

A WONDERFUL TOWN?

"It's too bad so many people are falling into poverty at a time when it’s almost illegal to be poor. You won’t be arrested for shopping in a Dollar Store, but if you are truly, deeply, in-the-streets poor, you’re well advised not to engage in any of the biological necessities of life — like sitting, sleeping, lying down or loitering. City officials boast that there is nothing discriminatory about the ordinances that afflict the destitute, most of which go back to the dawn of gentrification in the ’80s and ’90s. “If you’re lying on a sidewalk, whether you’re homeless or a millionaire, you’re in violation of the ordinance,” a city attorney in St. Petersburg, Fla., said in June, echoing Anatole France’s immortal observation that “the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges.” (New York Times, 8 August) RD

Why the SNP Must Fail

Community Central Hall, 304 Maryhill Rd. 19 August 8.30pm

Community Central Hall, 304 Maryhill Rd. 19 August 8.30pm

Community Central Hall, 304 Maryhill Rd. 19 August 8.30pm

In his talk Vic will look at the birth of the SNP and why it’s nickname was “ The Tartan Tories” and he will explain how the SNP was transformed from the mere handful it had been until the late 1950s to the major political force it is in Scotland today.

Vic will also look at the conflict which raged in the SNP for decades between the traditionalists and the pragmatists and why the triumph of the latter paved the way for this rags-to-riches transformation.

The SNP can hardly wait for the next General Election when it expects to make the substantial gains, probably at the expense of Labour, which it hopes will be a major step towards their goal of a fully independent Scotland.

Could this happen at some point in the future and would it be in the interests of the working class in Scotland if it did?

Community Central Hall, 304 Maryhill Rd. 19 August 8.30pm

LAZY WORKERS?

"Feel like you’re working a lot harder these days, putting in longer hours for the same pay — or even less? The latest round of government data on worker productivity indicates that you probably are. The Labour Department said Tuesday that the American work force produced, at an annual rate, 6.4 percent more of the goods they made and services they provided in the second quarter of this year compared to a year ago. At the same time, “unit labour costs” — the amount employers paid for all that extra work — fell by 5.8 percent. The jump in productivity was higher than expected; the cut in labour costs more than double expectations."
(msnbc.com, 11 August) RD

RECESSION? WHAT RECESSION?

"Recession has shaken nearly every corner of the U.S. economy but Trinity Yachts is still turning out custom-built luxury boats, thanks in part to a sagging U.S. dollar. Trinity, the largest U.S. mega-yacht builder, will deliver eight sumptuously outfitted boats this year from its shipyards in Gulfport, Mississippi and New Orleans. The yachts ooze indulgence, with interiors laden with fine millwork, marble flooring, wine cellars, high-end home theatres and onboard submarines designed for underwater sightseeing. Prices range from $25 million to $80 million." (Yahoo News, 9 August) RD

PIE IN THE SKY

Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times ( NYTimes aug 15th )

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING

Big Brother: It has been revealed that there are 4.2million closed circuit
TV cameras in the UK

"Britain has one and a half times as many surveillance cameras as communist China, despite having a fraction of its population, shocking figures revealed yesterday. There are 4.2million closed circuit TV cameras here, one per every 14 people. But in police state China, which has a population of 1.3billion, there are just 2.75million cameras, the equivalent of one for every 472,000 of its citizens. Simon Davies from pressure group Privacy International said the astonishing statistic highlighted Britain's 'worrying obsession' " (Daily Mail, 11 August) RD

Who owns the North Pole - Part 16

Continuing our Arctic Saga

Canada is launching a series of military exercises in the Arctic far-north region of the country.The so-called sovereignty operation is designed to show a visible presence in the resource-rich area, amid competing claims among other nations.Asserting Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic has been a priority for Mr Harper's conservative government.

Operation Nanook will see the Canadian Armed Forces involved in sea, land and airforce operations in the country's eastern Arctic territory.

Once thought a barren region, a number of countries with competing claims have been carefully mapping the area around the North Pole, thought to be rich in minerals and natural resources.
Canada is also concerned by the melting of ice each year through the fabled Northwest Passage, blamed by scientists on global warming. The United States government has said that it does not recognise exclusive Canadian rights to the waterway, that could be a link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans

A TORY MP SPEAKS

"Alan Duncan's future in the Shadow Cabinet was in the balance last night after he was forced to apologise for claiming that MPs were living on rations because of the expenses row. ...Mr Duncan, who is paying back £4,000 after details of his claim for gardening was revealed, said: "I spend my money on my garden and claim a tiny fraction based on what is proper. And I could claim the whole bloody lot, but I don't." Asked why people would no longer want to become MPs, he said: "Basically, it's been nationalised, you have to live on rations and are treated like s***." (Times, 13 August) RD

ANOTHER FINANCIAL EXPERT?

"Last October, Alan Greenspan — who had spent years assuring investors that all was well with the American financial system — declared himself to be in a state of “shocked disbelief.” After all, the best and brightest had assured him our financial system was sound: “In recent decades, a vast risk management and pricing system has evolved, combining the best insights of mathematicians and finance experts supported by major advances in computer and communications technology. . . . The whole intellectual edifice, however, collapsed in the summer of last year.”
(New York Times, 6 August) RD

GLASGOW BRANCH ACTIVITY

COMMUNITY CENTRAL HALLS
304 MARYHILL ROAD
8.30 pm
WEDNESDAY 19th AUGUST
A DISCUSSION ON INDEPENDENCE FOR SCOTLAND

WHY THE S.N.P. MUST FAIL

SPEAKER VIC VANNI

Vic’s talk
In his talk Vic will look at the birth of the SNP and why it’s nickname was “ The Tartan Tories” and he will explain how the SNP was transformed from the mere handful it had been until the late 1950s to the major political force it is in Scotland today.
Vic will also look at the conflict which raged in the SNP for decades between the traditionalists and the pragmatists and why the triumph of the latter paved the way for this rags-to-riches transformation.
The SNP can hardly wait for the next General Election when it expects to make the substantial gains, probably at the expense of Labour, which it hopes will be a major step towards their goal of a fully independent Scotland.
Could this happen at some point in the future and would it be in the interests of the working class in Scotland if it did?

BIRD BRAIN INVESTORS

The parrot, using its beak, made random choices from balls representing 30 blue
chips including Samsung Electronics

"Ddalgi (Korean for strawberry), from Papua New Guinea, finished third in the six-week contest which ended on Wednesday, said Paxnet, an online stock market information provider. The bird competed with 10 stock investors. Each started with 60 million won (£29,000) in cyber money and traded 10 million won worth of stocks in each transaction. Human investors picked any stocks they wanted. The parrot, using its beak, made random choices from balls representing 30 blue chips including Samsung Electronics. "The outcome of our contest was amazing. Ddalgi stood third with her investment return standing at 13.7 per cent," Chung Yeon-Dae, the Paxnet general manager, told AFP. Human investors averaged a 4.6 per cent loss, with only two outperforming the parrot - one by 64.4 per cent and one by 21.4 per cent."

(Daily Telegraph, 7 August) RD

THE REVEREND MONEYBAGS

Most Reverend gentlemen tell their flocks not to thirst after the material things of life, but a recent obituary highlighted one American bible thumper who couldn't be accused of such nonsense. "One of America's first tele-evangelists, F.J. Eikerenkoetter 11, 74, better known as the Rev. Ike spread his gospel of material wealth to millions of viewers with proclamations like "Jesus was a capitalist". His opulent lifestyle, bankrolled by church donations, included several mansions and a fleet of Rolls-Royces. "My garage runneth over", he once quipped."
(Time, 17 August)
It is true the Good Book promised "In my father's house there are many mansions". We can't recall any mention of Rollers or garages though. RD

LAS VEGAS, ANOTHER VIEW

We are all aware of the Hollywood depiction of Las Vegas as a fun-loving city, full of casinos, nightclubs and good times, but the reality for its growing homeless numbers is far from idylic. As jobs and homes disappear many of the dispossessed street dwellers are subject to attacks of violence. Now even the the streets are being abandoned by the homeless. "Some of the Las Vegas homeless resort to living in a maze of underground flood channels beneath the Strip. There they face flash floods, disease, black widows and dank, pitch-dark conditions, but some tunnel dwellers say life there is better than being harassed and threatened by assailants and the police. “Out there, anything goes,” said Manny Lang, who has lived in the tunnels for months, recalling the stones and profanities with which a group of teenagers pelted him last winter when he slept above ground. “But in here, nothing’s going to happen to us.”
(New York Times, 7 August) In one of the most sophisticated urban areas in the world some members of the working class are living like sewer rats. What a hellish system capitalism is.
RD