RECRUITMENT REALITY

"The number of former servicemen in prison or on probation or parole is now more than double the total British deployment in Afghanistan, according to a new survey. An estimated 20,000 veterans are in the criminal justice system, with 8,500 behind bars, almost one in 10 of the prison population. The proportion of those in prison who are veterans has risen by more than 30% in the last five years. The study by the probation officers' union Napo uncovers the hidden cost of recent conflicts. The snapshot survey of 90 probation case histories of convicted veterans shows a majority with chronic alcohol or drug problems, and nearly half suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression as a result of their wartime experiences on active service." (Guardian, 24 September) RD

SPARE PARTS FOR SALE

"British victims of the credit crunch are offering to sell their kidneys for £25,000 or more to help pay debts, an investigation by The Sunday Times has revealed. At least a dozen adverts have appeared on the internet offering kidneys for sale from British “donors”. ...Nearly 7,000 people in the UK are waiting for kidney transplants and 300 died last year while on the waiting list." (Sunday Times, 27 September) RD

ALL RIGHT FOR SOME

"What recession? Harvey Nichols department store in Knightsbridge says it has just sold a £15,000 hand-made leather handbag, by US designer Lana Marks. The sale of the multi-coloured alligator leather Positano bag shows that high-end shoppers are still prepared to pay huge sums for a handbag. ...Classic French couture brands such as Lanvin are also enjoying the flight to quality, she said, while classic leather jackets and £1,000-a-pair distressed jeans from Balmain are flying off the shelves." (Observer, 27 September) RD

THE HIDDEN RECESSION

"The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. ...Here, on a sleepy stretch of shoreline at the far end of Asia, is surely the biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history. Their numbers are equivalent to the entire British and American navies combined; their tonnage is far greater. Container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers - all should be steaming fully laden between China, Britain, Europe and the US, stocking camera shops, PC Worlds and Argos depots ahead of the retail pandemonium of 2009. But their water has been stolen. They are a powerful and tangible representation of the hurricanes that have been wrought by the global economic crisis; an iron curtain drawn along the coastline of the southern edge of Malaysia's rural Johor state, 50 miles east of Singapore harbour. ...It is so far off the beaten track that nobody ever really comes close, which is why these ships are here. The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies."

(Daily Mail, 28 September) RD

CONTRADICTION

Prince Charles still drives an Aston Martin given to him by the Queen on his 21st birthday

"The Prince of Wales is urging people to give up their cars in favour of walking and public transport to try to reduce carbon emissions. The Prince, who has two Jaguars, two Audis, a Range Rover and still drives an Aston Martin given to him by the Queen on his 21st birthday, said developers had a duty to put public transport and the pedestrian at the heart of their housing schemes." (Daily Telegraph, 21 September) RD

A MURDEROUS SYSTEM (3)

"As of Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009, at least 4,345 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes nine military civilians killed in action. At least 3,473 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is three fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT. The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each." (Associated Press, 20 September) RD

A MURDEROUS SYSTEM (2)

Gulbenis Badurova, 33, in her house with a photograph of her husband Sirazhutdin
Umarov, 32 who was kidnapped, tortured and killed

"It is unreported in Russia and virtually unnoticed by the rest of the world. Yet just five months after the long war in Chechnya was officially declared to be at an end, the northern Caucasus has seen a big upsurge in violence. Five hundred people have been killed so far this year, double last year’s toll. It has become the Kremlin’s most pressing problem after the economic crisis. In Chechnya itself, where security forces commanded by its 32-year-old president, Ramzan Kadyrov, have been accused of numerous atrocities, there have been nearly 90 abductions this year. The targets included Natalia Estemirova, a leading human rights campaigner who was kidnapped and murdered in July." (Sunday Times, 20 September) RD

A MURDEROUS SYSTEM

Mexican Army soldiers secure the site were the two Federal Police officers were
murdered, in Ciudad Juarez

"A new spate of violence has pushed the homicide rate in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez to an unprecedented 1,701 murders, breaking the record set just a year earlier in 2008. Officials reported 14 new violent deaths over the weekend in the town, which sits across the border from Texas, pushing the homicide rate past last year's record level of 1,653 murders. In all, 22 people were killed on Saturday night and Sunday in the two Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua, which border the US states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas." (Yahoo News, 20 September)

THE CLASS DIVIDE

The basic tenet of a socialist analysis of capitalism is that it is a class divided society, with the owning class owning all the means of production and the working class forced to work for a wage or a salary because of their non-ownership. The contrast between the lives of workers and capitalists is huge, but a recent example in India shows just how great the contrast can be in one city.
"Mumbai is desperately overcrowded. More than half its 18 million inhabitants live in shantytowns, many, like Mr Prakash, paying significant rents for the privilege. ..."We ask God to help," said Mr Prakash, who earns about 7,500 (£94) rupees a month, "but in this city I don't think good property is within the grasp of ordinary men."
Contrast that pitiful existence shared by about 9 millions of his fellows in Mumbai with that of a capitalist in the same city.
"Look out across the skyline of south Mumbai and it is not hard to pick out the new pad being constructed by Mukesh Ambani, India's richest man - a building said to have been inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and said to be the world's first $2 billion (£1.2 billion) home. The 27-storey glass tower, named Antilla after the mythical Atlantic island, is said to feature three helipads, nine elevators a cinema, a health club, a crystal-encrusted ballroom, several "safe" rooms, a garden level half way up and 168 car parking spaces. The structure will have about 400,000 sq ft of interior space and will require about 600 servants to run it." (Times, 24 September)
A 27 storey house for him and his wife and three children may seem a bit excessive and we wonder about the 168 car parking spaces, but with that sort of loot to spend no doubt Mr Ambani has a lot of friends visiting him! RD

HUNGER AMIDST PLENTY

Capitalism is a social system that produces all sorts of contradictions. Tremendous technical advances should mean a better society but inside capitalism it leads to better ways to maim, kill and destroy. Improvements in the production of food should lead to a happier world but it produces exactly the opposite. "The number of hungry people will pass 1 billion this year for the first time, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said, adding that it is facing a serious budget shortfall." (Yahoo News, 16 September)
While a million human beings suffer starvation producers of food are destroying it to force up prices. "An emergency meeting over the collapse in the price of milk will be held by Europe's agriculture ministers. The crisis talks have been convened by Sweden as farmers in mainland Europe continue their "milk strike", dumping hundreds of thousands of litres of milk on farmland.... In an attempt to end the milk lakes and. butter mountains, the European Commission is unwinding its dairy support system." (Times, 24 September)
Butter mountains and milk lakes while a billion starve - capitalism has certainly outlived its usefulness! RD

THIS IS PROGRESS?

Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers march pass Tiananmen Square in
Beijing on early September

"China's military capability has taken a "quantum leap" thanks to a modernisation drive and its weaponry rivals that of Western countries, the nation's defence minister said in an interview Monday. The comments by Liang Guanglie came in an interview published by Xinhua news agency 10 days before China is set to roll out a range of advanced weaponry in a National Day military parade. "Our capabilities in waging defensive combat under modern conditions have taken a quantum leap," Liang was quoted as saying. Liang rattled off a list of achievements in military technology and hardware by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) including military-use satellites, advance aircraft, tanks, artillery and missiles." (Yahoo News, 21 September) RD

JESUS GOES SHOPPING

"The Church of England must shed its middle-class "Marks & Spencers" image and become more akin to Aldi, according to the Bishop of Reading. The Right Rev Stephen Cottrell described his frustration that the established church is regarded as the option for the "suited and booted" only. Jesus, he said, would probably have shopped at Aldi and Asda." (Times, 22 September) RD

GLOBAL WARMING STRIKES

It was like waking up to see that Armageddon is upon us

"Australia's biggest city, Sydney, has been shrouded in red dust blown in by winds from the deserts of the outback. Visibility is so bad that international flights have been diverted and harbour ferry traffic disrupted. Emergency services reported a surge in calls from people suffering breathing problems. Children and the elderly have been told to stay indoors. Sydney's landmarks, including the Opera House, have been obscured, and many residents are wearing masks. Traffic has been bumper-to-bumper on major roads. The dust blanketing eastern parts of New South Wales has been carried by powerful winds that snatched up tons of topsoil from the drought-ravaged west of the state." (BBC News, 23 September) RD

GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY

"Almost half of all care homes in Scotland do not meet national standards on eating, drinking and nutrition, leaving vulnerable, elderly residents at risk of weight loss and dehydration, according to a new report. The report, published today by the Care Commission, also found that more than a quarter of care homes did not screen their residents for dehydration. ... Almost a third (29 per cent) did not screen people for malnutrition, while 34 per cent did not screen people for dehydration when they were admitted to a care home." (Times, 18 September) RD

NHS SAVIOUR?

"People should pray every day if they wish to remain healthy, according to the new Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols. In his first pastoral letter to his diocese since he was installed in May, Archbishop Nichols warns that stable, fruitful and healthy lives cannot be achieved without daily prayer." (Times, 18 September) RD

IRONIC?

Some villagers have not seen any benefit from the neighbouring oil
installation.

"Critics of the US invasion six years ago often said its ultimate aim was to control Iraq's vast deposits of oil. So it is ironic, perhaps, that the first foreign oil company to start drilling operations in the country since 2003 should be from America's growing rival, China. A year since it signed a 23-year, $3bn (£1.84bn) deal to exploit the small al-Ahdab field, in Wasit province, south of Baghdad, China's National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has already struck oil. ... Iraq boasts the world's third largest reserves of oil, with many potential fields not even tapped.

(BBC News, 20 September) RD

A BILLION GO HUNGRY

A young Thai boy and other Bangkok, Thailand, residents receive a food handout
outside the Poh Teck Tung

"Food aid is at a 20-year low despite the number of critically hungry people soaring this year to its highest level ever, the United Nations relief agency said Wednesday. The number of hungry people will pass 1 billion this year for the first time, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said, adding that it is facing a serious budget shortfall." (Yahoo News, 16 September) RD

FUTURE PROSPECTS?

"One in five of Britain’s young people are now jobless, official figures showed yesterday, as total unemployment reached its highest level for 14 years. In the three months to July, the total of unemployed people aged 16 to 24 rose by nearly 60,000, to 947,000, the biggest jump since 1992. Their jobless rate is now 19.7 per cent. The total UK jobless figure for the three months rose by 210,000 to 2.47 million, the highest total since May 1995. The official unemployment rate is now 7.9 per cent. Those claiming unemployment benefit in August reached 1.61 million, up 24,400 from July and 693,700 ahead of August last year. Of these, 483,200 — nearly one in three — were aged 16 to 24." (Times, 17 September) RD

A BOOM FOR SOME

"India is condemning another generation to brain damage, poor education and early death by failing to meet its targets for tackling the malnutrition that affects almost half of its children, a study backed by the British Government concluded yesterday. The country is an “economic powerhouse but a nutritional weakling”, said the report by the British-based Institute of Development Studies (IDS), which incorporated papers by more than 20 India analysts. It said that despite India’s recent economic boom, at least 46 per cent of children up to the age of 3 still suffer from malnutrition, making the country home to a third of the world’s malnourished children. The UN defines malnutrition as a state in which an individual can no longer maintain natural bodily capacities such as growth, pregnancy, lactation, learning abilities, physical work and resisting and recovering from disease. ... "It's the contrast between India's fantastic economic growth and its persistent malnutrition which is so shocking." Lawrence Haddad, director of the IDS, told The Times. He said that an average of 6,000 children died every day in India; 2,000-3,000 of them from malnutrition." (Times, 17 September) RD

POVERTY IS WORLDWIDE

When reporting poverty in the world the international media often assume that it is a condition that exists only in Africa or Asia but here is an example of its very real existence in the so-called developed world.
"Nearly 60 per cent of Canadians would have trouble paying the bills if their paycheque was delayed by one week, a new poll suggests. The Canadian Payroll Association survey says not only are the majority of Canadians living paycheque-to-paycheque, but they have little ability to put money away for their retirement. The survey, released Monday, said 59 per cent of Canadians would have trouble making ends meet if they missed a paycheque."
(Canadian Press, 14 September)
This paycheque-to-paycheque existence is the norm for most members of the world's working class. RD