old and starving

Almost twice as many pensioners in the Lothians are admitted to hospital with malnutrition than anywhere else in Scotland, figures have shown. Latest figures show six malnourished people over the age of 65 are now being treated every week, a rise of around a dozen on last year. A mixture of care cutbacks and the increasing number of elderly residents in the area have been suggested for the cases.

Experts said the majority of victims would be elderly people who lived alone and were "under the radar" as far as local authority support services were concerned.

Phyllis Herriot, acting secretary of the Scottish Pensioners' Forum, said: "This is a very sad figure, and quite awful for those involved. It's horrible to think that this can happen in this day and age. There have been a lot of cutbacks, not just in Edinburgh but across the board. Sheltered Housing complexes are losing their wardens, home-help visits that used to be an hour are now cut to half an hour, and those that were half an hour are now 15 minutes. All these things can contribute to someone not getting what they need, and perhaps because of all this some people aren't getting picked up by the services who would have been before"

The next closest health board for malnutrition numbers was Glasgow, where there were 166 cases. In neighbouring Fife there were 67 cases and 38 incidents in the Borders

BOSSES' PREPARATIONS FOR THE COMING STRUGGLE

This is an article from the august Labour Research, which demonstrates only to well, that the employers know that advantaged as they are in exploiting the working class, a helping hand from the government is always the cherry on the cake.

 

Unions denounce government plans for tougher strike laws.

 

Union leaders lined up last month to condemn government plans to toughen up the UK's already restrictive strike laws. The Times newspaper reported that ministers had held secret talks over measures to inhibit lawful strike action in the face of massive planned public sector job cuts. The key change mooted is to raise the proportion of workers required to vote for a strike to 4O% of those who would be affected by industrial action, rather than a simple majority of those voting. This proposal was called for in June by the CBI employers' organisation, and condemned by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber as "a demolition job" on the rights of workers.  However, The Times also reported that the CBI was pushing for other rules on industrial action to be changed. These include abandoning the law which stops employers from replacing striking workers with agency employees, and reducing the time before strikes can be dismissed without another action ballot from 12 to eight weeks. The CBI also wants unions to be liable for the costs of strikes. Tory "envoy to the unions" Richard Balfe told Labour Research before the election that the Tories had no plans for further anti-union legislation, saying that "it is a measure of how little the Labour government has done that there is nothing to repeal".  However, this view seems to have changed abruptly, with a Tory source telling The Daily Telegraph that the Cabinet is "feeling inclined to be very bullish and aggressive" about confronting strikes. GMB general union leader Paul Kenny said it was typical that the Cameron government should be "attacking the rights of ordinary workers rather than the bankers who caused the recession". And PCS civil service union general secretary Mark Serwotka said it was not surprising that the threat came "just as public sector unions are planning co-ordinated industrial action to fight massive spending cuts". The leader of the RMT transport union, Bob Crow, accused the government of "declaring war" on unions because they know that "by far the biggest campaign of resistance to their austerity and cuts plans will come from the trade unions". The TUC's deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady said that "I would hope the government will not want to be seen in the pocket of business".

PAY DAY PENURY

"The number of people taking one out has quadrupled since 1996 according to the watchdog Consumer Focus. That is despite some companies charging interest rates of more than 2,500% a year. The organisation is now calling on the industry to bring in more safeguards to protect vulnerable borrowers. ''Payday loans are a valid form of credit and it's much better for people to take one out rather than go to a loan shark," said Sarah Brooks, head of financial services at Consumer Focus. But we do think there needs to be a limit on the number of loans people take out and how many loans they are able to roll over." Research by Consumer Focus suggests that 1.2 million people are now taking out a payday loan every year, borrowing a total of £1.2bn." (BBC News, 14 August) RD

A BLEAK FUTURE

"Millions of Britons face a "hell of a shock" when they reach retirement because of their failure to save. In his first major interview, the Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, admitted that the basic state pension of £97 a week is "not enough to live on", and confirmed that the Government would raise the state retirement age to 66 earlier than planned. He said that around seven million people are currently not saving enough to meet their retirement aspirations." (Independent, 29 July) RD

AN EXCLUSIVE CLUB

"The membership in TIGER 21 (an acronym for The Investment Group for Enhanced Results in the 21st century) is exclusive. Members must have a minimum of $10-million in investable assets (in practice, many are billionaires). Annual dues are $30,000 a year, and members must be able to commit to meeting for at least 10 eight-hour sessions a year. That's a significant commitment of both time and money." (Globe and Mail, 4 August) RD

Another saint ?

The Herald carries a report on Keir Hardie , the Labour Party pioneer. He’s been called Labour’s greatest hero and the party’s most inspirational leader but could Keir Hardie also be in danger of being forgotten? The Socialist Party though have not forgotten about him. The insincerity and double-dealing of the Labour “leaders” are plain.

From the formation of the Labour Party the S.PG.B. opposed it, holding that its doctrine of changing class relationships through social reforms and its hope of abolishing war through international expressions of goodwill were founded in error about the nature of capitalism and socialism.

An article on Hardie can be read here

CHEATING AS A BENEFIT

Politics is about taxation, and what the taxes are spent on, the government is warning that it will come down heavily on tax dodgers, the government have been concentrating on what they call benefit cheats, lots of people agree with the government, after all, they are paying taxes, so they must be the ones being cheated. Most workers can't do much about taxation; they see it as a number on the pay slip, not much they can do about it, however, as this article in the summer magazine of the building workers' union shows, there are richer tax dodgers out there, under the pretence that they are "offering freedom and flexibility " not bogus self-employment as the union suggests.

UCATT has written to Lesley Strathie, Chief Executive of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), requesting an urgent investigation into the conduct of construction employment agencies who are deliberately avoiding paying millions of pounds in taxation. The union's approach has been made after evidence was collected that in many cases agencies offer two rates for the same job: a higher rate paid for workers on CIS ,,self-employed" terms and a lower rate for those on PAYE. Under the CIS construction industry tax scheme, agencies and gangmasters do not have to pay employer's National Insurance contributions of 12.8 per cent of a worker's earnings. This translates into millions of pounds of lost revenue each year.

The HMRC has clear rules about whether workers should be paid directly or via the CIS tax scheme, such as whether a worker can choose their hours, decline work, disobey orders and set their own prices for work.

Confederation

Meanwhile, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the largest trade association for employment agencies, is backing a national campaign to block Treasury plans to stamp out bogus self-employment. The campaign is an alliance of housebuilders and some other construction companies who oppose proposals to "deem" the majority of bogusly self-employed workers to be employees for taxation purposes. Anne Fairweather, REC's Head of Public Policy, commented: "Many people in all sectors of business, in both the public and private sector, want freedom and flexibility offered by self-employment."

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, responded: "The comments by REC demonstrate a blinding ignorance of the construction industry and are deeply worrying. Workers don't freely choose to be bogusly self-employed so that they can be stripped of holiday pay, sick pay and basic employment rights. They have to accept these employment conditions in order to find work and feed their families."

protests silver linings

Some Socialist Courier readers will remember the Make Poverty History and G-8 protests of 2005. Members of the Socialist Party attended many of the events to present the socialist view.

The Scotsman reports that although some Edinburgh retailers may have lost money due to the protests, businesses had benefited to the tune of £64.7 million. The city's economy was said to have benefited from the number of participants who visited for the Make Poverty History march and the concert staged at Murrayfield Stadium.

PRIVATE EFFICIENCY?

The present government like others before them present a case for the privatisation of the public services, (usually implying that the private sector is more efficient). Another tactic is to tell workers they only need to get on their bikes and find an employer out there who can't find the local necessary labour.

This item from the Building Workers' summer magazine illustrates that the contractual nature of privately run capitalist society has its inefficiencies.

Privatisation gone mad in the Probation Service

Millions of pounds are being wasted by the National Probation Service (NPS) because of incompetent building maintenance contracts, says a report published in January by Napo, the probation officers' union.

Two years ago NPS's National Offender Management Service maintenance contracts were centralised and privatised. The union's report cites numerous examples of contractors travelling hundreds of miles to fulfil simple tasks where previously the job would have been done locally. Among the examples are:

·        A hostel in Norwich needed a toilet seat repairing and a plumber travelled from Birmingham to do the job. This was a round trip of 320 miles.

·        Staff in Winchester needed strip lighting changing. The electrician came from Wembley which was a round trip of over 15O miles.

·        A hostel needed an electrical switch mending and a new cover to an entrance light and an electrician travelled to the West Midlands from Newmarket, a two-and-a-half hour drive each way and a round trip of over 200 miles.

·        Workers travelled from London to Wrexham to fit a new bathroom in a hostel.

·        Electricians from Manchester travelled all the way to Aberystwyth to change light fittings.

·        Other staff report that the window cleaners in Leicester came from Preston and were involved in an overnight stay before going on to Lincoln for the next job. This involved over seven hours of travelling.

Harry Fletcher, Assistant General Secretary of Napo, said it was clear that millions were being wasted on incompetent maintenance contracts. "It is now costing four to five times more than it did when contractors were hired from round the corner. This is the price of centralisation and privatisation."

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

"Young children are supplying an increasing demand from foreign tourists who travel to Brazil for sex holidays, according to a BBC investigation. Chris Rogers reports on how the country is overtaking Thailand as a destination for sex tourism and on attempts to curb the problem. Her small bikini exposes her tiny frame. She looks no older than 13 - one of dozens of girls parading the street looking for clients in the blazing mid-afternoon sun. Most come from the surrounding favelas - or slums. As I park my car, the young girl dances provocatively to catch my attention. "Hello my name is Clemie - you want a programme?" she asks, programme being the code word they use for an hour of sex. Clemie asks for less than $5 for her services. An older woman standing nearby steps in and introduces herself as Clemie's mother. "You have the choice of another two girls, they are the same age as my daughter, the same price," she explains. "I can take you to a local motel where a room can be rented by the hour." (BBC News, 30 July) RD

THE MARCH OF CAPITALISM

"China, the world's most prodigious emitter of greenhouse gas, continues to suffer the downsides of unbridled economic growth despite a raft of new environmental initiatives. The quality of air in Chinese cities is increasingly tainted by coal-burning power plants, grit from construction sites and exhaust from millions of new cars squeezing onto crowded roads, according to a government study issued this week. Other newly released figures show a jump in industrial accidents and an epidemic of pollution in waterways. The report's most unexpected findings pointed to an increase in inhalable particulates in cities like Beijing, where officials have struggled to improve air quality by shutting down noxious factories and tightening auto emission standards. Despite such efforts, including an ambitious program aimed at reducing the use of coal for home heating, the average concentration of particulates in the capital's air violated the World Health Organization's standards more than 80 percent of the time during the last quarter of 2008."

 (New York Times, 28 July) RD

BARGAIN BASEMENT EXPLOITATION

"Indian workers are paid just 25p an hour and forced to work overtime in factories used by some of Britain's best-known high street stores. ... Some of the biggest names on the British high street are at the centre of a major sweatshop scandal. An Observer investigation has found staff at their Indian suppliers working up to 16 hours a day. Marks & Spencers, Gap and Next have launched their own inquiries into abuses and pledged to end the practice of excessive overtime, which is a flagrant breach of the industry's ethical trading (ETI) and Indian labour laws." (Observer, 8 August) RD

HOW THE OTHER 5% LIVE

 "A flamboyant self-styled lord who entertained the rich and famous was yesterday banned from holding lavish parties at his £20million mansion. Monaco-based Edward Davenport, 44, regularly hosted raucous all-night events for A-list stars that were littered with celebrity guests including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Paris Hilton. The High Court heard that no expense was spared for the parties. At one event last December brandy maker Courvoisier turned the swimming pool into a gigantic punchbowl by filling it with 1,000 litres of cognac - at an estimated cost of more than £30,000." (Daily Mail, 31 July) RD

THE LAW AND THE CLASS STRUGGLE

STRIKE BALLOT REFORMS

The recent High Court decisions preventing industrial action by amongst others, Unite and RMT members, have caused consternation in the trade union movement. Employers were easily able to exploit minor balloting irregularities to win injunctions. This has led to renewed calls for the reform of the law governing strikes. Although the last Labour government did introduce some amendments to the Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 (TULRCA) through the Employment Relations Act 1999, they were to little effect. In particular, the allowance given for small and accidental failures in the balloting process under section 232B has proved only to be of limited use as a defence against employers. In an attempt to stop bosses using technicalities to block action, John McDonnell, the Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, is sponsoring a bill designed to reinforce and extend the exemption for small and accidental failures. Under the Lawful Industrial Action (Minor Errors) Bill, which had its first reading on 30 June and will have its second on22 October, section 232B TULRCA is to be strengthened. However, agitation for change is not just in favour of liberalising the law. Anticipating popular resistance to their impending savage spending cuts, the coalition government is considering tightening the law, for example, by introducing a requirement for 4O% of eligible voters to participate in ballots.

AUGUST 2OlO LABOUR RESEARCH

The will to work

Following on from the previous post, the Prince's Trust has released a report that the vast majority of young people from jobless families have struggled to find work and many simply expect to live off state handouts. 73 per cent of youngsters with parents who do not have a job in Scotland have found getting work difficult, and one in five reported feeling anxious about their future prospects because of their parents' unemployment. According to official UK government statistics, 16 per cent of Scottish children live in a family in which nobody has a job and the new findings have led to calls for more to be done to end a "cycle of worklessness" among Scottish youngsters.

Geraldine Gammell, the director of The Prince's Trust Scotland, which works with young people to help them into work, said: "Too many young people in Scotland are facing a cycle of worklessness and can't see a way out. It is a tragedy to think that so many feel condemned to a life of unemployment when there is a real will to work."

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

"The Prince of Wales says he believes he has been placed on Earth as future King "for a purpose" - to save the world. Giving a fascinating insight into his view of his inherited wealth and influence, he said: "I can only somehow imagine that I find myself being born into this position for a purpose. "I don't want my grandchildren or yours to come along and say to me, "Why the hell didn't you come and do something about this? You knew what the problem was. That is what motivates me. I wanted to express something in the outer world that I feel inside... We seem to have lost that understanding of the whole of nature and the universe as a living entity." (Daily Mail, 30 July) RD

"LAZY" WORKERS?

"Only two thirds of the world's workers take all their holidays - and the most likely to use them are the French with 89 per cent taking all their entitlement, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey of 12,5000 people in 24 countries. Second were Argentineans at 80 per cent, then Hungarians at 78 per cent, and the British and Spanish at 77 per cent. Those least likely to use all their holidays were the Japanese, with only 33 per cent taking all the time given. Australians and South Africans followed at 47 per cent, South Koreans at 53 per cent and those in the United States at 57 per cent."There are lots of reasons why people don't use up vacation days but most often it's because they feel obligated to their work and put it over other important things, including their own health and welfare," said John Wright, of Ipsos. "Workers should remember that there are graveyards full of indispensable people." (Times, 7 August) RD

THE GROWTH OF INEQUALITY

Many of the great fortunes of American history - those of the Rockellers, AndrewCarnegie and the Fords - are now mighty foundations that have long outlasted their founders. Recent years have seen the greatest disparity of wealth in America since the Golden Age of the 1920s. A recent study found that the top one per cent of Americans now receive 15 per cent of the country's total income - about double the rate of the 1960s and 1970s." (Times, 5 August) RD

Food for thought

A third independent inquiry into the stolen emails of climate scientists that were made to look as if data had been manipulated to emphasize climate change, concluded that the scientists acted with integrity and did not manipulate data. The climate skeptics were strongly critical of the skeptics' attacks. This appeared on page 13, whereas the leaked emails and the manipulation charges were all over the front pages of the media.

The queen's recent visit to Canada evoked this gem from the media,
"What is astounding about her is how that sense of humour, that sense of the absurd, that sense of comedy of life has survived sixty years of grueling public life." I wonder how the writer would describe forty years in a factory or down the mines!

We know that FIFA (the soccer body) sells sponsorships to the big companies for billions of dollars and protects their rights by banning other advertising, especially `ambush advertising', not just from the stadiums, but for miles around each one and thus throttling the small cottage industries that make a few dollars. All, it may be said with the compliance of the African government that is supposed to look after its people. Well, the dispossessed are fighting back. The most popular T-shirt going around is FICK FUFA. Another says, WELCOME TO THE FEEFA 2.010 WHIRLD CUP. Yes, there is a dot between 2 and 0 as FIFA has got the rights FIFA World Cup 2010.

There's always a way around. Let's hope they can also find a way around the root of the problem and circumvent capitalism altogether. John Ayers

Food for thought

There's a big bru ha ha in Canada over making the census long form mandatory instead of compulsory. The critics say we won't get vital information such as where the poverty is so we can give income support and other social programs.
We have had the census and the required information for over a hundred years but we still have poverty. Something doesn't add up here.
A couple of months ago it was reported here that Frank Stronach, head of Magna Auto Parts was getting out with $863 million. Make that $1 billion now. His utilities bills must have gone up last month.

The Toronto Star editorial of June 27 noted how the G8 countries have failed their own test, "The gap between the G8's compassionate rhetoric and its readiness to help was especially striking. 'Hundreds of thousands of women' and "nearly nine million children" die needlessly every year, said the G8 communiqué. "These deaths profoundly concern us and underscore the need for urgent collective action." Yet when called upon to deliver, the leaders' profound concern came up short. $50 billion in aid was promised in 2005 but eventually came up short by $20 billion. $30 billion may sound like a lot but this is the rich club that generates close to $40 trillion in wealth.
Once again, the oppressed class waits for crumbs that do not come from the rich class. (Last sentence not part of the editorial, in case you were wondering!).
Also, this is a group that spent $1 billion on security for their meeting – could have saved a lot of lives! John Ayers

Food for thought

A recent Toronto Star headline screamed, `Economy Booms in June'. The figures were unemployed rate went from 8.1% to7.9%; number unemployed went from 1 506 400 to 1 475 200; number working went from 17 096 600 to 17 189 800. Hardly a `boom', but if you say something often enough maybe people will believe you. Latest figures show stagnation. In any case, a government strapped for cash can go out and spend $16 Billion on 65 first strike short range fighter planes at $140 million apiece plus service contracts. Just what we need in the second largest country in the world with no other capabilities to strike a match. Said fighters would have to be refuelled in the air and wait hours for bombers to come with the fuel.

Oh well, health care and poverty can just wait!

REFORM UNDER ATTACK

The Building Worker's summer edition was illustrating this old cartoon to demonstrate that the Tories are a class apart while campaigning that thing can only be better under a Labour Govt.

"As our economy begins to strenghten, Government revenues pick up. We are able to pay off the deficit. Most sensible economic advisers will tell you that this would be the best way to deal with the problem........"

So there you have it. The problems is solved, you just have to run faster to stay right where you are, or maybe you could give the idea of common ownership of the means of production a thought or two.

drugs

A new study has revealed Scotland has some of the worst drug abuse rates in the world, and the situation is getting worse. The international survey by the UN includes results from 200 countries, and shows greater per-head use of heroin, ecstasy and cocaine in this country than almost any other.Figures show that almost 4%of the population is regularly using the class A drug cocaine – the highest rate recorded anywhere. Around 1.5% of Scots adults inject or smoke opiates – almost three times the world average. It is estimated that there are now around 50,000 heroin and 750,000 cocaine users across Scotland.Another international study by the UN published in February this year found there were 656 drug offences per 100,000 people in Scotland. Second-placed Iran recorded 619 per 100,000. The figures, which compared drug-related crime, possession and abuse across more than 70 states, put Scotland’s drug crime rate at more than double that of England and Wales, and six times the worldwide average.

Only five nations – including Afghanistan, where the majority of heroin is cultivated – recorded higher levels of abuse than here. The others were Iran, Costa Rica, Russia and Mauritius. Scotland’s ecstasy problem is a third higher than in England and Wales. The nation also tops the European table for the highest level of drug-related deaths. The British Medical Journal in 2008, estimated that around 32% of excess mortality in Scotland was due to drug abuse, with drug users 12 times more likely to die than those in the general population.

The escapism of drugs has become a feature of so many lives. Whether it’s a joint at home, or ecstasy in a nightclub, many of us use drugs to unwind or enhance our experiences. However, heroin addiction is causing countless damaged lives. There’s often a fine line between using drugs for enjoyment and using drugs to escape the pressures of society. When drugs to numb the pain of the daily rat race become the norm, then society is in serious trouble. The dispossessed youth of the inner cities and sink council housing estates are right to think there is no hope within the present system, but wrong to sit back and wallow in its excesses. Socialists say that society can be better than this.

Overworked, underpaid — and relieved?

The shoddy economy is leaving many workers feeling overworked, underpaid — and yet relieved to be employed at all.

"Fewer workers are doing more and more," said Brett Good, a district president with staffing firm Robert Half, which has surveyed workers on this topic. "You've got a lot of people that are working harder, making less money — and you're getting to a point of frustration."

Employers have cut millions of jobs since the recession began in December 2007, driven by a drop in business and a desire to shore up costs and boost profits. Although the cost-cutting has helped propel a spate of strong earnings in recent weeks, pleasing Wall Street, it has left those who are still employed struggling to pick up the slack.

Fifty-six percent of Americans have taken on extra duties at work over the past two years because of staff cuts, according to insurer MetLife's Study of the American Dream, which was conducted in April and released last week.

Employees also are cramming more work into each day. Labor productivity has moved steadily higher over the past two years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Vote: Taking on more work in weak economy?

While many employees have been happy to assume extra duties in exchange for having a job at all, there are signs of growing frustration, or weariness.

More than one-third of college-educated professionals surveyed by Robert Half do not believe they have been fairly compensated for the extra work they have had to take on because of the weak economy.

That may be one reason up to 50 percent of workers say they plan to look for a new job once the economy improves, up from 25 to 35 percent in more prosperous times, said Good.

"Look around your office," Good said. "About half of those people are passive jobseekers."

Of course, some people may be eager to switch jobs for other reasons, such as because they were forced to take a pay cut or a position beneath their qualifications because of the weak job market.

Still, the fact that people say they want to find a new job doesn't mean they will actually do it, Good said.

For one thing, with the unemployment rate at a high 9.5 percent, there still aren't that many jobs out there. As of May there were about 4.7 jobseekers for every job opening, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Also, with the economic situation still fairly uncertain, many people may feel it is too risky to move to another company, where the situation could be even worse or they could end up being first in line for a layoff, Good said.

Building skills, fearing change
Robert Burgett, 39, is one of those who has been working harder for less money during the recession. Over the past several years the San Francisco-based graphic designer has been asked to take on more responsibilities, including coming up with marketing ideas and writing copy. Meanwhile, he's had a 20 percent pay cut, seen his health care costs rise and watched as about half of his colleagues have been let go.

In better economic times, that might have prompted him to look around for other opportunities. But in this economy, he worries that a new job would end up being even less secure than the one he has now. And after watching his partner and roommates all go through job losses this year, he doesn't feel like it would be worth risking what he has now.

Instead, Burgett has tried to see the recession as an opportunity for reinvention. By taking on more responsibilities, he believes he has a much broader wealth of expertise, which could help  if he does get laid off.

FRIENDLESS FIRE

"More American soldiers are dying at their own hands than in combat, an army report has concluded, blaming official negligence for a surge in suicide and self-destructive behaviour. The 300 page report was released as the US Army recorded the highest number of suicides in one month for more than 30 years. Thirty two soldiers committed suicide in June, more than one a day, a rate only just matched during the Vietnam War. ... While 160 active-duty personnel and 79 reservists committed suicide during 2009, a further 146 soldiers died from high-risk behaviour associated with combat stress, including drink-driving and drug overdoses. The number of deaths is higher than the total combat toll for the same period." (Times, 31 July) RD

BEHIND THE FINE WORDS

Recently in a show of strength the USA and South Korea mounted an exercise in and around the Sea of Japan. It consisted of 20 ships, 200 aircraft and 8,000 military personnel and was supposedly a response to the sinking of a South Korean vessel by North Korea. Like all such military displays of power it was accompanied by fine words. They were "protecting the democratic South against the tyranny of the North". China, an ally of North Korea viewed it as "an intrusion into an area not far from Chinese territorial waters". It is much more likely that the correspondent Giles Whittell was much nearer the real economic truth behind the fine words when he reported

"The military display that may or may not have struck fear into the hermit dictatorship north of the 38th parallel has angered Beijing as it seeks to assert sovereignty over nearly 1.5 million square miles of the South China Sea, rich in oil and mineral deposits".

(Times, 28 July) RD

AN EXPENSIVE WANK

"Hugh Hefner's Playboy: 1953-1979 (Taschen), his 3,506-page, six-volume "illustrated autobiography", is distilled from this modest collection and mixes personal reflection with pictures of breasts culled from the magazine. It is printed in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, and is on sale for the princely sum of £900." (Guardian, 17 July) RD

HALF A MILLION HOMELESS

"More than 500,000 people will be added to social housing waiting lists and nearly 300,000 jobs will go under proposals to cut the housing budget by up to 40 per cent, say campaigners. The National Housing Federation says ministers risk "shutting the door on an entire generation of low-income families" by cutting cash for affordable homes." (Times, 26 July) RD

PROGRESSING BACKWARDS

"The gap between the health of rich and poor is greater now than at any time since modern records began, a study shows. Government initiatives have done little or nothing to close the gap between the life expectancy of poor people and those who are wealthy, researchers from universities in Sheffield and Bristol, writing in the British Medical Journal, said. They looked at deaths between 1921 and 2007." (Times, 23 July) RD

"HUMANITARIAN" SLAUGHTER

"The Israeli military has imposed restrictions on the use of white phosphorous munitions, which led to civilian deaths and casualties in Gaza last year. Israel told the UN that it would deploy them only when approved by a "humanitarian affairs officer." (Times, 22 July) RD

SEVENTY DIE FOR RELIGIOUS NONSENSE

"Islamists claim attack in Uganda. Uganda's most feared insurgent group, the Shabab, claimed responsibility on Monday for the coordinated bombings that killed more than 70 people in Uganda,as crowds gathered to watch the final match of the World Cup." (New York Times, 11, July) RD

CASH, CORRUPTION AND CAPITALISM

"Last week Goldman Sachs agreed to pay a $550 million (£360 million) fine to settle accusations by the US regulators that it misled investors over a mortgage-backed security. It followed claims that the investment bank had - among other things - helped Greece to hide the true level of its indebtedness, played a key role in the 2008 US banking crashed and behaved like a "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money" (Rolling Stone magazine)." (Times, 21 July) RD

CORRUPTING RESEARCH

"One of the world's largest oil companies has broken its pledge to stop funding groups that promote scepticism about man-made climate change. Exxon Mobil, parent company of Esso, gave almost £1 million last year to organisations that campaign against controls on greenhouse gas omissions." (Times, 19 July) RD

TOUGHER AT THE BOTTOM

"For the first time since the 1970s more than one billion people, almost one-sixth of humanity, were either hungry or undernourished last year and the number is growing, an international conference on food security held in Manila was told last week. This figure was 100 million more than in 2008, and the Asia-Pacific region leads the world with more than 650 million hungry people, according to data by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)." (The National, 11 July) RD

TOUGH AT THE TOP

"Charles, the Prince of Wales, doesn't exactly have to save for a rainy day: he collects Aston Martins, has three chauffeurs and holds overseas investments totaling at least $68 million. But as Britain copes with a bleak economic forecast and austerity measures meant to tackle its $230 billion deficit, the future King has embraced a royal version of frugality sure to make playboy princes around the world quiver: he's cutting back on canapes, and he's hosting drinks parties instead of lavish dinners. "We are always keeping an eye on the economic climate," Charles' private secretary, Michael Peat, told reporters in London on June 29. "We do live in the real world for the most part anyhow." (Time, 3 July) RD

CHEAP, CHEAPER, CHEAPEST

"As costs have risen in China, long the world's shop floor, it is slowly losing work to countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia at least for cheaper, labor-intensive goods like casual clothes, toys and simple electronics that do not necessarily require literate workers and can tolerate unreliable transportation systems and electrical grids. Li Fung, a Hong Kong company that handles sourcing and apparel manufacturing for companies like Wal-Mart, H & M and other Western retailers and brands. Liz Claiborne, reported that its production in Bangladesh jumped 20 percent last year, while China, its biggest supplier, slid 5 percent. Bangladesh is getting very competitive, William Fung, Li Fung's group managing director, told analysts in March. The flow of jobs to poorer countries like Bangladesh started even before recent labor unrest in China led to big pay raises for many factory workers there and before changes in Beijing's currency policy that could also raise the costs of Chinese exports. Now, though, economists expect the migration of China's low-paying jobs to accelerate." (New York Times, 16 July) RD

STOP MOANING WORK HARDER

Next time you complain to your boss about being exploited let us hope he doesn't read this piece of nonsense. "People who make their colleagues miserable by constantly moaning at work may actually be suffering from a mental illness, a study suggests. According to researchers in Germany, they are suffering from a new condition called post-traumatic embitterment disorder. ...The findings are based on a two-year study of 21 people by researchers at the University of Berlin." (BBC News, 20 June) Presumably the "researchers" didn't moan or complain and no one mentioned to them that research that only used 21 people is hardly convincing. Here's to the day when more and more of us "suffer" from post traumatic embitterment disorder. The researchers may call it a mental disorder we call it good sense. RD

CAPITALISM IN ACTION

"A boy aged seven has been found working 98 hours a week to produce decorative Christmas goods for the British high street. He is employed from 9am to 11pm, seven days a week, earning 7p an hour for his widowed mother. The boy, known only as Ravi, not only works but sleeps in a Delhi sweatshop that produces items for Pound-land, the cut-price chain store." (Sunday Times,11 July) RD

A FUN-LOVING GENERAL

"General Mattis will be questioned closely by the US Armed Services Committee during confirmation hearings into his nomination as the next commander of US Central Command. His remarks in 2005 when he spoke of having fun killing the Taleban are likely to be raised. ... A no-nonsense Marine, General Mattis stood up in front of television cameras during a speech in California in 2005 - when he was a lieutenant-general - and said: "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women about for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know that guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it is a lot of fun to shoot them ... It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot people." (Times, 10 July) RD

PROFITABLE CARNAGE

"Russia has exported $5.3 billion worth of weapons-related production in the first six months of 2010, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) said on Wednesday. "With a plan for $9.5 billion, we have delivered $5.3 billion in [weapons-related] production in the first six months [of 2010], which constitutes 56% of the plan," Mikhail Dmitriyev told the Engineering Technologies International Forum 2010 in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow. In 2009, the figure was $8.5 billion." (Ria Novosti, 30 June) RD

Who did win the World Cup?

This is an article taken from the Socialist Party's blog today,called Socialism or your money back. ( SOYMB) I think it should be available here.

 

The 2010 South Africa World Cup now has a winner, Spain, but just who really won the cup? SOYMB reads about the profits generating by this "sporting" event.

What they paid: ESPN paid $100 million for broadcast rights; Univision paid more than three times that amount - $325 million - for the same coverage.
What they get: The advertising dollars that accompany an average of 125 million viewers worldwide per match, and the almost 1 billion people who will watch the final on July 11. 715 million people watched the 2006 championship game and in light of increased viewership this tournament, that number is supposed to be well-surpassed with forecasts that the match will "draw the biggest audience of any sporting final in history."
What it cost them: Adidas signed a whopping $351 million deal with FIFA in 2005.
What they get: Adidas predicts sales of their World Cup-related merchandise to top $1.89 billion; they've already had record sales of $1.9 billion in their soccer category (a 15% increase from soccer-related sales in 2008 and a 26% increase from the 2006 World Cup) and they reported a 26 percent increase in soccer product sales in the first quarter of 2010.
What it cost them: Visa signed a $200 million sponsorship deal with FIFA in 2006.
What they got: No MasterCard allowed! Spending on Visa cards by visitors to South Africa was up by 65 per cent in the first three and half weeks of June, compared with the same period last year. The head of Visa sponsorships worldwide said, "In some markets, it might take a year for us to feel a difference. Inside SA card turnover by foreign visitors has risen 50% already." Leading up to the tournament, Visa registered more than 14,000 independent merchants across 186 malls and street precincts around South Africa.
What it cost them: Coca Cola paid $500m (£290m), for the period from 2007 to 2012.
What they get: Unit case volume up 3% this quarter.
What it cost them: Emirates Airlines were in a $195 million sponsorship deal
What they get: According to the Financial Times, Emirates estimated that its sponsorship deal would allow it to reach 2 billion people. "To get the same kind of exposure online that we get from the World Cup sponsorship... would cost about $3bn," an Emirates spokesman told Business Day a Johannesburg daily.
What it cost them: $305 million was the price for Sony to sponsor soccer events including the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
What they get: Sony has been able to preview its new 3D technology in fan parks and shopping malls throughout the country, also taking over the centre of Sandton's Mandela Square, 'where fans can "live" the experience of watching football through its impressive technology.'
What it cost them: Budweiser spent between $10 - 25 million in annual fees for 2007 - 2010
What they get: Official World Cup beer and the only one sold at stadiums and official fan sites. Nielsen data showed Budweiser had a 25 percent jump in online searches in the week ending June 19th, and this number has been increasing weekly. Nielsen also found four main World Cup sponsors, including Budweiser, generated a 55% higher "net likeability" than commercials from other non-official World Cup advertisers, and they also scored 16% higher on brand recall.
What it cost them: Between $10 - $25 million was McDonalds outlay for being sponsors
What they get: McDonald's South African branch expects a revenue growth of 20%, thanks to the World cup publicity. Last month, McDonald's noted a 4.8% increase of sales worldwide.
What it cost them: FIFA costs were $1.2 billion
What they get: The federation predicts revenue of $3.2 billion leading to a "surplus" of a sweet $2 billion for the 2010 World Cup

And for the football teams - What they get: Spain , the winners of the 2010 World Cup will pocket $30 million, and the Dutch runners-up get a check for $24 million. Every team who played in the World Cup finals will receive at least $9 million: $1 million as a contribution to preparation costs, and $8 million even if they're eliminated at the group stage. Total prize money amounts to $420 million - a 60 per cent increase from 2006's $261 million prize pool, and almost three times as much as the $154 million in 2002.

And finally for the South African people, SOYMB leaves the final words to the Landless People's Movement
"Billions of rands have been spent on stadiums and other costs for this World Cup yet we remain in shacks and without electricity. They said 'Feel it, it is here' but we have not felt anything other than the pain of poverty worsened with the pain of repression. The money that should have been spent on upgrading our communities has been wasted. The tournament will be over on Sunday and we will still be poor."

It didn't take a result predicting octopus to realise that !

LET 'EM FLY COPTERS

The arrogance of the Russian ruling elite is prodigious but even by their standards this takes a bit of beating. "As Moscow residents sweltered in an unprecedented traffic snarl-up, the governor of the region around Moscow offered an unusual solution on Friday: buy a helicopter. "I fly in a helicopter. (You) should also buy helicopters instead of cars -- then you do not need roads," Moscow Region governor Boris Gromov told journalists, the RIA Novosti news agency reported." (Yahoo News, 2 July)This crass statement brings to mind Marie Antoinette's reputed statement on hearing that the lower orders were rioting because of the lack of bread "Let them eat cake". In Marie's defense she probably never said such a thing, but Boris did and he should remember Marie's fate. RD

Banking crisis - who pays the price ?

“I get up in the morning crying and go to bed crying.You go in to work and you hope you won’t tear up. But somebody does, nearly every day.” The problem? Fear, says Jane. “We are all scared. We are all afraid of getting paid off. Maybe because of the way the building is, the fear just seems to move across the room. But they are disciplining us for everything, including clerical errors and timekeeping.” The building is open-plan. “When someone cracks up, we all see it,” she explains. “You’ll hear the sobbing and see her pals huddle around her." Middle managers, she keeps stressing, are just as scared as their employees.

Jim McCourt, who runs the Inverclyde Advice and Employment Rights Centre, says he has seen a lot of stressed-out RBS workers since 2008. "I have been doing this job for 15 years and I have never seen any company that is so unnecessarily brutal.”

From the Herald

DEVOLUTION, BENEFITS, HANDOUTS?

 

In an article By Eddie Barnes in today's Scotland on Sunday he say's

John Swinney hints at the end of benefits for all.

Every government, be it Scottish, English or what ever, must look after the interests of their capitalist class and the Scottish one is no different. The benefits handed out since devolution could be in jeopardy. Like any other reforms used to attract votes, they can be withdrawn in a slump crisis, no doubt available for future promise in another election. This is an excerpt from the article

 

"FREE personal care for the elderly is among the benefits facing the axe in Scotland as a result of multi-billion pound cuts to budgets, with public sector chiefs warning they can no longer afford to provide universal state payments to the middle classes.

Amid warnings from Scottish ministers today that the days of extra spending are over, council chiefs have spelled out bluntly that "universal benefits" must be cut, with cash focused solely on the poorer sections of society.

It could spell the death knell for a series of benefits handed out by ministers since devolution, such as free bus travel for pensioners and free personal care. The stark warning follows a report by the Scottish Government's chief economic adviser, Dr Andrew Goudie, last week which forecast that the £30bn budget will be cut by £5bn by 2015.

Ministers are awaiting the findings of an independent budget review group, which will report at the end of this month, offering options on cuts. The group was set up by finance secretary John Swinney to examine how best to cut back on spending.

Public sector chiefs have told the group that it must include a "recognition" that some policies, especially those based on universality, such as free personal care, may not be affordable in the future. Fife Council chief executive Ronnie Hinds told Scotland on Sunday: "Efficiency savings are not going to be enough. They will act for considerably less than half of what will have to be required. It is going to come down to hard political choices."

 

PAYDAY LENDING COMPANIES LEAVE ARIZONA

Governments get into debt and must service that debt or their credit rating in the international world will diminish, they immediately tell the working class that  it is our debt and proceed to diminish our wages, either directly if they can or indirectly by inflation for example. This can lead in some cases of workers going to lending companies who charge charging fees that can amount to interest rates of more than 400 percent on an annual basis. In Arizona, State law now caps the annual interest rates for loans at 36 percent. Of course, workers in debt can't claim it's our debt, like the government does, so, as one worker explains,

"I see the places popping up all over town. I can't believe that so many stores can be so profitable with these loans. The Armed Services made all of these kinds of businesses "Off limits" for members of any military service. We also have "title loan" stores. They loan a max of $1500 on late model cares that have to be paid off. So if you miss a payment, your $10,000 car gets repoed for a $1500 loan against it? That's how they make millions too. This maybe a needed industry, sure, but charging 4 or even 5 hundred percent is just not right, no matter what your views. People can judge and say " Get a job, etc, etc, etc" but this industry preys on people who can least afford it, and by nature are forced to the cess pool for financial help. As a country, we can't even agree 9 million unemployed people deserve help with unemployment benefits!"

From a socialist's point of view, this is an opinion shared by most workers, it's wrong, it is not a needed industry, if production for need replaces production for profit that industry will disappear along with money and private ownership of the means of production.

poverty and disability

The charity Contact a Family, which supports and advises families who have a child with a disability, said the impact of the global recession meant families who were already under strain were now at "breaking point".

The charity asked 88 families in Scotland about their financial situation as part of a UK-wide survey.
A total of 19% said they had gone without food to try and make ends meet, while 14% said they had sacrificed heating. Three-quarters missed out on days out, while two-thirds said they did not go on holidays. Nearly half - 46% - said they had fallen behind with loan payments, with 24% saying they needed to borrow money for basic household goods.
42% admitted borrowing money from family and friends to pay for groceries, household goods and heating. Meanwhile 44% of those surveyed said they feared their future financial situation would get worse. The charity said there were a number of reasons why families with a child with a disability were likely to suffer financial hardship, but a key reason was the difficulty of juggling caring and work.

"Time and time again research shows that families with disabled children have an above-average risk of living in poverty. Steps must be taken to address this imbalance..." Ellenor Anwyl, director of Contact a Family Scotland said

Food for thought

G8/20 notes
That 'democratically elected leaders need the kind of billion dollar security that was used in Huntsville and Toronto makes a mockery of the whole system.
If there was ever any doubt that the police are the natural enemy of the working class, it was dispelled by the 20 000 in riot gear and guns drawn (at the American Embassy), the mass sweeps and arrests (900) of even innocent bystanders, and the allegations of abuse, strip searches, and threats.
If there was any doubt that the government and the legal system work for the capitalists class, it was dispelled by the Ontario government's passing of a law, in secret, giving police search and arrest powers for the weekend of anyone within five metres of the wall. Turns out, after the fact, it is unconstitutional and could only apply inside the compound, anyway.
For socialism, John Ayers

Food for thought

According to the Toronto Star editorial (19/06/10), poverty is not on the agenda of the current federal government, so an NDP MP backbencher has introduced a private members' bill to obligate the government to eliminate poverty by setting targets for short term (1-3 years), medium term (4-7 years) and long term (8 years and more). Care to guess how long the 'more' will take? Obviously he has no understanding of how the system that he was
elected to run works. Just a short distance from the $1.1 billion G8 summit in Huntsville,
Ontario, First Nations people are commemorating the signing of a one-hundred-year-old treaty that ceded 100 000 square kilometers of their land to the British Crown for a few tools, life in poverty on the reserve, and $5 per head per year 'for as long as the sun shone'. Don't think there's any inflation on that payment either!
In "The High Price of Cheap Bananas", (Toronto Star, 5/06/10), Sonia Furstenau tells us that in the banana industry, parents and their children as young as 8 years work 10- to 12-hour days for $1.50 per day, and are exposed to toxic and cancer-causing chemicals and dangerous conditions. Injured or sick workers are given no compensation or medical care. Price competition in the global north has resulted in this race to the bottom. Her answer, predictably, is to buy fair trade products, not to blame, and work for, the end of the system responsible.
According to a study by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development  (OECD), it cost the major economies of the world $7 trillion to dig out of the global economic crisis, 2008-2010. It is mind-boggling to think what could have been achieved with that kind of money. Then again, it never would be put to the benefit of the workers in a profit society. John Ayers

Bushmeat trade threatens Pygmies' existence

Mbuti pygmy men carrying hunting nets and spears as they await the day's hunt outside the town of Epulu, Congo. The pygmies' traditional practice of hunting bushmeat has become a commercial endeavour, staged not for subsistence, but to feed growing regional markets.

Erasing its ancient past

THE ITURI FOREST, Congo — They emerge from the stillness of the rainforest like a lost tribe of prehistoric warriors forgotten by time — a barefoot band of Mbuti Pygmies wielding iron-tipped spears.

The men come first, cloaked head to toe in coiled hunting nets shaved from the liana vine. Then the women, lugging hand-woven baskets filled with the same bloodstained antelope their ancestors survived on for thousands of years.

And waiting anxiously in the middle of their smoke-filled hunting camp: a horde of village traders who've come to buy as much bushmeat as the Mbuti can bring.

Time has long stood still in the innermost reaches of northeast Congo's Ituri Forest — a remote and crepuscular world without electricity or cell phones that's so isolated, the Pygmies living here have never heard of Barack Obama or the Internet or the war in Afghanistan. But the future is coming, on a tidal wave of demand for game meat that's pushing an army of tall Bantu traders ever deeper into Africa's primordial vine-slung jungles.

It's a demand so voracious; experts warn it could drive some of Africa's last hunter-gatherers to eradicate the very wildlife that sustains them, and with it, their own forest-dwelling existence.

Over the last few decades, that existence has been vanishing at astonishing rates across the continent, as forests are ripped apart amid soaring population growth and legions of Pygmies are forced into settled lives on the outskirts of society.

One place — Congo's Okapi Wildlife Reserve — was supposed to be a bulwark against the onslaught, a place where commercial hunting is banned. But an Associated Press team that hiked two days to join one Pygmy band found the thriving bushmeat trade penetrating even into the protected zone.

Here — where water is still scooped from glassy streams and drunk pure from curled leaf cups, where Pygmies still scamper up treetops to savor the golden delight of raw honeycomb — lies a frontline where this continent's future is slowly erasing its ancient past, one antelope at a time.

Scottish sheep no longer radioactive

Remember the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in 1986 , now the last Scottish sheep farm affected by it has been released from movement restrictions imposed by the Food Standards Agency Tests last month revealed the levels of radioactivity in Scottish sheep have finally dropped below the safety limits allowing the FSA to lift all restrictions on the movement, sale and supply of sheep.

Initially 73 areas in Scotland were under restriction. In April 2009 there were still 3,000 sheep at five farms in Stirling and Ayrshire under restriction but over time the radioactivity levels have continued to decline. The final Scottish area was removed from restrictions on 21 June 2010 but England and Welsh sheep farmers remain affected.

In North Wales 330 holdings and approximately 180,000 sheep remain within a restricted area and a further eight holdings in Cumbria are also still under restriction.

In wake of the revelations of gross and grotesque safety infringements by nuclear companies in the 70's and 80's, many though that nuclear's goose was cooked, and that public opinion was irreversibly set against its comeback. Such optimists underestimate the power of creeping propaganda by the state and overestimate the collective memory of the public. Socialist Courier thought this would be a timely reminder that nuclear fission is a rather reckless way of raising some steam to turn turbines to produce electricity.

Food for thought

Remember PCBs? First used in 1929 in products such as inks, lubricants, paints, electrical equipment until it was discovered that exposure could cause cancers, birth defects and developmental problems; they're all gone now, right? Wrong. A 22 000 tonne mound in west Toronto is still sitting there, largely forgotten, along with 22 other sites in Ontario. It's probably too expensive for any company to dispose of the problem without affecting its bottom line.
The Global Footprint Network has announced that September 20th. Is 'Earth Overshoot Day', i.e. the day that humans will have consumed our allotment of the earth's resources for the entire year, and from there, we will be in ecological deficit for the rest of the year. Is it correctable? Fifty years ago, we only consumed half of the world's yearly allocation, and by 2030, we'll be taking double the allocated amount. These four points show why we must get rid of the dirty wasteful system that is capitalism. NOW!

John Ayers

Food for thought

One thing the G8 did not do was work on the most pressing problem of climate change. Although Canada, as host, was allowed to set the agenda, PM Harper, a well known denier of climate change, chose to 'see no carbon, hear no carbon, and speak no carbon' (Toronto Star). Obviously, making sure profits continue apace is more important.

It's a certain bet that BP will face numerous law suits re their horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Are they worried? Probably not. Exxon Corp. was fined over $5 billion for the Valdez spill in Alaska, but after 20 years of legal battles engaged by Exxon, they paid just $500 million, or four days' profit. John Ayers

old age , same old story

The average Scottish male will be able to claim just five years of the state pension before he dies, under the new government plans to raise the retirement age.

ALMOST seven in ten British adults believe they will have to work beyond their pension age to give themselves a comfortable retirement, a new study has revealed.
In 2005 just 52 per cent of workers said they would have to work longer and 82 per cent planned to retire ahead of the state pension age. In 2005 the average male worker planned to retire at 60 years, with women targeting 59. But while a third of people would like to retire between the ages of 61 and 65, according to the latest report, 29 per cent now believe they will not be able to give up work until they are at least 66.

After a lifetime of toil many workers look forward to the comfort and leisure of old age. Alas, for many it is just another of capitalism’s illusions. Research published by Aviva yesterday showed that many people over 55 are likely to struggle to fund the lifestyle they want in retirement. In socialism every member of society, including the old, would have free access, as a matter of right, to what they needed to live and enjoy life.

It's a sad society

According to the Depression ­Alliance Scotland, 16% of Scots will be diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives.Around one in 10 Scots is believed to be taking antidepressants at any one time, but the figures show some areas are more likely to dispense them than others.

People in Glasgow are 50% more likely than those in Edinburgh to be prescribed antidepressants. The NHS handed out mood-enhancing medicines 1,145,381 times in Greater Glasgow and Clyde last year, compared to 521,944 in Lothian.

Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire and Arran were the next biggest users relative to population.

WHAT RECESSION?

As the British government announces massive cuts to deal with the economic recession it is interesting to note that recession or not the owning class still manage to spare a few coppers for their art collections. "Last week was one of the biggest ever in the world of of London's art auctions, with the recession failing to stop records being broken at the Impressionist/Modern evening sales at both Sotheby's (22 June)and Christie's (23 June)" (Observer, 27 June) A Picasso went for over £34 million, a Manet for over £22 million and a Klimt for just under £19 million. It is nice to see that our betters are not letting an economic downturn affect their appreciation of artistic merit. RD

HERE TODAY, TOMORROW?

Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver are seen arriving for his swearing in of 38th Govenor of California in Sacramento, on November 17, 2003, six years later, he has few friends left in California's Republican Party.