WHO IS AFRAID OF WHO?

"For the second time in seven years the Vatican is hosting a scientific conference for astronomers. More than 200 scientists from 26 countries including the United States, Britain, Italy, Germany, Russia, and Japan have gathered in Rome for a five-day meeting on disc galaxies. ...Why does the Vatican fund astronomical research after centuries of public dispute over the relative roles of science and religion? Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, a member of Father Funes's team and curator of one of the world's most important collections of meteorites, kept at Castelgandolfo (the Pope's summer residence), explains.
"They want the world to know that the Church isn't afraid of science," he said." (BBC News, 1 October)
In the 17th century it was this church that was persecuting and executing scientists. Galileo was tried for heresy by the Inquisition because his findings contradicted the scriptures. It was not until the reign of Pope John Paul II - nearly four centuries later - that the Catholic Church finally admitted that Galileo had been right and he was officially rehabilitated. RD

ILLUSION AND REALITY

Capitalism is a society that thrives on illusions. One of the cruellest is the one about elderly workers sitting in rocking chair contentment after a lifetime of toil. For many workers the reality behind this idyllic picture turns out to be this.
"The proportion of pensioners going bankrupt has more than doubled in five years, research has suggested. Of bankruptcies in England and Wales during 2007, 7% involved retired people - up from 3% in 2002, a report said. This meant 7,900 pensioners were declared bankrupt over the past year, compared to 900 five years previously. Accountants firm Wilkins Kennedy, which produced the study, said older people unused to being offered credit "may take on unmanageable levels of debt". The researchers warned that the figures are likely to get even higher, as increased life expectancy and rises in the price of food and fuel put a greater strain on the limited savings of many pensioners." (BBC News, 1 October) RD

PHONEY COMMUNISTS

"The Chinese authorities are in the midst of an unusually harsh crackdown on the Internet, closing tens of thousands of websites that had allowed visitors to post their opinions, according to bloggers and Internet monitors in China. The new censorship wave appears linked to next month's 17th Communist Party Congress, a key political gathering that will set China's course for the coming five years. Party leaders generally prefer to meet undisturbed by criticism." (Yahoo News, 25 September)
This phoney Communist Party of course run a system of state capitalism not communism. Early socialists like Marx and Engels who wrote the Communist Manifesto were themselves the victim of censorship and deportation and were completely opposed to the concept of censorship. In their day it was the avowedly capitalist parties that practiced censorship but today dicatorships in China and Cuba who falsely describe themselves as communists are the ones who most rigidly suppress all opposition. RD

BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID (2)

"Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski likened U.S. officials' sabre rattling about Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions to similar statements made before the start of the Iraq war.
"I think the administration, the president and the vice president particularly, are trying to hype the atmosphere, and that is reminiscent of what preceded the war in Iraq," Brzezinski told CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday." (CNN Politics.com, 24 September)
We don't want to be like Charles Dickens's Fat Boy and "make your flesh creep", but this guy is supposed to be an expert in such matters. Let us hope he is like a lot of capitalism's experts and has got it all wrong. Capitalism makes our flesh creep. RD

WAR IS HELL - FOR SOME

"The Bush administration plans to increase its 2008 financing request for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere by almost $50 billion, with about a quarter of the additional money going toward armoured trucks built to withstand roadside bombs, Pentagon officials said Saturday. The increase would bring the amount the administration is seeking to finance the war effort through 2008 to almost $200 billion." (New York Times, 23 September)
This increase in expenditure is bad news for the American capitalist class who will have to pay for this. On the other hand it is good news for that section who have their capital tied up in the manufacture of this additional material. RD

MAKING A KILLING

"Habana Health Care Centre, a 150-bed nursing home in Tampa, Fla., was struggling when a group of large private investment firms purchased it and 48 other nursing homes in 2002. The facility’s managers quickly cut costs. Within months, the number of clinical register nurses at the home was half what it had been a year earlier, records collected by the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services indicate. Budgets for nursing supplies, resident activities and other services also fell, according to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration. The investors and operators were soon earning millions of dollars a year from their 49 homes. Residents fared less well. Over three years, 15 at Habana died from what their families contend was negligent care in lawsuits filed in state court." (New York Times, 23 September)
When it comes to making a profit there is no depth to which capitalism won’t descend. RD

EXPLOITATION IN BANGLADESH

If you have ever wondered how some clothing stores manage to have such low prices, wonder no more. "At least 25,000 textile workers defied a ban on protests in emergency-ruled Bangladesh on Saturday to demand back-pay and bonuses in one of the country's biggest industrial zones, police said. The workers walked off the job in the Tejgaon Industrial Area in Dhaka and held protests in the streets, forcing the shutdown of most factories in the area, assistant police commissioner Moshiur Rahman said. Police used batons to break up protests after demonstrators smashed the windows of several factories. ...The military-backed government has banned all kinds of protests and rallies and has said it will not tolerate any unrest in the important textile sector, which is crucial to impoverished Bangladesh's export earnings. ...Garments are Bangladesh's biggest export earners with sales abroad fetching more than nine billion dollars, or three-quarters of the country's total export earnings, in the last fiscal year." (Yahoo News, 22 September)
Behind the strikes and demonstrations is the government's refusal to introduce the agreed minimum wage of $25 a month RD

The Standard October 2007

The Standard Online

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Npower - no help to the poor

Npower, whose German parent company RWE reported profits of £1.68 billion last year on the back of rising energy prices, was singled out in a report by the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group. Scottish Power, which made £483 million last year, was also rated poorly for doing least to help its most vulnerable customers.

Households are deemed to be living in fuel poverty if they spend more than 10% of their income on heating and lighting bills. The industry regulator Ofgem estimates that there are now 4 million households living in fuel poverty in the UK.
Currently, each power company can set the level of help it chooses to offer those customers, such as through lower prices or subsidies for loft insulation.

In August, Ofgem , the industry regulator , examined what each company was doing to help its poorest customers. Its findings were then analysed by the fuel poverty group . The report said npower "clearly stands out as the company that does the least for its vulnerable customers". It also criticised the company for having the highest prepayment electricity tariffs . The original Ofgem report found that npower had fewer than 1,200 of its total 6.8 million customers on its First Step social tariff - less than 0.02%. In comparison British Gas had 300,000, or 2%, of customers receiving financial help. EDF offers help to about 60,000 customers, or 1%.

The Bankrupt System

Research based on a study of 1,250 bankrupts in England and Wales found the proportion of pensioners going bankrupt has more than doubled in five years . Of bankruptcies in England and Wales during 2007, 7% involved retired people - up from 3% in 2002 . This meant 7,900 pensioners were declared bankrupt over the past year, compared to 900 five years previously.

Researchers warned that the figures are likely to get even higher, as increased life expectancy and rises in the price of food and fuel put a greater strain on the limited savings of many pensioners.

Keith Stevens, insolvency partner at Wilkins Kennedy, said: "More and more pensioners are going bankrupt as they struggle to repay debts when their pension is their sole source of income. "

Senior citizens could be missing out on money to which they are entitled because of the complexity of the government's pension credits system

Older people unused to being offered credit "may take on unmanageable levels of debt".

The problem might be worst in rural areas. That could be because of pensioners not being able to rely on free public transport, and fewer opportunities for part time work.

More Pay For the Bosses

We previously reported how directors pay increases are much higher than their workers wage rises and today's Herald produces new figures that once again confirms that the rich always reward themselves more than those that produce the wealth .

Chief executives enjoyed an average 16% rise in total remuneration in 2007 - a marked acceleration over the prior year's 9% increase - according to accounting giant KPMG's .Moreover, other executive directors on company boards saw their base salaries increase at a similar rate, although finance directors are seeing bigger increases in pay. KPMG noted that the rate of increase in directors' pay is far higher than the national average .

The median total remuneration for FTSE-100 chief executives in 2007 - including new hires as well as promotions - increased to £2.6 million, compared with £2.3 million last year.

Whereas today's Independent is reporting of the story is that The bonanza in boardroom pay has become even more spectacular, according to the latest figures from the accountancy firm KPMG. The typical chief executiveof a FTSE 100 company has seen their total remuneration rise by 12 per cent in the past year, to reach over £2.6m. That's four times the rate of increase in average earnings, leaving the business elite on pay over 100 times what most of their employees earn.

Britain's top corporate earner is probably still Bob Diamond of Barclays Capital, who took home £22.9 million last year, including a performance-related bonus of £10.4 million.

Bart Becht, chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, the man behind Mr Sheen, on £22 million; Giles Thorley, head of Punch Taverns, making ends meet on £11 million; . Mr Thorley's package is equivalent to 1,147 of his staff's pay.

Taken together, the directors of FTSE 100 companies collectively earned £515 million lastyear – exceeding the GDP of the likes of Eritrea and the Seychelles.

BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID

Capitalism is a frightening society with its poverty, crime and world hunger, but there is another cloud on the horizon for the working class. "An air warfare conference in Washington last week was told how American air chiefs have helped to co-ordinate intelligence-sharing with Gulf Arab nations and organise combined exercises designed to make it easier to fight together. Gen Michael Mosley, the US Air Force chief of staff, used the conference to seek closer links with allies whose support America might need if President George W Bush chooses to bomb Iran. Pentagon air chiefs have helped set up an air warfare centre in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where Gulf nations are training their fighter pilots and America has big bases.
(Sunday Telegraph, 30th September) RD

YOU RANG, MY LORD?

We are always told that it is tough at the top and here is another example of how the capitalist class have problems that we lucky workers never have to confront. "They have their private jets, luxury yachts and an island or two in the Caribbean. But for the plutocrat with everything, this season's ultimate accessory is much harder to acquire – a top-flight British butler with skills honed and polished by the royal household. The art of "butling" is enjoying an unprecedented renaissance. Not since the days of the landed gentry have butlers been such hot property, providing the ultimate butling in the Beckham household as well as offering media-shy dotcom millionaires and Russian oligarchs that extra bit of personal service. The 21st-century butler has, however, been given a radical makeover that has included being renamed as a "household manager". Today's butlers are not only expected to pour champagne, dust antique furnishings and open doors for guests, but they also have to be able to deal with new technology." (Independent on Sunday, 30 September)
Like the master is always saying - "You just can't get the servants nowadays". RD

WARS WITHOUT END

Kids at British schools are usually taught about the first and second world wars and led to believe that Britain has been at peace since 1945, but capitalism just doesn't work that way. It is a brutal competitive society that is forced from time to time to settle the rivalries between different groups of capitalists in the bloodletting of wars that kill millions of workers. A recent interview with Lord Tebbit the right wing Conservative peer reminds us just how constant this conflict is. Speaking about a book he is working on that deals with the history of Britain's wars - "All 61 of them!" he exclaims - since 1945." (Times Magazine, 29 September) RD

The Protests in Burma

Phan, a member of the ethnic Karen group which has been mercilessly persecuted by the ruling military junta, was just 14 when her village was attacked by Burmese soldiers. She fled to the jungle and lived in hiding .

"... While I was in hiding in the jungle, British businessmen were dining in Rangoon and making deals with the very men who had ordered the slaughter of my people." says Phan .

The Burmese army has been routinely accused of using rape (including that of children) as a weapon of war, as well as ethnic cleansing, extra-judicial executions and torture and imprisonment without trial. More than one million people have been displaced and 3000 villages destroyed by government troops.

The UK has more companies than any other nation on Earth trading with the regime. In total, the London-based Burma Campaign has found that 128 firms globally are trading with Burma - of those 44% are British. An example of one of the 56 British firms trading with Burma, and propping up the army generals currently smashing the nation's pro-democracy movement, is Britannic Garden Furniture (BGF).The company builds expensive accessories for Britons using Burmese teak.
Total Oil, which has offices in London, is in a joint venture with the military regime, developing an offshore gas field. It has been taken to court by six Burmese people who were allegedly used as forced labour in the preparation of Total's pipeline in Burma.
Perhaps the most high-profile firm is Rolls-Royce. Through its Singaporean subsidiary, the company has a contract to supply and service aircraft engines for at least one Burmese airline.

Among the firms are two Scottish-based companies: Aquatic from Aberdeen, and Schlumberger from Westhill in Aberdeenshire. Aquatic is a privately owned company, with offices in Burma, that provides specialist services to the oil and gas industry. Gas exports are the military dictatorship's biggest source of income.

Anna Roberts, acting director of the BurmaCampaignUK,said:
"The Burmese regime spends half its budget on the military, and just 19p per person on health and education. It relies on foreign trade to supply this income. So, companies which trade with Burma are helping support a military dictatorship which uses foreign money to buy weapons to suppress its own people."

See Socialism or Your Money Back for a socialist point of view of the present Burma situaton

A TASTY TIPPLE

"An anonymous telephone bidder has paid £29,000 for a 157-year-old bottle of whisky. McTears auctioneers in Glasgow sold the Bowmore single malt, which was bottled in 1850. The price, a record for a Scottish whisky at auction, was almost double pre-sale estimates, despite the fact that the whisky's cork had dropped into the bottle. ... .In 2005, a bottle of Dalmore 62 Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky is thought to have become the world's most expensive after it was bought at a hotel in England. A businessman paid £32,000 for the rare bottle, produced in 1943." (Daily Telegraph, 29 September)
20 to 30 grand for a bottle of whisky is everyday stuff for members of the capitalist class while members of the working class cannot even afford medicine to keep them alive! RD

And its jobs for the boys ( and girls ) . Ex-attorney general , Lord Goldsmith , starts a lucrative new career with a big American law firm called Debevoise & Plimpton LLP on a salary thought to be in the region of £1 million a year. As European chair of litigation, Lord Goldsmith will be part of a firm that prides itself on conflict resolution and anti-corruption investigations - it recently acted for a company in connection with a worldwide inquiry into possible corrupt payments to government officials. Lord Goldsmith , of course , possesses plenty of experience upon how to handle corruption cases as witnessed by his handling of the Saudi Arabian - BAE arms and bribery investigation . Never let the law and legal nicieties interfere with politics and business .

Other pigs with snouts in the trough as reported by the Guardian are :-

· Alan Milburn - The former health secretary is an adviser to Pepsi which brings him £25,000 a year. He also holds a £30,000-a-year role on Lloyds pharmacy's health advisory panel and draws another £35,000 as an adviser to the European board of Bridgepoint Capital Ltd, a finance company with an interest in healthcare.

· Stephen Byers - The former transport and trade secretary is a paid consultant to a Lebanese construction firm based in Athens. He is chairs the board of the Yalta European Strategy group.

· David Blunkett - The former home secretary, collected £385,000 from his memoirs, and up to £150,000 a year from his weekly Sun column. He is also an adviser to Entrust, a company which is bidding to run Britain's controversial identity cards programme.

· John Prescott - The former deputy prime minister signed a £300,000 deal to tell his story in Prezza: Pulling No Punches after stepping down this year.

· John Reid - The former home secretary who was famously labelled Labour's "attack dog" by Jeremy Paxman is expected to become chairman of Celtic Football Club.

· Alastair Campbell - Downing Street's former communications director is reported to have earned £1 million for his book, The Blair Years: Extracts from the Alastair Campbell Diaries.

The poor and education

Socialist Courier has directed readers towards findings that have indicated a link between class and educational achievement here and here and the Herald reports further connections between poverty and educational success .

Figures from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) show that Glasgow, Dundee, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire are among the councils with the lowest attainment rates at Standard Grade and Higher - all are regions which have a much higher proportion of pupils on free school meals than the national average of 14.6% - a key indicator of deprivation. Glasgow , for instance , has 32% of pupils are on free meals .

The best performing councils, including East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Stirling and the Western Isles all have much lower proportions of pupils on free school meals. In East Renfrewshire, the figure is 8.3%.

The latest figures to highlight the gulf in exam attainment between rich and poor will spark renewed concerns that not enough is being done to address the problem. Last year, HM Inspectorate of Education found the gap between the best and worst-performing pupils in Scotland was growing wider, despite a raft of government initiatives and £19 billion spent on education since devolution.
Isabel Hutton, education spokeswoman for Cosla, which represents local authorities, called for the "inequalities arising from deprivation" to be removed.
A Scottish Government spokesman said the focus by ministers of early intervention, cutting class sizes in deprived areas and ensuring teachers were retained in nurseries would all help to raise attainment across the board.

Socialist Courier doubts if such palliative will address the situation . After all , it has been an objective of all governments , of all shades of the political spectrum , to foster an educated work-force and here we are still facing the same problem .

The New Gold Rush

BHP Billiton will tomorrow announce that it estimates the reserves of gold at its Australian Olympic Dam mine are more than 50% bigger than previously thought, raising speculation that it is sitting on the largest gold mine in the world. Situated 330 miles north of Adelaide, South Australia, Olympic Dam contains deposits of several minerals and is already the home to the world's largest uranium mine.
BHP shares hit record levels with feverish expectations that a recent drilling programme had vastly exceeded expectations. BHP has grown in value on the back of the China-fuelled commodity boom. Its stock market value has reached $200 billion (£99 billion), compared with $30 billion five years ago. Yesterday the share price rose 81p to £17.37.

The price of gold neared a 28-year peak yesterday as investors continued to buy into the commodity as a hedge against a falling dollar and the potential for a serious economic downturn in the US. The precious metal hit $736.05 per troy ounce at one stage helped by a forecast from Goldman Sachs that prices could soon reach $775. Gold prices have been rising since 2000 when they were as low as $280 per oz.

BEHIND THE FINE WORDS

At the annual conferences of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Parties we hear fine words about full employment and prosperity but what is the reality? "Danny Wilde collected his last pay cheque from the Tulip pork factory in Norfolk on Friday before joining the dole queue. His wife, Melissa, was made redundant from her job at the same Thetford plant earlier this month. They both joined the meat processing lines from school and have put in 20 years at the company between them, taking turns on early and late shifts so that they could look after their two children. There have been jobs cuts here before: in 2003 more than 170 full-time employees were made redundant and replaced immediately with agency staff, most of them migrants on poorer terms - lower rates of pay, mostly just the minimum wage, less overtime money, less holiday, more antisocial shift patterns, uncertain hours. The full-time employees had no pay rise for three years and watched as their incomes were eroded by inflation. Now the rest of the work has gone, most of it relocated to another subsidiary of the trans-national Danish Crown group in Cornwall. The Wildes feel badly let down after years of loyal work. As Melissa puts it: "That's business today, isn't it. It doesn't care." Tulip has been Thetford's largest employer since Thermos closed its factory on the same industrial estate five years ago and shifted to China where the labour is cheaper. Up to 700 people who have worked at Tulip regularly will now have to look for jobs elsewhere." (Guardian, 25 September) RD