"DEMOCRACY" IN ACTION

"Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s camp was told last year that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) would raise up to $5 million in campaign cash for the ex-governor if he was appointed to President Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. The overture came from at least two members of the local Indian community who approached the Blagojevich fund-raising team last fall, sources say." (Chicago Sun-Times, 13 April) RD

SHIPWRECKED

"Global shipping rates are set to fall by 74 per cent this year as commodity demand continues to fall in Asia and the massive glut of vessels ordered during the boom years finally takes to the seas. The expected collapse in rates, which could push dozens of ship-owners close to bankruptcy, comes after a 92 per cent decline in the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) of shipping rates over the course of last year. The misery is expected to continue well into 2010, with a further 15 per cent drop in rates before any rebound brings relief to fleet-owners. The closely watched gauge of world trade in iron ore, coal and other bulk cargoes has fallen for 19 consecutive days, the same rate of decline that occurred after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the investment bank, and the catastrophic freezing of trade finance. The stark warning of a continuing collapse in the BDI, issued by analysts at Nomura Securities in Hong Kong, comes after industry predictions of multiple order cancellations by ship-owners and forecasts that record numbers of vessels may be put into storage." (Times, 9 April) RD

NHS STARVATION

"More than 2,300 people died from malnutrition in NHS hospitals in England over the 10 years to 2007, according to official figures revealed yesterday to the Conservatives in a parliamentary answer. The data, from the UK Statistics Authority, showed the poorest performing regions were the West Midlands, where 409 people died from malnutrition, and the south east, where 388 died. Across England, the number of deaths increased from 209 in 1997 to 242 in 2007. Stephen O'Brien, the shadow health minister, said: "The least that patients should be able to expect is to be fed properly." (Guardian, 8 April) RD

A FEARFUL FUTURE

"It has often been said that water is "blue gold" and the next resource wars will be fought, not over oil, but over water. Maude Barlow, senior advisor to the United Nations on water issues, wrote that the way in which we view water "will in large part determine whether our future is peaceful or perilous." There is no doubt that the world's supply of drinkable fresh water is threatened. An astounding one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water today and that number is likely to reach 2.8 billion in only two decades. Will these challenges result in an all-out "water war"? "The British non-profit International Alert released a report identifying forty-six countries where water and climate stresses could ignite violent conflict by 2025, prompting the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to affirm, "The consequences for humanity are grave. Water scarcity threatens economic and social gains and is a potent fuel for wars and conflict." (The Nation, 31 March) RD

Who owns the North Pole - part 15

Much news coverage of the Russians creating military units for a possible Arctic war as reported by Socialist Courier previously but of course they are not the only nations reinforcing their military might . We read of Canadian plans .

The First Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment is one of four reserve units from across the country designated to form the spine of a new Arctic force to be created over the next five years. Joining the 1RNBR will be the Voltigeurs de Quebec, Ontario's Grey and Simcoe Foresters, and Royal Winnipeg Rifles. To complement the creation of the unit, the military will continue with its plans to expand the Canadian Rangers, a group composed of First Nations and Inuit reservists. By 2012, those numbers are expected to reach 5,000 personnel. Should an incident occur in the Arctic, the soldiers would be available to respond.

Col. Greg MacCallum, commander of 37 Brigade Group , said the strategic significance of forming the new units is to exercise sovereignty and ownership of the Arctic.

"You do that, at least in part, by being able to project military forces into that region to show a presence and to show a capability and intent to exercise ownership of it."

FRED AND FORLORN

"Oxfam is warning that the economic downturn is creating more poverty in the UK, making life tougher for the fifth of the population already struggling to get by. Kathleen Carter lives in poverty. At her home in Stockton-on-Tees, she cares full-time for her disabled son and husband. Her life is a constant round of cleaning, cooking, preparing medication and shopping on a very tight budget. The only income is from her pension and a small amount of benefits. She says: "It can be very soul-destroying. I've got to think of everything I buy; life is a real struggle because all the time you are thinking about what you are spending." Mrs Carter is one of the so-called Freds. It is a term Oxfam has created standing for Forgotten, Ripped-off, Excluded and Debt-ridden." (BBC News, 8 April) RD

TRUST ME, I'M A DOCTOR!

Carol Houlder, a substance abuse counselor, waited a year for surgery on her
injured ankle to be approved. “I was in so much pain and felt so hopeless for so
long,” she said.

"Dr. Hershel Samuels, an orthopaedic surgeon, put his hand on the worker’s back. “Mild spasm bilaterally,” he said softly. He pressed his fingers gingerly against the side of the man’s neck. “The left cervical is tender,” he said, “even to light palpation.” The worker, a driver for a plumbing company, told the doctor he had fallen, banging up his back, shoulder and ribs. He was seeking expanded workers’ compensation benefits because he no longer felt he could do his job. Dr. Samuels, an independent medical examiner in the state workers’ compensation system, seemed to agree. As he moved about a scuffed Brooklyn office last April, he called out test results indicative of an injured man. His words were captured on videotape. Yet the report Dr. Samuels later submitted to the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board cleared the driver for work and told a far different story: no back spasms, no tender neck. In fact, no recent injury at all. “If you did a truly pure report,” he said later in an interview, “you’d be out on your ears and the insurers wouldn’t pay for it. You have to give them what they want, or you’re in Florida. That’s the game, baby.” (New York Times, 31 March) RD

home sweet home , or is it ?

The BBC reports that a total of 7,500 Scots are set to lose their homes this year.

That is 20 a day.

The Council for Mortgage Lenders had already raised the forecast from 48,000 to 75,000 repossessions across the UK.

"I think if things continue to get worse in the wider economy, it's going to get an awful lot worse and I think that's a real problem. We have to remember, you have two hundred thousand people in Scotland on housing waiting lists already. If you have people coming out of their own homes, they'll have to join those lists which is going to put even greater demand on housing. If the number of repossessions rises to seven and a half thousand as may well be predicted or, or even greater, apart from just the individual what impact would this have on communities?" - Shelter Scotland chairman Graeme Brown said

Food for Thought 3

- On Sunday, March 8th. International Women’s Day, The Toronto Star reported,” Seventy per cent of the poorest people on the planet are women and girls, and even in a wealthy country like Canada they are the majority of the poor.” Progress is slow in this system, to say the least.

- In his Toronto Star article, “To Justify Degradation, Just Cite the Economy”, Peter Gorrie shows just how “green” governments are. The federal Conservatives have tied measures that gut environmental laws to the stimulus package that must be rushed through at all costs. New Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, who promised to scrutinize everything the Tories did in exchange for allowing the minority government to continue, has ordered a quick passage of the bill and no opposition from the Liberal-dominated senate. Changes that undermine the Navigable WatersProtection Act have been rushed through and, in the next step, environmental assessments for 90% of the “Building Canada” stimulus package have been eliminated. Gorrie writes, “ The general impression (of the stimulus projects) is of an incoherent mishmash aimed more at enhancing Conservative fundraising and election prospects than Canada’s economic and environmental health.”
Would we expect anything else from an institution that is there to serve the capitalist system.
John Ayers

MUSLIM HYPOCRISY

"Morocco has become one of the largest winemakers in the Muslim world, with the equivalent of 35 million bottles produced last year. Wine brings the state millions in sales tax, even though Islam appears to be on the rise politically. "Morocco is a country of tolerance," said Mehdi Bouchaara, the deputy general manager at the Celliers de Meknes, the country's largest winemaker, which bottles over 85 per cent of national output. "It's everybody's personal choice whether to drink or not." The Celliers have flourished on this tolerance. The firm now cultivates 2,100 hectares (5,189 acres) of vineyards, bottling anything from entry-level table wine to homemade sparkling wine and even a high-end claret, Chateau Roslane, aged in a vaulted cellar packed with oak barrels imported from France. The winery now dwarfs virtually any other producer in Europe. On paper, wine is "Haram," or forbidden to Muslims. But Bouchaara said the firm's distribution is all legal since it only sells to traders authorized by the state, who in turn officially sell exclusively to non-Muslim tourists. Statistics, however, show that Moroccans consume on average one litre (a quarter of a gallon) of wine per person each year, and the Moroccan state itself is the largest owner of the country's 12,000 hectares (29,652 acres) of vineyards." (Associated Press, 6 April) RD

MORE "EXPERT" FAILURE

"The Washington Post has just dropped its separate City section and runs financial coverage in with the rest of the news. The New York Times is about to do the same.
What? Downgrade the importance of economics, bailouts and bust banks just as they grip the world by the windpipe? Was there ever such a decision so out of time? Two comments. Whole sections of expertise didn't help readers to see what was coming. And since its come, there isn't the advertising left to make them fly away." (Observer, 5 April) RD

old and in the way

A quarter of UK pensioners feel their lives are getting worse.

Michelle Mitchell from Age Concern and Help the Aged said: "Loneliness, depression, poverty and neglect blight the lives of millions of older people and for many, evidence shows the situation is getting worse, not better...."

Yet all the charities can do is make plaintive pleas to government for reforms . To be frank, campaigning charities like Age Concern and Help the Aged have got no chance at all of getting governments to change their practice of putting profits before people. And it is not because they believe merely in lobbying that dooms them to failure. As long as the capitalist system continues to exist, its economic laws will operate to put profits before people, and governments will have no choice but to dance to this tune.

RECESSION? WHAT RECESSION?

"Although most City eateries suffered a drop-off in lunchtime trade, three bankers from Deutsche Bank spotted at the Coq d'Argent clearly were determined not to let the great unwashed prevent them from having a decent lunch. A contact on a neighbouring table claims the trio drank their way through three bottles of wine at £120 a time." (Times, 2 April) RD

Food for Thought 2

- Bernard Madoff’s wife was able to withdraw $10 million dollars the day before he surrendered. The feds said,
“ The process (of scrutinizing the money) gives us the right to look at all of it to try to prove that Mrs. Madoff did not earn this money on her own”.
Now, let’s see, @ minimum wage, $10/hour, that would take her…500 years! Either she’s a very old lady, or she must have earned more than the minimum wage!

- In the recession news, the unemployed number in the US has officially hit 12.5 million and construction has soared, of tents, that is. A recent picture in the Toronto Star showed people and tents beside a railway line. A locomotive is passing close behind them with a fluttering American flag and the Union Pacific flag painted on the side and the words, “Building America” beside them. Ironic indeed!

- In Ontario, it’s up and down for the 1.3 million poor, as usual. On the good side, the minimum wage increases 75 cents per hour to $9.50, and the child tax credit doubled to $92 per child per month. The bad news is that on that basis you would still be well below the poverty line and the premier is hinting that next year’s planned increase in the minimum wage may have to be shelved until the economy improves, by which time any gains would be more than wiped out by inflation. Back to the old treadmill!

- And the ridiculous? The Ontario Energy Board has put aside money to be more flexible with those who can’t pay bills, i.e. not to charge interest on unpaid bills, and to help those people to become more energy efficient and have lower bills in the future. Only problem is the poor don’t own their houses and the landlords are not interested in refits because they don’t pay the utilities.
John Ayers

ALIENATION WRIT LARGE

"Mary Merchant, 72, who died of natural causes in her locked house in 25 acres of land, lay undiscovered with her dog, which died of thirst, for 18 months in South Carolina. Her house was sold for tax arrears before her body was found." (Times, 2 April) RD

Malnutrition in the UK ?

“We think we are heading towards malnutrition happening here in the UK.” - Save the Children’s Colette Marshall told the BBC. "Benefits simply haven’t been enough and with rising food costs it means that families cannot afford to give children proper decent food. "

Children are being deprived of dietary staples and instead are being raised on cheap packaged food high in fat, salt and sugar. The Grocer magazine shows food prices rising by almost a fifth over the past year, with basic essentials such as rice and milk among the worst hit.

Food for Thought

- Some of the rich are hurting, too. The top 5 American banks Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, and HSBC Bank, lost a combined total of $587 billion just on derivatives in 2008.

- The City of Gold, Dubai, is cancelling 1 500 work visas per day, and 53% of current construction projects, worth $582 billion are on hold.

- Warren Buffet had to make do with just $175 000 in pay for 2008, the same as the year before. He also lost $25 billion in net worth as it plunged from $62 billion to just $37 billion. How do they get by!

- Banks can recoup some of their losses through the usual immigrant practice of sending money home, by charging foreign exchange and service fees for the transfer, which amount to $2 billion per year.

- The AIG bonuses of $220 million for running their company into the ground are well publicized, but Canada’s Nortel beats that story. After laying off 1100 employees, they sought, and got, bankruptcy protection so they didn’t have to pay them severance packages, but just a couple of weeks later, they awarded themselves $45 million in bonuses, 8 senior executives taking home $7.3 million collectively. Not bad for failing, wonder what they would have got for succeeding!

- Manulife’s retiring CEO pulled in $13.25 million for 2008 (down From $17 million in 2007) and $12.6 million for 2009 even though he will retire in May
John Ayers

A GRATEFUL GOVERNMENT?

"Although almost 4,000 military staff annually are found to have some form of mental disorder, in just over three years only 115 British personnel or veterans were compensated for the psychological injuries of war. Under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme any soldier or veteran who can show a service-related mental disorder lasting at least six weeks is eligible for a £3,000 payout." (Times, 28 March) RD

A HOUSING BARGAIN

"Los Angeles – The widow of producer Aaron Spelling is placing "The Manor" in the exclusive Holmby Hills neighbourhood on the market for a jaw-dropping $150 million, making it by far the most expensive home for sale in the U.S. The French chateau-style mansion has 56,500 square feet of space on more than 4.6 acres and is the largest home in Los Angeles County. Among the neighbours are the Los Angeles Country Club and, not too far away, the Playboy Mansion." (Yahoo News, 27 March) RD

A BRAZILIAN NUT

"Weighing just 79 pounds and barely four feet tall, the 9-year-old girl, from Alagoinha, a town in the northeast, underwent an abortion when she was 15 weeks pregnant at one of the 55 centres authorized to perform the procedure in Brazil. Abortion is legal here only in cases of rape or when the mother’s life is at risk. The doctors’ actions set off a swirl of controversy. A Brazilian archbishop summarily excommunicated everyone involved — the doctors for performing the abortion and the girl’s mother for allowing it — except for the stepfather, who stands accused of raping the girl over a number of years. “The law of God is above any human law,” said José Cardoso Sobrinho, the archbishop, who argued that while rape was bad, abortion was even worse." (New York Times, 27 March) RD