NOT SO GOLDEN FUTURE

"In the past 18 years alone, miners have extracted 36m ounces of the yellow metal from Ghana's seams, generating about 40 per cent of export earnings. Fewer Ghanaians live in poverty now. But a third of them cannot read, and a quarter will not see their 40th birthday. Tax breaks and other incentives mean that of mining revenues totaling $2.1 bn last year, only $146m - or 7 per cent was paid to the state in royalties, taxes and dividends, according to the Chamber of Mining." (Financial Times, 23 March) RD

WHO OWNS THE PRESS?

"British Airways has suggested that media organisations should attach more weight to its press releases than the Unite trade union's account of the strike. In an email sent to hundreds of journalists, BA complained that equal credence was being given to the union's estimate of the number of staff working, flights operating and how many passengers were on board." (Daily Telegraph, 22 March) RD

Who Owns the North Pole -Part 20

Some may wonder why Socialist Courier continues to report on the situation in the Arctic Circle . In fact , it is a good example of how a once pristine undeveloped region has grown in strategic and military importance when raw materials and natural resources become accessible to capitalist nation states. The capitalist rivalries are high-lighted in an unambiguous way .

Fresh tensions between Canada and Russia emerged Wednesday after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a session of his Security Council that his country must be prepared to defend its claims to Arctic mineral riches. Medvedev predicted climate change will spark further conflicts as ice melts, exposing new areas for exploration."Other polar nations already have taken active steps to expand their scientific research as well as economic and even military presence in the Arctic," he told a session of the presidential Security Council.

"Regrettably, we have seen attempts to limit Russia's access to the exploration and development of the Arctic mineral resources," he said. "That's absolutely inadmissible from the legal viewpoint and unfair given our nation's geographical location and history."

In a direct response, Canada said it would reassert its sovereignty over the Far North.

"Canada's sovereignty over lands, islands and waters of the Canadian Arctic is long-standing, well-established and based on historical title," Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, told The Canadian Press.
"This government is dedicated to fulfilling the North's true potential as a healthy, prosperous and secure region within a strong and sovereign Canada. We take our responsibility for the future of the region seriously."

Loubier noted that Canada has committed to building a "world-class" High Arctic research station, will continue to map "our northern resources and waters," and is taking action to reduce pollution and increase marine safety. The government has also announced a new fleet of Arctic patrol ships, a deep water port, and is expanding and re-equipping the Canadian Rangers.

Interest in the Arctic region has intensified in recent years as global warming thaws waterways once choked with ice almost year-round and makes hydrocarbon deposits under the Arctic Ocean increasingly accessible. Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway all scramble to lay claim to parts of the underwater territory in the region, which is estimated to hold more than a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves.Scott Borgerson from the US Council for Foreign Relations is quoted as saying the north coast of Alaska may soon "resemble the coast of Louisiana, lit by the lights of ships and oil rigs." Borgerson predicts that some Alaskan ports may become a new Singapore.a single Chinese container ship using the Northwest Passage instead of the Panama Canal could save $2 million each way between Shanghai and New York. "Up to 25% of the Earth's shipping may, in our lifetime, be sailing the polar route," according to Politics Daily.

A leading Inuit group protested not being invited to an Arctic foreign ministers meeting just outside of Ottawa on March 29. Duane Smith, head of the Canadian branch of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, which lobbies for the interests of northern peoples, said his group asked to join the talks, but was rebuffed .
"Anything and everything they're going to discuss . . . is going to affect the Inuit in one way or another. We're the ones who are living right in that area, so that's why we think we should be involved as well," Smith said.

THE "COMPASSIONATE" SOCIETY

"Thousands of seriously ill and disabled people who are unable to work are being wrongly denied benefits, a report by Citizens Advice has claimed. The bureau says the system of assessing Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants is failing, with 68% of those assessed told they are fit for work. It says "crude" tests fail to allow for the complexities of many illnesses. The government says it plans to exempt cancer suffers from testing and show "more sensitivity" for some illnesses. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which reviews the system annually, says it will look again at conditions such as autism, learning disabilities and Multiple Sclerosis. But the bureau, backed by 18 other bodies, says people are "effectively being written off".  (BBC News, 22 March) RD

BUSINESS AS USUAL

"Four executives of mining giant Rio Tinto have admitted to a court in the Chinese city of Shanghai that they took bribes, officials have said. Lawyers for the men - Australian Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues - said they admitted accepting some money but are disputing the amounts. The group, arrested in July, also face charges of commercial espionage." (BBC News, 22 March) RD

FOOTBALL FORTUNES

Every day in the newspapers and on television we are told of the fabulous incomes of some of the footballers in the Premier League. Some are reported to be earning £140,000 a week. To most workers this appears a fortune and yet it is chicken-feed compared to the immense wealth of people like the Russian multi-millionaire who at present owns the Chelsea football club. Of course the majority of professional footballers have to struggle by on more ordinary incomes like most workers. At the other end of the scale from the well-heeled Premier footballers and the millionaire owners we have the poor makers of the footballs. "The city of Sialkot in Pakistan produces as many as 60 million hand-stitched footballs in a World Cup year. The firms here are running out of new workers since child labour was abolished. Western buyers may have a clear conscience, but the children of Sialkot now toil in the local brickworks instead. ...Shaukat is a strong, 20-year-old man. He has been working for this independent stitching factory, Danayal, for eight years. Danayal produces handmade footballs for professional leagues. ...At the entrance to the factory there's a notice board showing the current rates of pay. Depending on the model, his employer pays between 55 and 63 Pakistan rupees per ball ($0.65 to $0.75). "On a good day I manage six balls," says Shaukat. That's eight hours work. "That's not a lot of money," he says as he pushes a needle through the thick synthetic leather and stitches together two patches. His boss is standing close by so he quickly adds: "But it's not little either." He gets paid every Saturday and has to feed a family of six with his wages.". (Spiegel on line, 16 March) That is how capitalism operates - immense wealth for the millionaire owners and penury for the working class. RD

THIS SPORTING LIFE

"Indian migrant labourers rushing to finish buildings for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October are living and working in "rock-bottom" conditions that violate Indian laws, according to a panel set up by an Indian court. The committee has filed a report accusing government-appointed companies of denying minimum wages, adequate accommodation, basic equipment and medical care to many of the 17,000 workers on the Games sites." (Times, 19 March) RD

PIMPS, PROSTITUTES AND POLITICIANS

It is the sort of story that those pimps of Fleet Street love. The French to bring back officially-sanctioned brothels! "More than 60 years after Paris shut its famed maisons closes, or brothels, an MP from President Sarkozy's UMP party is campaigning to legalise them again. Chantal Brunel, who was appointed last month to head the national watchdog on sexual equality, is arguing that crime would be cut and sex workers would benefit from "sexual services centres" similar to those run by most of France's neighbours." (Times, 19 March)  In advocating a change in French law this MP expressed a long-held but completely fallacious notion. "Ms Brunel, MP for the western Paris suburbs, says that France should follow the example of nearly all its neighbours and allow modern bordellos."It is true that few women prostitute themselves willingly", she told Le Parisien. "But we should not be blind. Prostitution has always existed and will always do so." Prostitution can only exist in a property based society. For thousands of years before the advent of private property prostitution did not exist, but what is more important in the society based on common ownership of the future affronts to human dignity such as prostitution will be completely impossible. RD

ARMAMENTS BOOM

"The Stockholm-based SIPRI (Stockholm International Research Institute)also warned of arms races in volatile regions such as the Middle East, North Africa, South America as well as South and Southeast Asia. Arms transfers to South America have risen by 150 percent over the last five years, in comparison to the years 2000-2004, the report found. In Southeast Asia the wave of weaponry could "destabilize the region, jeopardizing decades of peace," the institute warned. The researchers found that the worldwide trade of rockets, fighter jets, weapons and munitions was up by 22 percent over the last five years. Expensive fighter jets have proven particularly attractive, with their sale making up 27 percent of total arms sold." (Spiegel on line, 15 March) RD

NO HOUSING PROBLEM HERE

"Russian-Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev owns the Palladio, an extravagant 17,000-square-foot manor outside London, which he bought for $65 million in January 2008. (That works out to $3,824 per square foot.) The home has a bulletproof front door, a gold-plated pool, an indoor cinema and a hair salon for good measure. Nifty amenities like these drive up a home's price, something steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal knows all about. In 2004 he shelled out $124 million to buy his 12-bedroom spread in London's posh Kensington neighbourhood, replete with extravagant Turkish baths and garage space for 20 cars." (Forbes, 14 March) RD

PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION

"Although the Peruvian government reported that it had suspended the exploration activities of the Afrodita mining company in the country's northern Amazon jungle region to avoid further protests by local indigenous people, officials took no actual steps to bring the firm's work to a halt." (IPS News, 9 March) RD

STAMP COLLECTORS

"More than 2.5 million Floridians are on food stamps, up from three years ago where 1.2 million residents received assistance. That's according to records kept by the Department of Children and Families, which administers the program. DCF Secretary George Sheldon told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Tuesday that Florida's food stamp rolls grew the fastest in the nation since 2007. Florida's food stamp numbers hit a low in April 2007, when the state paid out $109.9 million to 1.2 million residents. Back then, 6.4 percent of the state population was on food stamps. To qualify, Floridians must make 133 percent of the federal poverty level or less. For a family of four, that's just under $29,000 a year. Maximum monthly benefits are $200 for one person and $668 for a four-member family." (Associated Press, 10 March) RD

CAPITALISM IN ACTION

"The current global financial and economic crisis once again confirms the fact that during economic upheavals the rich get richer and the poor become even more destitute. On Thursday, Forbes Magazine carried an updated list of the world's wealthiest people. As of late 2009, the number of billionaires soared from 793 to 1,011 and their total fortunes from $2.4 trillion to $3.6 trillion. The number of Russian billionaires almost doubled, from 32 to 62." (RIA Novosti, 12 March) RD

THE ADVANCE OF CAPITALISM

"Rights activists and residents have accused the Canadian owners of Guatemala's largest gold mine of exploiting local communities. Most worrying, they say, is the use of highly toxic cyanide to separate gold particles from the rock. Some residents claim that dangerous waste from the mine is making their children sick." (Aljazeera.net) RD

THE EFFLUENT SOCIETY

"The World Health Organisation has estimated that around the globe up to 2.6 billion people – or a third of the world's population – do not have access to proper toilet facilities. More than half live in China and India. The UN's target for providing proper facilities for all people is 2015. Up to half a million people in India are engaged in what is termed "manual scavenging": cleaning toilets that have no sewage system and carrying away waste or "night soil" on their heads or in carts. The practice has been officially outlawed but persists because in many places there are no alternatives." (Independent, 6 March) RD

MERCHANTS OF DEATH

"India and Russia are negotiating a new contract on the delivery of 42 Su-30MKI to the Indian Air Force, an Indian newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing military sources. According to the Daily News and Analysis newspaper, the new deal, which is reportedly worth more than $3 billion, has been in the works for several months The new air-superiority fighters will come on top of the 230 already contracted from Russia in three deals worth a total of $8.5 billion. " (RIA Novosti, 2 March) RD

A "CARING" CHURCH

"The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland resisted calls for his resignation yesterday, despite admitting that he took part in meetings where the victims of a paedophile priest were forced to take a vow of silence. Cardinal Sean Brady, the Primate of All Ireland, has confirmed he was present at a closed canonical tribunal in 1975 when two child victims of Father Brendan Smyth were ordered to sign agreements under oath that they would not discuss what happened to them with anybody other than an approved priest." (Times, 15 March) RD

PROUD TO TORTURE

PROUD TO TORTURE

"The man known for much of his career as "Bush's brain" has caused a storm of protest by saying that he is proud of waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" used on prisoners by the US and internationally condemned as torture. Karl Rove said that the Administration "broke the will of these terrorists and gave us valuable information". (Times, 13 March) RD

THIS IS EDUCATION?

"With more than a thousand school districts serving 4.5 million pupils, the Texas Education Agency is the second largest body of its kind in America, after its Californian counterpart and by far the biggest to be overseen by elected conservatives. Don McLeroy, chairman of the Texas Board of Education, is a creationist who believes that the world was created 10,000 years ago and claims that history has vindicated Senator Joseph McCarthy, the instigator of the anti-Communist witch-hunts of the 1950s." (Times, 12 March) RD

DEMONIC DRIVEL

In order to keep those collection plates full religious groups have to appear modern and "with it". The Roman Catholic Church is no exception to this rule and compared with some American fundamentalist Protestant churches with their opposition to evolution they may appear almost scientific. It is doubtful though if even those bastions of superstitious nonsense could outdo the Vatican's chief exorcist. "The growing clerical sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church are proof that the Devil is at work inside the Vatican according to the Holy See's chief exorcist. Father Gabriele Amorth said that the Pope "fully believes in liberation from evil, because the Devil lodges in the Vatican." (Times, 11 March) In case you imagine that this is just some crazy old priest who has been indulging in too much communion wine it should be pointed out that he has been the Vatican's chief exorcist for 25 years. One of his claims is that he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession! Like all supporters of private property society the religious zealots will go to any lengths to support the status quo even calling up demonic myths to explain social problems. RD