WELCOME TO THE NHS

"Elderly people are dying of neglect and spending their final years in pain and discomfort because basic care is not being provided, a study has found. There are at least 60,000 avoidable deaths in England every year and the study by doctors at the University of East Anglia suggests this figure could be substantially reduced with better care. ...Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: "These figures show that age discrimination within the NHS is still rife." (Independent, 15 August) RD

CARING CAPITALISM

"NHS and private hospitals do not provide adequate treatment for those suffering from conditions that doctors associate with old age, a study in the BMJ has revealed. A team from the University of East Anglia investigated the care received by more than 8,000 patients over 50 and found people with osteoarthritis got only 29% of the recommended level of care. Other geriatric conditions, such as incontinence and hearing conditions, were also under-treated. The charity Help the Aged said: "Too often older people come far down the pecking order. Yet again, ageism rears its ugly head." (Guardian, 15 August) RD

A DEADLY LEGACY

"The last thing you might expect to encounter exploring the ocean floor is a chemical weapon. But it seems hundreds of thousands of tonnes of them have been dumped into the sea, and no one knows exactly where the weapons are. Now, scientists are calling for weapons sites to be mapped for safety's sake. Between 1946 and 1972, the US and other countries pitched 300,000 tonnes of chemical weapons over the side of ships or scuttled them along with useless vessels according to public reports by the Medea Committee, a group of scientists given access to intelligence data so they can advise the US government on environmental issues. But the military have lost track of most of the weapons because of haphazard record keeping combined with imprecise navigation. Even the exact chemicals were not always noted, though there are records of shells, rockets and barrels containing sulphur mustard and nerve gas."
(New Scientist, 23 March) RD

OIL BEFORE PRINCIPLES

"When the main pipeline that carries oil through Georgia was completed in 2005, it was hailed as a major success in the United States policy to diversify its energy supply. Not only did the pipeline transport oil produced in Central Asia, helping move the West away from its dependence on the Middle East, but it also accomplished another American goal: it bypassed Russia. American policy makers hoped that diverting oil around Russia would keep the country from reasserting control over Central Asia and its enormous oil and gas wealth and would provide a safer alternative to Moscow’s control over export routes that it had inherited from Soviet days. The tug-of-war with Moscow was the latest version of the Great Game, the 19th-century contest for dominance in the region. A bumper sticker that American diplomats distributed around Central Asia in the 1990s as the United States was working hard to make friends there summed up Washington’s strategic thinking: “Happiness is multiple pipelines.” Now energy experts say that the hostilities between Russia and Georgia could threaten American plans to gain access to more of Central Asia’s energy resources at a time when booming demand in Asia and tight supplies helped push the price of oil to record highs."

(New York Times, 14 August) RD

A GRIM FUTURE

We are all aware of workers who say "I wish it was dinnertime, I wish it was 5 o'clock or I wish it was Friday". On the face of it they seem to be wishing their life away, although as many workers detest their work, they are wishing their life to begin. Many workers even look forward to retirement from work with old age. The comments of the journalist Carol Midgely however illustrates that retirement might not prove to be such a wonderful time. "The Commission for Social Care Inspection this year produced a report that said that hundreds of care and nursing homes were so poorly run that they were a danger to residents. Investigators uncovered examples of residents being routinely tied to their beds and chairs, locked up or dragged around by their hair. Some were refused food to punish `bad behaviour`." (Times, 14 August) RD

ANOTHER LABOUR TRIUMPH

"The number of people claiming unemployment benefit last month rose at the fastest rate since 1992, adding to fears that the UK is about to enter a recession. The claimant count level for July rose for the sixth month in a row by 20,100 to reach 864,700, the Office for National Statistics said, prompting some analysts to predict that it could reach one million next year."
(Guardian, 14 August) RD

SPORT and HYPOCRISY

Nationalist propaganda and sporting events have a long history . The present Olympics is no exception .

We have already seen a girl at the opening ceremony being substituted as a singer because she was deemed too ugly.

We have had fake audiences .To fill the gaps the Chinese have been using huge numbers of yellow-shirted 'fans' who occupy blocks of empty seats, clapping and cheering equally for opposing teams.

The spectacular live fireworks on the TV broadcast were pre-recorded. Computer graphics, meticulously created over a period of months and inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment.

Now the children used in a key part of the Olympics opening ceremony, not youngsters from all 56 ethnic groups as claimed but were all from the Han majority , it is reported .

It should be remembered that the torch relay that culminates in the ceremonial lighting of the flame at Olympic stadium was ordered by Adolf Hitler, who tried to turn the 1936 Berlin Games into a celebration of the Third Reich.And it was Hitler's Nazi propaganda machine that popularized the five interlocking rings as the symbol of the Games.

HEALTH AND HYPOCRISY

The following announcement caused a storm of controversy in the media. "Patients cannot rely on the NHS to save their lives if the cost of doing so is too great, the Government's medicines watchdog has ruled for the first time. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has said the natural impulse to go to the aid of individuals in trouble – as when vast resources are used to save a sailor lost at sea – should not apply to the NHS. The disclosure follows last week's controversial decision by Nice to reject four new drugs for kidney cancer even though they have been shown to extend life by five to six months." (Independent, 13 August)
To socialists the announcement is far from shocking. That is how capitalism operates - if you are rich you have access to the best food, clothing, shelter, education and recreation. Why should it be so shocking to learn that if you are poor you cannot afford the best of medicine either. RD

CALIFONIAN NIGHTMARE

"Stockton has become known as Foreclosure Town, USA. With one in 25 houses in foreclosure, there are more properties with mortgages in default here than anywhere in the country. And it is not as if there isn't some stiff compeition for Stockton's dubious accolade in other corners of California, and indeed in the rest of America." (Observer, 10 August) RD

WHAT CREDIT CRUNCH?

"A mysterious Russian billionaire has trumped his big-spending rivals and broken a world record by splashing out 500 million euros (£392 million) on one of the most sumptuous villas on the French Riveria. (Times, 11 August) RD

Russia's Oil War

Just in case you may not be aware but the present crisis in the Caucasus may have more to do with oil and gas than protecting ethnic Russians .

Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline (BTE) carries some six billion cubic metres of gas a year (bcm/y) to Turkey, some of which is then forwarded to Greece. As Azerbaijani gas output grows, the line should reach its full 20 bcm/y capacity by about 2014.The European Union is also backing proposals for development of essentially parallel lines to carry as much as a further 30 bcm/y of gas from Turkmenistan, and perhaps Kazakhstan.The EU calls the route through Azerbaijan and Georgia its "Fourth Corridor" - matching existing supply systems from Russia, Norway and North Africa - with concept projects such as the planned Nabucco pipeline from the Georgian-Turkish border to Austria seen as ways of implementing it.

Because transit through such a corridor bypasses Russia, it offers advantages to both Caspian producers and European consumers.Producers gain direct access to end-consumers at market prices, whereas at present Russia buys gas from Central Asia at one price, and then sells gas to Europe at much higher prices, the difference being far more than pure transportation costs would merit.

Other major lines that currently transit Georgia.

The biggest is the 1.0 mb/d capacity Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which carries crude oil from Azerbaijan to the Turkish Mediterranean terminal at Ceyhan, from whence it gets transported by tanker to both Europe and the United States.

The next major line is Baku-Supsa, a 150,000 b/d line that has just reopened after undergoing substantial renovation.It carries oil to the Black Sea, but the port of Supsa is just 25 kilometres from Poti, the port which handles most of Georgia's imports and which was bombed and shelled by Russian forces.

nhs charges

A poll by Macmillan Cancer Support suggests nearly half of cancer patients in England are being forced to cut back on basic necessities in order to pay for their prescriptions.

Breast cancer survivor Amanda Whetstone says she regularly skips breakfast and lunch to save money to pay for her prescriptions.

"Although my cancer treatment - the surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy - has finished, I still need medication. As a result of my cancer I'm now on three different drugs. They cost me about £44 a month. That may not sound much to some, but I'm struggling financially. I'm now on statutory sick pay because I've been too unwell to work. My income is £360 per month and, quite frankly, I have barely enough money to live on.I budget for everything. I don't go out because I can't afford to socialise. I can't even invite friends over for a meal because I can't afford the food.I don't eat breakfast or lunch. The meals I do buy are ones that are on special offer.I can't afford fresh fruit or meat. I know that isn't healthy, but I simply can't afford to buy healthy food."

"Fighting cancer is hard enough without the terrible financial worry that comes with it.I feel penalised because I have a disease that the government doesn't consider should make me exempt from prescription charges."

Forum

The SPGB have organised a forum with

Ian Bone (Class War)
and Howard Moss (Socialist Party)

Title: Which way the revolution - what are our differences?

Chair: Bill Martin (Socialist Party)
Followed by open discussion
Venue: 52 Clapham High St, London
Saturday 20th September at 6 pm
Refreshments available, also free literature
All welcome

For further information:
Phone 020 7622 3811
email SPGB@worldsocialism.org

Food for Thought 5

- Prison is an abomination. We all know that it is capitalist property, production, and capital relations that are the root cause of most crime and that this root cause of crime will disappear in a socialist society. That life under capitalism is all about money and profit was shown recently when the federal government recommended closing the local jail at Warkworth. Angry politicians denounced the idea because the prison brings so much to the local economy - $32 million through wages, goods and services. There’s no analysis of how to eliminate the need for locking people up. - A recent series on crime and punishment in the Toronto Star did, however try to do this with an in-depth study over several issues. What they came up with is interesting. The current ‘get tough on crime’ attitude of politicians looking for an issue to stir the general public does not work. The consensus from those directly involved was to solve the problem by reducing poverty and school drop out rates, provide affordable housing, and increase access to health care all are economic solutions and therefore not possible under capitalism. Who Will pay? Their solutions were backed up by the following statistics:-Over 70% of prisoners have not completed high school.70% have unstable job histories.80% have serious drug problems12% of male prisoners and 26% of women prisoners suffer serious mental health problems.The article comments that we have, ‘a society that criminalizes its troubled citizens’ and targets the mentally ill, the unemployed, and drug and alcohol addicts. In other words, the reserve army and the throw aways of capitalism. The criminal justice system is big business. Canada spends $13 billion out of a $243 billion total federal budget and the US spends a staggering $200 billion., most of which goes for naught as the US has the highest incarceration rate of all industrial countries at 723 per 100 000 (Canada 107, Norway 65). Like the wars on terror, poverty, drugs et al, the war on crime is as phony as a three dollar bill, and the result is a terrible blight on society. Bring on common sense and common ownership! John Ayers

Food for Thought 4

- Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England turned down a 38% pay increase from $581 000 to $800 000. This is in a recession, mind you when the workers are told to tighten their belts, lower expectations, and so on. Carol Goar of The Toronto Star editorial team was overwhelmed,
“Using ethics as a guide, his conduct was honourable.” And “King provided the accountability the system has lacked.” The myriad of “news” items like this that everyday are thrust into our faces are obvious propaganda, but who can blame them, it’s working. It is noticeable that Goar fails to mention the millions of workers that have taken pay cuts or lost their source of livelihood through no fault of their own. Are they ‘honourable’ or do they not count? - - Goar knows full well that workers are suffering inthe current recession in the manufacturing sector in central Canada as sales plunge and production is moved to cheaper areas with a more ‘flexible’ work force. A small sample shows 350 layoffs at Dana Corp, auto parts manufacturer; General Motors laying off 1 000workers in Oshawa, Ontario, 1 400 in Windsor, moving an Oshawa truck plant to Mexico, cutting salaried workers by 20%, and cutting health benefits to white-collar retirees; Ford reducing its salaried work force by 15%; Magna Corp auto parts eliminating 400 jobs; progressive Moulded Plastics shedding 2 000 jobs. The list grows daily but no one looks at the vagaries of capitalist production as the culprit and even less the need to rid ourselves of this constant assault on workers’ standards of living. Let’s hope these workers will learn that they only work at the will of capital, no matter what their position may be. John Ayers

Food for Thought 3

- The recent G8 summit on climate change in Japan did the expected – practically nothing. The New York Times editorial stated, “…summits are usually about vague promises and good intentions, and this one was no different”, and, “Until the United States is willing to make anunambiguous commitment to reducing America’s emissions, with clear targets and timetables, the rest of the world will keep finding excuses not to do the same.” Same old! John Ayers

Food for Thought 2

- An insight to the workings of the capitalist system – apparently, Canadian Hog farmers are not achieving the regular rate of profit due to high oil, feed, and fertilizer products. What to do? The answer is to have a country-wide cull of sows to decrease supply and increase prices and profits. The slaughtered meat can’t go to market and further depress the prices so it will go to pet feed and to providing 20 000 meals for the food banks, or one meal per approximately 35 food bank users in Ontario! Insanity! John Ayers

Food for Thought

- Big Oil returns to Iraq – when Saddam Hussein took over the oil industry and negotiated deals with oil companies from Russia, China, and India over US companies, he incurred the wrath of Big Euro/US oil which eventually, of course, led to his demise and execution. Now the puppet government in Iraq has allowed Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell, Total, and Chevron to take preference over the Russian and Chinese and Indian outfits. Coincidentally, they are the same companies that met with Cheney in 2001 to complain about Hussein’s preference for ‘foreigners’ and the very same companies that were the original partners that controlled Iraq oil for decades before Hussein came on the scene. (Toronto Star, 05 June 2008). John Ayers

KARL'S QUOTE'S

- On Value of commodities,
“What is the common social substance of all commodities? It is labour. To produce a commodity a certain amount of labour must be bestowed upon it. And I say not only labour, but social labour. A man who produces an article for his own immediate use, to consume himself, creates a product but not a commodity. As a self-sustaining producer he has nothing to do with society. But to produce a commodity, a man must not only produce an article satisfying some social want, but his labour itself must form part and parcel of the total sum of labour expended by society…If we consider commodities as values, we consider them exclusively under the single aspect of realized, fixed, or,if you like, crystallized social labour. In this respect they can differ only by representing greater or smaller quantities of labour…But how does one measure quantities of labour? By the time the labour lasts, in measuring labour by the hour, the day etc… We arrive, therefore, at thisconclusion. A commodity has a value, because it is a crystallization of social labour…The relative values of commodities are, therefore, determined by the respective quantities or amounts of labour, worked up, realised, fixed in them.” (Value, Price and Labour, pp31/32). This obviously is part of The Labour Theory of Value from which comes so much of our interpretation of capitalist production.

A PROPERTY-OWNING DEMOCRACY?

"The number of people losing their homes after failing to meet mortgage payments jumped by 40 per cent in the first three months of this year. The number of repossessions rose to 9,152 from January to March, up from 6,471 in the same period last year, according to figures published by the Financial Services Authority. More than 300,000 homeowners have fallen into mortgage arrears for three months or more, twice last year's figure. The statistics bear out warnings that the number losing their homes will reach 45,000 by the end of this year ..." (Times, 6 August) RD

BARKING MAD

We live in a society where many families are living on less than a dollar a day, where children are dying for lack of clean water or food and yet capitalism can lavish thousands of pounds on a pet. "A dog is not just for Christmas, or even for life. If you’ve got the cash, it could be for eternity. South Korean biotechnologists have engineered a pet resurrection that, until recently, seemed commercially impossible: they have reunited a Californian woman with her dearest friend - or, at least, genetic copies derived from the frozen remains of his ear. More than £25,000 the poorer but weeping with joy, Bernann McKinney, 57, became the first paying customer yesterday in the strange new industry of canine cloning." (Times, 6 August) RD

A man's home is his castle - until he can't pay the bank

The number of properties repossessed by mortgage lenders in the UK has risen by 48% in the past year it has been reported .
The number of mortgage holders behind with their payments has also gone up.
That rose by 29% .
One of the most vigorous repossessors has been the Northern Rock bank, now state owned. It revealed this week that its own repossessions had risen by 67% in the past year .
Capitalism expects the system and the government to bail it out but when it comes down to Joe Public requiring financial assistance - no chance .

NOT SO NICE

"Cancer patients are to be denied drugs which could keep them alive after the NHS rationing watchdog ruled that they are too expensive. Patient groups said the decision, announced today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), would condemn many sufferers of kidney cancer to an "early death". The four prohibited medicines include Sutent, which can prolong life in kidney cancer patients by up to two years. The draft guidance also rejects Avastin, Nexavar and Torisel." (Daily Telegraph, 7 August) RD

CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

"Exxon Mobil reported the best quarterly profit ever for a corporation on Thursday, beating its own record, but investors sold off shares as oil and natural gas prices resumed their recent decline. Record earnings for Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, have become routine as the surge of oil prices in recent years has filled its coffers. The company’s income for the second quarter rose 14 percent, to $11.68 billion, compared to the same period a year ago. That beat the previous record of $11.66 billion set by Exxon in the last three months of 2007." (New York Times, 1 August) RD

CAPITALISM CAUSES STARVATION

"Somalia is on the brink of a "hidden famine" which threatens to leave more than half of the country's population in need of emergency assistance by the end of the year. The entire Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Djibouti and parts of Kenya, is gripped by a food crisis. A deepening drought and rocketing food prices have put about 14 million people at risk – three million more than in 2006 when the last major drought hit the region. But the situation is most severe in Somalia. A continuing conflict, pitting Ethiopian and Somali government forces on one side and a variety of Islamist militias on the other, is having a devastating effect on relief operations." (Independent, 23 July) RD

DYING FOR A JOB

"A total of 290 Mexicans have died trying to cross the border into the United States in the first half of 2008, according to a lawmaker in Mexico's Chamber of Deputies. The number compared to 520 Mexicans who died in the whole of 2007 as they sought to cross the Mexico-US border, said Edmundo Ramirez Martinez, secretary of the committee on population, border and immigration affairs. "There is an increase in deaths of Mexicans on the northern border," he said, adding it was a trend over six years. ...The opposition lawmaker did not say what were the causes of death for the illegal immigrants but human rights groups and media reports say most victims die from heat exposure in desolate desert terrain, drowning and accidents from train-hopping." (Yahoo News, 1 August) RD

We are not slaves

There are those who decry migrant workers because of the fact that capitalists use imported labour to lower wages and it canot be denied that inded some employers do use that tactic . But Socialist Courier has always said that the way to fight this is not by imposing immigration bans on workers from abroad but by engaging in class struggle here in the work places to stop this exploitation of foreign workers .

Gleaned from the Polish mainstream press and reported at the Anarkismo website is this story .

Radoslaw Sawicki came to Ireland seven months ago. Grafton recruitment agency offered him work carrying boxes of goods in Tesco's largest warehouse in Dublin. The wage: 9.52 euros per hour, or about 360 euros a week.

Sawicki quickly realised that Irish people working in the same job, but employed by Tesco and not by the agency as the foreigners were, earn at least 200 euros a week more. Poles also did not receive bonuses or additions although their work quotas were continually raised. At the beginning Sawicki carried 500 boxes a shift. Lately that number has doubled (i.e. several tonnes per day). When he and several colleagues complained to the shift manager they were told: "if you don't like it you can go home: there are others willing to take your place."

The next day he came to work wearing a shirt reading [in English] "We are picking 800. No more."

"We will defend ourselves. We are not slaves," adds Sawicki.

Now Poles, with the support of the unions, are fighting for the warehouse to treat them like their own workers.

WELCOME TO THE NHS (2)

"Hygiene standards in NHS hospitals have been called into question after it emerged they are routinely dealing with infestations of vermin. Outbreaks have included rats in maternity wards, wasps and fleas in neo-natal units, bed bug infestations, flies in operating theatres and maggots found in patients' slippers. The data, uncovered using Freedom of Information rules, include hospitals with maggots, "over-run" with ants and mice "all over" wards; cockroaches in a urology unit and a store for sterile materials infested with mice. (Daily Telegraph, 6 August) RD

WELCOME TO THE NHS

"Thousands of seriously-ill mental patients are enduring "unacceptable" levels of violence on overcrowded NHS wards where they are vulnerable to sexual predators, an investigation has found. The most comprehensive survey of mental health hospital care in England, published today by the Healthcare Commission, paints a picture of a dysfunctional service where patients feel threatened and unsafe with high levels of drug and alcohol abuse, a lack of therapeutic activities and a heavy dependence on temporary staff." (Independent, 23 July) RD

The reality of the real world

From the Guardian ;

The top 10% of income earners get 27.3% of the cake, while the bottom 10% get just 2.6%

Twenty years ago the average chief executive of a FTSE 100 company earned 17 times the average employee's pay; now it is more than 75 times

Since Labour came to power in 1997 the proportion of personal wealth held by the top 10% has swelled from 47% to 54%.

Tax consultants Grant Thornton estimated that in 2006 at least 32 of the UK's 54 billionaires paid no income tax at all.

"We now live in a separate economy, we live on a separate level to the vast majority of people in the country. We don't send our kids to the same schools, we have more choice over schools, we have more choice over health, we have more choice over where we live, we have more choice over where we go on holiday and what we do for our jobs. And we live in a completely different world to the people we live next door to."

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“I still say a church with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence”
Doug McLeod

THE GODESS THAT FAILED

"A stampede at a Hindu festival yesterday left at least 145 people dead, including 40 children, in the mountainous north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, according to local police. The stampede was triggered by the collapse of iron railings along a narrow path leading to the hilltop Naina Devi temple, where tens of thousands of people had gathered for a festival that began on Saturday, police said. ... They were celebrating Shravan Navratas, a nine-day festival in honour of the Hindu goddess Shakrti, or Divine Mother."
(Times, 4 August) RD

HOW THE OTHER 5% LIVE (2)

"One of my duties was to clean her cigarette holder." Lady Glenconner recalls the delightful days she spent as lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret." (Observer, 3 August) RD

HOW THE OTHER 5% LIVE

"In a city obsessed with fine dining, one name has always stood out among New York restaurants: Cipriani. ... `Going to Cipriani is restaurant as theatre. It represents privilege when food becomes part of your identity, like buying a luxury car, says Danyelle Freeman, restaurant critic of the New York Daily News." (Observer, 3 August) RD

POLITICAL PROSTITUTES

Inside capitalism reformists politicians will do anything to get support. A well known fornicator like President Kennedy would speak of his Christian convictions, and John Major the UK prime minister could speak of a return to Victorian values while he was screwing a member of his cabinet. So the following piece of religious/political nonsense should not be a great surprise. Votes at any cost are the mantra for this group of job-seeking politicians. "Allies of India's ruling Congress party performed a massive goat sacrifice for the "well-being and stability" of the government to time with a confidence vote last week, a report said Thursday. The regional Samajwadi party, which propped up the government after its left allies withdrew support, sacrificed at least 267 goats and 15 buffaloes in a prayer for the longevity of the government, the Times of India reported. The prayers began a day before the government won the motion on July 22 with 275 votes to 256 for the opposition, which wanted to bring down the ruling party for going ahead with a controversial nuclear pact with the United States." (Yahoo News, 31 July) Kill a goat get a nuclear pact? Really weird. RD

GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY

In primitive society one of the greatest sources of human survival was the knowledge of the elderly. If you lived in a gathering/ hunting society the knowledge of where plants occurred, where animals existed and at what times of the year was essential for human society. Knowledge was power. So much was this the case for human survival that one of the first forms of religion was Ancestor Worship.
We no longer live in a gathering/hunting society; we live in a modern capitalist society. This is a society where the majority work for a wage or a salary and a tiny minority live off the surplus value that they produce. Inside this society attitudes towards the elderly are completely different. If they are poor they are looked upon as a burden by the capitalist class and some sort of creature that had they any decency would just disappear.
Away back in 1908 when state pensions were first paid in the UK there was the view that this piece of reform would end old-age poverty. People like David Llyod George and Charles Booth hailed the legislation as a mayor breakthrough on the abolition of old-age poverty.
"Yet 100 years on, 2.5 million pensioners - more than a fifth of all those aged over 65 - still struggle to pay their bills and keep their home warm." (Times, 31 July) Such is the nature of capitalism and the lick-spittles that operate it that they have come up with a great new idea that will save the owning class millions.
"People will be forced to work until they are aged 70 if the basic state pension is to survive into the next century, according to the Government’s pension supremo. Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, the architect of radical reform in which the retirement age will rise to 68 by 2046, said that with no limit in sight for life expectancy, people are going to have to work even longer than he proposed." (Times, 31 July)
When I was very young an elderly man taught me about capitalism. One of the lessons he taught me was - the owning class need young men and women to provide for them, but we don't need them. As in primitive society we must heed the elderly - knowledge is power.
RD

WORDS OF WISDOM

Phil Wark, professional bouncer: "Of course, clubs have admission policies and many have dress codes. Some won't accept trainers. We are like any other workers in the ruthless world of 21st-century UK capitalism: we do what we are told by management." (Times, 31 July) RD

Socialist Standard August 2008 Mini-me

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 editorial: contents: Also available as HTML (image lite) and PDF Pages: 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Wal-Mart - Anti-union

Wal-Mart , the owners of the supermarket chain , Asda , reveal what happens when capitalists feel threatened by democracy - they use their influence and access to voters to swing the vote . This from the Wall St Journal (via Harry's Place blog)

Wal-Mart in the USA is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized. Wal-Mart executives claim that employees at unionized stores would have to pay hefty union dues while getting nothing in return, and may have to go on strike without compensation. Also, unionization could mean fewer jobs as labor costs rise.

Wal-Mart don't specifically tell attendees how to vote in November's election, but make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in .

Wal-Mart has fought hard to keep unions out of its stores, flying in labor-relations rapid-response teams from its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters to any location where union activity was building. The United Food and Commercial Workers was successful in organizing only one group of Wal-Mart workers -- a small number of butchers in East Texas in early 2000. Several weeks later, the company phased out butchers in all of its stores and began stocking prepackaged meat. When a store in Canada voted to unionize several years ago, the company closed the store, saying it had been unprofitable for years.

ASDA in the UK have followed moreorless the same policy of discouraging and restricting unions

Investors first and foremost

On Wednesday, British Gas raised gas bills by 35% with immediate effect, to restore "reasonable profitability".
Profits were £992m in the first six months of 2008 , £5m-per-day profits .
"This is a business that has got a million shareholders - a lot of pension funds and people have got their savings invested in British Gas shares and we have to look after them". Centrica's chief executive said.

One-in-three pensioners are likely to be in fuel poverty this winter Age Concern's head of public affairs said.

MINIMUM WAGE? FORGET IT!

1974 Vintage
"Hand crafted in 1974 this noble spirit of rare breeding has been cosseted and nurtured during its long maturation in the beachside warehouses. Undaunted, warmed and comforted by the finest sherry wood, the result is a spectrum of delight with flavours of chewy caramel, crushed hazelnuts, chocolate and warm hints of liquorice, cinnamon and orange peel.
At last this great masterpiece has been awakened for you to enjoy. Sip and savour the very heart of Jura and feel every beat of Island life…

Vintage 1974 / 648 bottles produced / 70cl / 44.5% ABV / £500.00" RD

BEHIND THE BRAVADO

"Washington - More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says. According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide as men who are not veterans. ...The VA (Veterans Affairs) estimates that every year 6,500 veterans take their own lives. The mental health director for the VA, Ira Katz, said in an e-mail last December that of the 18 veterans who commit suicide each day, four to five of them are under VA care, and 12,000 veterans under VA care are attempting suicide each year." (Yahoo News, 28 July)RD

DYING FOR WORK

"A Nigerian migrant's account of how his two children were thrown overboard after dying of thirst on their voyage to Italy has added fuel to a debate on whether illegal immigration is out of control. The father and 74 other migrants were rescued on Saturday after setting sail from Libya a week ago. They were picked up by the Italian coastguard a day after the government declared a state of emergency for illegal immigration. "The night we left Libya, the youngest one ... died in my arms and we were forced to throw him in the sea," the 30-year- old Nigerian said in comments carried in newspapers on Sunday, though an Ansa news agency report later said police had noted contradictions over some details of his story. A day later, his three-year-old daughter also died, he said. "She wanted water and something to eat. She suffered a lot, resisted a bit longer but didn't make it in the end," he said. Thousands of illegal African migrants arrive in Italy in flimsy boats each summer." (Yahoo News, 27 July) RD

JUNKYARD CAPITALISM

"Francis McConnell is a field supervisor for the Philadelphia Water Department, but lately he is acting more like an undercover police officer. Several hours a day, five days a week, he stakes out junkyards. Pretending to read a newspaper, Mr. McConnell sits near the entrances and writes down descriptions of passing pickup trucks and shirtless men pushing shopping carts. His mission is to figure out who is stealing the city’s manhole covers and its storm drain and street grates, increasingly valuable commodities on the scrap market. More than 2,500 covers and grates have disappeared in the past year, up from an annual average of about 100. Thieves have so thoroughly stripped some neighbourhoods on the city’s north and southwest sides that some blocks look like slalom courses, dotted with orange cones to warn drivers and pedestrians of gaping holes, some nearly 30 feet deep." (New York Times, 23 July) RD

THE PERFECT WORKER

"A Ugandan official has suggested to MPs that funerals should be limited to Saturday afternoons to stop people taking time off work to attend them. Speciosa Kazibwe, a former vice-president who now heads a state development agency, noted that Uganda's death rate was very high. (BBC News, 25 July)
Socialists used to say that the capitalist's idea of the perfect worker was one who left school at 15, worked 50 weeks a year for 50 years and dropped down dead the first day he went to collect his pension at the post office. We will have to amend this ideal blueprint in view of the Ugandan official's view. Ideally he would die on the Thursday so that his family could attend his Saturday funeral without missing out on a day producing surplus value for the owning class. RD

NATIONALISED REDUNDANCY?

Northern Rock unveils job losses
Northern Rock has announced that it expects to make about 1,300 staff redundant as part of its plan to restructure the troubled bank.
It hopes to limit the number of compulsory redundancies to 800, while 500 staff will leave voluntarily.
Northern Rock was effectively nationalised at the beginning of this year after it was hit by a shortage of funds as a result of the credit crunch.

IT’S AN ILL WIND

Comfort eating helps fuel Cadbury's profits

People treating themselves to chocolate and sweets as the economy worsens has helped fuel a 28pc jump in profits at Cadbury, according to its chief executive.
The London-based confectionery company, who makes Dairy Milk chocolate and Trident gum, reported pre-tax profits for the first half of £143m on revenues up 14pc to £2,653m.
However, the results were boosted by strong currencies, which increased the total profits growth from 12pc to 28pc. Cadbury's shares rose 1pc to 631.5p, as the company said it was on target to meet analysts' forecasts for full-year sales growth.
"No matter how bleak things look, people will always go for those small, affordable treats," Mr Stitzer said. "We see confectionery as a particularly robust category."

LUCKY WHITE HEATHER?

"A woman accidentally stabbed herself in the foot with a 3-foot-long sword while performing a Wiccan good luck ritual at a central Indiana cemetery. Katherine Gunther, 36, of Lebanon, pierced her left foot with the sword while performing the rite at Oak Hill Cemetery, police said. Gunther said she was performing the ceremony to give thanks for a recent run of good luck. The ceremony involves the use of candles, incense and driving swords into the ground during the full moon. Gunther said she was aiming to put the sword in the ground, but hit her foot instead." (Yahoo News, 22 July) RD

THEM AND US

"Cleaners, waiters and other low-paid workers from some of London's poshest hotels will launch a campaign for a `living wage` and better working conditions tomorrow. A coalition of trades unionists, students, faith healers and locals will join workers at a rally outside the Hyatt Andaz hotel in Liverpool Street tomorrow. Rooms at the hotel cost up to £640 a night - but many of its staff are struggling to scrape by on the national minimum wage of £5.52 per hour."
(Observer, 27 July) RD

HE SHOULD KNOW

"Gavis Snook is the billion-pound Rok construction boss who believes that home ownership is a `con` perpetrated by financial institutions, which are the only winners in Britain's property-owning democracy. ...And if that's not enough, the son of a scaffolder is not afraid to say on the record that the reason fatalities among construction workers are stubbornly high is because of the casualised work-force encouraged by the industry's biggest players. ... This year there were 72 deaths, compared with 60 two years ago. `Part of the reason why this industry killed more people is that it can't cope with the demand, so corners are cut`, Snook reckons."
(Observer, 27 July) RD