A BLEAK FUTURE

"About 140,000 jobs will be lost in British manufacturing this year, according to the EEF industry group, which has raised its forecast by more than half. The warning comes as evidence grows of a dramatic collapse in business confidence across the economy, with more job losses and business failures due to be announced this week. The EEF manufacturers' organisation raised its prediction on job losses after the worst figures on record from a survey of members and their business confidence." (Times, 2 March) RD

PREPARING FOR WAR?

"China is aggressively accelerating the pace of its manned space program by developing a 17,000 lb. man-tended military space laboratory planned for launch by late 2010. The mission will coincide with a halt in U.S. manned flight with phase-out of the shuttle. The project is being led by the General Armaments Department of the People's Liberation Army, and gives the Chinese two separate station development programs. Shenzhou 8, the first mission to the outpost in early 2011 will be flown unmanned to test robotic docking systems. Subsequent missions will be manned to utilize the new pressurized module capabilities of the Tiangong outpost. Importantly, China is openly acknowledging that the new Tiangong outpost will involve military space operations and technology development. (Spaceflight News, 2 March) RD

REST IN POVERTY

"BIRMINGHAM, Alabama. – A funeral director accused of leaving a woman's body to decay in a parked hearse after her relatives failed to pay the bill was arrested on a felony charge of abusing a corpse, police said Wednesday. Watson and Sons Funeral Home embalmed the remains of Edna Kathleen Woods, 52, after she died of natural causes in November 2007, said Gadsden police Sgt. Jeff Wright. Relatives wanted the body cremated but failed to sign the necessary paperwork or pay owner Harold Watson Sr., he said. After storing the corpse at his funeral home for more than a year, Wright said, the 76-year-old Watson decided to move it because he couldn't reach the woman's family. Someone complained about a foul smell near downtown Gadsden, about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham, and officers on Tuesday found the woman's remains in a cardboard box that was inside a locked hearse parked on a piece of property that Watson owns." (Yahoo News, 25 February) RD

A FREE SOCIETY?

"A jobless Taiwan man released from prison two years ago asked police to send him back so he could eat, police and local media said Tuesday, a grim sign of hard economic times on the island. When police found the 45-year-old convicted arsonist lying on a street in a popular Taipei shopping district, he requested a return to life behind bars, nostalgic for the 10 years he had already served, the China Post newspaper reported. Wang had also contacted police separately with his request, a spokesman said. Officers who found him bought him a boxed lunch but declined to send him back to prison, the police spokesman said. "We advised him to keep looking for work," he said. "I don't know why he can't find a job. Maybe employers think he's not suitable or that he's too old." Taiwan is in recession, with a slump in exports leading a record economic contraction in the fourth quarter of last year." (Yahoo News, 24 February) RD

Words of Wisdom

I did not want September 11, nor did I want the explosion in Bali.

I search for a reason, and find a wild defence; a defence against a capitalism which plunders lives and resources to generate the goods it sells in the markets it invades, if necessary by its own use of terrorism. And so the response; a violent attack on profit; destroying confidence, destroying the market by random acts of great violence, involving the deaths of innocent civilians far away; just as the machinations of capitalism involve the deaths of innocent civilians far away. For Manhattan, read Chile; for Bali, read East Timor. For what other response is available? What fear does greed know, other than the fear of lost profit?

I do not want a harsh world of religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Nor do I wish to see a global strip mall, a world in which warplanes are purchased in order to safeguard the jobs of the workers who make them, a world in which greed is the control mechanism.

You put your question: would I trust a nation that has invaded two neighbouring states, that has chemical and biological weapons and may be developing nuclear weapons, which it may one day use?

Let me ask the other questions.

Would you trust a nation that has weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, chemical and biological - and has already used all three against other nations? Would you trust a nation that has given arms to both Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain?

Would you trust a nation that has sponsored terrorism in Nicaragua and El Salvador, that has overthrown the democratically elected Salvador Allende in Chile in favour of the murderous regime of Augusto Pinochet, that has overthrown the democratically elected regime in Guatemala for the benefit of the United Fruit Company of Boston, Massachusetts? Would you trust a nation that gave training in terrorism in Honduras and at the School of the Americas that gave training in chemical warfare at Fort McClennan?

Would you trust a nation that gave support to the Khmer Rouge, that dropped half a million tons of bombs on Cambodia and two million tons on Laos while it was at war with neither, that gave support to both Papa Doc & Baby Doc in Haiti, and to Marcos in the Philippines? And which gave support to Israel, a land made by terrorism and maintained by terrorism that wears a uniform?

Would you trust a nation that refused to sign a global treaty banning landmines, on the grounds that it infringed freedom of trade, a nation whose landmines are sown indiscriminately across south East Asia and are still killing and maiming?

Would you trust a nation that refused to sign a UN protocol on torture on the grounds that it limited states' rights? Would you trust a nation that (understandably) refuses to accept an international court of justice?I did not want September 11, nor the explosion in Bali. Nor did I want Sabra, Shatila, My Lai, Santiago, the killing fields.........

I want freedom. I want equality. And I want honesty. Here, and in all the faraway places. Thus far, the ballot paper has offered none of these things. When it does, perhaps we will have peace. Here, and in all the faraway places.

Les Barker - 2003

PROFITS KILL

Rescuers removed the body of a victim from the Tunlan Coal Mine in China’s
Shanxi Province, where an explosion killed dozens of miners

.

"At least 74 people died early Sunday after a mine explosion in northern China, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. Dozens were still trapped in the mine on Sunday evening in the deadliest coal-mining accident in the country in more than a year. The miners were working in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Shanxi Province, the coal mining heartland of China, when the blast occurred at 2:17 a.m., Xinhua reported. The mine is in city of Gujiao and is run by the Shanxi Coking Coal Group, one of China’s largest producers of coking coal, which is used in steel production. ...The death toll on Sunday was the highest in a coal mine accident since December 2007, when an explosion in the city of Linfen in Shanxi Province — often called the most polluted city in China because of the relentless haze from coal production — killed 105 miners, The Associated Press reported, citing the State Administration of Work Safety. That explosion was set off by an accumulation of gas in an unventilated tunnel. The mining industry in China has a poor safety record. The government, which has been trying to improve safety standards by closing illegal mines, reported last month that about 3,200 people died in mining accidents last year, a 15 percent decrease from the previous year. ...But mining is lucrative for those at the top. The owners of large mining companies are among China’s wealthiest people." (New York Times, 23 February) RD

The Class Struggle

Protesters march against cutbacks
Campaigners from across South Ayrshire are to march through Ayr town centre to protest against council cuts.
They are angry at the closure of Girvan swimming pool and the Gaiety Theatre, two sports barns and registrar's offices in Maybole and Troon.
The minority Conservative-led council said it was spending £8.5m more in 2009/2010 than it did in the last financial year. But it said it had to take tough decisions to balance its books
When the capitalists system finds it is not so profitable it reduces the benefits available to the community, people protest, but unfortunately, a downturn in the economy means the community at large must suffer, the more active will miss the swimming pool and sports barns, however, maybe when the forecasted upturn comes around, the councillors will promise to open them up again if you vote them in.
Unfortunately this has been the roundabout workers up to now have allowed themselves to hang on to, as socialists we say workers can provide all their needs by a system of common ownership which we call socialism.

HOMELESS AND CLUELESS

The number of properties in Britain lying empty is set to pass 1 million

Politicians of all the major political parties have "solutions" for what they call the "homeless problem". In fact there is no homeless problem, what we have is a poverty problem. Here is a recent press story that shows that there are plenty of empty houses available if you have the money. "The number of properties in Britain lying empty is set to pass 1 million. New figures will show that Britain is on course for a record number of houses and flats lying empty. Some of the rise has been caused by home owners facing repossession. Other empty homes were bought by property developers who have since struggled to raise the money to renovate and furbish them for occupation." (Daily Telegraph, 10 February) RD

GRAVE MATTERS

Most workers inside capitalism live miserable poverty-stricken lives but even in death the indignity of poverty follows them."More people are dying alone without family or friends willing or able to pay for burials and cremations, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the cost of "paupers' funerals". Local authorities across Scotland have seen a sharp rise in the number of both older and younger people dying without funds. In Edinburgh there has been a 46% rise in the number of "national assistance" funerals - those paid for by the state - up to 153 a year, while in Glasgow there has been a 10% rise to 96. Aberdeenshire council is now dealing with one a week. A similar pattern is being witnessed in England and Wales, resulting in estimated annual costs of more than £4m for councils." (Observer, 15 February) RD

inescapable burden of debt

Up to five million homeowners could be in negative equity by the end of this year if house prices continue to fall, research has claimed

Andy Thwaites, director of insight at GfK Financial, said: "The shift to negative equity has the potential to be a mammoth welfare disaster for the nation, particularly when so much of the population has recently relied on the capital appreciation in their home to supplement their lifestyle, consolidate debts and fund retirement.The reality is that if there are further job cuts, the problem will become significantly worse."

The average person approaching Citizens Advice for money advice owed £16,971, the organisation said. It would take around of 93 years for people contacting a debt charity for help to repay their borrowings at an affordable rate.

"Low income, combined with irresponsible lending, unreasonable debt collection practices and badly informed financial decisions are at the root of many of our clients' debt problems." David Harker, chief executive of Citizens Advice said " The reality is that they are condemned to a lifetime of poverty overshadowed by an inescapable burden of unpayable debt."

BORDERS AND BEREAVEMENTS

Socialists want a new world without borders, nationalism or any other of the nonsense of capitalism."Russia has expressed its regret over the deaths of eight Chinese and Indonesian sailors whose ship was fired on by Russian forces. But Moscow blamed last week's incident squarely on the ship's captain. The New Star, a Sierra Leone-flagged ship, sank soon after a Russian warship fired on it off the port of Nakhodka in the far east of Russia. China's foreign ministry issued a strongly-worded protest to Moscow, demanding a full investigation. But Russia says the Indonesian captain illegally crossed its border." (BBC News, 21 February)
The families of those workers from China and Indonesia who lost their loved ones did so because of the insane capitalist society that splits the world into borders and countries. Inside world socialism that would be impossible. We are all brothers and sisters - nationalism is nonsense. Too late for our Chinese and Indonesian workers though, but their deaths make us want to work even harder for world socialism - a society without countries or borders. RD

CAPITALIST PRIORITIES

Despite the economic crisis in the US the government recently announced an increase in its military budget. "The collision of modern American life with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has had some strange and unintended consequences. In Alpine, Utah, for example, a school has cancelled the entire 6th grade, with the teachers at Mountainville Academy dismissed just before Christmas and the 12-year-olds merged with the 7th grade." (Times, 21 February)
That is the priorities of capitalism - keep up military expenditure to protect the owning class's markets and sources of raw materials, but sack teachers and worsen the education of worker's children RD

We always said bankers were *ankers

When giving evidence to the Treasury Committee on 10 February, the former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin said: "My pension is the same as everyone else in the bank who is in a defined benefit pension scheme. It is determined in the same way as anyone else."

It emerged that Sir Fred is drawing a pension of £650,000 a year. Although he is only 50, he is entitled to the payment for life, with a pension pot worth £16 million.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced the largest annual loss in UK corporate history. RBS, which had to be bailed out by the government last year, said that its 2008 loss totalled £24.1bn ($34.2bn). Reports had suggested job losses could total 20,000.

Sir Fred's strategy and decision to buy ABN Amro is widely seen as making the bank more vulnerable to the credit crunch and having to be bailed out. The bulk of the losses came as RBS made a £16.2bn write-down on poorly performing assets, mainly resulting from its 2007 takeover of ABN Amro.

Yes , indeed , a well-deserved pension and well-earned luxury for life while all those sacked will struggle on the dole to pay the bills and pay the mortgage but unlike the belated grumblings of Chancellor Darling , Socialist Courier was reporting and condemning Goodwin's feather -bedding way back in August 2007 and October 2007 and March 2008 .

Running fast to stay still

Lord Mandelson introduces the Royal Mail bill in the House of Lords

The working class has always to struggle to achieve benefits, the capitalist class will always attempt to erode any benefits when there is a downturn in business, contrast the billions of pounds given to banks with the government dealings with the post office

The Government today launched controversial proposals to part privatise the Royal Mail, sparking a fresh row over its plans to sell off part of the business.
It’s the way I tell them as the Irish comedian says, when it’s workers benefits the government have Lord Mandelson telling us on Wednesday he was determined not to walk away from the plans, despite the "political pain" - adding that without new investment the Royal Mail was in danger of running out of money.
He argues that the taxpayer cannot be expected to fund potential liabilities in the region of £8bn without seeing an improvement in the performance of the company.
The BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson, said that by introducing the bill in the House of Lords, the government had given themselves a couple of months to try to win the argument.
The Communication Workers' Union accused the government of trying to "scare" MPs into voting the plan through, by publishing a letter from Royal Mail pension fund trustees warning that it faces disaster if the sale does not go through.

capitalism makes you sick

Long working hours may raise the risk of mental decline and possibly dementia, research suggests

The study found that those working more than 55 hours a week had poorer mental skills than those who worked a standard working week.
Lead researcher Dr Marianna Virtanen, from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, said: "The disadvantages of overtime work should be taken seriously."

It is not known why working long hours might have an adverse effect on the brain. However, the researchers say key factors could include increased sleeping problems, depression, an unhealthy lifestyle and a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, possibly linked to stress. The effects were cumulative, the longer the working week was the worse the test results were. Employees with long working hours also had shorter sleeping hours, reported more symptoms of depression and used more alcohol than those with normal working hours.

Professor Mika Kivimäki said "It is particularly important to examine whether the effects are long-lasting and whether long working hours predict more serious conditions such as dementia."

Professor Cary Cooper, an expert in workplace stress at the University of Lancaster, said it had been long established that consistently working long hours was bad for general health, and now this study suggested it was also bad for mental functioning.

"But my worry is that in a recession people will actually work longer hours. There will be a culture of "presenteeism" - people will go to work even if they are ill because they want to show commitment, and make sure they are not the next to be made redundant."

Harriet Millward, deputy chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "This study should give pause for thought to workaholics..."

capitalist crisis kills

With South Korea about to enter its first recession in a decade and exports suffering their biggest ever drop, the country's health ministry has launched a suicide prevention program. South Korea's suicide rate nearly doubled during the Asian financial crisis 10 years ago with experts blaming it on stress caused by job and income losses.
"There is a fundamental connection between economic hardships and our high suicide rate," said a ministry official
In South Korea, a commuter train operator is even installing doors blocking access to railway tracks due to a sharp increase in people committing suicide by jumping in front of trains.

Millions of people in Asia have lost their jobs and retirees and other small investors have lost their life savings due to plunging stock markets and the collapse of investment funds. Asian governments are setting up hotlines and counseling centers to help those hit hardest by the financial crisis and the subsequent economic downturn.
Paul Yip, a mental health and suicide prevention specialist in Hong Kong, has seen a jump in the number of patients coming to his clinic for help to cope with the downturn.
"Work is very important to the Asian because we don't have very good social security and losing one's job is associated with the loss of 'face'. So the trauma can be great,"
Hong Kong started special hotlines in October for people suffering from the financial crisis and it opened "depression clinics" in some public hospitals this month.
"The clinics were opened in expectation of more people suffering depression because of the crisis. The government has also ordered more anti-depression drugs," said William Chui, education director at the Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

In Japan, some half a million contract workers are expected to be laid off in the six months until April. The industrial center of Aichi in central Japan, home to Toyota car factories and other manufacturers, has been particularly hard hit.An official in Aichi said the number of people bringing their problems to mental health centers rose by nearly 15 percent in December, compared with the same period in 2007. Japan's suicide rate rose sharply during a severe recession in the late 1990s when guarantees of lifetime employment collapsed, there were mass retrenchments and university graduates struggled to find jobs.

CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?

"At an exclusive soiree tomorrow evening at an upmarket London bar, an elite circle of VIPs will sprawl on velvet beds as they receive relaxing, complimentary massages. Around the corner at an equally glamorous event, guests will be entertained by circus performers and big-name DJs as they sip champagne. Most of Britain may be in cost-cutting mode as the recession worsens, but it seems that someone forgot to tell the fashion industry. London Fashion Week kicked off its 25th anniversary celebrations by popping bottles of Moet et Chandon before 10am yesterday, and fashion labels promised a weekend of opulent and expensive parties." (Times, 21 February) RD

A GLOOMY VIEW OF CAPITALISM

Socialists are often accused of painting too bleak a view of how capitalism operates, but even members of the capitalist class are in despair about the present capitalist crisis.

"Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis. Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union. He said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September marked a turning point in the functioning of the market system. "We witnessed the collapse of the financial system," Soros said at a Columbia University dinner. "It was placed on life support, and it's still on life support. There's no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom." His comments echoed those made earlier at the same conference by Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman who is now a top adviser to President Barack Obama. Volcker said industrial production around the world was declining even more rapidly than in the United States, which is itself under severe strain."I don't remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world," Volcker said." (Yahoo News, 21 February)

The truth is that capitalism operates on a slump and boom cycle and no capitalist can accurately forecast how it will operate. RD

THE NEW GOLD RUSH

At the beginning of the last century Jack London wrote many novels and short stories about the Gold Rush. They were tales of adventure and heroism. Today we are experiencing another Gold Rush, but this time it is not about bravery, it is about fear and panic. "You know that something is going very badly when the bestselling investment is a metal that is good for nothing except to cap rotten teeth and repair fragile relationships. The price of useful metals, such as copper and aluminium tumbled yesterday, but gold futures in New York rose above $1,000 per ounce. ...This rally is about hoarding. That is what makes it scary and it is the reason why it is likely to continue till more optimistic economic news drives investors to more productive investments. Only 11 per cent of the annual 3,600 tonnes of gold consumed has any useful application, such as dentistry or electronics. The great majority of gold sold, about 60 per cent, is for jewellery and the rest is hoarding - investors buying bullion and ordinary people buying bars and coins. ...This gold rush is all about fear ." (Times, 21 February) RD

Food for Thought

According to the Lancet nutrition series (January 2008), 178 million children under 5 suffer from nutritional deficiencies - 55 million acute and 19.3 million severely acute (wasting).
Unlike many diseases, malnutrition has a cure - a balanced diet, regular consumption of fortified foods, supplements when local foods don't have the nutrients needed, and animal-based products like milk, fish, eggs and cheese.
One solution is to increase spending on nutrition. According to the Lancet nutrition series, $300 million a year is spent on nutrition while $6 billion is spent on HIV/AIDS.
"Nutrition can only be sustainable if people ultimately pay for it," said Dr. Alfred Sommer, dean emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
What he means is for people to pay in pounds and pence, dollars and cents. No matter how well meaning those experts and NGOs are, they are bound by the confines of the capitalist system and the most obvious solution of actually providing such nutrition freely is simply beyond their ken. ajohnstone