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Land of the
Free?
"For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults
is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's
rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail
corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.
Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in
jail or prison at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults.
Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it's more than any other nation.
The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, said the
50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from
less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison
costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the
report said." (Yahoo News, 29 February)
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This is
Freedom?
"As if the Government doesn't know enough about us already, it is now
using lie-detector equipment (or ‘voice-risk analysis’, as it is
euphemistically known) to signal whether people claiming benefit are
telling the truth. If you receive a phone call from a town hall
official asking about your circumstances, it seems that your answers -
or rather, the tone of voice in which you give them - could well be
scrutinised by a computer for telltale signs of ‘stress‘. ... In the
Government's book, apparently, stress in the voice is a pretty good
indication of flagrant dishonesty. You will be investigated further.
Big Brother is most certainly watching you." (Times, 27 February)
War
is Stupid
"The last French veteran of World War I, an Italian immigrant who lied
about his age to join the Foreign Legion and fight in the trenches,
died Wednesday aged 110, President Nicolas Sarkozy said. Lazare
Ponticelli, the last of more than eight million men who fought under
French colours in the 1914-18 war that tore Europe apart, died at the
home he shared with his daughter in Kremlin-Bicêtre, a Paris
suburb. Reflecting on his wartime experiences, he once said: "You shoot
at men who are fathers: war is completely stupid."
(Yahoo News, 12 March)
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The American Dream?
"More American homeowners are mired in negative equity than at any time
since the Great Depression of the Thirties ... Close to 9 million
Americans, or 10.3 per cent of homeowners in the US, now owe more on
their mortgages than their house is worth, according to the latest
figures from Moody's, the ratings agency, as inventories of unsold
homes continue to pile up in an already over-supplied market."
(Observer, 24 February) "House prices in America are now falling at
their fastest rate since records began in 1964, while repossessions and
new houses for sale are at levels not seen since the Depression in
1929." (Observer, 2 March)
Democracy
in Action?
"President Bush has vetoed a law preventing the CIA using interrogation
techniques condemned by many as torture, because it ‘would take away
one of the most valuable tools in the War on Terror’ ...The veto throws
the spotlight back on to America's use of so-called coercive
interrogation methods like waterboarding, the simulated drowning
technique invented by Spanish inquisitors and adopted by regimes such
as the Khmer Rouge." (Times, 10 March)
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Branches &contacts |
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International
contacts |
London
Central
London branch*
2nd Weds.
6.30pm. The Shakespeare's Head, 64-68
Kingsway, Holborn. (Nearest tube:
Holborn.) Tel: Tristan 0207 6223811
Enfield
and Haringey branch*
2nd & 4th Monday. 8pm. Angel
Community
Centre, Raynham Rd, NI8. Corres:
17 Dorset Road, N22 7SL.
South
London branch
1st Tues.
7.00pm. Head Office. 52 Clapham High
St, SW4 7UN. Tel: 020 7622 3811
West
London branch
1st & 3rd Tues.
8pm, Chiswick Town Hall,
Heathfield Terrace (Corner Sutton Court Rd),
W4. Corres: 51 Gayford Road,
London W12 9BY
Pimlico
C. Trinder, 24 Greenwood Ct,
155 Cambridge Street, SW1 4VQ.
Tel: 020 7834 8186
Midlands
West Midlands branch
Meets every
two months on a Sunday afternoon (see
meetings page for details. Tel: Tony
Gluck 01242 235615
Northeast
Northeast
branch
Contact: Brian Barry,
86 Edgmond Ct, Ryhope, Sunderland
SR2 0DY. Tel: 0191 521 0690.
Northwest
Lancaster
branch
P. Shannon, 10
Green Street, Lancaster LA1 1DZ. Tel:
01524 382380
Manchester
branch
Paul Bennett, 6
Burleigh Mews, Hardy Lane, M21 7LB.
Tel: 0161 860 7189
Manchester
Branch website
Bolton
Tel: H.McLaughlin.
Tel: 01204 844589
Cumbria
. Brendan Cummings, 19 Queen St, Millom, Cumbria LA18 4BG
Carlisle
Robert Whitfield.
tel: 07906 373975
Rochdale
Tel: R. Chadwick. 01706
522365
Southeast
Manchester
Enquiries:
Blanche Preston, 68 Fountains Road,
M32 9PH
Yorkshire
Hull
Keith Scholey, 12 Regina Crescent,
Victoria Ave, HU5 3EA. Tel: 01482 444651
Skipton
. R Cooper, 1 Caxton Garth,
Threshfield, Skipton BD23 5EZ.
Tel: 01756 752621
South
South/SouthEast
Southwest
South
West branch.
Meets every two
months on a Saturday afternoon
(see meetings page for details)
Ray Carr,
Flat 1, 99 Princess Road, Branksome,
Poole BH12 1BQ. Tel: 01202 257556.
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Bristol
Shane Roberts, 86 High Street,
Bristol BS5 6DN.
Tel: 0117 9511199
Canterbury
Rob Cox,
4 Stanhope Road,
Deal,
Kent, CT14 6AB
Luton
Nick White,
59 Heywood Drive,
LU2 7LP
Redruth
Harry Sowden,
5 Clarence Villas,
Redruth,
Cornwall, TR15 1PB.
Tel: 01209 219293
East
Anglia
East
Anglia branch
meets every two
months on a Saturday afternoon
(see meetings page for details).
David Porter, Eastholme,
Bush Drive,
Eccles-on-Sea, NR12 0SF.
Tel: 01692 582533.
Richard Headicar,
42 Woodcote, Firs Rd,
Hethersett,
NR9 3JD.
Tel: 01603 814343.
Richard Layton,
23 Nottingham Rd,
Clacton, CO15 5PG.
Tel: 01255 814047.
Cambridge
Andrew Westley, 10
Marksby Close, Duxford, Cambridge
CB2 4RS.
Tel: 07890343044
Northern Ireland
Newtownabbey
Nigel NcCullough. Tel:
028 90852062
Scotland
Edinburgh
branch.1st Thur. 8-9pm.
The Quaker Hall,
Victoria Terrace
(above Victoria Street),
Edinburgh.
J. Moir. Tel: 0131 440 0995
Branch
website:
Glasgow
branch
. 3rd Wednesday of
each month at 8pm in
Community Central Halls,
304 Maryhill Road, Glasgow.
Richard Donnelly,
112 Napiershall Street,
Glasgow G20 6HT.
Tel: 0141 5794109.
Glasgow
Branch website
Ayrshire
D. Trainer, 21 Manse Street,
Salcoats, KA21 5AA. Tel: 01294
469994. E-mail:
Dundee
Ian Ratcliffe, 16 Birkhall Ave,
Wormit, Newport-on-Tay, DD6 8PX.
Tel: 01328 541643
West
Lothian
. 2nd and 4th Weds in
month, 7.30-9.30. Lanthorn Community Centre,
Kennilworth Rise, Dedridge,
Livingston. Corres: Matt
Culbert,
53 Falcon Brae,
Ladywell, Livingston,
West Lothian,
EH5 6UW.
Tel: 01506 462359
Wales
Swansea
branch
. 2nd Mon, 7.30pm,
Unitarian Church, High Street. Corres:
Geoffrey Williams,
19 Baptist Well Street,
Waun Wen,
Swansea SA1 6FB.
Tel: 01792 643624
Cardiff
and District
. John James, 67
Romilly Park Road,
Barry CF62 6RR.
Tel: 01446 405636 |
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Africa
Kenya
. Patrick Ndege, PO Box 56428,
Nairobi.
Swaziland
. Mandla Ntshakala, PO Box
981, Manzini.
Zambia.
Marxian Education Group, PO
Box 22265, Kitwe.
Asia
India
. World Socialist Group, Vill
Gobardhanpur. PO Amral, Dist.
Bankura, 722122
Japan
. Michael. Email:
worldsocialismjapan@hotmail.com.
Europe
Denmark
. Graham Taylor, Ryslingvej
18, 8270 Højbjerg.
Italy
Gian Maria Freddi
Casella Postale n. 28
c/o Ag. PT VR 17
37131 Verona
gm.freddi@libero.it
Germany
. Norbert. E-mail:
weltsozialismus@gmx.net
Norway
. Robert Stafford. E-mail:
hallblithe@yahoo.com
Companion Parties overseas
World
Socialist Party of Australia.
P. O. Box 1266 North Richmond
3121, Victoria, Australia.. Email:
commonownership@yahoo.com.au
Socialist
Party of Canada/Parti
Socialiste du
Canada
. Box 4280,
Victoria B.C. V8X 3X8 Canada. E-mail:
SPC@iname.com
World
Socialist Party (New Zealand)
P.O. Box 1929, Auckland, NI, New Zealand.
World
Socialist Party of the United States
P.O. Box 440247,
Boston, MA 02144 USA.
E-mail: wspboston@covad.net
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