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Tough at the Top?
“A study by the Bow Group, a centre-right
think-tank, found that 27 per cent of FTSE 100 chief executives have
contracts that continue to pay bonuses if profits rise by as
little as 1 per cent above inflation. Nearly one in ten firms will
still pay bonuses if profits fail to beat inflation.”
(Times, 4 February)
Smile, Damn You
Smile
“Microsoft is developing Big
Brotherstyle software capable of remotely monitoring a worker’s
productivity, physical wellbeing and competence. ... The system would
allow managers to monitor employees’ performance by measuring their
heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood
pressure.”
(Times, 16 January)
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Words Of Wisdom
David Attenborough in an interview said: “Every
society that’s ever existed has felt it necessary to have creation
myths.
Why should I believe one? People write
to me and say: `You show us birds and
orchids and wonderful, beautiful things
- don’t you feel you should give credit to He who created those
things?` My reply says: what about a parasitic worm that’s boring
through the eye of a four-year-old child on the bank of an African
river? It confuses me that I should believe in a god who cares
individually for each and every one of us and could allow that to
happen”
(Observer Magazine, 20 January)
This is
Progress?
“Josette Sheeran, the head of the World
Food Programme (WFP) in Rome, said:
‘We’re seeing more people hungry, and
in greater numbers than before. We’re
seeing many people being priced out of
the food market for the first time. We’re
seeing less crop production in many places; shorter harvest times.’ ...
According to the UN world food index, prices rose by 40 per cent last
year. Ms Sheeran said oil prices were driving up costs because oil was
used for planting, fertiliser and delivering food.”
(Times, 13 February)
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Labour’s Sorry Record
“Poverty affects 3.8 million children in the
UK, making ours one of the worst
rates in the industrialised world. Children
living in poverty are likely to have lower
self-esteem, poorer health, and lower
aspirations and educational achievements than their peers. Poverty also
shortens lives. A boy in Manchester can expect to live seven years less
than a boy in Barnet,North London.”
(Times, 12 February)
A Brave New World?
“Here’s a vision of the not-so-distant
future: Microchips with antennas will be
embedded in virtually everything you buy, wear, drive and read,
allowing retailers and law enforcement to track consumer items — and,
by extension, consumers — wherever they go, from a distance. A
seamless, global network of electronic ‘sniffers’ will scan radio tags
in myriad public settings, identifying people and their tastes
instantly so that customized ads, ‘live spam,’ may be beamed at them.
In ‘Smart Homes,’ sensors built into walls, floors and appliances will
inventory possessions, record eating habits, monitor medicine cabinets
— all the while, silently reporting data to marketers eager for a peek
into the occupants’ private lives.”
(Yahoo News, 26 January)
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| UK
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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