Pieces together


FOOD DESTROYED

"Christophe Voivenel is a dairy farmer, and the son of dairy farmers, in one of the finest dairy regions in the world. At some point in the next few days, he will commit an act of sacrilege. He will rise, as usual, at 6am to milk his 60 cows and then throw away the warm, white liquid which is his family's life's blood. ‘You have to understand how hard that will be,’ he said. ‘It is like an artist destroying his own painting or a craftsman smashing one of his own creations.’ Mr Voivenel, 43, a farmer near Vire in lower Normandy, is about to go on strike. Tens of thousands of dairy farmers in 14 European countries, including some in Britain, are preparing to join the first ever pan-European ‘milk strike’: an attempt to push up the farm-gate price of milk, which has almost halved in the last 18 months." (Independent, 29 August)






FOOD NEEDED

"Changing weather patterns have decimated crops in several of the world's poorest countries this year, leaving millions in need of food aid and humanitarian workers warning about the dangerous effects of climate change. Farmers in Nepal have been able to produce only half their usual crop, said an Oxfam International report released last week. Livestock are dying of malnutrition in Yemen, according to the humanitarian news service IRIN. And the Red Cross is bracing for the effects of heavy rains across 16 West and Central African nations. All three are the result of extended atypical weather events – drought, rain, or untimely combinations of both – in places where subsistence farmers have long depended on predictability. In Nepal, more than 3 million people – about 10 percent of the population – will need food aid this year, said Oxfam." (Yahoo News, 2 September)




THE FAILURE OF CHARITY

"The spectre of famine has returned to the Horn of Africa nearly a quarter of a century after the world's pop stars gathered to banish it at Live Aid, raising £150m for relief efforts in 1985. Millions of impoverished Ethiopians face the threat of malnutrition and possibly starvation this winter in what is shaping up to be the country's worst food crisis for decades. Estimates of the number of people who need emergency food aid have risen steadily this year from 4.9 million in January to 5.3 million in May and 6.2 million in June. Another 7.5 million are getting aid in return for work on community projects, as part of the National Productive Safety Net Program for people whose food supplies are chronically insecure, bringing the total being fed to 13.7 million." (Independent, 30 August)



Contact  Details

UK Branches & contacts
London

Central London branch*
  2nd Wed ,6.30pm
The Coffee Republic (Travelodge),7-15 City Road,EC1Y 1AG.Nearest tube and rail stations,Old St.& Moorgate. Bus stopepworth st. is outside the venue.buses,21,43,76,141,205,
214 and 271.
tel.Tristan 0207 6223811

Enfield and Haringey branch*
   Thursdays 8th and 22nd October 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.
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).

Next meet Saturday, 14th November, 12.00 til 4.00PM.Quebec Tavern
93-97 Quebec Road Norwich NR1 4HY
Here is a link to a map.
http://www.ukpubfinder.com/pub/21675

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
  Edinburgh Branch website:
Lothian Socialist Discussion Group
.4th Wednesday of each month  7.30pm
ACE 17 ,West Montgomery Place,
 Edinburgh EH7 5HA
For more info contact Jimmy or Fraser

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  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
Contents
Features

  • ‘Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World’.
    An analysis of the US report designed to guide strategic thinking and
    inspire political action on behalf of the U.S. ruling class and its allies.


  • The rise and fall of the ILP
    With proposals to set up a united leftwing party to challenge Labour,
    we look at a previous attempt at this.


  • The disease that is capitalism
    What’s better - treating the symptoms or dealing with the cause?


  • Big Brother and the Robots
    A discussion of a Socialist Party meeting in London entitled ‘Here
    Come the Robots’


  • New roots of confl ict
    The confl icts over oil may give way to another source of military dispute
    – lanthanide metals.

  • The SLP of America: a premature obituary?
    By some accounts, the Socialist Labor Party of America has ceased to
    function.
    		•
    Regulars
    Editorial
    Capitalism and health care

    Letters

     Contact Details
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     Cooking the Books 1

    Cooking the Books 2

    Cartoons
    The Irate Itinerant

    Free Lunch


    Pathfinders

    Material World

    Pieces Together

    Tiny Tips

    Book Reviews

    Obituary
    Vincent Littlemore
    50 Years Ago

    Greasy Pole


    Voice from the Back







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    Socialist Standard Online edition                               October 2009