alanjjohnstone
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It is indeed a comprehensive list and the comrade is to be commended.The next task is to break it down into topics/subjects ie …environment…international affairs…trade union…business..etc etc. to aim at relevant targets. Of course, there will be overlaps.Not an easy task for volunteers to do and we should all try and help out the Media Committee, the best we can.
RIPDespite his NO2EU I always had time for his steadfast support for his members and unwavering union solidarity.
Another Maoist ambush. This time 16 paramilitary police killed 25 wounded.http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-26524542
I would also be interested in knowing the list of media outlets, the list of individual journalists and the list of other organisations sent this release by the Media Committee.Perhaps a private e-mail to myself would be more advisable if the list is a lengthy one.
I think the danger being overlooked is mis-calculations and mis-judgments about the other's intentions. The First World War would be over by Christmas, France and Britain would ignore Hitler’s Polish invasion, Stalin’s belief Hitler would honour the Molotov-Rippentrop Pact, America believing it could push Japan to the edge with sanctions pre-1941, Falklands and giving out the wrong messages until it is too late …US and UK would be welcomed by Iraqis, all a matter of subjective perception and misconstrued intentions. Sometimes nations believe the sabre rattling and react to it. That is the risk placing opposing forces in direct contact….a Nato aircraft crossing into foreign airspace … U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamera on 1963 Missile Crisis “we avoided nuclear war solely — solely — because we were lucky. Both sides made many, many mistakes, misjudgments, miscalculations based on misinformation.” Let be honest …accidents happen sometimes. If i take the bet and win who is to say London will still be standing for me to collect ? Worse still, what about my pension !!!
i was off-line for a few days and had no access to the news. I am catching up with world events now and in regards to the Ukraine what is striking is the military build-up and deployment. I'll leave aside the unverified and speculation that Western mercenaries aka Blackwater, have been recruited but more worrying is the re-positioning of aircraft and ships so that they actully begin to confront opposing forces and the remarks of politicians that war – with another nuclear armed state- has to be on the diplomatic table. I find it comical that these politicians forget the past especially the mostly German-instigated but then ably assisted by NATO dismemberment of Yugoslavia.Democratic elections are ignored and proposed referendums (similar to this year's Scottish one) are declared undemocratic. Also ignored is the Russian de facto recognition of several state's self-declared independence from ex-soviet stan republics so support for a proposed independent Crimea is not new. What is also ridiculous is the naive faith and trust in UN resolutions to ensure peace. One thing is guaranteed – there will be no Security Council authorisation for any action. For those on the Left it is a matter of grand-standing, taking sides, and rallying around an "old comrade" against the familiar imperialists.
http://www.countercurrents.org/tverberg100314.htm "This article may be of interest if only to provide a host of statistical graphs. Cost of oil extraction has been rising rapidly (10.9% per year) but oil prices have been flat. Major oil companies are finding their profits squeezed, and have recently announced plans to sell off part of their assets in order to have funds to pay their dividends. Such an approach is likely to lead to an eventual drop in oil production"
I use to be a regular reader during the 70s. The had a series of excellent centre pull-outs on particular themes. I'm sad to see it go.But i see they will make it a e-zine which i think we should also do for the Socialist Standard (some day)…make it weekly..make it daily… on the internet. So where does that leave the Socialist Standard…have we now got top billing as the longest surviving 'libertarian socialist' journal in the UK perhaps even the oldest existing political monthly…(not sure about the mainstream statesman and spectator history)??
i had an exchange with someone on the IWW international sub-committee regards a cautionary warning i placed on Libcom regards African contact. Due to confidentiality they didn't give details but hinted heavily enough of their aroused suspicions reflecting our own experience. Sad really that this undermines assistance to some honest comrades struggling against poverty conditions. I hope someone does challenge with some direct action ( i selected the words very carefully ) the CWI thief about his sordid past.
Janet and i are still plodding away at presenting the party case on this website. Our latest offerings being http://www.countercurrents.org/surman090314.htmhttp://www.countercurrents.org/johnstone050314.htm
The equivalent of a fiver well spent for that vinyl banner, even if i do say so myself. There is another with anti-religion slogans on it somewhere , too. (Edinburgh branch?)
A slightly different English-version posted on our blog yesterday.http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2014/03/declaration-of-internationalists.htmlThis is an example where i feel the party should exhibit its adherence to our class interests and sign the declaration, as organisations in agreement are invited.We maybe have not been part of the writing of the text but is it terribly different from what we might have wrote (less perhaps the sloganising) ? And would be committing the heinious crime of not expressing our hostility clause. I don't think so. Too late now unless the Gen Sec emails in the name of the party or circularises the EC by email for permission to add our name. Sure a small gesture but we all begin walking with baby steps.
http://rt.com/news/ukraine-dual-citizenship-jail-572/A bill in Ukrainian parliament seeks tougher sanctions against holders of dual citizenship, which is forbidden in the country. Under the legislation, violators could be punished by a prison term of up to 10 years. Currently a Ukrainian citizen who receives a second citizenship remains a citizen of Ukraine, unless he/she notifies the authorities and gets stripped of his/her original citizenship. There are fines for those who fail to disclose their dual citizenship, but the regulations on the issue are quite murky and rarely applied. But it may back-fire. The newly-appointed Dnepropetrovsk governor, Igor Kolomoysky, Ukraine’s third-wealthiest man, with an estimated fortune of $2.4 billion. He co-owns the informal commercial group Privat, which includes Ukraine’s largest bank Privatbank, which Kolomoysky heads, as well as assets in the oil, ferroalloys and food industries, agriculture and transport, possesses dual Ukrainian-Israeli citizenship and controls his business empire from Switzerland. http://rt.com/news/ukraine-oligarch-rule-governors-512/
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1393844293.htmlIt condemns both nationalisms and any intervention by either sideWasn't sure whether to place this here or on the Ukraine thread but chose this one for the reason that they issued a press statement, have designated spokes-persons for interviews. i don't know whether the EC could have issued a statement on Ukraine on the Ist. We did have a speedy article to compensate if they didn't. But we do suffer from the lack of publicity for it. Although the new kid on the block, LU seem to have media savvy on their side.Sad to see one of the comments to it is that the Left wiing should get behind Russia, but another did say plague on both houses
