alanjjohnstone
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100,000 civil servants are to strike on 1 February, the Public and Commercial Services union has announced.
Union members in 124 government departments along with several other bodies will walk out.
I like the author’s qualification, “territorial” nationalism, which distinguishes it from those who accuse socialists of being against cultural identities and unique local customs and ways of living, no matter how often we state we are supportive of diversity and against the McDonaldisation of people.
Shame there are no fuller contact details
A short essay from Bhabani Shankar Nayak, University of Glasgow,
https://countercurrents.org/2023/01/war-and-left/
“…unconditional opposition to Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO and the neo–Nazi Azov battalion in Ukraine is central to left politics for peace, solidarity and internationalism. It is ideological bankruptcy and reactionary politics to choose one over the other in the name of fighting the enemy and protecting the territorial sovereignty… Territorial nationalism is a ruling class ideology…”
Alun Parry
Tressell And Me: A Radio Balladhttps://alunparry.bandcamp.com/album/tressell-and-me-a-radio-ballad
As the government intends imposing anti-strike laws this song is pertinent to the times.(shame Hulett still has a weakness for national liberation)
Under the new strategies, Japan vows to build up its counterstrike capability with long-range cruise missiles that can reach potential targets in China, double its defense budget within five years and bolster development of advanced weapons.
Japan’s Militarization
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/militarized-japan-biden-kishidaJapan’s Constitution’s Article 9, states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.” It goes on to commit that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
Japan’s military spending has grown to $50 billion a year and is about to be doubled. Japan currently ranks as the world’s eighth greatest military spender significantly ahead of U.S. allies like Israel, Italy, Australia, and Canada.
And there’s me just submitted next month’s Material World for the Socialist Standard which concludes that socialism can not promise immortality and eternal youth.
Perhaps it can, it seems.
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would probably fail if the United States helped defend the island – but would come at a debilitating cost to the American military itself, according to military experts brought together by the Center for Strategic and International Studies to war game the conflict
The wargaming tested 24 different scenarios focused on China attempting to seize the island by invasion in 2026.
Without America’s help, Taiwan would be conquered by the People’s Liberation Army in three months or less.
Chinese missiles would probably destroy US airbases in Japan and as far as Guam, and sink two US aircraft carriers and between 10 and 20 destroyers and cruisers as the invasion opened.
The Chinese invading force itself would be destroyed before it ever occupied any significant part of Taiwan and ultimately it would be prevented from its goal of capturing the island’s capital Taipei.
“The United States might win a pyrrhic victory, suffering more in the long run than the ‘defeated’ Chinese,” the report said
Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s order, has ordered police to ban Palestinian flags from public places.
“Today I directed the Israel police to enforce the prohibition of flying any PLO flag that shows identification with a terrorist organization from the public sphere and to stop any incitement against the State of Israel,”
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-latin-america-64206148
Attempted Bolsonaro right-wing coup?
Starmer’s coded language
“Look, I’ve always made the case against austerity,” he says. “I’m against austerity. But I know we’re going to have to be fiscally disciplined.”
Another new word
“richsession”An expected recession in the US will hit the richest Americans harder than those at the bottom, the Wall Street Journal said this week, coining the term “richcession” to describe it.
In this context, a “richsession” would make a big difference from the “usual pattern, in which the poorest are first to suffer”, noted David Philippy, a historian specialising in US economic thought at CY Cergy Paris University.
At the bottom of the wealth divide, things are looking up, surprisingly. This is because the labour market is in a “relatively healthy state for unskilled workers looking for jobs”, said Tobias Broer, an economist at the Paris School of Economics.
“White-collar workers bear brunt of downturn,” proclaimed a Washington Post headline in late December. 80,000 tech employees had been laid off by the end of November. Amazon said on January 4 that it plans to shed 18,000 workers this year.
Another factor draining the wallets of wealthy Americans. For Wall Street, 2022 was the worst year since 2008: the S&P 500 – an index of 500 top US companies – fell by 20 percent. Tech companies were some of the worst-affected stocks on the index.
Martial Dupaigne, an economist at the Toulouse School of Economics and Paul-Valéry University in Montpellier said,
“…If there is no bounce back, this current plunge in valuations could wipe out very large sums for well-off investors in these companies,”However, Pierre Gervais, an expert on US economic history at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University, explained,
Wall Street Journal article “doesn’t really hold water, because the whole article is aimed at contrasting the situation for middle and upper management with the situation for unskilled workers, while neither group is really rich”, Gervais said. “By contrast, the super-rich aren’t affected by the economic turmoil.”
Philippy agreed. The WSJ article “doesn’t really concern the super-rich in the US, whose income comes mainly from capital” and who are little affected by layoffs or by a temporary drop in the stock market,
The Hamas Elite
https://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2023/01/gazans-v-hamas-elite.html
“I blame the rulers here, the government of Gaza. They live in luxury while our children eat dirt, migrate and die abroad.”
