It emerges from the Parliamentary debate on the
nationalisation of Northern Rock that billions of pounds are to be diverted
away from the intended purpose of preventing a banking collapse, into the
pockets of the Rock’s management. The directors set up a financial institution called Granite, allegedly a charity for handicapped children. Not one handicapped child has seen the colour of their
money. The real purpose of Granite was to act as a scam for
tax-dodging.

As
if shift workers needed a new reason to despise their
jobs, the World
Health Organization has recently declared night work a “probable
carcinogen.” Research shows
“higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose
work day starts after dark.”  This is due to the fact that melatonin,
which is integral to the body’s functioning, is usually produced at
night, while the body rests. Melatonin production is inhibited by the
artificial lighting, putting night-shift workers at risk.

The degradation of the environment has consistently grabbed the headlines in the past few years as the way in which the world is arranged threatens the very existence of life on this planet. Mick Brooks, editor of the Socialist Appeal, talks at the Socialist Appeal day school in December on capitalisms contibution to the environmental problems we face today and and what alternative a socialist society can offer.