Arkivet – Nummervisning

Fra Socialist Review nr. 323

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323

3

mar 08

Mike Gonzalez: Edwin Morgan: Poet

323

2

mar 08

When Glasgow's Aye Write Festival decided to distribute 15,000 free copies of Edwin Morgan's anthology, From Glasgow to Saturn, they knew they would run out quickly. The 24-hour marathon reading of his work across the city – in schools and stations, streets and cafes – was a testimony to the incredible popularity of this great poet. He should be better known.

Editorial

323

3

mar 08

It's an anniversary the two million who marched in London against war in 2003 never wanted to celebrate – five years of occupation in Iraq.

Mike Gonzalez: Frontlines: Cuba after Fidel Castro: Following Fidel

323

4

mar 08

Fidel Castro has resigned from his position as head of the government of Cuba after 49 years in charge. Even during the last 18 months when his brother Raul (five years his junior) was formally in power he has continued to control things, just as he has ever since he led the rebel army into Havana in 1959.

Leo Zeilig: Frontlines: George Bush: a bad man in Africa

323

4

mar 08

George Bush's five nation visit to Africa last month received some absurd congratulations. Even the normally discerning Guardian journalist Chris McGreal could not contain himself, commenting in an article called "George Bush: a good man in Africa", that Bush's African HIV initiative is "transforming healthcare in Africa and has been praised as the most significant aid programme since the end of colonialism".

Patrick Ward: Frontlines: City academies: Barriers to learning

323

5

mar 08

"The management freedom given to academies should be rolled out across the whole state sector," said Richard Tice, chair of Northampton Academy school.

Expenses by numbers

323

5

mar 08

£61,280 – MPs salary
£137,579 – Cabinet minister's salary
£136,000 – Average MP's annual expenses claim

Ian Taylor: Frontlines: Why the price indexes miscalculate the cost of modern life

323

6

mar 08

The cost of living rose at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in January if you believe the government's Consumer Price Index (CPI). This is the rate newspapers and TV report and on which the Bank of England bases interest rate policy. But it is fiction as far as reflecting the rising prices faced by working class households.

Patrick Ward: Frontlines: Marshall Adame versus Blackwater

323

7

mar 08

Marshall Adame, ex-marine and Democrat congressional candidate for North Carolina, has incurred the wrath of mercenary firm Blackwater, whose 7000 acre training facility is based in his constituency.

Patrick Ward: Frontlines: Osama Likes Obama – According to Fox News

323

7

mar 08

Back in 2000 Fox News announced George W Bush's "victory" before the results had even finished being counted, leading to the widespread media acceptance that Democratic candidate Al Gore had lost, a result eventually accepted by Gore himself.

Lindsey German: In My View: London mayoral elections: Race and class in the city

323

7

mar 08

Race has been an issue in London all my life.

James Haywood: Feedback: Whose crisis?

323

8

mar 08

Chris Harman's article on the financial crisis (Socialist Review, February 2008) highlighted the most important historical problems facing capitalism today.

Terry Ward: Feedback: Mutually beneficial

323

8

mar 08

One of the most insidious of crimes committed by the Thatcher government was the privatisation of the building societies (Socialist Review, February 2008).

Roger Cox: Feedback: Monuments of neoliberalism

323

8

mar 08

It was interesting to read about the struggles in Kenya following the elections (Socialist Review, February 2008). What interested me was the similarity between Kenya and Latin America. The imposition of neoliberalism over the last decade has left the working classes on both sides of the Atlantic in deep poverty.

Sally Kincaid: Feedback: Strike school

323

8

mar 08

It was good to read Alex Kenny's column on the NUT teachers' union ballot and pay campaign (Socialist Review, February 2008).

Christine Buchholz: Letter from ...: Germany: The successes and challenges of Die Linke

323

9

mar 08

Growing economic inequality and corruption have led to huge gains by the left. Christine Buchholz writes about the successes of Die Linke, and the challenges ahead.

Paul Rogers: Iraq, Afghanistan: Has the US lost?

323

10

mar 08

The occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan look ever more entrenched. But, Paul Rogers argues, the only solution for the world's most powerful nation and its allies will be withdrawal.

Solomon Hughes: Follow the money

323

13

mar 08

It started with an article on a private security company in Bosnia. Solomon Hughes then became drawn into an investigation which was to expose the ever growing profits made from the privatisation of war.

Chris Harman: In perspective: The state of imperialism

323

14

mar 08

If, as some people on the left claim, the term "imperialism" is out of date, who are the world's multinationals depending on to defend their interests?

Judith Orr: Abortion: Their morals and ours

323

15

mar 08

We need to get ready for a big battle over abortion rights, argues Judith Orr, and the deluge of moral outrage about women's lives that will accompany it.

Les Skarratts: Union-made: Let the people decide: Merseyside FBU considers standing in elections

323

17

mar 08

Once again public services are under attack. The current round of government grant settlements, essential money for local authorities from central government, has been decided.

Shaun Doherty: Interview: Ronan Bennett: A sense of impending tragedy

323

18

mar 08

Writer Ronan Bennett talks to Shaun Doherty about the lead up to the Iraq war, the ignorance of New Labour and being a political writer

Pat Stack: A to Z of Socialism: J is for Justice

323

21

mar 08

Bob Dylan's song "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" begins with words that are the cornerstone of justification for the justice system in model capitalist democracies.

Patrick Ward: London: capital's capital

323

22

mar 08

The City of London has become a tax haven for the super-rich, overseen by Gordon Brown with, alarmingly, no complaints from Mayor Ken Livingstone. Patrick Ward looks at the history and humbug that props up the square mile and leaves neighbouring boroughs cash-starved

Terry Wrigley: Book review: Stephen Ball: The Education Debate

323

24

mar 08

Stephen Ball is a tenacious critic of reactionary education policies. He holds the most prestigious professorship of educational sociology in Britain, writes with enormous knowledge and authority, and his works are known internationally. The Education Debate is essential reading for anyone wanting an in-depth but readable analysis of New Labour policies.

Nick Clark: Book review: Robert Peston: Who Runs Britain?

323

25

mar 08

Robert Peston was a business journalist on the Financial Times and Sunday Telegraph, and is now working for the BBC. He uses his extensive contacts among the boardroom elite to identify some of the individuals who have become fabulously wealthy over the past 20 years – many of them under New Labour.

Miriam Scharf: Book review: Fred Wander: The Seventh Well

323

25

mar 08

This a powerful and harrowing collection of memories from Fred Wander's life spent in 20 different Nazi camps in France, Poland and Germany from 1942 to 1945. But the author's constant avowal of the humanity of those whose stories he tells sustains the reader.

Rob Owen: Book review: Daniel S Greenberg: Science For Sale

323

26

mar 08

With scientific discovery affecting every aspect of our lives, a discussion of who controls research should be relevant to everyone who wants a better world. Unfortunately Greenberg's Science for Sale is more likely to be bedside reading for university administrators than for anti-capitalist activists.

Chris Bambery: Book review: Donald Sassoon: Mussolini and the Rise of Fascism

323

26

mar 08

This is a useful and concise explanation of how Mussolini came to power in October 1922. This was not by marching on Rome. Rather Mussolini arrived by sleeper train and was driven to the palace to be sworn in as premier by the king.

Ingrid Lamprecht: Book review: Alaa Al Aswany: Chicago

323

27

mar 08

Alaa Al Aswany's novel Chicago doesn't disappoint although it had a lot to live up to following The Yacoubian Building – bestselling novel in the Arab world in 2002 and 2003. Chicago is about Egyptian immigrant students and professors in Chicago and the Americans they meet and work with at the University of Illinois.

Jacob Middleton: Book review: David Miller and William Dinan: A Century of Spin

323

27

mar 08

David Miller and William Dinan have written a short, punchy book on how public relations have come to dominate public life, even to the extent where a would-be prime minister, David Cameron, himself spent much of the 1990s as a professional spin doctor. But the links go deeper.

John Newsinger: Book review: Tim Weiner: Legacy of Ashes

323

28

mar 08

The CIA has overthrown governments, bribed and blackmailed politicians, carried out assassinations, sponsored bloody wars, trafficked drugs and weapons, and, throughout its history, made use of torture. Any book that throws light on the activities of the CIA is to be welcomed, but with Weiner's Legacy of Ashes, the welcome has to be seriously qualified.

Dominic Kavakeb: Book review: Kasra Naji: Ahmadinejad

323

28

mar 08

Religious fundamentalist, anti-Semite, the new Hitler, tyrant, prophet, anti-imperialist are all descriptions that have been used to describe Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In this biography journalist Kasra Naji aims to unravel the truth about Iran's controversial leader by examining his past and his rise to power.

Rachel Thomas: Book review: Joseph Siracusa: Nuclear Weapons

323

29

mar 08

Saturated with terminology, this short introduction is a sobering account of the world and its complex relationship with nuclear weapons.

Sasha Simic: Book review: Khaled Al Khamissi: Taxi

323

29

mar 08

Some 80,000 taxis ply their trade on the streets of Cairo. Last year the Egyptian journalist Khaled Al Khamissi collected 58 conversations he had with taxi drivers while being ferried across Cairo into a book. The result – Taxi – was an instant bestseller. It's a wonderful work which captures the daily struggle of working people in modern Egypt in their own words.

Book review: New in paperback & children's books

323

29

mar 08

United Fruit Company – Degrees of climate change – Miéville for children – Migrant fruit picker fiction

Martin Smith: Culture Column/Interview: Requiem for Katrina: A Tale of God's Will by Terence Blanchard

323

30

mar 08

"Could we film you going into your house?" asks filmmaker Spike Lee of Mrs Blanchard.

Jinan Coulter: Film Review: Redacted (Director: Brian De Palma)

323

31

mar 08

Brian De Palma's latest film is unconventional. Based on the rape and murder of a 14 year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her family in Samarra in 2006, it is through a loose tapestry of documentary-style footage that we witness the atrocity, its build-up and its aftermath.

Beccy Reese: Film Review: The Edge of Heaven (Director: Fatih Akin)

323

31

mar 08

German by birth and of Turkish origin, director Fatih Akin has coherently and beautifully squeezed six big lives into a mosaic that connects Bremen, Istanbul, Hamburg and Trabzon in his latest film, The Edge of Heaven.

Richard Seymour: Film Review: Rambo (Director: Sylvester Stallone)

323

31

mar 08

Rambo is an unwittingly comedic film about "humanitarian intervention". Its director, Sylvester Stallone, chose not to set the film in Iraq or Afghanistan because it would be "an insult to the men who are fighting". Instead Rambo is in Thailand, somewhere near the Burmese border, working on a longboat.

Simon Assaf: Film Review: Under the Bombs (Director: Philippe Aractingi)

323

32

mar 08

With her marriage breaking down, Zelna (Nada Abou Farhat) sends her son to stay with her sister in south Lebanon. It is the summer of 2006, and Israel has just unleashed a ferocious 33-day assault on the country. Her son is lost somewhere in the chaos and rubble.

Sofie Mason: Theatre: March's highlights

323

33

mar 08

A glance at some upcoming intriguing and challenging plays

Five things to get or see this month

323

33

mar 08

Pioneering modern art – machines for living – radical exhibition – imperialist history – TV triumph

John Rees: Exhibition Review: Citizen Milton

323

34

mar 08

Oxford University owe John Milton. Milton was a revolutionary republican and, after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the University Convocation, with the typical bravery of academic institutions, voted to burn his books. Twice.

Roger Huddle: Exhibition Review: Alexander Rodchenko: Revolution in Photography

323

mar 08

This exhibition is dedicated to the photographic work of Alexander Rodchenko, and even today, almost 100 years on, living in a society overflowing with images, his photographs are still fresh, still have a sense of wonder and relevance. This comes from what they record – an epoch of revolution and defeat, of hope and despair.

Keith Flett + Tim Sanders: Cartoon: A People's History of the World: 10. The First Dark Ages

323

35

mar 08