This week
George Bush and other Western war-mongers celebrate the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.
War is good news for the corporations which the war-mongers represent.
War is profitable and militarism plays a key role in the capitalist system.
Wars are fought for class interests. The Iraq war is no exception.
Writing fifty-two years ago in their book Monopoly Capital, American economists Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy characterize the impact militarism has on society and the function of militarism in capitalist society :
Read the rest of this page »
Aberdare’s MP Ann Clwyd ponders being “the only woman from Wales here for 14 years” at the House of Commons this week.
Her contributions came in a debate on International Women’s Day at the House of Commons on Thursday, 6 March 2008.
Speaking in the House, Ann Clwyd MP says : “I am pleased to see all the women in the House, because I know from personal experience how difficult it has been for women to be elected. I was the only woman from Wales here for 14 years, so like my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister, I am pleased to see more women in the House. It was a long fight; there had been only three women MPs from Wales before I was elected in 1984, two of whom were daughters of famous men. One was Lloyd George’s daughter, and the other was the daughter of the then Deputy Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The third was Dorothy Rees, who was unfortunately defeated after one year. That is why some of us speak with considerable feeling about the difficulties of getting here.” – Source Hansard, via TheyWorkForYou
Later in the debate, Mrs Clwyd mentions a meeting in Denbigh, her home town, where Leonora Cohen, one of Emmeline Pankhurst’s suffragettes, spoke, at the age of 97!
You can read Ann Clwyd’s fascinating and poignant account here.
Although no one can deny Aberdare’s MP shows enthusiasm for extending the vote, there are exceptions where Ann Clwyd does not wish to offer people the opportunity to vote. A day previously, on 5th March 2008, the House of Commons voted on whether a National Referendum should be held on the revived EU Constitution. Ann Clwyd MP voted against holding a referendum.
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Newspapers love to play games with a pliant readership.
The most common game played is Hide the News Story.
Take a recent example …
Did you catch the news story there ?
Page 26 of the Cynon Valley Leader, November 16 2006.
Had it been pushed just a little further back it would have ended up in the darts or football results section of the newspaper. But that might have drawn attention to the story.
About the size of two or three postage stamps.
No ? Then try this … Read the rest of this page »
Ann Clwyd takes her place in the polling station queue. Photo by Simon Collis of the British Consulate in Iraq.
Sixty Assembly Members stepped out on to the stage of our newest theatre today.
The new Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff Bay was built with £67 million pounds generously donated by the taxpayer.
Today the Assembly staged the ‘Opening Debate’ where the Assembly Members followed the familiar ritual of thrust and parry. The invited audience chuckled at the to and froing. It was friendly play acting between consenting performers.
Behold all the wood in this new theatre! There is so much of it. Many woods look their best after they have been oiled. The oil provides a protective and durable coating. This new theatre requires a suitable oiling before the ceremonial opening by HM Queen on March 1st 2006 St David’s Day.
So today saw the first coat of varnish laid on the new building of the Welsh Assembly. As this was the very first day, glib self-congratulation was the chosen finish. Assembly Members came forward with enthusiasm to give it all a fresh lick.
Many claimed personally to have had a hand in creating a bold new Welsh historic building. Tributes and praises were heaped upon corporations and their lackeys as if they were being beatified for later canonization.
Tickets for this theatre were in short supply, unlike the supply of crachach and media luvvies. They came to engage in the peculiar Welsh sport of intellectual frottage. Never in the field of Welsh journalism have so few critical questions been asked about such a grand folly.
Today in the opening debate the media pack outweighed the taxpaying public. A Grand Scrum of media players formed in the upper public gallery. If you looked closely you could see them salivate at the prospect of even more work on their doorstep in Cardiff. Although Cardiff didn’t vote for the Assembly, it prospers by it.
“Cardiff was built on the exploitation of the people and the environment of the South Wales Valleys. And so the exploitation continues today but instead of coal barons the new exploiters are global corporations. The Welsh Assembly facilitates this exploitation.”
“People in the Valleys quarrel for crumbs and handouts from Government, whilst an effete bourgeoisie in the new Welsh Assembly building today proclaimed their so-called sagacity in shipping slate all the way from North Wales to this new spectacular theatre in Cardiff Bay.”
None of these lines were a part of today’s script at the Welsh Assembly.
After an hour of play a voluble Cabinet Minister was joined in a cross-party chorus of self-praise. We were told that the new Assembly Building was an important part of our history, that the building was an icon and a symbol of a new way forward, and that it establishes the Welsh Assembly’s environmental credentials. It helps if you are able to ‘suspend belief’ in any theatre including this one.
The Assembly was ‘green’ said the granny on the pulpit. The project to plan and build the new home for the Welsh Assembly took seven whole years. If only granny had asked the architect to design a system to harness the hot air generated by this new theatre, they could heat most of the houses in Cardiff.
This was a very Welsh affair : Democracy as spectacular theatre and religious revival.
At a Religious Revival people would come to reaffirm their faith, to renew their belief and to sing praises. At the opening of the new Welsh Assembly Building, the politicians that represent us came to renew their belief in themselves and to reaffirm their right to rule us and spend our money.
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And so that is the first tale of an assembly where sixty elected politicians met on February 7th 2006 at the new Welsh Assembly Building in Cardiff Bay. Another assembly of people gathered on that same day in Hirwaun . Local working people gathered in a village hall to discuss the future of a community which is being destroyed by property over-development.
The village of Hirwaun came to life around the ironworks which were established in Hirwaun 249 years ago. For every 1 year of the history of the Welsh Assembly, there is 35 years of Hirwaun history. In the Merthyr Rising of 1831 starving ironworkers captured a calf on Hirwaun Common, butchered it and it was from this that the first red flag was ever raised on British soil as a symbol of the solidarity of a working community.But this is a tale for another day.
It will be told for the assembly of people in Hirwaun decided they shall tell you the story of their struggle.
