text:
Tag Archive: swp
Grass Roots Rank and File Launch Conference. Saturday 12 April 2014
Filed under: News From National Campaigns
Grass Roots Rank and File Launch Conference.
Saturday 12 April 2014. 12pm
Comfort Inn, Opposite New St Station,
Station Street,
Birmingham. B5 4DY.
Following the successful meeting of the Grass Roots Left National Committee in Birmingham on 18 January the launch conference of the new Grass Roots Rank and File now looks to be on a far healthier basis than was feared when Socialist Fight supporters had been reduced to a minority of two in defence of the Constitution and Platform of the GRL as the basis for the new organisation at the AGM of 9 November. Between the two meetings the SWP had split at its December conference and the new organisation, now called the Revolutionary Socialists of the 21st Century, took the majority of the Unite the union faction who had supported Jerry Hicks for general secretary twice. Both the SWP and the SR21C attended the GRL NC and as they were now rivals they sought to accentuate their leftism. It seems now that the new joint Rank and File organisation will be open and democratic and be based on a platform and constitution at least similar to the old GRL one. Both Workers Power and Socialist Resistance had to reverse themselves and now say that standing on Jerry Hicks election points really was minimalist and not enough and they abandoned their charges of ultra leftism against SF. The SWP, of course, continues its opportunist tailending of all the other the TU bureaucracies as Laurence Humphries's report on the Unite the Resistance conference on page 30 makes clear. In the meantime we hear that fusion discussions between Unite and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), whose Executive is dominated by the SP/CWI, are going to succeed because the government will withdraw check-off facilities from the PCS and so probably bankrupt it. The SP has already approached the United Left, the Unite bureaucracy's mouthpiece, to ensure that they become ensconced as that bureaucracy's footstools as well as for the RMT's Bob Crow.
Tags: 18 january, 2014, 21, 21st, AGM, birmingham, Bob Crow, century, coalition, Commercial Services Union, congress, east, for, fusion, gras roots left, grass roots, grl, jerry hicks, left, london, national. committee, nc, north, pcs, Rank and file, revolutionary, rmt, RS21C, sf, socialism, socialist, socialist fight, socialist resistance, south, surrey, swp, the, trades, tu, tuc, union, unite, united left, west, workers power
The Socialist Party Debates: The Tendency For The Rate Of Profit To Fall Vs Underconsumptionism.
The VOAG can't help but notice the growing debate inside the Socialist Party (SP). The VOAG's inbox had just quietened down following an avalanche of emails during the recent SWP splits. Now it seems it's the Socialist Party's turn to spam the living daylights out of us all.
The VOAG has already heard rumours of people being banned from the Socialist Party's International Summer School, now I understand the SP's NC is removing members from the SP Facebook group and banning all discussion relating to Marxist economics. (1)
As Bruce Wallace, one of the leading dissidents put it: "Under the pretext of agreeing to comradely debate, the critical material of oppositionists is being censored and repressed while public attacks on us are made by the leadership". How SWP. (2)
And just like the SWP debacle, the argument is being conflated with a general dissatisfaction with internal party democracy. One dissident quotes Lenin: "Criticism within the limits of the principles of the Party Programme must be quite free, not only at Party meetings, but also at public meetings. Such criticism, or such "agitation" (for criticism is inseparable from agitation) cannot be prohibited"
What's it all about.
At the root of the argument are different perspectives regarding the relative importance in Crisis Theory (why capitalism goes into cyclical recessions) of "The Tendancy For The Rate Of Profit To Fall" (TRPF) and "Overacculation /Underconsumption". Another SP dissident, calling himself Crucial Steve, writes on his blog:
"According to Lyn Walsh [editor of the SP's monthly Socialism Today], the current crisis is one of over accumulation and lack of demand. Peter Taaffe writes in issue number 157 "The capitalists refuse to invest because there is no 'profitable outlet'. In this sense, it is a crisis of 'profitability'. Not because profits have dropped or there is a 'tendency' for the rate of profit to decline. Both the rate and the absolute amount of profit have increased it seems, even during this terrible crisis"." (3)
Crucial Steve (Steve Dobbs) counters: "Marx was very clear that the accumulation of capital and the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall were in fact "two expressions of the same process". As capital accumulates, the organic composition [fixed capital over variable capital] rises and the rate of profit tends to fall. Thus to speak of over accumulation without reference to the rate of profit is somewhat "one-sided", shall we say.
Cde. Crucial sets out his stall: "According to the statistics, the rate and the absolute amount of profit have not increased as the SP would have it. As anyone who has worked with management in the private sector will tell you, capitalists are concerned with the rate of return. So naturally, the projected rate of profit will determine investment. A fall in return and a subsequent fall in investment can also lead to a drop in the mass of profits. We can see empirically that the fall in the mass of profits precedes a fall in investment prior to a recession".
Crucial quotes Walsh in Socialism Today No.161: "How, as socialists, should we regard a stimulus package or programme of public works? In the face of mass unemployment and the prospect of prolonged economic stagnation, the leaders of workers' organisations should indeed be calling for a massive programme of public works to provide jobs and stimulate growth. Effective economic stimulus would require a big increase in social spending, increasing pensions and other benefits. Tax rates for the wealthy and big corporations should be substantially increased, with a levy on the uninvested cash piles of big companies. Effective measures should be taken against tax evasion and avoidance". (4)
The SP's official position, that the current crisis is one of over accumulation and lack of demand, implies that the answer is to inflate the economy by increasing salaries and public spending, in order to spend ones way out of crises. In other words, classic Keynesianism. We at The VOAG reject this approach and agree with Marx, that capitalism has structural contradictions that cannot be resolved by keynesian economics or reformism.
Socialist Fight breaks it down.
To get some help understanding this argument, let's visit the pages of this month's Socialist Fight:
Let us first of all set out the proposition according to Marx: "The progressive tendency of the general rate of profit to fall is, therefore, just an expression peculiar to the capitalist mode of production of the progressive development of the social productivity of labour. This does not mean to say that the rate of profit may not fall temporarily for other reasons. But proceeding from the nature of the capitalist mode of production, it is thereby proved a logical necessity that in its development the general average rate of surplus-value must express itself in a falling general rate of profit. Since the mass of the employed living labour is continually on the decline as compared to the mass of materialised labour set in motion by it, i.e., to the productively consumed means of production, it follows that the portion of living labour, unpaid and congealed in surplus-value, must also be continually on the decrease compared to the amount of value represented by the invested total capital. Since the ratio of the mass of surplus-value to the value of the invested total capital forms the rate of profit, this rate must constantly fall". Karl Marx, Capital vol. 3, chapter 13.
TFRP is the central plank of Marx's revolutionary economic theories. He formed his theory in opposition to the closely related theories of the so-called "iron law of wages" and underconsumptionism, and sharply counter-posed TFRP to them. The Iron Law of Wages is a proposed law of economics that asserts that real wages always tend, in the long run, toward the minimum wage necessary to sustain the life of the worker. Karl Marx attribute the doctrine to Lassalle (notably in his Critique of the Gotha Programme, 1875), but credited the idea to Thomas Malthus in his work, An Essay on the Principle of Population.
Marx did not have several theories of capitalist crisis, he had one: TFRP. Marx attacked the "iron law of wages" in two lectures to the international Working Men's Association in 1865. The argument was that the "iron law" meant the absolute immiseration of the working class which led to a lack of demand for commodities and hence a crisis pushing prices below the value of commodities finally squeezing profits.
This is closely allied to underconsumptionism. Of course it has an immediate reformist implication; there is a Keynesian solution to the crisis of capitalism. All we need to do is raise wages and pump more money into the economy and the crisis will be solved. The underconsumptionist tells us there is plenty of money available but the capitalists just won't invest. So implicitly all we have to do is force them to do so or get the government to do so on their behalf. It is this reformist conclusion that Bruce Wallace has correctly identified in the line of both the CWI and the CPGB. The notion that they won't invest because the rate of profit is too low is beyond them.
The point about TFRP is that it is a revolutionary theory; capitalism is in crisis because it has these fatal structural flaws; private ownership of the means of production and a system of production for individual profit which has this inescapable tendency to fall and halt production through lack of investment. Only a rationally planned socialised economy based on production for need will overcome the ever recurring [and increasing] crises of capitalism. War on a global scale is the only thing that will temporarily solve this crisis for the capitalists; a much smaller group of monopoly capitalists will now have their profits rates restored before they fall again and the next conflagration is prepared. That is the history of the twentieth century. The same iron laws apply to the twenty-first. (6)
1. http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/is-shttp://howiescorner.blogspot.ocialist-party-heading-fo-split.html
2. http://69.195.124.91/~brucieba/2013/08/01/what-exactly-did-marx-and-engels-get-wrong-a-la-nial-mulholland/
3. http://socialismiscrucial.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/ted-grants-notes-on-marxist-economics/
5. https://suacs.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/socialistfightno14.pdf
Acknowledgements and Thanks
Many thanks to Ray Rising for providing a selection of print-outs regarding the Tendency for the Rate of Profit to Fall.
The VOAG would like to acknowledge Socialist Fight for their article "Ticktin, Taaffe and Underconsumption" in Socialist Fight No.14 some of which is reproduced here.
Thanks also go out to Socialist Fight for their excellent Open Meeting on the "Tendency for the Rate of Profit to Fall" which The VOAG attended. For details of future Socialist Fight meetings contact: Socialist_Fight@yahoo.co.uk.
Tags: a, and, capital, capitalism, committee, composition, crises, cwi, fall, fight, for, guildford, international, investment, iron, law, marx, of, organic, party, profit, rate, ray, rising, socialism, socialist, socialist party, sp, surrey, swp, tendency, tfrp, the, theory, ticktin, to, today, trpf, underconsumptionism, voag, wages, west, workers
LCFI Statement On The Woolwich Killing: Against Imperialist Wars In Muslim Lands
Filed under: Discussions, Debates And Articles, News From National Campaigns
For Adebolajo and Oluwatobi,
Against Imperialist wars in Muslim lands:
LCFI statement on the Woolwich killing: 31 May 2013[1]
Gerald Downing, Socialist Fight. May 2013 (Reposted without permission)
The LCFI is a proudly anti-Imperialist Trotskyist internationalist grouping which never equates the violence of the oppressor with that of the oppressed. We stand with Lenin unequivocally on these questions: Lenin: We are defending… not the national interests, for we assert that the interests of socialism, of world socialism are higher than national interests, higher than the interests of the state.[2]
The killing of the British soldier Lee Rigby, 25, in Woolwich, South London, on 22 May, who was identified as a British soldier by the Help for Heroes t-shirt he was wearing, was a political act. One of the assailants, Michael Adebolajo, immediately made this clear in a statement: We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone. Your people will never be safe. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying by British soldiers every day. We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I apologise that women had to witness this today but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don't care about you. Do you think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns? Do you think your politicians are going to die? No, it's going to be the average guy like you, and your children. So get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so we, so you can all live in peace.
We sympathise with the family of the dead British soldier, it is terrible to lose a son, husband and father in any circumstances but the full blame lies with British Imperialism's wars of aggression and drone strikes – the kill ratio is thousands to one and they all have families too and the so called "Islamacist terrorists" combatants are "guilty" only of heroically defending their own lands; Lee Rigby was a professional mercenary soldier paid to implement David Cameron's predatory Imperialist foreign policy and he paid the price of this dangerous assignment. The seeds of violence were sown by British Imperialism; together with other European Imperialist powers they shipped upwards of fourteen million black Africans across the oceans in cages as slaves. How many countries have they invaded and destroyed to exploit and rob their wealth and natural recourses? When was the last time a Muslim group invaded a country for its resources and killed a million people?
We will not condemn Michael Olumide Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale, 22.According to Paul Cahalan in an article in The Independent on Sunday on 26 May Michael Adebolajo was arrested with six others in Kenya under suspicion of being at the centre of an Al-Qaeda-inspired plot in 2010. He was tortured before being released without charge, it seems because MI5 agents thought they could recruit him as a spy. MI5 constantly harassed him and his family in an attempt to make him work for them after he returned home.[3] This was their answer.
However we do not agree with their methods of struggle. As with all so-called "acts of terror" or the shooting of British soldiers by Irish Republicans we say that for national liberations fighters the army of occupation is a legitimate target. But we do not endorse individual action like planting bombs against civilian populations (which this was not) or killing of individual soldiers in a public street not only because it cannot achieve its aim of defeating imperialism but because it has the exact opposite effect on the mass of their potential supporters, the organised working class. Our approach is the traditional Marxist one of "unconditional but critical support". As Trotsky said (and we would not use the epithet "terrorism" today): In our eyes, individual terror is inadmissible precisely because it belittles the role of the masses in their own consciousness, reconciles them to their powerlessness, and turns their eyes and hopes towards a great avenger and liberator who some day will come and accomplish his mission. The anarchist prophets of the 'propaganda of the deed' can argue all they want about the elevating and stimulating influence of terrorist acts on the masses. Theoretical considerations and political experience prove otherwise. The more 'effective' the terrorist acts, the greater their impact, the more they reduce the interest of the masses in self-organisation and self-education. But the smoke from the confusion clears away, the panic disappears, the successor of the murdered minister makes his appearance, life again settles into the old rut, the wheel of capitalist exploitation turns as before; only the police repression grows more savage and brazen. And as a result, in place of the kindled hopes and artificially aroused excitement comes disillusionment and apathy.[4]
However we cannot make our support for anti-Imperialist fighters conditional on them agreeing to our methods of struggle. This was not a "terrorist" act but a response to massive Imperialist terrorism against the Muslim lands with which the pair clearly identified. Under the cloak of religion there are very powerful anti-Imperialist sentiments in that statement above with which we solidarise, without in any way conceding to the religious prejudices of Fundamentalism. We must learn how to support the one and oppose the other without ever taking our eye off the main enemy, World Imperialism.
As Trotsky says: The struggle against war, properly understood and executed, presupposes the uncompromising hostility of the proletariat and its organizations, always and everywhere, toward its own and every other imperialist bourgeoisie…[5]
The war dead of Imperialism
Estimates of the war dead following the 2003 invasion of Iraq are as high as one million. Taken with the death toll from the previous sanctions campaign and the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm, 1990-91) combined with the invasions of Afghanistan, Libya and the sanctions campaign against Iran etc this pushes that figure to close to two million dead. Almost all these occupied lands[6] have seen the life expectancy of the general population decline dramatically, infant mortality rise sharply, previously free education and hospital services devastated by privatisation and delivery into the hands of US and other multi-nationals, now affordable only by the rich. Their infrastructure and services like transport, electricity, water sanitation and sewerage have been enormously degraded and their whole economies reduced to worse conditions than they endured half a century and more ago under colonialism. Radioactive fragments from depleted uranium shells in war zones from ex-Yugoslavia to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Mali have caused and will cause countless deaths and birth deformities in these regions. All to serve the global war aims of US-dominated Western Imperialism, to enhance the profits of the great banks and finance houses and their allied multi-national companies. A new fascism is looming, a Fourth Global Reich with the same social values as the Third. As State, Power & Bureaucracy put it: Over everything (in Nazi Germany) loomed the banks: as the banker Schroder put it at his Nuremburg trial: "They had a powerful influence on the party and on the government." We cite a German couplet from the period: Who marches in with the first German tank? / Herr Director Rasche from the Dresden Bank.[7]
Before the Second Gulf War of 2003 Iraq suffered enormously from the sanctions against it imposed by the US. On May 12, 1996, Madeleine Albright (then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations) appeared on a 60 Minutes segment in which Lesley Stahl asked her "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?" and Albright replied "we think the price is worth it."
This is all caused by Imperialism's drive for profits, to capture markets for their products, to eliminate rival semi-colonial regimes by installing their own puppets in these countries. Even pliant national rulers can become a barrier to the finance capital masters of Wall Street, the City of London and the Paris Bourse; Saddam Hussein was installed as Iraq's ruler by the CIA, Assad was a steadfast ally of Imperialism until they found better ones and Gaddafi had made his peace with Imperialism but nonetheless it was not enough to established today's needs of unrivalled global domination by the US and its allies.
It is the masses of the US, British, French etc. working class who have the power to end Imperialist oppression. To those the oppressed and relatives of the slaughtered in the semi-colonial world must appeal for justice. And revolutionaries in the metropolitan countries have a duty to respond to these appeals and to encourage them and to fight for the rights of the workers in Iraq, Libya, Syria etc always against Imperialist aggression whether by direct invasion of via their proxy armies from Benghazi or from the Free Syria Army.
How have the far left in Britain responded?
The SWP have taken quite a good position on the Woolwich killings: Guerrilla fighting in the Global South, and attacks in the West, won't end as long as the West continues to wreak havoc across the world. We should respond to the anger that imperialism fuels by pointing to the role of imperialism and demanding solidarity with those who are oppressed.[8]
The Socialist Party have taken a dreadful Islamophobic pro-Imperialist position: The unprovoked, barbaric and vicious murder of an unarmed soldier in Woolwich yesterday is a horrific event which must have been profoundly traumatic for the people who witnessed it, and, of course, an appalling tragedy for the victim, and the victim's family and friends. Local residents showed incredible bravery in intervening to try and assist the victim. The Socialist Party completely condemns this attack just as we condemned 7/7, 9/11, and all similar attacks aimed at indiscriminate slaughter.[9]
Workers Power's statement is weak at the beginning; it should not begin with the immediate horror and its effects on the family of the victim and onlookers (Iraq's slaughtered have families too and their citizens have seen far worse) but with its cause, which it does tackle well later in the article. In that respect the SWP article is better that theirs: This is a horrific act, committed in front of ordinary civilians, women and children. We sympathise with the family of the victim and those traumatised by witnessing such appalling scenes. But London Mayor Boris Johnson's claim that it has nothing to do with British foreign policy and the claim that British soldiers are bravely defending us in Britain and fighting for freedom in Afghanistan is a brazen lie.[10]
As might be expected the Alliance for Workers Liberty take a clear pro-Imperialist stance. Sacha Ismail tells us that "The young men" were "supporters of violently reactionary theocratic politics". With their single victim there are not in the same "violently reactionary" league as those who are responsible for two million war dead, he might have mentioned. And what about: For the most part, the threat posed by Islamists – whether ultras like these ones, or softer varieties – is not directed against off-duty soldiers. It is directed against women, LGBT people, atheists and secularists, dissidents and critical-minded people in Muslim-majority countries and in some Muslim communities in countries like Britain. [11]
This is just a straightforward lie. The "threat posed" to whom? To the interests of British Imperialism or to British citizens or British soldiers or are all these things the same? The entire concern of British Imperialism is the opposition to their invasions and seizures of lands and they could not give a hoot what happens to women and LGBT people and others in "Muslim-majority countries". To bring in that in this context is to give direct propagandistic support to the war cries of the Sun and Daily Mail. And finally the direct equation of "radical Islamism and nationalist racism" as twin evils. Note that "radical Islamism" comes first in the list of dangers to us all and fascism has been prettified as "nationalist racism" because, of course it is in fact better than "Islamo-fascism", the favourite AWL term for Fundamentalism: This is, or should be, a wakeup call for the labour movement and socialists. If we cannot build a political force in working-class communities capable of appealing to the angry and dispossessed, then reactionary ideas like radical Islamism and nationalist racism will continue to spread.[12] Naturally there is no mention of Imperialism and its wars on North Africa and the Middle East as a possible motivation for the attack, as we would expect from such an Islamophobic pro-Imperialist group.
CND General Secretary, Kate Hudson, leading light in Stop the War and in Ken Loach's new Left Unity project has an unequivocal national chauvinist (the safety of our troops) position: "We deplore the brutal murder of an unarmed British soldier in Woolwich yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Acts of violent retribution against individuals can never be justified as a response to the crimes of states and governments. As we have repeatedly stated since 9/11 and the engagement of our troops in the wars and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, the best way to ensure the safety of our troops…"[13]
Lastly we will look at Lindsey German, ex-SWP leader, Stop the War and Counterfire. Her statement is all couched in what is best for British Imperialism. And she cannot even openly acknowledge that it is a normal and understandable response to the mass murders by US and British troops – just look at the italicised words below, say motivated, claimed and supposedly similarly motivated. Even US filmmaker Michael Moore tweeted: "I am outraged that we can't kill people in other countries without them trying to kill us!"[14] Who could believe a "terrorists" when they say they are opposed to Imperialism slaughtering their co-religionists in Muslim lands – they are just "nutters"?
The attack in Woolwich yesterday was horrific. There can be no justification for a murderous attack on an individual soldier in the streets of London. It must have been awful too for the local people who witnessed it… So we know what these men say motivated them. They claimed that the killing of the soldier was in response to the killing of Muslims by British soldiers in other countries. One said that the government did not care for people and should get the troops out.
The Boston bombers last month were supposedly similarly motivated. The Woolwich attack, carried out by two men now shot and wounded and under arrest in hospital, appears to represent a phenomenon that was pointed out nearly a decade ago by the security services in Britain: that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would lead to a growing threat of terrorism in Britain. Those of us in Stop the War have long predicted that these sorts of attacks would happen because of the war on terror.[15]
The rise of fascism – EDL/BN
The English Defence League are taking full advantage of the situation; 2,000 marched in Newcastle on 25 May, Mosques have been attacked and people racially abused. We must mobilise all our forces in opposition to this. It is telling that the UKIP leader Nigel Farage has only met serious opposition from the left in Scotland because of the serious failure of the left to combat anti-immigrant hysteria from bourgeois politicians and the mass media.
The main anti-fascist organisation in Britain is the Unite Against Fascism, a front for the Socialist Workers Party. It is a purely Popular Front-type organisation, spreading illusions in the 'neutrality' of the capitalist state by having the Tory Prime Minister David Cameron as one of its supporters. It is funded by the TU bureaucracy and has developed a very cosy relation with the police on anti-fascists demonstrations. In Newcastle on Saturday 25 May the Revolutionary Communist Group reported the following:
On 25 May, as the racist English Defence League (EDL) marched through Newcastle, police arrested 14 anti-fascists, detained them for up to 10 hours, and raided their homes, seizing computers and mobile phones. Seven FRFI supporters were among the detainees. They were seized half-an-hour before the counter-demonstration organised by Newcastle Unites was due to assemble. In the weeks before the EDL march, Newcastle Unites, a coalition of Labour councillors, local trade union officials and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), was determined to exclude FRFI and other militant anti-fascists from its march. Its planning meetings were held in secret and its members physically assaulted FRFI supporters to exclude them. On the day of the march, Newcastle Unites stewards colluded openly with Northumbria police to identify our comrades for arrest.[16]
These methods are in many ways the opposite side of the coin methodically to individual acts of violence against the state forces, though we will not equate misguided but heroic anti-Imperialists with police collaboration. This Popular Frontism also displays its contempt for the organised working class and its potential to overthrow capitalism by denying that fascism is a class question.
We put forward the following points for anti-fascist work as against the SWP and others internationally:
1. We stand by Trotsky's classical definition of Fascism; "The historic function of fascism is to smash the working class, destroy its organizations, and stifle political liberties when the capitalists find themselves unable to govern and dominate with the help of democratic machinery".
2. Fascism has no fixed ideology of its own; it can be characterised globally as consistent reaction against the organised working class and those aspects of a state's constitution which are publically perceived as assisting the progressive advancement of socialism or which they perceive as posing the threat of revolution including bourgeois democracy which allegedly allows socialist ideas to flourish.
3. We defend unequivocally the traditional Marxist position of No Platform for Fascists. As Trotsky observed in Whither France, "The despairing petty bourgeois sees in fascism, above all, a fighting force against big capital, and believes that, unlike the working-class parties which deal only in words, fascism will use force to establish more 'justice'. The peasant and the artisan are in their manner realists. They understand that one cannot forego the use of force".
4. Fascism depends vitally on mobilising the middles classes to crush the organised strength of the working class, Whither France again, "The petty bourgeoisie is economically dependent and politically atomized. That is why it cannot conduct an independent policy. It needs a 'leader' who inspires it with confidence. This individual or collective leadership, i.e., a personage or party, can be given to it by one or the other of the fundamental classes – either the big bourgeoisie or the proletariat".
5. The emergence of the BNP/EDL signifies that a section of the British middle class and some declassed workers have lost hope in the organised working to solve their problems and, via the medium of the fascists, are coming under the sway of the imperialist bourgeoisie, the fascists' ultimate masters. Whither France again, "But the petty bourgeoisie can also find a leader in the proletariat. This was demonstrated in Russia and partially in Spain. In Italy, in Germany, and in Austria, the petty bourgeoisie gravitated in this direction. But the parties of the proletariat did not rise to their historic task. To bring the petty bourgeoisie to its side, the proletariat must win its confidence. And for that it must have confidence in its own strength".
6. The responsibility for the rise of fascism lies with the TU and Labour party leaders who have failed to fight the austerity policies of the ConDem government. By criticising "cuts too far, too fast!" they signal that they intend to make the working class bear the burden of the capitalist crisis if Labour wins office and make only a few cosmetic changes to the programme of the ConDems. They do this to defend their own privileged positions as administrators and defenders of that corrupt system.
7. It is therefore vital to use the tactic of the United Front of the organised working class against the fascists and the reject the Popular Front as advocated by Searchlight (Use your vote, Hope not Hate) and the Socialist Workers Party (''The strategy for anti-fascists is to unite the broadest possible forces against the Nazis") which ties the working class to parliamentary democracy and even allows voting Tory, "as a last resort", to keep the fascist out.
8. Similarly we reject the political position of those like the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Communist Student who oppose No Platform and advocate 'free speech for Nazis' as a libertarian excuse to avoid the class struggle necessary to defeat fascism and the capitalist system which breeds it in its decline.
[1] In line with Trotsky's article; For Grynszpan, Against Fascist Pogrom Gangs and Stalinist Scoundrels, (1939) http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1939/xx/grnszpan.htm
[2] Lenin was speaking of the first workers state then! Report on Foreign Policy, Joint Meeting of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee and the Moscow Soviet May 14, 1918 Collected Works, Vol. 27.
[3] Cahalan, Paul The Independent on Sunday, 26 Mayhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/woolwich-attack-terror-suspect-michael-adebolajo-was-arrested-in-kenya-on-suspicion-of-being-at-centre-of-alqaidainspired-plot-8632398.html
[4] Leon Trotsky, Why Marxists Oppose Individual Terrorism, (November 1911),http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1911/11/tia09.htm
[5] Trotsky, Leon. Resolution on the Antiwar Congress of the London Bureau, (July 1936).
[6] Apart from Afghanistan, already devastated by the USSR war of 1979-89 against the Mujahideen who were supported by China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the US via the CIA. Estimates of the dead here vary from 850,000 to 1, 500,000.
[7] Dragstedt, A and Slaughter C, State Power & Bureaucracy, New Park 1981 p. 95
[8] Socialist Worker, The wars that fuel the rage behind Woolwich attack,http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/33448/The+wars+that+fuel+the+rage+behind+Woolwich+attack
[9] Socialist Party, No to terrorism! No to racism! No to war! Statement from Greenwich Socialist Party on the Woolwich killing, http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/16739/23-05-2013/no-to-terrorism-no-to-racism-no-to-war
[10] Workers Power, Woolwich: the War on Terror on our doorstephttp://www.workerspower.co.uk/2013/05/british-soldier-killed-woolwich-london/
[11] Ismail, Sacha. Woolwich, Islamism and the racist, authoritarian backlash,http://www.workersliberty.org/woolwich
[13] Hudson, Kate, the Woolwich attack, http://leftunity.org/the-woolwich-attack/
[14] https://twitter.com/MMFlint/status/337451498369851393
[15] The lessons to learn from the Woolwich killing are obvious: but not to David Cameron,http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/united-kingdom/2475-the-lessons-to-learn-from-the-woolwich-killing-are-obvious-but-not-to-david-cameron
[16] Full statement by the Revolutionary Communist Group here:http://revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/editorial-and-welcome/3023-pa250513
http://socialistfight.com/2013/05/31/for-adebolajo-and-oluwatobi-against-imperialist-wars-in-muslim-lands/ Contact: PO Box 59188, London, NW2 9LJ, Socialist_Fight@yahoo.co.uk.
Tags: adebolajo, afghanistan, anti, anti-capitalism, anti-capitalists, army, assad, bnp, british, committee, downing, edl, fifth, fight, for, foreign policy, forth, Free Syria Army, gerald, gerry, guildford, imperialist, in, international, iraq, Islamacist, Islamophobia, killoings, LCFI, league, lee, liason, libya, london, michael, muslim, occupation, of, oluwatobi, party, power, rigby, socialist, south, surrey, swp, syria, terrorist, the, trotsky, united, voag, voice, woolwich, workers
The Crimes Of Jeremy Hunt – Criminal And Social Saboteur
Filed under: Guildford Against Fees & Cuts, Strictly Local - Issues And Campaigns
The Crimes Of Jeremy Hunt – Criminal & Social Saboteur
Jeremy Hunt and The Murdoch Scandal
As Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt hid an Ofcom report recommending that Murdoch's £7.5bn takeover of BSkyB be referred to the monopolies commission. Following an investigation by MP Tom Watson, Hunt was later found to have misled parliament when he denied having formal meetings with Murdoch's News Corp executives.
Later In 2010, 'The Hunt' managed to wriggle out of trouble again when it was found that he failed to declare thousands of pounds of donations from BskyB, media and arts companies the previous year.
The 'Hunt' faced demands for his resignation in 2012, when documents submitted to the Levingson enquiry in to telephone hacking, revealed that his office was secretly passing information to Murdoch during his bid to take over BskyB. It was described by one MP as "a strait forward criminal offence".
Jeremy Hunt and The Abortion Debate
After only a month as Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt told the Times in October 2012 that he backs halving the legal time limit for women to have abortions, from 24 weeks to 12. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said it was "insulting to women" and they were "speechless".
Selling the NHS – The Crime Of The Century
The Hunt's views on the NHS were exposed in the Guardian last September, when it reported that Hunt attempted to have scenes celebrating the National Health Service removed from the Olympics opening ceremony. MP Andy Burnham told the commons "it proved Hunt didn't support the core values of the NHS". In the run up to privatisation, hospitals across the country have already been forced to save £20bn.
Jeremy Hunt's Health and Social Care Act is set to reorganise the NHS so that it is little more than a logo on contracted out services. The regulations – made under Section 75 of the Health & Social Care Act 2012 – puts competition at the heart of the NHS and brings in privatisation on an unprecedented scale. Regulations will force commissioners to open up to private sector competition any part of the NHS that companies are interested in.
Local health decision makers will be able to do little or nothing to protect local NHS hospitals which will be starved of funds as a result of losing out to private providers. The regulations require all NHS services to be put out to competition "unless the commissioners can prove there is only one provider".
Lord Philip Hunt, in the House of Lords said: "Parliament was assured that clinicians would be under no legal obligation to create new markets; however these regulations being debated in Parliament provide no such re-assurance".
Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said recently: "The NHS has delivered what no other health service has managed: universal, accessible, high quality care at a cost far less than comparable health services. These regulations remove the legal framework for a universal, publically provided and managed, democratically accountable health service."
Crimes Against Surrey
Meanwhile here in Surrey two hospitals out of four are set to close their A&E and maternity departments. The Sutton Guardian reported in January that either St Helier, Epsom, Kingston or Croydon University Hospital will lose key departments. Kingston has already seen A&E waiting times increase following spending cuts last year, the Surrey Comet reported in February.
Lewisham Hospital, a hospital that makes a surplus is to Cut A&E, maternity, children's and intensive care services. Patients will have to be transported to other hospitals because there will no longer be acute provision
The Surrey Advertiser reported in February that although the hospital was not in debt and had been making a surplus over the last few years, "a 100 jobs are about to go at the Royal Surrey Hospital". Who remembers the facical 2005 general election? When Ann Milton, our local MP stood as "Conservatives: Stop The Hospital Cuts". One wonders where she is now.
Jeremy Hunt has nothing but contempt for us all – even fellow Tories. It was reported that he endorsed Conservative co-chairman Lord Feldman's characterisation of Tory 'grass roots' activists as "Swivel-eyed loons", describing Lord Feldman as a man of great honour.
Even on the roads Hunt thinks there's one rule for us and another rule for him. As the Daily Mail found when it snapped Hunt riding through red lights and one way streets last year.
On Friday 24th May, The VOAG, together with the Surrey United Anti-Capitalists and the Kingston branch of the GMB union, hunted "the Hunt" down at Surrey University. He was there to deliver a speech to students. Unfortunately for him, the welcome he received was not quite the one he had expected. More people came to protest than came to hear his bull-shit.
Friday's Hunt the Hunt was just a warm up for the main event. On Saturday June 15th, we'll be hunting the Hunt again, this time in Farnham, his own constituency. There are coaches arranged from London. Hospital campaigns at Ealing, Hammersmith & Charing Cross, Kingston, and Whittington hospitals are all arranging coaches. Campaigners from Hackney, King George and Central Middlesex will also be attending the event, together with campaigners from around Surrey and Hampshire. Join the Facebook event page for more info and details: https://www.facebook.com/events/500290676696673/.
Call 07846008703 or email: huntforhunt2013@gmail.com
Tags: 75, act, ann, anti, anti-capitalism, capitalist, care, central, corp, corporation, croydon, culture, epsom, george, gmb, guildford, health, helier, hospital, hunt, jeremy, keep, king, kingston, lewishham, middlesex, milton, mp, murdoch, news, nhs, of, oru, party, privatisation, public, secretary, section, service, social, socialist, society, st, suac, surrey, swp, the, united, university, voag, voice, whittington, workers
Workers Power Conference 2012: Divisions, Expulsions, Appeals And Split – The VOAG Investigates.
Workers Power Conference 2012: Divisions, Expulsions, & Appeals – The VOAG Investigates.
Workers Power, a small communist group had its conference over the weekend. The conference was dominated be factionalism and division. Two people were expelled, and although as yet there have been no formal splits, resignations from the National and Political Committees surely herald one in the coming days.
The conference began on Saturday 24th, March with two members formally appealing against their expulsions. In true Weekly Worker style, the VOAG (Voice Of Anti-Capitalism in Guildford) publishes the first of the two expulsion appeals – Delivered to the conference as a speech.
Bureaucrat Expulsion
I went to two meetings in Manchester where I met with half a dozen people from the RSO, Socialist Fight and others. There were two subsequent meetings in Manchester, but neither I nor Cde B. attended them.
Like all members of Workers Power, I attend meetings organised by a number of different groups. I didn't consider my attendance at this meeting any different than attending an SWP or SP meeting or indeed holding discussions with local Anarchists or anti-cuts campaigners.
There was a variety of attitudes regarding what might be achieved by the discussions. Opinions ranged from formalising a new group to continued informal discussions. I made it clear that my interest in the meetings was from within the framework of an Anti-Capitalist project
I recall prior to joining Workers Power, speaking to the 2009 Anti-Capitalist event. I told the conference:"What we really want is local groups, we have to come together at a local level because we don't believe that political groups are capable of achieving a meaningful unity on a National basis". "An Anti-Capitalist Party must be built from below, as an umbrella organisation connecting local Anti-Capitalist groups with the flexibility and freedom to react and adapt to local conditions".
"However ", I added: "The Anti-Capitalist Party was not a replacement for existing groups, but a way for existing groups – along with non-aligned activists and anti-cuts campaigners – to work together" It was the feeling of the Surrey United Anti-Capitalists, "that a federal approach to a new Anti-Capitalist Party may provide the break-through to a successful 'unity project". This continues to be my belief. It is surely imperative to maintain ideological coherence by struggling for a clear programme via democratic centralism, a paper and our identity.
Late in the evening before the NC meeting in January, I received a phone call from Cde B. He told me he had received an email from the NC regarding the meetings inManchester. He forwarded an email to me, which had been sent from Simon Hardy to the members of the NC. The email contained correspondence between Cde B. and Gerry Downing. The emails addressed issues that arose out of the Manchester meetings and included a discussion about what kind of an organisation, if any, might arise out of them.
I too have had similar discussions. If the Anti-Capitalist Party is to be a Party of the working class, it must encourage the entire labour movement to sign up- and be a forum where theories and practices are put to the test. As Richard Brenner asked rhetorically in Workers Power 341, (Winter 2009): "Do we say that we want it to be a pluralist party? We want a democratic party in which everyone can say what they think. But another feature is that we want to win the argument in the party for revolution".
It should be obvious that winning the argument for revolution requires a functioning group, faction or caucus to consistently argue for revolutionary Trotskyist politics inside the Anti-Capitalist project. Only Trotskyism has the programme that can defeat and replace the existing leadership of the working class by the method of the transitional programme. Bringing down the government and leading the working class to a socialist future.
I was aware that discussions were continuing between the participants of the Manchester meetings. Naturally, I too discussed these meetings. However, neither I nor Cde B. participated in the e-group where the emails Simon presented to the NC originated. Indeed, I didn't know of the existence of the e-group.
Simon Hardy was leading the proposal for my expulsion. No accusations regarding a breach of discipline were leveled against me. Simon's sole charge was that I "attended a meeting of a group hostile to Workers Power and the Anti-Capitalist project".
My answer to Simon was, and still is: "that we all attend meetings with groups hostile to Workers Power. However, I didn't discuss or impart any privileged information regarding Workers Power and I don't believe Cde B. did either".
I must add to this now, that Simon is wrong regarding the caucus' hostility to "Anti Capitalism". It is my understanding that Socialist Fight, and the other participants in Manchester, with the exception of the RSO, were in favour of joining an Anti-Capitalist project.
Cde B. may have made references to divisions in Workers Power, but I do not believe any details beyond what was in the public domain, were ever discussed. I do not accept Cde B. or I broke discipline or any democratic-centralist principle.
Cde B. has consistently been one of the most active members of Workers Power inLondon. He is well known and respected for his work within the GRL. He has been involved in numerous campaigns, the electricians and bus drivers' disputes being recent examples. Billy is also the most consistent recruiter. There are people in this conference today that Billy either recruited or introduced to Workers Power. Indeed, I believe it would be foolish for any rump that may continue after this conference not to actively recruit Billy to it.
No, I think it is obvious to us all that the real splitters are those who have finally broken cover at this conference to propose liquidation. It is they who have been undermining Workers Power, and as we shall see – in their rush to promote their vision of an Anti-Capitalist formation – have already broken from democratic centralist methodology. Far from seeking to split Workers Power, Cde B. was looking for ways to save its politics and programme, the very reason Cde B. and I joined the group in the first place.
The first major retreat from the programme was over Libya. Unlike the majority of Workers Power, I saw no basis to believe that a popular or progressive uprising was unfolding. Indeed, behind the headlines there was plenty of reason to assume the opposite. Whilst Workers Power rapped their support for the NTC in the flag of Permanent Revolution, I felt those same arguments correctly applied to the forces supporting Gadaffi.
The most disturbing aspect of Workers Power's support for the NTC was that the NTC was openly courting the patronage of the imperialist powers. It even promised western companies "preferential treatment" in what amounted to another arms for oil deal.
Leon Trotsky, "On the Sino-Japanese War", wrote: "The Trotskyists, they say, 'want to serve Chiang Kai-shek in action and the proletariat in words'. To participate actively and consciously in the war does not mean 'to serve Chiang Kai-shek' but to serve the independence of a colonial country in spite of Chiang Kai-shek. And the words directed against the Kuomintang are the means of educating the masses for the overthrow of Chiang Kai-shek". "You cannot advance Imperialism's victory and the victory of the working class at the same time".
The leadership's justification for their Libyan position was in the name of democracy and abstract liberal freedoms. In the early days of the conflict, I questioned the leadership about the lack of reliable evidence substantiating claims that it was a genuine popular uprising. Where was the general strike? Where were the mass demonstrations? In terms of numbers, it appeared that the rallies in support of Gadaffi were always larger than NTC organised events. Indeed, apart from a couple of small demonstrations, the only forces that the NTC commanded were rag-tag militias backed up by a few tribes and foreign interventionists".
I find it Ironic that I'm appealing my expulsion, when those that are most keen on it are seeking to dissolve Workers Power anyway. It appears I am accused of breaking democratic centralism. However, it is my feeling that democratic centralist discipline broke down in WP some months ago.
The paper has ceased to be a coherent representation of the group. Under Simon Hardy's editorship the paper has become the arena for internal differences between an old guard, and a middle class clique, running to the right and away from the working class. Their duplicity and dishonesty is exposed by their inconsistent and ever rightward stances in the paper.
Occupy – The 99%
With regards to the Occupy movement: Sceptical comments such as "the 1% as they have been called by the occupiers". Criticisms such as "[occupy's] limitation of always talking about "the people". And calls for "discussions as to who constitutes the main agency of change". (November's issue of WP) have disappeared from the pages of WP.
Such comments and criticisms have been gradually replaced by a populist, un-critical support for the Occupy movement. And has led to a banner reading "We are the 99%" on the top of the South London Anti- Capitalist Network blog.
In contrast, on the WP blog last week, Dave Stockton, referring to 'Occupy' notes the: "necessity of working class direct action –that is, strikes – seemed to escape the more doctrinaire horizontals"…"In fact horizontalism- is an expression of layers and classes whose position in capitalist society gives them no natural unity: the lower middle classes, students, long term unemployed and intellectuals, who seek to escape cut-throat capitalist competition but at the same time feel collectivity, especially discipline imposed by a majority, an intolerable violation of their freedom".
Compare that to March's Workers Power, 'Next steps for the Occupy movement' in which Anton Solka writes "We are the 99% has brought the issue of class to the fore, there really is an us and them."
Personally, I consider myself to be working class and not one of the 99%. My interests run contrary to many of the 99%. – And I would expect Workers Power to argue for class politics; warn of the dangers and Stalinist origin of popular frontism, and expose the contradictions within the 99% movement.
As with Libya, elements of Workers Power, with scant sources of information provided by the bourgeois media, has jumped on to the populist bandwagon of democracy and freedom. Support for the autonomist, environmentalist and horizontalist forces – those that are described by the clique struggling to break up our group as 'New Left' – may have temporarily grown, but there is nothing qualitatively new in Occupy. This ideology and methodology has been part of the political scenery for decades. The leaders of London's Occupy are not just of the same milieu, but in many cases are the very same people that were on the peace camps and convoys of the eighties, on the road protests of the 90's, and on the occupations and climate camps of the naughties.
As far as the Anti-Capitalist project goes; the Workers Power paper rarely repeats the same line twice. In February's Workers Power article, "Labour in the Unions" Dave Stockton appeals to the unions to "put their money behind building a new fighting, Socialist Party"…"It must be a party whose aim is not to court the selfish individualism of the middle classes, but to lead the working class in a struggle for power".
Simon Hardy writes in February's paper "It is the battle to unite the anti–cuts movement, to create a new sense of energy and activism that UKUncut and Occupy exemplified. Although in the Editorial of the same month he writes: "In Britain, too, after an initial breakthrough, Occupy has reached a dead end". Such is the retreat to the right, that even the name Anti-Capitalist is too radical for some in Workers Power. The group set up in Brighton is called the New Left Initiative.
In conclusion, there are several common threads running through Workers Power at present.
In Libya WP elevated bourgeois democratic demands over the economic needs of the working class. With little information to support the position, WP opportunistically rode the wave of populism and supported the NTC. Its position sacrificed the security of the Libyan people, its welfare state, and its resources for democratic freedoms that will never be achieved and for the illusion of parliamentarianism.
Again in the paper's coverage of the Occupy movement and its 99% slogan, a faction of WP showed itself to be impressionistic. With little first-hand experience of the occupations, WP used second hand reports to analyse occupy. Here again elements in WP bent to populist sentiment and degenerated into uncritical support for the occupy movement. They sacrificed class analysis for democratic demands, popular frontism and horizontalism. As Dave Stockton said above: "These are the politics of the petit-bourgeois".
It seems to me that the reason for the inconsistencies in the paper of late is not just the result of arguments on the PC, largely hidden from the membership. It is the result of a middle class clique in Workers Power looking for a way out and using Anti-Capitalism as their vehicle. Why else are they suddenly so enthusiastic about a project that's been talked about for years. Why else would they be rushing headlong in to forming Anti-Capitalist groups before WP has decided the nature of this Anti-Capitalist project?
The rub, the elephant in the room, is finally exposed on paragraphs 20 and 21 of the draft proposal to the NC (included in the pre-conference IB.). Regarding Anti-Capitalism it says: "We will not declare a formal tendency or platform" – [But somehow] "will remain members of the League". I don't really think these people have thought this thing through. Does this clique really expect to reconcile plurality and democratic centralism within the same organisation? Or indeed, expect to remain members of the League, whose rules of affiliation insist on a regular paper. Read the rules of the League! You're so gone. It's these inconsistencies, and there are many, many, more, that make me realise the clique's sudden enthusiasm for Anti-Capitalism is an unprincipled retreat into petite-bourgeois acceptability. We're lefties, but harmless, and oh so intellectual they tell their peers. After-all, they're reaching that age.
A post-script: Today – 9th April
It's just two weeks after the above speech was delivered to the WP Annual Conference. News is reaching the VOAG that Workers Power is splitting. The VOAG believes that it totally vindicates everything that the two comrades who were expelled told the conference. It follows a complete breakdown in the democratic centralist principles professed by Workers Power, mentioned above. Those of the 'central tendency' who claim to remain Leninists, saying they want to continue to build WP as a tendency in the worker's movement, could have and should have put a stop to the machinations of the right-wing splitters long ago. Their refusal to do so shows their opportunism, and has led to this unnecessary impasse. The right-wing, liquidationist splitters should have been expelled long ago for breaches of discipline and democratic centralism. The fact that they were not proves the degeneration and right-wing, petite-bourgeois trajectory of the entire group.
Tags: 2012, 99%, anarchist, and, ant, anti, anti-capitalism, appeal, billy, capitalism, capitalists, college, communist, conference, demonstration, division, downing, expulsion, fight, file, fith, for, gerry, guildford, hardy, in, international, kingston, league, lfi, libya, london, march, movement, new workers party, occupy, of, party, poplar, power, rank, revolution, simon, socialist, south, sp, split, students, surrey, swp, the, tusc, union, unity, university, voag, voice, weekly, worker, workers, youth
Day Of Action Against Workfare. Kingston Town Centre, February 22nd, 2012
The VOAG (Voice Of Anti-Capitalism in Guildford) joined the Kingston SWP for a demonstration against Workfare. Kingston Town Centre, February 22nd, 2012.
Below is a quick Powerpoint report on the evenings events together with a few pictures.
Please click on the picture below. For more on this story, click: https://suacs.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/workfare-demo-kingston/
The next National Day Of Action aginst Workfare will be on Saturday, March 3rd. Protest outside BHS, Oxford Street from 11.30. http://www.boycottworkfare.org/
For more about Workfare and tips on how to avoid being trapped in to it by the Job Center, go to http://www.boycottworkfare.org/
Tags: 2012, 22, 22nd, activists, against, anarchist, and, anti, capitalism, college, communist, cuts, education, february, fees, fight, forced, government, guidford, guildford, in, kingston, labour, london, network, of, party, power, programme, right, scheme, school, socialist, society, students, surrey, swp, the, to, unemployed, university, voice, work, workers, workfare


Refresh and uplift your senses with the Lacoste L.12.12. Pour Elle Natural Shower Gel.
This fresh shower gel is bright, fun and full of energy, capturing the happy-go-lucky character of the L.12.12. Pour Elle Natural girl with its fruity-floral notes. Mouthwatering facets of pineapple and raspberry meet with orris and coconut in the active aroma, creating a sense of movement.
Work into a lather on wet skin, then rinse away thoroughly. Apply the Lacoste L.12.12. Pour Elle Natural Eau de Toilette for enduring fragrance.


text:
The serious gamer's site since 1970
Lamecasts
Videolamer Staff
Review – Shadow Hearts
Continuing my trend of catching up on PS2 RPGs, I picked up the Shadow Hearts series a few months ago. Since a recent spate of games (including Demon's Souls, which seems to be a videolamer favorite) has kept me busy, I'm just now making my way through the series. The PS2 may have an impressive spread of RPGs – as I've discovered, still playing games I had barely heard about – but Shadow Hearts really stands apart, despite being an early game on the system that hasn't really aged well.
By far the most impressive part of Shadow Hearts is the atmosphere. Set a little over a year before World War I and taking place in both East Asia and Western Europe, SH manages to portray a surprisingly realistic world, given its focus on demons both internal and external. Some of my favorite parts of the game involve direct interaction with Japan's army – though a little research indicates the writers confused pre-WWI events with pre-WWII events. While the focus of the game is on paranormal forces which obviously don't have much to do with history, the semi-historical setting sets an unusually serious tone.
It's this seriousness – or, perhaps, a simple lack of fantasy elements, that really stands out in Shadow Hearts. Whereas the standard for RPGs is a completely new setting with world-building aplenty (and often I have no problem with this), it's refreshing to see a game set in the "real world" – even if it's one where the supernatural lurks around every corner. This isn't to say Shadow Hearts is completely lacking in humor, bizarre characters, or floating castles; all of these are present, but are more subdued than usual. The humor is usually in character dialogue, and highly appropriate – it often seems like a coping mechanism for the various horrors the heroes have to stare down. In a couple places, the humor does go further, but it never gets in the way of the story.
The combat and dungeons, however, are an artifact of the past. In the first half of the game, most of the "dungeons" are two or three screens with a single save point near the middle. You run around in these claustrophobic areas and fight increasingly long battles against repetitive and occasionally creepy-looking enemies. While the dungeons are unusual, and the actual artwork in them is atmospheric, the battles really bog the game down and put a damper on gameplay.
Active combat systems are nothing new, but Shadow Hearts' take on it is interesting. The Judgement Ring system is used the same way regardless of what action you take, making it intuitive no matter which character you use (even if some seem easier to use than others). This gets a little bit repetitive, but the ring itself is quick enough that this isn't a huge issue. A quirk of the ring system is a whole set of "ring abnormalities" – ailments that affect your character's Judgement Ring, making it run quicker or making the hit areas invisible. The ring abnormalities, much like the "Berserk" status (wherein a character becomes uncontrollable if you don't watch his or her Sanity Points), are only significant during boss battles.
Balance is hit or miss for most any RPG, and Shadow Hearts is no exception. Encounters in the early dungeons are boring because they take too long; later encounters are boring because they can be beaten in one or two special attacks. The boss battles, though, are among the most satisfying in any JRPG I've played simply because their balance seems perfect. Although I only ever lost to one boss, each victory was hard-won, by the skin of my teeth and by virtue of the myriad recovery items I'd purchased (which felt excessive prior, and only barely sufficient afterward). Every battle finished with a couple of team members near death, all out of MP, and at least one almost out of sanity points. The final battle actually ended with all three characters in these circumstances.
Generally, though, Shadow Hearts feels clunky and out of date. It runs slowly, the dialogue is as claustrophobic as the dungeons and not very well translated, and the music is occasionally good but not that memorable. Despite all these flaws, I'm glad to have played it. It presents a unique and semi-realistic (if not historically accurate) setting, fun and unusual characters, and the occasional satisfying boss battle. Maybe not the best game ever, but if you're an RPG fan and you're sick of cheesy JRPG fantasy, this one is probably a sure bet for you.
Categories Reviews PS2 Post navigation
Games With No Reviews I Agree With
Review – King of Fighters XII
Cunzy1 1 on We're back… kind of: "And I thought 2021 was bad… x x x" Jan 10, 11:43
jay on We're back… kind of: "I remember this site." Dec 17, 14:05
chris on We're back… kind of: "Excited to have the site running again. It was in a weird state for a few years. Maybe we'll even…" Dec 17, 12:13
chris on 2012 Retrospective – Part 2: "This is a test comment. Please don't ignore. We may be back." Dec 16, 17:45
TrueTallus on Quantum Link Remembered: "I go away for a few…years… and now I won't be able to read the spam messages anymore:) Thanks for…" Nov 9, 17:34
We're back… kind of
Quantum Link Remembered
2012 Retrospective – Part 2
Great Greed: Or, I play bad RPGs so you don't have to
Review — Suikoden Tactics
Soft Boiled Software
We need to talk about the PSP Vita.
2012 Gaming Uncertainty
© 2022 videolamer • Built with GeneratePress

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
I'd like to receive relevant emails from Josh Groban & their partners. By registering, I acknowledge that I have reviewed and agreed to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and I agree to receive marketing messages from Josh Groban and their affiliates with the latest news, updates, and information about Josh Groban.
Back To JoshGroban.com
Josh Groban - Official Store
Bridges Live: Madison Square Garden CD/DVD
Bridges Deluxe Calendar Bundle
Bridges Deluxe CD
Bridges Digital Album
© 2020 WARNER RECORDS and Josh Groban


This is a placeholder page for Shirley Christinson, which means this person is not currently on this site. We do suggest using the tools below to find Shirley Christinson.
You are visiting the placeholder page for Shirley Christinson. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Shirley Christinson. We created this page automatically in hopes Shirley Christinson would find it. If you are not Shirley Christinson, but are an alumni of Hollis Brookline High School, register on this site for free now.


Something went wrong while loading the experience. Please try again later.
You'll need a WebVR-enabled browser and VR headset to fully enjoy this experience.
In the meantime, click and drag to have a look around!


About Comprehensive Health Services, LLC (CHS): CHS, a Caliburn Company, supports the health and well-being of civilian and military workforce partners. We are one of the nation's largest and most experienced providers of medical management services to international customers, the U.S. Government, and commercial clients. Our medical management solutions are technology-driven and grounded in best practices. We are committed to protecting employee, company, and partner information and we comply with all government and industry standards. For more information about CHS and our career opportunities, visit us at [LOGIN BELOW TO APPLY]/.
The SAR Technician (ST) shall be utilized to provide search and rescue, medical, security, and quick reaction force to support assigned program. The SAR Technician (ST) will integrate with the team, meet all flight/training standards, and will follow all team policies and procedures as directed by the SAR Technician Lead.


Ellin with CTV News reporter Colin D'Mello (a former student of mine!) as the Emcee at the TDSB event.
I recently participated (as a panel member) in a large and important Toronto District School Board event Nov. 8 for Remembrance Day, held at Danforth Collegiate Institute, where nearly 1,000 Grade 10 students from several city high schools came to hear about the "other" Canadians who served in our country's military. The students heard from historians and experts from the country's minority communities which sent soldiers into uniform during Canada's global conflicts: including Jewish, Chinese, Indian, First Nations, and Black servicemen and women. Many of the students said later that they were surprised to learn of the important contributions made by diverse communities to Canadian history. The event was so important, because the students themselves are a kaleidoscope of Canadians from many cultures and races and backgrounds, yet as one of the speakers said, public school history books on the subject of the First World War or the Second World War don't often talk about "people who look like me". In fact, when I asked the students who Anne Frank was, only a couple of hands went up. Are the students not learning about the Holocaust anymore? Here is a nice news story about the panel.


Walkers Point Recreation, (41 acres), is located 9 miles SE of Madison off SD 19. Campsites offer picturesque views of Lake Madison, while anglers enjoy both on- and off-shore fishing. The ski beach is popular with waterskiers.


Which, in my personal experience is completely true.
I'm a lot happier when the work and tasks I'm doing have a reason. Written problems bored me silly, and I got much more reward back from helping my friends with them. Scripted laboratory work was similar, although a little better.
Perhaps that's why I liked computer science early on. It was possible to easily experiment with whatever you liked. You didn't need the tutors to arrange the right chemicals or reagents beforehand (as in biochemistry or genetics).


Aloha with Flowers | Tropical Sign 24"
Hand made vintage looking "ALOHA" Tiki bar sign, with hand carved plumeria flowers on each side. Each letter of Aloha is raised along with the Hawaiian flowers. This sign measures 24 inches long by 8 inches wide.


To efficiently exploit network resources operators do traffic engineering (TE), i.e., adapt the routing of traffic to the prevailing demands. TE in large IP networks typically relies on configuring static link weights and splitting traffic between the resulting shortest-paths via the Equal-Cost-MultiPath (ECMP) mechanism. Yet, despite its vast popularity, crucial operational aspects of TE via ECMP are still little-understood from an algorithmic viewpoint. We embark upon a systematic algorithmic study of TE with ECMP. We consider the standard model of TE with ECMP and prove that, in general, even approximating the optimal link-weight configuration for ECMP within any constant ratio is an intractable feat, settling a long-standing open question. We establish, in contrast, that ECMP can provably achieve optimal traffic flow for the important category of Clos datacenter networks. We last consider a well-documented shortcoming of ECMP: suboptimal routing of large ("elephant") flows. We present algorithms for scheduling "elephant" flows on top of ECMP (as in, e.g., Hedera ) with provable approximation guarantees. Our results complement and shed new light on past experimental and empirical studies of the performance of TE with ECMP.


How incident-proof is your business? Do you have strategies in place to deal with issues that could arise and cost you money, or worse still, clients? What does your disaster recovery plan look like? Nowadays, we tend to think of business downtime as a term solely used when IT is out of action, but business downtime can result from a myriad of factors from freak weather events to staff illness. Do you know how you'd deal with these problems in your business? Or how much failing to do so could cost you? Let's take a look.
How much would it cost your business if all your staff had to down tools for an hour? Not quite sure? According to a research paper by Megapath, on average, small businesses stand to lose $12,500 per hour when servers go down. But if you're not quite sure what the impact would be for your business, you're not alone. Forrester Research found that most organizations still struggle to calculate the potential cost. Their research showed that 57% of businesses fail to calculate the financial impact of downtime. As the old adage goes, to be informed is to be prepared.
Skill sharing is an important part of staff development, but it also has implications for downtime too. All too often, businesses rely on individual staff members to perform particular tasks or work with certain systems and processes. This can often be the case when it comes to legacy systems that haven't been replaced and require in-depth knowledge for operation. Failure to update them or to educate the wider team on how to handle systems or tasks that are intrinsic to your business could leave you very vulnerable. What happens if the one person who knows how to do something becomes sick or leaves the company suddenly? Don't wait for this type of situation to creep up on your before you take action. Regularly evaluate the lifespan of the systems you are working with and take steps to facilitate essential skills sharing so that you're better prepared.
Do you have solid SLAs in place for hired equipment and services? What about your business owned tools and kit like laptops and smartphones? Even if you have alternatives available, simply being unfamiliar with a different setup or not being able to access all contacts and files can slow down staff productivity. Employees can often get caught up trying to fix the issue themselves, which can lead to frustration, not to mention the potential for further damage. Make sure you have trusted repair partners in place for all of your office essentials such as IT repairs, which are covered by firms such as FloridaPro who specialise in the repair of Mac devices. Remember: it's not just equipment that staff use to do their jobs that can impact on productivity, a broken coffee machine can have a real negative impact on the office too!
What would happen if there was a fire or flood at your premises? Hopefully, you should have insurance in place to rectify the damage and perhaps to cover the cost of hiring somewhere else in the interim. But that's unlikely to provide an instant solution. Even if you don't offer the option of home working as standard (and 77% of US businesses don't allow the perk on a full-time basis), it's something you should explore for implementation should a disaster occur.
Whether you're plagued by snow storms that mean some colleagues can't make it into the office or your heating system is broken, meaning staff would be more comfortable at home, sometimes homeworking is the option that means downtime doesn't happen.
Put a home working policy in place for when disaster occurs and ensure it contains clear information on everything from expected communication levels to how to access work platforms at home. If your office network is the only place you can access files, this isn't going to work. Most companies have used some degree of cloud computing resource now, do your staff know how to access their work safely and securely when working remotely? And do those integral legacy systems communicate with your cloud systems? Now's the time to check.
As things stand, how prepared would your business be should an IT disaster strike or a key player leave your business? Is it time you put a plan in place?


text:
BYJU'S new campaign shows students changing learning preferences with Shah Rukh Khan
Conceptualised by Spring, the campaign 'Ghar Ghar Ki Kahaani' celebrates the evolving learning habits among students, the importance of conceptual learning and why parents should become more accepting of the new way of learning
BestMediaInfo Bureau Delhi, May 15, 2020
Click on the Image to watch the TVC.
Edtech company BYJU'S has unveiled a new series of TVCs featuring Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, highlighting the increasing preference for online learning by children today. With a strong student-centric message, the new ad campaign cuts across age groups to create more awareness among parents about the evolving learning habits of students and the best way for them to learn at home.
Call for entries open for BuzzInContent Awards 2020 ENTER NOW
Conceptualised and created by Spring, the ad campaign focuses on BYJU'S' core belief that children learn better when their learning experience is personalised and immersive. The TVCs portray the Khan as host of a talk show for children "Ghar Ghar Ki Kahaani" where he discusses the most common and relatable household debate — "How should children learn at home?" In this show, children discuss their daily challenges of learning from home. They explain their changing learning preferences to Shah Rukh Khan in a humorous way through popular dialogues from his movies.
The heroes of all the films are the children who bust age-old learning stereotypes and talk about the power and impact of tech-enabled learning. This new campaign celebrates the evolving learning habits among students, the importance of conceptual learning and why parents should become more accepting of the new way of learning, through four fun and relatable films. The films see Shah Rukh Khan urging everyone to adapt to the newer and better way of learning with the message "Parhai ki larai ko khatam karo".
Mrinal Mohit, Chief Operating Officer, BYJU'S said, "Our new ad campaign highlights one of the most common debates between parents and children — What's the best to learn? The core objective of these films is to help parents understand and embrace the advantages of tech-enabled learning. It reiterates how it is fast becoming a primary learning habit for the digital natives of today. The on-going crisis has led to a big behavioural shift in the mindset of parents who are becoming more accepting of online learning platforms as they are witnessing its impact in real-time. With our new ad campaign, we want to further convey that BYJU'S is the only learning programme a child needs after school. With the immense popularity that Shah Rukh Khan enjoys, we are confident that we will be able to address the common apprehensions of parents and further shape the evolution in learning that is taking place across India."
Speaking about the partnership, Shah Rukh Khan said, "I love teaming up with BYJU'S because, as a parent, I truly believe in their vision and the message they want to share with the world. Parents play a crucial role in shaping their child's learning habits. We need to step up and motivate our children to embrace new and effective forms of learning. With technology-driven platforms like BYJU'S, parents can help their children continue learning in these uncertain times from the comfort of their homes."
In light of the Covid-19, BYJU'S made the complete app content free and introduced free live classes by the top teachers.
Best Way to Learn at Home:
Understand Concepts Easily with BYJU'S:
Learn from movie-like videos with BYJU'S:
Visualise and Learn from BYJU'S:
Tags: Shah Rukh Khan BYJU Ghar Ghar Ki Kahaani


text:
Home » Website » National » Mamata Banerjee, KCR To Skip PM Modi's NITI Aayog Meet Today
Mamata Banerjee, KCR To Skip PM Modi's NITI Aayog Meet Today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the fifth meeting of the Niti Aayog's Governing Council.
PM Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee
Outlook Web Bureau	June 15, 2019 00:00 IST Mamata Banerjee, KCR To Skip PM Modi's NITI Aayog Meet Today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will Saturday chair the fifth meeting of the Niti Aayog's Governing Council which will focus on issues like the drought situation, farm distress, rain-water harvesting and preparedness for Kharif crops.
The five-point agenda for the meeting also includes aspirational districts programme, transforming agriculture and security related issues with special focus on left-wing extremism (LWE) districts, an official statement said.
The meeting, to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, will be attended by chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories, several union ministers and senior government officials.
This will be the first governing council meeting under the new Modi government.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, has refused to attend the meeting, saying it is "fruitless" as the Niti Aayog has no financial powers to support state plans. Her Telangana counterpart, K, Chandrashekar Rao would also skip the meeting.
Headed by the Prime Minister, the Governing Council includes ministers of Finance, Home, Defence, Agriculture, Commerce and Rural Development, besides state chief ministers and Niti Aayog vice chairman, CEO and members.
The Governing Council reviews the action taken on the agenda items of the previous meeting and deliberates upon the future developmental priorities.
So far, four meetings of the Governing Council have been held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister.
The first meeting of the Governing Council was held on February 8, 2015, at which the Prime Minister laid down the key mandates of Niti Aayog such as fostering cooperative federalism and addressing national issues through active participation of the states.
The second meeting on July 15, 2015 reviewed the progress made by the three sub-groups of chief ministers and the two task forces.
In the third meeting on April 23, 2017, Modi had pitched for conducting simultaneous elections of the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies and shifting to a January-December fiscal year.
The fourth meeting of the council on June 17, 2018 deliberated upon measures taken to double farmers' income and the progress of the government's flagship schemes.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
Outlook Web Bureau	Mamata Banerjee	Narendra Modi	K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)	Delhi	NITI Aayog	BJP	National
Next Story : MG Hector Expected Prices: Will It Undercut Tata Harrier, Jeep Compass?
After Cricket World Cup Victory, England's Ben Stokes Sets His Sights On Ashes
Rebel Congress MLA Roshan Baig Detained At Bengaluru Airport In IMA Money Laundering Case
Karnataka Crisis: SC To Hear Plea On Resignations Of 15 Rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs Today
Pakistan Airspace, Closed After Balakot Strike, Opened For Indian Flights: Report
Karnataka Crisis: SC To Hear Plea On Resignations Of 15 Rebel Cong-JD(S) MLAs Today


The following article is for the Stealth 350VR.
Before the Stealth 350VR will fit on with the Oculus Rift, the built-in headphones must be removed.
Note: The controls should be on the left Earcup. If they are on the right, you're wearing it backwards!
1. Using the included Short Audio Cable, connect the Stealth 350VR to the headphone connector on the top of the HTC Vive Headset. The right-angle plug on the Audio Cable should be connected to the HTC Vive.
2. Power ON the Stealth 350VR Headset.
3. On your Windows Desktop, Right-Click on the Speaker icon on Windows taskbar and select Playback devices. HTC-Vive should be selected as the default Playback device.
4. Put the HTC Vive on first, then put on the Stealth 350VR. The cables should run through the channel in the headband. If desired, use the included Cable Management Straps to take up some of the slack in the audio cable.


text:
'''
James D. Zoll

4/1/2013

Purpose: Defines database models for the Files application

License: This is a public work.

'''

# Library Imports
from django.db import models
from django.contrib.auth.models import User

# The Group model holds information about File Uploader "Groups"
class Group(models.Model):
    group = models.CharField(max_length=20)

# This keys to Django users and tells us who is in what group for this application
class Group_Member(models.Model):
    group = models.ForeignKey(Group)
    user = models.ForeignKey(User)

# This holds the actual file information itself.
class File(models.Model):
    uploaded_file = models.FileField(upload_to='files/%Y/%m/%d')
    display_path = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    date = models.DateTimeField()
    group = models.ForeignKey(Group)
    user = models.ForeignKey(User)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Our Products are exported to Europe and the United States, Japan and South Korea, Taiwan and other countries and regions. Q6. What is your sample policy9 A: We can supply the sample if we have ready parts in stock, but the customers have to pay the courier cost. but if you want customize a sample , you need pay the sample cost , normally we will return back your sample cost after you place an order .
If you are very urgent to get the price, please call me 15265083430 How can I get a sample to check your quality9 After price confirmation, you can require for samples to check our quality. If you need the samples, we will charge for the sample cost How long can I expect to get the sample9 The samples will be sent to you via express and arrive in 3-5 days. What about the lead time for mass production9 Generally speaking, 20-25days How to 9 Send your Inquiry Details in the Below for Sample , Click "Send" Now!
2 YRS Caoxian Ruxiang Home Furnishing Co., Ltd.
7 YRS Shenzhen Idea Packing Co., Ltd.
Packing Health Care Packaging boxes are packed by standard export carton or according to customer's requirements Note: Our products are customized packaging boxes, the pictures displayed only as a reference. The price is not fixed and will be offered specially according to the factors like material, size, quantity, complexity of the process, etc. Please communicate with us before placing an order, we will provide you with 24-hour online consultation.
Qulity Certification : Our products are produced by our own manufacture ,we can supply goods quickly as soon as you make an order with us . We ensure that any of our products shipped are of good quality. We can produce any kinds of bags with our good experience and good quality .
3 YRS Yiwu Lvmeng Paper Products Co., Ltd.
Favor boxes is the traditional way to show your respect to the guests who will be invited to attend your wedding. Package According to customers' special requirements, box packing or other method. Loading and delivery According to customers' special requirements, by express, by air, by sea, or other method.
Wooden hamper box for tea packaging with dropping lid Wooden packaging boxes for Tea,food,dry fruit,wine,beer per your request. We will send you the carton size & weight in advance,so that you can get the cheapest shipping cost. We can find the cheapest shipping agent for you if you don't have your own forwarder to the discharge port.
Nature birch bark wooden food packaging boxes 1. Eco-friendly material. Ricyclable 2. Various size for your selection 3. Customized logo with low quantity 4. Finest quality and competitive price. PRODUCT SPECIFICATION: 1.Product name: Nature birch bark wooden food packaging boxes 2.Shape Round,cylinder,square 3.Item no.
The smaller box is designed to fit inside the large box for convenient storage. 3. Protect organize your jewelry pencils, erasers, artist tools and supplies. Abundant forestry resources and labor, here is the very important production base of handmade box/bag/basket.
We are an experienced manufacturer and exporter of wooden crafts & gifts & decoration for more than 10 years experience in this field, located in the Southwest of Shandong Province of China. 2. One-step service without any outsourcing We definitely produce all goods by ourselves, and banned for allowing any outsourcing production from other factories. 5. Excellent and Experienced staff with Outstanding Academic Qualifications All our team members are highly experienced with responsible manners, fast-tracking attitudes and prompt reaction.
Alibaba.com offers 120,226 wood food box products. About 4% of these are packaging boxes, 2% are storage boxes & bins, and 1% are jewelry boxes.
A wide variety of wood food box options are available to you, such as plastic, paper, and metal. You can also choose from free samples, paid samples.
There are 120,226 wood food box suppliers, mainly located in Asia. The top supplying country is China (Mainland), which supply 100% of wood food box respectively.
Wood food box products are most popular in North America, South America, and Eastern Europe.
You can ensure product safety by selecting from certified suppliers, including 17,135 with ISO9001, 10,159 with Other, and 2,169 with FSC certification.


text:
Home / Content / World: Highest Mortality due to a Tornado
World: Highest Mortality due to a Tornado
World: Highest Mortality Due to Lightning
estimated 1300 individuals
26 / 4 (Apr) 1989
Documented reports;
Manikganj District, Bangladesh [23.5&degN; 90.5&degE; elevation: 9m (30ft)]
Cerveny et al. 2017: WMO Assessment of Weather and Climate Mortality Extremes: Lightning, Tropical Cyclones, Tornadoes, and Hail, Climate Weather and Society,
The tornado that destroyed the Manikganj district, Bangladesh: this tornado occurred on 26 April 1989 leaving the towns of Saturia and Manikgank Sadar completely destroyed and about 80,000 people were made homeless. This violent storm injured over 12,000 and purportedly killed a large number of people. The storm struck at around 18:30 local time (12:30 UTC). The tornado cut a long track, up to a mile wide, about 50 miles NW and N of Dhaka. The towns of Salturia and Manikganj were leveled and about 80,000 people were made homeless. In an evaluation of the event, Hossain and Karmakar (1989) noted that "the type of damage, the length and breadth of the path of its travel indicated that the intensity of the tornado was of the order of F3.5 in the Fujita scale and the corresponding wind was calculated around 338-418 km/hr." A total area of about 150 km2 was impacted by the tornado. Details of the synoptic situation are given in Harman (1971). Accurate death tolls were difficult to obtain but committee members (some with direct access to data for Bangladesh) located several newspapers citing growing death tolls. For example, the New York Times for April 28, 1989 stated (citing the Associated Press) that "A tornado in central Bangladesh killed 600 people, injured 12,000 and devastated more than 20 villages, the Government said today. At least 200 people were reported missing. The tornado Wednesday night blew away people, houses and animals as it whirled through the Manikganj area, 25 miles northwest of Dhaka, the capital." Other newspapers also report on 27 and 28 April 1989 (Associated Press, The Herald, and a local Bangladesh newspaper) about 500-600 confirmed fatalities (or number of recovered bodies) with at least 200 missing. Later newspaper reports on 30 April and 2 May 1989 (Bangladesh newspaper and Chicago Tribune) estimated an unofficial death toll reaching at least 1000. However, as a committee member noted, the significance of 'only' a death toll of 500-600 is that the death toll associated with the infamous 1925 "Tri-State tornado" (traveling from Ellington, MO to Princeton IN) in the United States (Johns et al., 2013) was 695 people, "so to accept the Bangladesh event as a world record we would need to be confident that the number of deaths was greater than that."
Consequently, the committee scoured the available literature to ascertain the source of the commonly-quoted death toll of 1,300. The most prominent secondary professional source for the Saturia Tornado's 1300 mortality value is given by noted tornado historian Thomas P. Grazulis (1993, 2001). The committee directly contacted Grazulis and he stated that he believed that he had obtained that value from articles in the London Times. Upon exploration of that newspaper's archives, committee members located a number of articles relating to the Saturia Tornado. Specifically, a set of articles starting on 28 April 1989 and continuing to 2 May 1989 were all apparently written by the Times correspondent in Bangladesh, Ahmed Fazl. Of particular note, on 2 May, 1989, Fazl wrote in a short Times article: "Storm hits survivors. Dhaka – Thousands of survivors in the devastated town of Shaturia [Saturia] in central Bangladesh passed their fifth night in the open as a fresh storm swept away the few structures left standing after last week's tornado (Ahmed Fazl writes). Yesterday a convoy of army lorries arrived in the town with supplies to stave off starvation and epidemics. About 1,300 people are thought to have died in the tornado. Some 80,000 people have been living in the open." As far as can be established, that value cited by Fazl is the best available mortality tally for this event.


Gong.io launched the first of its kind Real-Time Conversation Intelligence (RTCI) for B2B sales teams. RTCI provides sales representatives with a competitive edge by alerting them and assisting them in real time with a variety of pain points related to a sales opportunity that includes customer objections, competitive comparisons, pricing sensitivity, and a host of other potential deal breakers.
The company was recently recognized as a Cool Vendor in Gartner's CRM Sales 2017 report. Gong uses AI and machine learning powered conversation intelligence to record, transcribe, and analyze sales calls. It recognizes effective patterns from tens of thousands of hours of spoken sales conversations, to help B2B sales teams win more deals. Gong will demonstrate its latest conversation intelligence platform on the upcoming Sales Machine conference being held in June for next generation sales leaders.


text:
Connecting the world through
Network, Education and
Advanced Research (NEAR)
MASTERS GSCM
Flexibly designed to
meet your academic and
Connect leaders and create
transformation through
supply chain excellence
Enhance your education
by completing the Lean
supply chain certification
January 13, 2023 Free Virtual Info Session - Professional Development Certifications https://www.eventbrite.com/e/462104907217
January 18, 2023 LSS Green Belt Certification https://www.eventbrite.com/e/246932280097
January 21, 2023 LSS Black Belt Certification https://www.eventbrite.com/e/293466806117
April 12, 2023 LSS Green Belt Certification https://www.eventbrite.com/e/429463425667
July 12, 2023 LSS Green Belt Certification https://www.eventbrite.com/e/449391791947
August 9-10, 2023 11th Annual Global Supply Chain Excellence Summit https://globalsummit.uscsupplychain.com/
August 19, 2023 LSS Black Belt Certification https://www.eventbrite.com/e/449399775827
October 18, 2023 LSS Green Belt Certification https://www.eventbrite.com/e/449395944367
National Champion Marshall team places in top ten of Global Competition
A team of four MS.GSCM students finished in the top 10 at the Global Student Challenge supply chain...
INC, Spring 2016 Links Supply Chain talent with Leading Companies
In order to facilitate the career development of its graduate students, the Center for GSCM launched the Industry...
Subscribe to for weekly updates on news, center and exclusive promotions!
Tweets by NickVyas5
Let us know if you have any inquiries regarding the Global Supply Chain Management Center


Nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in a great neighborhood off Royal Ave and Candelight. Home features a nice kitchen 1252 sq ft., living room, dining room, family room with cozy fireplace. The nice kitchen has a range/oven/ refrigerator, dishwasher. 2 car garage, and RV parking and fenced backyard.
Nicely remolded 1998 manufactured home with 1782 sqft, 4 beds, 2 baths, living room, dining room, kitchen with island, breakfast bar, range, oven, refrigerator, dishwasher. Home also features an inside utility room, carport, RV parking, well water with softner. Finally, enjoy the beautiful trees on nearly 3 acres and a peaceful creek!
This is a cute home of 900 sq ft on a large corner lot in Bethel Danebo area. It features tile flooring, 2 Bedrooms, 1 Bath, Dining Room & Kitchen. It has a large inside Utility Room and an oversize 1 car garage. There are 2 storage buildings, a garden area and RV Parking behind fenced backyard.
Nice 1680 sq. ft. home with 5 Bedrooms!
This Great 1680 sq. ft. home features 5 Bedrooms, 1 Bath, Living room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Utiltily room, new paint, carpet. New siding was installed 4 years ago. Home also has nice windows and good insulation. Forced Heat/Ac. 2 Car Garage + 3 Car/New Roof, Lg Shop with 16'x20' Freezer, Office, Bathroom.
Read more about Nice 1680 sq. ft. home with 5 Bedrooms!
Great 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath, 1447 Square Foot Home. Kitchen, Range/Oven/Refergerator, Dishwasher. Living Room, Dining Room. 2 Car Garage, RV Parking, Fenced Back Yard. Owner is a Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon.


U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released final guidance clarifying the manner in which the Administrative Appeals Office precedent decision Matter of Simeio Solutions will be implemented.
The final guidance states that as of today, July 21, if an employer's H-1B employee moved to a new area of employment on or before April 9, 2015, the date of the decision, USCIS will generally not pursue new adverse actions (i.e., denying or revoking a petition) solely based on the employer's failure to file a new or amended H-1B petition. However, any adverse actions taken or commenced by USCIS prior to July 21 will remain in effect. Employers may choose to file new or amended petitions for work location changes that took place on or before April 9, so long as they file by Jan. 15, 2016. USCIS will consider such petitions timely filed.
For location changes that occurred after April 9 but before Aug. 19, the guidance clarifies that employers are required to file new or amended H-1B petitions by Jan. 15, 2016. If an employer fails to file a new or amended petition by this deadline, both the employer and the H-1B employee will be out of compliance and subject to adverse action.
For changes that occur after Aug. 19, employers must file an amended or new petition before an H-1B employee may begin working at a new place of employment that is not covered by an existing, approved H-1B petition.
USCIS had previously issued draft guidance in May, stating that the decision would apply to location changes that took place prior to the Simeio Solutions decision and requiring employers to file new or amended petitions to reflect those changes by Aug. 19. USCIS invited stakeholders to comment on the draft guidance.
The final guidance released today also confirms that if an employer's amended or new H-1B petition is denied, but the original petition remains valid, the H-1B employee may return to work at the place of employment covered by the original petition if he or she is able to maintain valid nonimmigrant status there. Additionally, an employer may file another amended H-1B petition while an amended H-1B petition is pending, so long as every amended petition meets the requirements for H-1B classification and any requests for extensions of stay. If the H-1B employee's status expires while successive amended petitions are pending, the denial of any petition or request to amend or extend status will result in the denial of all successive requests to amend or extend status.
BAL Analysis: This final guidance is welcome news for companies. However, USCIS has not eliminated an adjudicator's ability to take adverse actions based on an employer's failure to file a new or amended petition for worksite changes that took place prior to the Simeio Solutions decision. Please consult with your BAL professionals for advice on these issues.