Rebranding Earth

I'm a few days late in posting the links up, but I thought I would just let you know that the August 2006 issue of the Socialist Standard is now online, and it can be either read in its entirety as a PDF here or as individual articles at the links provided below.

The current issue is a bit of a mix bag, opening with an editorial on the Israel's bombing of Lebanon (and Hezbollah's bombing of Northern Israel), which drew a lot of comments and controversy when I posted it on myspace, and it also carries a couple of historical articles that touch on two anniversaries this month: the Battle of the Somme and the Spanish Civil War. The latter anniversary is obviously something that is still debated over ferociously by the various contesting traditons on the left - with the anarchists referring to as the 'Spanish Revolution' - and the SPGB have not been immune from those controversies and debates. Both then and now, there has never been a monolithic position within the Party on what was the correct position to take on Spain within the Party, though that never stopped the Party taking adopting an 'official' position on the question. Such is the way of political parties, and I'm sure that the article in this month's Standard will add to that debate. (On Spain, a couple of Socialist Standard articles from the thirties can be viewed here and here). One year on from Hurricane Katrina, there is an article on the 'looting' in New Orleans, a media obsession at the time of Katrina, and which can only be viewed in the context of the underlying racist and anti-working class nature of the mainstream media. The author of the article, a member of the World Socialist Party of the United States, has written a longer piece on what he terms 'An Unnatural Disaster', which I hope to post a link to at a later date.

Editorial

More Slaughter in the Middle East

Regular Columns

Pathfinders Radioactive Days & the Sting

Cooking the Books Commodity Markets & Was There An Alternative?

Greasy Pole Be Kind To A Hoodie

50 Years Ago Drugs and the Death Penalty

Main Articles

Globalisation - what does it mean? We begin a two-part article on the continuing surge in capitalist globalisation.This month we deal with the globalisation of capital.

Foreign takeovers: a non-issue A recent poll shows public opinion in Britain is becoming increasingly perturbed by the changing ownership of the companies that make up the British economy,but does it matter to workers who owns the company that exploits them?

Who Are the Looters? A year after hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans we look at what was a media obsession at the time.

For Whom The Bell Tolled This summer has seen commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Civil war which remains a conflict shrouded in myth, heroism and controversy.

The Battle of the Somme The recent 90th anniversary of the human tragedy of the Somme saw the politicians,the churches and the organisations charged with remembrance giving history a makeover.

Thirty-five Billion & Calling Home

Reviews and Letters

Book Reviews Noam Chomsky by Wolfgang Sperlich; Dining With Terrorists by Phil Rees; & The Imaginary Time Bomb: Why an Ageing Population is not a Social Problem by Phil Mullan

Radio Review "Red Elvis" Dean Reed: Death of a Comrade. Radio 2, 11 July. Presented by Mark Lamarr.

Letters to the Editors Civil War in Uganda, Defending Galloway & Ban the Ultra-Right?

Voice From The Back

The Price of Oil, A Tale of Three Virgins & Science and Profits.