Workers Solidarity Movement

According to the Financial Times of February 22nd, the after tax income of the richest 1% of Americans rose 115% between 1977 and 1999 while the incomes of the poorest 20% fell by 9%.

'One law for the rich and one' is one of the oldest sayings known. But, old or not, this saying is as true and relevant as ever. In a long-awaited judgement, the Supreme Court ruled against the public's right of access to the scenic walk at the Old Head outside Kinsale in Co. Cork.

In the run up to St. Patrick's Day we had the sight of our ultimate gombeen, Bertie, presenting a bowl of shamrock to George W Bush and telling him it was fine to continue to re-fuel bombers in Shannon. Now in the war of super spin, Baghdad burns yet nobody dies. Over 205,000 people died in the last Gulf war.

There is an increasing number of books about anarchism being published every year. As anarchism grows in popularity more anarchist organisations are able to produce books, and mainstream commercial publishers certainly see this growing popularity as a way of making extra cash.

In December protests were held at the EU summit in Copenhagen. Ian Lynch attended the demonstrations and tells Workers Solidarity a little about it.

Cyclone pushbike couriers gained a small but significant victory last November when they achieved a pay rise in the face of considerable management opposition. Though the pay-rise was only in line with inflation, management had flatly rejected this proposal and so provoked an organised response.

Michael Moore is an American film-maker and political commentator. He's probably best known for his documentary Roger and Me, which charts the effects on his hometown Flint, Michigan when General Motors, the town's largest employer, decide to relocate their factories to Mexico. That breakthrough film was followed by TV series, such as TV Nation, and now another film, Bowling for Columbine, and book, Stupid White Men.

Around Christmas once every three years of so we enter into a special mating season in the industrial relations jungle. The mating of three unlikley species, the goverment, the bosses and the trade unions takes place. This spectacle is so spectacularly ugly to witness that it's never covered by TV cameras. Each mating season is given it's individual name and this time in 2002/03 attempts were under way to sire a son to the 'Programme for Prosperity and fairness'.

At the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Montana, production is at its highest rate in 15 years - higher than during the Gulf War. They recently received a $92 million contract to produce 265 million rounds of small-caliber ammunition for the US Army. Why so many bullets? There are approximately 24 million people living in Iraq, thus it seems it is either lunatic overkill, or the excess is for use against other peoples living within Bush's "axis of evil", or it's a cash gift to his arms business pals.

Just in case you had any illusions about the fairness or impartiality of the Irish 'justice' system:- On the same day as 'celebrity chef' Tim Allen was allowed to buy himself off a prison sentence for the possession of child pornography, five Romanian men were jailed after a court found that "it was reasonable to infer that they intended to commit an offence in a shop in Co. Wicklow last November". Allen's sentence of a nine-month prison sentence was reduced to one of 240 hours community service on the payment of EUR40,000 to a child welfare charity - proof, if proof is needed, of the fact that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor.