Leftfield Summer 2007 by Scottish Socialist Youth

scottish

socialist

youth

•

Issue 11

Sum~er 07

now only

All hail our new leader...~flftypee

PRI MINISTER BROWN scottish

socialist

Plus: ALSO INSIDE: -WORDSEARCH -BIG GREEN AL -STRIKING POSTIES -MUSIC REVIEWS youth:

nookie

not

nukie

*not a subtlerEifer:ence to anypolitidtl

tendenCies.': Honest.

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a'b'or.ti.on.;'.M'sPs ..is..a ..ciear

no.f ..You..tru'ly ..o.re..a

[

opens his mouth to change feet. We agree.

attempt to bully prochoice voters and politicians so that he can get his way. [Fortunately the senile old git made his call weeks AFTER the elections ... D'OH!]

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~Knobhead ~Kardinal ~Keith - or :KKK ~for ~short - is the type of guy [who is straight, talks, land is straight-talking.

KKK'srecent idea that abortion should be made illegal would send.us back to Victorian conditions when rich women could afford to go to private clinics and working class women were forced into dangerous backstreet abortions - often causing serious injury or even death to the women involved.

~Somepeople have ~described KKKas the

KKK'splea to Catholics not to vote for "pro-

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And KKK'stasteless gibberings that "abortion in Scotland is the equivalent of 2 Dunblane massacres a day" are not only plain barmy, they're offensive. Women have the right to control their own bodies whether KKK likes it or

Keith. Get in the Korner for all of eternity. We're not going to forgive you.

know I go off on this aaalll the time and it is prolly getting tedious. But, still. From an early age women (and men, actually) have what is and isn't attractive battered i them.

of the way the portrays wom sexually availabl gratific .

media

with

every

woman, then " What the ? Women to be

This is another part of the whole "women shouJdny walk about at night in case hey get raped" thing as to ow we live to people who Iy fucking

a s b

Uk ho me think think result the me reflect th but it can a And there ar to be made fr down on the confid women: make magazine? plastic surge anyone?

se the women . If you ou are a u swear you e", if you drink arty girl", if you love life then you sy" ... ,

Women are bombarded with labels and categories constantly degraded and dehumanised.

OBJECTIFICATION Degrading women to a set of measurements, the implicit message being if you are not physi "perfect" then you worthless, is probably 0 of the main ways I feel the objectification of women affects me personally.

IRant over

I think the attitudes of general society towards sex are really unhealthy, and I think this is because

::::::=-~===--------------~ 11III.

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leWield â&#x20AC;˘ the fanzine that proclaims a fatwah on Socialist Worker

Me and the other folk were just trving to get the boot in and some other guy banjoed him." -John Smeala

lellfield . the 'anline that's an "official organ" (hehe, "organ"]

R S E H Z K A G X Y E T I H T E P P U W H U T P B R G 0 N A

re you one of those people who is easily duped by unconvincing adverts flogging cheap goods at extortionate prices? Then this offer is for you!

0 L E C See if you F L H W can S U NA M S y N find all . R I C K nine K Q z X words!

(Prescott

We've got four exclusive framed photographs of Britain's popular former Deputy Prime Minister John 'Prezza' Prescott for sale. The charming prints are yours for only 24.99 a pop or a hundred quid for the lot. Why waste your money on things you need like food and paying bills when you can fritter it away on hastilyproduced crap like this? And at the same time why not 'consolidate your debts' by getting into even more debt? (the point is that there are lots of offers like this in proper magazines and they pretend to offer you something worthwhile but actually theYjustriPYOU...

@ (\

\\a\.U

off so

we try

~~-to satirize this by ...

*offer may not apply in real world

Poslies on Strike! Following the recent strike action by Royal • Mail staff, we caught up with Alf Archer, 19, a postie and member of the Communication Workers' Union Q: What do you do in your job with the Royal Mail? I work in the delivery office that covers Glasgow City Centre. Every morning I go in at 5.30 to help get the mail sorted, then head out to deliver it on whatever route needs covered that day. I joined the union when I came in because we are in the middle of a big dispute at the moment and I wanted to support the strike. Q: What's about?

the strike

all

It's about a few things. The first one is pay: posties have been offered a pay rise which is less than the rate of inflation, so in real terms that means a pay cut. We're demanding a pay rise that meets inflation. The 2nd thing is Royal Mail want to change the way the mail is delivered. They want to get rid of the workto-finish rule. At the moment you're given a set route and post to deliver, and if you get it all done before your shift finishes then you can go home, but still get paid. So if your shift finishes at 1 but you get finished by 12 then you're paid up to 1. That's the way it's always been. But the bosses want to make it so if illlIlIIUIiIIlIIllIomi_Z

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you finished at 12 you'd go back to the sorting office and do something else until 1. Of course, by the time you get there it'll be half 12, then once you've started something else you'll be staying longer than you're paid for, which is what they want. They want to get as much work from us for as little money as possible.

and make the routes longer it's going to get worse. I don't see how they can do that. Q: So what is the union doing about it? There's been a one day strike so far, and we're going out again soon. At the moment it's just one day strikes. I think it's been quite effective so far because the Royal Mail has lost some customers, which shows it's being hit. They've written us all daft letters asking us not to strike, so they're a bit rattled. But I think we need to go on strike for longer, because as long as it stays one day I don't think people are that bothered. The mail still gets delivered and you're still doing the same amount of work but not getting paid for a day. If we had a longer strike it wouldn't be possible to get all the mail delivered later in the week, and people would really sit up and take notice.

The work to finish system just makes sense, it respects people. If you're good and get p~ople's mail to them early then it's fair enough you should get to go home. It's one of the few perks of the job, which is low paid and hard work. A lot of folk who have worked there for ages have said to me if they scrap it they'll leave. They say over the last 10 years it's becoming a worse and worse place to work. I think it could end up costing the company more money because that'll mean they'll need more new people like me who don't really know what they're doing and take longer to deliver the mail!

Q: Did you go on a picket line?

They also want to merge some of the routes for delivering the mail, which is just crazy. The routes are already hard enough and long enough as it is, but they want to squeeze even more work. There are rules about how much mail you should carry, but a lot of the time just now you have to carry more than that, as otherwise you would have to go out with one bag, then go back to the delivery office to get another - it would take ages. If they try

££££

Yeah, only one person who wasn't in management crossed our picket line and went to work during the strike. There was a delivery driver who once we spoke to him refused to cross as well. Q: How did it feel to be on the picket? To be honest it was very early in the morning in the pissing rain. It's just something that had to be

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done if the strike was going to be successful, and I wanted to do my bit. It feels good to stand up for your rights, but it doesn't feel good to have to. &lomi&lomi_&lomi&lomi_

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•••••••••••••••••••••

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ARMY RECRUITERS:

GET TAE FU*K!! "If you're between 14 and 15 years 9 months old, there's a special place for you with the RAF. By joining our altitude club, you ca find out about organisation wher; can follow dreams. "

The army worki p

glossy picture and th Air Fo that I scho afte ha sp

to si cl

so re bo all

RAF time winte

to co in the DES

UNP After launc in Iraq, the getting more desperate for and no one wan join up for unwinnable, unpopula war that's blatantly just about making the rich get richer, and allow the. American empire to dominate the world. """""""'--''''

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-41

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campaign

the

E.N 0 ANDS UP IF you're getting a full-time job this summer ... you know, a wee job to earn some cash, to keep up with the cost of living. If you're 16 or over and working class, your hand is probably

up.

LOW

The current rubbish minimum wage only applies once you reach the age of 22. 16-17 year-olds can be paid as little as £3 an hour!

One of the demands of the End Low Pay campaign is for an new National Minimum Wage (NMW) of £8 an hour. This

This would be laughable if it wasn't such brain damage for the people who earn this sort of shitey wage.

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es Nes b i

ttr

Scrooges! In a number of pubs employees are paid wages of £2 or £3 an hour and told that it's acceptable, because the tips they get will bump up their pay to the level of the NMW.

Some employers don't even bother with an excuse because many young workers don't know how much money they are entitled to, or they just sack staff who complain.

These days, taking on this type of work is not something young people do just to keep busy through the holidays, or to meet new mates.

If you live away from home or you are from a low income household, these 'luxuries' can be unaffordable, even if you

For example, at several call centres, workers have been told they are now "self-employed sales agents", with the company graciously paying £2.50 an hour in "expenses"!

Cheats! If your employer tries to pull a fast one on you, contact the National Minimum Wage Helpline on 0845 6000 678.

During the summertime, Scotland's 'service sector' workforce swells as young people take jobs in fastfood restaurants, call centres, hotels, bars, cafes, nightclubs, sports centres, shops and a huge variety of other places.

Instead, it's something we all have to do just to get by. For most people, to not get a summer job would be kissing goodbye to being able to go out, go on holiday, payoff debts or save up for college or university.

PRY!

ARE working. The jobs many of us have to take are so pathetically low-paid that working over 40 hours a week still doesn't keep us out of poverty.

Now keep it up if your job is boring, thankless, temporary and low-paid. If your hand is still up, then you are one of a young army numbering thousands across Scotland.

... :ghts card SSYworkers r'

would lift thousands of us out of poverty and greatly reduce the levels of stress and illness among young workers. It's only fair considering the companies we work for earn gigantic profits each year. Our £8 minimum wage demand doesn't just apply to older workers either.

Even worse, leftfield has received reports about a number of miserly

call centres employers trying to weasel their way out of paying workers the NMW.

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The ELP campaign fights for all workers to be better informed of their rights. We also campaign for the

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pure ragin' - young workers get a raw deal "'' ' d1ft:11111 •••••

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united diuided

we we

ORGANISE!

stand, fall

JOIN

infamous 'Probationary Periods' (which allow your boss to sack you for nothing in your first 12 weeks in a job) should be abolished.

...

UNION

Here's some union details I made earlier ...

Give us some job security, we don't want an axe hanging over our heads! These problems are even worse for immigra workers from Pola d. the Czech Republic, La ia and other Eas e European co .., .es.

----------., If anyone can help us to translate these cards into other languages, like Polish, Urdu, Klingon and Arabic please please contact us!

----------

SO DON'T TAKE NO SHIT! National

Minimum

0845

Wage Helpline

6000

678

Make sure YOU get it

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leftfield . the fanzine that's super, super cereal IT'S GETTIN' HOT IN HERE

that we need to stop pumping crap into the sky, or we're basically all fucked.

hat's wrong with a

bit of global warming, right? Surely no one could be against a wee bit more sun. You could save money on holidays, and chumps wouldn't have to pay tanning salons (not a reference to any exsocialist icons) to get skin cancer - they could catch it outside! WAKE-UP CALL Sadly, that's not how it's going to work out. The whole world is finally waking up to the fact

BAD NEWS And climate change isn't the good news for Scotland you think it might be. In the kind of hilariously depressing twist of fate that could only happen here, it might even get COLDER.

NO SNOW AT XMAS NORWAY We're already seeing That's because we what climate change depend on the Gulf really means. More Stream current in the crazy storms, weird ocean-otherwise we'd weather and crappy be as cold as Norway! summers. No snow at And scientists are Christmas, just manky saying it might end grey sludge. And for because of climate people who live on the change. coast around the world â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘ I disaster as the sea rises and overwhelms their homes. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO FACE IT YOU'RE ADDICTED TO OIL Why is it happening? Basically because our whole civilisation is addicted to oil. For millions of years dead plants and animals have been mouldering away underground, and now we've learnt to burn that muck to fly planes, heat garden patios and allow men with small knobs to drive monster truck style cars to compensate.

this means making a mess of the atmosphere. STEGOSAURUS FOUND DEAD, CREMATED The gases we've put up there by burning mouldy dinosaur corpses [NB this is what oil is made ofJ stop the sun's heat from being able to escape back into space, so the world is getting hotter and hotter. Though what that means for the future of the climate actually nobody knows. TIMMY MALLETT So we desperately need to reduce how much of these gases we're pumping out there. The major way to do that would be stop rich countries wasting energy on pointless crap. And on the next page there's details of something else that would make a BIG difference ... (not)

"',,'clAl Talkin 'bout some praise the Lord shit (above): Bush prayers for a miracle to stop climate change

lenlield -the lanzine that proclaims Colin Fox's lordship

s part of his mission to stop global warming, Big Green AI got loads 0 old celebrities to tak break from spenging their huge wads "of cas.. and get on sti:)ge ..... 'Live Earth.' . The point middle-o athon w awaren threat warm the 0 stop glob has Ge

an sa

OU DO.THE MATH! 9.186

ÂŁ. billion 17.5

minion =Cost of the RBS Dard's private alcon 900 Jet

ÂŁ 21,917 Average daily age of RBS Chief xecutive, Sir Fred o0dwin

celebrities who took';;; part? We check out. some of the figures ... MADONNA, one of the headliners for the London gig, has NINE HOUSES around the

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11:: _~ .£ $' ci

PURE

You asked for ii, vou pleaded for it. So here Ills..

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KWALITEE they buggery! We crash-landed into the festival spirit sometime ound Wednesday n. At this point the Qut in force, so and the ents

Glastonbury - the best mud-fest in the SouthWest, no question! Sure, it pissed down for most of the weekend and by Friday morning, the green fields of Worthy Farm had turned to a nasty shade of shitty brown. But would these conditions spoil the party? Would

Sadly though, reviewer deteriorated much the same way as weather, after 'One to many scoops of the notorious Brothers' Cider, as well as some 'other stuff' that disappeared much more quickly than planned. But Glastonbury

Queens of the Stone Age: 'Era Vylgarlsi Review by CaJuIllNelson

"I hope

Josh Homme gets syphiBs and dies!"

Nelda's mum leiS on sleam -\C"'T-'''''

May it be saidtllafi(istruly the artist who finds inspiratioh in the most mundane aspects of his surroundings? Col1sider Queens of the Stone Age. Whilst Songs for the Deaf' was put together from Josh Homme's experience of tediously driving through the California desert;

is much

CHOONS

more than just a trip in the mud - it's a massive celebration of all things cool and cultural. Whether you fancy getting hitched then ditched in the Lost Vaguness Chapel of Love & Hate, or if you'd rather enjoy some reaks 'n' b, st

Where else woul able to catch perto from the likes of Billy, and Mark Thomas

dedicated Leftfield stage, in between shifts at the Workers' Beer Company, where all your wages go to a charity of your choice? For me though, the most striking feature of Glastonbury wasn't the mud, the music or the mayhem that inevitably flows f[()r:nseveral days of leeping the of t

he/has taken his daiJy experience of QOTSA get whilst talking about sex driving through Hollywood and and in the ,context of Homme's weavefi>it mto ,E!c:l,Nulgaris, a fine m~pIrati0I'\w()Mldbe the perfect song tapest! zi:qg basslines and f()r driving;atnJ:~l1t. 'Reminiscent of ,drivirt loyerlaid with the tht':... 'iyingiin.spit~tion.as well is the ,'melodiHty>'of;;Homme's lyric~p I'ush(ttaCks"like"g's& 7's" and falsetto: '"SjCk"Sick;:SiCk"'peliYt':r, like a sugar '. ';;;" f' .......•.•. , , ,;;)~i~Afo~;~eears,. showing off the An. llileQgI.r~~~anage to keep" ;s~~~~rmJ!arriffs this this album is so their.. . ... ~"\7er.~Il ~p'le flowing fi!ll>of. tl1ro~~l1c:nlt'W.e ,"lilbum, there's, def~itelyalittleDit of something0f course what would a QOTSA f()~<~y~l'Y0ll.ehl.here"producinganaIBum.bew;it.hout being full of c>verall,is morem~ls~!,(ij!~es?'fl1~:~beauty of many of 'a~ed than"pJ."et:';~~~~ac~~ .'. "s album is that you ..!,Je ..!tlikt; "Turning .' t~!itI<.y()u ow where you stand S91'ew"and "Run Pig'.ll.u.n"iifefiIled with. a s0l":g...then BANG ...it goes ~itH.,typical Qe>l'SA f1avour,into a diffe:renttime .signature or Roundingrhytlmtsthat Yo.ucan~eal' tempo. Variety-like this, combined through your ribcage and out into with an all star cast (Mark Lanegan the street. "Into the Hollows" is a singmg on River in the Road, Julian .treckthat .bringsbac1« Il'leIl1.0ri~'o(~i'sablancasplaying guitar on Sick, Son:gs for the Deaf's Long Slow Sick, Sick arid Trent Reznor on Goodbye, whilsL'~M,!keit <WitChu", bonus track Era Vulgaris), keeps the With 'its soft guitar'licksand piano listener firmly tuned in throughout backing, is about as romantic as the whole album. .~

Reviews

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lemield -the lanzine that's camp as luck

[ ] I would like to come to the camp [ ] I would like more info on it (please tick)

CUT OUT AND RETURN TO SSY, SUITE 308-310, CENTRAL CHAMBERS, 93 HOPE STREET, GLASGOW G2 6LD

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HELL IS •••

.DELEGATE ZERO? DZ!

n New Year's day 1994, Mexico's rich and American big business were celebrating together the launch of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a pact between Mexico, the US and Canada that allowed business to move freely between the countries and exploit workers as much as they liked, but didn't allow workers the same freedom.

In Mexico NAFTA also meant that the right wing government removed poor peasants rights to their land that had been won in the Mexican Revolution of 1910. US big business was free to buy up their land and leave the poor to starve. But little did Mexico's rich and powerful know that they were about to face a rebellion against their policies that was to shake Mexico, and ultimately the world. Mexico's poorest state is Chiapas, in the south east. The state is rich in natural resources, but the wealth is looted and is never seen by the largely Native American peasants. On New Year's Day they rose up to shout 'Enough!' and seized control of four towns, declaring war on Mexico's corrupt government and demanding real democracy, rights for _

•••

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indigenous people, land and justice. The rebels called themselves the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, or EZLN. The rebellion caught the attention of people throughout the world because of the declarations and letters of its spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos. Marcos wrote a stream of devastating attacks on Mexican capitalism and the dictatorial governments that protected it, and began to map out a path for revolution based on the ancient democratic ideas of the Mayan and other indigenous people of Mexico.

Marcos' writings were distributed around the world via the internet, and a huge and unprecedented solidarity campaign was mobilised. They launched a campaign to talk to ordinary people and radical activists from across Mexico and the world, and begin to develop a grassroots movement for change that was

The EZLN came to be in control of an area 0 remote territory where they were constructing health and education systems, and implementing a system of direct democracy where everyone in the rebel communities was consulted on all major decisions, and they directly controlled the rebel army. This meant that the villages were strong and prepared for the attack of the government, and were able to hold out against all expectations. Another reason the EZLN was able to survive was because they made sure that ••••••

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lellfield . the fanzine that likes uprisings independent of the corrupt political parties and the undemocratic electoral system. In 2005 this became the 'Other Campaign,' a national campaign for a new way of doing politics, a revolutionary manifesto to build a new Mexico. In Marcos' words, "Together, we're going to shake this country up from below, lift it up, and stand it on its head." Declaring

and set out alone and without protection on a motorbike to travel the whole of Mexico, acting as the new movement's scout, with others to follow. They say: "What we are going to do is ask you how your lives are going, your fight, your thoughts about how our country is doing and about what we can do so that they don't defeat us. What we are going to do is listen to your thoughts, those of the simple and humble people, and maybe we will find there the same love that we have for our country."

Already Delegate Zero has met all kinds of people with many stories to tell, and has helped begin a process of linking the EZLN into hundreds of different struggles by peasants, workers and of those who are discriminated against, such as "No to trying to resolve women and gay from above the people. They took a problems of our Nation, leading role in building but, rather, they must support for the mass construct FROM revolutionary struggle BELOW AND FOR . that took place in the BELOW an alternative Mexican state of to neoliberal Oaxaca last year. destruction, an alternative of the left for Mexico now is a Mexico." country poised on the brink of revolution, In 2006 which has huge Subcomandante implications for the US Marcos renamed where so many himself Delegate Zero, Mexican migrants live.

~it'Lo'ok' (;'ooi'as' fuck' f'hi's 'sumnlsr 'wi'ih' one' of' our' very"", ..,~ ~special Delegate Zero tee shirts. Only 7 quid plus postage. 1 lAvailable in S, M, L, XL in both men and women's fit. 1 ;email neldo@ssy.org.uk with your order : ......................................â&#x20AC;˘â&#x20AC;˘.................................

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issue 11 - Summer 06

a publication

Scottish

Socialist

Youth

are you sick of poverty, lies and sleaze? looking for a real alternative to the endless cycles of war, poverty and environmental destruction? then look no further ...

CON-TACT US! if you have an artice, a story, a picture, a cartoon, etc for lemield, then send it in to jack@ssy.org.uk and we'll include it in the next issue. unless it's really shite.

ss ~

".;~~' -,'

~ ~~

the hottest web torum outside hell I lUI I

is published and printed by SSY Suite 308-310, Central Chambers, 93 Hope Street, Glasgow G41 1JB jack@ssy.org.uk

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