How the mighty have fallen

Further to this little matter:

How the mighty have fallen.

No, not Lindsay German’s resigning; Lenny having to pen a piece on his blog about a little local difficulty concerning the SWP so soon after it happening. (48 hours? Lenny would usually sooner wait about 48 months before coughing up a response on his blog.)

Funny times. That leading SWPer all those years ago who bemoaned the internet and its nefarious effect on the organisation really was onto something.

Lenny having to comment reminded me of this old joke concerning the SWP and the internet. It's sectarian and it's silly but it still makes me laugh two years after the fact.

Addendum

Madam Miaow provides the video response to German resigning, whilst someone in a darkened room somewhere works on the Downfall video to mark this momentous occasion concerning the British Vanguard.

Democratic Martinism*

OK, it's patently obvious that neither my heart nor my head are in blogging mode at the moment, and me merely using the blog as a data entry site for films and books I've watched and read this year is a poor substitute, but I would be doing the (past) spirit of the blog a disservice if I didn't at least mention the hot news on the left blogging front back in Britain: Lindsay German has resigned from the Socialist Workers Party after 37 years of membership!

In the (present) spirit of the blog, I can't be arsed going into the whys and the wherewithals of how someone went from being one of the leading members of the SWP and the Stop the War Coalition to being part of the opposition rump Left Platform in the SWP that was routed by the spectacularly unimpressive Martin Smith in the little matter of a couple of years but if you follow the links below (or ask me kindly in the comments box), I'm sure it will all become clear:

AVPS Phil had the scoop of Lindsay German's resignation.

The ferocious commenting (and cries of schadenfreude) is naturally enough taking place over at Socialist Unity blog. (228 comments at the last count.)

Splintered Sunrise provides the kremlinology.

Ian Bone provides the best visual gag about the strained correspondence between Lindsay German and the SWP's National Secretary, Martin Smith, which led to her resignation.

Breaking news on a late Wednesday night affecting the British Far Left means that once again the former king's of the hill, the Weekly Worker, have been out-scooped by a lowly blog. Through gritted teeth, they insert one line into this week's online version of the Weekly Worker to try and give the impression that they've got it covered. They're fooling no one.

A sitemeter sighting lets me know that an old post of mine, concerning Martin Smith, has a broken link and I'm able to correct it accordingly. If you want to get the full sense of comic dread of an SWP now led by Mr Smith, have a peep at this old article from the aforementioned Weekly Worker, which concerns his actions in expelling a dissident member of the SWP in Bedfordshire. We're in Dario Fo land.

Now, back to 365Watch and rereading old books.

*Kudos to Robert in Splintered Sunrise's comments box for 'Democratic Martinism'

Insert punning headline here

Once upon a time Wired magazine hit upon the winning idea of asking various writers to come up with a six word short story. I mentioned it in passing on the blog in more than six words . . . naturally.

Now, Dave O has had a similar idea to Wired magazine on his blog, but this time it's not a short story he's asking readers to try their hand at but political fiction. In his own words, ' . . . can you encapsulate what Gordon Brown is supposedly all about, in seven words or less?'

I could only think of two:

Standard editorial: The return of bleak times

James Maxton's biographer; The Labour Party's undertaker

Granted they're nothing more than blatant spamming of the Socialist Standard on the one hand and me pretending that I used to read books once upon a time on the other hand, but maybe you can do better.

People Just Want To Dream

Adding those sidebar links back one post at a time (3)

Got the hair dryer treatment form AVPS's Phil in the comment box a few posts ago for my laxity in restoring the blogroll in good time, so this post's just for him. As a wannabe Menshevik Internationalist (Brooklyn Cell), I know my place in the great scheme of things when a Bolshevik (Burslem Branch) pulls you out of the dustbin of history for a quick admonishing.

Still adding the blogrolls back in stages - if nothing else, it's a good excuse to check out blogs again - and this post focuses on the political blogs sidebar. They come under the umbrella title of 'People Just Want To Dream' for no other reason than the fact that it's the title of one of my favourite Microdisney songs and I had to get an impossibilist dig in there somewhere.

Being the lazy type, I've fallen back on Andy Newman's Top 101 Left Blogs post from last September, to reintroduce the blogroll. Those were the halcyon days of British Left blogging when the Shiraz Socialist bods were still on speaking terms with Socialist Unity blog, and the SWP's rank and file had yet to truly fall out of love with Gorgeous George.

Who'd have thought back then that those times qualified as the good old days?

Socialist Unity Blog - Andy Newman and friends. Yeah, I know, you're supposed to be dismissive about the blog. Andy Newman is a supposed megalomaniac . . . the blog did a flip on Gorgeous George . . . it's soft (or hard?) on China's imperial adventure in Tibet . . . yada yada yada.
What can I say, it's a readable blog that is regularly updated and for every four posts that aren't my cup of tea there's one that's of interest. And you have to have a sneaking admiration for anyone who's able to put a rocket under the collective arses of the SWP's Central Committee. Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of political chancers.

I like the fact that there is ongoing series of reviews of political films on the blog - films both old and new - and Andy's review of Lindsay Anderson's 'If' from a few month's back caught my eye.

Splintered Sunrise - Excellent blog from Ireland. No idea who the blogger is but I understand that he is an ex-SWPer who retained his sense of humour and knows where the bodies are buried. Very gossipy, very well written and very funny.
He also does a nice line in blog post titles. 'Everything I need to know about Leninism, I learned from midnight movies' is a particular favourite.

Stroppy Blog - Is Stroppy Blog one word or two? A socialist-feminist blog with three or four contributors, ranging from Labour Left types to the AWL to the SSP. Gets immediate kudos for not taking blogging too seriously.
This recent post from Cat on the Scottish Socialist Party's commitment to free public transport caught my eye because it reminded me that the Campaigns Dept of the SSP nicked the best marketing idea that the SPGB ever came up with. Now, if only they would up the chutzpah by nicking our socialist politics. I'd need never leave my armchair.

Mac Uaid - Socialist Resistance blogger who, if you listen to some SWPers who are still smarting from the Respect implosion, was the mini-me to Andy Newman's Doctor Evil during the big fall out.
Socialist Resistance? Bona fide Fourth Internationalists. The Mandel franchise and everything. Socialist Resistance has at various times been known as Socialist Outlook and the International Socialist Group. Best known for Ken Loach's man crush on its leader Alan Thornett.

They're currently doing the eco-socialist bit, and some critics (who aren't members of the SWP) have sneered that they went from being the democratic fig leaf for the SWP in Respect Mark 1 to the socialist fig leaf for Galloway and others in Respect Renewal. All jolly japes, very incestuous and convuluted, and makes US daytime soap operas look like Chekhov by comparison.

No, I don't know what that previous sentence meant either.

Dave's Part - Consistently readable blog from Dave Osler. His excuse for consistency is that he is a properly trained journalist . . . which most of us would consider cheating. He's been known in the past to write the only readable columns in otherwise dry as sawdust left journals - hello Red Pepper and Labour Briefing - and I got the shock of my life one time when I was watching the news on American TV one time, and his voice piped up as a talking head expert on some shipping disaster:

Me: That voice on the TV has left comments on my blog.

Kara: Yeah, but not for the longest time.

Me: . . .

Kara: yes?

Me: . . . He's a reformist. He's busy.

Check out his latest post, 'Why Tony Benn is wrong to back David Davis', and work your way down.

Shiraz Socialist - The Don Quixote and Sancho Panza of UK left blogging but nobody can work out if Jim D is Quixote to Volty's Panza or the other way around. I guess it depends what day you click on their blog.
Jim D is a long time AWLer and Volty was an AWLer when I knew him at London University ten years ago but the blog has an independent streak to it. How else can you explain the perverse insistence on blogging about jazz?

Check out Volty's post on why he'd vote for Obama if he was living in the States. Then check out this YouTube clip of Barack wrapping himself in the flag. It'll end in tears for Volty and the rest.

Hat tip to Will Rubbish for the YouTube clip.

The Scottish Patient - Kevin Williamson's blog was always a favourite blog in the sidebar. He's currently blogging mostly about his new radio show/podcast, which I have downloaded but I've yet to listen to. I promise that I will . . . if only for the Jimmy Shand techno crossover tunes.
I'm sure come the start of next season the blog will be ticking over once again with posts aplenty about the hibbees but in the meantime here's a picture of the red and white tablecloth Kev was using earlier today to mop up his tears.

Random Pottins - A blog that I really should click on more often. Good heavyweight journalism on subjects that I don't know enough about. I loved this wee snippet lambasting Frank Furedi from Pottins's post on the RCP turned Sp!ked mob:

"Furedi himself had written under his academic hat criticising the "safety culture", and complaining that trade unions were devoting too much attention to their members' safety at work. I could not help reflecting that, in a bourgeois democracy at least, the casualty rate among university professors was nothing like that in the building trade." [From 'Pirates, spies and cultural advisors']

Ian Bone - Bash Street Anarchism from Britain's second most famous anarchist. Big on expletives, capitalised letters and knockabout humour. He also mixes footie and politics better than me. BASTARD anarchist.

The Early Days of a Better Nation - The personal blog of Sci-Fi novelist Ken MacLeod. Being a proper writer, he doesn't blog that often but when he does it's usually interesting. (That's my half-arsed way of saying that with his background in science fiction, I only understand about 55% of what he's havering about.)
The good news is that he once voted for the SPGB. The bad news is that it looks like the SPGB is the one group on the left that he's never been a member of. Go figure.

A Very Public Sociologist - The bastard that prompted this overextended bullshit post. I'd consign him to hell if he wasn't already there. Awful taste in music but a very good blogger for all that. Nice take on self-reflection in his political life posts and I also like his branch notes posts. If I ever decide to politicise my blog, I'll steal use Phil's as a template.

I never mentioned it at the time but I will now: I liked Phil's post on the radical film maker, Peter Watkins, from a few months back. So much so that I cut and pasted the piece over to the unofficial Socialist Standard page on MySpace.

For all that, Phil's still on the SPGB's shitlist for the article he wrote on us in a former political life. Phil will one day discover that bound volumes of the Socialist Standard are not just for reading.

Adventures In Historical Materialism - SWP blogger who goes by the pseudonym of 'Snowball'. Has been known to melt in the comments box of other blogs when asked awkward questions but I don't think that's why he's got that user name.
I haven't just linked to him to knock him down. A genuinely interesting blog which is a great source for links to labour history and he has an excellent sidebar. (I'm always jealous of a good sidebar.)

As the footie's still consuming my thoughts, here's a link to an old post from 'Snowball' on football and politics, 'Histomat's guide to the World Cup'. I'm sure it will raise a few hackles.

Where's my smelling salts?

La guerre des Malouines (SPGB, 1982)

La Bataille socialiste continues to do excellent work remembering the history of the SPGB.

If I had my time again, I would have paid attention during those five years of daydreaming through French in school.

Armchair Theatre

Comrade John B of Class Warfare blogging fame has set up the new blog, Socialist TV.

I'll let John's blurb do the talking:

"It's tag line states it is: "Televising the revolutionary case against capitalism and promoting the socialist case for the establishment of a global social system in which the earth's natural and industrial resources are commonly owned and democratically controlled, and in which each person has free access to the benefits of civilisation"

And its introducton states the site "aims to focus on film/video presentation of arguments for Socialism. If a video, not produced by socialists, nevertheless argues an aspect/s of the Socialist case, it will be used."

So far it contains 4 videos produced by members of the SPGB."

SPGB TV? Excellent idea. Camera, lights, inaction . . .

Further Linkage:

Capitalism & Other Kids Stuff

Capitalism and Other Kids Stuff - An Update

My Life Story

Just realised that I've had a 'Suzi moment' after clicking on the Marx and Coca-Cola blog.

Of course, I knew that yesterday was the 160th anniversary of Fred and Charlie's classic agit-prop pamphlet. I forgot to mention it on the blog because I just happened to be distracted by a minor mid nineties agit-pop classic.

Marx and Coca-Cola's JM provides the killer quote from said pamphlet, whilst I do a cut and paste job from Mike Leigh's classic late eighties film, 'High Hopes':

Later in the afternoon, CYRIL and SHIRLEY speed along their street on their bike. They overtake SUZI, who is scuttling along, carrying a large, bulging plastic bag. SHIRLEY waves to her as they pass. She waves back.

Moments later, as CYRIL and SHIRLEY alight, SUZI appears round the corner . . .

SUZI: (Saluting) Wotcher, comrades!

SHIRLEY: Hallo, Suzi!

SUZI: Long time no see.

SHIRLEY: You all right?

SUZI: Yeah, I been fine.

(CYRIL and SHIRLEY take off their helmets.)

Where you been?

CYRIL: Highgate Cemetery.

SUZI: Oh! Someone dead?

CYRIL: Yeah - Karl Marx.

(He walks off. SHIRLEY laughs.)

SUZI: Oh, yeah, 'course!

CYRIL: I'd 'ave thought you'd 'ave known that.

SUZI: I did know that - I just forgot.

(SHIRLEY and SUZI follow CYRIL towards their block of flats.)

A Fragile Ego Writes . . .

*snigger* Wonder what prompted this little spewage?:

"The second thing is, the Sitemeter at the bottom of this page is inaccurate, and not in the good way (ie, it doesn't inflate the numbers). I've only recently discovered that Sitemeter and other similar services have a reputation for seriously undercounting visitors. It is true that another service that doesn't appear on the site gives me an extra hundred unique visitors a day, Google Analytics ditto, and a system that used to exist but went out of business gave me a couple of hundred more. However, some say that no free service really tells you how many page views, or unique visits, you get. The professional services that you pay for, or get free with certain packages like Wordpress, apparently describe five or six times more unique visits. Now, since I don't have advertisements on the site, I would generate no revenue from having five or six times more visitors - this is entirely an ego issue. As such, I'm not going to change the hosting service or pay for some package or other. But I am going to piss and moan about it. And perhaps find some way to get a proper counting device free."

PS - I also think it's sweet that Lennie keeps been drawn back to the swamp of "sectarian blogging". *Cuddles*.

The West Country Telegraph

Andy's in Swindon, but he still knows more about what's going on in Left of Democrat politics in the USA than I ever will*.

In his latest post to the Socialist Unity Blog, Andy gives the low down in the left/right split in the Green Party in the United States. I'm guessing the right faction within the Greens - with their desire for close co-operation with the Democrats - have got it in their collective heads that they never want a repeat of 2000. Apparently, it was Nader who handed the election to George W.

*Thing's balance out though: I know there's only one team in the West Country.

Back To Back

Catching my blogging eye on Crimbo Eve:

We Could Live To Be 1,000 Years Old But For Capitalism? Sounds like something to do with Doctor Who Is it a blog or is it a website? Doesn't matter: the World Socialist Party of United States webspace carries a review of Aubrey De Grey, “Ending Aging”. No, I hadn't heard of him either before now.

Never Apologise, Never Explain Nice to note that 'Freens' of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Republic is back on the blogging front. Thought we'd lost him.

Blast From The Past Paul Anderson's Tribune column from the 21 December tells the story of Labour MP, James Lamond, who died last month and who was a visible and vocal part of that sizeable section of the British Left who continued to be apologists of the Soviet Union right up until the first sledgehammer hit the Berlin Wall in the Winter of 1989.

Harvey Pekar, Paul Buhle and a new graphic history of SDS Fascinating post from Louis Proyect that covers Harvey Pekar graphic history of the Students for a Democratic Society, the internecine strife within the (American) Socialist Workers Party in the early seventies and Proyect's remembrance of growing up in the Catskills.

Communist Students Blog Well, the parent body, the CPGB/Weekly Worker continue to be a bit sniffy about this blogging lark, but it's interesting to note that the young guns have struck out with a Communist Students blog and if you check the sidebar of the CSB, you'll see links to personal blogs of Communist Students supporters. I've got a soft spot for James Turley's blog, Tragic Life Stories, with its subheading description of "Neither Matgamna Nor Bambery, But International Socialism!" and blogging labels which has 'sectariana' outscoring 'rightwingers' by 14-2. A scoreline like that can only mean one thing: a future season ticket holder to the Left Trainspotters discussion group.

Scottish SWP's Popular Front Of Especial Spite

Further to this earlier post on the blog.

Following the sighting of this article in today's Herald, it looks like their Chief Scottish Political Correspondent, Robbie Dinwoodie, has been refreshing the Socialist Unity Blog page. It's a shame that he couldn't have the netiquette to at least namecheck the blog that provides him with the story.

Btw, it turns out that in a past life Robbie Dinwoodie was a callow youth in the Edinburgh Branch of the SPGB in the early seventies. To paraphrase that old story about Pete Best, 'Where did it all go right?'

Tommy Sheridan and the Blogs

I'll be surprised if it stems the gossip tide, but it's interesting to note that Andy over at Socialist Unity Blog and Scottish Patient Kev have both switched off and/or have temporarily removed back commentary to the Sheridan versus the News of the World case on their respective blogs.

People from both sides of the divide just want to rant and rave about this little local difficulty.

Crooks and Liars?

Never heard of it before, but a quick link from Crooks and Liars blog and the sitemeter of the SOYMB suddenly goes through the roof.

Politically Enlightened by Ted Rogers and Dusty Bin

Ticking over, linking up:

Marx and Coca-Cola has been added to the blogroll. All I know about the blogger is that he is out of Seattle, describes himself as a libertarian socialist, and that I like the cut of his jib. More please.

Norman Mailer 1923-2007 I know I keep linking to the Splintered Sunrise blog at the moment, but it's the blogging equivalent of when you hear an interesting band for the first time, and you just have to play them over and over again until you get sick of the fucking sight of them. Yes, Splintered Sunrise is this year's Maximo Park.
SS throws up the information that Mailer attended Shachtmanite meetings as a young man, and that it had some influence on his novel, 'Barbary Shore'.

Christ, Saul Bellow, James T. Farrell, Harvey Swados and, now it appears, Norman Mailer all had some sort of connection to the Workers Party. That is some heavyweight literary list, and will also make up 85% of the lyrics for Lloyd Cole's next solo album.

OBSERVER JOURNALISTS = MI5 PATSIES Ian Bone once again takes a trip down Class War's memory lane, but not for laughs this time.
Bone responds to David Rose's recent revelation in the pages of the New Statesman that he [Rose] was a tame journalist for British Intelligence in the 90s/00s. Bone dates Rose's kept nature to a few years before that.

Debating the Russian Revolution SP(CWI) blogger, Phil BC carries a report of a recent debate between the SPGB and his lot on the subject of the Russian Revolution - 90 years on and all that - that took place at Keele University, and which was organised by Keele Socialist Students. (I mention Keele twice 'cos I have no idea where the hell it is. Maybe near Port Vale?)
Phil's blog also reminds me that there will be a fourth event in London on the weekend of the November 17/18 that Gary Neville - SOCIALIST? - won't be attending. Get the message?

PS - Typical Leninist that he is, Phil BC tries to hoodwink the workers by kidding them on that he has half-decent taste in music with his use of the image of an Franz Ferdinand record cover to accompany the report of the Russian Revolution debate. That centrist is fooling no one: "The Week's Top (Old) Tune: Let Me Show You by K-Klass WTF? I'd plough through Peter Taaffe's 'The Rise of Militant' again before putting myself through the pain of listening to that old pony again.

The one thing to get this abstract propagandist out of his armchair would be if I had to switch off the radio station playing early nineties dance music. Shocking.

Spaces of Hope The blog's quorate, but there's nothing on the agenda.
Come on people; get your arses in gear. Since when did you have to have something to say, before you started to post on your blog? Just make some shit up . . . like the rest of us.

Spot The Bloggers

Via Iain Dale's Diary comes news of the Top 100 Left of Centre UK Blogs (2007).

I know I'm stateside, but I haven't heard of three quarters of them. Part of the reason that I'm blogging about the list is so that I have an easy accesible link to the list in what might be a coming election period, and 'cos I want to name and shame some of the bloggers listed in the Red Hot Top 100:

9 - Dave's Part Should be top five, at least. Somebody has been interfering with the ballot.

21 - Three Score Years & Ten The blog of Harry Barnes. Who thought someone could be a MP for 18 years, and come out the other end a decent person? Always had a soft spot for HB, because of his columns in the old ILP magazine.

29 - A General Theory of Rubbish He swears a lot, and has been known to send me contraband Irn Bru flavoured rock candy through the mail. Good man.

31 - Austin Mitchell MP Refused to buy a Socialist Standard off of me one time. Known as a wit in the House of Commons, because it was rumoured he once told a funny joke thirty years ago.

35 - Shiraz Socialist I knew one half of the Shiraz's - Volty - when he was a cadre member of the 'tha matgamnite wing of old man 1904'ery'.

38 - Hak Mao The acceptable face of the Drink Sot Toon Blogging Army.

63 - Gauche Paul Anderson's blog. He doesn't blog enough. He doesn't gossip enough about his nefarious ultra-left past in his posts.

81 - Random Pottins Always readable, always fucks up his hyperlinks.

But no room on the list for Socialist Unity Blog; The Scottish Patient or, it has to be said, Lenny's Blog? Strange omissions, IMHO.

I'm not a fan of Lenny or his politics, but you can't deny that the bloke gets the hits. Socialist Unity Blog and the Scottish Patient are always readable and, in SUP's case, has played a central role in publicising the current Galloway/SWP shakedown within Respect. The SWP's Central Committee goes to bed at night cursing Al Gore for inventing the t'internet.

Last Word

And of course the SPGB blog, Socialism Or Your Money Back, isn't on the list. That would mean that we acknowledge that we are part of the left . . . and we can't have that.

No, This Is The Last Word

Andy N. over at the Socialist Unity Blog has compiled his own list of Top 101 Left Blogs. Honorable mentions to:

31 - Another Green World Derek Wall's blog. Totally unreadable, IMHO, but come the Green Revolution, it's handy to have a former subscriber to the Socialist Standard with his hands on the levers of power.

33 - Socialism Or Your Money Back The SPGB momentarily think of doing a Marlon Brando, but at the last minute bottle it and do a Sally Field instead.

80 - Spaces of Hope Its placing in the top 101 adds another five years to the life of the World in Common collective.

81 - Reasons To Be Possible Highly literate blogger who refuses to use spellchecker. If he wanted to, he could produce one of the best blogs out there. Bastard.

95 - From Despair To Where Maybe Andy included FDTW as an afterthought in a hastily constructed top 101. A shame if that's the case, 'cos Stuart and Dave's blog pisses over the majority of blogs on the list. No offence to the offended blogs, but it's always got something original to say, and says it with good grace and humility. So why the fuck they're blogging is anyone's guess.

Spot The Blogger

You can't even click on a random page on the internet these days without tripping over a political blogger. That bloke will end up in the House of Commons one day. And, if he must, hopefully before this bloke

In other UK blogging news, Dave O has been listed by the Daily Telegraph as the 93rd most influential lefty in Britain! That's 28 places lower than Claire Fox of the dodgy organisation formerly known as the Revolutionary Communist Party Institute of Ideas, but he does rank higher than Ken Loach, Tariq Ali, Germaine Greer and John Pilger, apparently.

You can gauge the semi-seriousness and the lack of political nous of the Young Tory Boy list compiler by his heavyweight labour movement analysis that states John McDonnell that (No.86), " . . . will be a big influence if Labour were to lose the next election", and by the fact that he has appeared to include the Green Party's Sian Berry and Caroline Lucas, primarily on the basis that he has a crush on them both.

Don't forget to also check out the comments generated by the list from your average Daily Telegraph reader. So that's where Guido gets his readership from.