One or two dues to pay.
The Seven Songs for Spring meme has made very slow progress through the turgid waters of the internet, if that’s not too mixed a metaphor. Anyway, The Fat Man has picked it up. A few venn diagram moments, including Arlo Guthrie and Leonard Cohen. Honourable mentions for Airforce Amazons, Johnny Guitar and The Contentious Centrist, down other tributaries of this meme.
A while back I debuted in the 32nd Carnival of Socialism, hosted by AVPS.
Lastly POUMISTA looks at the use and abuse of George Orwell – quite timely as a few right wing establishment writers have made the shortlist for the Orwell prize for blogging.
Boffy’s Blog, which I featured here, is hosting next, so you never know.
La Tendance Coatesy, however, is not so happy with that carnival.
There’s something called the ‘Carnival of Socialism’. It’s a rotating list of Blog posts the ‘Carnis’ decide are socialist. I suppose they must be – if I could be arsed to check up on all of them. Like most self-appointed glee clubs it’s terribly dull. The latest one looks as if it’s written by a professional dullard. Somehow Tendance Coatesy, despite its leading position in the labour movement, and the hope and joy it spreads amongst the world’s struggling oppressed, doesn’t get mentioned. In its place too many Quorn pies of bland comment maketh a sorry feast.
With a proud tradition of contrarianism we at the Tendance are now holding an alternative Carnival, of, you guessed it, Contrariness. Here are some recent recommended Posts that grade the make: Tony Greenstein has a go at David Aaronovitch and ‘anti-Zionist’ Gillad Atzmon (here). Bob from Brokley (where?) is a, “Blog about trans-Atlantic translation, Jews and Jew-haters, the old and new Stalinists, islam and secularism, contrarians and refuseniks, and South London.” Voltaire’s Priest has some excellent musings on religion’s claims to spread peace at Shiraz Socialist. This drew forth a reply from the Grande Dame of West London, Red Maria (not, I suspect, her real name). Charlie, who actually thinks about economics, asks if the left should consider a ’sustainable austerity’ programme. Stroppy pleads, “can commentators on this please try to debate without calling people names such as scabs and nazis?” Nation of Duncan does a bit of battling for the class struggle. Mick talks up the Japanese Communist Party. Pouminista does a magnificent job speaking about the often forgotten parts of the anti-fascist, anti-Stalinist left. Social Republic has some sharp thoughts on Italian nationalism. The Soul of Man Under Capitalism opines that “the man is screwing you through every fucking orifice…” Ian Bone recommends that we “get up off your arses..” Dave Osler controversially argues against Tax Cuts for the Rich. And Modernity does a Quick ‘Anti-Zionist’ Quiz that is certain to bring joy to members of George Galloway’s dwindling band of last-standers. Rosie Bell has thoughtful reflections on the play Seven Jewish Children. Enty gets ready for May Day.
Modernity followed up by noting some rather poor practice in a subsequent Carnival of Socialism: positive press for the anti-socialist butcher of Tehran, racist dictator Ahmadinejad. (However, the carnival in question, the 34th, did have one or two highlights: Mick’s obit for Jack Jones, Charlie Pottins’ Toldpuddle history lesson, Splintered Sunrise’s Marxist revisionism.
While I’m blowing my own trumpet, finally, I also featured in Slack Bastard’s Random Notes:
A neat-o blog I recently discovered is called Poumista, ‘Against Stalinism and Fascism’, written from the perspective (one assumes) of a follower of Nin who escaped 1930s Spain via his/her own personal TARDIS and is now wreaking their revenge by blogging furiously. Poumista’s first blog entry (June 2008) concerns Communist hack Claud Cockburn: I still gotta copy of his writings on the conflict in Spain lying around somewhere.
Never had the word “neat-o” attached to me before. In the fine company, by the way, of Reading the Maps.
I think that’s it.
Poumista 