imposs1904
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I like the interviews that have been done in recent years. I think that's something that should be encouraged.
alanjjohnstone wrote:But i think a regular "Guest Column" would be a welcomed addition to the Standard since it may perhaps strike up a more lively debate and discussion interaction, something which we presently don't have much of but possibly could capitalise upon.A regular guest column is a horrible idea. I have no objections whatsover to non-members articles appearing in the Standard but to make it a regular month-on-month feature would be a recipe for disaster. Personally, I think the Standard is going through a purple patch at the moment, but my one quibble is that the regular features format sometimes results in columns which are thinner than they should be. If I'm wrong about this, correct me, but it looks sometimes that the tv review or the sports column is hidebounded by the fact that the columns are supposed to fit a certain word length. (usually too short.)Incorporating a 'guest column' as a regular feature in the Standard would, for different reasons, perhaps result in some guest articles appearing for no other reason than the fact that the format dictates that a guest column is expected every month.Kick the idea to the kerb.
From Paul Mason's Facebook page:"Notes for my Newcastle University "Lord Patten Lecture" on Postcapitalism. 600 people turned up and despite two overflow rooms they had to turn people away. Next up is Sheffield, Saturday afternoon, Ilkey Lit Fest Sunday and then Manchester 22/10. My big LSE lecture will be on 18/11. Oh and St Paul's Cathedral on 3/11 and Leeds on 6/11."It might be worthwhile members getting along to his meetings, if they can.
Some interesting articles from yesteryear just added to the blog: From August 1979: L. E. Weidberg's Pass the Salthttp://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/10/pass-salt-ii-1979.html From September 1939: Editorial Birds of a Feather: The Russo-German Bombshellhttp://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/10/birds-of-feather-russo-german-bombshell.html From February 1977: Jim D'Arcy's Lewis Henry Morgan and the last hundred yearshttp://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/10/lewis-henry-morgan-and-last-100-years.html From November 1984: Steve Coleman's Who needs religious morality?http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/10/who-needs-religious-morality-1984.html Hat tip to Rob S. for originally putting these on the internet.
Another great article from the early days. This time from 1906:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-need-for-intellectuals-1906.htmlIt's general theme means that it could have been written yesterday.Cheers again to ALB for scanning the article.
Just uploaded to the blog, an October 1904 Socialist Standard article sticking the boot into Keir Hardie:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/10/is-there-class-war-1904.htmlHat tip to ALB for scanning the article.
Sorry, should have clarified: in Hackney North it's 4000 members and registered supporters. The same probably applies to the Islington North figures. Still qualifies as a double wow, though.
Just read on Facebook that the Islington North constituency labour party now has 5000 members and that the Hackney North CLP has 4000 members.wow, just wow is my only response at this point.
I'm the king of the anoraks . . . but I can't remember old money.Just added to the blog: Moses Baritz letter to the Manchester Guardian in 1933 on Engels in Manchester, which probably prompted the previously linked to article from Baritz that appeared in the Manchester Guardian the following year:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/09/frederick-engels-in-manchester-his.htmlHat tip to 'Young Master Smeet' and 'ALB' for originally digging out both pieces from Baritz.
An article by Moses Baritz on Frederick Engels in Manchester from the old Manchester Guardian that dates from 1934. Warning: this will only appeal to the anoraks amongst you:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/09/engels-his-20-years-in-manchester-1934.html
Vin wrote:Quote:The general staff would not allow a prime minister to jeopardise the security of this country and I think people would use whatever means possible, fair or foul to prevent that. You can’t put a maverick in charge of a country’s security. There would be mass resignations at all levels and you would face the very real prospect of an event which would effectively be a mutiny.”What does this say about the parliamentary road?Lends credence to our critics
If it's true, what does it say about any road? Our critics on the left and their r-r-r-r-r-revolutionary romanticism of the barricades and molotov cocktails are as fucked as we are.Anyway, I call bullshit on this latest story. It feeds into the paranoia of the capitalist left. They want to believe it.
ALB wrote:As expected the media are really going for him and MacDonnell with guns blazing, The front page of today's Times calls him a "bigot" for not singing the national dirge under a picture showing various members of the Establishment entoning this bigot song.Inside there's an even worse example of bigotry in an article by a certain Oliver Kamm denouncing him for having worn a white as well as/or instead of a red poppy. Declaring "the pacifism symbolised by white poppies is offensive", he justifies this offensive remark as follows:Quote:The white poppy was conceived in the 1930s by the Co-operative Women's Guild and adopted in 1936 by a pacifist organisation, the Peace Pledge Union (PPU). The PPU still exists and sells the poppies as "a symbol of grief for all people of all nationalities, armed forces and civilians alike, who are victims of war".Let's be clear. The armed forces of Nazi Germany were not victims of war. They were aggressors. The red poppies sold in aid of the Royal British Legion are not only signs of remembrance: they are an expression of gratitude for those who took up arms against genocidal despotism. The message of the white-poppy campaign is that Britain's servicemen and women were wrong then and are wrong now. That's what pacifism is. And that's why it's offensive as well as ignorant to treat red and white poppies as complementary.I don't think that's the message of the white poppy. What it is is clearly stated in the passage the bigot quotes. And only a bigot couldn't care a fig for people from the "enemy" country who get killed. It's almost the definition of one.We know lots of journalists are scumbags, this one in particular.
On the matter of the poppy industry – and its use in propagating ruling class ideas – 'Ivan' wrote an excellent article in the Socialist Standardin 1973 on that subject:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/2015/07/day-of-remembrance-for-what-1973.html
https://search.socialhistory.org/Record/ARCH01030Scroll down to Number 22 in the list. It doesn't look like they are accessible online, but it looks like there are 12 items of correspondence between Pannekoek and an M.C. Harris that dates from 1947/48. PS – If you scroll down to number 53, you'll see that there is an item of correspondence from Rab to Pannekoek that dates from 1936.
