The Carnival of Socialism is a tad delayed

But I'll have it up here by Monday evening . Been busy demonstrating in Brighton and then Dave hogged the laptop . I am though trying to bring all my lovely readers , and Duff and anon, lots of good links and that all takes time to do properly . Patience .

UPDATE :

Apologies again. Been offered a few hours temp work, yesterday and today, so off working . Crap pay, but gets me outta the house.

Meanwhile a little musical interlude :

It's back, the Carnival of Socialism

Yep, Mr Jepps is kick starting the carnival back to life and I have volunteered to do one this weekend .

Its been dormant for a while, but the aim is that lefty bloggers take turns in doing a Carnival .Basically pulling together posts of interest across the left blogosphere . It can be themed or general . In the past I have done both.

I enjoy it as it focuses me on looking wider than my usual blogs and hopefully introduces them to new readers .

Do please leave suggestions for posts in the comment box, it will be a general one this time, and if you are interested in doing one contact Jim over on the Carnival website . There are also links to past ones, that will give you a flavour of what they are like.

Carnival of Socialism #39

Cross-posted from Infantile and Disorderly

When I agreed to the Carnival of Socialism, I wasn’t thinking clearly. Otherwise, I would have said that the week when I start a new job and move house (into one without the internet I might add) is not the best time to be trawling through the left blogosphere. But who cares? Hastily compiled round at a friend’s house on a borrowed laptop, here is the - by no means comprehensive - 39th Carnival of Socialism! Enjoy… And happy blogging!

Let's start with the tennis. Splintered Sunrise tackles ethnic slurs of Eastern European tennis players in The Telegraph, and Cruella Blog observes that sexism is flourishing in the world of tennis.

The Third Estate has an exclusive interview with Mark Steel, addressing the the Green Party ("Caroline Lucas is a very impressive character") and the SWP's call for left unity ("it’s like an alcoholic going back to his wife and saying ‘I’ll be different this time I promise!'")

Revolutionary Road provides some of the most up-to-date information in English of the situation in Iran.

Vengeance and Fashion can think of better things to privatise than the railways and postal service. Like the Queen, for instance.

Don Paskini at Liberal Conspiracy tackles the so-called "Red Tories".

HarpyMarx reports on India's overturning of the homophobic Section 377 (here) and the cops' spurious allegation that Ian Tomlinson's killer could have been a member of the public disguised as a police officer (here).

Reading the Maps commends the role played by New Zealand soldiers in fighting Franco.

Liam MacUaid writes about the MOD's approach to compensation, and doesn't think that $210 compensates for the murder of an Afghan man's wife.

Left Luggage tackles the tricky subject of Left Disunity.

Benjamin Solah calls for full marriage rights in Australia.

The Red Wombat Hole has a statement of solidarity with Iranian workers and protesters.

Charlie Pottins has an interesting question to ask: "WHY, in these recession-hit times, when companies are backing off so many projects, have six big corporations - one of them BAE Systems(formerly known as British Aerospace) found money to lobby the US Congress, not over trade restrictions, taxes or legislation that might obviously effect business, but on an issue concerning something that happened almost a century ago?"

A Very Public Socialist highlights evidence from New Scientist that the world is perfectly capable of feeding a growing population...

The Daily Maybe reports on the climate protesters found guilty this week.

Though not from the Socialist Blogosphere, you should still check out Marjane Satrapi (the maker of Persepolis) speaking of her longing to return to Iran and her admiration for the courage of the Iranian youth in the New York Times.

Finally, Hands Off the People of Iran will be playing cricket against the Labour Representation Committee to raise funds for Iranian workers. Attila the Stockbroker and John McDonnel MP will be heading up the two teams. More details here.

- - - - -

Thanks for reading and apologies if I missed you or your submission out.

Peace and solidarity,

Vicky (Infantile and Disorderly)

Carnival of Socialism- Iran special

Apologies if this isn't as extensive as usual, but I *volunteered* at the last minute and this weekend is busy .

Here goes...

I want to focus on Iran for this Carnival, apologies but I have run out of time to cover topics more widely. I'll try and do a mini round up later in the week.

Initially there was not that much being posted and Facebook was one of the best sources of info. HOPI have now set up a blog , News from the struggle in Iran, which is keeping track of the ongoing struggles in Iran. This is a useful place for reports , news and videos.

Also found via Facebook (what did we do before !) is photos and news report from an Iranian blogger at Revolutionary Road .

So what are the left saying? Well Dave states :

Given the choice, socialists must extend solidarity– not to mention whatever concrete support they can possibly give – to the courageous young protestors on the streets today. If they are successful, they will open up a the space in which an independent labour movement and a genuine left can re-emerge in Iran.

For those who never thought they would see the day, check out Mod and Punchie agreeing in the comments! Yes really .

Ed also muses on the response of the left:

It doesn't get much more straight forward than this. Either you side with those struggling against an oppressive state, facing down armed thugs and paramilitaries on the streets - those being beaten, intimidated, threatened and shot - or you side with oppression.

...

It is clear that a wide range of political and social forces are throwing their weight behind the anti-government demonstrations including the Iranian Left and other progressive forces.

This movement, and right now only this movement, can smash the most reactionary aspects of the Iranian state regime - the legally embedded misogyny, the murderous homophobia, the stonings, the hangings, the execution of children, the repression of trade unions, the incarceration of political prisoners. With (a lot of) luck it may even go further than this - this sort of struggle can take people beyond liberal demands into a much more radical consciousness very quickly.

Of course some on the left seem to think Ahmadinejad is a working class hero, whats a few gay people strung up from lampposts or a bit of holocaust denial among comrades.

For more on those who would defend a repressive state check out this post by Yoshie on Lenin's tomb (and the comments).I am pleased to see Lenny taking issue with him.

But but but...he is an anti imperialist I hear you splutter and he doesn't wear suits ...well as Charlie states :

Think about it again. Ahmadinejad may strike up poses, but behind the populism, his government has not stopped neo-liberal economic policies and attacks on workers' rights. Repression of women and minorities is no recipe for national unity or an advanced society, and imperialism has no problem with religious reaction and sectarianism - witness Saudi Arabia again, or what the occupiers have bequeathed the people of Iraq. As for the Palestinians, they need Ahmadinejad's flirtation with Holocaust-denying Nazi nutcases like a hole in the head. And though Iran's right to develop nuclear weapons to counter Israel's may be alright as a debating point, in the real struggle it is worse than useless. The Palestinians want to regain their homeland, not a radioactive ruin.

Coatsey is blogging on Iran and keeping a close eye on some sections of the left and their responses.

Meanwhile Jim considers the different approach of Obama to the demonstrations and compares it favourably with the likely response of his predecessor.Oooh Jim, you neo con you.

Max hopes for an end to repressive theocratic regimes. Don't we all...well no unfortunately.

Shiraz highlight solidarity actions by car workers, so its not just a Gucci revolution then !

Mod has a post highlighting the role of women in the demonstrations .

Meanwhile some solidarity action , on the 18th June there was a protest in London outside the Iranian Embassy. Peter Tatchell reports on it:

Nearly 600 people – both straight and gay – joined last night’s demonstration in London in solidarity with the Iranian people’s mass protests for democracy and human rights. The rally was held outside the Iranian Embassy and included a gay contingent comprising members of OutRage!, Iraqi LGBT and gay Muslims.

“Although there were a few awkward looks, we received a mostly warm welcome from the predominantly straight Iranian protesters,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of OutRage!, who had encouraged people to turnout on Thursday night, to coincide with the mass protests in Tehran the same day.

“Some thanked us for joining the demonstration; others specifically emphasised their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. It was a very positive move to have a visible gay presence at the rally. I think we generated considerable goodwill from many of those in attendance.

“We joined the protest to show our solidarity with the heroic freedom struggle of the Iranian people."

I particularly like the fact that Ahmadinejad, who of course said they don't have gays in Iran, is now saying :

“But now in his latest broadside against the pro-democracy protesters in Tehran, he has accused his political opponents of ‘officially recognising thieves, homosexuals and scumbags’ in order to win their votes. The old tyrant has let the cat of the bag. Gay people exist in Iran and they - and millions of others - voted against him. Hurrah!” said Mr Tatchell.

Yep those damn queers...were they wearing Gucci I wonder .?

Still its all going to fizzle out anyway of course.

Carnival of Socialism

Jim J has asked me if I can help out at short notice and do the Carnival this Sunday. Well I usually spend ages ploughing through the blogs, but this time it will be more of a quickie. But dear readers, you can help. Send me links to anything that I might find interesting . Pop them in the comments to this post.


I did think I would focus on coverage of Iran in the blogs, but all issues of interest will be covered; sex, religion, Jim Denham and anything else you deem suitable for Stroppyblog!

Bits and pieces

Apologies for the lack of blogging, mixture of being busy and bloggers block.

While I ponder doing a proper post, here are some bits and pieces that caught my attention.

Belated link to Jim's Carnival of Socialism, a very good round up of international affairs , Labour and bit of culture .The next one is over at BoffyBlog on the 10th May, so send posts for inclusion to Boffy.

Meanwhile Coatsey, if not a national then a leftie 'treasure', has decided to come upwith his own Carnival of Contrarians :

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.

Well always room for more carnivals, and thanks for the link Coatesey, but I must defend Jim J . He is open to anyone hosting a blog (socialists of course)and having themes or just general leftiness and isn't a professional or even amateur dullard. I do look forward though to more Coatsey Carnivals !!He is of course welcome to host his an edition of the Carnival of Socialism and even theme it , perhaps on contrarians and the left!

I'd also like to encourage anyone else to consider hosting it. It is actually fun to do (or is that me being sad ?) , it highlights blogs across the left and hopefully introduces people to ones they hadn't come across .In the general bickering and point scoring that is a feature of the left, that's all for the good surely ? As Dave points out :

PERHAPS it's the spillover effect from the sectarianism that typifies the hard left away from the keyboard, but for some reason leftie bloggers rarely draw attention to good stuff published on other leftwing websites.

Received info on this via facebook:


Vigil for Iraqi LGBT
To remember the dead, to protect the living...


01 May 2009
08:45 - 09:30pm
The Indian Gate (Gateway to South) The Pavilion, Brighton
Palace Place, North Road
Brighton

A candlelit vigil...to remember those in Iraq who have died from homophobic violence, for those who are hiding and for those who are trying to recover... we will remember them, we will keep them alive, we will support them seek asylum in the UK.Candles provided.
Info at:
http://www.iraqilgbt.org.uk/
And Facebook.


I hope to get along and report back.

Carnival of Socialism

I'm a bit sad I suppose, but I do enjoy trawling around the blogs and doing the Carnival is a good excuse. Its a general Carnival this time, but I have some themes within it. I'm not pretending to be balanced here, its what has caught my eye.

Last week was the 25th anniversary of the start of the Miners Strike. Bloody hell that makes me feel old !
I was particularly involved with women's groups and "Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners"and so have added this, an old blog post, as there a film of the activities of LGSM and a little clip of the "Pits and Perverts" benefit .I was there !!

Quite a few bloggers have written about this anniversary and their memories. Will has a post and a YouTube clip and states , in his usual delicate prose:

Meanwhile, Thatcher is dying slowly, and hopefully in pain, while she pisses and shits in her filthy stained Victorian knickers like a rodent does -- not having control over anything in that department like.

Dave reminisces and discusses the tactics at the time :

Back in the day, I was a skinny young student Trot with an exaggerated ‘aircraft carrier’ version of the flat top haircut all the boys then used to sport in honour of Morrisey, and like hundreds of thousands of other people, an ardent supporter of the dispute.

I was frequently to be found shaking a bucket outside Leytonstone tube station to raise cash for the local support group, and was actively engaged in attempting to win miners to my group’s particular brand of far leftism. Mainly this seemed to involve buying them beer and discussing intensely how victory could best be assured.

And whatever quibbles I had, then or now, I remain convinced that strategically speaking, Scargill’s handling of the situation was right. Indeed, he probably had little alternative but to act as he did.

In another post he goes on to look at the continued impact of Thatcherism on the former mining communities, as does Chris Dillow, who highlights the social and economic costs of pit closures .

For more on the Strike check out : Tom Watson MP, Mick Hall, Bob from Brockley, Snowball and HarpyMarx.

Last week was International Women's Day and to mark that here are a collection of posts that highlight the struggles and crap still facing women both here and across the world.

Now regardless where you stand on sex workers, I'd say most would agree that a 14 year old girl should be treated as a victim of rape and not taken to court for 'profiting from criminal earnings' . The school found lubricants and condoms in her bag and called the police not social services. Surely this was a child protection issue ? Check out the F Word for more.

The F Word also has some posts on the worrying attitudes to domestic violence and rape, including:


between 10-20% think domestic violence is acceptable in some way in response to “nagging”, flirting with other men, dressing in ‘sexy’ clothes in public, and not “treating him with respect”.


Another post highlights the rise of domestic violence in London.

Rape is often used during war against women, Feministing reports how it is used in South Africa against lesbians to 'correct' them. Murderers of lesbians also seems to be walking free there.

Caroline critically comments on coverage of a young woman who killed herself, which attributes some responsibility for the bullying that lead to it to her 'slutty' behaviour.

Fighting back, Coatsey reports on Iranian Women activists with links to demos on IWD.

Charlie also has a post for IWD looking at women's role in the context of the wider working class struggle.

Meanwhile a 75-year-old Syrian woman has been sentenced to 40 lashes by a Saudi court, for “mingling” - ie having two men in her house who are not related to her.

Moving on to religion and women, the F Word also highlights the Vatican's contribution to IWD. What's contributed most to women's liberation ? Well of course this is all relative to where you live , but generally most would suggest the pill, access to abortion, right to vote, equal financial rights, work etc.

Wrong, its the washing machine! Of course, because that's women's role isn't it, breeding and housework. Love this quote:

The author writes that "even though early models of the washing machine were expensive and unreliable, the technology had improved to the point that there is now the image of the super woman, smiling, made-up and radiant among the appliances of her house."

Radiant and smiling, hm, think it might be another 'appliance ' they are thinking , though I have heard of 'uses' for the spin cycle.

Yeah, keep women in their place, but even worse is the lack of humanity in this report of the Catholic Church in Brazil towards a pregnant nine year old girl:

In Brazil, there is a horrific story of a 9-year-old girl who was raped and impregnated (h/t Falloch’s comment). It’s believed that the rape was committed by her step-father. The girl was not only pregnant at that young age, but also pregnant with twins. And so, as makes perfect sense, she had an abortion. Because she was raped, because she was much to young to have a child, and because the stress of having twins would of course have been far too much for a 9-year-old’s body to handle. And she could have died.

Now, the Catholic Church has excommunicated both the girl’s mother and the doctors who performed the abortion, which likely saved the girl’s life.

Well then. At least they didn’t excommunicate the girl, right? Maybe they decided that she was much too young to have made the decision to have the abortion on her own, or to understand what was happening. But not too young, apparently, to be forced to give birth to the twins caused by her rapist. Not too young to quite possibly die in the process.

In defending the decision, the Church’s lawyer has said:

“It’s the law of God: Do not kill. We consider this murder,” Miranda said in comments reported by O Globo.

But rape, apparently, is a-okay. After all, I don’t see the step-father, who allegedly admitted to having raped the girl since the age of 6, being excommunicated. Killing a fetus is apparently worthy of such censure and shunning. Horrifically violating a small child, though? Well, we all make mistakes. And this stance is of course nothing new.


How anti abortionists have the nerve to take the moral high ground and express concern for life when that seems, for women, to end when they are born. How could anyone with any compassion make a child, a 9 year old abused child, go through giving birth to twins .

This post by Will highlights the double standards and hypocrisy of the Catholic Church.

A final post on religion, this time from New Humanist highlighting some delightful t-shirts produced by The Passions for Christ movement . These include a series of "Ex-" T-shirts in which members declare that, thanks to Christ, they are now ex-fornicators, ex- masturbators, ex-homosexuals or ex-porn addicts. They even have a link to a blog where :

P4CM member Dameco wrote a blog on her myspace entitled Overcoming Masturbation, which testified to her 7 year battle with masturbation and God's power to deliver her from this sin. Since then, people from all over the world have been writing in saying that they too have battle with this sin and did not know they could be free from it until they read her testimony.

There is a clip where she talks about overcoming her 'appetite for lust'.


MarshaJane has suggested we should bring out some Stroppyblog t-shirts after a recent debate here.
Perhaps 'wanker, you say that like its a bad thing!' or 'I have an appetite for lust'? Suggestions please.

I really don't get what their problem with wanking is. I mean if god bothers want to insist people wait for marriage before sex then surely let them have a wank? Why is it wrong ?

Anyway, enough of that.

Right , a few more posts here, some sent to me, that don't fit into my themes .

Jim is cheered by the news of Bristol Palin not going through with a forced marriage and also posts on what Labour Party members think.

Two posts from Phil .One assessing "History and Class Consciousness" and another on building a campaigning Trades Council.
Phil is also hosting the next Carnival.

"Life is complicated yet beautifully simple" has a post on the 'detention' of Phil Woolas .

And finally a book review from Benjamin Solah .


Phew...done.

Carnival of Socialism...

Will be a little delayed...here tomorrow.

Carnival of Socialism

Ooops, almost forgot about this. I'm down for the carnival on the 15th March.

See over here for details.

I'll be looking around the blogs, but do please send me links to interesting posts that you think should be in the Carnival .

It will be a general Carnival, not themed, but given today is the 25th anniversary of the start of the Miners Strike i'd like to include some posts on this.

Leave links in the comments here by the 13th March.

Carnival of Socialism

The Carnival of Socialism is back and the first one this year is over at The Mustard Seed.
Its a themed this time , on Darwin and science, to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Volunteers are needed for future Carnivals, which are every fortnight. They can be general or have a theme.

I have volunteered for the 15th March, not sure yet whether to have a theme. Suggestions welcome.

If you do one and its themed, you can ask people to write something for it. Its also a good idea to publicise in advance and ask for suggestions for posts to include, whether themed or not. Sad as it may sound , I quite like doing it and reading them. Its a good way to discover new blogs.

So if you're up for it, pop over to the Carnival Blog and suggest a date.

Carnival of Socialism

He may be the best Greenie Blogger, but Jim hasn't let that go to his head. This week he is mucking in and hosting the Carnival of Socialism.

He needs more posts. They can be your own or others you have seen and are of interest.

But do hurry up as Jim is going to write up the carnival post on the strike of midnight, after the ball I presume.

So off you go. Oh and volunteer to host one. Its good fun and doesn't have to be hard work.

Pop over here for details.

UpdateThe carnival is now up!

Special May Day Carnival of Socialism

Last minute request for posts. Carnival of Socialism is hosting a special May Day edition :

Just a reminder that the next Carnival will be hosted on this site ON MAY 1ST so please email blog posts about any or all aspects of international workers' day to camusfan@msn.com.

So if you have written one , or planning to, or see any of interest drop them an e-mail.

Latest Carnival of Socialism

Check it out at Leftwing Criminologist .


Its a themed one :


Hi all, Welcome to Carnival of Socialsim 20 - focussing on crime, criminal justice and socialism.
Crime is a relatively under discussed subject on the left - Indeed it's even seen as a weakness, but that shouldn't be so - given the high levels of crime in many places around the world (especially advanced capitalist countries) and the expensive measures used in the attempt to combat this (ie. prison) - this really shouldn't be the case. In this Carnival, we'll look at various aspects of crime from how socialists should approach crime, to criticising capitalist methods of tackling crime to crime in the third world.

Carnival of Socialism

I have been a bit remiss on plugging the latest carnivals.

Apologies to Jack at Practically Insurgent and blackstone at Power to the People, both good carnivals . Pop over if you haven't already.

The next carnival is over at Leftwing Criminologist. So send any posts of interest over to him.

The Carnival of Socialism ..and about bloody time!

Better late than never…I hope. Here is the Carnival, the second of the relaunch.I have tried to capture a number of themes and posts that have caught my eye, and a few sent me. I would have liked to have had more from beyond the usual suspects, but time has been a bit short this week.

Here goes…

Last week there was the annual Green Party conference and so there are a few posts from there .

Greenman has some links to updates from the conference.

There is also a temporary blog , set up by that very busy Jim Jay , who introduces it :

What is Caucus? Well, it is what it is really. No more, no less. It’s a one off journal, primarily for the Green Party Reading conference that discusses ideas, raises issues and is a modest contribution to progressive politics.
Caucus is not a Green Party publication, and indeed half the contributors are not Green Party members. Nor is Caucus part of any group inside or outside of the Greens. Where it has an agenda it’s there for all to see.
The contributors share one thing in common, a desire to raise the level of political debate on the left, and they want to do that by talking to people with whom they do not always agree.

There are a number of posts on there, check out one on trade unions and a green society by Peter Tatchell and a post on ethical tourism by Jim.

As an aside, and sort of linked to travel, check out the rumblings over Max and his Guardian (who daddy works for)travel blog.


Let Max introduce himself :

Hello. I'm Max Gogarty. I'm 19 and live on top of a hill in north London.

At the minute, I'm working in a restaurant with a bunch of lovely, funny people; writing a play; writing bits for Skins; spending any sort of money I earn on food and skinny jeans, and drinking my way to a financially blighted two-month trip to India and Thailand. Clichéd I know, but clichés are there for a reason.

Basically nepotism+wanky gap year+skinny jeans = some arsey comments on the Guardian site having a pop at young Max and his skinny jeans. Who would have thought that of the Guardianistas !

Of course a few leftie blogs joined in including DSTFW and Ian Bone.

Will, Hakmao and some others are on form and highlight the arrogant and obnoxious behaviour of many gap year kids 'finding' themselves as they use places like Thailand and India as their own, cheap, playground.

Hakmao tells of one bit of revenge :

They are considered to be scum in South East Asia. One always does one’s bit…
A young travel agent and I once entered into a spontaneous and unspoken agreement to fuck up the week of some gapistas. It was in Mersing, waiting for the boat to Pulau Tioman, they were giving it large about what a shithole they thought Malaysia was, and said worse about Thailand. The travel agent lad offered to cash traveller’s cheques for them, but they sneered that they would get a better rate ‘on the island’. He agreed that they were undoubtedly right and I kept my trap shut. There were no currency exchange facilities on Tioman

Anyway, where were we , yep Greens.
Here goes, a few more Greenie posts from the conference .Two posts in particular are of interest to lefties both pissed off with the left and its behaviour and wondering whether there is an alternative to what we have . So check out 'Is the Green party anti-capitalist' .

In another Jim ponders(that word sort of suits Jim :-) )on the nature of the conference and reflects on it from his past leftie experiences:

What has always impressed me about the Green Party is its unflinching openness of process allowing members access to every bureacratic decision and influence over how their conferences are run. When deciding what motions get heard first its the members who decide, not some closed committee; When Standing Orders Committee report it is thoroughly discussed in workshops and voted on on conference floor so any controversial or inept decisions are laid open for the members to see; Members decide what fringes occur at conference and they decide
whether they can be bothered to go to them too.
Coming from a more traditional left background this was a real culture shock to me at first - it just seemed crazy to allow members direct possession over their own conference, even when they are a bit silly. But crazy in a lovely, lovely way.
So that means when there is a fringe meeting on policing you get lots of really interesting people attending who feel it's their meeting - even if the person who called it is not *entirely* suited to chair the discussion. When we have a fringe on prostitution we get blazing rows, I mean heated debate, because the person who called the fringe opposes Green Party policy (which is for total decriminalisation) and favours the Swedish Model.

Staying on a green theme, but away from the Green Party conference , check out Phil’s post on carbon credits .


Right, thats enough of the Greens.

Economics and banking now. Yep, this is a serious political blog ...sometimes.
Check out dave's site for an anaylsis of the Northern Rock nationalisation.
Pop over to a guest post by Ed over at Jim's on the credit crunch.

Crime and young people has cropped up a bit and been covered from different angles. Its an area that the left doesn’t really grasp well,how to balance the brutalising effects on kids of poverty and capitalism with the reality that juvenile crime hits the working class hardest. Dave starts a debate and check out our old mate Mr Puritan (he is Paddy Garcia there) for his tough no nonsense send them to Iraq, that will get them running crying back to their 'junkie mummies' approach in the comments.

Meanwhile Natalie Bennett highlioghts the reality for many kids in this society , reporting on a debate on children in detention, children in care and unaccompanied children asylum-seekers.

On a related note Leftwing Criminlogist outlines draft Principles of a Marxist Approach to criminology. Go on Paddy, join in there :-)

The 15th February was the 5th anniversary of the big anti war demo. A number of bloggers have reflected back on that day and its after effects on the left.
Check out Complex System of Pipes, Jim D and Andy for a mixed bag of anaysis.

On the wider issue of antiwar activity, Ian Bone criticises the ‘passive-ism’ of the STwC and the failures of the StWC :

It’s a failure of us all………………but………..with the implosion of the SWP and the widely perceived bankruptcy of marching from A to B then the possibiliy of a broad base direct action campaign - including both pacifists and non-pacifists as Yukka states - may be on the agenda again.


Still on the subject of war, Michael Greenwell suggests that it is is not a natural part of human behaviouir.


Now the next few posts are dedicated to Mr Eddie Truman,to show I take a pop at all religions :-) Over at the New Humanist blog I found these , starting with the catholic church in Australia having to train up more exorcists :

The Catholic Church in Australia is facing a massive shortage of exorcists – and hundreds of priests are to be trained to help plug the deficit. Church leaders are blaming a rise in Satanism for the increasing demand for exorcisms.

The Church has now vowed to "fight the devil head-on" by training hundreds of new exorcists. Father Gabriele Amorth, 82, the Pope's Exorcist-in-Chief, recently announced a new initiative to ensure every Catholic diocese has a group of trained exorcists, saying: "Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the devil. You have to hunt high and low for a proper, trained exorcist."

As for the Brisbane priest, who asked the Sunday Mail not to name him for "fear of reprisals", he remains troubled by the threat of possession: "We are not very plentiful and certainly need more of us to cope with the big occult following that is emerging today. It's frightening what can happen when you invite entities into your life which are not meant to be part of God's world."

He provided the newspaper with one example of someone carelessly inviting these entities into their life: "He said one woman he had met had been plagued by demonic manifestations since taking part in a playground witch game as a child."

Right, now a post on bible bashers in the US using their small children ‘to convert the world’s sinners’

First up – and arguably the "star" of the show – was seven-year-old Samuel Boutwell from Mississippi, who is forced by his parents to stand on street corners urging sinners to repent. We first meet him as he preaches outside his local abortion clinic and we follow him on a road trip to New York, where he hopes to convert those urban heathens. As his Baptist minister father observes, "more people means more sinners. Fact". Needless to say the people of New York prove somewhat unreceptive to the sight of a child preaching fire and brimstone, and his father comes in for some abuse from passers-by. Unable to understand why the urban populace refuses to repent, Samuel eventually breaks down crying.

In case there was any doubt where this child acquired his religious zeal, an interview with his father informs us that, when he was three, Samuel asked him if he was going to Hell. Mr Boutwell responded by asking him if he had ever "sinned against God". Samuel didn't know the answer, so his father asked "have you ever disobeyed your mother?". Samuel answered in the affirmative, so he was kindly informed that yes, if he didn't mend his ways he would burn in Hell for eternity.

Yep, lets privilege religion and the right to fuck up kids!

Right, end of that rant.

Just as I was finishing the carnival , news came through about Castro retiring, so here is a last minute entry .Check out Dave's post
I know, another post from Osler, but honest its not favouritism. I couldnt find many posts anaysling the situation and Dave recycled one from his trip to Cuba. Add others in the comments.

Now I am going to be all upbeat about the left. It won't last mind. Check out a post from Jim saying what he loves about the left! On a similar positive theme, check out this post by Organised Rage on a school rebellion.

And on a practical note , Dave Riley is working on a wiki activists toolkit .Its a collaborative project where people can add to and edit and work together . Im keeping my cynical streak in check , I won’t say anything negative…

I’ll just finish off with the ridiculous. Phil has a post on conspiracy theories, lamenting the quality of them these days.
Mind this was before the latest rantings at the Diana inquest. Check out Hakmao for her take on it .


Right that’s your lot . Next carnival is over at Jack Ray's blog on the 29th February.

Carnivalof Socialism

I have volunteered to do the next Carnival, which is due this friday. It will be a few days late,as the real world has interrupted my usual strolls around the wonderful world of blogs this week. Still Jim and John are such sweeties they won't tell me off :-)

Jim did a spendid job on the first carnival and I hope to do as well.

See this post for a bit more info .

Its once a fortnight, a sort of round up and at the moment its not being themed.

Please send me posts that you think should be in it.

I would like to find some new blogs to higlight, well new to me, a bit less of the usual suspects.

I also plan, next week, to update the blog roll.

Oh and more volunteers are needed !

Carnival of Socialism

As I posted a little while back, the Carnival has been relaunched .

Jim has kicked off the first Carnival over at The Daily (Maybe), and very good it is to.

Pop over and read it .

The next one will be here in a fortnight. Do send me posts you think you should be in it.

Oh and volunteers needed for future Carnivals.

Carnival of socialism

I was quite concerned that John A , now retired , would spend a life of debauchery sipping cocktails in Marbella. But no, he is hard at work relauching the 'Carnival of Socialism 'with comrades Jim J and Dave M.


The Carnival :

... is getting back on track due to popular demand and a regrettable failure of capitalism to overthrow itself. John has been joined as editor by Jim and Dave to make a small but perfectly formed team which will be taking the Carnival forward into 2008.

Last year we had some themed carnivals and we may well go back to that at some point but for now we're just looking for fortnightly round ups of the weird and wonderful blog entries from the socialist blogosphere. We're sure that bloggers will want to highlight their regular reads but we also hope that the carnival will encourage people to expand their reading range and dip into issues they don't often think about. We'd like to see carnivals that push the boundaries, that go beyond the same old faces as well as revisit these old familiar friends.

The beauty of the blogosphere, and carnivals in particular, is that they provide an opportunity to celebrate the diversity in our movement as well as those things that unite us. We hope that we'll help provoke debate, discussion, sometimes even argument - but ultimately we want to help bring the left together in order to be better able to promote a socialist agenda in the twenty first century.


So go on over and volunteer !!