Scottish Elections 2007 - Ouch

The figure to note is the 10,759 votes for the Green Party, which ensured that Patrick Harvie was re-elected to the Scottish Parliament. Now add up the votes for the SSP and Solidarity:

Solidarity - 8,544 votes
SSP - 2,579 votes

Total - 11,123 votes

That's a sore yin. Curious to see what Sheridan's next move is . . . after the denunciations and recriminations that is.

Daft as it sounds, despite Solidarity outpolling the SSP by nearly 6000 votes in Glasgow, I think the latter has more of a future as a going concern than the shotgun wedding of Sheridan, the Swuppies and the Millies.

The usual suspects on the blogs, messageboards and the yahoo discussion groups will make for interesting reading in the coming weeks.

Bill Maher + mustard = funniest joke of the year

As per usual, Bill Maher is on top form with his New Rules on last week's Real Time With Bill Maher, but 1 minute 24 seconds into the clip below he excelled himself with the funniest joke of the year. Maybe it's just in the telling, or maybe I just have a weirded out sense of humour but I never thought I could laugh so much.

Fear and Loathing in Capitalism - Redux

Socialist Party Day School

Fear & Loathing in Capitalism

When: Saturday May 12, 2007 at 1:00pm

Where: Community Central Halls 304 Maryhill Road, Glasgow, G207YE

Day School organised by Glasgow and Edinburgh branches of the SPGB

Asbos, terrorists and immigrants.

1pm - 2.15pm Asbos, Chavs and Hoodies: crime under capitalism.

The newspapers and television constantly set out to frighten us with tales of hooliganism, anti-social behaviour and crime in general. In this session we attempt to evaluate the various claims and counter claims about the cause and cure of crime in modern society. Brian Gardner (Glasgow branch) puts forward the unique socialist analysis and contrast it with the "hang 'em, flog 'em" school of thought.

2.15- 3.30pm Seeking Asylum: should we be concerned about immigration?

In France Le Pen puts forward a repressive "solution", in this country Cameron and Brown have voiced their views, but capitalism needs immigration and Paul Bennett (Manchester branch) looks at the problem from a socialist viewpoint. Inside a socialist society there would be no "them and us" attitude. The whole world would be owned by the whole world population, in such a society concepts such as "asylum" would be impossible.

3.45 - 5pm Panic on the streets of London: how real is the terrorist threat?

The explosions on the London Underground were real enough, as were some recent failed attempts at bombing there, but has recent government reaction been justified? Gwynn Thomas (South London) look at current attitudes to this problem and contrast the socialist view with those of our political opponents. Capitalism is a society based on threats and counter-threats. Only world-wide socialism can solve the problem.

Each session will have a 30 minute talk, the rest of the time will be taken up with your questions and points of view. Admission is free and tea, coffee and light refreshments will be made available free of charge throughout the afternoon.

Community Central Halls, 304 Maryhill Road, Glasgow.

For more information about the Socialist Party Branches organizing this Day School, please visit their websites: Glasgow Branch Edinburgh Branch

Personal Endorsement

Apparently there are elections taking place today in Britain.

What with my innate "sectarian . . . lumpen, apolitical . . . self-disenfranchised" self, I don't have much of a take on the matter - my inner psephologist geek says otherwise - except:

Put it down to little more than ultra-leftoid sectarianism, but I'd love it if Sheridan got a sour coupon face at some point later tonight. If, for nothing else, for this exercise in maniacal self-aggrandisement. Never was the term 'you tube' so appropriately employed.
Peter Mullan . . . you let me down, man.

For personal as much as political reasons, I hope that the SPGB candidate, John Bissett, gets a good vote in the Monkton ward in the local South Tyneside council election tonight. John's one of the best there is. An absolute diamond of a bloke.
For a (very personalised) account of his election campaign, you can check out his personal blog. Not sure if Will Makem had a role in writing the election commentary, but it's safe to say that it falls into the category of 'unparliamentary language'.

What's My Name

Quick one.

One of the best political novels I've read in recent years is 'Standing Fast' by Harvey Swados. I write in 'recent years' only in the sense that it's one of the best political novels I've read in recent years, but the novel itself was published way back in 1970 and has unfortunately long been out of print and, sadly, Swados has long been out of literary fashion*, with only this book of his currently in print.

I could crank out a few hundred words of sawdust prose in praise of the book, and why you should seek out a second hand copy for yourself, but it's easier all round if I just point you in the direction of Steve Cohen's excellent article on the novel**, which originally appeared in the AWL's paper, Solidarity, and which prompted me to seek the novel out for myself.

As is my fashion when I stumble across a writer I like, I've since went on a treasure hunt to locate his or her others writings, and recently bought a second hand copy of Swados's debut novel, 'Out Went the Candle', from a bookseller in Washington. Nice hardback edition with a dust jacket that is just about still in one piece. Thing is, is just me or does the young Harvey Swados in the dustjacket picture below remind you of someone? Christ, it's the same haircut and everything.

The clue is in the title of the post.

* I wrote: "Swados has long been out of literary fashion . . ", but sadly it appears that was always the case: "Harvey was an unfashionable novelist yet his career has been an exemplary one. He is a writer free of public postures, indifferent to literary fads, and totally devoted to perfection of his craft." [Irving Howe]

**As a sidenote; one night coming home from work I was reading the novel on the F train when a bloke came up to me to talk about the book. He hadn't seen a copy in years, but it was a book he knew from his childhood days as it had been on his parents bookshelf. His way of telling me that they were political was to say that they had been in the 'movement'. I thought that was sweet.

Dreamweaver

The old Terry Wogan tv show . . . . the Cold War Kids have just played their latest single, and then immediately launch into the old Dennis Waterman classic 'I Could Be So Good For' . . . from the side of the stage Bono comes on to share lead vocals with the bum face guy from the Cold War Kids, whilst the tv cameras pan to the side of the stage to show the rest of U2 dancing along to the impromptu cover version . . . Larry Mullen dances like a "groovy rhino".

No, I don't know what it fucking means either.

Doledrum

Kop that.

Word of the Day

BANAUSIC

ba·nau·sic

adj.
1. Merely mechanical; routine: "a sensitive, self-conscious creature . . . in sad revolt against uncongenially banausic employment" London Magazine.

2. Of or relating to a mechanic.

3.Self-important; pretentious; Lenny.

May 2007 Socialist Standard - All Capitalists Now?

Editorial

Scottish Nationalism

Regular Columns

Pathfinders Crystal Ball Gazing

Cooking the Books #1 Underlying Cause

Cooking the Books #2 Just A Yellow Metal

Greasy Pole Hazel Blears – nuts in May?

50 Years Ago Should Irish workers support the I.R.A.?

Main Articles

Forever Blowing Bubbles Those attracted by the ‘buy-to-let’ bonanza, turning themselves into mini-rentiers in a bid to escape wage slavery forever, are likely to get their fingers burnt.

William Wilberforce was no saint Wilberforce was opposed to slavery, but what were his views on wage slavery?

The anti-war Right The US anarcho-capitalist Libertarians are wrong to think that capitalism could exist without a state or that its competitive struggle for profits does not lead to wars.

It’s a bloody crime – or is it? “The law does not pretend to punish everything that is dishonest. That would seriously interfere with business” (Clarence Darrow).

The Military are not that Unintelligent Military planners can’t afford to be stupid - as a recent MOD publication shows.

China: primitive accumulation of capital During the last quarter of a century millions of Chinese peasants have migrated to the cities. But has life improved for them?

Letters, Obituary, Reviews & Meetings

Letters to the Editors 'Racism' & 'Climate Change'

Obituary Pieter Lawrence

Book Reviews London Hanged by Peter Linebaugh & Inventing Disease and Pushing Pills by Jürg Blech

Meetings Glasgow, Birmingham, London & East Anglia.

Voice From The Back

How the Other Tenth Live; Primitive Accumulation of Capital; Mind the Gap; Escape (I); Escape (II); Getting Things Done

May Day - a link or three

Happy May Day, and all that. The day when workers (should be) celebrating their strength as a class, and when Liverpool (should be) dumping Chelski out of the Champions League. A couple of links to throw your way:

May the First - Workers Day Alan J. does the honours at his Mailstrom blog with a reprinting of this piece on May Day from the Socialist Standard from a few years back. Still relevant . . . and then some.

Rosa Luxemburg's 'What are the Origins of the First of May?' Rosa Luxemburg: still relevant . . . and then some.

Mondo MayDay 2007 Larry states that his blog carries: "The most complete preview of MayDay 2007 worldwide anywhere on the web". And who am I to argue?

World Socialist Party May Day Statement - May Day 2007 Shamelessly nicked from the WSPUS MySpace page.

Wofür? Der Text eines Flugblatts anläßlich des 1. Mai 2007 Two years of being a smart alec - who always came bottom in the exams - and all round pain in the arse to Ms Allen means that I can't read this May Day statement. However, I have to give it a plug nonetheless, as it is penned by Norbert, a good comrade from Frankfurt who has set up a German language blog promoting the politics of the WSM and the IWW.

And before I forget, I have to agree with Matt that it's nice to see Socialist Courier blog carrying an image to mark May Day that is not more outdated than Alan J.'s record collection.

And don't forget, May 1st is also International Shalamar Day. So be sure to sit back and listen to this plastic piece of genius, whilst singing the praises of Howard, Jody, Jeffrey and the International Working Class.