Tuesday, May 12, 2009

"It may be shit to you, but it's bread and butter for me."

Weekly Bulletin of The Socialist Party of Great Britain (96)

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 96th of our weekly bulletins to keep you informed of changes at Socialist Party of Great Britain @ MySpace.

We now have 1486 friends!

Recent blogs:

  • Anarchism and Marxism
  • What is Capitalism?
  • What is Socialism?
  • Quote for the week:

    "In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." Marx & Engels, Communist Manifesto, 1848.

    Continuing luck with your MySpace adventures!

    Robert and Piers

    Socialist Party of Great Britain

    Monday, May 11, 2009

    The Flood by Ian Rankin (Orion 1986)


    He examined the faces along the edge of the bus, studying their reflections in the glass. The sun streamed in, and the tiny openings of the windows caused the passengers to broil. One old man looked on to the countryside as if surprised by it. His head shook like a clockwork toy. Sandy thought to himself that this man must have seen a lot of things - the war, the hunger of the Twenties and Thirties, death, decay, a quickly changing world. What good had it done him? He looked as if he might die at any moment, not having comprehended half of what he had seen in his life. Waste. That was the keyword. Perhaps Sandy would write a story about it all when he returned home. It seemed an important enough thing to write about. He wrote a lot of stories and poems in his room.

    Thursday, May 07, 2009

    Reaga-comics

    Via On A Raised Beach blog:

    Glasgow May Day School (Saturday 9 May 1.00pm till 5.00pm)

    May Dayschool 2009

    Saturday 9 May 1.00pm till 5.00pm

    Banks:Who needs them?

    Community Central Hall 304 Maryhill Road Glasgow

    Capitalism in Crisis:


    1.00 - 2.15pm 2009: The Year of Economic Crisis.

    Speaker Brian Gardner

    Glasgow Branch.

    This year has seen the collapse of banks, of building societies and the closure of factories and retail outlets. As millions of workers throughout the world face the re-possessions of their homes and the grow-ing fear of unemployment we ask why the economic bubble has burst. We look at the various "solutions" that are offered to alleviate the problems and analyse what can be learned from previous eco-nomic slumps. Previously abandoned by political econo-mists the old ideas of Keynes have made a startling come-back to the extent that many politicians are now espousing his ideas as a solution to the present economic woes. We look at the problem from a Marxist viewpoint and con-sider whether these ideas have value in today’s context.


    2.15 - 3.30pm The Environment in Meltdown?

    Speaker, John Cumming

    Glasgow Branch

    How serious is the threat to the global environment? Is the melting of the polar ice pack a product of global warming caused by natural causes or the over production of carbon gases? Is the growing water shortage as serious as depicted and is there any possible solution? Is man-made pollution the cause of the threat to the world's oceans and the possible destruction of the marine food chain? All these inter-related pollution problems are examined from a socialist analysis and some of the proposed solutions are examined.

    3.30 - 3.45pm Tea break


    3.45 - 5pm Can Socialism Solve the problems?

    Speaker Paul Bennett

    Manchester Branch

    Modern society has produced immense social problems. We have millions of people existing on less than a $1 a day in-side a system that could produce enough food, clothing and shelter to satisfy all human needs. We have magnificent ad-vances in human knowledge but seem incapable of solving problems like world hunger, poverty and war. Wealth today takes the form of commodities - articles produced for sale with a view to making a profit. The Socialist Party is unique in that its only aim is world socialism - a society where everything is produced solely to satisfy need not make a profit. How would this new society based on common ownership operate? Could it solve the problems of capitalism?

    Looking forward to seeing you all there.

    For more information about the Glasgow Branch of the Socialist Party, please visit their Branch Website.

    Running gags

    Chelski in the Champions League . . . an uproarious joke that just keeps on giving and giving.

    Hat tip to a kind soul over at Urban 75.

    Monday, May 04, 2009

    The Workers' Turnip

    Weekly Bulletin of The Socialist Party of Great Britain (95)

    Dear Friends,

    Welcome to the 95th of our weekly bulletins to keep you informed of changes at Socialist Party of Great Britain @ MySpace.

    We now have 1483 friends!

    Recent blogs:

  • Overlords and underlings
  • Capitalism versus nature
  • Oscar Wilde and socialism
  • Quote for the week:


    I be so tired when I spit, all my words slur together

    Got so many calluses my hands are like leather

    Watching MTV in your big-ass chair

    Trying out slang words while you're combing your hair

    "Your productivity is whack, bring that box here fo-sheezy [for sure]

    Go get some coffee player, punch out before your leave"

    Got your feet up on the desk nodding off to sleep

    While I lift, push, pull, dig, sweat, and sweep

    I could work hard all my life and in the end still suffer

    Because the world is controlled by you lazy muthafuckas

    The Coup, Lazy Muthafucka, Party Music, 2001.

    Continuing luck with your MySpace adventures!

    Robert and Piers

    Socialist Party of Great Britain

    Arranged (2007)

    Who Review #1904 - Shiny Angry People

    Via the New York Times, an excellent slideshow of May Day demonstrations from around the world. (Sorry, no photo-ops from Clerkenwell Green.)

    PS - Is it just me or does Berlin's black bloc come across as a shower of wankers?

    Saturday, May 02, 2009

    Fated . . . It's like something out of a Nora Ephron movie

    That answer about the laundry? I could have written it myself. It's like we were meant to be together.

    Just don't look at the answer to her final question.