Thank you to The Socialist Unity Blog for this idea. This thread is open to whatever you want to discuss; politics, art, blogging, etc. This is the thread, to say the things, that don't fit other threads.
See the John Brown parody site, Thavage Juthice, which parodies Savage Justice. The blog was created by John's rightist admirers. John has been a great contributor to the comments on this blog, getting heat left and right. I'm too boring to be parodied.
I'm reading Deutscher's biography of Trotsky. I'm having to arm myself, to debate my Maoist friends.
I'm involved with the Minnesota Fringe Theater Festival, producing a show featuring Sentir Venezolano, a Venezuelan folkloric dance company, featuring dance, percussion, and vocal music. I'm also helping to promote The Minnesota Heartland Tango Festival.
I'm amazed how I find about weekly people who link to this blog, from blogs I have never visited. See: Who Links To Me. I don't think that agreement should be the only basis to trade links. I link on the basis of entertainment value, smartness, and visiting my blog. I also link to blogs that I plagiarise.
I believe Sonia is authentically a nudist from Tonga. That is more of a controversy on her own blog.RENEGADE EYE
Alright. I'll bite. What would be the firsts tep as far as essential Trotsky reading?
ReplyDeleteThe Transitional Program.
ReplyDeleteThe transitional programme? Bit dry isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'd go for the revolution betrayed because you get the visceral impact of why Trotsky became such a powerful ideological force in the twnetith century, standing in the tradition of the revolution and in opposition to those who wrenched the power away from the workers for their own profit.
But I was intrigued by the phrase "my Maoist friends" what do Maoists do politically (as in activity)?
O, and thanks for the name check.
I agree that The Revolution Betrayed is essential to understanding mature Trotkyism. I also think that Deutscher's triology on Trotsky is an exellent source on the life of Trotsky.
ReplyDeleteI loved 1905, his chronicle of the first revolution. But his work on the revolution itself is priceless, and his work on Permanent Revolution is invaluable as well.
ReplyDeleteMaoists as Celtic Fire, My Red Diary and Naxal Revolution. See my links section.
ReplyDeleteWe lurk in the shadows, ready to pounce on imperialism! LMAO
ReplyDeleteI would first like to thank Renegade Eye, for opening up my blogger world with several great sites. I still haven’t had time to fully explore all the links on this page, but I’m finding your blog is definitely helping to build a small readership of my own. So thank you.
ReplyDeleteIn random news, I would like to recommend the film Life and Debt, about the affects of the IMF and World Bank on the economy of Jamaica. It is beautifully done and chalk full of amazing shots and facts.
Actualwe, "john brown", ith thpaming "Thavage Juthice". As we vewy well know, 150 commenth on an 155 commenth thwead ithn't a "contribution".
ReplyDeleteBTW, we link "Savage Justice" in our sidebar. Every link in the "Loons & Misinformation" section is a link to "Savage Justice".
Thanks for the plug!
Got to go delete some spam now.
General Cucumber - solidarity to all vegetables - said: Don't focus so much on brainy intellectual discourse in an effort to keep readership and please the masses who visit regularly.
ReplyDeleteWhy should Renegade dumb down, like the rest of the media? WE are all intelligent adults here, we like that sort of stuff.
Sorry to disagree with such a magnificent salad veg and one that makes great cold soups...
How about those Red Sox?
ReplyDeleteRenegade, I hate to bring this up but you have my blog name spelt wrong on the right ('Red Manthis' vs. 'Red Mantis'). Any chance you could correct that?
ReplyDeleteSince this is an open thread, I want to do something a bit cheeky.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have finished with Ren's lovely blog - then the Trotskyists among you might like to pop over to mine (I told you I was cheeky) and comment on my last post.
I would be interested to see what you think.
And then I want you to return to Ren's and show your permanent revolution credentials.
By the way, the Red Sox suck and you should be watching a real sport like the World Cup instead.
And General Cucumber - my comrade in vegetables - Trots don't 'do' humour until after the revolution! . Which, since it is permanent, is going to be a rather long way off!
beatroot,
ReplyDeleteSo you don't like baseball?
FYI... Your socialist compadre, Fidel Castro played baseball and wanted to play for the Yankees. Imagine for a minute if he had been a better player, how much better off the island of Cuba might have been by now. The enormous tourist potential would have brought prosperity, freedom and happiness to all Cubans. Alas, Castro was but a minor leaguer in both the political and sports arenas.
GO RED SOX!
Static Brain: After you register at blogrolling.com, you'll find the update feature in the settings. You can set how long ago updated, and you can pick the word you want to use.
ReplyDeleteCucumber: Jessica Simpson keeps her eyes open when she kisses, so she can tell if anything is wrong.
Roman: Castro survived too long politically, to be minor league. You don't watch soccer games, only soccer crowds.
Jim Jay: Maoists love polemics defending Stalin. I read one last week, that said Trotsky was an agent of Nazis, against Stalin.
Sangroncito: Nobody more colorful. That Bozo post was classic.
beetroot: Important discussion about the direction of Poland. Even with the Stalinists out of power, the spectre of Trotsky still haunts the government. He never did get vindicated. Still subversive even in his grave.
Sonia: Hasn't updated on her blog, or posted here, in several days. Worry?
Sonia is 'travelling'...she said so last week sometime. She is back soon.
ReplyDeleteRoman: the reason that the US has not invaded Cuba is because they no that Cubans are the best heavyweight boxers! They don't want to get thir faces punched in. And they no that Cubans are better than them at baseball.
Ren: you ar right, the present Polish government has the spectre of Trotsky hanging over it. That's why the Law and Justice government has banned ice picks from shops...
Hey Renegade Eye, I've linked to your blog.
ReplyDeleteI think the polite thing to do is to link to mine.
Last I checked bloggers weren't under a quid pro quo rule as far as linking.
ReplyDeleteOoo Janine we link to you but you don't link back - if I'd known there was a rule about that I'd have mentioned it ages ago :)
ReplyDeleteMaoists love polemics defending Stalin. I read one last week, that said Trotsky was an agent of Nazis, against Stalin.
ReplyDeleteYou're not joking are you... at least they're keeping out of trouble
I thought Fidel tried out for the Washington Senators. Hasta la Victoria Siempre.
ReplyDeleteDoes commodity production play a role in the transitional program?
Renegade Eye:
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Get Rich Quick!
I have heard your plea for help and have come to your aid.
I have put together a plan for you to become a sellout socialist, as you requested. All your socialist friends here will profit from the Socialist MLM/Home "Party" program as well.
Take a gander. Comments or return posts welcome!
http://richardquick.blogspot.com
Millionaire Richard Quick, Esq.
PS I tried your email but it was rejected. Perhaps your Millionaire Filter is on.
Quick outed me.
ReplyDelete>Subject: The Plus Sign
>Little Zachary was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried
>everything... Tutors, Mentors, flash cards, Special learning
>centers. In short, everything they could think of to help his math.
>
>Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took Zachary down and enrolled
>him in the local Catholic school. After the first day, little
>Zachary came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't
>even kiss his mother Hello. Instead, he went straight to his room
>and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the
>room and little Zachary was hard at work. His mother was amazed.
>She called him down to dinner.
>
>To her shock, the minute he was done, he marched back to his room
>without a word, and in no time, he was back hitting the books as
>hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day, while the
>mother
>tried to understand what made all the difference. Finally, little
>Zachary brought home his report card. He quietly laid it on the
>table, went up to his room and hit the books. With great
>trepidation, his Mom looked at it and to her great surprise, little
>Zachary got an "A" in math. She could no longer hold her
curiosity.
>She went to his room and said, "Son, what was it? Was it the
nuns?"
>Little Zachary looked at her and shook his head, no. "Well, then,"
>she replied, Was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the
>uniforms? "WHAT WAS IT ALREADY?"
>
>Little Zachary looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of
>school when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they
>weren't fooling around."
I don't want to take up too much space here with my open thread, so I hope I am not out of line using this spot to invite readers of the Eye over to the Flame for some, what I hope to be, though provking open thread material.
ReplyDeleteAlso what is the story with this Richard Quirk dude?
hi renegade eye.
ReplyDeleteam afraid that am yet another addition to your 'Maoist friends' but i sincerely hope this won't affect your regular visits to adarna or youngradicals...we have the same tastes in music and art though. i LOVE ella fitzgerald and nina simone. no debate on this. :-)
Open thread...insert mouth... :>)
ReplyDeletethanks. took time to visit some of the links you mentioned and was pleasantly amused to see lyrics to nina simone's mississippi goddam in celticfire's blog (i see what you mean as i was just listening to the mp3 a while ago). that and of course other intelligent and great reads.
ReplyDeletei take your offer on the book, but could you consider exchanging it into something i would much rather appreciate? like a jazz cd perhaps? ;-p
...and to take advantage of this open thread, please take time to visit www.youngradicals.blogspot.com for updates on the Philippine national democratic youth mass movement.
ReplyDeleteLATEST NEWS FLASH!: 2 students from the University of the Philippines are the most recent victims of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's communist witchhunt.
Hello Renegade.
ReplyDeleteI drink more than any of your pussy Maoist friends combined but am still able to construct a sentence when so imbued with alcoholic content.
Now, to get to the issue at hand...Israel... I fucking love that country. I would love it if they bombed the shit out of every nihilist loving asshole there was.
I am really sorry I started this 'visit my blog' thing here...mistake, sorry!
ReplyDeleteBeatroot,
ReplyDeleteI am a bit new to this whole blogging thing and am still learning the rules. Ren. Eye, I apologize if "plugging" my site is inappropriate.
But a simple plug has to be better thaan this bombastic drivel:
I would love it if they bombed the shit out of every nihilist loving asshole there was.
Plugging your blog is welcome here. Nothing more depressing, than an unread decent blog.
ReplyDeleteI visited many blogs, before I started getting traffic.
If I post about something as flamenco, I visit flamenco blogs.
Beatroot,
ReplyDeletethe reason that the US has not invaded Cuba is because they know that Cubans are the best heavyweight boxers! They don't want to get their faces punched in
And I thought it was because there is no oil in Cuba. Silly me...
BZ - no problem about plugging your blog if you are a newie...and I will be along. It's just I should have known better...especially on an open thread, where the idea is that the ideas about what to debate have to come from the comments and not the post.
ReplyDeleteand it is a bit difficult debating 'come to my blog'...
thanks for your concern, ren eye.
ReplyDeletebut, as an aside, i'd rather you not call our movement a 'religion.' thanks again.
ren, i see you're online..
ReplyDeleteok, but it makes me cringe. makes us sound like a cult or something. hehe.
here's another update.
http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/metroregions/view_article.php?article_id=7933
am not too comfortable adding links to this thread given the 'violent reactions' on my earlier blog plug. will send you updates and messages in my comment page instead. ciao!
Adarna: The person who attacked you, was drunk and anonymous. If you read Beatroot closer, he was defending you against bad language. It is safer to post here, than on your own blog.
ReplyDeleteThe debate on this blog, does get sharp. When I want to stir the s***, I post about Hugo Chavez. Works every time.
I always thought Isaac Deutcher's biography of Trotsky was a rather sad and grim work. I too read it during a summer on break from school, and it probably was one of the reasons I am no longer a Marxist. What's the point of revolution when people are just going to screw it up?
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I am just a de-moralized petit-burgeois reactionary.
Pseudo-Iamblicus: Your blog doesn't look reactionary to me.
ReplyDeleteI would expect that you'll have some words, for my blog team member Maryam Namazie. She is less wishy-washy about religion, than I'am. She was awarded "Secular Person of the Year". You'll find her writings provocative.
Happy 4th!
ReplyDeletePeace...
Ren,
ReplyDeleteNice links.
Do not know if it's worth celebrating, but here's to the 4th.
Thanks.
I cewlebrate 4th July as it is my son's birthday :o)
ReplyDeleteBut on the best starting point for trotsky, if you have time it would be "Histiry of the russian revolution", and if not "lessons of October"
Happy Independence Day, everyone.
ReplyDelete-Comrade Dave
AN "But on the best starting point for trotsky, if you have time it would be "Histiry of the russian revolution", and if not "lessons of October""
ReplyDeleteLessons of october is well written and has pace and relevance - but history of the russian revolution is not a good STARTING point as it is over a thousand pages long and incredibly detailed and complex, often going over the same events more than once from different angles - DO NOT START THERE!
Fourth of July is not Mayday, still bourgeoise revolution, had its place.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to a tango/BBQ.
Still Happy Fourth