More Blogs You May Have Missed

A day behind the usual blogging schedule but better late than ever! So what new(ish) left blogs have lit up the radar screen this month?

First off, two members of the Weekly Worker crew have managed to break from their energetic interventions in the class struggle to produce a couple of blogs. The first of these is from Anne Mc Shane who seasoned sect watchers will know as a prominent figure in the pocket cpgb, but who moved back to Ireland a few years ago. Her blog, Marxist Appeal "is to open debate on the building of a mass working class Marxist party in Ireland." Unusually for a cpgb comrade nuggets of lefty trainspotting are relatively thin on the ground, choosing instead to carry opinion pieces on the state of Irish politics and updates/news on the Hands Off the People Of Iran from both sides of the Irish Sea. Next up is Milton Keynes Communists, which serves as the blog for the MK members and supporters group. Unfortunately they haven't really got the blogging game, choosing to merely repost articles from the Weekly Worker. Come on comrades!

The newest blog doing the rounds is The Curious Happenings of Airstrip One. So new it is that there's only one post to its name! As the author puts it "the task of those journalists, politicians, academics and artists who are somehow able to free themselves (however partially and for however long) from the long tentacles of Empire is nothing less than to become faithful guardians of the truth. It is in view of this awesome responsibility that this blog begins."

And then there is The Sauce. Most blogs are made up of commentary on ongoing local, national and international events. In a modest way The Sauce breaks with this tradition: "The Sauce is a news blog containing raw copy, photographs and videos relating to protests, politics, theory, and events." What's more, if you've got a story needing coverage drop author Brendan Montague a line. And yes, he is a proper journo!

When you're reading The Sauce, you can't help notice the blogs it links to are those variously aligned with the International Socialist Tendency. That brings me neatly to the next blog, which is also of that stable. Luna17 promises to be "an activist's blog reporting, and reflecting on, anti-capitalist and anti-war resistance". Yes, it's been heard all before but Luna17 (AKA Tyneside SWP supporter, Alex Snowdon) is a blog with plenty of promise.

Fatal Paradox is one of those blogs that defy easy categorisation. Hailing from New Zealand, it offers commentary on history, art and theory with a slight Spanish tinge to proceedings. Well worth checking out.

Nick Long is another name familiar to inveterate left-watchers, being one of the main movers of the Alliance for Green Socialism in the capital. I was wondering what he was up to just the other day when I stumbled across his blog! Green Socialist offers pithy comment pieces on topical issues in an engaging style. Recommended.

Now time for two departures from the norm. First is The Global Communist, an aggregate news feed from select left blogs and websites. There are a few blogs British readers will recognise but also perhaps some that aren't so well known.

Second is good news for long-term comrades. Big Flame is back! Well, not really, but very gradually materials from what was Britain's best known left-libertarian revolutionary organisation are being uploaded on this blog. It's well worth checking out for anyone interested in that strand of labour movement history. as well as crucial debates that have yet to fully play themselves out.

Last but not least I have to make two Carnival of Socialism announcements. During last weekend's election excitement the latest edition of the Carnival hit the streets with little notice. So get yourself over to New Direction now for Tom's compilation on the theme of 'Socialism, democracy and personal ethics'. And we're scant days away from the next installment too. It will be hosted by Penny Red. Don't forget to rush your Carnival nominations to Laurie ASAP!