Sunday 4 October 2015

Celebrating 2,000 Posts


What a milestone. It's taken just shy of three years to reach, but got there we have. Another thousand posts have appeared on this here blog since November 2012. It's only been possible because I have no life whatsoever.

To mark the occasion, I've singled out the ten most-read posts of the last 1,000. In reverse order, they are:

10. The UK's Top 50 Worst Political Blogs 2013
9. The Meaning of Conchita Wurst
8. Sexism and Abuse of Power in the SWP
7. Is There Bias on BBC Question Time?
6. Top 100 Dance Songs of the 70s
5. Dogging and Dogging Tales
4. Top 100 Tweeting Bloggers 2012
3. Martin Smith Resigns from the SWP
2. Support for SWP Central Committee Statement
1. Natalija Belova and The Sun's Benefit Lies

Just like
last time, lists of things have an unhealthy predominance. And, to be honest, one of them is a mystery I've never figured out. Given I've done it every year since 2009 (apart from 2011), why does the top 100 tweeting bloggers of 2012 stand out? No clue whatsoever. Unsurprisingly considering the blow up at the time, three SWP-related posts tumble onto the list. Given their disgusting behaviour has more or less consigned them to political oblivion, it's doubtful a reappearance in the next list of the next thousand is going to happen.

Disappointingly, as far as I'm concerned, what I think are my best postings of the last three years haven't quite made it. So here are a selection in no discernible order that, IMO, have something interesting and/or original to say. If you're new to the blog you might want to check them out.

Identity Politics and Intersectionality
Intersectionality, Class, and Capitalism
Herbert Marcuse and One-Dimensional Man
Fifty Shades of Grey
The Significance of Eric Prydz's Call On Me
Stupid Empiricism and the Conservative Party
How the Conservatives Can Win Again
Peaches Geldof and Celebrity
Ian Watkins and Narcissism
The Political Economy of Scapegoating
Goffman and the Sociology of Video Games
Foucault, Discipline, and Work
Three Varieties of Post-Marxism
Systems Theory and Conservative Sociology

Here's to the next thousand!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking at Blogs 2 & 3 on your list and the predictions they contained:

#3 It's been a couple of years now and still no sign of Martin Smith's return to the SWP. Just plain wrong.

#2 No blog mentioning (let alone supporting) the National Gallery strikers or their victimised rep. A tick on that one then? Though I personally wouldn't be proud of such an easy win.

As for the SWP's "descent into political oblivion," their recent showing in Manchester wasn't too shabby. Maybe after another 1,000 eh?

Phil said...

No sign of Martin's return? Not formally, no. But behind the scenes in UAF, which you know is effectively a subsidiary of the SWP, he remains. As for the SWP's fate, just as 150-odd thousand new Labour Party members don't mean we're going to win in 2020, having a hundred or so out on a national mobilisation doesn't necessarily indicate robust health.

As for the gallery strike, my bad. I suppose tweeting about it isn't enough for some.

Anonymous said...

Ah, I see it now, there's no need for Martin to return as he never actually went away, he's just running things from behind the scenes. Please make up your mind and not fantasies about what happens behind the scenes at UAF.

You also switch from the SWP's "political oblivion" to maybe it's health isn't "robust." Meh! But you're right, 100 or so would have been a poor turn out, happily there were many more.

As for Twitter, apologies for my lack of social media savvy, too much of a dinosaur to have an account. Since there seem to be two Phils in your comments sections I supposed you might have been the one who would have been "very reluctant to leap to the defence" of victimised trade unionists. If not, a genuine apology for a cheap shot.

Phil said...

Just so there's no confusion, I'm always the Phil who posts with avi showing.