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2010… December 31, 2009

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.
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Le Gach Dea-Ghuí don Athbhliain.

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1. Leveller on the Liffey - December 31, 2009

Hope 2010 is a good one for the Left in Ireland and around the world, especially Cedar Loungers.

Special greetings to WBS, Garibaldy, et al, for their Stakhanovite endeavours that keep our minds active and stimulate debate and all the other comrades for their contributions. Even though we may not see eye to eye on everything, I hope we are all, at least, on the same side of the fence.

May 2010 bring some sort of significant move in Ireland from the sort of back-biting rivalry you get in the Big Brother House towards a fraternal approach on how we use our disparate resources to face down our real enemies (after a bloody good drink tonight, of course).

Cheers!

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2. Jim Monaghan - December 31, 2009

Likewise Leveller.
That the militants in all the near sects (I make a distinction between near and absolute here, the Sparts, IBT, Workers Power are total sects) see commonality where the sectists see only difference.
That hope against hope the left offer an alternative to tweedleedum/tweedledee.
That the alternative makes some intellectual sense (see debate on demands for nationalisation of export led companies).
That we start and develope thinking on an international level. (an Irish Cuba would not last a wet day).
Let me end with total praise for the 2 Irish solidarity campaigners risking their live in support of the incredibly repressed people of Gaza. Real heros.
This is internationalism not the Irish soldiers in Afghanistan or Chad. playing a minor role in support of Imperialism. Bring the trop[s home. Sack the Limerick Napoleon O’Dea.

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3. Remi Moses - December 31, 2009

http://thepensivequill.am/2009/12/no-sundays.html

A story that will not go away in 2010 and that is already causing a lot of soul-searching. If SF is to be part of the left alternative it’s members will have to face up to this.

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4. ejh - December 31, 2009

Q. If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

A. Yes.

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Dr. X - January 5, 2010

Winter never ended and spring never came.

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5. Tim - December 31, 2009

Happy New Year to all of you on CLR.

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6. WorldbyStorm - December 31, 2009

And to you and everyone else too…

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7. sonofstan - December 31, 2009

Happy new year all round, and dear God, may it be better than the one we’re burying.

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WorldbyStorm - December 31, 2009

Amen to that.

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8. WorldbyStorm - December 31, 2009

I should say that I’m off this evening to look at Jools Holland and see if Splintered Sunrise’s recently minted Holland fallacy (or somesuch) that any piece of music, any piece of music at all in whatever genre, sounds better with a bit of boogie woogie piano to accompany it is indeed correct. I seem to recall from last year… and the previous year… and the previous one… that…

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splinteredsunrise - December 31, 2009

You haven’t lived if you haven’t heard Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci enhanced with boogie-woogie piano. At least the late Warren Zevon was savvy enough to play his own piano.

And a happy new year to all.

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WorldbyStorm - January 1, 2010

And to you. 🙂

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9. shea - January 1, 2010

happy new year and a big shout for an cumman nua gaza GAA abú. just because your down dosen’t mean your out, solidarity can happen with imagination and we have that to be tapped.

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10. CMK - January 1, 2010

Yes, Happy New Year to CLR and all its supporters.

We’ll need it in 2010….

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11. WorldbyStorm - January 1, 2010

We’ll need your insights though CMK.

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CMK - January 1, 2010

Thanks for the kinds words, WbS.

I have to say that CLR helped keep me sane during 2009 and I hope it draws the widest possible attention over 2010. Two things have struck me over the past few weeks while reading CLR:

Firstly, the level of analysis of political economy and the news media/commentary that WbS in particular, and others, provide (esp. the deconstruction of the various screeches from the IT) is second to none. Given that this blog is a labour of love and no-one is being paid to do what they do it’s amazing that I can sit eating my breakfast and read the best take-downs of whatever nonsense the IT/SBP/Indo/Sindo have printed in that day’s paper. The foregoing leads me to ask: what the f**k do our commentators in the newspapers do all day? I bought the Tribune over the Christmas and made a determined effort to read it but gave up in despair. Shane Coleman must be on at least a six figure salary and yet his analysis is just a jumble of non-sequiters, logical fallicies, gossip from ‘de brudder-in-law’ and bar room ranting; the mirror image, in fact, of CLR and also a mention in dispatches for NoTF. He’s not the only one in that paper who suffer from the same problems. Steven Byrnes piece in yesterday’s Times was another load of rubbish that wouldn’t pass muster in a half reasonable journalistic culture.

The second thing that struck me, and this relates to the debate recently about ‘Alastair’ and ‘Proposition Joe’ posting here. The latter poster in particular made the point that there’s little worth in the CLR becoming an echo chamber for left wing views and that his and others right wing perspectives (coherent, thougthful and occasionally enlightening) were an useful counter to all the lefties agreeing with each other. However, the CLR is one small piece of cyberspace where one can get relief from the gigantic ideological echo chamber we live in here in Ireland and where, over Christmas, the baleful and painful consequences of this for family get-togethers will probably have been experienced by most on the left, it was by me anyway. While it was entertaining, and a bit draining, to see ‘Alastair’ fight like last the Japanese soldier on Iwo Jima over the civil service privilege days, there comes a point where you have to wonder what that kind of doggedness adds to the CLR. The latter is part of ‘the soul of a souless world’ for me and while CLR is certainly not a left wing echo chamber it is a vital intellectual resource and support in these trying times.

Anyway, apologies for the meandering and Happy New Year to all again!

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WorldbyStorm - January 1, 2010

And to you. I think to add to your thoughts that people on any side have to accept that there are limits to discussion in any forum. In other words that a point comes where it is simply not possible to persuade or convince others who hold strongly opposing opinions of the perceived correctness of their views, particularly in a context where people believe that their viewpoints are regarded, as here, with respect or are of a piece with the overall ethos. And beyond that a point is rapidly reached where such attempts to persuade/convince are actually counterproductive. Or to draw an example from elsewhere recently MacWorld pointed out in a broad piece on internet discussions that there’s a certain lack of utility to any discussion say where a Mac proponent drops by PCWorld to laud Snow Leopard and say how much they despise Windows… as it says whether based in fact or not they’re unlikely to be welcome. And that’s the crucial thing. If people want to articulate a countering viewpoint it has to be in a respectful way… that’s why courtesy and respect for others is paramount. And where that’s evident then it’s crucial that those who hold other views have an opportunity to articulate them here. Because it can help point up flaws in our own arguments and as Garibaldy noted to me, keep us on our toes. It’s a fine balance, but, short of the influx of youthful libertarians that ejh mentions, we’re okeydokey so far…

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Tim - January 1, 2010

“there’s little worth in the CLR becoming an echo chamber for left wing views and that his and others right wing perspectives (coherent, thougthful and occasionally enlightening) were an useful counter to all the lefties agreeing with each other.”

I have never found CLR to be an echo chamber, there is a very lively collection of discussion and differing views, as well as those clarifying points others have made. For those of us not of the left, it is an enlightening -and challenging – opportunity to hear what those on the left are saying in what is quite a non-hostile environment.

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WorldbyStorm - January 1, 2010

Well your contribution is also always welcome Tim. And as Neil Young once sang, a plane needs a left and a right wing… granted our left wing here at the CLR is on the large side… but that’s okay, the plane is skidding across the runway.

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12. bartholomew - January 1, 2010

Happy new year. By the way, The Cedars (the pub) gets an honourable mention in ‘The Seafarer’ which is on in the Abbey at the moment.

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WorldbyStorm - January 1, 2010

Ah, that I didn’t know…

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13. Tomaltach - January 1, 2010

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go léir. I wish CLR continued success in 2010.

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14. WorldbyStorm - January 1, 2010

Tomaltach, I genuinely appreciate that thought. Do you intend to get Fiche Focal back on the road again – sorely missed.

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15. Ken MacLeod - January 1, 2010

Happy New Year and best wishes to CLR and its crew.

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16. WorldbyStorm - January 1, 2010

And to you Ken…

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