Comments on The Pensive Quill: No Faggot Baggott

uilodomhnaill, thank for your comment. SF have v...

2009-08-26T22:42:31.750+01:00

uilodomhnaill, thank for your comment.

SF have virtually nothing ideological in common with Trots. What they do share is (ironically for Trots) a Stalinist urge to control and dominate.

As you suggest I firmly believe in individual thinking. I think collective thinking produces a bedrock of assumptions that easily lends itself to racism. Think collectively and you end up

Mick, I will try to find Trotsky's book. In t...

2009-08-26T20:17:00.095+01:00

Mick,

I will try to find Trotsky's book. In the meanwhile, I think I continue with Figes for now. At least he is readable and he is unlikely to influence me ideologically.

urban underclass That makes two of us who are not...

2009-08-26T18:52:39.194+01:00

urban underclass

That makes two of us who are not highly [or formally] educated, but we try and must not forget that is how some in society want it to be. Figes book is fine, it is a good read and he writes well. But Uilodomhnaill is correct, Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution is a superb book as it is written by a man who is not only a very fine writer, but he was a

To UUC: My genuine congratulations! In my view it ...

2009-08-26T17:41:08.480+01:00

To UUC: My genuine congratulations! In my view it is trivial and anti-intellectual to level silly insults as to who is a right prick,especially when that is obvious. The Northern Marxists constantly prate that "You(whomever you may be) have no analysis." This they learned either as red diaper babies or as the converts of red diaper babies. What angers many people the most is that they

Uilodomhnaill, Mick, I have no intention of learn...

2009-08-26T16:15:53.620+01:00

Uilodomhnaill, Mick,

I have no intention of learning Russian, I did take the comment on board and went to the library and got A People Tradgey, The Russian Revolution 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes. It's a big book and highly regarded, so I think that will do for a start.

While I am not highly educated I am certainly not anti-intellectual.

PS young and serious leftists-PLEASE READ HERBERT ...

2009-08-26T15:35:21.001+01:00

PS young and serious leftists-PLEASE READ HERBERT MARCUSE'S "One Dimensional Man",for a new/old (1964) look at the problem of social revolution. Not to become the old man's sycophants, but as a point of departure more useful and up to date than the long dead rhetoric of the truly old left,which I reiterate, is so pervasive in the Adams Crew.

Thank you Mick. I only rant at those who have beco...

2009-08-26T15:27:47.076+01:00

Thank you Mick. I only rant at those who have become so anti-intellectual that they boggle my old mind-LOL. My sons and daughters have suffered under it,and your incisive wit cut through my rant!

Core blimey mate, you set a high bar for Urban Und...

2009-08-26T14:10:59.300+01:00

Core blimey mate, you set a high bar for Urban Underclass, perhaps the poor fellow should read the History first; and leave learning the Russian Language until he has a little more time, as at your age I fear you may be long gone before he completes his language studies.

Or maybe he should simply count the broken egg shells and ponder on what happened to the omelet. Sometimes you have

Anthony, had a granda at Dunkirk and D Day, h...

2009-08-26T04:02:21.451+01:00

Anthony,
had a granda at Dunkirk and D Day, he just seemed to enjoy the craic. Survived it all but died defending a taig [ our ] housin estate agin huns in lurgan in '73. Don't think im being harsh on the Yanks and Brits..rekon there's no1 like em for cynicism..locherby bomber etc..10 downing street unaware? Not again.
Healthy cynicism pretty close to the truth/

Larry, think that is a bit unfair on the US and Br...

2009-08-25T20:30:22.386+01:00

Larry, think that is a bit unfair on the US and Brits. Stalin certainly felt they owed the Russian people a huge debt but he despised the French for having folded in 1940 freeing up the Germans to invade the USSR. But the Brits and USSR were simply not militarily ready to launch the type of operation that would collapse the German's Western front. Even when they were it still took a year from

Don't know much about Russian history except t...

2009-08-25T19:28:36.658+01:00

Don't know much about Russian history except that the Red Army survived ALL comers after 1917 and the Nazi onslaught alone in WW2 until they were ready to push them back all the way to Gibraltar. Only then did the yanks and Brits call a halt to the party in London and get involved. But Hollywood depicts a version of UK tommy's+Yankie GI Joes storming across the channel to teach the

uilodomhnaill , Well before anyone sticks an ice-...

2009-08-25T10:51:16.342+01:00

uilodomhnaill ,

Well before anyone sticks an ice-pick in my head, let me declare, 'I am not a trotskite'.

Don't even know what it is except a term of derision bandied about by the fragmented left.

Another great post Anthony. I had the same though...

2009-08-25T05:41:37.153+01:00

Another great post Anthony.

I had the same thoughts about the new head of the PSNI as you. Their choice could not have been worse.

Personally, I think the best person to run the PSNI would be an atheist. (Interested? :) )

This man is going to be so ganged up on by the Unionists, he's not going to be able to take a crap by himself. And you know what Sinn

Brethren, the word today comes from Revelation 21:...

2009-08-25T03:19:13.296+01:00

Brethren, the word today comes from Revelation 21:1-5, which depicts a future christian society, the new jerusalem, in which evil and tyranny are overthrown.

Today Britain is a totalatarian state, which is resisting the Iraq inquiry, as it knows that an independent inquiry would remove its power to force its views on other countries as imperialism. An inperialism which has killed 13

This a good debate... uilodomhnaill That was a ...

2009-08-25T03:15:18.426+01:00

This a good debate...

uilodomhnaill

That was a good point have not heard the Kulaks mentioned in a long time.

Unsure if anyone qualifies as Stalinist or Trotski-ites?
Blurred lines of time and outdated ideals.

To Urban Underclass: No, it means that I am a stud...

2009-08-25T01:32:38.216+01:00

To Urban Underclass:
No, it means that I am a student of Russian History and you are a person who has a thin or popular understanding of the "Old Left". I suggest you apply yourself to learning the Russian Language and the history of the Revolution (you might begin with Trotsky's "History of the Russian Revolution"). Then read Marcuse,and Perls ---as was my original

Uilodomhnaill I am still confused. Does that make ...

2009-08-25T00:48:47.703+01:00

Uilodomhnaill
I am still confused. Does that make you Stalinist and me a Trotskite?

To Urban Underclass; Indeed you sound confused,a...

2009-08-25T00:30:41.017+01:00

To Urban Underclass;
Indeed you sound confused,and even though I greatly revere the memory of Lev Davidovich,one must remember it was he who prosecuted the Civil War in Russia and slaughtered the Kulaki--even though his family were Jewish Kulaki! See Isaac Deutscher (sp?) Prophet Trilogy on the life of Trotsky.

Oh dear...that new head of the PSNI sounds like a ...

2009-08-24T23:49:46.087+01:00

Oh dear...that new head of the PSNI sounds like a right prick...not sure what Jim was on about, but I suspect I would not not like to be a Muslim...as for Uilodomhnaill, I always thought that I might be trotskiite since I thought the Russian revolution went a bit astray when they started to butcher the Kulaks, but I never was sure. But then I don't feel much affinity for Gerry & Co...

A Chara,AM. I'm Irish only by distant ancest...

2009-08-24T22:33:52.213+01:00

A Chara,AM.
I'm Irish only by distant ancestry,so I find myself struggling not only to grasp the history of Eire, but also to understand the current mindset of the living social revolutionaries,or would be SRs. I was deeply involved in the New Left movement of the mid 60s in the US,and take as my points of departure Herbert Marcuse and Fritz Perls. Until reading your blog, I haven&

Larry, I suppose blessing yourself at 30000 feet w...

2009-08-24T20:43:59.882+01:00

Larry, I suppose blessing yourself at 30000 feet when the engine stalls is like an anti-drugs crusader taking a shot to ease excrutiating pain - whatever gets you through the night I suppose. In my case it simply would not work, so profound is the non-belief in dieties. It would be like hoping the tin of beans in the cupboard would suddenly pop to life and save me.

Ninews, I think they tried to downplay the tension...

2009-08-24T20:16:16.546+01:00

Ninews, I think they tried to downplay the tension for public consumption.

Marty, as always, a humorous take

Jim, I don't hold any religious views! That you disagree on my views on religion is neither here nor there. It is your right to disagree if you hold a different opinion. Same holds for me. I have a take on religion which am I inclined to vent. Things that don'

It would be great if we could sit back now and wat...

2009-08-24T20:06:53.271+01:00

It would be great if we could sit back now and watch the DUP/Taliban and this guy wade into each other. Wishful thinking. Maybe we'll be told that he's the final and parting 'gift' to layalism before the British departure. Just to sweeten the pill as it were. Who cares any more?
I don't know about religion but I've certainly blessed myself when the engines of a

Anthony, first of let me begin by saying I agree w...

2009-08-24T15:38:17.242+01:00

Anthony, first of let me begin by saying I agree with you on most things you write and I look forward to your articles on this site. That's why I bought your book, "Good Friday, The death of Irish Republicanism."
Your opinion on Britain's Modi operandi, ( I use the plural here, because the Brits are devious enough to have more than one method. ) is very insightful and very

yeah even though I walk through the valley of the ...

2009-08-24T14:13:28.227+01:00

yeah even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil,WHY!,because I,m the biggest bastard in the valley .Marty F