Though Cowards Flinch

I’ve noticed that it’s getting harder and harder to find really quality blogs at the moment. I’ve only just recently taken up the Bloggers4Labour ability to create an RSS feed of selected bloggers from the site, and before I did that I visited about a hundred to check them out. There’s an enormous part of the Labour-orientated blogosphere which has died out over the last few years, especially since about 2006. I wonder is such a trend connected to the political fortunes of the Labour Party?

Whatever the case, it’s time for a good spring clean of the blogroll.

Blogs which are going. Over the next few days. When I can be bothered.

Derek Wall’s Another Green World – partisans of any given party just bore me and the interspersion with rather pretentious commentary on Latin and South America are worse.

Brighton Regency Labour Party – moved to a different site.

Cliffite – interesting enough but disappointingly rare with updates.

Dirty Leftie – same as above.

Encyclopaedia of Decency – irregularly updated and patronising pro-war bollocks.

General Theory of Rubbish – can be got elsewhere.

Green from below – seemingly dead or dying.

How Appealing – er, not quite sure how this got on here; probably from one of our resident lawyers.

Kezia Dugdale – because her blog has become permission-only. I wonder if slipping up the greasy pole of success means no more opinions?

Labour Outlook – now requires a password? What on earth is going on?

People’s Republic of Teeside – decline in activity.

Theft is Good – another dead duck.

Blogs to be added.

Renegade Eye – I’m going to try this one out for a while, though I really wish that political blogs would stop being infatuated with music. The other great example of this is Bob From Brockley.

Yorkshire Ranter – I read some excellent articles on this blog today and apparently it has been going for a long time, so I thought I would add it to my list of the regularly perused.

Bickerstaffe Record - I’ve been meaning to add this one for some time, containing as it does some intriguing stories about life as a Councillor but also having a ready theoretical awareness.

Last of the Famous – cited on a number of blogs I read. Some really detailed stuff on French politics and history.

Neil Harding blog – changed address of the Brighton Regency Labour Party blog.

Blog post of the (last) month.

4Glengate, which I already link to but haven’t had time to read in a while, had a really sad story about Nick and Kate, AWL members and Labour members of sixteen years standing, being expelled from Labour. They received the same terse later on the same day. Though I don’t necessarily agree with all the perspectives given, and though I am rather wary of the AWL in the aftermath of their Healy-like treatment of David Broder, I absolutely think that such expulsions are indicative of a Party democracy on the ropes. Standing candidates against the Party may be political suicide, but when the bureaucracy can rig selections, one wonders what choice there is.