| Saturday, January 21, 2006 |
| THE GOOD GEORGE |
 It was 56 years ago today that George Orwell died. I have always been a major fan of his, in fact, I even have this picture on my wall at home. You look at it and he seems to stare at you and say "get a move on". The little picture of the house next to my profile is Barnhill, the house where he wrote 1984 on the Isle of Jura. I even went there on a sort of pilgrimage. It is possibly the most remote house in the British Isles. I think it is time for some of his finer quotes.
One thing about Orwell is that although he was definitely on the left he was the sort to tell his own team to get their house in order before they start abusing the opposition. Therefore I am putting up a couple of his criticisms of the left here...
"Sometimes, when I listen to these people talking, and still more when I read their books, I get the impression that, to them, the whole Socialist movement is no more than a kind of exciting heresy-hunt-a leaping to and fro of frenzied witch-doctors to the beat of tom-toms and the tune of Fee fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of a right-wing deviationist!'" (The Road to Wigan Pier)
"It is fatal to let the ordinary inquirer get away with the idea that being a Socialist means wearing sandals and burbling about dialectical materialism. You have got to make it clear that there is room in the Socialist movement for human beings, or the game is up."
(The Road to Wigan Pier)
"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."
"All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome."
"All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting."
"Early in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper."
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals."
"Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."
"There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them."
"War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it. "
Enough for now. A good website for all things Orwell can be found here.
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posted by michael the tubthumper @ 5:56 pm  |
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| 5 Comments: |
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Happy b-day to the good George. THe good George went to Spain and fought for his ideals. the bad george prefers to let others do the dying
I am interested in the 1936-39 spanish civil war, anyone know any good books??
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Great post....and so sad ...Orwell would be turning in his grave right now...come over to my blogroll- scroll to Orwell's Grave- Great blog...
( yours is too..)
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graeme - u must know homage to catalonia obviously.
enigma - just going to check out your blogroll now
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Thanks for the info Michael.
You probably know this site then...
I've linked to you again, my friend.
Peace,
=RD=
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| What is Tubthumping and who is doing it? |
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Name: michael the tubthumper
Home: Glasgow, Scotland
About Me: Tub-Thumper - 1. A speaker or preacher who for emphasis thumps the pulpit; a violent or declamatory preacher or orator; a ranter. This blog will be a combination of reasoned posting somedays and an occasional rant.
28 years old, I write and research for a couple of websites and also do my own stuff.
See my complete profile
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| Thumping The Tub Video |
I have made a few short movies. Here are links to free downloads for them all in the order that I made them (as far as I can remember). Please feel free to use, distribute, disagree with, shout at etc etc
Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition
This was a REAL song from World War 2. I was so stunned by it I had to make a movie
How Far Is It From Here to Nuremberg
This is my attempt at a video for the excellent, if worrying, David Rovics (see links) song
What You Like
I believe the word for this is "splenetic". Only 20 seconds long.
Imperial Measures
What is going on in Iraq? Some things you knew, some you didn't. A couple of bits of info are out of date now.
Wish You Were Here
Wish You Were Here is a 6 minute film about the unprecendted rate of animal extinction we are currently experiencing
Gorillas and us
I don't like creationism, neither did Douglas Adams
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| Older Thumping |
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| Links |
spinwatch
adbusters
internet archive
art not oil
blairwatch
bushflash
camcorder guerillas
corporate watch
campaign for press freedom
noam chomsky
common dreams
counterpunch
cost of war
david rovics
democracy now
dissident voice
the dossier
downing street says
etims
robert fisk
food not bombs
global research
gmwatch
impeach blair
indybay video
killing hope
lobbywatch
mediachannel
medialens
mickey z
mixed up records
george monbiot
mark thomas
john pilger
radio 4 all
schnews
snow shoe films
sourcewatch
tom englehardt
ukwatch
video activist network
howard zinn
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U.S. MONETARY Cost of the War in Iraq - other people are spending too, and the human cost is much higher
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| some of the blogs I look at |
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| Arse of the month |
The inaugural 'Arse of the month' award goes to our very own Scottish First Minister Jack (Joke) McConnell. He seems to spend a lot of his time sucking up to english politicians and yet it appears they don't even know his name. Follow the link to see..
NODOBY KNOWS ME
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| It's All Gone Scottish |
A list of some other Scottish sites and blogs most of which, if not all, are pro-independence. I don't agree with content on all of them obviously. Some are Scots at home, others abroad.
The Scottish Patient
Kim Ayres
Our Scotland
average tosser
1820
big stick small carrot
J. Arthur MacNumpty
World of Jack McConnell
The Firefox Chronicles
Independence 1st
Radio Free Scotland
Scots and independent
Scottish Independence Guide
TCOAW
Small Nation
Inveresk Street Ingrate
Radical Glasgow
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| Want to Swot? |
If you like this site and think it is time to start getting informed here are a few real favourites of mine that will help you blow away the corporate and government propaganda you are constantly bombarded with. It is added to every so often.
politics and the english language
Beyond Hope
the gore exception
your tax dollars at work
a cultural chernobyl
choose life (not trainspotting)
shooting an elephant
a war crime within a war crime...
the menace of liberal scholarship
the modern era of law
naming the problem
the four ages of sand
a news revolution has begun
come september
money is the cause of poverty
countering corporate power
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| Other Stuff |
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Happy b-day to the good George. THe good George went to Spain and fought for his ideals. the bad george prefers to let others do the dying
I am interested in the 1936-39 spanish civil war, anyone know any good books??