Comrades!
The Turtle has once again,
despite its promises and good intentions, been somewhat remiss. There
was no July missive. Blame the moonlight. Blame the distractions of
Northern summer. Blame the dissertation-writing duties of the editors.
But know this: the Silence of the Turtle has not been in vain. Since
June's missive, the Turtle has accumulated a great deal of new material
and garnered no small number of new subscribers. International recognition
continues to grow; shortly after the Russians wrote so knowledgeably
about the "International Club Turtle", we were for one day
only last week the "Political
Site of the Day" in the eyes of a smallish but ultimately
refined Pennsylvania umbrella site.
This month, we are pleased
to welcome three new writers to the ranks of our contributors, all
from the serried ranks of the anti-globalisation movement. Aziz Choudry
writes from New Zealand on the colonial
traces of neoliberalism, and the dangers of ignoring them. Pat
Bennett sends her meditations from a variety of front lines, mostly
Canadian.
And we bring you Uri Gordon's memoir of his recent trip to Genoa.
Old friends continue to
write: Turtle regular Dave Renton has also recently returned from
a certain Northern
Italian town, and as we plot our Summer holiday destinations,
Dave has teamed up with Anne Alexander for a joint presentation of
a (Brief)
People's History of Egypt. It is marvellous to have Anne's writings
on display in the Cyber-Turtle for the first time: she breaks another
Chelonian Silence, this one of six years duration since Paper
Turtle #6 was mostly made up of her words of wisdom. Malinda Seneviratne,
our South Asia editor, has sent his coruscating analysis of Sri
Lankan politics, and Joe Bord has sent us reports of a meeting
which may or may not have taken place not so long ago outside
the Palace of Westminster. Finally, our Music Commissar Linnie Rawlinson
has sifted the shelves for another compilation of Music
to Smash Capitalism To.
The Activism of the Turtle
is also worthy of note this month, for the Turtle is the host of an
international declaration of opposition
to the World Bank's new web initiative, and we encourage our readers
and subscribers to sign the declaration and study Raj Patel's informed
polemic against the Development Gateway.
This Month the Turtle Salutes
British comedian and satirist Chris Morris, who has been targeted
by a newly intolerant and self-important British centre-left establishment
for poking at their sensibilities. A proper Salute will be posted
to the site soon. Also in preparation is a brand new Turtle Serial,
"The Mao of Pooh", in which
we will enjoy the adventures of a Bear of Little Brain as he seeks
to fashion a distinctive brand of Marxism-Leninism with Chinese Characteristics.
Watch this space.
The Turtle ends this missive,
though on a sombre note. Carlo Giuliani, the protester killed at the
recent G8 protests in Genoa, is not international capital's first
victim. Nor will he be its last. It is with sober understanding and
respect that this month's Turtle is dedicated to him, and we mourn
him with a more than usually appropriate
Avanti Popolo!
The Editors
editors@voiceoftheturtle.org
