Comrades!

An Editor of the Turtle once observed that "November is the season of revolution, when mists and mellow fruitfulness give way to barricades and the smell of burning rubber". These wise words remain true today, six years after they were first proclaimed. This November we commemorate Petrograd's October Revolution of 1917 as well as the tenth anniversary of Prague's Velvet Revolution, but we can also and especially look forward to some dramatic upheavals on the streets of Seattle, and indeed all around the world, as the largest ever demonstrations are mounted on November 30th against the horrible absurdities of the contemporary global economic regime.

Presumably because preparations for the November Revolution are taking up so much time, we've not been able to single out a Popular Hero upon whom to bestow the Stakhanovite of the Month award this month. But we are pleased to report that there has been a dramatic upswing of Stakhanovism on the part of our Stakhanovites of Previous Months. Up until now, all those who have been awarded the coveted Stakhanovite of the Month title have thereupon proceeded to cease productive work for the Turtle, rather than being inspired to further and greater quota-shattering activities. Happily, however, this fallow period in the Annals of Stakhanovism has come to an end, and we have been proud to receive new work from three of our finest Stakhanovites: David Renton's commentary on the significance of the recent and disturbing election results in Austria now graces our pages; Caroline Brooke's discussion of the more Russian elements of James C. Scott's important recent book Seeing Like A State will appear in the forthcoming Autumn Books Supplement; and a new contribution from Martin O'Neill is undergoing complicated chemical treatment in our Editorial Laboratory, and will be appearing soon.

Poetry is also enjoying something of a renaissance at The Voice of the Turtle. We are pleased to bring you the poetry of Malinda Seveniratne -- more of whose fine work will be published quite soon -- as well as a strange piece of verse that came our way from the pen of West London's very own P. J. McMahon. The Turtle has never been able to publish quite as much poetry as s\he would like -- our last original contribution, a fridge poetry Ode to Newt Gingrich, was published this time last year -- and it's exciting to see these new contributions adorn the site. The Turtle's Salutes are another kind of poetry, of course, and this month it is gladly extended to Father Roy Bourgeois and his School of the Americas Watch. We explain why on our Salutes Page.

As hinted above, the new Books Supplement should be out within the week. It will feature excellent writing by Newcomers to the Turtle -- including Marc Mulholland and Anne Rademacher -- as well as book reviews from some of the more usual suspects. It's not too late to join in, either: send us your last-minute ruminations on recent literary production, and we'll be only too happy to showcase your thinking in the Turtle's Literary Harvest Festival.

The struggle, as ever, carries on, and we continue to encourage the entire Community of the Turtle to write Articles, Dictionary Entries, Reviews, Poems and Salutes, to make your own suggestions for the further development of our expanding site, to supply us with Slogans, and to lure more and more readers into our vicelike embrace through the tireless propagation of our distinctive URL. But until we have succeeded in Building Socialism on one Website, we remain --

The Editors