I have been nominated for the Social Europe Journal vote on what are the most influential left-of-centre European blogs.
I am, of course, please to be nominated. It’s always good to be recognised.
The other blogs nominated are:
A Fistful of Euros (www.fistfulofeuros.net)
Åsa Westlund (www.asawestlund.se/blogg)
The Cedar Lounge Revolution (www.cedarlounge.wordpress.com)
Coulisses de Bruxelles (www.bruxelles.blogs.liberation.fr)
Dear Kitty. Some Blog (www.dearkitty.blogsome.com)
Erkan’s Field Diary (www.erkansaka.net)
Glenis Willmott (gleniswillmott.blogspot.com)
Grahnlaw (www.grahnlaw.blogspot.com)
The Honeyball Buzz (www.thehoneyballbuzz.com)
Irish Left Review (www.irishleftreview.org)
The European Citizen (www.theeuropeancitizen.blogspot.com)
European Tribune (www.eurotrib.com)
Eurosocialist (www.eurosocialist.eu)
Jon Worth’s Euroblog (www.jonworth.eu)
Kreisie (www.kreisie.lv)
Nachdenkseiten (www.nachdenkseiten.de)
PES Re:new (www.pes.org/renew)
Social Europe Journal (www.social-europe.eu)
There is quite a small number of nominations as the European left-of-centre blogosphere is still quite small.
You may vote for up to three blogs and the ballot closes on Friday 12 November at 5 pm. You can vote here
I made my way straight to the Latvian journal because of the appalling financial terms imposed on their country, making the Greek situation look like a picnic.
But unfortunately my knowledge of Latvian is limited, despite being in possession of a Teach Yourself Latvian.
😦
It was interesting to have a look at the various blogs and consider which was the best; a difficult task given that their authors are in so many locations.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution was perhaps the least appealing but of course it is difficult from an English perspective to get as excited as the author about the Donegal South by-election. There are long pieces knit picking through long interviews with various politicians which could have been edited to half the length.
‘Dear Kitty’ was an uncomfortable read because the text was littered by so many links and video clips. There were some interesting bits though; information such as the fact that Vera Lynn is against the war in Afghanistan and depressing things like the statement from General Sir David Richards that Britain is likely to be there for up to forty years.
The European Citizen has an attractive background to the text but its author wrote that he wants more radical democratic reforms of the EU. More? I did not know that there had been any worth mentioning. He is optimistic if he believes there will be any – I think that he is quite young.
By way of contrast Glenis Willmott’s blog has a severe grey background and the pictures and links are only on the right hand side. The grey background is perhaps appropriate as the web site has a very ‘official’ tone. There are very few comments from visitors – a bad sign in my view; it means that it is not much read or that the articles could be more thought provoking. I did add a few observations to make it look a little less neglected.
It is difficult for me to be impartial about the content as I disagreed with so much but her comments are rather more consistent than others. She is a Europhile and she pretty much says so. This is so much better than the many Conservatives who are just as keen on the EU but who make UKIP sounding comments and then give the EU all our money, even money which we don’t actually have.
I could not though, overlook her nonsense about tobacco. She wants the EU to discourage smoking but she blithely ignored the issue of all those EU subsidies to tobacco farmers in the EU.
Mary, good luck with the contest. I did not see anything which should discourage you from hoping for the best.