Oil and state

The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.—The Communist Manifesto Theories of the state have advanced considerably since Marx and Engels issued their famous challenge to the workers in 1848. But trust the Harper government to revive their too-simple

Continue reading

350 or bust: Monday Musings

Although today’s title suggests that I might be taking the time to write some insightful lines about the state of the world this morning, in fact I’m not feeling up to it (and some might suggest that I am never quite up to the task, anyway!). This morning there’s a

Continue reading

Northern Reflections: Grecian Formula

Almost a year ago, Stephen Harper travelled to Greece to encourage Greek prime minister George Papandreou to screw his courage to the sticking point and go further down Austerity Road. Papandreou has since departed in disgrace and — if Michael Den Tandt’s reporting is correct — Harper is about to

Continue reading

My Friend Mary.

BC’sVeryBest CitizenJournalistVille I first first noticed this lady who called herself ‘BC Mary’ on the comment threads at ‘The Tyee’. For all kinds of reasons. And not just because we had similar world views. Instead, what really interested me was the way she engaged the other commenters on those raucous

Continue reading