We know Blair was influenced by Marx in his youth. What’s not so appreciated is that the mature Blair is also a Marxist.
By this I don’t mean that he’s attacking our freedoms; he is, but this has little to do with Marxism. Instead, I’m thinking of a particular strand of Marxism - one that’s got [...]

Atlantic Rift: Big mouth strikes again
“Clarke combines all the worst authoritarian excesses of the Blair government with the dignity of a Big Brother contestant and the personality and self-awareness of a snivelling child…”

“You don’t own the eyeballs. You don’t own the press”

Ain’t that close to love?
Re-viewing The Breakfast Club

“Le refus des louanges est un désir d’être loué deux fois.“ (The refusal of praise is only the wish to be praised twice.) —François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld, le Prince de Marcillac, Maxim 149
Disparate though we as a species indubitably are, there is one trait that unites every human being on the planet, from [...]

Everyone is talking about this. Mike Power: “Paxman should have wiped the floor with her” [my emphasis], Andrew Ian Dodge “man did she stuff Jeremy Paxman”, Guido (curiously silent), Blairwatch.
Like Mike, I think Paxman “should have wiped the floor with” Coulter. But he didn’t. I admire Paxman; he adds to the gaiety of the [...]

Warnings from America
Grinding migrants into Uncle Sam’s dirt

What divides Britain?
Fear and loathing in Leeds

Britblog Roundup #70

How MDMA and Polanyi taught me the same thing

A terrible mistake
… aka The War on Terror

The world, as every politician deemed worthy enough of a spot on television is seemingly contractually obliged to tell us, is under threat. This threat is new, it’s scary, and it comes from shifty foreigners with shady motives.

The British left has always felt vaguely uncomfortable with the whole notion of patriotism. The US’ vision of itself as a bastion of democracy and equality means that both liberals and conservatives can well up at the sound of the national anthem. The French left can believe passionately in the ideals of ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ [...]

“Renew for freedom”? Well, sort of…
Passports and RFIDs