THE BEST OF THE BLOGS: A MOLLYMEW WEEKLY SURVEY:

Molly has looked over a number of her links this week for significant articles, and she has chosen the following for highlighting. This doesn't imply that Molly agrees with the opinions expressed, just that the entries are interesting.

1) From Le Revue Gauche comes 'Passover Song', a pagan analysis and diatribe about both the Song of Songs in the Bible and various other historical connections. Eugene's contribution to Easter. Also at that site is a more "orthodox" leftist offering on '"Criminal Capitalist Gets Honourary Degree', well worth reading for the concept of "honour" current in our society.

2) From the Porcupine Blog comes a translation of 'Proudhon's Ghost Stalks Venezuela' from an anarcho-communist group in Venezuela that is more (but not entirely- Molly) sympathetic to the government in that country than the majority of anarchist there are. An interesting comment showing the diversity olf anarchist opinion within a "revolutionary" process, though Molly disagrees with it.

3)From Shagyas Blog comes 'What Happened to Dunkirk', a lament on how the British have surrendered their freedom to a new "surveillance society".

4) From Kevin Carson's Mutualist Blog comes 'Economic Calculation in the Corporate Commonwealth', a "market anarchist" analysis of how communist societies continued to exist despite the lack of proper economic information.

5)From the local scene Ecology and Participatory Democracy has an article on "collapsing bee colonies", something that has become an item of interest for various people interested in agriculture in the last few months. Also the Vindicated Anarchist has an article entitled ' Blocked Up Like a Festering Boil' on internet censorship (MOLLY NOTE: GO TO INFOSHOP FOR THE ULTIMATE OUTSIDE OF CHINA) . Hopefully the author will eventually see how similar (and undesirable) Maoism is to the "fashion anarchism" that aims to build a little religious cult.

6)Finally, from Social Design Notes comes the 'Food Bill' that lays out the connection between food prices and sustainability. If the authors imagine that they have escaped "economics" they are deluded, but their critique is well worth reading.

Molly

INTERESTING ITEMS FROM ANOTHER LOCAL BLOG:
Another local blog from here in the world's freezer box, good ol' Winnipeg, Ecology and Participatory Democracy, has published a couple of interesting articles on the continuing struggle by the people of the community of Grassy Narrows to prevent industrial clearcut logging on their traditional lands. Grassy Narrows is a small native community of about 1,000 band members located about 80 kilometers north of Kenora, Ontario. Over the years they have endured a lot including violations of their treaty rights, the theft of their children by residential schools, forced relocation, flooding of their traditional burial grounds and wild rice gathering sites by hydroelectric dams and mercury poisoning due to the actions of a paper mill upstream from their community. The latest assault on these people is that the Ontario government has leased their traditional lands for logging by corporations such as Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi. About 50% of their traditional lands have now been clearcut. After logging the cut areas are sprayed with herbicides and replanted by a monoculture of tree farms. These "replacement forests" are devoid of the plants and even the wildlife that the people of Grassy Narrows have traditionally relied upon to support themselves.




Last July the people of Grassy Narrows and their supporters took to blocking highways to protest this continuing attack on their way of life. A total of 21 people were charged with "mischief" because of the two blockades. Ecology and Participatory Democracy gives a report about the latest charges against 5 of these protesters. The trial of two of them has been set over to March 12th. The other three, all from one local family resident in Grassy Narrows, have refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the court. Their case has been adjourned to Feb 26th. For further details see Ecology and Participatory Democracy.




If you want to learn more about the history and struggles of the people of Grassy Narrows go to the Friends of Grassy Narrows site or the Free Grassy Narrows site.





In a totally different vein another local blogger, The Vindicated Anarchist, has a hilarious blog on 'No Fashion at 40 Below'. There's no fashion in Winnipeg at any time, but our sartorial habits get even more ridiculous as we approach the point where carbon dioxide may precipitate out of the air. Ah..."but its a dry ice cold". Go over for a chuckle.
Molly

News From the Link Front:
A few more links have been added to this blog. Two are local. One, Info Usurpa Winnipeg, is under the general links section. It's a weekly listing of progressive events here in Winnipeg. The other is a blog called Ecology and Participatory Democracy produced by a local graduate student at the U. of M. . The title explains it all.
Finally, there's the promised "The Quote Garden' mentioned previously. It's a ball of fun. to close with a few flowers from the garden:
"Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river."
Nikita Khrushchev
"Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason"
Author Unknown
And now that my favourite holiday of the year is over....
"I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween"
Author Unknown
"Bda,bda,bda; that's all folks"
For Now
Porky