Carrie and I just got back from 2 and a half hours of our manif (it was still going strong). It’s the 3rd night in a row (possibly more–we were visiting friends in Westmount Saturday, a wealthy enclave that’s hostile territory for protesters). What started as a local event with hundred of people taking up …
Category Archives: Politics
Manifestation de casseroles / Arrêtez-moi quelqu’un
So last night we’re sitting on the porch with friends and hear this noise. It gets louder and louder. Lots of banging. Finally we go investigate and find . . . the “Manifestation de casseroles” at the corner of Jarry and St-Denis a block away. Over 200 people gathered, making tons of noise with pots …
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We’re way beyond dialogue here
Today I spoke with a journalist — Giuseppe Valiante (to give credit where it’s due) — doing a story on social media and the strike. At one point he asked me if I thought things would be better if the Charest government were on Twitter, interacting with all the protesters and their supporters who are …
Fiddling While Rome Burns and other clichés
Let us descend for a moment into some rather exquisite gossip from the intellectual history of communication studies. Commenting on Herb Schiller, a scholar noted for his radicalism, James Carey said in a 2006 interview: …he was supremely bourgeois. When the troubles began in the 1960s, Herb couldn’t be bothered. He was home reading The …
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Quebec National Day of Action
Politics in Quebec, Montreal and McGill are as hot as they’ve been since last September. We are in the midst of a general student strike against proposed tuition increases. Today is the national day of action, which is getting Canada-wide press coverage and deserves international coverage. I’m at a conference right now and haven’t been …
Just in case you thought student loans were about something else…
the US government just sold our loans, or what’s left of them, to a private company–once again demonstrating that like all debt, student debt is profitable for someone.
Post-#6Party Thoughts
I’m increasingly immersed in my work out here now (yesterday I interviewed Tom Oberheim and Roger Linn–amazing and educational!), so this will be my last post on the #6party occupation, which ended Sunday when the police were called to escort the demonstrators from the building. (Also, I’d like to blog about other stuff.) 1. Regardless …