Proletblog

Between full-time study, part-time work and whenever-I-find-the-time activism, I don't have a lot of time for reading, and even less time for blogging. With more hours in the week I would probably read a lot more and write reviews of most of the books I read. But with the pressures of time, best I'm going to do for the moment are these five condensed reviews of books I've read in the past year or so.

( mini-reviews )

"The establishment is trying to prevent control of knowledge and culture slipping from their grasp," - Pirate Party Chairman Rick Falkvinge

The Sweeden-based Pirate Party has won a seat in the European parliament. I probably wouldn't have voted for them if I was an EU citizen (expect I could a party more in line with my politics if I looked) but I imagine a Pirate Party MEP will be able to at least help the public debate over intellectual property, especially in an economic union that is mostly about trade.

Unite has put out a leaflet as part of the campaign for a living wage, it dispels some of the common myths around minimum wage, as well as providing other good reasons to support the campaign.

Interesting to note:

There is no correlation between wage increases and unemployment, in fact, wage increases may stimulate the economy.

There is no correlation between wage increases and inflation

Tags: minimum wage, mythbusting, unite

WARNING: this is not the Fox News we know and love, the reporter is pro-legalisation! I haven't been following the US drugs debate much but it looks like there could be some big cultural changes going on state side.

When there is an outbreak of flu half way round the world, where is the line between providing an important public service, and inciting unnecessary panic to get people to watch your news program? And when was that line crossed?