This quote is from the Harper’s Magazine archive. We Do Abortions Here: A Nurse’s Story, is a powerful piece that goes beyond the well worn positions that are still being dragged about today. I recommend a full reading, go to Harper’s Archive to read it. “Women have abortions because they
Continue readingTag: freedom
Things Are Good: Forget Burning Man, Go To Ephemerisle
Ephemerisle is a libertarian Burning Man on the ocean. It’s goal is like Burning Man’s insofar that it exists to explore new ideas while throwing a big party. Ephemerisle is really trying to figure out how people can survive on the ocean for an extended period of time while finding
Continue readingThings Are Good: Iceland Wants to Help Journalists Expose Real Threats
Iceland continues on it’s quest to be the ‘Switzerland of data‘ and is extending its program to do so for journalists. Part of the country’s plan to become a haven for people exposing the immoral and questionable behaviour of powerful people is already in action. Iceland is quickly achieving its
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Omar Khadr and the Monster Stephen Harper
Of all the Canadians Stephen Harper has muzzled during his reign of terror nobody was muzzled more than Omar Khadr.For years Harper prevented the media from meeting with him, hearing about his ordeal, or even taking his picture. So he could portray Khadr as a monster.And since I have never defended
Continue readingThings Are Good: We Need to Hold Banks Accountable (again)
The financial sector is like a hydra and we need to get it under control. The bad news is that bankers have been able to get away with some unethical practices for the last decade or so. The good news is that finally American politicians are taking notice of this
Continue readingThings Are Good: Band of the Month: The Holy Gasp
Hey! May’s band is The Holy Gasp! The most musically important band I’ve heard in quite a spell, The Holy Gasp’s party mix of Afro-Cuban surf punk wizardry grabs you quick and hard, and doesn’t let you go. Check out their refreshing approach to getting a message across with body-moving
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Freedom of Omar Khadr and the Shame of the Con Regime
I wrote my first post on Omar Khadr eight years ago, and called it The Guantanamo Kid and Canada's Shame.And nothing that has happened since has ever changed my view. For what was done to that child soldier has been one of the most shameful episodes in modern Canadian history, and
Continue readingThings Are Good: The 20 Safest Cities in the World
The Economist safe cities list (pdf link) has been released and the results are pretty neat! There are some cities that you’d expect to be there and some surprise too! The analysts looked at digital, health, and personal security of every city on the list plus the condition of the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Will Iceland be the “Switzerland of Data”?
Iceland is the de facto home of Wikileaks and is also a country concerned with privacy issues. The country is now considering leveraging their experience and reputation of being digital-data friendly to the next level. Presently, the country is considering branding itself as the “Switzerland of Data.” If Iceland does
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: If You Watch This Video
… you will realize very quickly that Ursula K. LeGuin is talking about much more than the writing of books: Recommend this Post
Continue readingThings Are Good: LHC Data Freely Accessible from CERN
The Large Hadron Collider run by CERN is making huge insights into the fundamental workings of the universe. Already it has found evidence the Higgs-Boson and other groovy particles in physics. Now CERN is setting all that data that’s been collected free to use! Now you can use research generated
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Remembrance Day 2014: And My Promise to the Dead
It's going to be a very emotional Remembrance Day in Canada, especially at the National War Memorial.For the reasons we all know, for the blood spilled. And at the stroke of eleven I will stop whatever I'm doing, and remember those who gave their lives, and honour our veterans.But for the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Only Keep Things That Bring You Joy
Are you sick of tidying your place all the time? If you are, just stop. There’s no need to tidy if you go through all your items and only keep things which bring you joy and improve your life. Marie Kondo has published a book on the Japanese art of
Continue readingThings Are Good: Germany Now Has Free Tuition
Germany has done something that the rest the developed world should copy: reducing post-secondary tuition fees to zero. Open and accessible education is key to making a richer and more prosperous country – Germany clearly gets this. In these modern times education is more important than ever so it’s really
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Scotland, Crimea and the Right To Self-Determination
Do the people of Scotland have the right to vote in a referendum to determine their own future? Of course they do. Just as the people of Greece had, and have, the right to vote in a referendum as to whether or not to stay in the EU. And do
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: What do I want? Revolutionary change – nothing less will do at this critical time in our history
I want nothing short of revolutionary change, a radical change, a renaissance. I think it is needed – urgently needed: and I do not think that human beings are going to survive at all without it. We have, inadvertently, pressed our backs against a wall. I think we need to
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Scottish Independence: The Empire Strikes Back
With one week to go in the Scottish referendum the YES side's surge to independence appears to have been at least temporarily halted, with a new poll suggesting the NO side is leading again. The YouGov survey for The Times and Sun newspapers put supporters of the union on 52 per
Continue readingThings Are Good: Vermont Stops Their War on Drugs, Will Help People Instead
The war on drugs is a backwards, destructive, and anti-human campaign that has destroyed lives. It was launched by Nixon and since then it the ‘war’ has negatively impacted everything it touches from people’s lives to the global economy. The USA tries to enforce it’s inflexible approach around the world,
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: The Militarization of Police: But Why?
Since the beginning of the year, several stories in high-profile mainstream media publications have examined what some find to be the increasing militarization of police forces in North America. In March, The Economist wrote a feature on the phenomenon noting that the use of tactical units, which are often armed with
Continue readingThings Are Good: China’s Changing Waste Management
China’s rate of economic development has caused massive change in the country and that includes the impact on waste management. Waste from consumer goods, industry, and other “good” things for the economy causes huge problems around the world. China is now at a turning point that can see interesting solutions
Continue reading