DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. I see this as a two-fold issue; firstly, actions and secondly, words. I’ll consider both briefly and then elaborate on my concerns. Actions There is no point in rehashing here the now well-known details of what lead to Desmond
Continue readingTag: freedom
Things Are Good: Be Safe Online
The American government recently repealed laws set to protect your privacy online, clearly the government doesn’t care about private communication. This impacts people around the world because a lot of internet traffic travels through the states via various online services. Safe and secure conversations are needed to keep a democracy
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Fuck Libraries
The Saskatchewan government, in its 2017/18 budget, has slashed library budgets around the province. Its done all kinds of other things too like force civil servants to take a 3.5% cut in pay, shut down the only highway bus transportation service in the province, increase the provincial sales tax, and
Continue readingThings Are Good: Get Rewarded for Supporting Civil Disobedience
If your idea to change the world is creative enough then you could get $250,000 from LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. Technically, it’ll be from MIT Media Lab with money from Hoffman. The Lab and Hoffman teamed up to ensure that creative civil resistance in the USA doesn’t die under the
Continue readingThings Are Good: This River is a Person in New Zealand Law
The Whanganui River its the first river to have the same legal stats as a person. The New Zealand federal government recently passed a bill granting the river legal personhood. This means that the river is afforded all the rights as a person under New Zealand law. The river’s rights
Continue readingThings Are Good: Use Technology to Mobilize Your Community
The current federal leadership in the USA has many people concerned about their rights and freedoms. If you’re one of those people you can use these technological tools to help you stand up and fight back. Newsweek, rather surprisingly, compiled a list of tech tools that can be used to
Continue readingThings Are Good: How a Better World Can Come from Supply Chain Management
The Canadian organization Shareholder Association for Research & Education (SHARE) just released a report on how supply chain management can help promote and enforce human rights. Some countries legally require companies to report the status of human rights and any liabilities that may stem from neglect or worse. Canada, however,
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Quick and Powerful Response by the ACLU
Image via Reddit. Over the weekend President Trump enacted what has come to be known as the Muslim Ban. Immediately protestors took to their nearby airports in act of solidarity with the people affected by Trump’s outrageous actions against migration. The protests are continuing today at American consulates and embassies
Continue readingThings Are Good: What It’s Like to Use the Internet in Cuba
The internet is a great resource for connecting people to people and connecting people to services and new ideas. Cuba, like other developing nations, has had a hard time connecting to the internet because of the sheer cost (laying cables underwater isn’t cheap!); and for Cuba the costs are higher
Continue readingThings Are Good: Amnesty International’s Guide to Safe Messaging
Thanks to the bravery of whistleblowers we know that the Five Eyes are monitoring all internet chatter regardless of who’s talking. This is a big concern for people who care about freedom and rights to have personal communication. As a result, Amnesty International put together a review of messaging apps
Continue readingThings Are Good: Standing Rock Sioux Achieve a Victory
This is proof that direct protest action works. The US Army Corps of Engineers has decided to not grant permission to allow the Dakota Access pipeline to be built as planned. The pipeline was meant to go through burial lands of the Standing Rock Sioux which is offensive in itself,
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: THE PROBLEMS OF CARDING: Excising the Discriminatory Police Street Check Process
Over at Academia.edu, I have posted an updated public policy analysis of the police practice of carding, also known as “street checks” that I did as part of my Master’s course load. The full paper can be found HERE. But here is the Executive Summary: This policy analysis paper examines three options
Continue readingThings Are Good: We Need the Humanities More Than Ever
Over the last decade or so there has been a big push in North America to get students in to STEM education. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are important to study, but they need to be studied alongside the humanities. The push for STEM is a result of the
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Columbus is no hero of mine
Italian-North Americans — especially those of us with roots in the Mezzogiorno (and I include the Ciociaria and Abbruzzo here) — don’t need a Genoese genocidal rapist as our hero. It’s time to eliminate Columbus Day. It’s time for #IndigenousPeoplesDay Some good reading and watching: ‘All Indians Are Dead?’ At Least
Continue readingThings Are Good: Complaints About Police Drop 93% Thanks to Body Cameras
Policing has become a hot issue in recent years thanks to the efforts of groups like Black Lives Matter bringing discriminatory actions by the police to light. In many jurisdictions police forces are already using (or considering) body cameras that record what officers are seeing and doing. It turns out
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Freedom’s Just Another Word
Over the past couple of weeks, you’ve been either lauding or vilifying this guy who plays sportsball in the US because he opted to sit out the national anthem in protest of racism, race-based violence, and inequity. You got *really mad* at him, and said he shouldn’t be allowed to
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Bikini, Burkini – Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
– initially entered as a series of ranty comments on an effbook post – I don’t care WHAT your religion is, or isn’t – no government has the right to tell anybody how to dress. So the government of France doesn’t have any more right to tell people what they
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Day Stephen Harper Finally Resigned
Yes, it's true. After living high off the hog for about ten months after he was defeated and humiliated, the mad emperor has finally left the building.Stephen Harper has finally resigned.Stephen Harper is stepping down from Parliament and going in…
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Day Stephen Harper Finally Resigned
Yes, it’s true. After living high off the hog for about ten months after he was defeated and humiliated, the mad emperor has finally left the building.
Stephen Harper has finally resigned.
Stephen Harper is stepping down from Parliament and going into business, hoping that his credentials as a former G7 leader will lead to a successful consulting career on the international stage.
Now please stand by for a message from Great Fallen Leader.
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Things Are Good: Walkable Streets Solve Nearly Every Problem
Anybody who lives in a city knows that walkability of neighbourhoods is a key reason they live where they do. The attraction to mobility options, safe places, cultural and economic diversity is what keeps cities growing. Walkable spaces makes all of that happen and more! What smoking was to the 20th century car driving is […]
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