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August 30, 2005

Ideas on Urban Environmentalism

A nice op-ed piece by Neal Peirce in the Seattle Times. Peirce highlights some innovative environmental initiatives that help reduce energy consumption in cities. He also lambastes the U.S Congress' new energy bill for its lack of commitment to the environment.

An interesting factoid:

Buildings account for two-fifths of America's energy consumption and generate a third of its carbon dioxide emissions.

Makes sense when you really think about it. Makes me want to look into what the city of Toronto is doing in the energy efficiency arena.

Posted by Jason at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2005

Michael Thompson on Urban Gun Violence

“It's offensive, rude and inappropriate. Whoever thought of that is a complete idiot.”

- Criminal lawyer Aston Hall

Simply put, Toronto has a burgeoning gun violence problem. No, it's not New York or LA but it's a problem and it's not going away. Fortunately, Toronto has a lot of bright people working on this issue. Councillor Michael Thompson (below) is not one of them.

Here's a link to Thompson's "insightful" proposal on how to deal with the issue.

Here is a short but sweet op-ed from a friend discussing Thompson's views:



Hi all,

In today's coverage on "The War on Guns", City TV interviewed Counsellor Michael Thompson, asking this city counsellor for his views on how to implement and enforce gun control in the city.

I gotta say, folks, never have I been so proud to have a fellow minority in a position of power, representing the true ideals of people of colour in the City. Counsellor Thompson's idea begins with stopping black people, mostly black males, in the streets of Toronto (on foot and in cars) and asking them if they are carrying guns.

Perhaps we should call this initiative "STOP", or

S - Stop
T - Toronto's
O - (most) Obvious
P - Perpetrators

I assume this means that Counsellor Thompson is exempt from this...or has he forgotten that he, too, is a black man? Is there some type of swipe card mechanism that he has which enables him to engage in automatic bypassmode?

Anyhow, someone should alert Mr. Thompson that a program such as this already exists. We coloured folk know it by a different name. It's called

R-A-C-I-A-L P-R-O-F-I-L-I-N-G

Shana

Posted by Jason at 10:37 AM | Comments (1)

August 12, 2005

Monsanto's Quest to Patent Pigs

Yes, you read correctly. Greenpeace reports that Monsanto is seeking to patent breeding techniques of pigs and the pigs themselves!! A quote from the article:

"If these patents are granted, Monsanto can legally prevent breeders and farmers from breeding pigs whose characteristics are described in the patent claims, or force them to pay royalties," says Then. "It's a first step toward the same kind of corporate control of an animal line that Monsanto is aggressively pursuing with various grain and vegetable lines."

This company is unbelievable. Watch The Corporation to learn more about Monsanto's despicable corporate practices.

Posted by Jason at 12:31 AM | Comments (0)

August 6, 2005

Kanye West Video: The Return of Conscious Hip Hop?

This is probably old news for plugged-in readers of this blog, but I just saw the new(?) video by Kanye West entitled, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone". I gotta tell ya, I was so excited...consciousness returns to hip hop! I felt like it was the '90's all over again.

The video is part James Bond/ part PSA. Car chases, diamonds with flowing streams of blood, rather healthy-looking faces of African youth. The video even ended with a plea to the bling-bling generation not to buy "conflict-diamonds". Only one problem...the lyrics to the song have NOTHING to do with the international issue...AT ALL. Apparently, Q-Tip (of Tribe Called Quest fame) hipped Kanye to the probable history of the diamonds he so stylishly flaunts -- picture military dictators and young African kids with amputated limbs. Hence a quick change in the song's title and the theme of the video. Way to go Q-Tip!

Hip hop may not be conscious, but at least it seems to be awakening from its Courvoisier induced stupor.

If you prefer to get your facts from places other than music videos, visit the United Nations site or check out an amazing video "Diamond Life" over at GNN.

Posted by Jason at 12:43 AM