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April 05, 2007 03:35 +0000  |  Society & Culture 0

This video restored my faith in humanity.

Thanks to Pavel for the link.

March 26, 2007 20:26 +0000  |  Society & Culture 3

Aileen just introduced me to one of the eeriest things I've ever seen: In the united states, parents can take their kids to a special mall that's explicitly designed for their dolls.

Read that sentence over again and let it sink in: america is so rich that it spends its wealth on catering to the desires of plastic playthings.

At American Girl Place you can:

Did I mention that you can go on a full-blown shopping trip with fake-money to outfit your plastic companion for the low-low price of only $280USD? Has the world gone mad?

In a day and age when finding fresh water is a toss up in most of the developing world, the united states scares the hell out of me.

March 23, 2007 18:13 +0000  |  Society & Culture 2

The UK, for fear of hordes of terrorists trying to destroy it's great democracy from within has been pushing for these new ultra-safe, super-protected passports to be the norm. Unfortunately for the group that designed them though, they're neither safe, nor protected:

Using a simple gadget built from parts bought on the Internet, it took the Mail less than four hours to copy the details from one passport.

More details on The Daily Mail.

March 02, 2007 14:58 +0000  |  Society & Culture 0

Reprinted in Now, Naomi Klein details a trial happening in Florida that's putting a spotlight on what's really going on in the united states:

Arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare airport, Padilla, a Brooklyn-born former gang member, was classified as an "enemy combatant" and taken to a Navy prison in Charleston, South Carolina. He was kept in a 9-by-7-foot cell with no natural light, no clock and no calendar. Whenever Padilla left the cell, he was shackled and suited in heavy goggles and headphones. Padilla was kept under these conditions for 1,307 days. He was forbidden contact with anyone but his interrogators, who punctured the extreme sensory deprivation with sensory overload, blasting him with harsh lights and pounding sounds. Padilla also says he was injected with a "truth serum," a substance his lawyers believe was LSD or PCP.

According to his lawyers and two mental health specialists who examined him, Padilla has been so shattered that he lacks the ability to assist in his own defense. He is convinced that his lawyers are "part of a continuing interrogation program" and sees his captors as protectors. In order to prove that "the extended torture visited upon Mr. Padilla has left him damaged," his lawyers want to tell the court what happened during those years in the Navy brig. The prosecution strenuously objects, maintaining that "Padilla is competent," that his treatment is irrelevant.

It would seem that america is not only losing its "moral authority" but its self-respect as well.

February 12, 2007 19:10 +0000  |  Nifty Links Society & Culture 6

Rami, a guy I know from the TPSC has gone through a lot of time and effort in setting up his new site illegalsigns.ca.

The most impressive component of the site is a Google map of Toronto checkered with little [illegal] icons representing every billboard in the city that exists without a permit or who's owners lied on the application to get it installed.

It's absolutely brilliant work and deserves high praise. I encourage everyone, not just Torontonians to check out Rami's hard work. Find the billboards near where you live and complain to your councillor's office.

February 12, 2007 16:08 +0000  |  Nifty Links Society & Culture 0

I know that I've been posting a lot of this sort of thing, but a collection like this is hard to ignore. Thanks to Aileen, I give you a Super Mario Montage, courtesy of YouTube.

February 10, 2007 22:51 +0000  |  Society & Culture 1

As part of his If You Were Prime Minister tour, David Suzuki will be here in Toronto for one final night:

Toronto -- Monday, Feb. 12, 2007 -- Evening Event
with former UN Special Envoy Stephen Lewis

A conversation with Stephen Lewis and Dr. David Suzuki
The Winter Garden Theatre, 189 Yonge Street, Toronto

Doors open: 7:00pm
Event: 7:30PM

Tickets $20; $15 for students and seniors
Tickets available at:

  • Winter Garden Box Office: 189 Yonge Street, 11am-5pm (Mon-Sat)
  • Phone: 416-872-5555
  • ticketmaster.ca

Local partner: Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

I'll be in attendance. Anyone else interested?

Edit: 2007.02.10 11:46:00

It would appear that it's sold out. :-(

February 03, 2007 01:31 +0000  |  Nifty Links Society & Culture 5

Shamelessly stolen from Colin's blog, I had to share with you a YouTube reaction to the recent "Bomb Scare" in Boston.

January 24, 2007 15:26 +0000  |  Society & Culture 8

I got this from the NewMindSpace newsletter this morning.

On Saturday January 27th, Torontonians from of all walks of life are invited to spontaneously hug by the thousands at 3 pm at Nathan Phillips Square. The amazing candy pop band, the Bicycles will be on stage and at 3 and will ask for a mass hug.

Mass hugging is becoming an international trend some say in response to a gloomy world state of affairs. Hug Day is being put on by the Toronto Hug Coalition which also points that hugging has incredible health benefits including stress reduction and boosting the immune system as well as improving your outlook.

Saturday January 27th, Share the Love in Nathan Phillips Square, at 3pm for Hug Day.

It's late enough in the day that I might just be there... ;-)

January 23, 2007 03:54 +0000  |  Society & Culture 2

My second mom sent me yet another story about some stupid-ass americans restricting the viewing of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth on the grounds that no viable "opposing view" is being made available with it:

"Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the Earth is 14,000 years old. "The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."

Now forget for a moment the fact that these people are clearly religious wing-nuts trying to force their back-assward beliefs on a body of potentially free-thinking, intelligent people. Instead, I'd like to focus on the fact that this is not a surprise.

We know that the world is chock-full of morons, and we know that they're organised. (Of course the argument can be made that our "democratic" system has installed our own "Tyranny of the Stupid", but I won't go there today). I'm thinking tonight about how we can use this information to our advantage.

It's one thing for a smart person to stand up in a room and say something intelligent, but that alone isn't enough. What the smart person needs to do is stand up knowing what the thought-fearing majority is going to say (or rather be told to say) so (s)he can crush that deranged opposition before it starts.