Should I refuse to read a pirated book? Was I receiving stolen goods, as advocates of stricter laws against Internet piracy claim?
If I steal someone’s book the old-fashioned way, I have the book, and the original owner no longer does. I am better off, but she is worse off. When people use pirated books, the publisher and the author often are worse off – they lose earnings from selling the book.
The protest movement that began in Tunisia in January, subsequently spreading to Egypt, and then to Spain, has now become global, with the protests engulfing Wall Street and cities across America. Globalization and modern technology now enables social movements to transcend borders as rapidly as ideas can. And social protest has found fertile ground everywhere: a sense that the “system” has failed, and the conviction that even in a democracy, the electoral process will not set things right – at least not without strong pressure from the street.
The Internet’s governing body, ICANN, is allowing for a dramatic expansion of the namespace with a host of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs), the suffixes that go after the dot, such as .com, .org, and, soon, .anything.
While the human race took perhaps one million years to reach one billion people (around the year 1800), we have been adding successive billions every 10-20 years since 1960. Will we be able to meet the population challenge, just as we have met previous challenges, through technological and institutional innovation?
In almost every rich country, anti-immigrant fervor is at fever pitch. But it is a malady that must be resisted if these societies are to continue to prosper and developing countries are to fight poverty and sustain economic growth.
One of the most dispiriting features of today’s international debates is that the threat to humanity posed by the world’s 23,000 nuclear weapons ”“ and by those who would build more of them, or be only too willing to use them ”“ has been consigned to the margin of politics.
Only time will tell if recent elections in the UK, the US, and Canada, together with next year’s presidential election in France, signal a retreat from the growth of the welfare state or just a temporary respite.
The strong bonds (kizuna) of the Japanese people create great solidarity during dark times such as these. But there are concerns that these bonds of kizuna may also bind the Japanese economy, which must recover as soon as possible.
We see coal as a polluting but reasonably “safe” energy source compared to nuclear energy. Yet, in China alone, coal-mining accidents kill more than 2,000 people each year ”” and coal is a leading cause of smog, acid rain, global warming and air toxicity.
The catastrophes in Japan might finally achieve what decades of conflict in the Middle East have not: compel governments to invest in the research required to develop viable energy alternatives.
University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association responds to report that says U of S professors amongst highest paid in Canada
Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Student Centre plan unveiled: architect Douglas Cardinal weaves features of traditional Indigenous lodges into modern design
UPDATED: Ben Heenan drafted first overall by Roughriders
Confrontation between police and protestors outside Quebec Liberal Party meeting turns violent
Forty playwrights set to compete for spot at Fringe: 24-hour Playwriting Competition takes place May 25 and 26
© 2012 The Sheaf. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by WordPress. Designed by 