UN: Canada Prevented Torture

The Afghanistan war that has been going for 10 years(!) has caused a lot of horrible things to happen to all the belligerents. The American forces have been accused of torture and other horrible actions to Afghanis, and in Canada a few years ago there was accusations that Canadian forces let people be tortured as well. Unlike the American government, the Canadian government has been found by the UN to actually stop torture form happening!

“For those arrested by Canadians, two NDS officials were allocated for further interrogation and those interrogated by them never complained about ill-treatment by NDS officials.”

Between 2009 and 2010, Canadian and British forces reportedly handed over some 2,000 detainees to Afghan authorities, according to the report, with caveats and monitoring in place to ensure they were not tortured.

The treatment of Afghan detainees became a political issue for the federal government after allegations of abuse and mistreatment first arose five years ago.

Read more.

Thanks Janet!

G(irls)20 Summit 2011

The 2011 edition of the G(irls)20 Summit is happening this weekend!

The G(irls)20 Summit brings together one delegate from each G20 country, plus a representative from the chair country of the African Union. The delegates debate, discuss and design innovative ideas necessary to empower girls and women globally. While the agenda is the same as the G20 leaders and focuses on economic innovation – the participants are all girls, aged 18-20.

Check out their website!

Changing a Mall from Useless to Useful

Dead malls are a problem in too many communities and these malls are occupying large tracts of land that can be used better. Suburbs in North America have to confront the obvious change in front of them and some communities are doing a good thing by making the malls livable for people instead of just for cars.

The redesign will be in line with many new urbanism projects. There will be shops, cafes and offices connected by walkways. Storefronts will be on the first floor and residential units will occupy the top floors. There will also be a mix of cottages, multi family homes, and condos in the neighborhood as to add variety. Parking will still be present but will be hidden behind the retrofitted mall, away from the storefronts.

More info and pics here.

Ontario Votes

Hey people in Ontario, if you can vote you should vote!

Things Are Good supports anybody you want to vote for except the Tea Conservative Party. Vote for the Ontario you want to see, vote with hope and optimism. Vote for a party that will actually make the province a better place to live!

NDP
Green Party
Liberal Party
Ontario Conservative Party 😉

In addition to the links above Torontoist has great primers on issues in this election.

Busy London Rail Station to be Solar Powered

Blackfriars station has been under some major construction in the past few years and it’s about to reopen to operations next year. While that’s happening construction has begun on installing solar panels making the bridge at the station the largest solar bridge. It’s a novel use of space in a very crowded city.

“Blackfriars Bridge is an ideal location for solar; a new, iconic large roof space, right in the heart of London,” said Solarcentury chief executive Derry Newman in a statement.

“Station buildings and bridges are fixed parts of our urban landscape and it is great to see that this one will be generating renewable energy every day into the future. For people to see that solar power is working is a vital step towards a clean energy future.”

Other energy saving measures, such as rain harvesting systems and sun pipes for natural lighting, are also being fitted at Blackfriars, as part of Network Rail’s plans to reduce carbon emissions by 25 per cent per passenger kilometre by 2020.

Read the rest of the article.