Nuclear Aftershocks

by evanduggan on January 18, 2012

One of my favourite shows on television is PBS’s Frontline.

It premiered a great doc last night on Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster last March.

Nuclear Aftershocks raises several important questions about what happened in Japan, and whether the disaster should have been anticipated and prevented. It also shows how many countries, including the United States, have to decide what to do next with nuclear-generated power in light of Japan’s nuclear meltdown.

Japan appears to have taken several large steps away from nuclear power as a direct consequence of what happened, and could phase out nuclear reactors entirely. Law makers in Germany have shifted away from nuclear too, buttressed by powerful public opinion and fear.

The doc shows that–at this point–there is no environmentally sustainable alternative to nuclear energy, which can generate enough clean power to bridge the gap between sources such as wind and solar, and what is required for base energy requirements.

Germany for one is looking at using coal to bridge that gap.

The questions: are we willing to risk the consequences of future nuclear disasters? Can we afford not to?

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Who are Canadian diplomats in Washington working for?

by evanduggan on December 17, 2011

Here’s a must read from The Tyee and Salon investigating the attack on U.S. carbon standards led by big oil and an Albertan diplomat in Washington.

It raises an important question: should Canadians be comfortable with this country’s diplomats working with big oil lobbyists to keep the U.S. addicted to oil from the Alberta oil sands?

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Life in Pain

November 2, 2011

Canadians who experience extreme pain can usually halt their agony with pain killers. That’s a reality that most of us take for granted, but in most parts of the world, it’s not an option. Bureaucracy and the war on drugs are preventing those who need help the most from accessing highly effective narcotic pain killers, [...]

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“I could be whoever I wanted to be”

October 20, 2011

Check out this exceptional read in The Tyee by a friend of mine. It’s a peace of journalism that I’ve been familiar with for some time now, and I’m happy to see it unveiled for everyone to read. It opens a telling window into life as a transgendered young person, and is a good reminder [...]

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The Pain Project

September 20, 2011

More than half the countries in the world have little to no access to pain medications, the result of bureaucratic hurdles and the chilling effect of the global war on drugs. We traveled to India, Ukraine and Uganda to put a human face on just some of the millions of patients around the globe forced [...]

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Better than this?

August 29, 2011

It’s been awhile since I listened to Tool’s Lateralus. I’m not sure that music can get better than this.

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In case you missed it

August 27, 2011

For those who didn’t come across this in July when the documentary first premiered on Al Jazeera’s People & Power, our film Freedom from Pain is still available on AJE’s website. The doc was reported and filmed by students, myself included, from the University of British Columbia’s School of Journalism. We traveled to India, Uganda [...]

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People & Power

July 21, 2011

Our documentary Freedom From Pain is now available online at Al Jazeera’s People & Power. Please take the time to check it out. If you like it, spread it around. Also visit InternationalReporting.org to learn about other projects from the international reporting program at the University of British Columbia.

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Freedom From Pain

July 7, 2011

Please take the time to view our new documentary called Freedom From Pain. It airs on the Al Jazeera English program People & Power on Wednesday July 20 at 3:30 p.m. pt. Nine journalism students, myself included, traveled to India, Ukraine, and Uganda to investigate how countries around the world treat patients suffering from extreme [...]

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Send me a note if…

June 26, 2011

You know of a nice, 2 bedroom suite/apartment in Vancouver that’s available for August 1. West of Commercial Drive would be great. Close to good public transit is helpful too. evan@evanduggan.com

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