rabble blogs are the personal pages of some of Canada's most insightful progressive activists and commentators. All opinions belong to the writer; however, writers are expected to adhere to our guidelines. We welcome new bloggers -- contact us for details.

On The Other Hand

Award-winning author and journalist Penney Kome has published six non-fiction books and hundreds of periodical articles, as well as writing a national column for 12 years and a local (Calgary) column for four years. She was Editor of Straightgoods.com from 2004 - 2013.

Blog - On The Other Hand September 8
Image: Peter Blanchard/Flickr
Confusion on the horizon in election advertising
Penney Kome | Two jarring incidents occurred at the end of August that could indicate more complications than usual in the upcoming federal election.
Blog - On The Other Hand August 22
Elections Canada poll sign. Image: Dennis Sylvester Hurd/Flickr
Ethics and truth in election advertising
Penney Kome | Ready or not, we are embarking on an experiment to see whether Harper's legacy of election laws can support an actual election.
Blog - On The Other Hand July 23
Bee collecting pollen
Don't swat that bee!
Penney Kome | Insect-free summer may be a worrisome sign that extinction is in progress.
Blog - On The Other Hand July 7
Image: PaulVanDerWerf/Flickr
Interfaith and community groups stand up against Quebec's Bill 21
Penney Kome | The recently passed legislation prohibits civil servants from wearing religious symbols, such as a headscarf or a turban.
Blog - On The Other Hand June 18
Image: Women Deliver CEO and President Katja Iversen, from Women Deliver 2019 Mobilization Canada Facebook page
Behind Vancouver's massive and mysterious Women Deliver conference
Penney Kome | Canada leads the way with a new monster international fund to promote gender equality, women's empowerment, and reproductive health.
Blog - On The Other Hand June 4
Woman at microphone for Women Deliver conference. Image: Women Deliver/Facebook​
Vancouver hosts world's biggest women's conference
Penney Kome | Women Deliver's main pitch is to make sure that women's specific concerns are included as developing nations strive to expand their economies.
Blog - On The Other Hand May 5
The Aga Khan addresses the 2014 London Conference
Throwing shade on the Aga Khan
Penney Kome | If the Pope invited the prime minister's family to visit for the holidays, and sent a private jet to pick them up, would the Opposition be hinting at a breach of ethics?
Blog - On The Other Hand April 23
Andrew Scheer. Photo: Andrew Scheer/Flickr
Canadian politics need a civility pledge
Penney Kome | Alberta election rancour just a sample of what federal election could bring.
Blog - On The Other Hand April 15
NDP candidate Anne McGrath (right) poses with Premier Rachel Notley. Photo: Anne McGrath/Facebook
Alberta politics meets the federal NDP's 'island of calm'
Penney Kome | Calgary-Varsity candidate Anne McGrath has looked at Alberta from both sides now.
Blog - On The Other Hand April 9
Photo: Rachel Notley/Facebook
Rachel's problem
Penney Kome | Alberta Premier Rachel Notley doesn't back down from a fight. And her urge to stand up to bullies leads her to battle with Jason Kenney rather than promote all her own achievements.
Blog - On The Other Hand March 20
U.K. industrial hemp farm, 2007. Photo: Nabokov/Wikimedia Commons
Welcome to the hemp economy
Penney Kome | A reclaimed industry produces renewable food, shelter, clothing, and medicine, from one crop -- and we have hardly begun to explore the potential of the hemp plant's 25,000 marketable products.
Blog - On The Other Hand March 12
Making the energy transition in a decade
Penney Kome | We have 12 years to curb climate breakdown. Experts supplied the science. Now youth and the increasingly militant climate justice movement are keeping up the pressure.
Blog - On The Other Hand February 6
Beer glass with orchid
Daffodil Day's dark secret
Penney Kome | Cancer-prevention month whispers, not shouts, that liquor causes cancer.
Blog - On The Other Hand January 22
General Jay Janzen and MRU Professor Kari Roberts. Image credit: Penney Kome
All NATO members at risk for Russian hacking: Canadian Brigadier General
Penney Kome | In advance of provincial and federal elections, Canada's director of general military strategic communications is warning that Canadians should be alert for attempts to influence the electorate.
Blog - On The Other Hand January 11
Derek Cook, Director, Canadian Poverty Institute. Image courtesy of Derek Cook.
Defining poverty in Canada as a social disease first step to healing it
Penney Kome | Members of the new federal Advisory Committee on Canada's Poverty Reduction Strategy all have personal experience of poverty, and they are working to build resilient communities across the country.
Blog - On The Other Hand January 3
Jackie Shan publicity photo
Toronto soul musician Jackie Shane returns to spotlight with Grammy nomination
Penney Kome | Collectors revere Jackie Shane's soul recordings from the 1960s. Now the musician is being recognized with a nomination for a Grammy.
Blog - On The Other Hand December 18
Abandoned oil well
Alberta's abandoned gas wells could be used to heat homes, power businesses
Penney Kome | Geothermal engineers point to the potential to channel gas wells' heat to local homes and businesses.
Blog - On The Other Hand November 19
Image: Dennis van der Heijden/Flickr
European Union regulations make privacy a human right
Penney Kome | Six months after its proclamation, how is the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) holding up in its intent to reclaim personal privacy as a human right?
Blog - On The Other Hand November 16
Carolyn Bennett, federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Rachel Notley, Premier of Alberta joined Chief Billy Joe Laboucan, of the Lubicon Lake Band, at a special ceremony held in Little Buffalo on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, to celebrate the historic land claim settlement of the Lubicon Lake Band which was signed in late October. Photo: Premier of Alberta/Flickr
Lubicon Lake Cree sign historic land claim settlement
Penney Kome | Premier Rachel Notley and her NDP government have resolved an 1880s oversight that left a small Alberta First Nation stranded on unceded land, without treaty protection.
Blog - On The Other Hand November 8
Voting line-up in Ohio. Photo: Tim Evanson/Flickr
What progressives won in U.S. midterm elections
Penney Kome | There's reason to celebrate the new faces, new voices and new perspectives arriving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Finally, the U.S. government begins to resemble the people it governs.
Blog - On The Other Hand October 26
Michelle Thrush's Inner Elder leads the dancing. Image: Penney Kome
Indigenous theatre productions celebrate grandmothers
Penney Kome | Calgarians had a chance to see two pieces of Indigenous theatre on consecutive nights recently, in which artists addressed painful subjects with humour and respect.
Blog - On The Other Hand October 12
Cindy Sheehan, Director of The Women's March on the Pentagon. Photo by Jacob Appelbaum/Wikimedia Commons
Peace movement is on the march again
Penney Kome | Peace organizations haven't been in the news much for a decade or so. But after a year with Trump in the Oval Office, peace is a high political priority again.
Blog - On The Other Hand October 4
Sir Tim Berners-Lee at Open Data Awards 2015. Photo: Open Data Institute Knowledge for Everyone/Flickr
Digital activists are fighting to reclaim the web
Penney Kome | World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee is set to unveil a new commercial-free platform. He's part of a growing movement to decentralize the web and break down online inequality.
Blog - On The Other Hand September 29
Kavanaugh hearing puts misogyny on trial
Penney Kome | After Christine Blasey Ford's harrowing testimony on Thursday, President Trump ordered an FBI investigation into allegations against his Supreme Court nominee.
Blog - On The Other Hand September 25
TV reporter interviews FEMA expert. Image: Walter Jennings/FEMA Photo Library via Wikimedia
Standards make the medium in journalism
Penney Kome | The Toronto Star has unveiled a new ethics code, one of many available. Reviewing journalism society standards shows a wide variation in priorities and emphasis.
Blog - On The Other Hand September 14
Beverly Glenn-Copeland sings in concert. Image: Penney Kome
Musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland returns to the stage with Prairies tour
Penney Kome | Veteran musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland has been discovered by a whole new generation of listeners, who, 40 years later, continue to find his work innovative.
Blog - On The Other Hand August 14
Image: By Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine - Own work, CC0
As global anxiety grows, antidepressant use soars
Penney Kome | Did you ever get the feeling the world is going to hell in a handbasket? Statistics show depression rates are rising globally. At least, more and more people are taking prescription antidepressants.
Blog - On The Other Hand August 6
Finding the right exit door for Trump
Penney Kome | With the Mueller investigation ongoing and the Manafort trial shaping up, the upcoming midterm elections may well be the most important elections in U.S. history.
Blog - On The Other Hand July 27
Many kinds of money, banknotes and coins
Donald Trump is neck deep in Putin's swamp
Penney Kome | After Helsinki, it seems clear that money, not compromising material, is likely to be the hold that the Russians have on the U.S. President.
Blog - On The Other Hand July 20
Vladimir Putin & Donald Trump in Helsinki. Photo: Website of the President of the Russian Federation, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Scoring against his own team: Trump's betrayal of the U.S.
Penney Kome | Demands rise for Donald Trump to declare which team he's playing for. Part one of a two-part series.

Pages