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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 column in Calgary for four years. She was editor of Straightgoods.com between 2004-2013.

Blog - On The Other Hand October 16
Kamala Harris pictured in June 2020. Image: Kamala Harris/Facebook
The power behind Kamala Harris' smile
Penney Kome | As the first Black U.S. vice-presidential candidate, Harris is breaking a barrier on the world stage.
Blog - On The Other Hand October 8
President Trump leaves Walter Reed medical centre on October 5, 2020. Image: The White House/Flickr
Donald Trump's reckless behaviour after COVID diagnosis earns him 'super spreader' title
Penney Kome | Trump has acted like the "Pied Piper of Pandemic": a presidential candidate ready to disregard health guidelines and endanger his own supporters.
Blog - On The Other Hand September 18
A Democrats Abroad stall in 2018. Image: Will Bakker/Flickr
U.S. Democrats urge overseas voters to cast ballots early
Penney Kome | Democrats Abroad says U.S. voters from Canada could significantly affect the U.S. national election results -- if enough of them vote.
Blog - On The Other Hand September 1
Biden gives a speech at the DNC. Image: Elvert Barnes/Flickr
A tale of two American political conventions: Democrats run on 'decency,' while Republicans tout 'law and order'
Penney Kome | Irony abounds in the U.S. presidential election campaign, especially the recent Democratic and Republican conventions.
Blog - On The Other Hand July 10
An American voter posts their ballot from overseas. Image: Jeff Knezovich​/Flickr
U.S. should switch to mail-in ballot to circumvent threats to democracy
Penney Kome | The U.S. Supreme Court recently clamped down on "faithless electors," but other dangers to American democracy remain.
Blog - On The Other Hand June 29
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Marine One headed for a campaign rally in Tulsa. Image: Wikimedia Commons
U.S. opinion polls dump President Donald Trump
Penney Kome | The president's shoddy handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his response to the police murder of George Floyd have all contributed to a sharp decline in opinion polls.
Blog - On The Other Hand June 15
The 2010 BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Image: kris krüg/Flickr
It's time to dump profit-oriented GDP as a measure of economic growth
Penney Kome | We need an economic metric that includes social and environmental costs, and to put our efforts into reviving the global ecology that sustains us all.
Blog - On The Other Hand May 30
A supermarket checker works behind a plastic shield. Image: Russ Allison Loar​/Flickr
Pivoting from a service economy to a sustainable, equitable economy
Penney Kome | The pandemic is showing us all our weaknesses. We have time to correct them, before we destroy the planet in the endless pursuit of profit.
Blog - On The Other Hand May 1
A shuttered shop in Vancouver, British Columbia. Image: Rod Raglin/Flickr
Bailing out on the old normal
Penney Kome | With grim economic prospects forecast as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, campaigns have launched to rebuild the economy differently.
Blog - On The Other Hand April 21
Secretary-General António Guterres during inaugural meeting of the High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement in Hôtel Royal in Geneva, February 25, 2020. Image: UN Geneva/Flickr
Pandemic prompts United Nations call for global ceasefire
Penney Kome | Seventy countries have heeded the UN secretary-general's call to come together to fight COVID-19. If we can give up war during a pandemic, why can't we give it up permanently?
Blog - On The Other Hand April 9
Shoppers in the U.K. maintain social distance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Image: Tim Dennell/Flickr)
COVID-19 kicks over the economy
Penney Kome | The economy will have to change to accommodate contagion concerns that are likely to continue for two or three years due to uneven isolation rules.
Blog - On The Other Hand March 30
Image: Mark locchelli/Flickr
Now is a good time to begin a managed decline of Canadian fossil fuel production
Penney Kome | A managed decline would offer security and ease transition to a zero-carbon economy.
Blog - On The Other Hand March 20
Image: The White House/Flickr
Canada closes U.S. border amid coronavirus pandemic
Penney Kome | So many other motives blur U.S. policies on COVID-19 that the U.S. has fallen dangerously far behind other nations in trying to flatten the curve.
Blog - On The Other Hand March 10
Image: Nelson de Witt/Flickr
Halt to Teck Frontier mine signals new fossil fuel exploration just not worth it
Penney Kome | Activists call for "fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty" to control remaining fuels' carbon emissions.
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.

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