The recent dramatic spike in tensions on the Korean Peninsula has sparked fresh calls for Canada to join the American Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. Proponents of the system claim it can either intercept and destroy a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking North America – a dreadRead More

Pope Francis has introduced a new path to canonization for would-be Catholic saints. Now, in addition to martyrdom, living a life of heroic Christian virtue and “exceptional cases” (where someone has been venerated as holy since ancient times), Christians who lay down their lives for another will be eligible forRead More

CBRM endorses UN Bomb ban I was hard on the CBRM for proclaiming Right to Know Week (for what I think are pretty obvious reasons), but there was another proclamation made during last Tuesday’s council meeting that made me quite proud of our little municipality. According to Cape Breton University (CBU)Read More

At noon local time, September 3, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test, an estimated 100-120 kiloton detonation – seven or eight times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima – of what it claimed was a two-stage (fission-fusion) thermonuclear hydrogen warhead small enough to fit in the coneRead More

Editor’s Note: The following letter was received in response to Part One and Part Two of Susan Dodd’s “A Short History of Blame” series. There is no doubt mining was a dangerous occupation, particularly where gas was close to the operating surfaces and loose stone led to cave-ins. A goodRead More

At 11:02 A.M. on 9 August 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped a single bomb on the Japanese port city of Nagasaki. The bomb, nicknamed ‘Fat Man,’ contained a baseball of plutonium surrounded by 64 packs of high-explosive, timed to compress the warhead to a critical mass. As Susan SouthardRead More

At nearly the eleventh hour – 10:47:53 A.M. – on Friday 7 July,  122 states, two thirds of the UN General Assembly, voted to adopt a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a dramatic step which may prove instrumental in determining the fate of the planet. The Netherlands, theRead More

Bullying: noun bul·ly·ing \ˈbu̇-lē-iŋ, ˈbə-\ Definition of bullying: abuse and mistreatment of someone vulnerable by someone stronger, more powerful, etc. — Merriam-Webster dictionary   So, what can be said about bullying that has not been said before? We are aware as a society that it is pervasive and not likelyRead More

Hunger and homelessness are urban problems being tackled in interesting ways in cities on both sides of the Atlantic. In Edinburgh, for example, “social entrepreneurs” Josh Littlejohn and Alice Thomson have launched Social Bite, a chain of soup and sandwich shops where customers can pay “for a coffee or a sandwichRead More

Author’s Note: This article is dedicated to the memory of Celia Lorway (1944-2017), a member of Peace Quest Cape Breton and for many years a dedicated, articulate champion of human health, social justice, nuclear disarmament, and a world free of the scourge of war. At UN Headquarters in August 2002,Read More