Toronto & South Dakota: Recycled News

Take note, everyone. Richard Florida's Creative Class theory is not all bullshitty polemics afterall. In the, well, not-quite-latest news, Toronto Hydro has announced plans to turn the entire city of Toronto into a wi-fi hotspot, with downtown coverage operational possibly as early as this fall. The city will thus become one of the few North American cities (after Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San Francisco) to have city-wide wireless Internet coverage.

San Francisco, people! The semi-mythical land of coffee-swigging sandal-wearing so-hip-it-hurts lesbian artists of colour! Tasteless cultural stereotyping (which I seem to have a knack for) aside, is Toronto really there yet?

Richard Florida would say: "getting there", and I with my shameless Toronto boosterism would gladly concur. The attraction of Wi-Fi on the "creative class"--hi-tech professionals, artists, web-designers--hardly needs to be emphasized more. Who hasn't dreamed of a languid afternoon spent in High Park? Who hasn't dreamed of a languid afternoon spent browsing useless websites? Why not spending a languid afternoon in High Park WHILE browsing useless websites? Finally wikipedia-nerds will get out and get some sun.

The whole creative class thing sort of leads into this piece of news from South Dakota, whose government has recently banned abortion in all but life-threatening situations. Get this: if you dad came in your room one day, raped and impregnated you, you wouldn't be able to get rid of that child. Kudos to their common sense: South Dakota has been suffering the worst of rural flight, with most of their college grad voting with their feet and leaving for places where, you guessed it, rape/incest victims actually have rights.

Some people just don't get it. South Dakota has been trying to fight brain drain with tax breaks and free land. But really what does a piece of South Dakotan land mean for a well-educated and progressive-minded college-grad? Nil. Nada.

South Dakotan legislators need to be lectured by Richard Florida before they once again sabotage themselves. Meanwhile the exodus of their young talents is only going to continue.

If you see a guy with horn-rimmed glasses working on a iBook who sports a midwestern accent at Future's, try guess where he's from.

And soon enough I'll be doing my blogging at Future's, too.

P.S. The following states are considering a similar abortion ban: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Notice a pattern here?

Most these states are already pretty odious places to be in the first place. Someone should tell them that smearing yourself with shit doesn't make you any more attractive.