November 27, 2009
Friday FTW: Did a 1976 UN treaty commit Canada to free university for all?
University of B.C. graduate Tristan Markle (left), Pivot Legal Society lawyer Katrina Pacey and UBC Alma Mater Society President Blake Frederick, Thursday, November 26, 2009. Image via Vancouver Sun. UBC’s student union, the Alma Mater Society (AMS), filed a complaint with the United Nations this week accusing Canada and B.C. of violating the 1976 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural... [More >>]
November 27, 2009
Nairobi’s Pamoja dancers defy disability with new “Koncrete City” performance
Poster for Pamoja's new dance work, Koncrete City. There’s a scene in the Kenyan dance company Pamoja’s new ballet, Konkrete City, where all I could feel was the hectic beat of downtown Nairobi, or Vancouver, or Toronto. The dancers—most of them handicapped—depicted the Central Business District, Kenya’s core of business towers and banks, during the rainy season. Walking, running... [More >>]
November 27, 2009
Stop Everything #8: Canada is climate central this week as Gore, Monbiot touch down
Canada has been a hotspot for international climate activists this week. We’ve got Al Gore in Toronto, warning among other things that using tar sands oil takes away any advantages of greening our vehicle fleet. Then there’s Britain’s George Monbiot speaking this Saturday at the University of Toronto (2-4PM) on the “Countdown to Copenhagen: Who in Canada is Killing the International Climate... [More >>]
November 26, 2009
Body Politic #2: Who’s really in control of your birth control?
My doctor and I sat there, blankly staring at one another, wondering where we both went wrong. I was perched beside his desk, asking for a prescription refill for my birth control. “You don’t need to ask me,” he kept saying. “Just call ahead, ask for what you’d like and come pick it up at the clinic.” Just like that—like calling ahead to pick up pizza or Chinese take-out. “But then... [More >>]
November 26, 2009
This article on feminist porn included in Best Canadian Essays 2009
W00t! This Magazine's November-December 2008 cover story, "The New Face of Porn" by Alison Lee, reprinted in Tightrope Books' "The Best Canadian Essays 2009". Alison Lee’s November-December 2008 This Magazine cover story, “The New Face of Porn” was chosen as one of 14 pieces to be published in Tightrope Books’ The Best Canadian Essays 2009. There... [More >>]
November 25, 2009
Wednesday WTF: Gen. Rick Hillier testifies on Afghan detainees today
We may find out what retired General Rick Hillier knew about the alleged abuse of detainees after they were handed over to Afghan prisons by Canadian soldiers when he testifies before the parliamentary committee today. Hillier is a former NATO forces commander and was Canadian Chief of Defense Staff until last year. In his recently released memoir, A Solider First, Hillier offers his take on the first... [More >>]
November 24, 2009
Stop Everything #7: Canadians feel embarassed by our lack of climate action
To me, our Canadian identity has always seemed deeply rooted in our belief that as a country we do the “right thing.” We assumed for years that we were the moral compass of the globe and could do no wrong. But from where I’m standing, that reputation is being dragged through the mud and plenty of us are red-faced in embarassment. A recent major survey indicates that three quarters of Canadians... [More >>]
November 24, 2009
ThisAbility #40: Glee is for me
Kevin McHale takes centre stage and heat for playing wheelchair using Artie Abrams. Image from The Fox Network Sometimes it seems that no minority sits on a higher horse than people with disabilities—give an inch and they want a mile. I bet that’s what creator Ryan Murphy, executive producer Brad Falchuck and the rest of the creative muscle behind Glee thought, in their most private moments,... [More >>]
November 20, 2009
A Web 2.0 strategy for boosting literacy in Uganda
In 2007, Ugandan Archbishop Odama places an internet phone call to an internally-displaced people's camp 70 km away. Internet technologies are encouraging ground-up development like this across the continent. Photo courtesy Bosco-Uganda. I first stumbled across BOSCO-Uganda in July 2008. I was nearing the end of my internship with the Women of Uganda Network and was becoming increasingly interested... [More >>]
November 19, 2009
Queerly Canadian #22: Chris Skinner’s murder and the meaning of “community”
A CCTV image of an SUV suspected in the murder of Chris Skinner (inset). It’s hard to read the story of Chris Skinner, the 27-year-old gay man who was beaten and then run over at Bay and Adelaide in Toronto just over a month ago, without feeling chilled. In addition to the obvious horror, there is something extremely disturbing about a violent attack you can’t pin an explanation on. In some ways,... [More >>]
