August 16, 2010
It’s not TV. It’s George F. Walker
George F. Walker After decades of populist programming, serialized television has blossomed into an auteur’s medium over the last decade. This new golden age is marked by subtle characterization and complex narrative: American cable networks such as HBO and AMC have pioneered the revolution with series like The Sopranos, Mad Men and The Wire. Here in Canada, playwright George F. Walker has emerged... [More >>]
August 4, 2010
In Google’s spat with China, the legacy of colonialism still echoes
Illustration by Matt Daley. When Google, citing concerns over security and censorship, pulled their operations out of China in March this year, they were widely praised for taking a stand for democracy. But Google’s move wasn’t the first time a Western entity had taken the moral high road in regard to China. In fact, almost 200 years ago, the British government also stood up for its beliefs. After... [More >>]
July 19, 2010
Another reason for voting reform: Parliament needs women
Canada has shockingly few female legislators. Our electoral system is broken. Voting reform could fix both problems at once. One Thursday last spring, an Angolan MP named Faustina Fernandes Inglês de Almeida Alves addressed an assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Those present—members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, professors,... [More >>]
July 6, 2010
A new generation of Quebec filmmakers captures a culture adrift
Young Québécois filmmakers are rejecting the commercially successful nostalgia movies of recent years in favour of suburban ennui, substance abuse, and suicide. Get ready to get gloomy! Still from 'Continental, un film sans fusil' (2008) directed by Stéphane Lafleur. The title of Quebec director Stéphane Lafleur’s Continental, un film sans fusil (Continental, A Film Without Guns) is not... [More >>]
June 15, 2010
How bad science stifles rational debate about wind power
Stormy weather: pro-wind campaigns suffer from a lack of good, freely available data. Wind energy ought to be a shoo-in. Yes, the infrastructure costs a lot of money but the fuel is free and plentiful, turbines produce no emissions, and no mountaintops need to be removed. And unlike nuclear power, no long-term radioactive waste needs to be stored for millennia. Yet, bizarrely, small groups of committed... [More >>]
April 5, 2010
How the Communist Party changed Canadian elections forever
“Working people did not cause this crisis … and we won’t pay for it!” These words were printed in bright red letters on a flyer recently published by the Communist Party of Canada as part of its effort to raise public awareness about the root causes of the global economic crisis. The flyer sat atop a pile of documents at the entrance to the Communist Party’s central office in Toronto,... [More >>]
March 9, 2010
Interview: Globe and Mail Afghanistan correspondent Graeme Smith
Globe and Mail Afghanistan correspondent Graeme Smith. Illustration by Peter Mitchell. Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang was the first Canadian journalist to die covering the conflict in Afghanistan. She was killed on December 30, 2009. Her death brought to mind the dangers faced there not just by the military but by the media as well. From September 2005 to February 2009, Globe and Mail... [More >>]
January 29, 2010
Print media woes claim another victim: the obituary page
With the rise of paid death notices, the old-fashioned obit's days may be numbered. Photo by Graham F. Scott. Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs’ conspicuously detailed death announcement, accidentally published by Bloomberg news service in 2008, revealed a little-known fact about the craft of writing obituaries: the blood doesn’t have to have gone cold before someone writes the first draft of... [More >>]
January 18, 2010
Olympic Countdown: B.C. teachers fight Games’ classroom hype
Vancouver 2010 Anti-Olympic mascot Bitey the Bedbug. Photo by Lotus Johnson. [This post has been amended, see note below] They were told to wear red and white, to cheer loudly and smile. They were handed little Canadian flags and instructed to wave them with gusto. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” they were told. Some 540 students at L’École Victor Brodeur in Esquimalt, B.C., where my... [More >>]
January 15, 2010
Olympic Countdown: Quick guide to Vancouver 2010 protest do’s and don’ts
Why yes, officer, I can hand out this leaflet. Maybe. It’s no doubt that clashes between protesters and police will end up being the big story of the 2010 Olympics. There are new bylaws on the books, the usual International Olympic Committee rules, our own Canadian Charter rights, and official statements from the Vancouver Police Department—and they all contradict each other. So, how do you know... [More >>]
