Rodica and Emil Radita were arrested in Calgary on Tuesday morning on charges of first degree murder of their 15-year-old son. Alex Radita died in May 2013 under what police say were “suspicious circumstances.” His official cause of death is listed as a bacterial infection that arose from “complications of neglect and starvation.” Alex was […] More »

On Thursday, a somewhat well-known social media site called Facebook (perhaps you’ve heard of it?), announced an unexpected, but heartening update to its options and settings menu. In a move that has been praised by many LGBTQ and human rights groups, Facebook now allows its users to choose from over 50 different options to set […] More »

On Monday, U.K. comedian Avery Edison was detained and later arrested at Toronto’s Pearson airport over an issue with her visa. Edison admits she overstayed her student visa while previously in Canada, and had returned to visit her girlfriend and collect some belongings she’d left behind.  Avery Edison ‏@aedison  Feb 10 For those asking – I overstayed […] More »

Standing in knee high snow in Queen’s Park yesterday, I witnessed my very first protest run. The event, which was organized by journalist and university instructor Margaret Webb, was to protest Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law, particularly in conjunction with the Sochi Olympics. I watched as the group of protestors ran around the designated route, holding […] More »

So this might surprise you, but in today’s crazy mixed up world, subjects such as “rape” and “suicide” can be considered a little controversial, especially if you, oh I don’t know, combine those two subjects and make a homework assignment out of it. Surprised? Memorial University teacher John Shieh certainly was when the assignment he […] More »

“There will be bad days.” That’s the start of this inspirational poem by Canadian spoken word artist Shane Koyczan.   The poem, appropriately called “Instructions for a Bad Day” offers some helpful advice on how to deal with those days when everything just won’t go right.  Now hopefully you’re not having a bad day, especially seeing […] More »

It’s awkward enough having someone arrive uninvited to a party, but when that uninvited guest turns out to be the Mayor of Toronto, well… It seems that on Monday evening Rob Ford caused yet another social faux pas (among his previous ones: getting very drunk in public, loud racial insults, and smoking crack). Ford arrived […] More »

To me, the mark of good writing is taking something that everyone is familiar with, and presenting it in such a way that it surprises the reader. When that also highlights the struggles of those living in poverty, it helps improve the lives of everyone. Take  Toronto’s Woodgreen Community Services’ recent ad campaign.  For the […] More »

I really, really hope it is obvious to everyone that “the Holocaust was a bad thing” is a sentiment we can all agree on (if not, you might be reading the wrong magazine). It is certainly something that Prime Minister Stephen Harper believes in strongly. Strongly enough, apparently, to imply that the Holocaust is enough […] More »

Sometimes, when I think of theatre, I’m tempted to imagine aristocrat types wasting time and money to watch something more than a little pretentious. (And, sometimes, I’m right).  And certainly, there’s a nagging impression of theatre nowadays that it’s for an older generation, and that the problems are no longer relevant. Which is why I […] More »