Okay, take a look at the image for yourself: This is the photo that Fondation Emergence has chosen to illustrate this year’s National Day Against Homophobia on May 17th. In my latest column for Capital Xtra, I argue that this kind of imagery elicits pity rather than celebration, and treats the queer community like we’re […] More »

Hi I’m Ron Nurwisah, This Magazine’s Arts Editor. This is the debut of Friday Links, where I pick a handful of links that have piqued my interest this week. Without further ado. Toronto rapper K’naan has the best life story of any Canadian artist, hands down. He left Somalia in the early ’90s, didn’t speak […] More »

I know all this is just deadly serious, and I don’t want to downplay any of the anguish of the familes of the British sailors, nor in fact the concerns of Iranians regarding sovereign waters, etc., but the stories out of Iran today are just flat-out strange. From The Guardian: In a surprise announcement during […] More »

This magazine has talked about the 100-mile diet before. Ok, well, what about the 100-mile suit? If you look at the labels on your clothing you’ll quickly realize that a lot of oil was burnt to ship those items to you. Factor in the cost of growing, processing and shipping the materials and it gets […] More »

This Magazine’s April Film Club Newsletter is now up here. Try to check out Fido while you still can. The fun zombie flick was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival. A lot of money has been poured into promoting it — let’s help it break even! Radiant City (see above photo) opens across […] More »

It was with incredible joy that I learned that Scarborough Southwest Liberal MP Tom Wappel is not seeking re-election after his current term. From a progressive perspective, you can’t get much worse than Wappel. When he threw his hat in the ring for a Liberal leadership convention in 1990, he pledged to make abortion a […] More »

Toronto Mayor David Miller’s proposed “City of Toronto Act” may include sin taxes on items like booze, cigarettes and…movies? While I’m not a fan of paying more for my booze, that’s a sin tax I can wrap my head around. But movies? Going to the cinema is already so expensive, I’m sure people really don’t […] More »

I’ve been spending some time in Seattle lately visiting an ailing grandfather which means I’ve been stuck, bumper to bumper, on the I-5 for literally hours a day. I’m talking about the commute between my grandfather’s house in north Seattle, the hospital and downtown, three places quite close to each other. Just the sheer number […] More »

(image courtesy nyc.uncivilservants.org) Maybe this will be the first in a series of postings about our marvelous Internet, and the complicated issues it inspires. The NYTimes reports on a New York City website encouraging regular citizens to rat on municipal employees potentially abusing their parking privileges in the city. Personal information such a license plates […] More »

Does the insanity ever end? This seems like the perfect combination of corporate greed and religious whacknuttery (wow, I just invented that word). Here’s my favourite quote from their website: “WATER IS TWICE AS VALUABLE AS OIL. Now you can import this valuable commodity to your country, already bottled with your own private label or […] More »

Is Europe just about the most progressive society in the world today? The Independent thinks so: So, what has Europe ever done for us? Apart from… Hmmmm, it might fall under #40: Human rights legislation has protected the rights of the individual, but I am madly impressed by Europe’s longstanding refusal to accept any country […] More »