Since my last posting, I have been too busy working on Canadian copyright issues to continue talking about Canadian copyright issues. The “anti-copyright as rebel sell” discussion took on a life of its own, and has been looked at by most of the larger players in this debate, so thanks to everyone who participated, and […] More »

I thought a friend was joking when he urged me to check out yesterday’s Review section of The Globe, featuring a front page article on Edmonton and how musically it could be the next big Seattle, Halifax, Montreal, Omaha, Chapel Hill, insert indie music hipster hotspot name here…. I grew up in Edmonton and while […] More »

Something I’ve been trying to work around in my head lately is the concept of web interactivity manifesting itself in the “real world.” An example: the past three indie rock shows I’ve been to have involved some element of crowd participation on stage, and/or artists venturing into the audience to do their shit. We’ve also […] More »

Nobody has mentioned that Andrew Potter is blog-sitting for Andrew Coyne right now. His opening salvo yesterday? A post about how badly the Leafs suck, and why this must be so. Interesting approach, Andrew. No doubt looking to be provocative. Have fun over in Coyne’s playhouse… More »

Today’s Media Scout from Maisonneuve has an excellent summary of the other Western Standard story Albertans are talking about. The one where columnist Ric Dolphin quotes an unattributed source — a friend of Ralph Klein’s — making disparaging, racist remarks about Klein’s wife. The quote, one of two anonymous comments, help Dolphin paint a picture […] More »

Look at the lion cub! Look at the puppy! Puppy love! Hello Kitty! From the San Diego Union Tribune: Cairo, an Italian mastiff puppy, was introduced as a playmate to 10-week-old Koza, a lion cub whose twin died, at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The idea is that lions are social animals, but there […] More »

Dan Savage must be a regular viewer of The Colbert Report. In his latest sex column, Savage warns Canada’s Conservatives that they are “on notice” — a favourite warning of TV’s Stephen Colbert. The reason for the warning? Savage wants to stick a Canadian politician with the honour of being “santorumized,” or having his or […] More »

So it seems Ezra Levant’s Western Standard will boldly go where the ROC’s mainstream media have refused to go (other than editorially) and will print the controversial Danish anti-prophet-Mohammed cartoons in their upcoming issue. While you’re waiting for your copy to arrive by mail, or searching for your newsstand copy (futilely, at many indie bookstores), […] More »

— Lawmakers in South Dakota overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday that would prohibit almost all abortions in the state. House Bill 1215 passed 47-22, after representatives voted against inserting amendments that would exempt women impregnated as the result of rape or incest. The bill, which now goes to the state Senate, makes an exception if the […] More »

Okay, the title of this posting is intentionally provocative, but the intent is pure. In my job I am so enmeshed in the current copyright reform process in Canada (hell, there is a meeting of the Creator’s Rights Alliance going on down the hall from me right now) it is sometimes hard to pull back […] More »

It’s not often the left gets a chance to celebrate its successes, so I thought it might be nice to point out the achievement made by environmentalists this week with the announcement that two million hectares of B.C.’s coastal rainforest have been protected. The Great Bear Rainforest, as it is known, has been the subject […] More »