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What does it mean to be a leftist?

This Magazine Staff

To paraphrase a certain right-wing rag: disagree or agree? More »

RRSPs that make a difference

This Magazine Staff

I don’t know much about this stuff — is tomorrow the last day to get RRSPs and apply the tax breaks to your 2006 return or something? I tend to tune out the RRSP hard sell that goes on this time of year, simply because I don’t trust banks. That said, it appears Citizens Bank […] More »

Sak vid pa kanpe

This Magazine Staff

So last night, the Arcade Fire played Saturday Night Live for the first time, performing two songs from their upcoming Neon Bible album. In the above clip the band plays their first song, “Intervention,” after which frontman Win Butler smashes his acoustic guitar. Speculation as to why has been met online with a predictable array […] More »

Scotiabank takin’ on the US Treasury

This Magazine Staff

CBC.ca is reporting that Scotiabank will not be following the lead of the apparently powerless Royal Bank in denying US dollar bank accounts to dual citizens of Canada and a bunch of nations the US does not like. Canadian citizens who also hold passports for Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Myanmar, Sudan and Cuba may not […] More »

If Sarah Harmer tells me to not like gravel, should I not like it?

This Magazine Staff

Judging by my own and my friends’ reaction to every new album, I am Sarah Harmer’s core audience demographic. I pay to download her music. I buy her CDs as gifts for friends. I have attempted to fit one of her rare live TO performances into my very busy life. I quote her lyrics in […] More »

Black crows inspire Vancouver

This Magazine Staff

If you’ve spent much time in Vancouver, especially East Vancouver, you’ve probably been captivated by the migration of crows from downtown to parts east that occurs around dusk each day. From the window of my old, top-floor apartment on East 10th, it was a comforting ritual to watch. Now, a group of musicians are ready […] More »

Greening Apple

This Magazine Staff

It’s about time we saw a campaign like this: Greenpeace has launched an effort to organize Apple customers and demand that the company employ non-toxic materials in its hardware. For those of us who consider themselves environmentalists and buy a lot of junk from Apple (myself included), it’s time to stop turning a blind eye […] More »

Revisiting the Rogers Cell Phone Debacle

This Magazine Staff

I was wondering the other day — whatever happened to that story about Ted Rogers going to someone’s house to apologize for a ridiculous cell-phone bill resulting from stolen service. We had a pretty good discussion about the media ethics aspects of the story on this blog at the time. It’s one of those corporate […] More »

Sleeping with Strangers

This Magazine Staff

I just returned from a weekend in the States; Seattle WA to be exact. My friend Gisele and I drove down for Bumbershoot, an annual cultural extravaganza held on the old Expo fair grounds. Thousands of people, hundreds of shows, long lines and sun sun sun. But wait, bragging about my fabulous weekend is not […] More »

Embargoes vs. boycotts

This Magazine Staff

Something funny I found tonight: it seems while leftists are criticized by the right for pointless boycotts of corporate baddies such as Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, the cons are engaging in their own consumer activism by organizing “embargoes” such as this one against Wells Fargo bank. Its transgression? Giving mortgages and banking services to illegal […] More »