John Koerner is 100 years old and still making art. Really. If you haven’t heard of Koerner—a Vancouver-based modernist painter who basically kick-started said movement in Canada—or seen his work, you’re missing out. Lucky for you, he’s having a birthday party on June 9 in Burnaby, B.C., where you can hear him speak and see his work. […] More »
You know that friend who live-tweets about the Breaking Bad episode you still haven’t seen? The friend you’re considering purging from your life? Well now, thanks to Twivo, you don’t have to. The new software lets you dodge spoilers by temporarily blocking out names of shows and characters your “friends” Tweet about. Brilliant, right? No […] More »
The separation of families and deportation make good television according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Vic Toews. The “de facto executive producers” approved a series that follows the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) in action. A lot of what is caught on film shows people foreign to Canada being detained, confused and intimidated. […] More »
Labour rights were in the spotlight this week after a clothing factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing 400 employees—a timely tragedy for International Workers’ Day, or May Day, as it’s known. May 1 is an official holiday in 80 countries (Canada not included) and it’s celebrated with varying degrees of unrest just about everywhere else. May […] More »
Earlier this month Disney stores pulled sexist Avengers girls’ T-shirts with slogans like “I need a hero” and “I only kiss heroes” off the shelves. The boys’ shirts reading, “Be a hero” remained. These old clichés were quickly called out on the internet. The message to boys that they need to be tough, the notion that […] More »
Transgender candidates are running for office for the first time in the country’s history. In this country? God no (com’on—Canada just passed legislation allowing trans people to use the public washroom of their choice)—they’re running for office in Pakistan. Turns out the developing country has Canada beat when it comes to certain gender rights. Here—and […] More »
When the Holocaust ended almost 70 years ago, and we said it would never happen again. Yet, there have been six genocides since then. The systematic murders in Darfur are ongoing, and the country’s government won’t address them. Many groups have been founded to tackle genocide in the past 15 years—such as United to End […] More »
On Tuesday, the UN agreed to set some standards on the 70 billion dollar arms trade. Right now, weapons-trading is an unregulated business, where illicit dealing gets lost in the same grey market as government trading. But with the first ever global arms trade treaty (ATT), that’s about to change. Theoretically, the treaty will stop […] More »
On Wednesday the UN asked us all to forget our misery; forget our stressful, routine, depressing lives and just cheer up. People all over the world listened and marked the first International Day of Happiness with events such as “laughter yoga” in Hong Kong, positive message posters at the London Liverpool train station, and free […] More »
The Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg is asking for marriage photos from same-sex couples couples for the museum’s opening exhibit in 2015. The exhibit pays tribute to the struggle for gay rights, but it is also intended to “normalize” LGBT relationships for people who are perhaps a little homophobic. For the most part, the […] More »
With more than $16 million in debt and just $50,000 in assets, Girls Gone Wild is officially bankrupt. Finally, right? Girls Gone Wild and its founder, Joe Francis, got famous in the late 90s for preying on some of society’s most vulnerable—drunk, barely-legal college girls and late-night, hedonist infomercial viewers. Francis made a fortune selling […] More »