Opinion
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The call of the void
Winnipeg at a surface level seems to be a self-deprecating place. The city is aware of its shortcomings - aware of the urban decay, homelessness, the number of individuals with functionally limiting mental illnesses being discharged from acute care centres with few supports to “no fixed address.”
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The first days of legal marijuana in the United States
Colorado’s first official day of legal marijuana commerce has passed with great aplomb.
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White Christmas Blues
You’re sitting in Starbucks sipping an eggnog latte from a festive holiday cup. You’ve loaded an array of modern and classic Christmas music to your iPod, and you hum along while you plan out the next month of parties, dinners, cards and gifts. Every place you go is lined with shining lights and decorated with green and red bows. You can feel it in the air. ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year!’
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All issues are student issues
While most students were cramming for exams, a couple hundred delegates spent November 21-24 in Gatineau for the biannual Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) national general meeting.
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Critical Hit with Drew Nordman
Allons-y, wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey, bow ties and jammy dodgers.
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Strange times
These are strange times indeed, my friends. With so much absurdity in the world, it can be difficult to focus on anything at all. But each element must be scrutinized in order to understand its full impact and the treachery at play, even though such reflection creates an overwhelming feeling of dread.
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Riding your bike in the winter?
I strode into the office barely a minute early, panting with exertion. Frost matted every follicle in my beard, forming a tangled, icy layer over my face.
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The Intersection with Jodie Layne
When something induces cringing more often than it elicits joy, it should be a fairly obvious decision to pack it in and call it quits. That said, many Winnipeggers still (financially or otherwise) support the Blue Bombers and I still tune into The Mindy Project every week.
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The stay-at-home student
If there’s one thing I’m afraid of, it’s paying bills. Hydro, cell phone, TV, Internet, car insurance, the list goes on. As the Financial Literacy Action Group (FLAG) has dubbed November “Financial Literacy Month,” I would like to ask just how FLAG would read my situation: I work at a chain retail store, coach dance on the side and attend school full time; how am I supposed to afford the rising cost of living? While Credit Canada would offer up some sort of budget plan, I’d like to argue that I simply couldn’t. But I don’t have to – not as long as my parents have a home with room for a futon.
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CETA: globalization on steroids
A month ago Canada and the European Union (EU) reached a tentative deal on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
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Still breathing but barely
One of the most tiresome refrains of the Winnipeg-hater is “There’s nothing to do.” And one of the most tiresome responses is “BUT OF COURSE THERE IS YOU JUST DON’T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.”
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Sexual violence against women in war and conflict
The term “comfort woman” may seem strange to many people; however it is not strange at all in East and Southeast Asia.
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Inspirational Mayors? Look west
In the past couple of weeks, and by the time this goes to print, I’m sure you’ve heard about the story and scandal engulfing the city of Toronto and the bizarre yet rather (un)predictable behavior its mayor, Rob Ford.
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Unlawful interception?
Three weeks ago, I gave an overview of the current state of Canada's surveillance state: that is, our massively expanded spying institutions since 9/11, and their slow creep away from concerns about threats to national security, to a narrowing focus on antisystemic movements and environmental groups. Some of that attention has even been directed at energy and mining sectors in foreign nations such as Brazil.
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Halloween brings out the blackface
Every year in the weeks around Halloween, the media circulates the same horror stories: razorblades in apples, junk food causes obesity, and of course, white people in blackface or redface.
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Student Dispatch with Bilan Arte
It can be hard to imagine having enough power to change something in life.
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Does Manitoba have a dirty hydro problem?
By now, everyone has seen the images coming out of anti-fracking protests led by the Elsipogtog First Nation near Rexton, New Brunswick. The protester’s blockade is just one in a long line of movements by indigenous communities in the past several decades to push back against resource exploitation on their lands. It is also a symbol of a fight for what kind of Canada we and future generations will live in.
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Critical Hit with Drew Nordman
Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of a prolific pastime that celebrates the use of imagination as its key mechanic – a hobby or game where you create a character from scratch, with as much or as little detail as you want, as long as you adhere to and play the role of this character as accurately as possible. This genre came to be known as the role playing game, or RPG.
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The commodification of colonial injustices
The Halloween season has descended upon us. For most, this is emblematic of cheap fall decorum – orange and black tinsel, Jack-O-Lanterns, and more confectionaries than is recommended by any physician.
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Russell Brand and Mike Duffy: A brief comparison
Russell Brand, a notable British comedian with equally notable eyebrows, made Internet headlines last week with his interview on BBC’s Newsnight. To the chagrin of interviewer Jeremy Paxton, Brand spent much of the interview lambasting the current political and economic systems, calling for dramatic change, and endorsing revolution. His criticisms were legitimate: “[Political systems] shouldn’t destroy the planet! Shouldn’t create massive economic disparity! Shouldn’t ignore the needs of the people!”