By Rod Mickleburgh It’s chilling, the thought that each workplace fatality starts with someone heading off to work on a normal day, having no idea their time on earth is about to end. Likely without a goodbye to the ones they love, or any sort of meaningful conversation at all before leaving the house. It’s […]
Living
Seeds and the City
By TJ Dawe Are we headed toward a civilization-wide collapse? Maybe. The bees are dying. A sperm whale with a belly full of plastic washed up on a Dutch island. People share maps on the internet showing Fukushima radiation allegedly making its way around the Pacific in terrifying red streaks. The climate’s in a tizzy […]
I’m sorry I celebrated Phelps’ death. Oh, wait, no I’m not.
By Montreal Simon It seems only right that the day Spring finally arrived, was also the day that Fred Phelps finally departed. Fred Phelps — the founding pastor of a Kansas church known for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military funerals — has died, the church said Thursday. And I must admit […]
Wonderland
By Dave Brindle To protect his identity, I’ll just call him the kid. He’s only just turned 19 — 19 going on 13. He’s from a broken home where alcohol was the addiction. He was kicked out of high school in grade 11. He’s no longer allowed in the mall. He gets chased out by […]
Wrong Way
By Alison@Creekside You know how you sometimes wonder how we might reorganize society if we were starting over again today from scratch? Imagine how public meetings to discuss it would go. Anyone recommending any variation on tinkle down economics or massive handouts to the rich as a solution to poverty would get laughed out of the room. […]
Start with coats
By Dave Brindle Last year, at the beginning of winter in Edmonton, where the number of street kids is close to 225, Andrew Gagnon was visiting a friend who works with local at-risk youth. “What can I do? What do you need?” he asked her. “Coats,” she said. Gagnon went to his Facebook page, and […]
Rob Ford is us
By TJ Dawe “#RobFord is the perfect picture of our age: capitalism in its underpants, slouched drunk on the couch saying “what r going to do, leave me?” — Naomi Klein” A point that keeps coming up in the never-ending Rob Ford train wreck is that the man was elected. He wasn’t open about his […]
The Great Pumpkin Toss
By Rachelle Stein-Wotten I have a Halloween confession: I dislike carving pumpkins. The jack-o’-lantern does not cast its haunting glow at my place of residence, and it’s not because the seedy, sticky innards make a mess or because cutting into the top of a pumpkin is a pain in the ass. I abstain from the […]
Beaver anus, and other reasons we need more nutrition laws
By TJ Dawe But isn’t nutrition a personal choice? Yes. None of these potential laws would restrict consumption. They’d make us more aware of our choices. 1. All packaged food should list the nutritional information for the entire package, not just for a single serving size. Here are some serving sizes as listed on the […]
Don’t Be Those Jerks
By Rachelle Stein-Wotten This week in rape news: Some fine men in Edmonton decided to fight back against all those terrible women who lie about being raped, and take back the innocence and purity of the one night stand. The group Men’s Rights Edmonton plastered posters around the University of Alberta campus in retaliation for […]
