This Magazine articles from May 2004

This Magazine archives from May 2004

War and peace.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I like your new approach, but I have a suggestion For Julie Crysler regarding her article "The Good Fight" (March/April). If she reads The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order by Michel Chossudovsky, Chapter 17, titled "Dismantling...

The 69-cent solution.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Just received the March/April 2004 issue. Read up to and including page 10 ("The hamburger thief," by Sherry Bennett). I have an idea. Why not send around an under-the-counter posters saying, Give This Man A Fucking Hamburger! If it's going to...

Keep it light.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Great birth issue! (January/February 2004). But watch print on dark background for us aging hippies and folks who can't see that well. Bonnie Sherr-Klein Roberts Creek, British Columbia

Why I love the CBC.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... In "Pressing the issue" (January/February 2004), Arthur Lewis says that, because of the CBC, "our private media dare not ignore an important public issue." I understand that "trade" agreements Canada has signed give corporations the right...

Verses reversed.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... In our March/April issue, John Degen lamented the axing of the poetry category from the National Magazine Awards ("Poetic injustice"). Between the day we sent the magazine to the printers and the day the magazine hit newsstands, the National...

Forum quorum.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Almost 200 people came out to the St. Lawrence Centre Forum in Toronto on March 24 for the discussion, "Guns, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid: Do we have the balance right?" The event was inspired by the March/April issue of This Magazine, The Best...

Printed in blood: Quebecor World's safety record spawns U.S. campaign for worker rights.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)
May 1, 2004... Two years ago while trying to repair a shrink-wrap machine at the Quebecor World Inc. (QW) printing plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, 50-year-old Donald Wilkerson was pulled into the machine and crushed to death. Last August, when a blaze broke...

That's oil, folks.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)
May 1, 2004... Forecasters have been predicting the end of oil for decades, but the real question isn't when it will run out, but when production will peak. That's the day wells begin pumping less oil than the day before--and then less each subsequent day....

Greens down by three.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)(Karen Kraft Sloan, Clifford Lincoln, Charles Caccia)
May 1, 2004... While progress on environment issues has been meagre under the Liberals, a trio of Grits has tenaciously championed a wide range of issues from toxics to wildlife protection. Sadly, "The Three," as they are sometimes known by environmental...

The unravelling of Stevie Cameron.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)(Brian Mulroney investigation)
May 1, 2004... Snitch. It's an ugly little word usually conferred on duplicitous thugs, not reporters. But lately, that blunt epithet has been bandied about in connection with one of this country's most famous or infamous journalists (take your...

Rock the white house.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Canadian radicals seeking electoral inspiration should look no further than How To Get Stupid White Men Out Of Office, new this season from Soft Skull Press. Edited by William Upski Wimsatt (of Bomb the Suburbs fame), the book offers rousing...

The mother of all custody issues: shared access to children gives abusers a direct route to their ex-wives.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)
May 1, 2004... IF THEY WERE ANY OTHER GROUP, SINGLE MOTHERS WOULD probably have more political clout. After all, single mothers head 19 percent of all families with children in Canada; that's 945,000 households. And--barring all absolute reversal in the...

Union rules.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)(Canadian Labour Congress strike)
May 1, 2004... Unanswered phone calls, hushed requests for anonymity, claims of no comment and the most popular refrain of all: "you'll have to talk to my rep about that." I'm not searching for UFOs and government conspiracies in Area 51--I'm trying to find...

Access denied.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)(Access to Information Act)
May 1, 2004... With Canadians still reeling from the Liberals' $100-million sponsorship debacle, the conditions that facilitated the fiasco remain unchanged. Crown corporations--including Via Rail and Canada Post--are still exempt from the Access to...

The Grinds, They Are A-Changin'.(This & that: information, insight & innovation)(Poem)
May 1, 2004... THE GRINDS, THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' Come gather 'round people, Wherever you brew, And watch Second Cup's shares Increase in value While millions of farmers Continue to get screwed On a Latin American plantation...

Das ist good!(This & that: information, insight & innovation)
May 1, 2004... uberCulture is a Canadian internet collective that's making sure culture jamming isn't just a passing fad. The group's website offers up a wealth of resources for the cheeky radical, along with footage of recent actions. When Mike Harris,...

The politics of belonging.
May 1, 2004... THERE'S AN OLD JOKE ABOUT POLITICS in the Maritimes: a pollster asks an old man when he became a Tory. His answer? At conception. Many of us would like to think our political affiliations come from the left side of the brain--that we've...

Lords of the new church: from the godfather of punk to the underground's fairy gothmother, meet the leaders of a lifestyle revolution, whose style and attitude long ago transcended the mainstream.(Cover Story)
May 1, 2004... "Punks not Dead!"--The Exploited, 1981 "Goth's not dead--it just looks like it"--Anon Joey is a punk. His hair is bleached white-blond and styled to spiky points. He wears a black leather jacket and ripped jeans; his wrists are ringed with...

I want to believe: join the legions of Christians, Jews and Muslims who won't trade intolerance for everlasting life, who have learned that they can remain faithful while fighting for change.
May 1, 2004... SO ALL CLEAR-THINKING, LEFT-LEANING PEOPLE UNDERSTAND that most of the world's religions are backward, right? Sure, they may do some good charitable work--feeding the hungry and housing the homeless--but their narrow-minded social and political...

Shopping for salvation: looking for an enlightened way to reach the great beyond? Look no further.
May 1, 2004... Buddhism Buddhism has quite the rep for being an accepting religion. (They let Richard Gere and Steven Segal join, even.) Buddhists pursue a peaceful path to nirvana, spiritual enlightenment. Many Westerners embrace the religion for its...

Dangerous territory: Nunavut's burgeoning evangelical movement is gaining strength among Inuit decision-makers.
May 1, 2004... AS THE STORY GOES, GOD SPOKE TO HIM during a moment of religious frenzy. Congregants surrounded him during small church service in Rankin Inlet, laying their hand upon him as they chanted, "You will be the next premier... You will be the next...

Science fiction: why are so many radicals rejecting science as a right-wing conspiracy--and embracing irrationality?
May 1, 2004... IF YOU'VE SPENT ANYTINE IN ACTIVIST CIRCLES RECENTLY, you've probably noticed the rise of the anti-vaccination movement. In a growing number of "alternative" and progressive communities, parent are refusing to immunize their children. Vaccines,...

Man on a mission: if Tooker Gomberg couldn't be mayor, he'd be memorable.
May 1, 2004... TOOKER GOMBERG GAVE ME HELL as soon as we met. I was working for eye Weekly, interviewing him for a story on the "Melternatives" running in Toronto's 2000 mayoral election. And we couldn't have done more than shake hands, sitting down at a...

Ascent.(Short Story)
May 1, 2004... ON A MEAN OCTOBER AFTERNOON, WHEN THE SKY WAS A headache of white, two men showed up on my doorstep and told me God had a plan for me. I was interested, and asked them to come in. The men wore sharp suits. They had very short hair,...

No Trekkie.(Two Poems)(Poem)
May 1, 2004... No Trekkie The thing about pain is it's poetic. Guess what I'm writing about... You guessed it, and how am doing? Sure, there are bigger issues, about which we may all appear curious, great big topics out...

Hope for poetry.(Poetry)(Interview)
May 1, 2004... Toronto poet, editor, and arts journalist Kevin Connolly was founding editor of the influential 1980s literary magazine What!, while his Pink Dog chapbook series published early work by many of the city's best writers. His first collection of...

Contractual obligation.(Two Poems)(Poem)
May 1, 2004... Contractual obligation Good afternoon. I'm a little baby. I know I don't look like a little baby, but I can assure you that I am. I thank you all for coming this evening. I'd also like to thank this afternoon's...

Fellowship of the ring.(Arts & ideas: this is independent culture)(Arbeiter Ring)
May 1, 2004... Camped in the wilds of Winnipeg, Esyllt Jones, Carolynn Smallwood, Todd Scarth and John Samson are Arbeiter Ring, a publishing collective that's sent a chilly blast of Prairie-style radicalism throughout the staid world of poli-cultural tomes....

Ideological indecision: profit is not the root of all problems.(Arts & Ideas)(Movie Review)
May 1, 2004... For anyone interested in understanding the incoherence of the left in Canada these days, you can learn pretty much everything you need to know by watching the (award-winning) film The Corporation. There one can see the roots of the problem with...

Lola-lovers, regroup: magazine founder channels her art in a different direction.(Arts & Ideas)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Fans of high-and low-brow visual arts chatter lamenting the loss Of art mag Lola should check out founder Sally McKay's new online project, www.digitalmediatree.com/sallymckay/. After Lola folded, Mckay took a two-month sabbatical in New York...

Greg MacPherson, Maintenance (G7 Welcoming Committee).(Hear this: off the beaten track)(Sound Recording Review)
May 1, 2004... Surrounded by over-packaged and over-produced pop, it's easy to forget just how nice a simple acoustic guitar and some rapsy vocals can sound. Those in need of a reminder should check out the new five-song EP from Winnipeg singer-songwriter...

Broken Social Scene, Bee Hives (Arts & Crafts).(Hear this: off the beaten track)(Sound Recording Review)
May 1, 2004... Collections of B-sides can be curious creatures. You never know quite what you're going to get. Simply put, sometimes collections of unreleased material can suck, hence the unreleased part. Bee Hives is a collection of "quiet outtakes" From...

Sarah Harmer, All of Our Names (Cold Snap Records).(Hear this: off the beaten track)(Sound Recording Review)
May 1, 2004... In university I hosted an early-morning show on the campus radio station. Not a huge fan of the 7 a.m. slot, I needed music that was slow, delicate and gentle (like myself at that hour). I tended to play songs that would allow my fragile...

Smart and beautiful.(Arts & Ideas)(So Beautiful)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Reading a book of short stories is, in some ways, like going to a party and meeting new people. If it's a good party, you will hit it off immediately with a few people, maybe even have some thoughtful conversations. In this light, Ramona...

Cherry.(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Cherry by Chandra Mayor (Conundrum Press) Chandra Mayor's novel, Cherry, is a horror story of the Winnipeg skinhead community, narrated by a young woman perceptive enough to give us its every track line and welt but too unsure of herself to...

The Corporation: the Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power.(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan (Viking Canada) Basically a sequel to Naomi Klein's No Logo, this book targets not branding but the limited liability corporation itself as the source of the...

Weave.(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Weave by Lisa Pasold (Frontenac House) In just three years, Calgary-based Frontenac House has established itself as one of Canada's finest poetry presses. Included in its latest series, Quartet 2004, is Lisa Pasold's first collection,...

PO-MO meets its match: Jose Lopez on the birth of critical realism and the death of postmodernism.(Question Authority)(Interview)
May 1, 2004... JOSE: LOPEZ HAS BEEN CALLED A "PROPAGANDIST" OF AN academic movement known as critical realism. The assistant professor in the University of Ottawa's department of sociology co-edited an anthology of essays titled After Postmodemism: An...