If there’s one thing the Students’ Society’s biannual General Assembly does a good job of, it’s helping to discredit – on both an intellectual and a practical level – direct democracy, or at least the twisted, substandard version we will once again be exposed to tomorrow afternoon.
Author: Admin
COMMENTARY: Opt-out misinformation
Re: “Opting out of QPIRG” by Brendan Steven (26.01.10) In his article “Opting out of QPIRG,” Brendan Steven claims that “controversial groups” should go directly to students for their funding, instead of receiving it through the McGill chapter of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group.
Understanding Wednesday’s General Assembly motions
Undergraduate students will gather tomorrow beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Shatner cafeteria to participate in the Winter General Assembly. With seven new motions on the table there is a wide variety of SSMU policy to be decided. Motion Re: The Defense of Human Rights, Social Justice, and Environmental Protection Put forward by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, this motion has emerged as perhaps the most controversial Genderal Assembly motion.
THIRD MAN IN: Wild ‘n Out
Things are not going well in Minnesota. Three summers ago, Minnesotans watched as their once-beloved Kevin Garnett celebrated his first NBA title as a member of the Boston Celtics. Two weeks ago, they watched in horror as Brett Favre threw an interception late in the fourth to halt the Vikings’ march to their first Super Bowl since 1976.
Queen’s may join other universities in banning bottled water
At Queen’s University, the Water Access Group, a group of students and professors interested in promoting public water and discouraging the use of bottled water, has completed a study of the school’s water fountains. The group found that 84 of 151 fountains were broken or dirty, and only 24 had gooseneck spouts for refilling water bottles, which prompted them to write an open letter to Daniel Woolf, the university’s principal.
Oscars 2010: The shoo-ins, the underdogs, and the buzz-worthy
You’ve got 26 days until the Academy Awards, so here’s the buzz and predictions you need to know so you can decide which films to catch up on in the weeks leading up to the Oscars. BEST PICTURE This year the Academy has selected 10 motion pictures as candidates for Best Picture, instead of the usual five.
Everybody’s a terrorist in From Paris With Love
Pierre Morel’s new film From Paris With Love is exceptionally tasteless. Admittedly, action movies are meant to be vile concoctions of guns, cars, drugs, and racial/sexual stereotypes, but From Paris With Love is so strikingly problematic that it cannot be considered a harmless testosterone-fuelled fantasy.
COMMENTARY: Why Gaza remembrance week misses the point
From February 1-7, the McGill chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights staged Gaza Remembrance Week to mark the one-year anniversary of the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Earlier in January, SPHR organized a “Public Commemoration of the Gaza Massacre” in downtown Montreal.
In Kahnawake, eviction notices force non-Aboriginals off the land
In response to a growing number of complaints by residents of the Kahnawake reservation on the South Shore, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has served eviction notices to all non-native people living illegally on the reserve. In accordance with Canadian law, the federal government grants land reserves to native bands, who are then in charge of deciding their own residence laws.
CD REVIEWS: Yeasayer: Odd Blood
If the African- and Middle Eastern-tinged flavour of Yeasayer’s 2007 debut All Hour Cymbals impressed you, get ready to be transported by their sophomore effort, Odd Blood. Yeasayer leaves the tribal aesthetic behind for an electronic vibe, with distorted vocals, synth, and pounding bass lines.