Tag Archives: commentary

What Kony 2012 means for the Internet

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IKony 2012n case you’ve been in a coma for the past two weeks, LRA (a Ugandan rebel militia) leader Joseph Kony was trending on Twitter recently. #KONY2012 exploded into the online universe thanks to a thirty-minute documentary that has received over 73 million views so far (and counting). Made by the not-for-profit foundation Invisible Children, the documentary advocates for Kony’s capture, who has apparently been training child soldiers in Uganda. No sooner had internet users rallied together around this single cause than criticisms started to arise regarding the finances and goals of Invisible Children.

The tool that played such a crucial role in promoting Invisible Children’s cause was now being used to audit its legitimacy. Continue reading →

Buy Nothing Day is Coming, Should You Participate?

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Black Friday

By: Kyla Garvey

99% of the things we purchase are either trashed or obsolete within 6 months. Reflect on the amount of time you spend in stores during the holiday season compared to the amount of time you spend with friends and family. Shopping leaves us with almost no feeling of fulfilment and does little more than attempt to fill some insatiable void; concerns over these aspects of consumer culture have prompted some to take action.

Ted Dave launched Buy Nothing Day (BND) in retaliation to the American tradition of Black Friday, which wraps up Thanksgiving every year with a no-holds-barred shopping spree. Held annually on November 25th, it aims to interrupt the vicious cycle of rampant consumerism. Continue reading →

Why Steve Mattered

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Steve JobsToday, the world mourned the passing of Steve Jobs, business mogul and co-founder of Apple and Pixar. During his lifetime Steve made monumental contributions to the world and computing as we know it, although he was not without his critics and detractors. Looking back on his career, it is clear to all that Steve mattered, and here’s why:

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Did Polaris Get It Right?

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On Tuesday night, Arcade Fire took home the $30,000 Polaris Prize. For those not in the know, the Polaris is an annual awards gala that aims to recognize the year’s best Canadian album based on artistic merit alone instead of album sales. The shortlist of 10 albums including releases by BRAIDS, Timber Timbre, Austra, Destroyer, and Hey Rosetta was determined by popular vote from over two hundred music critics and bloggers. The final decision was made by a panel of jurors. To many, Arcade Fire taking home the win did not come as much of a surprise. After all, their celebrated third album The Suburbs has won a Grammy, a Brit Award, and a Juno for best album and taken the number one spot on charts across Canada, the U.S., and Britain. However, many see the win as a betrayal of the spirit the Polaris has come to represent in what was arguably a political move. Continue reading →

Top Events of Summer 2011, Honourable Mentions: World

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Fall is upon us, and so are the hordes of frosh wandering around campus in search of their classes (“what do you mean Health Sci isn’t right next to Nat Sci? I have to walk where?”). If you’re one of those frosh, welcome to Western, and don’t worry—you’ll figure out where all your classes are just in time for second semester.

With the new school year comes the triumphant return of the mitZine for its eleventh volume, the first issue of which is available now. As you may have seen in the frosh issue, we cobbled together a list of the top 5 most important events of the summer, and arrived at the following list:  Continue reading →