BY: ALEXANDRIA LEE In the state of Terengganu, Malaysia, religion, rather than the government, is heading the fight to prevent poaching. A fatwa is an Islamic legal pronouncement issued by an Islamic scholar (mufti) to resolve a specific issue where…
Global Stage
Why politicians everywhere should take a lesson from Vancouver’s drug treatment program.
BY: JACK M. “During its eight years of operation, Insite has been proven to save lives with no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada.” Unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, 2011.…
It’s time to stop pretending college is the key to a well-paying job
BY: ADRIAN SMITH There’s still a lot of value in attending college or university these days, but not in the same way it used to be. Not in terms of earning good money by landing a well-paying job, the way…
Facebook is being used to connect organ donors with those in need
BY: REGAN MCNEILL I had never really thought about organ donation until my 16th birthday when I got my driver’s license and was given the option to “opt-in” as a potential donor in the event of my sudden death. Unbeknownst…
Chinese fishermen are destroying Philippine-controlled coral reefs
BY: ALEXANDRIA LEE Chinese fishermen are destroying the Philippine-owned coral reefs that line the Spratly Islands. The islands, which are surrounded by the South China Sea, house vibrant coral reefs that are becoming decimated through deliberate destruction. While the claims…
Idealistic young farmers are using small-scale organic farms to save the dying agriculture industry.
BY: JONATHAN MOSS Photo: © Eva Verbeeck Eating engages every mouth. Food connects us all. What we let enter our bodies is the most intimate choice we make, yet city dwellers are often disconnected from their food sources; from growth…
Hawaii is going to become the first state to ban the use of exotic animals for entertainment
BY: DANIKA MOIR In mid November of this year, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture met to discuss the importation of exotic animals for the use of entertainment. The board unanimously voted that they would ban the import of exotic animals…
Facebook, Google and Twitter are aggressively cracking down on hate speech in Germany
BY: DANIKA MOIR Since the influx of refugees coming to Germany, there has been an increase in hate speech on German social media. Germany will be taking in one million asylum-seekers this year and have faced a large amount of…
The maze of the Odessa Catacombs are a real-life labyrinth
BY: ALEXANDRIA LEE Beneath thousands of homes, a dark maze of catacombs runs in the underground of Odessa, Ukraine. Spanning over 2,500 kilometres, the Odessa Catacombs are the largest in the world and surpass the more famous London, Paris, and…
Chinese millionaire intentionally goes broke buying a slaughterhouse to save 2,000 dogs
BY: SWIKAR OLI Wang Yan was looking for his missing dog in 2012 when his friend suggested he search a dog slaughterhouse. He arrived at the slaughterhouse to the sight of dogs being horrifically treated. While Yan didn’t find his…
Why Donald Trump’s brand of Conservatism is so dangerous
BY: TREVOR HEWITT The twin towers fell a little over a month from my ninth birthday. I remember my mom taking me out of Ms. Baker’s dingy khaki portable; we went and picked up my six-year-old sister from her class.…
Wage inequality isn’t a western concept – it’s a global catastrophe
BY: REGAN MCNEILL Have you ever heard of ladybucks? No, I did not invent them, the comedian and political commentator John Oliver did. First things first, ladybucks are a currency made for female employees to avoid the hassle of paying…
The Ex-Uruguayan President sums up the problem with consumerism in under one minute
José Mujica might just be the greatest President on the planet. He’s certainly a fan favourite—not only did he turn down Uruguay’s presidential home to live in his wife’s modest farmhouse, but he also turned the state-provided presidential suite into…
In Hollywood, not having a penis is a barrier to both funding and power (Infographic)
BY: DANIEL WATERBOURNE Hollywood has a diversity problem. Behind the camera and in front of the camera there is a common thread. Although visible minorities constitute nearly half of the American population, the difference in creative and onscreen representation between…
This artist vacuumed Beijing’s air for 100 days and created a brick out of China’s air pollution
BY: TREVOR HEWITT As Beijing is engulfed by its worst ‘airpocalypse’ of the year, one artist is taking to the streets to help us visualize just how bad pollution really is. For the last 100 days, Nut Brother, a Chinese…
Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t give a f*ck if you believe in climate change
BY: JONATHAN MOSS “I don’t give a **** if we agree about climate change,” writes Arnold Schwarzenegger. He hears your indignant grumbles about his drive for a clean renewable future, but believe me, your assertion that climate change is just…
I didn’t become a vegetarian for the animals— I did it to save my children
BY: TYLER FYFE Though 9.1 billion land animals are killed yearly in the United States after being segregated from their families and incarcerated in warehouses like mass graves, this is not the reason that I chose to become a vegetarian.…
This politician brings her super-cute daughter to Parliament to prove an important point
BY: ALEX BROWN An Italian representative of the European Parliament, Licia Ronzulli, made waves in the media after sparking an important global discussion about the rights of new mothers. The funny thing is, her only method of protest is bringing…
An ad campaign is shaming racists by displaying their Facebook statuses on billboards
BY: JESSIE CARTWRIGHT Imagine sitting at home after work, trying to unwind and casually eating dinner aside your laptop when all of a sudden “Let’s just bomb Syria already!” comes up on your social-media feed. “What the hell…” you think,…
Erykah Badu reveals how cellphone usage is killing bees with a Hotline Bling inspired mixtape
BY: ADRIAN SMITH Erykah Badu dropped her mixtape, But You Can’t Use My Phone last Friday, ending a five-year hiatus of releasing no new music. Among the usual psychedelic sounds that surround her production, which contains smooth jazz and hip-hop…