BY: JESSICA BEUKER In July of 2013 controversy spread through Ireland after a law was passed allowing women to obtain abortions where their life was at risk. The law was passed after the death of Savita Halappanavar, who was refused…
Global Stage
Big Tobacco could make the Weed game their bitch…so why haven’t they?
BY: RYAN BOLTON North America is at a tipping point with legalizing marijuana. The shove, however, is yet to come because Big Tobacco is sitting around with a dry thumb up its ass. Big Tobacco is missing the boat. Frankly,…
If 18 states allow medicinal marijuana use, why is weed still classified as Schedule I?
BY: LISA CUMMING The first documented use of Marijuana was in 2727 BC when Chinese Emperor Shen Nung blazed up. Marijuana, or the dried bits from the hemp plant, has permeated popular culture since then. People have smoked it, eaten…
25 activists are biking across America to fight persecution of meditation in China
BY: JESSICA BEUKER I find it difficult to imagine a world where my core beliefs are subject to persecution. A world where I have to walk on egg shells every single day. Where I can’t freely say what I think…
Wedding bakery forced to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing business to lesbian couple
BY: THE PLAID ZEBRA In Portland, Oregon, The Bureau of Labor and Industries resolved that a wedding bakery would be forced to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a cake for a lesbian couple. Sweet Cakes By Melissa…
Politicians and celebrities are hiring fake fans to fool you into liking them — and it’s working
BY: DANIEL KORN If you were sitting at your computer screen with a look of bewilderment and mockery when you first read the words “Donald Trump Announces Presidential Campaign,” wondering how the sleazy, xenophobic, homophobic, failed businessman could have possibly…
The Internet is crowdfunding a bailout for Greece and it’s going surprisingly well
BY: THE PLAID ZEBRA Everyone is aware of the wasteland that is the current state of Greek economic affairs, as the nation quickly approaches its financial melting point. Yesterday Greece missed the deadline to pay €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) to the…
Dutch citizens sued their government for not taking action against climate change and won
BY: ZOE MELNYK After years of disappointment in their government’s environmental policies, 886 Dutch citizens, following the lead of the sustainability foundation Urgenda, took their government to court in order to demand a better treatment of the environment and to…
Europe’s largest living wall contains 97,000 plants
BY: JESSICA BEUKER A 446-space parking garage is now home to Europe’s largest living wall. The wall contains 97,000 plants drawn from 20 different species chosen specifically to provide environmental benefits. According to Gizmag, the plants are tailored to do…
Fast fashion companies treat human lives the same way we treat their cheap consumables
BY: LAURA ROJAS I walk through Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas at least once a week, obscured by the shadow of towering H&M billboards showing beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes, a large “2 for $10” sign reeling every passerby inside.…
Here are 5 things you can do about Earth’s sixth mass extinction (being afraid isn’t one)
BY: JESSICA BEUKER Recently my newsfeed and computer screen have been attempting to scare me. I’ve been flooded by headlines and stories that read, “Earth’s sixth mass extinction has begun and it’s all our faults.” Some read “Humans under threat,”…
Why Instagram celebrities condemning the Yulin Dog Meat Festival is the irony of the century
BY: ROB HOFFMAN Who’s to blame for a city that kills 10,000 dogs a year in the name of a good meal and celebrating the onset of summer? The most shocking aspect of the Yulin Festival celebration founded in 2009…
NYC is adopting solar green roofs as a part of the public school curriculum
BY: ROB HOFFMAN In Manhattan’s original beatnik neighbourhood of Greenwich Village, New York City public school, PS 41, has developed a rooftop garden and solar panel setup spanning 15,000 square feet. Photo by Carla Brown Vicki Sando, a parent of…
Nigerian government sets example by legally banning female genital mutilation
BY: JESSICA BEUKER The Nigerian government recently took a big step forward by prohibiting the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). The practice involves removing part or all of a girl’s outer sexual organs for non-medical purposes. Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s…
UK’s largest supermarket chain “Tesco” vows to give away all left over food to empty stomachs
BY: ZOE MELNYK Following close in France’s footsteps, the largest UK grocery store chain, Tesco, recently decided to donate any edible leftover food to charity instead of throwing it away to rot in a landfill. The decision came from the…
Stanford just drafted the perfect plan to get America running on 100% renewable energy by 2050
BY: TYLER FYFE A new study by Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University in collaboration with U.C. Berkeley is the first guidebook for all 50 states to run on 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050. If progressive politicians at…
An underground movement of monks is using street art to fight for human rights in Burma
BY: TYLER FYFE Jeffrey Durkin is trying to avoid security on the rooftop of a mid-construction San Francisco parking garage as we talk on the phone. It’s not a situation that’s entirely out of the ordinary. With a history in…
A city is trying to shut down a children’s library that gives away free books
BY: DANIEL KORN In 2009, Todd Bol of Hudson, Wisconsin built a wooden model of a schoolhouse— a deep red exterior with white trim and a mini bell tower perched on the roof. He built it in honour of his…
New Zealand just made cosmetic testing on animals illegal, punishable by 6 months in prison or a $125,000 fine
BY: ZOE MELNYK New Zealand recently passed a bill banning animal testing and other types of animal cruelty. Talk of banning animal testing around the world has posed as a controversial debate for decades between two different interpretations of the words…
France passes a law banning super-skinny models on the catwalk
BY: JACK M. In what can only be described as a major rejection of an industry that has put countless young women and girls at serious health risks by promoting and glamorizing super-skinny models, France recently made it illegal for…