Month: December 2003

  • Scrums: Equal Accountability

    Back in the Day: I grew up in Deer Lake, Newfoundland. There, our Member of Parliament would hold court outside of town at the Irving Gas Station, the kind with a diner. He would set up, order supper at the corner table by the window, and people would trickle in to speak with him –

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  • Playing G.I. Joe With A Semi-Literate Con Man

    In last November’s bluprint (issue 2.2), I examined the media’s relationship with the US government as the ramping for Gulf War 2 was in full swing and the news agencies were doing little more than repeating the government line. What, if anything, has changed in this regard? It turns out that if anything, the news

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  • Detroit Flips the Bird

    I sat on the edge of our country on a nice park bench by the Detroit River. I thought about three things: they’ve found fish with abnormal appendages and cancerous tumours here, there’s a mortally evil undercurrent, and if you drink the water you might end up like the fish – which were floating dead

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  • Flag Waving: Which One?

    There has been so much controversy surrounding the topic of the Confederate Flag, I’m beginning to wonder if the American people have too much time on their hands. Sure, Howard Dean made a little mistake by commenting that he wants “to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks,” but it

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  • Deport Me? To Where? Oh Come On, You Can’t Be Serious

    As the average Canadian traveller passes through airport security, the typical thoughts on his or her mind probably consist of whether a belt buckle will set off the metal detectors, or whether there will be enough snacks and reading material to last the entire flight. Rarely do these thoughts include difficult subject matter such as

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  • Canadian Content: More From the Great White North

    At the risk of being pigeonholed as an entertainment columnist, I have decided to discuss the topic of Canadian television to demonstrate that its stereotypical image of being less entertaining or of poorer quality than its American counterpart is completely false. While the appeal of American television seems to be very strong among young Canadians,

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  • Backstabbing or Shooting Ourselves in the Foot?

    Most Canadians are media savvy. Between cable TV, the internet, newspapers and radio, a healthy percentage of citizens are well informed of events and entertainment in both Canada and the United States. In some sense, Canadians are more informed by events in the US than events in their own country. This is due to a

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  • American Dreams

    Amos Crawley has been acting since he was four years old. From what he describes as vague memories of being hot under the lights at one of his mother’s auditions to his current study at New York City’s famed Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater, the young man has done quite well for himself. Originally from

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