RSS
Court rules California's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional
Gay rights activists have won another battle yesterday in California.
According to the BBC, a San Francisco appeals court has judged California’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
In 2008, a referendum called Proposition 8 forbade gay unions in the state. Two years later, a court overturned the proposition saying it was in violation with the rights of gays and lesbians.
Supporters of Proposition 8 had appealed the decision but yesterday the court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. But supporters of the proposition are not done yet. They said they would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
The court is putting same-sex weddings in California on hold until the case is closed.
Photo by: Damian Hopper (Flickr)
View from the Venue - Cancer Bats
In Montreal, Canada, Cancer Bats interview you!
On this episode of View from the Venue, I sat down with Cancer Bats at Foufounes Electriques. They were on their Bastards of Reality tour, trekking across Canada and the United States as a Black Sabbath cover band called Bat Sabbath. Liam and Jaye promptly began to interview ME. Part 1 contains lots of hating on Christmas, goth talk, Black Sabbath praise and a serious question here and there. In part 2, Cancer Bats continue to make me their butt monkey and talk about Dead Set On Living and being nice dudes in a scary band. Jaye and I also face off in a Pogo-Headbanging competition of epic proportions. CHAOS.
Check out their single "Old Blood," out now. Stay tuned for their full length, Dead Set On Living, out April 20th.
-Filmed and edited by Julia Hoelscher
February 7th, 2012
Read by: Aisha Samu
Stories by: Nikita Smith, Jordie Yeager, Niki Mohrdar and Tara Brockwell
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Israel hands Palestinian Authority an ultimatum for peace
According to the BBC Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that peace did not go hand in hand with a unity Palestinian government.
Abbas has been in talks with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to form a unity Palestinian government come election time this spring. Netanyahu accuses Hamas of being a terrorist organization that supports the destruction of Israel.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the two tracks of Palestinian reconciliation and negotiations with Israel should not be seen as contradictory.
Netanyahu and Abbas last discussed peace in January. Talks have been at a standstill ever since.
Flickr Photo by: Truthout.org
Westmount gets green light for new sports complex
It's all systems go for the new Westmount sports complex.
In a report by CBC, the $38.5 million dollar project was given permission to proceed at a Monday night city council meeting.
Replacing the existing arena, the new centre will have two underground skating rinks, three outside tennis courts, and an eight lane, 25-metre outdoor swimming pool with an area for divers and nearby kiddie pool.
Westmount Mayor Peter Trent said that the arena will be one-of-a-kind as well as being environmentally friendly. The city of Westmount is putting an extra $1.5 million dollars to make sure the building saves energy and is constructed with sustainable materials.
However, not everyone supports the project.
Some residents fear the consequences the centre will have for Westmount, bringing with it extra garbage pick-ups, exhaust smells, and...french fries.
Supporters of the complex hope that having two rinks will allow for hockey teams in Westmount to practice more and compete against other cities.
Employees of 119 Quebec daycares strike for contract negotiations
Workers of 119 Quebec daycares walked out of work yesterday for a day long strike.
According to CTV, the 2,600 strikers want the provincial government to negotiate their contracts. The daycare employees are members of the CSN union.
According to CTV and the CSN, employees working without contracts at 360 daycares will strike if an agreement hasn’t been reached by Friday.
Families Minister Yolande James told CTV that she's "confident" they "can work out a deal."
Flickr: jacquestricot
Wolf Parade - Rostraver Ice Garden 10-8-2004
Montreal’s greatest dual-vocalist rock group of all-time, Wolf Parade, found international success during their short but explosive run. Their Sub Pop debut, Apologies to The Queen Mary, was a critically acclaimed album that put Montreal on the map as a prominent indie scene. Recently, a site called WolfParade.nonstuff.com has put up a free bootleg for download titled "Rostraver Ice Garden 10-8-2004" which is a live set that was recorded while the band was on tour supporting Modest Mouse and The Walkmen. Although the website holds no official ties to the band, you can find numerous bootlegs, pictures, playlists and an abundance of material from Wolf Parade affiliates such as Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs and Moonface.
In terms of a bootleg, the quality of "Rostraver Ice Garden" is amazing. Not only can you hear the fans ramble on in to conversations with guitarist Dan Boeckner (who mentions more than once that he is beyond drunk), but the sound of the band’s music is crisp and clear as day. If there is anything a Wolf Parade fan knows, it is that when you see the band live it is always an unpredictable experience (besides the fact that they always have technical problems with their creative instruments). Spencer Krug and former member Hadji Bakara specialize in improvisation, adding sounds and electronic parts to the songs that aren’t apparent on record. This also happens on this live album, many times.
The performance includes excellent renditions of forgotten Wolf Parade classics such as “Disco Sheets” and “Killing Armies”, tracks that were not performed live during the latter years of the band’s existence. The album opens with an energy-fuelled “Day In The Life”, a cover from Boeckner’s former band, Atlas Strategic. Some exceptional numbers from Apologies To The Queen Mary are highly enjoyable, including the single “Shine A Light” and the highly contagious “Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts”. You can tell by the performance that the band really got into their groove quickly and that was something quite special about these early Wolf Parade shows. There was no sound-check for this performance and these early Wolf Parade shows were primarily based on fun rather than trying to impress under pressure. This live album is exactly that: a whole lot of fun. It reminds Wolf Parade fans that the shows were about positive energy and there was no pressure that the band needed to live up to. It did not matter if the band sounded a little off or the vocals sounded strange; it was part of the act.
The most depressing part about this free offering is that we may not see this band reunite for quite a while. Take this as a gift, think about what Wolf Parade meant to you (because they meant a lot to yours truly) and have fun remembering it.
-Alex Giardini
Unrest remains in Syria
According to the Montreal Gazette, the city of Homs was hit with shells and mortar bombs by the Syrian army. 42 lives were taken and a hospital was also struck. This was an offensive against President Bashar al-Assad’s enemies. This conflict began almost a year ago.
Rebels from the Free Syrian Army were targeted first, at 6am local time. Every hour, shells and mortar bombs were falling and insurgents could not react except a small arms fire.
A spokesman in the Homs stated that he could not count all the bodies from the streets and the collapsed buildings.
Phone lines, landlines and mobile lines had been cut from 8:30am to 1pm.
It is expected by the Syrian regime that the Western and Arab opponents will respond to this at the defeat at the UN. It is also expected that some countries will assist Mr. Assad.
February 6th 2012
Produced By Melissa Mulligan
Read By Sarah Deshaies
Stories By Daniel J. Rowe, Esther Viragh, Gregory Wilson, & Audrey Folliot
UN veto called a ‘travesty’
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Russia and China’s UN veto as a travesty.
According to the BBC, she expressed the need to double efforts to help the Syrian people.
The UN resolution would have condemned Syria’s crackdown against anti-government protesters.
Vetoing it drew an angry reaction from around the world.
It was the second time in four months that Russia blocked a resolution condemning the country.
Both Russia and China felt that more time was required to solve the Syrian crisis. Security forces killed at least 28 civilians across Syria on Sunday. Human rights groups and activists say more than seven thousand people were killed since the uprising began in March.
Pages
Staff Login | Advertise | Our Location | RSS | Contact Us
