international affairs

FIFA faux pas

Next July, the soccer world will turn its attention to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.  In my mind, Brazil is to soccer what Canada…


No room for SAIA at York University

Three months ago, the York University administration revoked the official club status of the campus’ Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) branch, on the grounds that…


Saying “no” to Russian vodka

In June this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a constitutional law banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,” and laying fines on those demonstrating at…



The right to not be spied on

In a world increasingly driven by the exchange of data over the Internet, the issue of online privacy is never far from the public eye….


To feed or not to feed

On Sunday, July 21, a Google search for “Mos Def force-feeding” yielded 10.6 million results. Such has been the global impact of a recent video…


Egypt since Morsi

The political situation in Egypt remains volatile following the July 3 military overthrow of elected President Mohamed Morsi. A July 19 clash between Morsi supporters…


Clarifying Prism

Last month’s revelations about the large-scale program of electronic surveillance by U.S. and U.K. spy agencies have caused some confusion. The details emerged gradually in…


Point/Counterpoint

UMSU’s recent decision to ban Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) from campus represents a failing on the part of the council to differentiate between racism…


Point/Counterpoint

Much has been said and written about UMSU’s historic decision to strip Students Against Israel Apartheid (SAIA) of its student group status and ban it…