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The best of writing, photography, art, and argument – on everything from film to foreign policy.

“Ever dreamed of subscribing to a cultural magazine that doesn’t seem to be eating out of the hand of half a dozen media magnates? Something pluricultural and unassuming but nonetheless covering everything worth seeing, reading, doing or listening to for a season? Well, it exists, and in Canada to boot!”

“There is no on-line version or web site, which either makes John a dinosaur or a man of character. (I opt for the second, since the editorial team occasionally has a kind word for me.)”

John Howe — Canadian artist and co-conceptual designer on all three “The Lord of the Rings” motion pictures.

* Editor’s Note: The age of the dinosaurs has at last come to an end — with the arrival of this website!

‘Qui est Charlie?’ The Contagion of Terrorism

On January 19, 2015

In the aftermath of recent murderous events in Paris, one can only feel profound revulsion. What can possibly be in a human being’s mind to prompt him to take other lives with such casual, cold-blooded brutality? And how can anyone professing to be religious, commit such horrors […]

Fight the Future

On January 19, 2015

As they used to say in “The X Files,” fight the future, by signing this online petition to stop Canada Post’s addle-brained plan to end home mail delivery:

https://www.change.org/p/don-t-let-canada-post-end-door-to-door-delivery

The online petition was started by a concerned Canadian, Susan Dixon. To date, it has attracted over 210,000 signatures, to no apparent […]

Artsforum in the Eyes of Others

We happened to come across this nice assessment of Artsforum in the online magazine Offscreen:

Offscreen Notes: Artsforum Magazine — July 6, 2014

“Recently discovered this Canadian wide-ranging cultural issues online journal [Artsforum Magazine] which reminds me in its scope and literary bent of the excellent print magazine, The Believer Magazine, perhaps with a more […]

The Tin-Pot Pharaoh

On May 27, 2014

Egyptian democracy crushed under the boot of another military ‘strongman’

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same. Nowhere is that more true than in Egypt, which has fallen back into the rigid embrace […]

How the Shirtless Czar Became a Naked Aggressor and Cowed the West

On April 15, 2014

Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and the West’s weak response

Vladimir Putin doubtless indulges delusions of imperial grandeur, but the Shirtless Czar is nothing but a KGB thug. And his autocratic regime certainly knows how to act the part. Putin’s interference in neighboring Ukraine crossed the line into naked aggression and lawlessness […]

Postal Follies

On March 26, 2014

Canada Races to Enter the Ranks of the Third World

In December 2013, Canada Post shocked Canadians by abruptly announcing a perverse plan to end door-to-door delivery for the millions of people who still have it and to practically double the cost of domestic postage. Those destructive […]