By Jason Menard
For a city that’s trying to brand itself as the City of Champions, showing clear favoritism and treating an actual champion as the ugly red-headed stepchild is hardly winning behaviour.
The City of London recently decided to try branding itself as the City of Champions to coincide with an expected Memorial Cup victory. It sounds nice to say, but if you listen closely you’ll hear an echo as the name is totally hollow. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
Warning: reading this column may turn you gay.
While I believe strongly in the power of the written word, my conviction is obviously not as strong as others. After all, there are those who are legitimately concerned the mere depiction of a gay character in a comic book has the power to overwhelm the heterosexual tendencies of a whole generation of readers.
It’s an epidemic, actually. The mere presence of openly gay characters in print and on film threatens to destroy the fabric of society! Why, we’re not even safe in our own living rooms as homosexuals have infiltrated the sanctity of our homes through their presence on TV! Continue reading
By Jason Menard
There are certain powder keg topics that are guaranteed to blow up no matter how small the spark is – and the only thing that gets destroyed in these explosions is our understanding of the word tolerance.
Issues surrounding real and perceived racism, misogyny, and homophobia are the unholy trinity of irrational response. And those who are quickest off the mark to point out intolerance are often guilty of the same behaviour they claim to abhor. Case in point: the response to boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao’s comment saying he opposed U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent expression of support for gay marriage. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
As we enter the sentencing (and, likely, the appeals) phase of the Tori Stafford murder trial, the flames of passion sparked by our collective disgust at the crime have ignited the debate over capital punishment in this country.
There are Facebook pages gathering supporters for the now-convicted murderer to be given the death penalty. Others who have previously never entertained the concept now question whether some people are just beyond any sort of rehabilitation. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
It was a night of tears in London, Ontario.
There were tears of joy, of course, as the London Knights claimed the Ontario Hockey League title and earned a berth in the Memorial Cup. But, more poignantly, there were tears of sorrow as just across Dundas Street a jury convicted a man of the murder of Victoria Stafford. Continue reading
