FEEL THE PLEASURE: Nonto Sihwa has her nipples pierced and needles inserted into her chest at a playpiercing workshop on Sunday. The workshop was one of the concluding events of the Queer É Action collective’s Radical Queer Week. PHOTO BY RACHEL GRANOFSKY

Quote of the week

“Accumulating sound bites during 10 years, that doesn’t make up a political position.” —Jean Charest, zinging Opposition leader Mario Dumont by attacking his apparent lack of substance, during a debate on Tuesday that could have resulted in the Liberal government collapsing.

CKUT at 20

Twenty years ago this month, the Montreal radio scene was blessed with the arrival of McGill University’s CKUT 90.3 to the FM dial, finally offering the city’s musically astute an opportunity to hear something other than Kansas or Diane Dufresne on local airwaves.

It had been a decade’s long battle for the campus radio station to acquire an FM licence, the CRTC historically being reticent to give up precious bandwidth to an English language broadcaster here in la belle province, but when they finally relented, ’twas indeed a day for local culture, music and political junkies to rejoice. And that rejoicing continues on Thursday, Nov. 15, as CKUT celebrates their anniversary with a big ol’ bash at la Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent) slated to get underway at 9 p.m.

“It should be a great time,” says CKUT media spokesperson Louise Burns. “The night is being hosted by CKUT DJs and there’ll be performances by Tashish, Andy Williams, the Microtone Kitchen, WeFunk vs. Tony Ezzy, not to mention a 20-piece birthday big band led by David Ryshpan & Sean Winters. And, of course, we’ll be serving birthday cake as well.”

Tix cost between $5 and $20, based on a sliding scale.

by Chris Barry

Women after Saddam

Dissident Iraqi feminist and political activist Haifa Zangana swings into town this week to take part in the University of Arizona’s Middle East Studies Association annual meeting. While here, she’ll be dropping by Paragraphe (2220 McGill College) on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 4 p.m. to promote her latest book, City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman’s Account of War and Resistance.

“It covers 100 years of women’s struggles and achievements, which have been almost crushed by the U.S. occupation,” Zangana says.

According to Zangana, the American-led invasion has been a disaster for Iraqi women, as their once secular society is increasingly ruled by religious conservatives. “We’ve seen major changes in the role of women,” she says. “It’s a country ruled by militias that work for sectarian, medieval parties that have no sense of women’s rights.”

As a Kurd and former political prisoner of the Iraqi Ba’ath party in the early 1970s, Zangana was no fan of Saddam Hussein, but she says things were better for women under his secular regime.

“Under Saddam, at least there were jobs for women,” she says. “Most women were employed in the public sector, so when Paul Bremer ordered the dismantling of the state, women were the first losers.”

by Christopher Hazou

Shopping takes on AIDS

Supporting a worthy cause and saving money. It’s the greatest combination since chocolate and peanut butter, and nobody does this happy marriage like the Farha Foundation, who will be presenting the 20th annual “Coeur de la Mode” on Sunday, Nov. 18 from 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. at the Palais des Congrès (1001 place Jean-Paul-Riopelle), $5 entry fee.

This unique event is a chance for fashion-lovers with big hearts to take part in the fight against AIDS while finding bargains on high-quality merchandise. For seven and a half hours, an entire floor of the Palais will be transformed into an agora of high-end manufacturers and retailers of designer clothing and apparel, including Miss Sixty & Energie, DKNY and Rudsak, selling their wares at discounts of 50–80 per cent off the regular price tag. Proceeds from the sales and all of the door money will go towards AIDS-related causes.

“AIDS affects all generations,” explains Linda Farha, vice-president of the foundation. “This event is an opportunity for people to contribute to the fight against AIDS and have a little fun shopping and saving money on current fashion items.”

For more info: www.aucoeur.ca.

by Steve Zylbergold

Stirrings against sex trafficking

When Jeremy Jackson first read about sex trafficking last summer, he couldn’t believe he’d heard so little about it. The McGill student decided to gather as much information and as many allies as possible to shed light on what the Council of Europe calls the “third largest illicit money-making venture in the world,” after weapons and drugs.

Jackson says the idea to get involved against sex trafficking started with his church group, but he’s also looking to student chapters of Amnesty International and OXFAM at Concordia and McGill to rally around the cause of sex trafficking and help organize activities to raise awareness. This week, the documentary Not for Sale will be screened, and in January, local hip hop group Nomadic Massive will play Justice Jam, a benefit concert to raise money for International Justice Mission (IJM), an organization that works to ensure “public justice systems work for the poor.”

“They influence the entire system,” Jackson says of IJM. “They advocate [on behalf of] people who aren’t protected by the law.”

Not for Sale will be screened at Java U (corner Sherbrooke and Union) on Nov. 16 at 9 p.m. Check www.justicejam.ca for more details.

by Tracey Lindeman

Rear-view mirror

11 YEARS AGO - NOV. 14–21, 1996

On the cover: The Chemical Brothers, who discuss the “amyl house” label stuck to their music. “It’s appalling,” says Tom Rowlands. “When we think of all the great, strong music made or named after other drugs—we get stuck with a shitty substance.”
• Terry Haig’s “Hit & Run” sports column debuts. Haig defends Habs coach Mario Tremblay, but notes “The players are too rich, too hip, too aware of past injustices to buy Tremblay’s line.”
• In Bruce La Bruce’s Hustler White, playing at the Image+Nation festival, an “amputee removes his prosthetic and fucks someone up the ass with his stump,” writes Matthew Hays. “One review said I needed psychiatric help,” La Bruce says. “I always take that as a compliment.”
• Johnson Cummins is unimpressed with the Carnival Diablo freak show. “Countess Vanessa attempted to shock the audience by eating bugs, but had me searching out the bar,” he writes. “Big deal! Vanessa, I can get the kids I baby-sit to do that for 10 more minutes of Pocahontas before bedtime.”

Angel >> Holidays Enjoy the day off on Monday?
Unless you’re a federal employee or a banker, or work for a federally registered corporation, you didn’t. This year, Remembrance Day became, for the first time, a statutory national holiday—recognized everywhere except, strangely, Ontario and Quebec (although federal employees and bankers did manage to take the day off here). Why this is the case remains unclear, but the fact that some people—people paid by tax dollars, and people who hold onto whatever dollars we have left—get to relax while the rest of us shuffle off for another dreary Monday at the office grates. But at least we can celebrate today, Thursday, Nov. 15, which is, of course, National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. Paaaarrr-tay!

Insect >> John Coleman The meteorologist and founder of the U.S. Weather Channel cable network came out this week in a blog calling global warming “the greatest scam in history.” Oh boy. He blames, apparently in all seriousness, the usual cabal of “dastardly scientists,” “environmental extremists, notable politicians among them” (looking at you, Al Gore!) and “movie, media and other liberal, environmental journalists to create this wild, ‘scientific’ scenario” (sadly, the Mirror, for one, has not been visited by or in touch with any of these luminaries, dastardly or otherwise). Although he claims that “hundreds of other meteorologists” support his view, most sane scientists promptly rebuked his battiness, and even his lasting legacy, the Weather Channel, distanced itself from his remarks.