Opinion pitches oct 24

Big Spooky Pitches OWO

October 24, 2018

IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME

What's popping, everyone? We're almost done October, which really freaks me out. Time has been flying by this year (I'm gonna hope that it's cause I'm having fun, but who knows?)If you don't already know, Gateway to Halloween, The Gateway's Halloween extravaganza, is happening at Dewey's on Saturday, October 27th starting at 8pm! There's gonna be free pool to be played, a costume contest with a prize of $150 to the bookstore, and loads of fun! It's open to everyone, volunteers and non-volunteers alike, so please come, bring a few friends, and get spooky! I'm 100% going to be there, so I hope to see a ton of you come out! Beyond that, we have our weekly pitches! As always, the deadline for these pitches is Friday at 5pm! Email me if you wanna snag one of these!

Alberta tourist charged with graffiti vandalism terrified of Thai prison

While she's currently out on bail, the woman faces a $40,000 fine and about 10 years of jail time for

on an ancient, very historically significant brick wall in Thailand.

10 years for graffiti? Even if something like this happened in Canada, I don't think sentences would come even close to a tenth of how severe this one is...

Trump urges rally attendees to call him a "nationalist"

Trump, stating that "we’re not supposed to use that word," did indeed call himself a nationalist, opposing it to the position of a "globalist." This was very concerning to many people, as they see a link between ardent nationalism and facism, but a lot of Trump's policies up until now have been very "America-first." Should there be such concern over this??

Chinese streamer jailed for singing national anthem poorly

. There's a law in China that says you cannot disrespect the anthem (either through poor singing, parody, satire, etc.), else you face jail time. This is a great jumping-off point for discussing why nationalism and patriotism are such sticking points in China and other socieites (ie. mirrioirng China vs. the US or another Western country), or China's increasing authoritarianism.

Cannabis customers floored by the amount of plastic packing on their pot

Yeah, apparently the

on legal cannabis is super ridiculous. One person said there was 70g of packaging for 1g of cannabis. Why so much packaging? Is it worth making a stink over?

Derek Fildebrandt acclaimed as Freedom Conservative Party leader

Derek Fildebrant, a former Wildrose, UCP, and most recently independent MLA has officially been elected the

of the Freedom Conservative Party, a party for "conservatives, libertarians and Alberta patriots" as said by Fildebrant himself. Does this party have a chance to gain some votes in the upcoming election?