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A TV SERIES REVIEW

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THE BORGIAS  Originally Aired On: Bravo!, Showtime Series Length: 3 seasons, 29 episodes Set during the turn of the 16th century, The Borgias follow the rise and fall of the notorious, Rodrigo Borgia, and his family, whose very name became a byword for depravity, nepotism, and corruption.  The series begins in 1492, immediately following the death of Pope Innocent VIII, and sees Cardinal Borgia...

TV L Rev

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A bi-weekly roundup of legal television Week of 28 September 2015 – 1 October 2015 Welcome to TV L Rev, a bi-weekly review column of scripted legal television shows currently airing. Lawyers and shows about them are an enduring staple of television content. Spanning genres from serious dramas to comedies, there is always a legal show somewhere on television. There appears to be something...

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

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A Netflix Guide to Shaking an Early Fall Cold  With the chilly weather and the beginning of cold and flu season upon us, many of us are hunkering down, spending more time indoors and doing what some of us do best – “Netflix and chill”. Like my colleagues who have reviewed television in other excellent articles within this issue, I too have decided to write about what is on our favourite streaming...

Ushering in the Sustainable Development Goals

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How Important is Health? On September 25, the United Nations affirmed the Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”), a fifteen-year plan to end poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. Officially titled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and set to come into effect on 1 January 2016, the SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (“MDGs”) that expire...

Enforcing International Climate Debt

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Feasible or Impossible? During the past decade there have been significant developments in the field of international environmental law due to the factual understanding that environmental issues transcend national borders and legal systems. However, the scientific uncertainty about the long‐term effects of international environmental risks often allows nations to justify postponing compliance...

Canada and Refugee Rights

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Where do we actually stand on this issue? Canada likes to pride itself for being progressive on refugee issues, but is it really as kind and open to refugees as we would like to believe? The saddening story of Alan Kurdi has raised some doubts about Canada’s self-image. Tima Kurdi had attempted to sponsor her brother Mohammed and his family to come to Canada, but did not have enough money to...

Introducing the Access to Justice Research Network

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The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) is a national non-profit organization that is dedicated to access to justice research and advocacy. The CFCJ was founded in 1998 and moved to Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in 2011. Earlier this year the CFCJ launched the Access to Justice Research Network (AJRN), an interactive online platform that invites the discussion and dissemination of...

Anishinaabe Law Camp 2015

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The Stories Behind Law From 10 September to 13 September, approximately forty students and faculty members from Osgoode Hall Law School traveled to Neyaashiinigmiing (Cape Croker), about four hours north of Toronto. Professor Andrée Boiselle worked with John Borrows, his daughter Lindsay Borrows, and their community, the Chippewas of Nawash, to organize the camp and welcome us to...

The New Old City Hall Mall

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Will an iconic piece of Toronto architecture turn into a shopping centre? Last year in Professor Berger’s criminal law class, a few friends and I went down to Old City Hall for the afternoon to watch bail court for an assignment. A few of us had never entered the building before, so we were pretty excited to see what it looked like, and since the facade of the Old City Hall is pretty remarkable...

Russia Further Complicates War in Syria

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As many people have already heard, Russia has joined the war in Syria, where Russian warplanes have carried out airstrikes on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad. This recent addition to the four year civil war in Syria has added new elements, which continue to further the suffering for many civilians. Russia claimed that they are targeting the Islamic State (IS) and “other terrorists” when on...

CIBC Run for the Cure 2015

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Osgoode Women’s Network raises $3,760 “OWN Ran for the Cure and raised $3,760!  The OWN Executive would like to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in some way, shape or form with this year’s CIBC Run for the Cure 2015.  As a student club at Osgoode, we were able to raise $3,760, which surpasses last year’s fundraising efforts by over $1,000! $317 was raised from the...

Volkswagen’s Emissions Scandal

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In what’s shaping up to be the biggest auto industry shake-up of the decade, Volkswagen’s (VW) emissions scandal has—by this point —obliterated over 30 billion USD of the company’s shares, and forced CEO Martin Winterkorn to resign. In late September, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that VW cars being sold in the US were rigged with stealth software that allowed the cars to...

Public vs Private

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The Ethics of Regulating Robot Sex The summer of 2015 has been a monumental season for robots. Just this July, a robotics company called Softbank released a humanoid robot that it claims is able to sense users’ emotions. Even more impressive, scientists at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York developed a robot that broke new ground in demonstrating self-awareness. The robot’s...

From Niqabs to Tom Brady

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A look at this month’s most pointless appeals In less than twenty-four hours, appeals were announced in two cases that made massive headlines both in Canada and the US. After the Federal Court of Appeal held that the ban against wearing niqabs during citizenship ceremonies is unlawful, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration announced on 18 September 2015 that they would appeal this decision...

Of Mice and Pen

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For at least as long as The Paper Chase has been an element of our popular imagination, it seems there have been two dominant features of the first year law school curriculum: the case book and the Socratic method. Does this signature pedagogical approach really teach first years to “think like a lawyer?” Or is it an ineffective and antiquated form of teaching? Might it even be, as critics...

Which Edition of the Toronto Blue Jays Is Better?

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A Comparison of the 2015 Team with its 1992 Predecessor Part Two: Examining the Outfield Earlier in Part One, I compared the make-up of the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays infield with its 1992 counterpart and concluded that the former is stronger than the latter. Here in Part Two, I will look into the two teams’ outfield composition. Left Field: Ben Revere (2015) versus Candy Maldonado (1992)...

Resolving the Starving Artist Cliché

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Part One: The Artist Resale Right Over the next year, I have decided to pen a series of articles on a topic that remains very near and dear to me—artist rights and advocacy for visual artists. During my time at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London a few years ago, I authored Resolving the Starving Artist Cliché —a guide on implementing international schemes into Canada to assist access to justice...

The Aptly-Titled “Football Preview”

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What are the ingredients for an unenviable offseason? Well, start off with a “teaspoon” of a workplace investigation, followed by a report that implicates you in scandalous behaviour. Then, the Commissioner of the (National Football League) NFL drops a “pinch” of sanctions on the Patriots, with Tom Brady emerging scathed as the only suspended player on the team. How about a “scoop” of Ben...

A Concert Review: The Tallest Man on Earth

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Live at Massey Hall, 4 September 2015 The Tallest Man on Earth is the moniker of Swedish folk-singer Kristian Matsson. Contrary to what his stage name suggests, Matsson is no bigger than your average horse jockey. His voice, however, is larger than life and is an integral part of his music. It bolts out the speaker like a horse from the turnstile at the start of a race. Matsson is touring this...

A Community in Canada for Refugees

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Learning from the Interim Federal Health Program Canada is currently witnessing a revitalized interest in the plight of refugees, starting in early September when the tragic photos of the Kurdi family’s attempt to escape Syria were widely published in the news and shared on social media. Since then, a large number of different non-government organizations, activist groups, and public...

The Gates are Open

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Supreme Court Rules Ecuadorean Plaintiffs Allowed to Pursue Enforcement of Judgment Against Chevron In Yaiguaje v. Chevron Corporation, the plaintiffs, representing about 30,000 Ecuadorean villagers, seek damages from the defendant for injuries resulting from environmental pollution. They originally filed their claim in New York federal court in 1993, believing Ecuadorian courts to be ill...

The Definitive Ranking of the Deans of Osgoode

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From Arthurs to Wright, where will your favourite Osgoode dean rank? “Look to your left, look to your right…”: the classic go-to of any law dean’s welcome address to the incoming students. Historically the saying would end, “one of you won’t be here by the end of the year,” an attempt to underline the cutthroat, competitive nature of law school. That said, deans have adapted and varied the...

Women and Feminists

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On 5 September 2015, news broke of threats directed against “women and feminists” at the University of Toronto. It was right before the weekend, and on the weekends, I do my studying at UofT. My thought process was as follows: should I risk my personal safety when I can simply study elsewhere? My poor mother! If I go to Robarts, there are lots of good hiding places and several exits, so I have a...

Climate Change Litigation in Canada

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Probable or not, possible or not, the mere possibility is something powerful In the worlds of environmentalism, environmental law, and particularly climate change advocacy, Roger Cox is currently quite the celebrity. This past June, he won a suit brought by environmental NGO Urgenda and 886 Dutch citizens against the Dutch government. To oversimplify, the plaintiffs successfully argued the Dutch...

What It Really Comes Down To

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Children’s Rights in Ghana This article was published as part of the Osgoode chapter of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) media series, which aims to promote an awareness of international human rights issues. To get involved, visit CLAIHR at  It is no secret that the ideals law strives to achieve and what occurs in reality are often vastly different. International law, and...

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