Wednesday-Night

The Questions Education Reformers Aren’t Asking
(Truthdig) The structural change that leads to the small school needs to be accompanied by a robust philosophy of education, a set of beliefs about ability, learning, knowledge and the purpose of education. As well, you’ll need a decent teaching force with opportunity built in for ongoing development. And what […]

(BBC) Afghanistan country profile
NYT Topics Afghanistan
Al Jazeera Afghanistan elections 2009
(RCI)The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, is describing Afghanistan as the world’s hardest place for children. UNICEF’s South Asia regional director, Daniel Toole, cites high child mortality rates, poor nutrition and rampant sexual abuse. More than one Afghan child in four dies before their […]

NYT Topics Health Care Reform ; A History of Overhauling Health Care - Nearly 100 years of legislative milestones and defeats ; HealthReform.gov ; A must read -  Making Health Care Better ; Multiple Sclerosis Info on the Web, on Twitter, on Facebook
We have arrived, I think, at a difficult point in human history. […]

Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. … We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former […]

See also Vice President (R) Sarah Palin
Tasha Kheiriddin: Letting the left claim the cerebral high ground
The Palin phenomenon builds on the same foundation as U.S. president George W. Bush: pro-America conservative Christian populism. Faith and gut instinct will show us the way, especially when dealing with radical Islam. Wishy-washy liberal intellectuals who would negotiate with […]

Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China ; Human Rights Watch ; Amnesty International
Kilgour and Matas Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
David Kilgour and David Matas, two Canadian human rights crusaders, have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for their work related to the investigation of organ harvesting crimes against Falun Gong […]

CBC News - Indepth: Canada-U.S. Relations
5 May 2003 … Relations between Canada and the U.S. are decidedly chilly these days. The Iraq war, trade disputes, name-calling, bickering at the border: …
13 February 2010
David Jones: Y(Our) man in Tehran
Ken Taylor’s espionage efforts during the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis only enhance his heroism, but they should have […]

Photos and videos

Kimon reintroduced a most welcome face from the past, Concordia Associate Professor (Communications Studies) Scot Gardiner, whom he had first known at Cornell when both were graduate students. Scot has taught, written books - as each of my courses evolves into a book, I become more obsolescent - , traveled the planet […]

Our Democracy is Broken: How do we fix it?
CPAC’s Peter Van Dusen moderates a head-to-head debate between Maclean’s Andrew Coyne and Paul Wells on the state of Canada’s democracy. Guest panelists … including former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, former prime minister’s chief of staff Eddie Goldenberg, author John Ralston Saul and conservative commentator Rick Anderson. […]

Like the rest of the world, when we woke to the news, we were astonished, and while we believe that the Nobel committee sought to encourage President Obama’s efforts, we would be more comfortable had they waited a couple of years. The award puts undue pressure on the President, whose commitment we do not question,  […]