Wednesday-Night

January 30, 2008
From Sheila in Ahmedabad India with grassroots women embroiderers
I’m deep into research into India, in Ahmedabad, actually, a city of about six million that is seen as a powerhouse of industrial activity. It is also the headquarters of SEWA, the Self Employed Women’s Association, an organization that has organized nearly a million […]

9 January 2008

Welcome back to all who have enjoyed protracted holidays in exotic, or not-so-exotic habitats! We have missed you and once again extend warmest greetings and good wishes for the coming year, as we look forward to many more enlightening evenings of quiet discussion and/or passionate debate.
There’s little doubt that the Iowa and […]

The amazing Oscar Petersen 15 August 1925 - 23 December 2007
is mourned around the world.
The last Wednesday Night of 2007 falls on Boxing Day - a frenetic commercial activity that is a horrid distortion of a medieval charitable custom. We believe that a return […]

December 17, 2007
CLIMATE CHANGE: Forward, Hopefully Past the Hurdles
Analysis by Ramesh Jaura
BONN, Dec 17 (IPS) - Despite scepticism about the ‘Bali roadmap’, the international community has come a long way in hammering out a truly global response to the serious threat posed by climate change.
But the global climate diplomacy is faced with several hurdles that […]

Oh the weather outside is frightful
And the news is not delightful
The pundits’ll trumpet our woes
While the country is clearing the snows.
Pierre Marc’s at the meeting in Bali
And there’s taekwondo in Cali
(We had to reach for that)
Chavez is wiping his tears
While Putin’s stoking all the world’s fears
At home, rates and loonies are […]

December 4 2007
Anyone in doubt about the pivotal position played by China and India at this month’s global climate change talks in Bali should glance through the latest forecasts from the International Energy Agency.
Assuming government policies remain unchanged, Chinese and Indian economic development would be the key drivers in sending annual global energy-related emissions of […]

November 11, 2007
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Last Tuesday, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican — the first audience ever by the head of the Catholic Church with a Saudi monarch. The Saudi king gave the pope two gifts: a golden sword studded with […]

Once again, we extend our best wishes to you for a happy, healthy, successful and altogether brilliant New Year.
As we embark on the annual voyage into the unknown of the next 12 months, it is normal to make predictions about almost anything, however, we were entertained by Henry Aubin’s column in the December 31 Gazette […]

2 November 2005
Hallowe’en is past, but witches, ghouls and ghosts are rampant in the news, howling that the world is a SCARY place.
Mixing our metaphors slightly, the four horsemen of the apocalypse continue to roam the globe; from avian flu to Zimbabwe’s failing economy where inflation has soared to an annual rate of 360% and […]

May 11, 2005
As so often happens, events (or the stars) are aligning to ensure an exciting Wednesday Night this week. With the Tories claiming the Liberal minority government could fall as early as Tuesday after the Speaker of the House ruled that a motion calling on the government to resign is in order, the visit […]