Articles 2011

Three Cups Of Tea By Mortenson and Relin [Penquin Books, 2007]A review by John de Waal   I just finished reading this book and I recommend it. It is the true story of Greg Mortenson, an American mountain climber who, before 9/11 and after an unsuccessful attempt to summit K2 in the Karakoram, Pakistan, lost […]

Niños de Chapala y Ajijic By John Bingham Munroe Boy Gets Second Chance at an Education and a Better Life   At 13, Sergio is a bright, lively, friendly boy, joyful in the day, small for his age. Five and a half years ago, he had to drop out of school after the second grade.

LIMITATIONS ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH: A Canadian PerspectiveBy Roderick MacDonald   Watching CNN of late, it’s hard for a Canadian to get caught up in the hoopla about the recent US midterm election. Nearly everything else of interest was eclipsed by exhaustive (if not exhausting) reports on polls, probabilities and proclivities of various candidates, but

MY STORY By MAX BIRD Translated by Janice Kimball   My siblings and I were kept comfortable and well fed in the dark chicken coop awaiting our fate. In there with us were a Toucan, a group of twittering Canaries, some haughty hook bills splashed with brilliant markings, and oddly enough, an Iguana. Occasionally the

COLLOQUIUM By Roberto Moulun, M.D. A Strange Event in Saipan   It was sweltering hot that Thursday, noon, in Saipan, when Rose Marie bent her head over her folded arms. We thought she had fainted, but she had died.   But let me first explain. We, the Hawaii Chapter of the American Red Cross, had

A Classic Case Of Twisted Priorities   One day an Irishman, who had been stranded on a deserted island for over 10 years, saw a speck on the horizon.He thought to himself, “It’s certainly not a ship.” As the speck got closer and closer, he began to rule out even the possibilities of a small

THE OTHER 9/11 By Kenneth G. Crosby   To Americans, 9/11 means September 11, 2001, the day on which terrorists crashed two hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon, with the fourth, aiming for the White House, crashing to the ground in Pennsylvania due to heroic intervention by its passengers

AGONY and ECSTASY By Mark Sconce   O Writers, O you chosen ones!  And Poetasters on the run, As I describe your agony And then perhaps your ecstasy. Come closer now, sit next to me.   You agonize, as is your wont. You wonder why your face is gaunt. You question why your soul lies

Wordwise With Pithy Wit By Tom Clarkson   This morning, my pal F.T. – who shared the Iraq experience with me during my third trek there – forwarded some James Thurber quotes. They gave me pause to relish the deep and sometimes droll mentality of this great man who “set the standard for sophisticated humor

“Go Stick It In Your Ear” By Peter E. Gibbons   Those of us who have been married, or had a partner for more than a month or two, know that we experience periods of silence; sometimes welcome! As the years pass by, a kind of metamorphosis transpires. The silence is replaced by whispering, or