I remember the exact moment when I realized I was edging into the senior ranks. It was in 1992 and I was explaining to a younger friend how things had been when I was a boy. All of a sudden there was a little voice in my head saying, “Wait a minute! What’s going on … Continue reading Reflections on turning 75
education
Prejudice + Poverty ≠ Hopelessness
Some years ago I read an article in Ebony magazine written by a man who had grown up in one of the worst black tenement ghettos in Chicago.Drug dealing, crime and violence were the everyday reality and the police felt the area was too dangerous to send in individual officers to patrol. Like almost all … Continue reading Prejudice + Poverty ≠ Hopelessness
Does the U.S. Postal Service know where Canada is?
Years ago, when I worked for Canada Post in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, I was instructed that the regulations of the Universal Postal Union required that mail to another country had to be sent to that country by the most direct route possible. Thus, if we received mail addressed to Boston we were not to send … Continue reading Does the U.S. Postal Service know where Canada is?
Josiah Henson learns to read
It so happened that one of my Maryland friends arrived in this neighbourhood, and hearing of my being here, inquired if I ever preached now. I had said nothing myself, and had not intended to say any thing, of my having ever officiated in that way. I went to meeting with others, when I had … Continue reading Josiah Henson learns to read
Why learn French?
The World Almanac says that there are only 70 million French-speaking people in the world. That's not very significant, why should I bother learning it? Not so fast! If you look closely, the World Almanac is giving the estimated number of people for whom French is their mother tongue (even at that it is questionable, … Continue reading Why learn French?
The evidence is clear – and it’s being willfully ignored
Why parents still matter
Here is one paragraph from an article that appeared in the Autumn 2014 issue of City Journal. The writer is Kay S. Hymowitz and the subtitle states : Families shape their children’s prospects more profoundly than anything government can do. Universal preschool is by far the most popular idea for easing poor children’s early disadvantages. The … Continue reading Why parents still matter
Universal public confusion
If an educated electorate is the best defence against arbitrary government, the survival of political freedom appears uncertain at best. Large numbers of Americans now believe that the Constitution sanctions arbitrary executive power, and recent political history, with its steady growth of presidential power, can only have reinforced such an assumption. What happened to the … Continue reading Universal public confusion
Learning the wrong lesson
Nelson was born with the umbilical cord around his neck, causing oxygen starvation to his brain. He was slower in learning during the early years of childhood and his parents were encouraged to place him in a school for children with special needs. The parents were disappointed with the results, or rather the lack of … Continue reading Learning the wrong lesson
Don’t tell your Mom
The teacher told her class: “Your parents probably won’t understand what we’ve been talking about, so it would be better if you didn’t tell them about it.” One of the students in that class was the teenaged daughter of a co-worker. I could tell that her Mom was not impressed when she talked about it … Continue reading Don’t tell your Mom
Flatlander Faith 