Hamilton Spectator Archives – Page 46 of 47

We should emulate the Yemeni Way

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / January 6, 2003 / 2003, American missionaries slain, development in Yemen, global work patterns, Jibla murders, satire, terrorism, Yemen’s culture / 4 minutes of reading

SANA’A, YEMEN ✦ The Yanks. We love ’em. We hate ’em.

Indeed, Jean and I are still recovering from the news of the brutal slaying of threeU.S.aid workers, including a doctor friend, at Jibla missionary hospital.

The killer, apparently an Islamic extremist, reportedly said he killed “to get closer to God.” Right.

And who better to kill than American Christians? It’s killing two birds, innocent as they may be, with one stone.

Indeed,U.S.foreign policy really has folks in a huff these days. In fact, many of us would bend over backward to disassociate ourselves from the Yanks. No?

We should emulate the Yemeni Way Read More »

Yemen terror falls close to home

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / December 31, 2002 / 2002 / 6 minutes of reading

When you’re a humanitarian aid worker in a place like Yemen, the thought of being killed for no good reason is always there. When you talk with colleagues about security threats, sometimes you joke about the false impressions people back home in western countries tend to have about life in the Middle East.

Yemen terror falls close to home Read More »

Santa: help us all find some horse sense

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / December 20, 2002 / 2002, Christmas, global disparities, Gulliver’s Travels, horse sense, humour, letter to Santa, Santa Claus, satire, suffering, thankfulness / 4 minutes of reading

Dear Santa: Thanks for last year’s gift, the Gulliver’s Travels book. I enjoyed the Houyhnhnms, those horse-like characters. So bright. So noble. And those savage Yahoos. So dim. So lost. Poor Gulliver couldn’t see himself in them. But Gulliver really was a traveller. Like you Santa. That’s why I’m writing. Distribution problems down here are getting worse.

Santa: help us all find some horse sense Read More »

Kidnapping is a cultural event

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / October 26, 2002 / 2002, humour, satire, Yemen’s culture, Yemen’s kidnappings, Yemen’s tourism / 4 minutes of reading

Jean is back in Hamilton to put final touches on McMaster University’s Nov. 8 symposium on international women’s health. My wife has left me to fend for myself. But rather than take on our kitchen stove, I’ve decided it’s better to get kidnapped.

Kidnapping is a cultural event Read More »

Get back, Osama, to where you ‘haunt’

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / October 17, 2002 / 2002, humour, letter to Osama bin Laden, Osama bin Laden, satire, Yemen’s culture / 4 minutes of reading

Dear Osama: We’ve been back several weeks now and Jean and I are settling nicely in this ancient land of your ancestry. But we’re still not sure where the old bin Laden family homestead is. And where, Osama, are you? Somewhere warm?

Get back, Osama, to where you ‘haunt’ Read More »

Hamilton doctor battles deaths during childbirth

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / October 5, 2002 / 2002, 9-11, 911, Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese, East-West relations, global terrorism, maternal mortality, Save the Mothers, Sept. 11, Where Have All The Mothers Gone? / 4 minutes of reading

Folks who lined up to throw pies at the prime minister for his candid suggestion that 9/11 was linked with growing global disparities and Western greed may want to stop reading this. The rest of you may meet my wife, Jean, a woman I thank God for every day.

Hamilton doctor battles deaths during childbirth Read More »

The world is becoming more of a neighbourhood

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / September 30, 2002 / 2002, Arab culture, East-West relations, Froese biography, Middle East culture, risk, Yemen’s culture / 4 minutes of reading

It’s daybreak and we’re again travelling the dusty roads of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital. After two days of travel, Jean and I are nearing home, a ground-level apartment on a street with no name. Thank you U-2.

The world is becoming more of a neighbourhood Read More »

Cheeky Yemen is king of Qat stimulant use

Leave a Comment / Hamilton Spectator, Newspaper columns / June 8, 2002 / 2002, global tobacco fatalities, global tobacco sales, humour, khat, qat, qat in Yemen, satire, Yemen’s culture / 4 minutes of reading

So the poor Tories, $5 billion in the red, say they might clobber Ontario’s smokers with higher taxes to bankroll new spending. An ex- smoker, I can relate to the pain. Too bad there’s not another easy target. Like qat.

Cheeky Yemen is king of Qat stimulant use Read More »