Hamilton Spectator
Only responsible sexual conduct will make a dent in AIDS deaths, STDs
We're reading the papers in the heart of Africa and this is what we see: How a woman's derriere needs the right jeans. Photo included. A cartoon of a married fellow who'd rather give up drinking than sex on the side. And a story about boda-bodas — the motorcycle- taxis everyone here uses — and how ladies of the night like to proposition drivers while on board. One driver says he gets headaches if he refuses.
Read More I’m safer in Yemen
Yemen is an arms bazaar, but has far fewer firearms than the U.S., with its almost one gun per person.
Read More Living fat, dying poor
As obesity becomes an issue in developing nations, I ask you this: Will you go hungry with me?
Read More The perils of prayer
You don't want to raise a generation that cares about others, do you?
Read More We grow old when we stop laughing
The booby prize given by the U.K.-based Plain English Campaign for funniest remark last year by a public figure goes to U.S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Read More What is truth?
In the Middle East there s as big a debate over the media as there is here. Some back Al-Jazeera and some CNN. And some read independent papers.
Read More Ideas live on after the man
Call me a dreamer, but ever wonder how things would look if John F. Kennedy was involved in today's so-called war of civilizations?
Read More Why attack Big Mac?
Liberal democracies almost never fight each other. They'd rather have the good things.
Read More Learning Arabic 101
Iraq. Can it be saved? Six months after its liberation, Iraqis are still short on power, electrical and otherwise. The Yanks are still being greeted with grenades as much as with flowers and hugs. And how did those weapons of mass destruction disappear?
Read More Ugandans willing to face their problems
This country is one of contrasts. Red-dirt roads cross lush- green landscapes. People familiar with war smile easily and greet you genuinely. Beauty meets ugliness, plenty meets want, and life meets death here. Uganda may be, as Winston Churchill said, the Pearl of Africa. But, if so, it's a tarnished jewel.
Read More Somewhere between Hamilton and Sana’a
Today, Jean and I, with our bright-eyed bambino, Elizabeth, are on a jet plane flying back to Yemen. Our condo in Ancaster is again a speck that has disappeared over the horizon.
Read More Doctors Without Borders MD speaks on ethics
You don't need to be a flaming, bleeding-heart liberal or a limp- wristed lefty to see that it's a man's world when it comes to some basic privileges in life.
Read More A daughter of the world
(The Hamilton Spectator - Friday, June 20, 2003)
Nobody knew. Prior to the birth of our first child, two weeks ago today at St. Joseph’s Hospital here in Hamilton, Jean and I kept her name, Elizabeth top-secret from absolutely everyone.
“It’s from the Bible and it’s not Dorcas,” is all I would reveal, before adding, “If and when we have a boy, we have a biblical name for him too. And it’s not Nimrod.”
So imagine the confirmation we felt when, prior to our return to Canada for the delivery, some western friends in Yemen said good-bye to us by reading the biblical story of Elizabeth.
Read More