"Why El Salvador?", the surprisingly friendly U.S. immigration officer at Vancouver's airport asked us. "The chance to not get murdered, their homicide rate is down 98 percent!", I replied. Actually, we had been interested in it in theory since a spectacular brief high above fly-over of some of its volcanoes on departing Nicaragua in 2015.

This past January, right around the time when Canada’s tobacco settlement was being finalized, our country held its sadly necessary 49th annual aspirationally-named National Non-Smoking Week. Back in 1964, when the US Surgeon General, Luther Terry, released his report making crystal-clear the immense dangers of smoking, his intent was that the findings would lead to the end of the tobacco industry.

Conquering the Lands of the Conquerors   https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuvan/albums/72177720329870633/with/54873588178 In the year 1066, William could not even have conceived of it. In the early 1800s, Napoleon would have thought it impossible. But then, neither of them lived in the 21st century. We have just finished circumnavigating the globe in sixty-eight days, highlighted by visits to both of their homelands, with Normandy, Brittany, and Corsica being our principal des

flickr photo link We have just finished an expectation-exceeding week in the Maldives, as our side trip from a two-month post-retirement relaxed stay in Penang. The Islamic Republic of the Maldives, southwest of Sri Lanka, consists of 1,196 islands—most uninhabited—comprising 26 island groups (atolls) spanning a north-south orientation of just under 1,000 km, but with a total landmass of only 298 km² (Asia's lowest). The islands, all less than 8 km long, are made from coral

He was tall and stylish. Eloquent and cultured. Clearly skilled at what he does. What a waste of human potential. But then this was Senegal. Dakar in 2005 to be specific. His name was Mohammed, and he was educated in France, or at least that is what he told us. It was morning time, and we had been out wandering for several minutes, looking for a place to eat breakfast, maybe something traditional.

In the aftermath of our recent election, referendums for possible provincial separatism are back in the news, this time led by Alberta. Having grown up as an anglophone in Montreal, I'm quite familiar with the tremendous stress and uncertainty that these cause. While I agree that the option for referendums are an essential component of modern democracy, I think the default rule of fifty percent plus one vote being enough to succeed to be nothing short of ridiculous. As far as