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Unique, romantic and affordable, Portugal beckons

| June 1, 2011 | 0 Comments
Unique, romantic and affordable, Portugal beckons

One of the best reasons to visit Europe’s west coast is that Portugal offers some of the best value in Europe even in the midst of a challenging economy. My country is attracting visitors at a brisk pace not only because they get more for their money but mainly because they get a fresh and […]

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Envoy’s Album

| December 2, 2010 | 0 Comments
Envoy’s Album

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The Journey Of Pearl S. Buck

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
The Journey Of Pearl S. Buck

In 1938, Pearl S. Buck, the author of The Good Earth, became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. This simple statement, however, obscures what’s probably a more important one in terms of explaining her career. If you agree that T.S. Eliot, though born in the United States, was actually British, […]

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Lessons in leadership Lessons in leadership

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
Lessons in leadership Lessons in leadership

Large organizations are interested in identifying men and women with leadership abilities. They spend a lot of time and money hiring outside experts to deliver leadership training. Such training can range from one-hour inspirational sessions to off-site retreats lasting several days. The presiding leadership guru may have written a book, which is distributed to one […]

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Transparency International’s global report on corruption

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
Transparency International’s global report on corruption

Transparency International, based in Berlin, publishes a global index each year that measures government corruption. Here, along with its 2010 index, the organization warns that the economic crises of the moment have put even wealthy governments in danger of increased corruption. With governments committing huge sums to tackle the world’s most pressing problems, fromv the […]

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Things are looking up – a bit

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
Things are looking up – a bit

The UN General Assembly has designated 2011 as International Year of Forests. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), based in Rome, has conducted an assessment of the world’s forest resources every five years since 1946. Its most recent assessment, published in October, covers forests — or lack of forests — in 233 countries. Here, […]

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The oil sands: ‘The risks will endure’

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
The oil sands: ‘The risks will endure’

For more than 40 years, the Alberta oil sands mining industry has produced bitumen — a mixture of heavy hydrocarbons that can be upgraded and refined into petroleum products. With each barrel of product, the industry also produces more than 1.5 barrels of a persistent waste with the consistency of yogurt. Mature Fine Tailings (MFT), […]

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The all-important boreal forest

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
The all-important boreal forest

The number of birds breeding in North America’s boreal forest region is estimated at between 1.65 and 3 billion. Of these, landbirds are by far the most numerous, making up 97 percent of all birds breading there. The importance of the boreal forest region as a breeding ground for many bird groups is staggering. Estimates […]

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Danger in the Nursery

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
Danger in the Nursery

The Canadian boreal forest is one of the world’s most important breeding areas for migratory birds, with 1 billion to 3 billion individual birds from at least 300 species known to regularly breed there. Approximately 30 percent of all shorebirds (7 million) and 30 percent of all landbirds (1 billion to 3 billion) that breed […]

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Winning ground — and holding it — in Afghanistan

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments
Winning ground — and holding it — in Afghanistan

Canadian Forces’ Chief of Defence Staff, General Walter Natynczyk, grew up in Winnipeg and had jobs as a paperboy and burger flipper before joining the military in 1975 and rising through the ranks to the top job, which he did in 2008. For the past four years, he has skipped Christmas with his family — all […]

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