This Christmas, it’s worth putting the troubles of our time into context; two centuries of continuous improvement in human welfare and better environmental custodianship.
Year: 2010
What I Learned at the Education Barricades
“Over the past eight years, I’ve been privileged to serve as chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the nation’s largest school district. Along the way, I’ve learned some important lessons about what works in public education, what doesn’t, and what (and who) are the biggest obstacles to the transformative changes we still need.”
A Wind Power Boonedoggle: T. Boone Pickens badly misjudged the supply and price of natural gas…
After 30 months, countless TV appearances, and $80 million spent on an extravagant PR campaign, T. Boone Pickens has finally admitted the obvious: The wind energy business isn’t a very good one.
Hype Versus Reality on Climate Change: Long-term perspectives support natural, cyclical variation – not manmade disasters
Astrophysicist Willie Soon and his colleague Selvaraj Kandasamy have written an excellent column that pulls the rug further out from under the climate crisis alarmists. While its main focus is on India, the article offers two important lessons for the United States and Canada.
Featured News
There’s Nothing Fair About Canadian Health Care
For the past 14 years, Vancouver surgeon Dr. Brian Day has led the charge for health-care reform, pushing for the right of patients to pay for private care if their health and well-being are threatened as a result of waiting in a stagnant and overburdened public...
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
The path to net zero, based on the much disputed belief that carbon dioxide is a pollution, is more steep and impractical than most people realize. Replacing fossil fuels with clean electricity will require much more power generation and a greatly upgraded grid to...
Remedial Education: ‘Edu-babble’ and ‘child-centred learning’ are what ail schools, teacher says
The most significant hurdle facing students, Mr. Zwaagstra argues, is a pervasive anti-knowledge bias that resists the teaching of specific, common content. The “child-centred learning” philosophy expects teachers to tailor instruction to the individual needs of each student while making the experience “fun,” instead of teaching facts–the building blocks he believes should be in place before higher-level concepts can be taught.
Ontario Leads and Alberta Lags on Healthcare: But All Provinces Have Much to Learn from Europe
Ontario and British Columbia have the shortest wait times for care in Canada- but even the top Canadian provinces have much to learn from Europe’s superior healthcare models.
Emerging From the Shadow: Canada’s strong economic performance has given it a long-sought place in the global spotlight. Now the question it faces: what to do with its new power..
Canada’s strong economic performance has given it a long-sought place in the global spotlight. Now the question it faces: what to do with its new power.
UNICEF’s Guilt Trip: Putting Canada at the bottom of the list for housing poor children is absurd
Putting Canada at the bottom of the list for housing poor children is absurd. As with all statistical arguments, understanding the UNICEF report requires a careful eye and a healthy dose of skepticism. The study focuses on relative differences; that is, the gap between children in the middle of the income distribution and the average below that line. Exclusively relying on relative indicators is a highly contentious, and generally misleading, way to examine poverty. The UNICEF report is no exception.
Kevin Libin: Why a backward approach makes city taxes go higher
Municipal tax hikes happen all the time. In most cities, denizens have come to accept them as an annual tradition, as arduous and inevitable as Lent or Yom Kippur. Still the question is: why do we accept them so apathetically? Canadians give no other level of government such easy licence.
National Post editorial board: Local politics matter
Where mayors and councilors have taken it upon themselves to improve citizens’ access to timely, reliable budget information, improvements in local-government services has followed.
Why Do Greens Hate and Fear Abundant Energy?
“Instead of producing more of the cheap, abundant energy that fueled America’s dynamic growth, the extremists who support and surround Obama dream of drastically cutting American consumption.”
Do You Believe in Magic … Climate Numbers?: Should temperatures pulled out of a hat be the basis for energy and economic policies?
Should temperatures pulled out of a hat be the basis for energy and economic policies?
Real Brain-Based Learning: Traditional teaching methods are supported by the evidence
The evidence from cognitive psychology clearly backs up the claim that providing a solid knowledge base to students is an essential part of a quality education.