By David Climenhaga

“The lights are going out all over America,” wrote Paul Krugman, the Nobel laureate in economics and New York Times columnist, earlier this month. Continue Reading

Troy Media – By Lauryn Oates

The security alerts, planning memos and latest news had arrived overnight from colleagues in Kabul, those working in the Afghan women’s movement and their ex-pat supporters. I started to sift through the pile and then stopped, frozen. Continue Reading

By David Climenhaga 

Don’t expect a study released Sunday that shows water in the Athabasca River is being polluted by tar sands oil-extraction operations to change the way the Alberta government does anything. Continue Reading

By Barb Gustafson 

Summer is almost over, such as it was, with all the rain and cool weather. It was almost as if it never happened and now we’re back to school, back to work, back to the regular schedule. Continue Reading

By Norman Leach

It is appropriate, based on the close relationship between Canada and the US, that the phrase “lies, damned lies, and statistics” was first uttered by a British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, but made famous by the American writer Mark Twain. Continue Reading

By Dale Wallace

Present day students have many needs, and one of those needs is to have a rich and broad education. Some educators believe that a rich broad education is to teach children general knowledge, help them develop skills, and instill society’s values. Even a past Dean of Education for the University of Calgary wrote that the main purpose of education is to pass on the predominate culture to the students. Continue Reading

By Michael Zwaagstra

Most people agree that public schools play an important role in society. For example, virtually everyone agrees that students should become good citizens and have the necessary skills to succeed in the world. Continue Reading

By Markham Hislop, editor 

School begins today for many Calgary students and that puts education policy back on our intellectual and political radar.  The Beacon is pleased to introduce a new series of education columns by writers who have appeared frequently in these pages over the past year, Dale Wallace and Michael Zwaagstra.  It is called Educational Crossfire. Continue Reading

By David Climenhaga 

Plenty of troubling facts have emerged in the media about the bankruptcy of Networc Health Inc., the private Calgary surgical clinic that Wildrose Alliance Leader Danielle Smith says Alberta taxpayers should bail out and keep operating. Continue Reading

Troy Media – By Mark Milke

It’s rare that trial balloons floated in the middle of a different time (say, back when Alberta was booming) are revisited. But Alberta’s approach to the rental market during that time provides a few lessons – some good, some poor – on getting to cheaper rents. Continue Reading