Nunavut covers 1,932,255 sq km (746,048 sq mi) of land and 160,935 sq km (62,137 sq mi) of water in Northern Canada including part of the mainland, most of the Arctic Archipelago, and all of the islands in Hudson Bay, James Bay, and Ungava Bay which belonged to the Northwest Territories. This makes it the fifth largest sub-national entity (or administrative division) in the world. If Nunavut were a country, it would rank 15th in area.
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories in 1999 though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993. The creation of Nunavut – meaning "our land" in Inuktitut – resulted in the first major change to Canada's map since the incorporation of the new province of Newfoundland in 1949. Despite its huge size, the territory has a population of a mere 32,000.
]]>One of the fundamental principles of the United States Constitution is the separation of religion and the state - but Palin wants the Congress to seek "divine intervention".
And Americans criticise Iran for being a theocracy.
]]>In the "New York Times", Paul Grugman has this op-ed which explains rationally why an economy just out of recession needs a tolerable level of deficit.
]]>This was called the Treaty of Waitangi. Over the coming years, the Maori were disappointed with persistent encroachment upon their territory, and battles ensued. A New Zealand government eventually apologized for violations of the treaty, promising compensation. Today, Waitangi Day is considered New Zealand's founding day and is a national holiday.
The term Maori means "original people" or "local people." It was used to signify the local inhabitants of New Zealand, as opposed to the "Pakeha," the "new arrivals." When the European settlers came to the area, the word came to mean the Maori people.
]]>So I was really interested in this story which was drawn to my attention later today by another friend - in fact someone else who, like me, used to live in Manchester and now lives down south. You may at first think the story is not relevant to you: the subject is a young American who asks some quite challenging questions.
But I believe that we all can and should engage more with colleagues at work and people we meet in our everyday life. All it takes is a simple, open-ended question such as "How are you?" "How's your day day been so far?" "What's new?". But then we have to be prepared to really listen and genuinely empathise.
]]>It is called the Kaaba. Inside this enormous cube, the holiest object is the black stone. Nobody is sure what it is but it could be a meteorite. Equally shrouded in history is why the object is so venerated, especially since it precedes the foundation of Islam.
You'll find more explanation of the Kaaba and discussion of its meaning here.
Maybe Muslim readers would like to share what the Kaaba means to them.
]]>Three films have received eight or nine nominations each and I've seen each of them:
The winners will be announced on 7 March.]]>I met Mo Mowlam several times and loved her irreverence and eccentricity. The last time I saw her was on 26 January 2000 when I was part of a team from the Communication Workers Union meeting her in the Cabinet Office. The subject was e-citizenship and it was my job to make a PowerPoint presentation on behalf of the union.
She was amazing. First she was 45 minutes late. When she did arrive, she was warm and engaging but not exactly engaged. The conduct of the meeting was chaotic and she was constantly telling her civil servants to set up a meeting on various issues which arose.
I wrote in my diary: "Mo was very casual and enthusiastic but wanted lots of meetings and I suspect that she is the despair of conventional officials."
Of course, what none of us knew then was that she was suffering from a malignant and incurable tumour which almost certainly explains much of her erratic behaviour.
]]>I'm a big fan of stories. On my web site, you'll find 44 short motivational stories here and 18 of my own short stories here. Enjoy!
]]>I've seen the word rarely since - but I did come across it in an academic paper that a postgraduate friend of mine asked me to read recently. The context?: "The case of metaphor is only a particular case for a general theory of hermeneutics."
The word essentially means the study of a special set of texts, typically the Bible or some academic writings. More information here.
See if you can slip the word into your next conversation ...
]]>"Our politics suck now--looks like no health care reform. Premiums for private insurance went up an average 8.5% over the past year while premiums charged to retirees on our Medicare jumped more than 12%. Americans have difficulty "connecting the dots" and easily succumb to the fear and scare tactics from the right-wing conservatives doing the bidding of the private insurance companies who want no change.]]>
Think about it: The U.S.--the oldest constitutional democracy--is the only democracy in the world where a person can get the most votes for President and lose (Al Gore), and the majority party in the 100-member Senate needs 50 votes plus ten to pass any legislation. Strange."
Second hand cars purchased from independent retailers is the No 1 category and second hand cars purchased from franchise retailers is the No 7 category. Car repairs and servicing from independent garages comes in at No 6.
Problems with electronic equipment - televisions, telephones and computers - take other top categories.
Strangely the total number of calls to Consumer Direct fell by 4% last year. One might have expected the recession to have increased enquiries. Maybe the service needs to be better advertised.
]]>Besides the fact that the music has been used in a number of films that I've seen - such as "Rollerball" and "Gallipoli" - the piece has a special resonance for me. The composition was first published in 1958 and therefore was still quite new when I was first married in 1972. My first wife had an uncle who was an organist and played the music for our wedding ceremony. At his suggestion, my wife entered the chapel to the Adagio.
The fact that the piece was so moving and the subsequent discovery that it was not composed by the man we thought may have been signs. We were divorced in 1982.
When I remarried, it was in a registry office with no music. We are still happy and together 28 years later.
]]>Please read it and let me know what you think.
]]>When I was Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union (CWU), one of my international colleagues was Philip Jennings, General Secretary of Union Network International (UNI) to which the CWU is affiliated. This week, Philip was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The union leader said that, in the 1970s, US chief executives were paid 30 or 40 times the wage of the average worker, but by 2008 they took home 319 times more than the average American. He suggested that executive salaries should be capped at 20 times the pay of the average worker.
If applied to Britain – where the average wage is just over £25,000 a year – the 20 to 1 rule would mean no executive could earn more than £500,000 a year. The Prime Minister's current salary is £132,923 (ministerial entitlement), in addition to a salary of £64,766 as a Member of Parliament.
Further information on the speech and its coverage here.
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