Policy DevCenter: Will Congress Ban Municipal WiFi?
Some of this is US-specific and much is happening in the US and elsewhere in terms of municipalities taking their destinies in their own hands.
At this point, it does seem clear that broadband access is almost as important as landline telephone access and postal service. Of course, broadband access may greatly benefit remote areas because telecommuting is possible for a number of people. In fact, this can apply, to a certain extent, to some parts of Africa. Broadband wireless (or wired) brings the local to the global.

Think Glocal!

[Yup! The term’s ugly but the concept’s neat.]

Policy DevCenter: Will Congress Ban Municipal WiFi?
Some of this is US-specific and much is happening in the US and elsewhere in terms of municipalities taking their destinies in their own hands.
At this point, it does seem clear that broadband access is almost as important as landline telephone access and postal service. Of course, broadband access may greatly benefit remote areas because telecommuting is possible for a number of people. In fact, this can apply, to a certain extent, to some parts of Africa. Broadband wireless (or wired) brings the local to the global.

Think Glocal!

[Yup! The term’s ugly but the concept’s neat.]

Pensionnats: les Autochtones exigent réparation
Un aspect relativement méconnu de l’histoire des rapports entre Autochtones et gouvernement. Ceux qui ont vécu cette période ont beaucoup à dire sur la question. Ce serait bien d’au moins les écouter.

OSM: Québec et Montréal invités à s’impliquer
En fait, c’est pas nouveau, les conflits à l’OSM. Dutoit lui-même a fait sa part d’ennemis à l’époque. La Guilde des musiciennes et musiciens du Québec a eu elle-même une histoire assez tumultueuse mais il est possible qu’elle soit maintenant plus à même de traiter ce genre de situation.

Les immigrantes francophones s’entraident au Nouveau-Brunswick
Assez vague comme article mais un principe intéressant. Dans plusieurs coins du monde, y compris plusieurs parties de l’Afrique, l’existence d’un système de support est primordiale. À Moncton, une grande partie des immigrants sont d’origines africaines, surtout parmi les étudiants de l’Université de Moncton.
Chose à noter, ces systèmes de support se bâtissent par les gens eux-mêmes en fonction de leurs besoins et de leurs méthodes. Un peu le principes des «tontines» à certains endroits.
Aussi intéressant de noter l’accent mis sur les femmes. Beaucoup d’Africaines savent vraiment se prendre en main.

Ahmadinejad says his government will adopt cultural look for administration – Irna
Erm… How do they define “culture” in this case? Is it a common thing in West Asia to think of “culture” in these terms? Or just in Iran? That could be very illuminating.

TheStar.com – Editorial: Urban gamesmanship
Usually, rivalries between cities are a Big Thing for the smaller one and a rather inconsequential one for the bigger one. Between Montreal and Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area being larger than Metropolitan Montreal, it seems to be the reverse, to a certain extent.
This example is as telling as the others:

Let us spell it out for you, Montreal: We want the Games and we would put on a great Olympic spectacle.

This follows a few comments by Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay that, given the success of the FINA games, putting Montreal’s candidacy for the 2016 Olympic Games might be worth a thought. Reaction from Toronto thus seems a bit strong for something that is much of a “pie in the sky” concept at this point.
One could say something similar about Ontario’s recent bid for the Shriner’s hospital. Or this article (also from the Toronto Star) trying to compare Toronto and Montreal.
This is not to say that there aren’t Montrealers who are envious of Toronto. But mainstream media in Montreal (at least in French) don’t seem to harp on the Mtl/TO rivalry so much. Or maybe it just depends on where you go for information.
On the other hand, the rivalry between Montreal and Quebec City seems to have taken a new style. Since hockey isn’t the stage for Quebec confrontations, most comments by Montrealers about Quebec City now have to do with the provincial capital being little diverse and rather intolerant. Apart from those occasions, discussions about Quebec City are quite rare in Montreal. On the other hand, some people in Quebec City seem to carry a grudge against Montreal which, they claim, dominates the scene too much. Not unusual a rivalry but certainly an asymmetric one, much like the one between, say, any big city in the Northeastern United States and New York City. William Labov had some interesting things to say about this.
Fascinating. Really.

Salon.com | Look in the mirror, Mr. President
Some people do cross the lines of partisan politics.

Are there national patterns of teaching?
People still talk about national culture? And how about patterns of learning?
Didn’t RTFA. It might be quite interesting but this description sounds rather simplistic.

Telegraph: Academic takes PhD in art of air guitar
The article itself is quite dismissive and there’s been an even more adverse reaction from a few academics elsewhere.
Isn’t it sad when a person’s research is evaluated without being read?
The topic itself is quite fascinating in terms of the sociology of music with connections with gendered perceptions of the body, gestural analysis, and musicking.
Let’s hope not everyone is so dismissive of the subject matter.