Thanks and More Thanks!


For many Canadians this time of year can be great fun! We get into the excitement of yummy turkey dinners with mashed potatoes, gravy and the best stuffing recipes only YOUR mom can make best. My mouth is watering just thinking about this Thanksgiving. It can also be easy to get so involved in the festivities that we forget what the holiday is really all about! BEING THANKFUL!!! Giving thanks for all of the creature comforts that we are blesed with and the numerous opportunities before us as humans in North America is a really great way to remember just how fortunate we really are. It helps us to look on the bright side of our daily lives and realize how significant our experience really is.

Canadian Thanksgiving is traditionally a time to be thankful for the years harvest and also has some historical ties to the early settlments of Canada as a time of year to give thanks for the land and for surviving the long journey it took to find it. Enjoying turkey dinners of course is relevant to that because the harvest is what brought our food to us. Nowadays there is even more to it as our food travels varying distances before coming to our plate and the plethora of food selection we have is so deliciously enormous!
So today, for all who are reading this, perhaps we can take the time to remember just how lucky we all are and not forget to count our blessings along with our helpings of YUMMY GOODNESS!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

*Artist Highlight*

Omran Suleman Bebo is a young artist from northern Iraq. His paintings reflect his local Yezidi culture (a little known religious sect highly oppressed by Saddam Husseins regime) and many of the transitions and challenges faced by Iraqis today.

As an art teacher, and previous fine arts student himself, he sees the importance of facilitating communication through creativity and encourages his students to express themselves through the medium of art.

You can view more of his original works here.

Turkey to Join EU?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in negotiations with EU foreign ministers for Turkey to become a member of the European Union. Entry talks have been in the works since December of 2004, however the Prime Minister must first be able to show that Turkey is ready for what reposibilities come with being a European country. Human rights issues are being addressed in Turkey and much progress is being made. Today the talks are set to begin and may take up to a decade or more before a descision is met.

Human Rights Watch said that freedom of expression, torture and ill-treatment, freedom of assembly and internal displacement are all areas where important initial progress has been achieved but where significant additional efforts are needed to demonstrate lasting positive change. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the deal also shows that there is no fundamental clash of civilisations between Christians and Muslims.

“On the contrary, if [Turkey] fulfils the same principles of human rights, then Muslims and Christians can work together.”

If the decision is met this could potentially be a very positive move for Turkey as a Country.