Here’s some great Thanksgiving news from our neighbors to the north:

Canada has unveiled a C$5bn (US $4.3bn; £2.4bn) programme to fight poverty in native communities, at the end of an unprecedented two-day summit.
Prime Minister Paul Martin said gaps in wealth, health and education between aboriginal and other Canadians were “not acceptable in the 21st […]

It was of course foolishly short sighted of me to link only to America’s Second Harvest in my last post… and to assume only those with plenty could contribute.
At the Hunger Site a click a day sends food all over the world, at no cost to you.
And the Mercy Corps provides poverty relief around the […]

As I prepare to leave town for the holiday, I wanted to share a few quick thoughts. I’ll spare you posting Burrough’s “Thanksgiving Prayer,” as I’m sure many others will do today or tomorrow. I’ll also spare you a rant on the brutal rape the Native Americans suffered (and continue to suffer, as we […]

Here is an article in Wired by Bruce Sterling from January of 2004. Perhaps it will calm some peoples fears of a flu pandemic to remember a little disease called SARS:

If SARS had become pandemic, we’d be living in a deeply afflicted world now, a place where a kiss, a sneeze, or even a […]

English design students have an innovative quarintine solution: inflatable buildings.
Story on NPR (audio).
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Dozens of Democrats who used to support Republican bills are now voting ‘no.’
In a major shift aimed at the 2006 midterm elections, House Democrats are suddenly closing ranks on big votes, forcing an embattled Republican leadership to eke out victories, where they can, on their own.
Christian Science Monitor.
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Rookie Representative Jean Schmidt is trying to distance herself from her pathetic remarks last week:

Several Republicans who were on the House floor said afterward that Ms. Schmidt did not appear to know she was referring to a much-decorated veteran.
“The poor lady didn’t know Jack Murtha was a Marine - she really just ran into a […]

Michael Scanlon, a former partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to bribe public officials, a charge growing out of the government investigation of attempts to defraud Indian tribes and corrupt a member of Congress.
At the same time, it was disclosed that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay […]

Quake-stricken Pakistan heaved a sigh of relief on Sunday after world donors pledged almost $6 billion (3.5 billion pounds), and vowed in return to account for every cent as it distributes the aid to survivors of last month’s huge tremor.
Swiss Info.
(via Great News Network.
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U.S. public health officials say the rate of reported HIV cases among American minority groups has dropped significantly over the last four years. But they warn that the rate remains disproportionately high compared to whites.
The U.S. government disease-tracking agency, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), says the rate of newly reported HIV cases for American […]