Electronic Village

I give credit Fox News for the fair and balanced manner in which they analyze this case of a Polish man electrocuted at a Canadian airport.

I encourage you to watch the video:





What are your thoughts after you see the video and listen to both sides of the argument? Should these police officers be fired? Should they face criminal charges for killing this man?

Angela James was a trailblazer on the ice, a fierce competitor who piloted Canada’s national women’s hockey team to four world championships. James blazed another trail when she was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame last week.

James, 45, is the first Black woman voted into the hall and the second Black player ever to receive the honor. She joins Grant Fuhr, a Black five-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender with the Edmonton Oilers, who entered the Hall in 2003. She will be formally inducted into the Hall, located in Toronto, in November.

“On behalf of everyone in women’s hockey, I am truly honored,” James said. “As a kid, I went to the Hall and was in awe of those who had been inducted. I am delighted to be able to join them.”

In all, James was a medalist in 12 national championships and won four world championships. She was named MVP at eight Canadian championships, scored 34 points in 20 games over the first four world championships in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997. She is the only Black Canadian to captain her country’s national hockey team.

“Back in the days when we wore pink uniforms, we did what it took to get our game on the map,” James told the Canadian Press. “We didn’t care if we were wearing polka-dots, we just wanted to play.”

For all her goals, medals, and awards, James never played in the Winter Olympics. In a controversial move, she was left off the women’s hockey team.

“I don’t look at this as retribution,” James told The New York Times of her induction and the 1998 Olympic slight. “I look at this as a great day for women’s hockey.”

Her Olympic exclusion – which many said was like keeping legendary New York Rangers team Captain Mark Messier of the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team – didn’t stop the accolades from coming.

She received Hockey Canada’s Female Breakthrough Award in 2005, was inducted into the Black Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame and the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2006.

Two years later, she, Cammi Granato, and Geraldine Heaney became the first women inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. Last year, James was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

I encourage all villagers to take a moment to share some love with Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James for being such a remarkable athlete!

The United States ranked last in terms of efficiency among five other nations with universal health care, according to a Common Wealth study. The government-run health care system in Great Britain ranked first.

Compared with five other nations — Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom — the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives.

Efficiency: On indicators of efficiency, the U.S. ranks last among the six countries, with the U.K. and New Zealand ranking first and second, respectively. The U.S. has poor performance on measures of national health expenditures and administrative costs as well as on measures of the use of information technology and multidisciplinary teams. Also, of sicker respondents who visited the emergency room, those in Germany and New Zealand are less likely to have done so for a condition that could have been treated by a regular doctor, had one been available.

John McCain never did let the facts get in the way of his arguments. Am I the only villager who feels blessed that McCain is not currently living in the White House? Check him out as he talks nonsense about health care reform in the United States:




I'm looking for feedback. Share your village voice with us on the issue of health care reform. What are you thinking as you listen to McCain, Obama and others?