Despite the lip service we have paid to other topics, Katrina, the aftermath and oil have inevitably dominated, or provided a strong undercurrent, on the last three Wednesday Nights, though last week's aviation safety night http://www.wednesday-night.com/Wed1228page2.asp abroad. Elections in Afghanistan, Egypt and Germany - very different strokes for different folks. As might be expected, nothing will be clear about the first until October 22; Egypt was a foregone conclusion, but who was predicting that orderly Germany would have such chaotic results? Promising news from Beijing that North Korea has agreed to drop its nuclear weapons program, however observers note that there are an awful lot of details to be worked out before this particular pudding will yield proof. Was anyone paying attention when Paul Martin scolded the UN last week? Was anyone surprised that Bill Clinton finally criticized the Bush Administration for its tax & fiscal policies, Iraq and failure to help the neediest in New Orleans? Did everyone catch the profound statement reported by Canadian Press that "Senior Washington officials are seriously weighing possible exemptions to hefty duties on Canadian softwood lumber exports, to help their own economy while easing the way for new talks to resolve a bitter trade dispute." (We put this in the well, duh! category) While all of these are more or less deserving of our attention, one of our traditionally favorite topics is Education. We are used to decrying the state of education in North America, the relative illiteracy and lack of broad culture of the students, the excruciating cost of text books, the demeaning public squabbles over gender equality in intellectual capacity, and the need to increase tuition levels in under-funded institutions of higher learning. It is however worth examining the claim by the Economist that: "... since the second world war Europe has progressively surrendered its lead in higher education to the United States. America boasts 17 of the world's top 20 universities, according to a widely used global ranking by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. American universities currently employ 70% of the world's Nobel prize- winners, 30% of the world's output of articles on science and engineering, and 44% of the most frequently cited articles. No wonder developing countries now look to America rather than Europe for a model for higher education." For relevant links to these and other topics, please see http://www.wednesday-night.com/Wed1229.asp