Honorable Bob Rae

Today is one of those days I'll miss after I graduate. During the afternoon I gave a presentation in Sociology of Mental Illness to 75 students on supreme court cases affecting mental illness. I think it went really well, and best of all, that class is completely over now! So I'm down to four classes until I graduate, one of them being my independent research on cesarean sections.

After my presentation I went to the Law building and heard a lecture given by the Hon. Bob Rae, the former Premier (equiavalent to governor) of Ontario. He was recently an advisor to the Iraqi assembly as they drafted their new constitution. He gave incredible insight into the process, about the fear and isolation the consitution makers deal with daily. Check out this article about him in the Toronto paper. Today, he firmly expressed that he thought the US led invasion into Iraq was completely inappropriate, but that this is beside the point now, that we need to think about the future and find the best solutions to the many difficult issues. One of the most complex of these is the balance between state autonomy and federal power, especially since the Kurds in the north (I believe that's what he said) have been functioning autonomously for awhile already. He also talked about the need for constant reminders that making a constitution isn't about revenge on political enemies, but about putting that bitterness aside. He said this process needs a Nelson Mandela to step up and lead such a unified effort. He said a lot of other interesting things I'll be happy to talk about if you have any questions.

In the meantime, check out my furniture sale at www.gabloge.blogspot.com. Get it? It's a garage sale blog, ie gabloge. Let me know if you see anything you like.