there can be miracles when you believe So I'm doing the preliminary work for my next paper and I'm having issues already. Here is the assignment:

Provide an annotated list of the top think tanks in Canada, their policy emphasis and inclinations, their budgets and the source of their money.

I figure it's good to clarify precisely what the assignment is first. So I'm trying to make sure that I understand what an "annotated list" is - a list with explanation and criticism? Then what a "think tank" is: is it different than a lobbyist? Seriously different? Because just doing some initial reading makes me think this is a pretty grey area. Maybe less so in Canada than the U.S., but I'm still going to have to be careful - will I be way off if I mistakenly include a lobbyist? And the next issue: who decides who the "top" think tanks are? Is somebody keeping a list out there with some rankings? How many should I include?

Okay, now you know what I'm tackling today. Feel free to share thoughts on this!  | ¶ 12:55 p.m.