Reporters watchdogs as Supreme Court breaks deals to convict

Published July 5, 2011 by Winnipeg Free Press (Editorials page A11) In response to Dan Lett’s “High court says plea deals can be broken” in the Winnipeg Free Press, Saturday, June 25, 2011 Dogs and reporters have one thing in common: it’s their job to snarl and snap at your heels until you face the [...]

Kendo students clash “green” Samurai swords to honour Japan

What discipline do you choose to practice that wakes you up to self-awareness? This evening I teetered on a narrow wooden bench hugging a cold cement wall in the basement of the Duckworth Centre at the University of Winnipeg to watch students practice the art of the Japanese Samurai swordsman at my first Kendo Tournament. [...]

Water is a Human Right: UN and Manitobans care about First Nations in Canada

Water is a Human Right, posted with vodpod A couple of public relations students and I did some digging in the muddy, flood-infested Manitoba backwaters. We came across some hidden bones we thought deserved a spotlight. We got angry, and we got inspired…to create a public service announcement about the plight of our fellow citizens, the [...]

Protect Japan Victims of Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Radiation

My friends are scraping their pennies together to support Japanese victims of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdowns. As jet streams and web streams bring nuclear fallout and news of lives lost from the Japanese triple threat east to North America, donations to the Canadian Red Cross flood in. Hundreds of Japanese and non-Japanese [...]

Polar Bear lost to Global Warming: Billy Connolly booms about Arctic Oil

Polar Bear loses to Global Warming: Billy Connolly booms about Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling Bonanza I get chills up and down my spine when someone like Scottish comedian Billy Connolly traces the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Circle at Canada’s extreme north and drops a bombshell. The Scotsman travels by dog sled and fishing trawler [...]

Instinct to survive

We are survivors. We wear winter in Winnipeg like a badge of honour. The rules are: water flows down hill, in winter rivers freeze and geese fly south. If you break the rules of winter, you pay a price. Or, do you start a new trend? Despite friendly Manitobans like the little grey-haired couple that [...]

The King’s Speech: Fear of Public Speaking Outranks Death

You must do the things you think you cannot do. Why is it so hard? Public speaking, I mean. A great teacher advised me, “you’ve got to put yourself out there”. You have to take a risk, become visible, and make noise to get noticed, if you want a plum job. With three presentations scheduled [...]

Following the Tribe: Don’t make me think!

What happens to make an idea blaze up like a raging grass fire or 12-alarm catastrophe? What conditions have to exist to give birth to a magical viral trend that infects the human imagination? Fire and water both move along the lines of least resistance. Social alliances, the common ground among people, move like that [...]

Top Ten Reasons not to start an online home business

NEED HELP TO DIG OUT – HOMEBOUND – FIRST SNOW! Like a teenager catapulting from the gym wall at the high school dance, our first snow day lunged in, caught me by the ankles and knocked me over this morning. (Winnipeg has two seasons, winter and construction.) Until snowplows dig canyons through the drifts hugging [...]