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 [...]

Swift Trust: predict high performance teams

When we need to work quickly and competently on complex problems with people we don’t know, Meyerson, Weick and Kramer say: use “swift trust”. With this pseudo trust, medical teams and cockpit crews establish a temporary interdependence that saves lives.   Without it, people die. In a less dramatic example, the consequences of operating without “swift [...]

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 [...]

DO NOT VOTE! Harper’s Conservatives Break Democracy Laws in Canada

Do not vote. Don’t waste your time. Why not? Because your vote will not count. Nothing will change. Canada‘s Prime Minister Stephen Harper can’t govern because elected Parliament representatives refused to pass the Conservative budget. His other minor stumbling blocks include breaking democratic laws about election spending and hiding information in contempt of Parliament. So, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]