My friend Lorne Kelton is a very special guy who has just finished a very special short movie with a very special message. Several very special messages, actually. The short movie tells of a homeless man who finds good homes for homeless dogs. I’d encourage you to watch it, but please ASAP. As it happens…
Yes, I would. Assuming, of course, that I were still practicing and he required my services in my jurisdiction, yes, I would take on Trump as a client. With conditions, of course. Let’s first get out of the way the matter of lawyers picking and choosing criminal defence clients or otherwise socially radioactive clients. Can…
Compared to our American cousins, Canadians don’t do a lot of violent insurrection. Think about our militia-leading rebels: Louis Riel, Louis-Joseph Papineau, and William Lyon Mackenzie. That’s the whole list. The Rebellions of 1837 were historically tame affairs. Just over three hundred deaths ensued and in some encounters both sides fled when the shooting started,…
My dear old Dad always said a table grace before every meal. Very solemnly, head bowed, eyes closed, and very, very King James English. Because in my Dad’s mind, when you talked to God, it had to be in King James English. Most of my Catholic friends have a version of “Bless us, O Lord,…
Harness the power of curiosity to multiply your communication effectiveness tenfold or more. Curious? Read on. Every fisherman who ever tied a fly or crafted a lure knows the power of curiosity. Want to catch a wild animal? Use something that dazzles and dances to lure them in. Next to sex and flattery, there’s nothing…
If there is a world-wide currency, it’s respect. Unfortunately, it’s in short supply. Respect is simple. It just means acknowledging the value of the other person. Their ideas, their values, their space, their tastes, their place. Perhaps it’s a variation on the Golden Rule, “Think of others as you would have them think of you.”…
Everyone knows the name and reputation of Nelson Mandela. Few of us know much about a perhaps even greater contemporary South African, F. W. de Klerk. Frederik Willem de Klerk was the last President of South Africa under apartheid, and in many ways the most surprising person you might imagine to take such momentous steps….
If I read one more pontification about the need to “reign in” the US Supreme Court or some other out of line demagogues, I’m going to jump off a cliff. No parachute. Not that I disagree with what they’re trying to say, but because they’re relying on spellcheck instead of proofreading. Kings and queens reign,…
Pity the poor turkey! In French and dozens of other languages (including Turkish) it’s called the Indian Bird. In Portuguese it’s called “Peru”, in Spanish it’s Pavo, and in Dutch and many Germanic languages it is called some variation of “chalk bird”. In English, we call the creature a “turkey” based entirely on a historic…
When I was a little kid, I understood the importance of the Lord’s Prayer, and said it dutifully every night. But what never made sense to me was the “howled be thy name” part. Pious wolves in the forest? It was part of the mystery, along with “Howl Ween”, mysteries that I’d try to solve…