Category: The Cassandra files
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Six lessons from failure
My grade six yearbook had a column for each of us pre-teens to name our future dream job. Unlike many classmates, I didn’t aspire to a glamorous career. My dream was to ride a horse across the prairies. If I had a do-over, I’d say my ambition is to be…
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Policies, Publics, and Protests
The Alberta government spent 3.5 million dollars investigating environmental groups protesting the oil sands. Gary Mason, writing in The Globe and Mail, Alberta edition, expects the report to be a dud despite it being a year late and a million dollars over budget. His article appears below. On 31 October…
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A Conflict Analysis of Radical Freedom
The need for more questions 2020 ended and 2021 began with heated disagreements over what limits on freedom are reasonable. Authorities emphasize reasonable limits as the answer. Protesters emphasize freedom. Traditional who, what, where, when and why questions don’t ask: how do protesters define freedom? I support peaceful protests and…
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Are judges losing the art of being persuaded?
A job ad that I don’t want to see If you heard a pitch for a reality TV game show called Who is the Next Top Judge, would you watch? The pitch might be something like: self-serving, partisan, power-hungry politicians fight over which lower court judge will get a top…
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The convictions of one’s courage
Fictional guest list for a fake dinner Imagine your ideal dinner party guests, whether living, dead, invented, or mythical. Mine range and change, currently Marie Curie, Superman, Julie Payette, John Legend, and Oprah. Only one guest remains constant over decades: David, the shepherd who allegedly defeated giant Goliath and became king. I admire David, whose Bible stories describe a brave,…
Deborah Sword 