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I have always wondered about that term – the ploy used by ancient Romans to keep their citizens fat, happy and mindless with gladiator games and other sensual entertainment while the coffers were raided and the youth sent off to die in wars of greed and plunder. In Canada, things are different. Our circus has […]

I watched with sadness as black smoke swirled out and over the magnificent Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai • India’s repeating globalized horror image, similar to the one of the falling towers in New York City seven years ago. It seems that the cost for going global is the accompanying stigma of tragedy that follows,

Today’s newspaper indicated that the top five economic powers in our now ailing G8 club of nations, are collectively spending $2.5 trillion (money they do not necessarily have) to prevent their economies from contracting an average of 0.7% next year. This, despite the fact that the money poured in to•date has only sent stock markets

Ever since the Internet became stable and (somewhat) secure, companies have been in a war against paper as a major re•engineering venture that saves millions in hard copy print and mailing costs. A few years ago, when my bank called and asked me if I would like to try “e•banking”, I tentatively agreed. But when

When I decided to return to writing, in Canada, after a long hiatus, I wondered how the heck anyone was going to notice me. I did not belong to the literary community; I had not been educated in this country, had no industry contacts, no MA, MFA or other academic title that seemingly confers literary

“Sell yourself or die,” is the mantra in these times. Whether it be for a new job, or to merely survive in your existing one, promoting one’s latest book or new product, running for election, finding a partner, getting noticed amidst the myriad of media distractions; even the dead have coffin styles from “pauper” to

Everything is going global these days and outsourcing is de rigueur. Manufacturing and software development, once residing in safe havens of the developed world, now go to emerging tigers in Asia, who in turn, getting a taste for what is possible, are trying to climb up the food chain into the more lucrative niches of

I did the math on organizing a writing contest and wondered if I was sitting on a hidden goldmine; should I turn my struggling career from writer to writing contest organizer? First, I need a snazzy title, something like “The 30th Annual Emerging Writers Gold Awards Contest” (no need to worry about the prior 29

When the Canadian Dollar reached over $0.90US last year, I bought lots of US dollars convinced that our loonie was overpriced and could never sustain this high. Then of course, that oily loonie soared to $1.10US at one point and I groaned at my stupidity. Today, our poor buck dropped below $0.80US and I am

Now that the dust has settled on the federal election and hurricane season is almost over down south and the carnage on the financial markets has subsided to a “Ho, hum – so what did the TSX drop down by today – another 600 points? Ho, hum,” • welcome to the morning after. We are