Scandinavian studies professor debunks idea of ‘racial purity’ that makes racist extremists identify with Viking culture
There’s an urgent and pressing need for everyone to understand the Vikings, argues Scandinavian studies scholar Natalie Van Deusen. That’s because all manner of Viking symbols and misconceptions about a golden age of Nordic racial purity have been appropriated by racist extremists looking to justify their xenophobia and acts of violence, according to the University of…
First came 50 years of progress. Then came 50 years of dead fish, stagnant water, methylmercury poisoning, silt buildup and dams collapsing
What goes around comes around, they say. The oblique turn of a phrase may apply to the news that a 100-year-old dam will be demolished in Fredericton, N.B. Things fall down and are torn down all the time, so why would this story be of interest? I was a reporter in New Brunswick when the…
Our guide to ensuring your brand captures who you are and who your customers believe you to be
Branding is an extremely overused word – quickly followed by sentences that include “we need a vision,” “we need a mission” and “we need our values, ASAP!” Of course, businesses need those things. The challenge with these branding pieces happens when leaders don’t understand what they are by definition, over and above inspirational sentences, what…
The game is up: Oil and gas companies can no longer mask their financial frailty
The decline in oil demand accelerated by Covid-19 may be a sign of the future. Forty publicly-traded U.S. oil producers wrote down a collective $48 billion worth of the value of their assets in the first quarter of 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. Quoting Deloitte, Oilprice.com points out that the collapse in crude…
Early newspapers were often more interested in expressing the opinions of the owners than the facts
Fake news is a popular term these days. It’s hard to imagine why. Much more inflammatory and even manufactured ‘news’ has been with us all through history. Pamphleteers of the French and American revolutions may be the most famous. Among the best was Thomas Paine. But the average person with an axe to grind and…
New understanding leads U of A researchers to try a new class of drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and HIV
A newly discovered mechanism at work in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients may also lead to new treatments for COVID-19, according to a team of researchers at the University of Alberta. The recently published paper in the journal of the American Society for Microbiology, mBio, reveals how HIV attacks peroxisomes, organelles found in all cells that help…
There’s no place for cowards, racists, sociopaths or murderers in a police department. And yet such officers are detected with alarming regularity
The wave of protests across the United States in response to the death of George Floyd follows a lengthy list of protests against police misconduct. The list of misconduct includes: Rodney King, beaten by police on a freeway after a high-speed chase in Los Angeles (1991); Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant sodomized in a New…
Taking a real holiday allows you to recharge your batteries, empowers staff and lets you evaluate how effectively systems work in your absence
Rachael and Carmel were a little surprised, and perhaps a little nervous, when I told them I was taking a six-month vacation and that they would be in charge. The business had been open for five years, but the truth was I was making more money renovating and flipping houses than I was from the business.…
Don’t like being interviewed on video? Prefer an in-person meeting? Well, you're out of luck – video interviewing is here to stay. That means learning to avoid the pitfalls of virtual interaction. Here are my answers to some questions you should be asking to prepare for your upcoming video interview. Question: Can you tell me how to…
Talented, ambitious and resourceful Indigenous people continue to face systemic obstacles to start businesses
A Winnipeg-area Indigenous entrepreneur might hold the key to Indigenous peoples controlling their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. His experience also underscores why it’s so important to unshackle the Indigenous business community and entrepreneurial sector from restrictions imposed by the Indian Act, as well as other non-legislative barriers. Josh Giesbrecht is president and co-founder of…
There’s an urgent and pressing need for everyone to understand the Vikings, argues Scandinavian studies scholar Natalie Van Deusen. That’s because all manner of Viking symbols and misconceptions about a golden age of Nordic racial purity have been appropriated by racist extremists looking to justify their xenophobia and acts of violence, according to the University of…
