Last night (my time) I was watching a Canadian Football League playoff game between the Hamilton Tiger Cats and British Columbia Lions. No matter the outcome, some feline was going to win. It was a 1 p.m. start in Hamilton, which made it 10 a.m. for fans watching in British Columbia. It was Remembrance Day, […]

One hundred years ago today the guns fell silent. Back then they called it “The War To End All Wars.” It wasn’t. Now it is a name and number: World War One. Millions more would die in armed conflict over the next hundred years and continue to die today in smaller conflicts around the globe. […]

With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published on November 10, 2014. It has been four years  – tonight is actually the 31,220th time the ceremony has taken place.    Tonight […]

With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published on November 12, 2014. When we visited the Commonwealth Military Cemetery at Essex Farm, near Ypres, Belgium, our guide pointed out the grave […]

With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published four years ago today – November 8, 2014. The years between 1914 and 1918 were the wettest Europe experienced during the 20th century, […]

I remember it as a one liner in history class, probably early in high school. France and Germany fought a war, 1870-71. I don’t remember who won (Germany I presume – that was the Bismarck era) or what the cause was. I think at the end Alsace became German, or returned to being German. As […]

If you are an American, get out and vote today. It is important to exercise your franchise. Democracy is only strong when people participate. I doubt if today’s vote in the US is as important as some people are making it. There has been a fair amount of hysteria online about this election, more than […]

As we walked through a park in downtown Freiburg Saturday, what struck me most was the profusion of flowers. In the park at the base of Schlossberg the blooms were everywhere. At this time of year in Canada, the parks are grey and somewhat uninviting places, the trees having shed their leaves. And those are […]

There was nothing on the schedule yesterday, at least not officially. I did have a pile of work on my desk, trying to catch up after a week in Cyprus. (That was also work, but the routine tasks didn’t get done in 12-hour days of meetings.) So when my wife woke up and said “let’s […]

I like food, which makes me no different from anyone else. Until I read The Hospitable Leader though, I hadn’t given much thought to the role food plays in effective leadership. Terry A. Smith’s new book is about much more than food, as he calls on leaders (and those aspiring to leadership) to consciously develop […]