Character Makes History. What makes Character in Leaders? "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."                                  -- Abraham Lincoln “Character is Destiny.” -- Heraclitus, 5th Century BCE "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something ...

Sometimes there’s too much water; sometimes not enough. A major challenge with global heating is that it doesn’t necessarily cause more or less of something in a specific geographic area (hotter, colder; wetter, dryer); it just makes everything less predictable and often more extreme. Consider some late-summer headlines....

This summer we’ve all been feeling the effects of inflation.  The price of almost everything has risen dramatically, but the issue that I’ve been hearing a lot about is the cost of gas. In January, the world oil price was about $70 per barrel, up significantly from its early pandemic lows.  Then in late February, Russia invaded...

Katrine Conroy, Minister Responsible for the Columbia River Treaty, has issued the following statement regarding the 13th round of negotiations to modernize the Columbia River Treaty, which took place in Richmond on Aug. 10-11, 2022: “Discussions toward a modernized Columbia River Treaty progressed last week, as negotiators...

NDP MP, Richard Cannings rallied scientists from across the political spectrum in Ottawa last week to urge Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne to pay Canada’s researchers at least a living wage. “Canada is lagging behind the world on innovation and research at a time when we know these […]

An Open Letter to all British Columbians: As British Columbians, we all rely on certain core services being available at the most critical moments of our lives. Because when they aren’t, an urgent situation can become catastrophic. We are taught from a young age that, when there’s an emergency, we should reach for the nearest...

Near the end of the film Don’t Look Up, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, astronomer Randall Mindy, turns to the people around him and says, “We really did have everything, didn’t we?” Although the “everything” has never been equally distributed, humans really have had all that we need to survive and thrive. If only more people would […]

PART II Power, again If humans can exercise control over consciousness with the methods, tools, and technologies of neuroscience, maybe we can make “better humans” who will not go extinct. That is of course not the kind of thinking Charles Eisenstein likes to indulge because it is more of the old story of separation-and-control...

Ed.Note: this column was originally published by the Elephant Journal, a publication I would strongly recommend perusing. Ms. Smee is a highly regarded professional in the Kootenay community, and we will be featuring her op/ed (opinion/editorial) material at every opportunity. ~ Kyra You left way too suddenly. I was not ready to say goodbye, and […]

The lineage of our human species has survived for several million years thanks to a wondrous, interconnected evolution of factors resulting in air to breathe, water to drink and plants, fungi, animals and minerals for food, shelter, tools and clothing. For most of that time, our ancestors lived in relative harmony with the ...