Dreamlike solo show tackles complex ideas

Province declares state of emergency

The Manitoba government has declared a provincewide state of emergency to reduce the spread of COVID-19, giving legal force to social-distancing directives by provincial health authorities.

Effective 4 p.m. Friday, the province limited the size of indoor and outdoor public gatherings to no more than 50 people for a period of 30 days.

The order includes faith-based gatherings and family events, such as weddings and funerals. It does not apply to hospitals or areas where social services are provided.

What were once guidelines have now become orders, with those defying them susceptible to fines and possible jail sentences.

Salt Lake, Sapporo head race to 2030 Olympics, and maybe '34

Fraser Bullock, who leads Salt Lake City's bid to return the Winter Olympics to Utah, sounds very confident about success.

“I believe we'll host a future Game(s). It's a question of when,” he said last week in a local television interview.

But will it be in 2030, the first opening on the IOC calendar? Or might the International Olympic Committee make a double award and also name the 2034 host? When it had two strong candidates 4 1/2 years ago for the Summer Games, the IOC selected Paris for the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles for 2028.

The IOC isn't saying. An announcement is expected early next year, with media reports in Salt Lake City suggesting a decision in May 2023.

Olympics Latest: Dutch cyclist wins time trial

With six Olympic medals at age 21, it seems almost inevitable now that swimmer Penny Oleksiak will become the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all time, winter or summer.

Knowledge is profitable

It’s been stated many different ways throughout history that knowledge is power.

That is true with respect to finance today.

What’s more, information is not just a powerful tool to navigating money matters: knowledge can be profitable.

Well-informed consumers are often the most financially healthy or, at least, they’re less stressed.

You don’t have to be whistleblower to call out lies

With Theranos Inc. back in the news thanks to the documentary You Can See Everything, it’s hard not to revisit one of the most extraordinary corporate scandals of our time.

A U.S. company that promised to revolutionize blood testing for medical diagnoses, a charismatic founder who convinced some very influential people to believe in her vision, and employees who eventually found themselves facing a difficult choice: stay quiet or speak up.

Whistleblowing exists for good reason. When there are serious breaches of conduct, fraud, abuse of power or wrongdoing that puts people at risk, having someone willing to step forward can be incredibly important. Sometimes, it takes considerable courage to tell the truth when an entire organization seems determined to avoid it.

But most of us will never work for another Theranos (which took some US$700 million from venture capitalists and private investors before flaming out in lawsuits, sanctions and fraud convictions). We will, however, work with people who lie.