Seek counselling to leave volatility behind

Meta settlement should be first of many

Who knew? A massive company knew its products were harmful to children and teens, and not only kept its products on the market, but worked to make them more addictive, to build their own profits.

Welcome to social media, and a huge settlement in a case against online giant Meta.

First, the cash in the settlement: Meta will pay US$12.1 billion to settle suits by 47 U.S. states, who had argued Meta knowingly exploited teenage weaknesses. (A lot of money, until you consider that Meta’s revenues last year were US$200 billion.)

Meta is promising to limit teens’ access to social media platforms to two hours a day (unless parents allow more), block sites between midnight and 6 a.m., block notifications during school hours, and stop allowing image modifications for teens, among other things.

The lights are on, but Manitoba Hydro isn't answering the door to offer clarity on greener power plans

Flying above the coast of Hudson Bay west of Churchill, in the furthest northern reaches of Manitoba, you pass over two rivers that offer diametrically opposed narratives on how humans can choose to interact with the natural environment.

Further to the west, the mighty Seal River flows unrestricted into the bay. Marking your proximity to the river’s mouth from above is the shine of the red tin roof of the remote, but brightly coloured, Seal River Wilderness Lodge. There isn’t another human-made mark visible on the horizon.

The Seal River watershed covers about 50,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of Nova Scotia, and is completely untouched. There are no roads, no mining or other industrial activities, and — most critically in northern Manitoba — no attempt to harness the river to create hydroelectricity.

The river remains a pristine and critical ecosystem for both wildlife and First Nations (and Inuit communities in Nunavut), which have formed an alliance to create an Indigenous protected area encompassing the watershed.

Widow on mission to improve mental-health supports for law-enforcement officers, families

Stacia Franz is honouring her late husband’s life and legacy by seeking to ensure no law enforcement officer suffers in silence and no other spouse is widowed at 36.

Manitoba Hydro’s strategy: Deny, deny, deny

Here’s a good story…

A man walks into your office and says, “Have I got a deal for you! I want $3 billion (plus perhaps a bit more) to build you something that you might use three or even four times a year, for maybe 30-60 hours each time. Sign here.”

You might respond… “and I’ve got a lovely bridge for sale…”

That is exactly what Manitoba Hydro wants — $3 billion or more, plus the fossil fuel bonus for peak load events that happen a few times each year. They assure us that the gas turbines will only be used very occasionally. At the same time, they tell us that we are headed for a crisis of energy supply by 2030.

Laine blockbuster: Ehlers emotional, Wheeler stoic but sincere

They were joined at the hip, a pair of charismatic and extremely talented young Winnipeg Jets wingers who formed an instant bond and never missed a chance to take a friendly shot at the other. And so Saturday's news that Patrik Laine had been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets was an especially tough pill to swallow for Nikolaj Ehlers.

"He’s a guy that I’ve had a really good relationship with since my second year, since his first year. We were roommates together on the first road trip. We’ve been brothers since day one, so this is not very fun. It’s part of the business. It’s the way it goes," an emotional Ehlers said following his team's morning skate at Bell MTS Place.

They actually got a chance to say goodbye in person, as the injured Laine was down at the rink when the trigger was pulled.

“I found out like the other guys in there. Me and Patty are ones that we always joke around. You guys know that. We always chirp each other. So there’s a little bit of joking but we also know that we were roommates for three years. We’ve been really good friends for the last five years. So this is tough. This is not much fun. So he’s a guy that I’m for sure going to miss a lot," said Ehlers, who signed a seven-year contract extension with the Jets in 2017.

Grim new protocols will force doctors to make unthinkable choices

Provincial officials are developing a new triage protocol to help doctors decide who gets critical care and who could be denied life-saving treatment if hospitals become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

It’s a stark and terrifying proposition.

But with cases continuing to rise (and knowing the kind of rationing of critical care that occurred in countries like Italy), Manitoba officials have no choice but to prepare for a worst-case scenario,

“Like other jurisdictions, Manitoba is developing an ethical framework to help determine the criteria and decision-making processes for allocating resources during COVID-19, including critical care,” a spokesperson for Shared Health Manitoba stated in an email to the Free Press. “Discussions continue amongst clinical leadership and ethicists.”