OK... just need to vent for a moment. A friend of mine at work was attacked on the street near her home last night. The attackers - 2 teenage girls (very drunk) wanting money and her backpack. They hit her several times and started yelling very loudly about how they had sold her crack cocaine and wanted the money she owed (a completely made up story). My friend tried running into a bar/restaurant to get help and to get someone to call the police. A group of 5 guys came out of the bar; she asked them to help stop the girls from punching her in the face. THEY DID NOTHING. Neither did any of the guys in the restaurant when she ran in there looking for help. Eventaully the restaurant maanger threw the attacking girls out when they started hitting him.

A couple of things about this really bother me. First off, I hate it when people do nothing when they see violence occur. The chances that people do nothing seem to increase when there are more witnesses around. Everyone figures someone else will do something. Second, the attacking girls were really smart. By yelling about crack, they made people doubt the sincerity of my friend's claims to being a victim of an attempted robbery. Third, I think one of the reasons that the guys didn't help is because they are honestly confused about what to do when confronted by violence between women. If there were 2 guys attacking my friend, I don't think they would have hesitated as much step in and restrain the attackers.

My 2 cents on an otherwise wonderful Friday.

Yeeha! It's finally live! I've been working with people from India, the UK, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Canada on developing ItrainOnline - a site that integrates our Internet training materials for developing country non-profits. It was launched today at a meeting in Uruguay.

The current version is just a first step toward full integration of materials and a much broader partnership. Now, I've just got to concentrate on getting about 50 articles on Web management edited and online over the next few months.

Watching ER last night, I was struck by the masterful display of flirting going on.... Truly the most advanced form of human social communication, requiring the ability to correctly interpret subtle verbal and non-verbal cues. More art than science. Unfortunately, so many people in N. America are so bad at it that they cross the invisible boundary into sexual harrassment or the far cruder "hitting on". It really is a shame... takes all the fun out of life.

Woohoo! The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have made it to the Canadian Football League's Grey Cup finals!

Now, normally I'm not a sports fan so I wouldn't particularly care one way or another. But, this is actually a story about community identity and pride. You see... culturally, Winnipeggers are rather self-effacing and modest. And, to be honest, the city has its share of problems - high levels of child and aboriginal poverty and a modest economic growth rate (no real booms or busts). 5-6 years ago, the city took a massive hit to its pride when it couldn't continue to support its NHL team (The Winnipeg Jets became the Pheonix Coyotes).

A few years ago, though, we elected a mayor (Glen Murray) who loves this city more than life itself. Ever since then, he has been working hard to get people to be proud of themselves and each other.

In addition to working on downtown redevelopment, he's been doing things like starting a billboard and Web campaign to express what's great about the city. And, starting 2 years ago, at the beginning of the football season Murray closes down the main intersection in the city for a day-long street party for the Blue Bombers. It's basically an excuse to get people from all socio-economic groups together on the streets of downtown and to reclaim the city as belonging to everyone. Support for the Bombers has become, in part, a way of continuing that feeling.

So... when the Bombers play in Montreal next weekend, I'll be cheering as loudly for Winnipeg as anyone.

......is a an evening of music, dance, theatre and poetry in Winnipeg, Canada to celebrate Amnesty International's current campaign against the torture and persecution of sexual minorities in many countries around the world. A few friends of mine have been working hard for three months to organize the event this Sunday night. Kudos to them for their hard work.

I have to admit that I hesitated to post this to TIG initially... LGBT issues don't seem to have come up here in the past. But, I had a Melissa Etheridge CD playing on the stereo this morning while I was making breakfast. Her song "Scarecrow", about the torture and murder of Matthew Shepard, hit me hard again. Sometimes I can ignore the lyrics and just let it be background music. But every now and then it kicks me in the stomach. I get angry. I bawl my eyes out in the syrup. I log on.

Most days I feel like progress is being made in getting people to understand that violence is never right... But, there are other days when all I seem to see is how easy it is for people to dehumanize each other. Dialogue and shared experiences and goals are the only way to move beyond that.