On November 4, 2017, TEDx Calgary hosted an event called Signal vs Noise in recognition of the multiple, divergent viewpoints in today’s increasingly polarized and opinion-driven world. The challenge for speakers? To identify ideas worth listening to and avoid distractions, or those things that should be tuned out. With separating signal from noise being an
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The summer of 2006 in Kandahar, Afghanistan was surreal. In the early spring of that year, coalition forces regularly drove Panjwayi district, 30 km southwest of Kandahar city. By August, the region was nearly impassable, with several hundred to a thousand Taliban fighters reported to be in the district and intelligence analysts stressing that the
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“War is an act of violence pushed to its utmost bounds.” Carl von Clausewitz, On War. In 2002, suicide bombers were unheard of in Afghanistan. But in 2005, the tactic began to creep in from the neighbouring conflict in the Iraqi theatre of war. As the years dragged on, the tactic continued to evolve; using women, remote
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In the summer of 2013, I realized I wasn’t happy. This guy is not happy… Not that I was unhappy – I wasn’t. In fact, I had a lot to be happy about, like the birth of my second daughter and a career path that was on track, on target and full of potential. And
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