Friday, October 7, 2022

"Sometimes to win is to lose"/ "Superstitious minds"


Nov. 8, 2016 "Sometimes to win is to lose": Today I found this article by Craig and Marc Kielburger in the Edmonton Journal.  They discuss how not everything has to be a competition.  


I am often thinking about competition because of the job articles I read.  There are a number of people applying for 1 position.  There are also business news about stores having to close down because there is too much competition.  This is a good and positive article: 


Donald Trump once had his own board game.

“It’s not whether you win or lose,” promised the ad, which ran in 1989. “It’s whether you win.”
It seems the U.S. presidential candidates have taken this advice to the campaign trail. Winning is the only option.

Trump has suggested he wouldn’t concede an election loss, bucking the U.S. tradition to lose gracefully, at least in public. Hillary Clinton called “half” of Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables,” and later apologized, but only for the “half” part.

With positions of influence (and a massive media presence), these leaders are role models for youth. We got to thinking about what kids are learning about competition, both from the election and from an increasingly cutthroat social culture.

Kids are set up to compete at almost everything. They’re graded at school, pushed to outperform each other on the sports field and pressured into vying for popularity on social media. Most benchmarks for achievement are ranking systems among peers.

“We have been raised to confuse succeeding with winning,” says Alfie Kohn, author of No Contest: A Case Against Competition (Mariner Books, 2006).

“One can succeed at something — cooking a meal, solving a math problem —without ever trying to triumph over someone else,” he adds.

Research suggests that certain healthy competitive environments help children perform better. A race makes them run faster, a friendly game helps both teams improve a skill. 

But while a winner’s high offers performance incentive, there’s a risk that kids’ self-esteem can become dependent on beating others.

Fierce or negative opposition causes anxiety that makes it hard for kids to do their best. The key is to point out the difference.

If parents want to help their kids become more gracious competitors than our potential world leaders, the key is cooperation. Support and respect for little- league rivals and the peers they’re meant to work with is required.

One town hall debate ended with Trump and Clinton naming something they respected about the other. That moment of civility is a learning opportunity. 

Teaching your child to recognize the skills of their opponents encourages mutual respect, which takes the sting out of losing and the fun out of gloating — a bully behaviour that comes with a hostile contest.

Children should focus on personal goals rather than breaking down others. Whether they win or lose a game of soccer isn’t as important as developing a skill — like heading the ball or mastering a trick shot.

And parents, watch what you say on the sidelines.

Research shows that children don’t start exhibiting competitive tendencies, like sabotaging opponents to win a simple game, until the age of four. But they learn social cues from those around them even earlier.

Are you trash-talking coworkers while gunning for a promotion? Yelling at the TV when your team botches a free throw?

“If you need to beat others, your child will learn that from you,” says Kohn. Left to their own devices, children are natural co-operators, he adds.

We’ve seen youth work together to build schools and clean-water projects overseas, from the foundation up. We’ve seen them harness competition in a positive way, with teams facing off to fundraise the most for a cause.

In the right circumstances, competition is motivation for self-improvement, and even a boost to achieve a shared goal.

Our kids are tomorrow’s politicians and business leaders. The arenas they compete in — the classroom, the sports field — only get bigger. And so do the stakes they’re playing for, whether in the boardroom or on the debate stage.

You can’t avoid competition outright, but you can teach your child to achieve victories without defeating others.





Apr, 14, 2017 "Superstitious minds": I was watching a Doc Zone episode called "Superstitious Minds."  In the Edmonton Journal, it mentioned feng shui in it, so of course I had to watch it.  You guys are probably laughing at this part.  I had written some notes on it.  This was in 2013.

Paul Hung is a feng shui master.  He helps to find jobs and homes.

He mentioned a shoe store was floundering, but then it increased to 11 stores. 

Bank of China building looks like a knife.  HSBC has cannons point at BOC.

Laura Genamo is a feng shui consultant in NYC.  Craig Axelford is a real estate developer hires her.

Coca- Cola, McDonaldès, Whole Foods, and Donald Trump uses it.

End of feng shui, onto the other parts: 

Michael Shemar (screenwriter): You think of the good, not the bad.

Shing, a designer and artist creates account by the 13th, full moon.  Lost 60% in stock.

Arch Crawford, financial consultant and astrologer.  He calls it.  He looks at stars and predicted 1987 market crash and 2008 crash.

Theatres have lots of superstitions.  They can not say Macbeth out loud.

Superstitions can be based on obsessive compulsive disorder.



This week's theme is about getting enough sleep.  I only have enough articles for 2 blog posts:


"Four things to know about sleep and your health"/ "Chasing the dream of a good night’s sleep"

Tracy's blog: "Four things to know about sleep and your health"/ "Chasing the dream of a good night’s sleep" (badcb.blogspot.com)


"Banking sleep ahead of time can stave off exhaustion, study shows"/ "Couples bicker better on proper sleep: study"




My week:



Sept. 30, 2022 Answer Connect: This is an answering service company.  I did like that they plant trees:

The initiative.

Every month, we are donating to non-profit organizations to plant a tree for each of our customers and employees.



So Help Me Todd: I saw the pilot.  I predicted I would like it and I did like it.  I will record the series and watch this all in a couple of weeks.

"A talented P.I. agrees to work as the in-house investigator for his mother, who is reeling from the recent dissolution of her marriage."


Oct. 3, 2022 East New York: I saw the pilot.  I predicted I wouldn't like it and I didn't like it.  The show was average.

"Follows the recently promoted police captain of East New York, Regina Haywood, who leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are hesitant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting."


Alaska Daily: I saw the pilot.  I predicted I would like it and I did.  I will record the series and watch all the eps in a week.  This is about a female journalist who is investigating missing and murdered indigenous woman.  At the end of the ep, they showed a link on how to help:

"A journalist seeks a fresh start in Alaska working for a newspaper in Anchorage."


"National Family and Survivors Circle:

In response to the 231 Calls for Justice and the Principles for Change from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the establishment of the National Family and Survivors Circle (NFSC) was supported by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs to provide guidance on how to engage families, survivors, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in the development and implementation of a National Action Plan. The NFSC is comprised of Indigenous women from diverse backgrounds.

“We use our strength and lived expertise as family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, and survivors of gender- and race-based violence to advocate for the voices and expertise of families and survivors to be centred in the National Action Plan.” —Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, NFSC Chair"




Law and Order crossovers: I only watch L&O: Organized Crime.  However, there was a premiere event with this show, and then L&O: SVU, and L&O so I watched all 3 of them.

This was solid.  I used to watch L&O: SVU from 2002-2012, but then I quit because I find this too depressing.

I learned that Hugh Dancy (from Hannibal) is on L&O.  I like him and all, but not enough to watch this show.


Sept. 30, 2022 "Sales of iconic Hudson's Bay blankets will now support fund for Indigenous initiatives": Today I found this article by Karen Pauls on CBC.  I like this because it's about charity: 

An iconic but controversial symbol of Canadian history and colonialism may soon be seen as a gesture of reconciliation.

The Hudson's Bay Foundation and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund have announced that from now on, 100 per cent of the net proceeds from the sale of HBC's famed striped wool blankets will provide support for Indigenous cultural, artistic and educational activities through a newly launched initiative called Oshki Wupoowane — The Blanket Fund.

"We will never make profit from this blanket again. All the profits will go back to the Indigenous peoples," Iain Nairn, president and CEO of the Bay, told CBC News this week.

"We're going to get some things right and some things wrong. But I think if we have the right vision, ambition and the right community engagement, then we'll be successful here and continue creating a truth and reconciliation framework — not just for our company, but to lead corporate Canada in that journey."

The Hudson's Bay Foundation — the company's registered charity, which works to address racial inequity in Canada — is providing a $1-million contribution to kick off the official launch.

All funds will be administered by the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund — a charity focused on reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. It's named for Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 at age 12 while trying to run away from a residential school, and Gord Downie, the late frontman of the band the Tragically Hip, who told Chanie's story in his multimedia project The Secret Path.

Sales of iconic Hudson's Bay blankets will now support fund for Indigenous initiatives | CBC News

Sept. 28, 2022 "As food bank use grows on university campuses, 'care cupboards' are now popping up": Today I found this article by Julia Wong on CBC.  This shows how to help people who really need food:

When Tilova Tul arrived at the University of Alberta from Bangladesh last year as a graduate student, she quickly turned to the campus food bank for help.

"I moved here with just two luggages, leaving everything back home," she said.

"It was winter and everything was so expensive."

Tul, who is studying public health, started using the school's food hamper program every few weeks, which provided her with staples such as eggs and rice.

Her husband and three-year-old son have now joined her, meaning there are more mouths to feed. Combine that with inflation and higher living expenses, and money can be tight. Food hampers help fill the gap.

"That makes the grocery costs a little lighter so everything accumulated, that kinda helps," Tul said, who is also a volunteer with the food bank.

Erin O'Neil, executive director of the campus food bank at the University of Alberta, said several hundred new clients have signed on with the program since the start of the school year.

"We're giving out as many hampers per week as we were giving out per month in the 2019-2010 school year," she said. 

"Right now, we're giving out close to 180 hampers per week."

The university recently installed five "care cupboards" at several locations on campus.

The custom-made units, which students can access for free, include a fridge, microwave and cupboard, and they are filled with items such as fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese and granola bars. They also carry hygiene and sanitation items.

Antichow cited a recent survey done by university faculty that revealed approximately 10 per cent of students were food insecure, and that 75 per cent of that group reported being severely affected, such as skipping meals because they could not afford to eat.

Back at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, the demand for other initiatives to address food insecurity is growing. The campus food bank recently expanded its free weekly breakfast program to a second campus, and its grocery bus service, which leaves from the city's main campus, is also in demand.

"We have a grocery bus that takes students from this area, which has some of the most expensive grocery stores in the city to further down where there are cheaper and more varied grocery stores," said O'Neil.

"We're doubling that service this year as well and have seen increased demand that's leading to that doubling."

As food bank use grows on university campuses, 'care cupboards' are now popping up | CBC News

Oct. 3, 2022 "'It needs to be $20': Minimum wage up in six provinces but $15 an hour 'no longer enough'": Today I found this article by Brett Bundale on the Financial Post:

Six provinces — Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador — hiked their minimum wage effective Oct. 1.

The flurry of increases come as the cost of living soars, with Canada’s annual inflation rate reaching a nearly 40-year high in recent months.

Several provinces have additional pay hikes scheduled over the coming months and years, many in a bid to raise minimum wages to $15 an hour — if they haven’t already reached that benchmark as is the case in Ontario, Alberta, B.C. and the three territories.



Sun. Oct. 2, 2022 Weather: It was warm today so I sat outside on my lawn chair.  

Mon. Oct. 3, 2022 Sick: I was sick yesterday and I got my dad to buy some Advil.  I took some yesterday and today.  The last time I was sick was in Jul. 2016.



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