Dan's Daily Dispatch- Archive 2014 Quarter 1

Each day as I browse newspapers and other "stuff" I find items that I think would interest someone in my life. I give the topic and the link but I don't identify who the message goes to. Each dispatch goes by email only to specific individuals who I think may have an interest in one or more of the items.



This archives the postings for  Q1 of 2014
Last year's postings are in "Dan's Daily Dispatch- 2013 Archive"
                                                                               .                                                                                          hard at work
Postings are in reverse date order.
Last update 2014.02.24
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2014.02.24

SLEEP, NAPS,  &  HEALTH  4 items
1.
Finally, justification for taking a nap! Here is scientific proof that siestas are beneficial... PLUS: Perfect snooze length revealed

    Sleeping for short periods in the day helps memory and cognitive function
But napping for 30mins or an hour can leave you with a sleep hangover
This is because you wake yourself during periods of deep sleep
Instead nap for 10-20mins for a quick refresh
Or sleep 90mins for a full sleep cycle, with no grogginess when you wake
By Katy Winter
PUBLISHED: 11:19 GMT, 28 January 201

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2547247/Finally-Justification-taking-nap-The-scientific-proof-mid-day-siesta-beneficial-long-perfect-length-snooze.html
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2.
Doctor Game: Melatonin good place to start for insomnia
Times Colonist
January 5, 2014 06:38 AM
Melatonin is linked to our biological time clock which decides what hormones are released at what times during the day. Studies show that levels of  melatonin decrease with age, about 10 per cent each decade. So by age 50, the production of melatonin has declined by one half and, at 80, it isone-third of what it was at age 20. Some authorities believe this is why the elderly suffer from insomnia and why it's prudent to use a melatonin supplement.:
http://www.timescolonist.com/doctor-game-melatonin-good-place-to-start-for-insomnia-1.779035

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3.
Lack of sleep can lead to obesity, heart problems
Ottawa doctor says sleeping less than 6 hours a night can also lead to
performance errors
By Kristy Kirkup, CBC News Posted: Feb 19, 2014 5:30 AM ET Last Updated: Feb 19,
2014

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lack-of-sleep-can-lead-to-obesity-heart-problems-1.2542088
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4.
Why sleep can help you become more fit
BY HELEN VANDERBURG, FOR THE CALGARY HERALD FEBRUARY 20, 2014 7:07 AM

http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/diet-fitness/sleep+help+become+more/9527239/story.html

=-=-=

OTHER HEALTH

The dark side of acetaminophen
Jennifer Yang / Toronto Star
Chuck Campbell of Nanaimo, B.C., lost his 19-year-old daughter in 2006 after she overdosed on
acetaminophen. A Toronto Star investigation has found that acetaminophen has killed hundreds of
Canadians, hospitalized tens of thousands and cost the health care system tens of millions over the
last decade.
OurWindsor.Ca
By Jennifer Yang

"…potential dangers of acetaminophen — the ingredient that made Tylenol famous but can be found in everything from Nyquil and NeoCitran to
prescription painkillers such as Percocet. …….While Health Canada tried to address these issues by updating label warnings in 2009, it ignored stronger
changes recommended by its own scientists, according to internal documents obtained by the Star — language that was also opposed by the
non-prescription drug industry. "

http://www.mykawartha.com/news-story/4380130-the-dark-side-of-acetaminophen/

FOR ARTISTS
Bob Ross And Happy Little Trees Inspire Vancouver Art Show
The Huffington Post B.C.  |  Posted: 02/21/2014 6:05 pm EST  |  Updated: 02/22/2014 1:
""Happy Little Clouds: A Bob Ross Art Show" runs Feb. 22 until March 23, 2014 at The Fall Tattooing
and Artists Gallery."

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/02/21/bob-ross-vancouver-art_n_4834345.html?utm_hp_ref=vancouver


2014.02.04

HEALTH  2 ITEMS
1. SUGAR
Excess sugar may triple risk of heart problems: U.S. study
Lindsey Tanner, The Associated Press
Published Monday, February 3, 2014 4:26PM

"It doesn't take all that much extra sugar, hidden in many processed foods, to substantially raise the risk, the researchers found, and most Americans eat more than the safest amount. Previous studies have linked diets high in sugar with increased risks for non-fatal heart problems, and with obesity, which can also lead to heart trouble. But in the new study, obesity didn't explain the link between sugary diets and death. That link was found even in normal-weight people who ate lots of added sugar.
"Too much sugar does not just make us fat; it can also make us sick," said Laura Schmidt, a health policy specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. She wrote an editorial accompanying the study in Monday's JAMA Internal Medicine.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/excess-sugar-may-triple-risk-of-heart-problems-u-s-study-1.1668738#ixzz2sMrVTgDd

2. HEALTHY SELF TALK
February 4, 2014 Updated: February 4, 2014 | 10:27 am
Talking in the 3rd person lowers anxiety: Study

http://metronews.ca/health/930718/talking-in-the-3rd-person-lowers-anxiety-study/


FOR ANIMAL LOVERS

Dolphins and orcas mix it up off Vancouver Island
B.C. Ferries' passengers leaving Departure Bay near Nanaimo, B.C. treated to unusual spectacle
CBC News Posted: Feb 03, 2014 10:29 PM PT Last Updated: Feb 03, 2014 10:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/dolphins-and-orcas-mix-it-up-off-vancouver-island-1.2522268

FOR DREAMERS,  DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES
"Are womens' nightmares different to mens?"
KATY WALDMAN
Last updated 05:00 05/02/2014
http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/9684825/Are-womens-nightmares-different-to-mens

BC LEADS IN LOVE

February 3, 2014 Updated: February 3, 2014 | 8:06 pm
"North Vancouver fifth most romantic city in Canada"
 By Emily Jackson

[Who writes these inappropriate headlines?  Well, 4 out of top 10 is pretty good for BC]

"B.C. residents love love, according to the list. Victoria won the prize as the most romantic city, with Kamloops and Langley also sneaking into the Top 10."
http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/930281/north-vancouver-fifth-most-romantic-city-in-canada/


2014.01.30
FOR IDEAS CAFE PARTICIPANTS 2014.01.29 "HOPE" AND LOTTERIES


RG mentioned what I now call "faint hope"

It seems to me there is a huge difference between "hope" and either   "counting on", and "rely". Note the various wordings used.

"One-third of Canadians counting on a lottery win to fund retirement"
The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, January 30, 2014

"...34 per cent hoped to win a lottery."

Well surely everyone who plays the lottery hopes to win and if 34% of the population plays the lottery then this is not surprising. However to even think of it as a plausible factor in retirement is indeed surprising. It is even more surprising that a Bank was complicit in even mentioning lottery in connection with retirement unless it was a write in, which I doubt.

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/one-third-of-canadians-counting-on-a-lottery-win-to-fund-retirement-1.1662830#ixzz2rtnWRJUa

For original source see:
http://newsroom.bmo.com/press-releases/bmo-rrsp-study-eighty-nine-per-cent-of-canadians--tsx-bmo-201401300924693001

The BMO press release did say
"Hoping to win the lottery (34 per cent, including 14 per cent relying "heavily")".
In BC it was 41% well above the National average of 34%.
Note also the slippery use of words when the BMO tabulation reported:
"% who are relying on winning the lottery to fund their retirement".

Methinks one more term is required "faint hope"



2014.01.24

FOR FRIDAY BOOK CLUB- FUKUYAMA 

We read  Fukuyama, Francis. Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. In that book he made a sharp distinction between countries with a relatively high level of trust, which tend to have a more robust economy, and countries with a low level of trust.
I recently used some data on trust level in various countries in one of my blog postings dealing with a different topic- Canada's place in the world. [see blog posting "Oh Canada…"]

The table below may not come out well in this email but does format well in the Dan's Daily Dispatch-  Archive 2014 Quarter 1
Numerals are a measure of trust- high= more trust
Hi trust       2013    2014        Low trust    2013    2014
Germany     55          57          France           54    46
Japan         41          44           Italy               51    43
US            59           49           Korea           47    51
Average    51.7    50.0                             50.7    46.7
                       
Range of trust over all countries            Avg           
2013    80    36                                   57           
2014    79    35                                  54           
                       
Source slide 5                       
http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/2014-edelman-trust-barometer/trust-around-the-world/                       

My conclusion is that the countries which Fukuyama cited as high or low trust are NOT significantly different in trust level and were thus not supportive of his theme

HUMOR.. after the serious one above, some humor is called for.

Norway's 'slow-TV': Next 100 hours of chess with Magnus Carlsen

By Anne Sewell 
Nov 5, 2013 - yesterday in Odd News
" Due to the success they have had with recent "slow-TV" epics like a 12-hour prime-time show of a burning fireplace and a solid 13-hours of shearing and knitting, Norway's NRK broadcaster has come up with its next slow epic."

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/361553#ixzz2jsXfHI3Q


 2014.01.12

 HIGHER POWER, BELIEFS, AND SUPERSTITIONS

Scientists Find One Source of Prayer's Power
Communing with a higher power increases self-control
By Piercarlo Valdesolo

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-find-one-source-of-prayers-power
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HOW BELIEFS CARRY ON

"Faith in the family: How belief passes from one generation to the next"
By Matthew Brown, Deseret News National Edition
Published: Thursday, Dec. 26 2013 9:00 a.m. MST

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865593024/Faith-in-the-family-How-belief-passes-from-one-generation-to-the-next.html?pg=1
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GRIT, SCHOOLING, EDUCATION

Angela Lee Duckworth
"The Surprising Trait That's MUCH More Important Than IQ
6 minutes
http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit.html
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PERSECUTION FOR NON BELIEF

Atheists face death in 13 countries, global discrimination: study
BY ROBERT EVANS GENEVA Mon Dec 9, 2013

"But this year's more comprehensive study showed six more, bringing the full list to Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

"The situation was severe in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Malta and Poland where blasphemy laws allow for jail sentences up to three years on charges of offending a religion or believers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/10/us-religion-atheists-idUSBRE9B900G20131210

THE BRAIN, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND THEORY OF MIND

‘What has gotten into Thomas Nagel?’: Leading atheist branded a
‘heretic’ for daring to question Darwinism

"Though mind remains a major topic in philosophy, it has been traditionally shunted to the edges of the physical sciences, in favour of a quantitative, math-based understanding of physical laws. Even when it takes a central role, as in neuroscience, consciousness is frequently described as simple information processing, as if brains were nothing more than computers made of meat, with consciousness as a running program – known as the computational theory of mind.

" “Each of our lives is a part of the lengthy process of the universe gradually waking up and becoming aware of itself,” he writes."

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/03/23/what-has-gotten-into-thomas-nagel-leading-atheist-branded-a-heretic-for-daring-to-question-darwinism/
    

OH CANADA! OH SO GOOD!

We Canadians seem, at one and the same time, to be modest and to be complainers.

I find a lot of negativity in the press.

This blog is intended to emphasize only the positive. It will be updated regularly with postings indicative of Canada's relative position in the world. Most recent data will be edited in at the top of the file.

Updated 2014.01.22



CANADA 7th  IN GLOBAL TRUST   posted 2014.01.22

"Trust in governments has fallen sharply, global survey finds"

"The online survey queried 27,000 people in 27 countries, and broke down results between the general population and a smaller sample of university-educated people. It was conducted last year between Oct. 16 and Nov. 29."

"Ahead of the gathering of political and business leaders in the Swiss resort of Davos, the public relations firm Edelman found that only 44 per cent of university-educated people participating in the survey trusted government, down 4 percentage points from the previous year. As recently as 2011, trust in politicians stood at 52 per cent."

http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/trust-in-governments-has-fallen-sharply-global-survey-finds-1.1646784
source

For a more comprehensive view and some country by country data here is the original source.
http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/2014-edelman-trust-barometer/trust-around-the-world/

For detail step through the 41 slides and in particular:

Slide 5, Aggregate trust across all countries 2014 compared with 2013.
government [declined from 48% to 44%], business [unchanged at 58%], media [declined from 57% to 52%], NGOS [increased from 63% to 64%]

Slide 6, Aggregate trust index [2013 57% 3014 54%]. Also is listed by country with Canada 2013 rank 8 at 62% and in 2014 rank 7 at 60%.

Slide 16. Trust in companies in terms of where they are headquartered.
Canada ranks 4/27 with 78%, lagging Germany 80%, Sweden 79% Switzerland 79%

It strikes me as strange that a search in Google news on 2014.01.22 for term 'trust in Canadian companies' did not turn up a single related story. Perhaps our financial press does not pick up on favorable news.

Similarly a search for term 'trust level in countries' reveals that the Edelman survey results were picked up by some European media but apparently not by Canadian media. 


Canada 6th Place in World Economic Freedom    posted 2014.01.19

I found it particularly interesting that I could not find a single report of this in any Canadian Newspaper. I used Google News and searched for
World economic freedom "Canada"

So this from the Wall Street Journal
"America's Dwindling Economic Freedom
Regulation, taxes and debt knock the U.S. out of the world's top 10.
By Terry Miller Jan. 13, 2014 8:05 p.m. ET

"World economic freedom has reached record levels, according to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, released Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. But after seven straight years of decline, the U.S. has dropped out of the top 10 …."

"For 20 years, the index has measured a nation's commitment to free enterprise on a scale of 0 to 100 by evaluating 10 categories, including fiscal soundness, government size and property rights. These commitments have powerful effects: Countries achieving higher levels of economic freedom consistently and measurably outperform others in economic growth, long-term prosperity and social progress

"….Hong Kong continues to dominate the list, followed by Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada. These are the only countries to earn the index's "economically free" designation. Mauritius earned top honors among African countries and Chile excelled in Latin America. Despite the turmoil in the Middle East, several Gulf states, led by Bahrain, earned designation as "mostly free."

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303848104579308811265028066?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303848104579308811265028066.html

Original source.
http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking



CANADA: 5TH BEST PLACE TO GROW OLD    posted 2013.10.10

Canada ranks in top 5 of world’s best places to grow old
Armina Ligaya | 01/10/13 |
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/01/sweden-canada-age-watch/

Of particular interest is that in the "health status" component Canada ranked #2
" Sweden topped the list of 91 countries in the Global AgeWatch Index, released Tuesday, followed by Norway, Germany and the Netherlands. Canada, thanks to our universal health care system, old age pension program and a relatively long life expectancy, ranked a healthy number 5 on the index compiled by HelpAge International, an advocacy group for older people."
For original source:
http://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/




COMPETITIVENESS 2013-2014 posted 2013.09.10

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS
Canada remains 14th most competitive economy in the world
CBC News Posted: Sep 04, 2013 4:15 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 05, 2013 11:27 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-remains-14th-most-competitive-economy-in-the-world-1.1347085
Full report see
http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-competitiveness
The Global Competitiveness Index 2013-2014 rankings                            
Switzerland    1
Singapore      2
Finland        3
Germany        4
United States  5
Sweden         6
Hong Kong SAR  7
Netherlands    8
Japan          9
United Kingdom 10
Norway         11
Taiwan, China  12
Qatar          13
Canada         14
Denmark        15


HAPPINESS September 10, 2013 posted 2013.09.15
Canada ranks 6th in global happiness survey
Main factors include social ties, freedom, UN-sponsored report says
CBC News Posted: Sep 9, 2013 12:04 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 9, 2013 2:51
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2013/09/08/happiness-canada-2013.html

Full report is at:
http://unsdsn.org/files/2013/09/WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf

Top 10 happiest countries
1. Denmark
2. Norway
3. Switzerland
4. Netherlands
5. Sweden
6. Canada
7. Finland
8. Austria
9. Iceland
10. Australia

The paper's authors say six factors account for three-quarters of the differences
among residents of surveyed countries:

GDP per capita.
Life expectancy.
Perceived national corruption.
Freedom to make life choices.
Generosity of fellow citizens.
Having someone to rely on in times of trouble.


LIVABLE CITIES August 2013   posted 2013.08.30
- Canada has 3 of the top 5 most livable cities in the world which is to brag a little.
or
- Canada has 3 of the top 10 most livable cities in the world—a bit more modest.
Total "score" of ten cities
Melbourne, Australia 97.5
Vienna, Austria 97.4
Vancouver, Canada 97.3
Toronto, Canada 97.2
Calgary, Canada 96.6
Adelaide, Australia 96.6
Sydney, Australia 96.1
Helsinki, Finland 96.0
Perth, Australia 95.9
Auckland, New Zealand 95.7

Source:
https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=Liveability2013

Better Life per the OEDC May 2013. posted 2013.06.05

Seven reasons to love living in Canada
By Kevin Press, BrighterLife.ca
May 29, 2013

http://brighterlife.ca/2013/05/29/seven-reasons-to-love-living-in-canada/?WT.mc_id=en-ca:digital_adv:paid:Outbrain:BrighterLife:FAMILY:Seven-reasons-to-love-living-in-Canada

"A study published yesterday by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that Canada performs exceptionally well in measures of well-being, according to an online report. On a range of measures housing, income, health and safety Canada scored among the world's best-performing countries. The study scored 36 nations, including 34 OECD members, Russia and Brazil. No overall ranking is reported.

Full report is at
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/canada/