Category Uncategorized

Syria Joins Paris Climate Accord, Leaving Only U.S. Opposed https://nyti.ms/2j7PycS
Never would have thought a decade ago that this is where we would end up. Clearly, massive climate change action is taking place globally, regardless of what happens federally in the US. Besides working hard, all that’s left is to hope that we are doing enough to avert a major catastrophe.

What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest an Answer https://nyti.ms/2hODjP5
As a Canadian, living only a few hours from the US border, and as a pacifst, I struggle to see how essentially unregulated gun ownership has any upside. I see very little reason for anybody to keep a gun in their house/car/purse etc. When there has been this much escalation already, what can be done to turn the cycle of violence and gun ownership around? Changing social norms? Trading guns in for something else that people want more? Education? Any ideas?

Today is World Vegan Day! And, the UK vegan society, I found out, has turned vegan food day into a vegan food month, with a challenge to go vegan for the month of Nov. (https://www.vegansociety.com/take-action/campaigns/world-vegan-month#pledge).  I couldn’t find anything equivalent for Canada – although that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. So, if it isn’t in Canada yet, let’s start it now. How many of you will join the challenge and go vegan for Nov?  🙂 It’s really not as hard as it sounds – there is so much great vegan cheese and yogurt available, amazing vegan restaurants etc etc. If going 100% doesn’t feel right, how about going part way and nudging yourself a bit further towards plant-based eating from where you are now? Maybe grab a few friends and have them join you and try it together. Working as a group usually makes challenges more enjoyable. 🙂
Share your successes, challenges and questions here and see how you feel at the end of Nov. 🙂
 

https://www.glamour.com/story/reese-witherspoon-women-of-the-year-speech
Came across part of this speech by Reese Witherspoon recently on Facebook, and thought it was worth finding the full speech. Turns out that it is a couple of years old – but well worth highlighting. I’ve always appreciated the effort she puts into promoting strong female characters, and this highlights her efforts to promote strong women in leadership, and with ambition, in all aspects of life.
Here are a couple of quotes:

“I dread reading scripts that have no women involved in their creation
because inevitably I get to that part where the girl turns to the guy,
and she says, “What do we do now?!” Do you know any woman in any
crisis situation who has absolutely no idea what to do? I mean, don’t
they tell people in crisis, even children, “If you’re in trouble, talk
to a woman.” It’s ridiculous that a woman wouldn’t know what to do.”

“I think we are in a culture crisis in every field. In every industry,
women are underrepresented and underpaid in leadership positions.
Under 5 percent of CEOs of fortune 500 companies are women. Only 19
percent of Congress is women. No wonder we don’t have the health care
we deserve or paid family leave or public access to early childhood
education. That really worries me. How can we expect legislation or
our needs to be served if we don’t have equal representation? So
here’s my hope: If you’re in politics, media, the tech industry, or
working as an entrepreneur or a teacher or a construction worker or a
caregiver, you know the problems we are all facing.

I urge each one of you to ask yourselves: What do we do now? That’s a
big question. What is it in life that you think you can’t accomplish?
Or what is it that people have said that you cannot do? Wouldn’t it
feel really good to prove them all wrong? Because I believe ambition
is not a dirty word. It’s just believing in yourself and your
abilities. Imagine this: What would happen if we were all brave enough
to be a little bit more ambitious? I think the world would change.”

Based on a long-standing frustration I have, and some recent discussions, I am putting a question out there. Anybody have any ideas why the Catholics get full funding in Ontario for their schools, and other private (including faith-based) schools, need to operate without government support? Perhaps there was something that made sense at some point in history, but surely it can’t be justified in today’s multi-cultural and diverse world.  In my opinion, it’s all or nothing – either all private schools get the same subsidy (assuming that they meet appropriate provincial standards etc), or nobody gets anything. I can’t see a way to justify giving substantial funding to one group at the expense of all others. (As a disclaimer, I have close connections to several private, faith-based schools and other institutions, but don’t work there, and am not speaking on their behalf here.)
So, given that this is a system that seems destined to end – or undergo a radical change – at some point, the questions are:

• How much longer will it continue like this?
• What can be done to move change forward faster? Petitions? Meeting with government? Other?
• Is anything being done on this issue already that I’m not aware of?
• What is the stance of local/provincial/federal governments on this issue?

Lately, I have been noticing a lot of new student housing going up in Waterloo, which I think is great. I love living in a city with a vibrant education scene, and having 2 major universities within a few blocks of each other is great. The student housing is all apartment blocks. At the same time, certain parts of town are either already filled with – or expanding to add more single family dwellings. Many of them look huge from the outside. Based on occasionally looking some places up on the realtor website – my totally unscientific survey – it appears that they are frequently over 2,500 square feet of living space (including the basement) and many are probably well over  3,000 sq. feet.
Based on a very rough guess from my student days, I’m guessing that the student apartments are pretty tight (apartments under 1,000 square feet, shared by several people). So, students are perhaps getting 350 square feet per person, probably often less. Then, somehow, to fill these new places, people are supposed to “graduate” out of student housing to single family dwelling with well over 500 square feet per person, and still be able to afford the mortgage etc.  Also, what does it say about our priorities if so much of our collectives resources are going towards our own, large dwellings instead of donating the money or using it to build community? Why aren’t more apartment buildings sized for and aimed at families with children?
According to this article https://www.point2homes.com/news/canada-real-estate/how-large-are-canadian-homes.html, this isn’t all in my imagination. They are suggesting that the size of new homes has doubled since the 1970’s, and homes in Canada are the US are larger, on average, than other parts of the world, including Europe. So, what can we as Canadians do to live more simply and match our international neighours in our housing choices? 🙂
Extra Info:
This UN report http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/charting/14.pdf ranks countries, in one chart based on whether people have more or less than 20 sq metres/215 sq. feet/person, which equals around 1,000 sq ft for a family of 4.

“How to be more confident Some people exude self-assurance, while others dread putting themselves forward. But is lack of confidence societal or genetic, and what tricks can we use to overcome it?”
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/26/too-scared-to-speak-up-how-to-be-more-confident?CMP=share_windows_mail
Almost wasn’t going to read this article, based on the heading. However, I started reading, and found it more interesting than I was expecting.
Here’s a quote from a BBC journalist, Katty Kay, speaking about women and work, highlighting one of the perhaps more subtle impacts of a male-dominated society:

“Evidence of women underestimating their abilities is comprehensive and across the board,” she says. “It exists in sports, it exists in politics, it exists in business, it exists in the military.” It is quite the reverse for men. “One of the most reliable social studies you can do is to give men and women a scientific reasoning quiz,” she says. “Men tend to overestimate their abilities by more than 30%. Women routinely underestimate their abilities.” In reality, the quiz results reveal men and women tend to do about the same.
This, of course, has implications for both an individual’s career and the workplace in general. “Hewlett Packard has done work on promotions,” Kay continues. “Women will apply for promotions when they have 100% of the skill set, men will go for those same promotions with 60% of the skill set, because they figure they’re going to learn the rest when they get there – and they’re right, they will, and so could we…”

Found a movie recently on Netflix (https://www.menemshafilms.com/dough and https://www.netflix.com/title/80065909) and thought I would pass it on. It’s based on the intersecting lives of a nearly retired Jewish baker in London, and the young adult Muslim newcomer he hires to help out when facing a staffing shortage.   The owner is shocked to see business booming, only to later discover that his staff person (first by accident, then intentionally), has been adding small amounts of marajuana to every batch of dough, resulting in very happy customers, who have no idea what they are actually consuming.
Fairly predictable in many ways, leading clearly to a happy ending, with a bit of a low budget feel, it will not win awards for the best movie ever made. However, I still think that the world needs more happy endings to counter the negativity that is so dominant in some politics and other sectors lately.  This is a nice way to spend a couple of hours, on a day when you are looking for something positive with a few laughs. 🙂

http://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/links-i-liked-147/
Today’s geography lesson… apparently, in Trump’s world,  a map of Africa may include Nambia approx in the centre, with Narnia right next door. 🙂

http://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/are-grassroots-faith-organizations-better-at-advocacymaking-change-happen/
Interesting summary of some of the faith-based vs secular questions in the NGO world. One piece that is missing, in my opinion, is the role of inter-religious peacebuilding. It is alluded to towards the end (that things are not as clear in a more diverse community), but, to me, that is the more critical question. It seems fairly straightforward that many people would do things at the request of their own faith-group more than they would for a secular request. However, for example, what about if the mosque asks the church for help or the reverse? What if multiple faith groups join together to ask their people to work together on an issue? It certainly happens (I have been involved in these kinds of projects, and would like to see it happen more), but I haven’t seen much research on inter-religious cooperation as opposed to single-faith vs secular. (Admittedly, I haven’t dug very hard).  How do success rates or implementation change in secular vs single faith vs multi-faith projects?