Weekly News Recap: February 23, 2024

Martens stands at the announcement at the Cypress Regional Hospital. (photos by Hayden Michaels)

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. -- Martin Luther

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

• VIDEO: Wakefield Brewster shares his passion for poetry and storytelling. (CBC) CALGARY STORY If you live in Calgary and have had the pleasure of listening to Wakefield, congrats. If you have not, do try to make it happen. He is amazing. "Wakefield Brewster, the sixth poet laureate for Calgary, reflects on the intersection of poetry, social justice and the experience of being Black in Alberta."

• 55 Quotes of Inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Birmingham Times) True, this was in January but I can never get enough of MLK. #Giant "As [they commemorated] Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day [...] here’s a look at some of his stirring and inspiring words which remain as relevant and inspiring today as when he lived."

• Black poetic voices take centre stage highlighting themes of joy and pain (Queen's University Journal) Love this! "While the world of poetry offers a blank page for each poet, for Black poets challenging history, the page expands. With each stroke, these poets can redefine conventional notions of Blackness, infusing their verses with resilience and grace."

• Meet Bass Reeves, The Trailblazing Black Deputy Who Patrolled The Wild West (All That's Interesting) #UpendedHistory "Contrary to what classic Westerns might lead us to believe, one in four American cowboys was actually African American. But we don’t necessarily get that reality when the only image of a cowboy that we have in our minds is John Wayne or The Lone Ranger."

SOME GOOD NEWS

• VIDEO: #TheMoment a pack of wolves dug a tunnel through the snow in China (CBC) This is completely fascinating to watch. "A pack of wolves dug a tunnel to get out of snow that was nearly one-metre deep in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region."

• VIDEO: This Artist Has Been Using Only a Typewriter To Create Drawings for the Last 10 Years (My Modern Met) #Mesmerizing "The artwork that you are looking at was not sketched meticulously by pen and ink. Instead, it is composed entirely of the letters and symbols that you can find on a vintage typewriter."

• The Addiction Recovery Story We Don’t Hear Enough (New York Times) I cried reading this story. #Redemption "Twenty women with felony records and a history of drug use are standing on the stage in a crowded auditorium in Tulsa, and the audience is rising in a standing ovation. The women are teary as they see the cops who arrested them, applauding wildly. It’s the happiest of graduations, and through the raucous cheering one glimpses a better way of dealing with drug and alcohol abuse."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

1. Université de Montréal launches the largest fundraising drive in its history (uMontreal) MONTREAL STORY I love this campaign tagline. Congrats UdeM! "At a time of worldwide concerns over climate change, growing social inequality, the rise of AI, political polarization and new diseases, Université de Montréal is launching L’heure est brave, the most ambitious giving campaign in its history. Far from being disheartened by the daily litany of bad news, UdeM sees it as an opportunity to actively engage in the search for solutions."

2. More Wall Street Firms Are Flip-Flopping on Climate. Here’s Why. (New York Times) #Ugh "Many of the world’s biggest financial firms spent the past several years burnishing their environmental images by pledging to use their financial muscle to fight climate change. Now, Wall Street has flip-flopped. In recent days, giants of the financial world including JPMorgan, State Street and Pimco all pulled out of a group called Climate Action 100+, an international coalition of money managers that was pushing big companies to address climate issues."

3. Friendship bracelets are more popular than ever, but are they eco-friendly? (CBC) I heart a good friendship bracelet. "Friendship bracelets made out of colourful plastic beads aren't anything new, but thanks to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, they've seen a massive rise in popularity. Some claim the lyric 'So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it,' from her 2022 Midnights album, was the catalyst for this trend."

4. This North American country tops the list of the safest countries for travelers (USA Today) CANADIAN CONTENT Um...can you guess who is at the top...yup...it's us. "A new year means new destinations. When looking at where to go, travelers will consider the usual factors such as weather, cost and available activities. This year, safety is also top of mind as more people want to go off the beaten path and take solo trips. To help, travel insurance provider Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection just released its ninth annual State of Travel Insurance report, which includes the safest countries in the world for travelers."

5. What tennis reveals about AI’s impact on human behaviour (The Economist) As a clear note, the AI ruling trumps the humans at Wimbledon. "Wimbledon’s centre court has seen its share of rivalries; think of McEnroe v Borg, or Williams v Williams. But for David Almog, a behavioural economist at Northwestern University, the match worth tuning in for is umpire v machine. How AI oversight affects human decision-making is an important question in a world where algorithms play an ever-larger role in everyday life. Car drivers, financial traders and air-traffic controllers already routinely see their decisions overruled by ai systems put in place to rapidly correct poor judgment. Doctors, judges and even soldiers could be next."

6. 'Correcting history': Louis Riel's portrait as Manitoba's honorary 1st premier unveiled (CBC) MANITOBA STORY I am a huge Riel fanboy so this makes my day. "The head of the Manitoba Métis Federation says his nation has reached 'the turning point' of its history as Louis Riel's portrait at the legislature was updated to recognize him as the province's honorary first premier [...]. MMF President David Chartrand and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew spent part of Louis Riel Day unveiling the portrait of the Métis leader, who led a provisional government and led negotiations that paved the way for the province's entry into Confederation in 1870."

7. The surreal life of a professional bridesmaid (The Hustle) All manner of hustle can be work today. "When a bride reaches out, Glantz’s services start at $2.5k and go up from there, depending on how much support someone needs. Do they need unlimited texting and calling? Bachelorette party planning help? An extra set of eyes to go dress shopping?"

8. Noam Chomsky: The False Promise of ChatGPT (New York Times) Thank you Dr. Chomsky. "The human mind is not, like ChatGPT and its ilk, a lumbering statistical engine for pattern matching, gorging on hundreds of terabytes of data and extrapolating the most likely conversational response or most probable answer to a scientific question. On the contrary, the human mind is a surprisingly efficient and even elegant system that operates with small amounts of information; it seeks not to infer brute correlations among data points but to create explanations."

9. The real cost of the fiscal crisis hitting Canada’s universities (The Globe and Mail) CANADIAN STORY All this created by underfunding. "Canadian universities are struggling financially. Laurentian filed for creditor protection in 2021; Alberta universities have had to make severe budget cuts; McGill and Concordia are in danger of plunging enrolments because of the mandated increase in out-of-province tuition fees; Queen’s has a large structural deficit and its provost declared that Queen’s could cease to exist if we don’t deal with this issue."

10. How Much Do Super Bowl Losers Get Paid? It's a Winning Number (Distractify) You're welcome! "Well, we already know that professional football players make a ton of money. Consider that the minimum salary for an NFL player is a whopping $750,000. The league's celebrity players make multi-millions. All players get paid when their team makes it to a playoff game. The pay increases as they advance through the playoffs and tops out at the Super Bowl. But how much do Super Bowl losers get paid versus what they make when they win? Well, it's still a lot."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

1. Trends in Fundraising: What Happened in 2023 and What to Look For in 2024 (AFP Global) CANADIAN CONTENT I am proud to say I offered a bit of content to this article.

2. How to Leverage AI and Stay True to Your Nonprofit Values (AFP Global) These are important questions. Do you tell folks when you are recording them on Fireflies.AI in a meeting?

3. The Best Places in the World to Travel Solo (VOGUE) As one who occasionally does solo travel to decompress, this is a very interesting list.

4. Research Finds That Playing an Instrument or Singing Helps Keep Your Brain Healthy (My Modern Met) Want to live longer? Do what you have always promised you would do...learn an instrument.

5. The science behind winter tires (Popular Science) Yes, I know that winter is almost over but...this article is just too good. #TireNerd

6. The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (Andrew Chen) Some great learnings here.

7. The best books to read right now (GQ) A really great list.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

1. Multi-million dollar donation solidifies Swift Current couples legacy (Swift Current Online) What can I say other than...do what you always wanted to do in life...in death. #PlannedGiving "Generosity. That's the word that sums up the announcement made by the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation today. The Foundation unveiled an estate donation of $4,021,634.05 from Rodney and Dorothy Elmgren."

2. San Francisco Ballet Receives $60 Million Anonymous Donation (The Violin Channel) Imagine being the fund development officer who took that call on that day. Fantastic! "The San Francisco Ballet (SFB) has received an anonymous donation of $60 million — which is the largest single gift the company has received in its 91-year history, and is likely to be among the largest gifts ever received by an American ballet company."

3. Shoppers Drug Mart, U of A team up to expand access to primary care for Albertans (Folio) EDMONTON STORY Thank you Shoppers! "A $2-million gift from Shoppers Drug Mart to the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will fund research aimed at innovation for primary health care in pharmacies to help expand access for Albertans."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

• At 116, She Has Outlived Generations of Loved Ones. But Her Entire Town Has Become Family. (New York Times)

• ‘THE MAGIC OF RAINA IS REAL’ (The Atlantic)

• Western University quietly renames history scholarships created by white supremacist (CBC)

• Katz Group launches court battle with Edmonton homeless organization over $5M donation (CBC)

• GoFundMe Says $30 Billion Has Been Raised on Its Crowdfunding and Nonprofit Giving Platforms (U.S. News)

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