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The folks from Fibernetics, Wordline and NEWT spend a fabulous Thursday playing golf at our local course, the River Edge Golf Club on the Grand River in Kitchener to raise money for the Sick Kids Foundation. Company president Roy Graydon and … Continue reading
(CBC Sept 9. 2013) Canada has some of the happiest people on the planet because of long life expectancy, high average income and robust social ties, according to a survey sponsored by the United Nations in which Canada ranked sixth.
And it appears our cold, harsh winters make us merrier, not morose, since the only people who say they feel happier than Canadians are citizens of fellow northern nations, in order: Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands and Sweden.
The United States ranked 17th in the report, trailing the United Arab Emirates, Panama and Mexico. Libyans were in the middle of the pack in 78th, while the globe’s most sorrowful citizens reside in West African neighbours Benin and Togo.
“One thing that struck me this time is that of the 150 countries we look at — and we’re measuring a period roughly from 2005 to 2010 — is how many had significant increases or decreases — 60 had big increases but 40 had a big decrease,” co-author John Helliwell, professor emeritus of economics at the University of British Columbia, told CBC News.
Overall, the world is getting happier, the report says, though there are stark regional contrasts.
While people in Latin America and the Caribbean are more content — by seven per cent since 2007 —residents of the Mideast and North Africa, many of whose countries have been racked by political turmoil in recent years, are 11.7 percentage points more miserable.
“The Arab Spring wasn’t good for a lot of people in those regions,” Helliwell said. “But the major declines were the countries that were hardest hit in the euro crisis — i.e. Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal.”
The happiness rankings are largely based on the so-called life-evaluation results from the Gallup World Poll, conducted in more than 150 countries every year since 2005. The poll asks people to describe their happiness on a scale from zero to 10. The average happiness level in the 2013 World Happiness report was 5.1. Canadians scored 7.48, below Denmark at 7.69 but well above Togo at 2.94.
The paper’s authors say six factors account for three-quarters of the differences among residents of surveyed countries:
However, they emphasize that while the most cheerful countries on the planet are also some of the wealthiest, income is a less important contributor than things like personal freedom and social supports.
Jens Norlem, who lives in Denmark, told CBC News he wasn’t surprised his country led the rankings, which he said is a national point of pride.
“It’s a very equal country,” Norlem said. “There’s not a lot of very rich people and there’s not a lot of very poor people. There’s a very big group of the middle class. And people have a high level of education, so people participate very much in elections and stuff like that.”
However, Norlem said, what sets Denmark apart from a country like the United States is simple peace of mind.
“You feel that you have confidence in the system — in the governmental system and in other people also,” he said.
“It’s a very typical thing here that if you walk up to people in the street and ask them a question, they’ll try to help. They wouldn’t think, ‘Who is this person coming up to me? He’s probably trying to rob me.’
“Which I guess is a bit different in the United States, just taking an example, where lot of people have guns and try to protect themselves, so they can shoot anybody coming up to them.”
The report, co-edited by Helliwell with Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of development and health policy at Columbia University in New York, and London School of Economics professor emeritus Richard Layard, suggests more countries use citizen happiness as a measure of progress, citing the South Asian kingdom of Bhutan, which has developed a Gross National Happiness Index and aims above all to maximize it.
Helliwell said this year’s report, created under the aegis of the UN Sustainable Development Research Initiative, is meant to be a kind of blueprint for governments to consider.
“It’s so the objectives of governments should include happiness,” Helliwell said. “It’s important we have the science and the measures there so they are taken and understood. The report is intended to play into discussions about world development goals for 2015 to 2030.”
Other countries using happiness levels or similar measures of wellbeing to gauge policy include Brazil, Britain and New Zealand, the study says.
Karl Bode at DSLREports.com came across something rather funny, about something that was more than funny.
I don’t know if you saw it, but in the spring a YouTube video went viral talking about how cable companies rip off their customers simply because they can. We here at Worldline thought it hilarious, but we didn’t want to play it up at the time – and not just because of the NSFW language.
But now?
Now, for whatever reason, the video has been censored in Canada:
Karl notes, in the video called the “first honest cable commercial”, “a fake cable industry representative (Nick Smith) promises poor service, underwhelming broadband speeds, and a “plethora of hidden fees,” before educating viewers on the finer points of what being an oligopoly really means.”
The film by Extremely Decent Films struck a nerve, and quickly netted millions of Internet views.
While the film is pretty clearly aimed at American cable companies (see the 0:24 mark), users in our forums and over at Reddit recently noted that the film has been banned in Canada.
Users trying to view the original video in Canada are greeted with a warning telling them that YouTube has pulled the video due to a defamation complaint from an unknown source. Re-uploads of the original video have yet to be similarly censored yet.
It’s unclear who in Canada would file a defamation complaint (or why YouTube would listen) given this is a United States parody criticizing United States cable companies, none of which are specifically named. Still, Canadian defamation laws can be rather loose, and the video obviously hit too close to home for somebody.
Karl re-posted the video below – PLEASE NOTE: there is some very NSFW language in there so consider yourself warned:
We’ll see how long it lasts.
For several weeks now, the big three telecommunication firms — Bell, Rogers and Telus — have joined forces and waged a public relations blitz to win the hearts and minds of Canadians.
Their ‘Fair for Canada’ campaign seeks to rally the public to their side and “stand up for fair competition in Canada.” And they warn of the consequences of the federal government giving U.S.-based companies like Verizon Communications an unfair advantage to bid on valuable wireless spectrum.
But some telecom analysts question the effectiveness of the campaign, charging that their message is a tough sell to many wary consumers who have little love for their cellphone providers.
“[The telecom providers] haven’t paid attention to the fact — whether it’s reality or not — that the perception is they’re taking advantage of Canadian customers in the pocketbook and taking liberties with customer service,” said Mark Blevis, a digital public affairs analyst.
“So they haven’t built a relationship with the Canadian public. They’ve now turned to the Canadian public to come to their aid.”
Blevis did some analysis on the online response to the campaign and found that an “overwhelming number of people” have been critical of the campaign. It has given an excuse for those to complain about their providers’ service and many welcome Verizon, hoping a fourth carrier will provide lower prices.
The website and Fair for Canada slogan has been mocked. A few days after the Fair for Canada crusade kicked off, two counter-campaigns called Real Fair For Canada and Four for Canada launched. And a two-minute video showcasing the concerns of Bell, Telus and Rogers employees has been parodied and criticized.
Meanwhile, a poll by Forum Research a found that 57 per cent of Canadians support Verizon entering the Canadian market, and a majority believe its presence will lead to lower rates and better service.
“Canadians have sniffed this one out. They can tell what the big three are trying to do and it’s not going over well,” Blevis said.
“If they had inspired Canadians to protect the Canadian marketplace, that may have worked. Instead what they tried to do is get Canadians to protect them. And by all accounts, Canadians are not prepared to do that for the big three.”
For the full article click HERE
We Canadians will be digging a little deeper into our pockets during this year’s back-to-school shopping season according to new survey
A Pollara survey, funded by the Bank of Montreal, says Canadians intend to shell out an average of $428 per child on items such as school supplies, clothing and technology as their kids head back to class.
That’s an increase of 18.2 per cent over last year, when parents planned to spend an average of $362 per child.
Of course there are always ways to save, so here’s a list of helpful hints gathered from all over the place to get that number down:
Hold off buying trendier gear like lunch boxes and pencil cases. Kids may love a version they picked up over the summer, but once they start school and see that their friends are all using another kind, they’ll beg you for an upgrade — and you’ve just doubled your outlay.
Shop end-of-summer sales. Your kids wear short sleeve polo shirts all year long, so wait and hit the big summer sales and snap up that discounted stuff that can be worn well into fall.
Stick to The List. The school’s supply list at the start of a new school year is all you’ll need to go by. Don’t spend money on unlisted items that will probably never get used and probably will be thrown away.
Head to the grocery store for basic supplies. Check weekly circulars for great deals on pens and loose-leaf paper, and get your weekly grocery shopping done at the same time. Buying everything in one place saves time, earns you extra bonus points if you have a loyalty card (and if you don’t, you really should), and saves gas money!
Let your kids raid the home-office supplies, then personalize them in unique ways. For example, decorate inexpensive plain, white binders with digital photos by creating a collage and inserting the page into the plastic outer cover.
Plan lunch. Food costs are increasing faster than Canadian income, so you have to learn how to optimize your grocery shopping. Use the weekly flyers and make a meal plan for the upcoming week.
…and one more, for you if your kid is the type who loses everything:
Buy bright. Lost school supplies may be a given, but gear that’s hard to miss can stave off the inevitable. Pack all their pencils, erasers, and other goodies into a bright backpack or pencil pouch to keep them from disappearing.
Tomorrow we’ll post some serious #moneysavingtips for your college and university aged kids.