Weekly News Recap: December 1, 2023

Weekly News Recap: December 1, 2023

A historic $20-million donation from a local trucking tycoon made shortly before his death will "propel cancer treatment to new heights," according to officials with the London Health Sciences Foundation. Irene and Archie Verspeeten. (Handout/London Health Sciences Foundation)

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep. -- Robert Frost

SOME GOOD NEWS

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Canadian women's philanthropy is soaring says TD Wealth (Wealth Professional) CANADIAN STORY And the trend becomes the reality. Nice. "Canadian women’s growing share of wealth is prompting them to increase the amount they give to good causes. A new report from TD Wealth shows that female philanthropy almost tripled in dollar value terms in the decade from 2011 to 2021, rising from $1.5 billion $4.3 billion."

  2. Ford: Gen Z gets a bad rap but it also includes thoughtful, problem-solving, world-embracing young people (Calgary Herald) Yes, emphatically, this is why. "In a world seemingly gone mad, these young people are our hope. It is they who will have to clean up after us; they who will face a planet where parts of it will likely be uninhabitable. For them, climate change is here and they will inherit its effects. Maybe that’s why they are so passionate about seemingly everything."

  3. VIDEO: Teens vs. coats: The generational quarrel that won't chill out (CBC) CALGARY STORY Teens have been shucking winter coats since time immemorial. "It's [...] the season to pull the winter jackets and snow boots out of storage. But outside Calgary's Western Canada High School during a recent lunch hour, coats are clearly optional. 'I have a jacket in my locker, I just don't want to wear it because it's not that bad out,' said Aiden Whitney, a T-shirt-clad teenager whose breath was visible in the crisp air. Whitney wasn't alone in such sartorial choices — not only among current high school peers that day, but also the generations of teens before them."

  4. Charles T. Munger, Much More Than Warren Buffett’s No. 2, Dies at 99 (New York Times) This is a fascinating obituary, I highly recommend reading it in full. RIP Mr. Munger. We will not see your like again. "Charles T. Munger, who quit a well-established law career to be Warren E. Buffett’s partner and maxim-spouting alter-ego as they transformed a struggling New England textile company into the spectacularly successful investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, died in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 99."

  5. VIDEO: Authentic: Merriam-Webster’s 2023 word of the year (CBC) In a post-truth society, an inspired choice. "In an age of deepfakes, post-truths and AI, have we reached a crisis of authenticity? According to data analyzed by Merriam-Webster, 'authentic' saw a big uptick in searches this year, leading the dictionary to name it the word of the year."

  6. Dow to invest $8.9 billion in Alberta's Industrial Heartland for net-zero petrochemical project (CBC) FORT SASKATCHEWAN STORY That's billion with a 'b'. #Wow "Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced [...] that an $8.9 billion investment by Dow will move ahead in Alberta's Industrial Heartland. Dow's Path2Zero facility, to be built in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., will be an integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives site that is net-zero with respect to scope 1 (direct) and scope 2 (indirect, from the use of purchased energy) carbon dioxide emissions. Dow says it is the world's first net-zero complex."

  7. Bow Valley College Special Announcement (YouTube) CALGARY STORY "Bow Valley College champions the way forward, inspiring brighter futures for our students with the announcement of the public launch of its campaign. Well done BVC. ViTreo is proud to be working alongside the BVC team on this campaign."

  8. N.Y. woman clears $108M of other people's medical debt — after dying of cancer (CBC) #Amazing "When Casey McIntyre was planning her own memorial service, she decided she didn't want it to be all doom and gloom. The 38-year-old New Yorker had stage four ovarian cancer. And as her condition worsened, she knew she'd soon be leaving behind her husband and 18-month daughter. But she decided to also leave behind a legacy — one that would change the lives of Americans saddled with hospital bills they can't afford to pay."

  9. Eckhardt-Gramatté music library’s name under review (The Manitoban) WINNIPEG STORY This is always a risk in naming. A low risk but a risk. "The legacy of Ferdinand Eckhardt, a former director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, has come under scrutiny after an article published in the Walrus [...] alleged he had Nazi sympathies. The University of Manitoba’s music library was named after Eckhardt’s wife, Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, a Russian composer and musician. Since the Walrus article was published, the sign displaying the name of the library has been covered."

  10. All about OpenAI's dramatic firing and rehiring of CEO and why it could mean greater scrutiny (CBC) This is absolutely bonkers. Arguably the tech company under the most scrutiny right now and the board chose to oust their visionary CEO. A study in bad board governance. "At OpenAI, the new boss appears to be the same as the old boss. That would be Sam Altman, the 38-year-old CEO whose brief ouster and reported pending return to the San Francisco-based maker of the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT has been a lot to keep up with. The recent tumult can roughly be summed up as follows: Altman was ousted from OpenAI last Friday, hired elsewhere by Monday, and on a return path to OpenAI by Tuesday. Here's a brief look at what unfolded at OpenAI and how it may affect the influential company."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. How to Prioritize Tasks: 7 Powerful Frameworks for Prioritization (Dan Silvestre) Some of these frameworks you have seen but many you have not. Great article.

  2. Too Many Meetings at Work? Here’s How To Stop the Meeting Madness (Better Programming) Good tips on our biggest time waster.

  3. Unleashing the Future: The Best AI Books to Read in 2023 (Ethan Caldwell) Just in case you are looking to brush up on AI over the holidays...

  4. Why People Get Lonely (According to Carl Jung) (Illumination) The stat gets even worse when 58% report feeling that no one truly knows them and 57% say they eat every single meal alone.

  5. Why should everyone be using Powerful Questions? (Management Matters) The older I get, the more I realize that I should have been asking more questions earlier.

  6. Sofa, So Good (uAlberta) A fantastic and existential read.

  7. The Art of Enjoying People with a Positive Affective Presence (Self | Psychology) Basically: if you want to enjoy life and people, stop being a grumpy old man (I have been guilty of this).

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. Burnaby Hospital redevelopment gets $4M matching donation from the Beedies (Beedie.ca) BURNABY STORY Note how the case for support was key in this gift. "Local philanthropists and Burnaby residents Betty Beedie and her son Ryan Beedie have announced a 'transformative' $4-million matching gift for the second phase of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment. 'When the foundation shared the vision of the new acute care tower, I knew that it was something we had to support, together as a community,' said Ryan Beedie in the release."

  2. Dolly Parton Gives Massive Donation To Salvation Army Before Red Kettle Kickoff (Country Rebel) #IHeartDolly and it's great that she is getting behind the Red Kettle campaign, a campaign that has not had as much love in recent years as it deserves. "Dolly Parton is set to grace the halftime stage during the Thanksgiving game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders. This marks the 27th edition of the Red Kettle Kickoff, and in anticipation of her performance, Parton made the generous announcement that she would be contributing $1 million to support the Salvation Army."

  3. $20M LHSC gift: Dying trucking magnate tells sons 'this has to get done' (London Free Press) LONDON STORY Now, that is getting it done. #Legacy "The hospital auditorium was filled with health-care staff and executives praising Archie Verspeeten for his unprecedented donation of $20 million to the London Health Sciences Foundation. He would have hated every minute of it, his son Dennis Verspeeten said. The elder Verspeeten, who died at age 92 in a Tillsonburg hospital, had lost his wife Irene and sons Alan and Ron to cancer and was determined to help other families, Dennis said."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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