Sports & School

This weekend my daughter is competing in a Highland Dance Competition before school starts next week. I read this timely article, and have been wondering about how I deal with her school & sports.

Because I follow hockey, I see more and more that North America values its sports players higher than intelligence. The multi-billions that sports players get for a one year contract is insane, but even with recent attempts to cut back (think NHL salary caps), salaries are still increasing. From the article it looks like this attitude starts in school, from both the parents and the school officials themselves.

When was the last time that you saw a high level scientist making more than a million a year? I think the only way to use your brains for money is in business, but a few people would argue that maybe it’s your soul that is worth the money, not your mind. However, in the study they compare musicians with all-star athletes, with community-league athletes.

The first comparison is missing school for sports games. 75% is a lot of times. And this isn’t for everyday class work, but for exams!!! Not only that, but schools are tacitly agreeing with the viewpoint that sports are more important than education by letting them make up later, offering special tutoring, and other special treatments, that the other students may not get (or nearly as much).

Now my daughter, Sweet Pea, does not get preferential treatment for exams from me. In fact, last year this was a tipping point for myself. She was getting lower grades (one C) and I told her if she does not shape up, that ALL of her sports are gone until she can manage her school. She is also (unfortunately for me!) good at sports and enjoys sports so this was quite a threat for her, and she barely squeaked by. However, I’m afraid that this will create a dislike for school, whereas I want the exact opposite to happen. She can have it both, but she cannot see that.

Why don’t schools teach that both can happen? I try to be active, but frankly I deserve to be last picked for sports… I just don’t enjoy them. I prefer individual sports, so I’m not really a good role model for her. Why do we rank athletes & compete in tournaments, but not for academics. Who is the best writer in the school? Which math team can answer the most difficult questions? Cannot schools make academics into a sport to make it fun? Would that solve the problem?

I understand with obesity being the next health crisis to try and get the kids active, but really, is it worth having a society of dumb jocks instead of pudgy nerds? Is there no middle ground or why can’t we have both?

Just a Little Love People...

Alright, whoever said that Canadians are the most mannered/nice people have burning pants right now, because whenever they get behind the wheel they are morons.
Just yesterday I was driving down some alleys (don't ask, its not like I patrol them), and had to move over EVERY time another car came down. EVERY TIME!!!11!!11!!!

The driver, whether female/male, young/old, etc/etc, would stare at me. Finally, I would move over. Is this some kind of Canadian chicken??! (moving verrrrry slowlllllly).

Anyways, the polite & mannered thing to do would for both of us to move to the sides (there is enough room), and each give a little wave. But no, I move to the side, and the other people either ignore me or give me a one fingered salute. Just a little wave. That's all I'm asking. My standards are super low. And yet, people cannot manage this. Where are their moms? Did they teach them no manners?

And this is in alleys! Everytime I get on the roads, I put my life & my daughters in jeopardy. People drive like friggin blind people! And this is in every major city I have ever drove in. Actually, this rant goes for States' cities too. When the population gets over 100,000 people think that they are immune or something.

Well...... I guess all I can hope for is that natural selection works........

Water Conference

Well... nothing like a well deserved break ....
Anyways, this last Saturday there was a Water Conference held in Alberta at Fort Chip. There were the usual players there, but the promising piece of information was that the Aboriginal Bands that were there were discussing the potential of suing the Federal and Albertan Government because of their inaction after the Mackenzie Basin Transboundary Water Agreement that was signed in 1997. A CBC news report stated that mutated fish are being found in the rivers in this area. Remind you of the Simpsons? Instead of three eyes, there were two mouths.

Scary as this is (ewwww, that's why I don't eat fish), many people are using the river water daily. Many Indian Reserves are found along rivers in this region, so why isn't the government listening? Because it all comes down to the mighty dollar, there are fewer people living in Northern Alberta, and because many of these people, the government just does not care about.

What to do?? I'll be thinking about this for a while to come.

Herbal Supplements are Bad News

In today’s and yesterday's paper, another news story about a fatality due to an herbal supplement. While not directly causing the death, this drug hidden in the "herbal medicine" caused the driver to fall asleep while driving. Meanwhile, because these supplements are not regulated to the degree they should be, there was an additional drug in there that was addictive and harmful and is not approved for sale in Canada. The irony is that this additional drug was probably added to actually make the herbal remedy work.

I love plants (obviously) and they are useful medically, but even I am suspicious of the claims made by some of these companies selling herbal remedies. Most of the clinical trials done by researchers were poorly designed, so the claims cannot be attributed to the plants. Conversely, the medicines that are appropriately made from plants have been researched, studied and have been standardized so that everytime you take that ASA (aspirin) pill, you are guaranteed to receive a certain amount of the active ingredient. The active ingredient/compound from the plant has been extracted so that instead of chowing down on a whole tree’s worth of willow bark, one or two pills can do the job.

As of yet (in Canada), there are less regulations regarding herbal remedies than normal, everyday food we consume. All ingredients on normal foodstuffs must be list in order of quantity. We have no such laws regarding herbal medicines. The actual “active herb” may not even be found in the pills, or a minute quantity is found, and the rest is filling. These amounts can vary from batch to batch, so results cannot be verified.

So until more research (by reputable scientists) can be done, please DO NOT buy herbal supplements. Even if they are famous brand names, they are not regulated enough and do not list every ingredient. This is not just a waste of your money, it can ruin your health or kill you like the man from the news story.