Period Brain No More

"Women's cognitive performance is in general not disturbed by hormonal changes occurring with the menstrual cycle."
"Once the women had done the test the first time, they were better the next time. You perform better when you know the test."
"I think the important thing is that women perform independent from hormonal levels. Caution is warranted when conclusions are made for specific hormonal effects on cognitive functioning."
"Women's hormonal-menstrual cycle related changes do not limit them in their cognitive functioning."
Dr. Brigitte Leeners, expert, women's reproductive health, University Hospital, Zurich

NationalPost.com

This, the results of a new study published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, puts the lie to the endlessly repeated urban myth denigrating women's cognitive ability and emotional stability that holds women behave irrationally and struggle with failing intellectual competence under the influence of hormonal fluctuations relating to their monthly menstruation cycles.

The female menstrual cycle takes on average 28 days to complete its three phases; follicular (pre-egg release); ovulatory (egg release); and luteal (post-egg release). Dr. Leeners and her team of researchers recruited 88 women between the ages of 18 and 40 for their study, and a follow-up study during a second menstrual cycle assessed a total of 68 women. Their study differed from most others where only one menstrual cycle was typically followed.

Measurements of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and related hormones were taken at predefined periods across the two cycles. Cognitive tests on a touch screen computer to measure divided attention, visual-spatial working memory (the recall of shapes and colours and movements) and cognitive bias (judgement or comprehension inconsistencies) in processing information were given to the study participants.

In some women, progesterone and testosterone associated with changes across one cycle were identified, but the effects did not recur during the second round, and the implications of that were taken to suggest the effect of a learning curve. Had the changes been associated with hormones both cycles would have manifested similar results, and they did not. What the researchers take from the results of their study is that the common reflex of female 'instability' influencing the outcome of criminal trials, for example, have been misplaced.

Attributing menstrual stress as having been involved in some instances of criminal offences committed by women, and allowing them special consideration based on that belief is clearly, if this study is correct, out of place in a court of law. Premenstrual stress equating with a type of temporary disequilibrium akin to insanity prejudices an unwarranted outcome.

The conclusion reached by Dr. Leeners' research team omitted the study of "premenstrual dysphoric disorder", a condition that can be physically debilitating and which affects two to five percent of women, causing severe depression, irritability and dark changes in mood prior to menstruation. In their research, the study made an assessment of three brain functions only, noting the results "are certainly not exhaustive and hence do not cover the whole range of cognitive functioning."

And there are always other phenomena when dealing with human physiology, hormones and stressors to be considered. For example, an earlier study published by British researchers that demonstrated when women are experiencing severe cramping and pain related to their menstrual period, they performed less well on brain tasks requiring attention; their reactions were slower and clearly less accurate. Might anyone believe that a male struggling with pain would react any differently?

New research finds that the menstrual cycle has no effect on cognitive function  MedicalNewsToday.com

"Selfie" Epileptic Seizures

"There's a lot of data already about selfies being potentially dangerous in some circumstances because people don't think."
"There are even reports about people taking selfies while driving ... if you induced a[n epileptic] seizure behind the wheel, that would be a catastrophe, potentially."
Dr. Paula Brna, pediatric neurologist, Dalhousie University

Luca Bruno/AP    Pope Francis poses for a selfie as he arrives at Milan's Linate airport, northern Italy, for a pastoral visit to Monza and Milan, Saturday, March 25, 2017.

 

The ego-boosting selfie so beloved of an ever-expanding range of people -- from politicians to celebrities, sport figures to performers, and the everyday public -- comes equipped with a not-so-innocent precaution: people susceptible to the effects of flickering light on the brain resulting in epileptic seizures had better set aside the ambition to take photographs of themselves at whimsically bored moments. Or even, come to think of it, as efforts to retain special moments photographically.

For the simple reason that the special moment not on the individual's thought-radar may turn out to be their last. Self-portraiture via smart phones and other types of digital photographic equipment that come so readily to hand are of particular danger as a trigger for seizures afflicting some epileptics.
A study of a case where a teen spent three days in a Halifax hospital hooked to an electroencephalogram monitored by camera to routinely assess her epilepsy revealed a surprise.

The camera verified what doctors suspected was the source of sudden bursts of action on the brain monitor, which typified epileptic seizures, matched against the bored teen taking selfies using an iPhone, sending the resulting photos of a head sporting Medusa-like electric leads, on to friends. An idle moment turned out to be a revelation which resulted in a paper published in the journal Seizure. Only one case, to be sure, but more studies will likely follow to validate the conclusions of this one.

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images   Actor Tom Hiddleston takes a selfie with a fan at the Three Empire Awards on March 19, 2017, in London, England. 

 

The reason this is important is that the phenomenon has far-reaching consequences. People who have "photosensitivity", which is to say people who may suffer seizures on exposure to light flickering at specific frequencies, will be found to have experienced triggers through a hitherto-unsuspected source. And since many people use smart phones routinely, even when driving, being put out of executive function commission behind the steering wheel is pretty serious stuff.

Dr. Elizabeth Donner, head of the epilepsy program at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto is of the opinion that though a fairly limited number of epileptics are photosensitive, the potential of incipient crises would call for counselling patients about such risks. Dr. Brna mentioned that observers were not quite certain whether it was the phone's flash or the pulsing red-eye-avoidance LED light which was responsible for the seizures.

A string of serious accidents have occurred while people taking selfies happened to be driving. Or not necessarily driving, but standing, for example at the edge of a sheer drop, or holding loaded firearms. Close to 150 deaths or serious injuries have been listed, connected with selfie-taking behaviour, between December 2013 and February of this year.

Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty Images    Members of Team Poland take a selfie after winning the Nations Cup of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Planica on March 26, 2017.

“You DON'T Gotta Eat Here...especially not twice!”

SOOO I convinced my family to give it a try for my sister's 18th birthday dinner. The 8 of us were seated and a highchair was provided for my 16-month-old son. The highchair was F-I-L-T-H-Y! We hadn't been greeted by our waitress yet so we asked a waiter from another section to come clean or replace the chair. He brought a new chair...that just as dirty lol. My mom politely asked that he wipe it down with a cloth. Thank you, kind sir, for doing so. We were greeted by our waitress, who was, yup...the same darn waitress my husband and I had a week prior! I thought, maybe she was just having a bad night last Friday as well....I thought wrong. Drink orders were taken...it was10 minutes before they made it to the table and she forgot 2 of them...another 5 minutes for those. Then we sat...and we waited....and glasses got empty and orders weren't taken. I'm not exaggerating when I say that there was a whole 1/2 hour period when our waitress didn't come by our table at all! When she was finally ready to take our food orders, we skipped the appetizers and went straight for main courses. Everyone ordered something different - pulled pork, ribs, brisket, chicken...classic Southern fare. My son has an allergy so I asked the waitress to consult with the chef about the chicken fingers. She proceeded to argue with me about whether or not there may be dairy in them. Rather than just ask the chef herself; very unprofessional. While most restaurants are not able to guarantee an allergen-free environment, all of them ar able to provide a list of ingredients. That is all I wanted...but I got attitude instead. I was not the only one to get attitude either, my dad asked for a pitcher of ice tea for the table and she replied (and I quote) "Just hold on a sec" as she waved her finger at him! The food finally came and 3 out of 8orders were wrong...either the wrong bbq sauce, wrong side dishes (like beans instead of cornbread). There was no butter or ketchup on the table, replacements for incorrect orders took WAY too long...and overall there were alot of LONG faces at the table. But atleast there was live entertainment - a drunk (yes DRUNK) woman wearing a D&S t-shirt, stumbling around the restaurant...O-M-G!

D_S_Southern_Comfort_BBQ-Ottawa_Ontario.html# Review by J_FoodLover_11

So really, after a rant like that, the second displeasured review written of the same food establishment, why on Earth would anyone return only to find themselves in the very same situation over again? Glutton for punishment? Willing to give an erring server and food establishment a second chance? Who knows! Spelling and syntax errors aside, it made for an amusing read, if somewhat puzzling for the stated reason that anyone who would return to a restaurant that so spectacularly failed their expectations first time around must either have a short memory or couldn't be bothered finding an alternative.

To that anyone sensible might respond indeed OMG!

But restaurateurs themselves appear to be in a state of revolt in response to customers' entitled expectations, it seems. Consider that dentists and doctors and other service providers of health aid will charge clients who fail to live up to their obligations to appear on schedule for appointments, but what recourse do restaurants have when, having booked a table well in advance, those scheduling the reservation fail to appear and the restaurant is left in the lurch? Which explains why many no longer take reservations. Patrons must appear and wait to be seated.

And those diners who think they can peruse a menu and, finding nothing they deem attractive enough to order on it, persuadingly convince the server and the chef to accommodate them by providing an alternative plate, while succeeding in the past, are no longer capable of doing so. It's not necessarily that the chef is rigidly immovable in declining to provide anything not advertised, but that this kind of accommodation transcends by a good degree the customary offering of a range of dishes appealing to diners yet expecting the chef to focus on their particular taste as a polite obligation to commerce.

And is it not rather unreasonable when a customer, dining alone, finds the table they've been escorted to uncongenial to their seating preference, and insists instead in being seated at a customer-empty table set for eight? Where once a restaurant might graciously have opted to move that diner to the eight-seating table, they've now opted-out. It seems the profit margin is not that great to accommodate the need to change a tablecloth on a large table that has serviced one picky diner.

The moral of this story might lie in the morale that sagged with frustration over bending into pretzels to satisfy a clientele for whom no efforts at accommodation are quite sufficient. And now restaurateurs appear to be declaring by their unwillingness to continue being manipulated by fastidiously entitled diners whose wishes go beyond inconveniencing a business, that what you see is what you get. 

The food establishment is in the business to make a profit. And while servicing the customer's wishes can be performed to a degree, it has its limits. And if the restaurant now rejects payment by credit card that too obviously is a rejection of a taken-for-granted payment process that it deems inconvenient and costly to itself. That, and the assertive declaration that separate bills for friends sharing a table and ordering separately, is entirely too much trouble; one bill is to suffice, and use a little math to figure out who owes what. 

Singapore, food court, Shoppers in Marina   123RF

Brain Boosting

"Everyone is trying to get ahead and compete, stay awake and do well."
"[Brain health is a] murky area. Honestly, I think it's very under-substantiated [nootropics support]. . . and I don't think anybody should be taking anything [drugs to improve intellect] that hasn't been investigated to ensure it doesn't have long-term consequences."
Dr. Sandra Black, director, brain sciences program, Sunnybrook Research Institute

"I was looking for things to take outside of prescription meds."
"[Nootropics have become a] helpful tool [to manage his ADHD symptoms, reducing reliance on medication]."
"You have to get the dosage just right."
Simon, Toronto-based entrepreneur

"We know that it [Alzheimer's drug] has adverse effects. Period. End of story."
"We are more sure of the adverse effects than the benefits."
"If you are buying something online, you are assuming that it is what they say it is. But what it says on the label may not be what's in the bottle."
Dr. Jose Lanca, professor of pharmacology, University of Toronto

There's a cure for everything, people like to believe. Even stupidity. Oops, perhaps that's a bit too harsh. Let's say, even the lack of acute intelligence? Awareness? Self-motivation? So  the newest thing on the market is taking a combination of drugs, self-administered and self-selected for optimal personal effect, to boost brains. And young professionals appear to be in the forefront of this hot new fad. Eager to become quicker at assimilating information, resulting in a heads-up leading to a leg-up in career trajectory.

Or so the story goes. So a new market has opened up edging itself sideways between drug use and supplemental aids. Called cognitive enhancers, they are also called nootropics presenting in an array of substances obtained most frequently in a powdered form. Allowing those wishing to use them to play at being their very own chemist; home their pharmacy. Since the object is to mix and match ingredients to discover the formula just right for their personality.

The goal being to reach their critical aspirations leading to success through performance through enhanced memory, learning, concentration, alert state, mood and creativity, banishing laziness and complacency in the very thought that one is more than adequately equipped by nature and good fortune in genes. These are substances, the nootropics that Health Canada has not swivelled around to approving, much less classifying.

But whatever is illegal in Canada can be found through other means, and online sales are increasingly the route of mass-approved alternatives. Imported for personal use, these substances have found favour in the self-absorbed who are always anxious to get on board the next new sensation. Silicon Valley gave birth to this new trend and it has arrived in Canada.

It had a perhaps less controversial initiation as a trend developed originally in the treatment of cognitive impairment, but vendors now state the increasing use of nootropics by healthy, ambitious young professionals to boost productivity has overtaken the process and the purpose. Dr. Black, a professor in medicine who has 25 years of experience in research in dementia and neuroscience is not impressed.



She does feel, however, that nootropics may prove to be less harmful to users than amphetamines, used to abuse status for the very same end-result. The benefits, side effects and instructions on use, where to obtain them and other details form a hot topic on online forums. Simon, who withheld his identifying last name tested five different substances in a trial and error process to find what best worked for him. "It was a gamble."

The impact can be different each time, depending on the user's mood, on the time of day, or other factors unknown. In Simon's experience the increased level of focus is invariably followed by an intense burnout where a multiple-hours nap in the middle of the day can be a needed consequence. Although little testing has been conducted on healthy patients, one of the most commonly used nootropics is one used by Alzheimer's patients.

Dr. Andrew Hill describes the newly opened field of nootropics as the "Wild West of people manufacturing and selling white powders". He is himself a cognitive neuroscientist and proponent of nootropics. And he sells the product that he has engineered, online with a cost of about $125 on a monthly basis. But it's up to consumers to do their own research and use the product with caution.

Still, there's a resource for that, too, a startup from Irvine California which developed a platform meant to assist consumers to measure the nootropics effect. "We are guiding customers through unchartered territory [preventing them from] relying on their own scientific interpretations", said the startup vice-president Nicholas Perkins, whose company's app will collect and analyze health data, including heart rate, weight, anxiety and energy levels.

Encounters With Bears in British Columbia

This bear cub was orphaned after conservation officers shot and killed its mom on Aug. 13, 2016 in Port Coquitlam. A 10-year-old girl was mauled by the cub’s mother and is in critical condition. The attack happened on a popular trail near Shaughnessy Street and Lincoln Avenue on Aug. 13, 2016. The cub was taken to Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley. PNG

"I understand the integral part was (that) the grandpa and the father were very aggressive with the bear and that seemed to back the bear off, to allow the child to be scooped up and taken to the hospital."
"An officer attended and interviewed the family and the girl was in fairly good spirits and seemed to be on the road to recovery."
"I can only think it was very unfortunate luck on the part of this family. It could have happened to any of us. They just happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time."
"Being attacked by a black bear is about on the level of being hit by lightning. It’s very rare, but it happens. And we have to all consider that when we venture out into the forest."
"We’re long past the time where we need to hold people’s hands about looking after their attractants.  Everybody’s got to do their part [removing waste and garbage, attracting wildlife]."
"We don’t want people like this little girl being hurt because bears have been attracted to our community."
Murray Smith, B.C. Conservation Officer Service

"I'm hoping a $500 fine makes people realize public safety and animal safety is very important."
"This is sad on so many levels. A child is in hospital and a mother bear had to be put down. This is the worst possible scenario."
Teri Towner, acting mayor, Coquitlam, B.C.

"From West Vancouver to Pitt Meadows, it's always problematic."
"It's hard to know in this case, but my guess would be that the child quite unknowingly found herself between the mother and the cub. Mother bears are very intolerant of that."
"It's no surprise bears are in the area anticipating this [discovery of discarded food items]. Most bears don't want to have anything to do with humans. [When cubs are being weaned it's critical to find enough food, so there will be a big push by the mother to locate food sources easily palatable to the cubs."
Wayne Goodey, zoology lecturer, University of British Columbia

A ten year old girl had been swimming in the Coquitlam river and was returning home along with her father and grandfather. The adults suddenly saw the girl attacked by a bear. She was mauled and dragged across the trail in front of them. Alongside the female bear was a cub. The little girl had a punctured lung from the violent encounter, as well as broken ribs and slashes on her body and was immediately hospitalized.

Conservation officers tranquilized this black bear cub on Saturday, August 13, 2016 after its mother attacked a 10-year-old girl. The cub to be placed in a rehabilitation centre and released into the wild in 2017. (Bill Cook)

The mother bear refused all attempts to persuade her to leave the area, and conservation staff had no option but to destroy the bear, and take its cub to a shelter. "He's in pretty good shape. Obviously he was scared and confused" said Angela Fontana of the Critter Care Wildlife Society, speaking of the little bear that was so obviously agitated on arrival. The facility is looking after four other bears, and the cub is slated to be released to their company in several days' time.

After the attack a large pile of garbage located close to the trailhead where the attack occurred was cleared away by city of Coquitlam parks staff. As far as Inspector Murray Smith was concerned it was just that pileup of human refuse that had attracted the mother bear, preparing to wean her cub. For people living as close to nature as Canadians do almost anywhere in the country, and all the more so in British Columbia and Alberta, it is surprising that it hasn't become second nature for all trail walkers to remove their trash.

Discarded sandwiches and leftover food left carelessly by nature trails and other wilderness areas are natural attractants for wildlife. With their acute sense of small, animals are able to detect the availability of food when the whiff of trash tingles their nostrils, and they follow the scent. Enter any conservation area or wildlife preserve, provincial or federal park, and there are notices reminding people to take out whatever they take in with them. In some areas where fees are charged for entry and camping, garbage bags meant to hold discarded food and other detritus are given out to campers.

It is rarely the irresponsible people who leave their trash behind who suffer the consequences of their careless disregard for necessary cautionary actions to protect both people and wildlife.

Dying To Succeed

"He was very excited. We used to tease him by addressing him as 'Doctor'. But after a few months, he began panicking. He was studying all the time, slept very little."
"Is it wrong to be ambitious? My son wanted to make the village proud by becoming a doctor."
"Every parent wants their child to become something big one day."
Mangal Singh, 52, Kolari, Rajasthan State, India

"Students are under a constant state of anxiety here. They are unable to study, concentrate, remember, sleep or eat. They complain of headaches and breathlessness. Many just weep in front of me."
"They feel guilty because their parents have spent so much money and have high expectations. Parents often impose their own unfulfilled ambitions on their children."
Madan Lal Agrawal, psychiatrist, Kota, India

"We have also told coaching schools to conduct screening tests to determine if students are really capable of scoring in Kota."
"This [sending results of bi-monthly tests to parents via text message] keeps the students on the edge all the time. The parents keep calling them to scold."
Sawai Singh Godara, Kota superintendent of police

How odd. Why would a city's police superintendent care about pupils studying in his city being under stress? Kota has a population of a million and a bit. Two decades ago the city had a small number of private math and science tutors. But in the space of that twenty years much has changed. Many private schools have opened for business in Kota, and it has become a hub for ambitious parents and their offspring to travel to in recognition that the city's business has become one of study preparations for academic opportunities and success.

Those dreaming of being admitted to India's prestige colleges make the trek to Kota. Over 160,000 students from across the country flooded into Kota's admissions schools last year. The city has attained a reputation as India's capital for test preparation. Aspirants must meet rigid requirements, however, above all determination and commitment and ability.  Proving that one has all those characteristics can be beyond gruelling for many constantly under stress to perform and devoting uninterrupted hours to study schedules.

That kind of rigour takes its toll on the vulnerable. In the past five years, more than 70 students have taken their lives in despair. Last year there were 29 students who committed suicide, unable to cope with the unending stress and disappointment. These confused and unhappy young people have hanged themselves, set themselves on fire, and taken to leaping from high-rise buildings. Mangal Singh's son, Shivdutt Singh, was one of those; he had locked himself in a dorm room after non-stop studying and hanged himself from the ceiling fan.

A dutiful son, he left behind an explanatory, apologetic note: "I am responsible for my suicide. I cannot fulfill Papa's dream." How utterly devastating, for the young man of 20 and for his expectant father now grieving the loss of his son. Both loved one another of a certainty, and each wanted the best that the future might afford for one another; the son to be able to make his father proud of him, and the father wishing to see his son fulfilled in a profession of great meaning and status.

City officials have ordered that coaching schools appoint counsellors to intervene when required in assessing the psychological stability of students; further, to commit to the organization of relief days free of study when the object in the classroom would be to have "fun". And above all, to ensure that fees are refunded to any students unable to forge their way to completing the process they had entered the coaching schools to prepare for.



The atmosphere of fierce competition for college admissions has resulted in a test prep industry in Kota, where middle-class aspirations are on the rise, and parents have ambitions for their children which may be misplaced. Young people, urged along by their families, arrive in Kota to sign up for coaching classes and to study from three months to two years. The goal is to win admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology, representing 16 public colleges.

Those colleges are recognized for their potential in realizing some fortunate students' futures, for graduates are valued by global companies offering substantive salaries. It is considered the Ivy League of Engineering education to graduate from one of the IITs; a sure-fire ticket to elevated social status and a position in a top tech company, either in India itself or California's Silicone Valley. One of IIT's most prestigious graduates is Google chief executive Sundar Pichal.

Almost one and a half million students take the entrance exam each year, with fewer than 10,000 accepted. This is where the test prep industry comes in, motivating families of modest means to aspire on behalf of their children's future prospects, to join the student body of those schools. No longer the sole preserve of the socially elite in a growing atmosphere of middle-class entitlement, offspring of modest means have made the grade, inspiring in others of their class the will to make the attempt.

Wrapping A Trial, Awaiting Sentence

"The two accused began to punch her in the face. She tried to fight back, but was taken to the ground and stomped on in the area of the upper body and head. She tried to protect herself and fought back and she did so until she was knocked out by both of the accused."
Crown prosecutor Debbie Buors, Winnipeg Provincial Court

"When I was in the hospital, my mom wanted me to take a semester off. For me, all I could think of was moving forward. Yes, I was hurt, but my spirit was still very strong. I made the choice to return to school just two weeks later. And last year even though I spent weeks in the hospital and was still hurting a lot, I graduated Grade 11 with all of my credits."
"I've learned that if you use your voice, others will join you."
"I didn't choose what happened to me, but I did make a choice to speak out against violence. And that's how I think of myself -- not as a victim, but as a voice for change."
Rinelle Harper, a picture of indomitable courage

"I never thought he'd plead guilty. We decided as a family not to go [attend the trial]. I was so scared of what would happen if we saw him, like I would just start crying. I'm so angry."
"I'll never forget that day. He almost took [her] from us."
"Of course it's hard for us to read about the details, but I think it's important for people to know how bad it was. These men were not human You can't do these kind of things, one human to one human."
Rinelle Harper's mother 

Now 17, this survivor of a vicious attack was 16 when two young men of aboriginal descent, one 21, the other a 17-year-old came across the young First Nations girl strolling along a path not far from the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg. She was attending high school far from her reserve home, and she had been out celebrating with friends from school, after writing their mid-term exams.

They walked quietly at first beside her, gained her trust, and then turned life upside down and inside-out for her.

They had originally planned to rob her. They did in fact, take her Air Jordan runners, her NorthFace jacket and her iPod after attacking her. They assaulted her mercilessly, then took turns raping her when she fell unconscious. When she gained consciousness, they attacked her again, stripped her of all her clothing and threw her into the frigid waters of the river.

She crawled out of the river after floating downstream, and as she gained the bank they were waiting for her again. And once again beat her, this time with a hammer one of the two had carried in a rucksack. They left her for dead, and had a passerby not found her lying by the river path hours later, she might have died. Twice she went into cardiac arrest, and was revived. A year later she is still recovering, and is scheduled for a second surgery.

Justin Hudson, the 21-year-old, struck a plea deal with the Crown. By pleading guilty the charges against him were reduced. Originally charged with attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault for the attack on the teen, the attempted murder charge was dropped by the Crown as part of the plea deal. Originally charged with sexual assault with a weapon in another horrendous assault that took place the same night, that charge was upgraded to aggravated sexual assault.

Justin Hudson waived his right to a trial in provincial court Tuesday after reaching a plea deal with the Crown. He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault. (Facebook )

For after the two had left Rinelle Harper they accosted another aboriginal woman of 23. They walked behind her and as she realized she was being followed and turned around, she was struck on the head by a baseball bat, creating a gash that began bleeding immediately. She too was beaten horribly and repeatedly raped. And as a strange twist to those dreadful events, Justin Hudson's mother and sister came across that woman in a nearby convenience store.

She asked for their help, and they said they would walk along with her to her home, but she left as they were paying for the items they had bought. The woman had gone to her brother's home, where he called 911 for help. She was treated in hospital for the wounds she had received. Hudson's mother on returning home saw her son wearing bloodied shoes, the very runners he had taken from Rinelle Harper, and she questioned him repeatedly.

When he threatened her, his sister called 911 and police arrived. Rinelle Harper's mother is outraged, and so is her entire extended family, one of whom is a regional First Nations chief. The issue of First Nations women facing horrendous assaults from within the community has surfaced as an indication of unequal treatment of First Nations within the larger Canadian community. But it is basically from within the tighter aboriginal community that the violence ensues.

Aboriginal women and those who love them, and that should be the responsibility of all of Canada's indigenous peoples as well as all other Canadians, should be demanding that the culture look within itself to address this deep-seated malaise that simply does not want to fade away. Until and unless a deeper understanding surfaces to explain the dysfunction that exists within aboriginal communities the essential problem cannot be adequately addressed.

The entire community, from its disparate parts to its aggregate whole of the entire national population should care for and about one another. The divisions that separate us are constructions of ignorance and suspicion, none of which does us any credit.

Technology, For Good or Ill

"[Transport Canada announced in May it plans to hold consultations on developing regulatory protocols for UAVs, proposing] new flight rules, aircraft marking and registration requirements, knowledge testing, minimum age limits, and pilot permits for certain UAV operators."
Transport Canada

"There are a lot of companies looking at what Canada is doing. Just by virtue of our geography, we're a highly sought-after market for using UAVs."
Sterling Cripps, founder/president Canadian Unmanned Inc.

"This is definitely a historic watershed event. We've finally come to a point where the [government] agencies are seriously entertaining integrating manned systems with unmanned systems."
"For better or worse, the [wild]fires seem to be growing in scope every year, and the causes of that are left to debate but the reality is that we keep spending more and more of our time and resources on fighting fires."
Charlton Evans, program manager, commercial and civil unmanned aircraft systems, Insitu

"That incident [unmanned drone appearing over a B.C. wildfire] had a significant impact on our firefighting suppression efforts that day. I have no idea why someone would do that."
Noelle Kekula, fire information officer, B.C. Wildfire Service

Thick smoke creates a hazy, orange atmosphere in Elaho, B.C.  Wildfire Management Branch

The incident in question took place as a wildfire raged out of control close to Testalinden Creek in southern British Columbia, in August. The B.C. Wildfire Service had launched eight helicopters to try to save the Okanagan vineyards renowned for their award-winning wines. Another five aircraft were to be sent into the air in support of fire crews on the ground. Suddenly a drone was seen, and all fire-fighting aircraft had be grounded until the drone was no longer in evidence.

Earlier last month as well, a helicopter in support of ground crews fighting a wildfire west of Kelowna, B.C. was similarly forced to land when a number of drones were seen in the area. No one knows who was behind the drones, why they were in the air at such a critical time, who their remote pilots were, but clearly their presence posed a danger to manned aircraft. The B.C. Wildfire Service issued a press release as a result.

Transport Canada prohibits the use of drones near wildfires since their presence can pose a "significant safety risk to personnel". There is a penalty when drone-owners violate rules and regulations, where they can anticipate fines of up to $5,000 and up to six months in jail. Enforcing the rules and exacting a penalty where it is due, however, is another thing altogether. How to find these unknown drone operators? They're the modern equivalent of fire-gawkers, people driven to the scene of fires, only now they're able to satisfy their curiosity remotely, with the use of drones.

Drones are proving their mettle in their use during the fight against wildfires. A ScanEagle drone by Insitu Inc. was used at the Paradise fire in the Olympic National Park, Washington, using an infrared camera to pinpoint hot spots and identify the precise size and location of the fire, enabling manned aircraft to see properly, despite thick smoke obliterating views, as well as during the dark of night, when they're not allowed to lift off.

This represented the first time a private company was invited to supply an unmanned aircraft in the assistance of fire crews. The technology is able to give fire crews real-time data on fire size, growth, behaviour, fuels and hot spots. Increasingly, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used by Canadian fire departments to aid in fighting burning buildings, but according to a seasoned drone expert there have been no instances in Canada where their use has aided in fighting forest fires. Yet.

Many of Canada's large industries such as energy, mining, forestry, transportation and agriculture have become testing grounds for the use of drones. At the same time, drones for recreational and commercial purposes have become a recent phenomenon driven by improved technology and cheaper acquisitions, leading to more widespread use. It is the intersection of recreational use and practical working use of drones where problems arise.

Recreational users of drones weighing less than 34 kilograms at the present time need no permission to fly, even while they are prohibited from flying over airports, people, animals, buildings or vehicles. As well as close to sporting events concerts, busy streets or anywhere else where their presence may interfere with first-responders.

Commercial operators of UAVs, on the other hand, weighing over 25 kilograms do require special flight operations certificates from Transport Canada, and the same rules that apply to recreational users apply to them as well. It's a new world of more crowded skies making it obvious that greater awareness and caution should be broadly exercised.

The problem is that there will always be those individuals who enjoy flouting the rules and flaunting their ability to 'get away with', potentially dangerous, and perhaps exciting-to-them exploits, endangering others but a matter of entertainment to themselves.

Talking White-Canadian

"Ms. Haines harboured resentment which manifested in snide remarks about the plaintiff's heritage and her work."
"[From] the beginning of [Samuel's] employment, Ms. Haines maintained an ongoing pattern of harassing plaintiff because of her national origin."
Partial text, discrimination lawsuit, U.S. District Court

©Washington Business Journal    In 2012, Laurie Samuel was named as "Employee of the Year" by Washington D.C.'s Municipal Police Force. Just one year later, she was drummed out of the force.

• National origin: Canada. 
• Gender: female. 
• Distinguishing characteristics: high degree of intelligence. 
• Ethnicity: black. 
• Academics: graduate of Humber College and University of Toronto; master's degree in criminology from Michigan State University. Doctorate in philosophy from Howard University, Washington. 
• Recognition: MPD [D.C.Metropolitan Police Department] "Employee of the Year". 

None of this, evidently, enough to garner respect from a colleague, a workplace superior who resented the precise English enunciation of someone born in Canada. Particularly a young woman whose educational achievement and ambition appeared to her superior to represent a challenge to both her authority and her own position with the employer they both served.

Laurie Samuel, a human resources specialist with a background in criminology, worked for years while suffering the indignity of being a victim of "national origin discrimination" by her immediate superior working at the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. She suffered workplace obstruction at the hands of a spiteful superior, and she is intent on seeing that Diane Haines Walton is punished for having destroyed that workplace experience for Ms. Samuel.

Ms. Walton is also black, and took umbrage at Ms. Samuel's pattern of speech, remarking that "'she talked white"', untypical of an African American". The lawsuit describes the situation of Ms. Haines beginning statements with the pointed caution: "here in America, we...", when reviewing Human Resources files. The level of academic credits that Ms. Samuel brought with her to her position with the MPD was perceived by Ms. Haines as a personal threat to her own position as her workplace superior.

When Ms. Samuel made application for a new position with the HR department, one that came with increased responsibilities, had she succeeded she would have ranked only one position below Ms. Walton's place in the departmental hierarchy. The prospect of any such thing was unappealing to Ms. Walton who informed colleagues she "wanted to 'hire an American' for the position", states the lawsuit.

Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post/Files   Diana Haines Walton

Accordingly, Ms. Walton "did not support the Police Chief's decision to support plaintiff. Ms. Haines questioned what was so special about her." She went so far as to replace Ms. Samuel's name on a MPD employment advancement list with the name of a friend. "Soon thereafter, Ms. Haines went to the Chief of Police and informed her that plaintiff [Samuel] was illegally in the United States."

This, after the MPD had applied on Ms. Samuel's behalf for a federal work permit extension to permit her to continue her employment, as a non-U.S. citizen. When U.S. Immigration granted the work permit extension in 2011 the approval notice, according to Ms. Samuel's claims, was delivered to Ms. Walton, who summarily proceeded to dispose of it.

Ms. Samuel had been hired as a human resources specialist in 2006. The quality of her work earned her praise and a ringing endorsement, as "Employee of the Year" in 2012. By 2013 the MPD "threatened her with termination for not having the proper work permit" and she was "constructively discharged" a month afterward.

She is now suing for back pay, damages and legal costs as well as "a declaratory judgement that MPD discriminated against her."

LinkedIn    The LinkedIn profile of Laurie Samuel

Survival of the Behavioral Brutish?

"Humans tend to try to establish a rank hierarchy. When you're in high school, it's a very limited arena in which you can establish your rank, and climbing the social ladder to be on top is one of the main ways."
"Bullying is a tool you can use to get there."
Jennifer Wong, professor of criminology, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia

Fotolia   A just-published Canadian study has added heft to a provocative new theory about bullying: that the behavior is literally in the genes, an inherited trait that actually helps build social rank and sex appeal.

"The average bully isn't particularly sadistic or even deeply argumentative. What they really are is people driven for status."
Dr. Tony Volk, psychologist, Brock University, St.Catharines, Ontario

"This is kind of stepping backward and that's concerning. I don't want parents who have a child who is considered a bully to think, 'Well, it's something they're born with and there's nothing we can do to adjust their behaviour."
Rob Frenette, advocacy and support group, Bullying Canada

Dr. Wong, who led a study whose results were recently published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, speaks of her conviction based on the study results that people are hard-wired from birth to be bullies; their genetic inheritance doesn't just predispose them to become bullies, but steers them directly toward their manifest destiny as bullies.

And, as bullies their aggressiveness is generally rewarded by the achievement of higher social or business standing because they gain respect and admiration on the part of those who seek to emulate them or submit to their 'superior qualities' of assertiveness.

Dr. Wong and student Jun-Bin Koh surveyed 135 Vancouver area teens for their study, submitting them to a questionnaire posing queries such as how often they were "hit, kicked or shoved", ultimately dividing the students into categories of 'bully', 'bystander', 'victim', or 'victim-bully' based on parsing their responses. Roughly 11 percent of those in the group were slotted into the bully category.

And that 11 percent scored highest on issues of self-esteem and social status, while scoring lowest on depression, according to the published paper. Dr. Wong feels that bullies should have their aggressive impulses 're-directed' since punishing them doesn't work. Re-direction lies in persuading them to take up challenging assignments that others without their aggressive streak would find difficult to pursue; 'taking charge' type of assignments to appease their belligerence.

Tony Volk, a psychologist in St. Catharines, Ontario at Brock University helped to design the genetic theory of bullying. He was involved in a study of a pilot project at a school in Arizona which conceived of steering students identified as bullies into 'jobs' considered to be of a  high-status variety in an effort to steer their aggression in a a direction less socially harmful to others. The study resulted in a dramatic fall of bullying events at the school.

Fotolia   A pilot project at an Arizona school sought to steer students identified as bullies into high-status “jobs” — like being the school’s front-door greeters — to focus their aggression on something less harmful.

For those who advocate and support an enterprise attempting to deal with bullying like Rob Frenette, whose personal experience of being bullied as a person coping with cerebral palsy and who was victimized by bullies during his school years -- from receiving death threats to being pushed down stairs and even having the back of his neck burned by girls on a school bus -- the matter is a complex one.

Charles Benn / Handout Rob Frenette, co-founder of the group Bullying Canada, rejects the notion that bullying is an inherited, genetic trait aimed at gaining social status and sexual attractiveness. He worries that new research promoting that idea could have a negative impact.

At the support group Bullying Canada which he helped found, from his perspective the problem of bullying runs wide and deep within society. Their 24/7 support line took 312,000 calls and received 86,000 emails seeking help for victims of bullying and their families in a year. It is his considered opinion that existing programs to overcome bullying help to decrease bullying.

Dr. Volk doesn't concur that bullies are "hard-wired", but that a genetic predisposition exists channelling them toward bullying. But which could be overcome by environmental alterations or through providing ways by which aggression can be directed toward more positive outcomes. "These kids aren't stupid, they know what they're doing, they're doing it for a reason. We're not saying give up on punishment necessarily, but what about the carrot?" he asks.

Existing evidence points to those considered to be "pure" bullies accounting for 80 to 90 percent of bullying, are more socially adept, become more popular and yet their bullying tactics are so covertly skilled they remain undetected. According to the evolutionary psychology theory holding that bullying is an adaptive behaviour, they are thus endowed with a genetic edge permitting to gain better opportunities and succeed in any enterprise they encounter.