Education vs. Technology

These days I look at our education system with a deep sense of sadness and befuddlement.

What are the cornerstones of our educational base now?

At one point they were reading, writing & arithmetic .

Why are they no longer ‘teaching’ children these fundamentals?

They are not teaching children how to write any longer.  They are not teaching them how to spell.  Children have iPads now that they work off of with calculators to assist in the math areas.

A recent article spoke of children coming into school not having developed the muscles to hold a pencil or pen in order to write.  Here are the two schools of thought that currently seem to exist.

“One school believes that learning handwriting is important for children because they think fine motor control and how you organize your thoughts develops with your writing skills. But the other camp believes that we’re moving into a world where [everything] is done on computers, so learning how to write by hand is an outdated skill.”

I believe and know for fact that the first school of thought  is based on proven theory and writing should never be considered an outdated skill.  It should be an absolute necessity.  Now more than ever!

I am absolutely appalled though that schools are moving toward technology at such a rapid pace without any thought as to how this will impact the youth of today years from now.

One person bemoaned on their blog how ‘dangerous’ pens and pencils are and that they should be banned from the classroom!  The reasoning was infantile at best.  The writer of that blog post insisted that pens and pencils can and have been used as weapons.

It is not the pens and pencils that are the issue.  It is the children’s behaviour.  I cannot recall throwing pencils at other students.  That is not to say it didn’t happen.  The children that did partake in this type of behaviour were quickly reprimanded.

And if a child displayed such disruptive behaviour there were usually underlying and more serious issues at play that would require further investigation to help the child.

And as we know, technology has created some major hindrances in child development and brought about things such cyber-bullying.

As a child I loved getting school supplies.  I would get a new pencil case, pencils, erasers, rulers, geometry kits, pens, binders, and packs of loose-leaf paper,  We had the duo-tang folders to put the paper in and I would label each folder with the subject matter that it would contain.  This was based upon the colour of the folder as well.

I loved the smell and newness of everything.  In elementary school we were given ‘scribblers’ by the schools. This was how you practiced your penmanship and spelling.

So the big thing was having a cool lunch kit.  I do believe the last one I may have had was a Partridge Family one.  I also had a book bag made from a cheap vinyl and yet these items gave me a sense of belonging.

We were given projects to do and book reports to prepare.  There were certain things the teacher looked for.  One was indeed penmanship.  And I worked at this.  My mother and oldest sister had beautiful handwriting and I aspired to write as they did.

Writing and reading were the two things I loved most about school.  Arithmetic…well, it scared me a bit back then.  Being that I am someone who learns best by visualization, those early math books weren’t very good at allowing me to do this.

Still the problems presented such as (i.e. a train traveling 45 mph arrives at 10 PM.  Another train travelling 65 mph arrives at the same time…what distance did each cover?) always gave me pause to think.   And while they often confounded me at the beginning, they eventually became the ones I really like.

They were like a mystery to me.

What I liked about them is they assisted with critical thinking and they helped in terms of developing the brain’s cognitive and figurative functions.

Being able to assess and determine a variety of issues is a good thing.  And it is the lessons from my youth that have helped enormously to shape the person I’ve become.

I feel children are being robbed of an education if they are not being taught to read, write and spell.  If they are not being taught to calculate math manually as well and are solely reliant on technology then what happens ? For example what happened to play?

Parks and playgrounds now sit empty. Why?

Here is another excerpt.

“Of course, there are so many other concerns when it comes to kids and devices with regard to social interaction and the development of emotion.

“Whilst there are many positive aspects to the use of technology, there is growing evidence on the impact of more sedentary lifestyles and increasing virtual social interaction as children spend more time indoors online and less time physically participating in active occupations,” Karin Bishop, an assistant director at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, told The Guardian.

Flanders echoes those concerns, and points to emerging literature that indicates that extended screen time may be creating problems for children, including an increased prevalence of ADHD, a lack of good interpersonal skills and an expectation of instant gratification.

But he also doesn’t think that it will result in scaling back on tech in the classroom.

“Right now, schools are still emphasizing learning the alphabet by tracing the letters with their fingers and writing them out with pen and paper,” Flanders says.

“But I think 30 or 40 years from now, that’s going to be a thing of the past.”

I really believe that schools need to have a concise educational plan.

For example:

Grades 1-4:  No computers in the classroom.  (All learning  is based on the tried and true methods of working with paper, pencils and pens along with text books.  The use of reference materials, such as dictionaries, thesaurus’ and encyclopedias should be encouraged. )

Grades 5-7:  Begin to introduce computers into the classroom as a tool, nothing more.

The emphasis should be on developing children’s skills and abilities to become engaged and plugged in adolescents.  The formative years are critical in terms of assisting our children to develop such skills.   To think that writing is going to be an ‘outdated skill’ is damn well frightening to me.

The page has been the one thing in my life that always listened.  I could pour out everything and anything onto that page.  It was now purged from my youthful soul that was shattered at that time.  Had I held all of that in, had I never been able to express the hurt, the angst, the fear that existed…I’m not certain I would even be here.

A counselor told me that they had encouraged a female patient to journal.  She hedged at the idea.  Later it would be discovered that the girl did not know how to write.

Writing gave me a voice.  It enabled me to express the feelings that were locked inside  that verbally I found so difficult to share.  Even if no one else ever saw the words written they were there.

Don’t take these skills away from children.

Read below what is replacing paper and pen.

‘Written communication among kids and teens today has morphed into such a confusing mixture of acronyms and emojis that it can almost make hieroglyphics more easily understood. This is why it’s important for parents to be up on the latest text slang.

“Text lingo practically changes weekly and a lot of the times, parents have no clue what their kids and their friends are saying,” says Titania Jordan, chief parent officer of Bark, a software program that monitors, detects and alerts parents to potentially dangerous conversations on their kids’ cellphones, and email and social media accounts.

“I’m surprised at how many parents still don’t know what ‘Netflix and chill’ means.” (For the record, it refers to hooking up, not actually watching Netflix.)’

And yet we readily hand our children cellphones and tablets that connect them to what, I am no longer certain.

Read Ray Bradbury’s book released in 1953 for ‘Fahrenheit 451’.

Below is a summary of the book as written by The New York Times.

‘Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 is a masterwork of twentieth-century literature set in a bleak, dystopian future.

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.

Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television.

When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.’

This has a chilling ring of truth to it.  The T.V. has now been replaced by iPads and Tablets.

Will there come a time when books are no longer necessary, when their value is no longer worth the pages they’ve been written upon?

I for one certainly hope not.

 

 

Another Year…

 

My birthday is fast approaching.  Next Wednesday I’ll celebrate fifty-nine years!

In a conversation with my daughter last night we discussed age.  While some may say that 59 years of age is old…it doesn’t ‘feel’ that way.  What an odd way to describe our age though as how we feel?

I will always feel the wonder of this world that I inhabit.  Despite all the mess currently going on regarding the politics of our time, this planet of ours is so much bigger and wondrous than we’ll every be.

We are not all that nice to each other or to our Earth at times, are we?

On Wednesday here in BC we will celebrate not only someone’s birthday but also Pink Shirt Day which is an initiative against bullying.

The theme this year “Make Nice”.

I’d like to take that challenge a bit further and just ask everyone to practice kindness on a daily basis.

It isn’t easy.

Still the benefits so outweigh the difficulty of dealing with our anger and not projecting it elsewhere.   And if someone is hurting ask if they’d like to talk.

Listening is one the best skills any of us can have.  I have been working on this in a big way.

Since joining a local Toastmasters chapter a year and half ago my listening skills have increased ten fold.  Still, there is always room for improvement and always will be.

We just passed Valentines Day.  At our Toastmasters meeting we were all asked to say one word that describes what love  means to  us.

After the fact I thought about this quite a bit.  How could one word define love?

And this is what struck me just before falling to sleep a few nights back.

Love = Freedom

 

Hate = Fear

Freedom is expansive…it encompasses so much!  Embrace freedom and surrender to a loving heart!

Kindness matters…always!

 

 

 

 

 

Democracy…Tell Me What It Means To You!

I have provided the links to an article that was written by Gwynne Dyer back in July 2016 and also of a recent lecture he gave at the University of Regina.

After one week in office President Trump has moved in a frightening direction.

In Trump’s head its okay to tear up trade agreements and insist that all the jobs that have been lost in the U.S. due to out-sourcing and immigration.

Now President Trump thinks himself quite the business man as well.  If this were true then he would surely know that how we do business worldwide has changed as dramatically as it has due to technology in the last 25 years or so and not the out-sourcing that has gone on and certainly not by people immigrating to North America.

In fact having people move to North America has in fact assisted in the growth of our economy here in Canada and in the U.S. as well.  This is a proven fact and Canada has displayed this time and again.

Canada does indeed have her issues, still there is an awareness to do better and to grow as a collective.

I would encourage anyone who is reading this post to please take the time to watch the lecture which is close to two hours in length and read some of Mr. Dyer’s articles.  It is well worth it.

I have also provided standard definitions for democracy and dictatorship.

One of the things that is truly frightening is Trump’s desire to ‘control’ the internet.

Freedom to information is difficult enough and in these times our best defense is to stay informed of the facts and not the hype that Trump is spewing.

Let’s go about our daily lives informed and united.

Peace!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhgTj5z_MEw

What does democracy mean?

1.government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

2.a state having such a form of government

3.a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges; common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

Dictatorship

1.  a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.

2.  absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.

The above are the dictionary definitions of what democracy and dictatorship mean.

Just Good Medicine!

 

I’ve been researching medical treatments quite a bit lately.  I know too that I haven’t even scratched the surface regarding some of the things I’ve been looking into.  Of course if you’ve followed this blog of mine you’ll have followed my rise up from a heart procedure through to discovery that I had Uterine Cancer and everything in between and that followed.

So why am I researching all this now when it is seemingly after the fact?

I really believe there are more humane methods out there, treatments that are more effective and less toxic to the body than the current regime of chemotherapy and radiation.

Having poison pumped through your veins and being exposed to radiation that leaves the area affected to be a wasteland, a dead zone as it were, isn’t conducive to good health.

I recognize that I made bad choices in my youth regarding lifestyle, nutrition and self-care choices.  Many people have and they don’t end up with cancer.

When I was growing up we rarely heard of people with cancer and if we did they were quite old.  I can  now name several people that I know that have gone through cancer or know someone who has or is currently experiencing the machine that pushes you unceremoniously through treatment.  It’s become far too common.

The search for the ever elusive ‘cure’ is ongoing.

Having now been diagnosed and gone through surgery and the subsequent treatment, I have a very different outlook and opinion on the whole thing.

Fear, unfortunately, played a huge part in my decision making.  And I know, I most definitely know that making decisions based upon scare tactics is never a sound testament to anything.

Still, as much as fear directed my path, I challenged it.

When I was diagnosed, as is my nature, I began to research this thing that had invaded my body.  Uterine cancer results from an over abundance of the female hormone, Estrogen which can create an imbalance thus causing  endometrial cancer (aka uterine).

My first thought when I read this was what occurred as menopause set upon me.  I initially had a two month menstrual cycle that resulted in very heavy bleeding.  I’d never had any issues with my monthly cycle…ever.  As my physical body began this transition, however, that was the precursor to major discomforts.  Hot flashes left me looking like I’d taken a shower within a few minutes.

Hormone therapy was suggested by my doctor and I rejected it outright.  In my mind, women have been going through this natural aspect of their life cycle since the dawn of our species.  I did go for acupuncture which balanced the hot flashes out and they were not quite so severe.

It was, by all accounts, a discomfort.  Nothing more.

Flash forward to my diagnosis and seemingly endless meetings and appointments with various oncologists over a short period of time and as I offered up information regarding my suspicions of when this may have begun, I was always duly dismissed and told the information I was providing was irrelevant.

Really?  How can they say this?

Perhaps we need to look at what may in fact be causing the rise in cancers.  Two factors that I immediately considered are:

• DIET
• TECHNOLOGY

The North American diet is a variety of what I consider non-food.  Prepackaged goods soaked in sodium, modified nibbles made of oils and fats.  Then we have the zero calorie soda pops out there.  The packages of food that scream zero Trans fat, Gluten Free!  For some gluten is an issue.  For the majority of us, however, it is not an issue.

That roast beef your are eating may have come from a cow that was shot full of drugs and hormones to make it grow faster and do we know the impact this has on our system?  Sadly, no we don’t.

So think about the things that cows produce other than just a roast or a hamburger.   What about milk?  A main staple for our children.

Then we have our non-foods.  Take margarine for example.  It is one molecule away from being a plastic.  if you leave it out…it won’t go bad.  And bugs steer clear of margarine as well.

We may not be fond of bugs, flies and the like, but if they are interested in what your are eating then its a chance the food being consumed is good.  I remember reading a book a few years ago.  It was about the 100 mile diet.  This basically encourages us to eat locally and within a 100 mile radius from where we live.

He had a Twinkie on his desk for two years.  It never went bad, nothing ever crawled on it and it was still spongy.

Many us have now heard that these big food manufacturing places have in fact put additives in the food to affect our brain as well.  Some of these additives were designed to dull the sensory that tells us we are full, hence, we eat more.  Then we crave the food.  Wanting more.  A little suspicious, yes?

And this is just a small example of the whole food issue.

Then we come to technology.  Do we know how damaging all the unseen forms of energy are that now pollute our air space?  We’ve heard the stories of women who carried their cell phones in their bra (I can’t imagine why someone would do this), and ended up with cancerous tumours the same shape as the cell phone.

Perhaps the most alarming rise in cancer is in our young people. Hell, I was 55 years old when diagnosed.  Now it seems that younger people, seemingly healthy individuals are ending with this insipid disease.

Yet the Cancer Agency does not do any background studies.  Even the side that came over and wanted me to participate in a study, which I did for a time. I though certainly they would want to see if they could find the correlation as to how these illness’ manifest themselves.

I’m someone who asks questions.  I’m curious by nature.  As I traversed through the cancer odyssey, I became increasingly despondent to the point where I realized that to these people I was another test subject…another number on the conveyor belt of treatment.   Oh, I have no doubt they believe very strongly in what it is they are doing. They are trained to remove themselves emotionally though.

And I get it.  But sometimes it was absolutely maddening!

I’m at my checkup.

“I’m depressed.”

“Would you like some medication for that?  Are you thinking of hurting yourself?”

“No.  I’m not going to hurt myself and I don’t want medication.”  

Having researched the benefit of Phoenix Tears (hemp oil with THC) to manage pain, I took the form in for medical cannabis and they refused to sign it.

My family doctor did though.

Trying to initiate a conversation regarding this with the oncologist fell on deaf ears.  I’d have been far more appreciative had they stated they would not sign the document as they did not know enough about the substance.

Instead I was lectured about “snake oil salesmen who would sell me useless and ineffective treatments for thousands of dollars.”  The doctors’ did not address what I was inquiring about and simply dismissed it.

I did get the Phoenix Tears by the way.  It was $80 per gram.   It worked beautifully at offsetting the effects of Chemo…with no side effects.  This was in fact cheaper than the prescription drugs I’d been offered.

Where am I going with all this?

I’m going back to the beginning of medicine.  The trials and the errors.  The remedies that were passed down through the ages.  With the invention of the printing press common remedies could now be written down and shared on a massive scale.

Medicine was no longer passed down in a sometimes mysterious manner.  And as medicine became mainstream, doctors began to experiment and pharmacology was born as a result.

Influenza, small pox, tuberculousis (a.k.a. consumption), measles, mumps, polio, etc. were  major illnesses back in the day.

Now that humans were living in cities and more confined areas, these illnesses had an incredibly devastating effect.

And science was looking at where these diseases came from.  Yellow fever for example, from mosquitoes.  Indeed, it’s amazing was we can contract from so small an insect and still can.

Hygiene was certainly another issue regarding sickness.  London, at one time, burnt an awful lot of coal that subsequently harvested many lung and breathing issues.

It is safe to say, that we’ve learned much by trial and error.

And here we are today with children who are increasingly asthmatic.  Why do you think that is?

We’ve become a nation of germ-a-phobes!  Everything around our children is now sterilized and cleaned beyond the pale.

Our poor little darlings are not building up an adequate immune system as a result.

To the new parents out there, let your children eat dirt (a.k.a. mud pies).  Let them sample a worm or two or any other bug for that matter.  Let them go outside and get dirty!  These are the things that will assist in their the construction of their immune system.

Over 16,000 Americans alone die from an overdose of Tylenol and Advil every year!

The majority of synthetic drugs (pharmaceuticals) are designed to mask or reduce the pain threshold, therefore making us feel ‘better’.

Advil I recently learned should never be taken if you suffer from high blood pressure. Guess what?  Doesn’t say any of that on the bottle.  Again, look into what these do overall.  It’s fine to take a pain reliever once in a while but overuse can kill you.

We trust so easily in those we believe to be the ‘experts’.

Please, ask questions.  It’s just good medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

F*!*k the Economy!

What is it about this God we call the economy that drives us to worship and follow it blindly.

Big business is tearing across this planet sucking every viable resource it can take to process and sell it to us in any number of ways.

The economy dictates that this be doen.

I can’t help but wonder what happened.  In my lifetime I’ve watched the economy take hold and alter how we live completely.  The industrial, then the technological revolution have had us running on the hamster wheel at breakneck speeds far too long.

Somethings gotta give.

What happened to our values?

I was born and raised in Vancouver.  I now live in New Westminster which is about a 15 minute drive from the city.  I can’t afford to live there any longer and  I certainly couldn’t purchase a home in Vancouver proper.  90% of the houses in Vancouver are currently well over a million dollars.

Condos are crazy expensive as well.

I have lived and worked in pretty much every corner of the lower mainland (aka Greater Vancouver Regional District) at some point in my life.  This beast called development has devoured Vancouver proper and is now beginning to spread its tentacles on the march  to the suburbs.

Towers, towers, and more condo towers are going on up!  Ten are slated in downtown New Westminster currently.  Five have begun construction.

And in truth much of the white hot market is being driven from off-shore buyers, namely Asian consumers.  Governments on every level state insist they have no way of determining how much of the market is being driven by off-shore purchasing here in British Columbia.

That, quite frankly, is bullshit. In a world with technology such as it is can surely determine  who is buying the properties here in Vancouver and where they live.

The trickle down effect has been devastating.  Seniors cannot afford to live in their homes.  Energy costs have skyrocketed.  People are making the choice between paying their utility bills or feeding themselves.

Rents are extreme and the rental market has deteriorated.

Daycare costs are insane.

The Employment Standards Act has been decimated.  A part-time worker here in BC has virtually no rights on the job.

Everything that generations before worked for, fought for is being dismissed rather handily by government officials of the day.  Gotta feed the economy.  Gotta create jobs.  Gotta inspire people to spend, spend, spend!

We need to change how we do business.  We need to change the concept of profit.

We need to consider what our individual footprint is on this world of ours.

I go to work in the morning and pass house that are 4,000 sq. ft and bigger.   I wonder who lives in these homes?  I never ever see lights on.  On occasion I’ve seen vehicles and a person or two. Do they work there or live there?

What happened to us?

 

A Christmas Wish…

 

I rose early.

I’ve not done this too much over the last month since I’ve been unemployed, however, I wanted to attend the Pan Pacific’s 28th Annual Christmas Wish Breakfast.

So with a book of poetry (local) and a movie gift card in hand, I stepped out into the dark of morning at 6:20 AM.

A fat full moon hung in luminous beauty on a velvety black sky as rows of white and red headlights blinked in unison in the pre-dawn along the highway.

I wanted to wish the gang at Rock 101 all the best as well.  I really appreciate listening to them each morning.  They elevate me.  They are so warm and open.

And wow!  It has been a while since I’ve watched the sunrise from downtown Vancouver!  I watched as the Lions now sprinkled with snow turned a beautiful shade of pink just prior to the sun flooding the sky.

The line-up at the Pan Pacific was long and that’s cool.  All of us in attendance were there to give back to those less fortunate.  May everyone have a blessed time over the holidays.

I will be making my pilgrimage to BC Childrens’ Hospital again this year.  Notification will go up today.

And it was such a pleasure to meet Willy and Kim.  They’ve been a part of my mornings for a very long time along with Alyece who I met earlier this year.

It’s been a tough one.

Now I’m turning my focus toward all the good in my life.  all the little things that make my life a little happier, a little more bearable in times such as these, a little more joyful.

And yes, the gang at Rock 101 does contribute to this factor along with my friends, and bearing witness to beautiful sunrise.  It also helps to know that life will always have its ups and downs.  Your character can well be measured by how you manage the pitfalls in your life.

For me, I keep this heart of mine full to bursting with all the love that it has been afforded.  Indeed, I’m truly blessed.

I’ve a daughter who in many ways saved this soul of mine.  I turned from a path of certain self-destruction to one of redemption and accountability.

And my god, the power of forgiveness!

To let go of the grievances that have plagued me, to rise above the hurt and pain, and release the the fear.

Priceless.

To grow and expand and realize int really isn’t about me at all.

It is about my connection to everyone and everything that I share this planet with.

Its about respect, about love, peace and the human experience.

At Toastmasters I’ve been informed that my speeches touch them on a very deep level.

I am humbled.  This moves me in ways you cannot imagine.

I have fought through the challenges of presenting my person and move toward wanting to make a positive impact and truly make a difference in some form.

I’ll keep trying.  Rick Hansen asked this of all us back in 2012 that were invited to run with him.  I take this request to heart.

I just finished a delightful salad at The Reach and I’m feeling incredibly emotional.  It’s a good thing though.   A release of sorts.

Sometimes reminding myself that I’m part of this collective we call humanity is overwhelming.

I want to embrace and discard all the pain and suffering in this world as unreasonable as that sounds.  I want to ensure that everything will be okay.

The fact that I’m here, alive and pushing toward life, demanding that its essence fill me…

Knowing that I am loved.

Is this not the greatest gift?

So I’ll keep on, keepin’ on.

Expansion will come the more I immerse myself with this world that surrounds me.  In manner that is positive with no expectations.

I can only offer…does not mean what I give will be accepted.

And never is there any remorse or ill will that what I offer has been rejected.

Know it will always be there.  What has been offered will never be removed.

That is the truth of where our humanity lays.

An Awakening

In the last few months I’ve truly begun to emerge and transform from the effects of cancer.  It’s not just the physicality aspect to it.  One of the biggest challenges has been dealing with the emotional fall out of treatment.

For a time I felt helpless with virtually no choice but to allow them to administer treatment after surgery when I may well have been cancer free.   Fear is something I know all too well and that was a huge factor as to why I went ahead with chemo and radiation.

And the cancer agency certainly propagated the fear.

Depression hit as treatment ended and then came the anger.

I am convinced that there are treatments out there that are not harmful to the body or create the risk involved with conventional treatment such as chemotherapy and radiation.

Then I watched a clip from an HBO documentary titled VICE: Killing Cancer.

This angered me so much.

They are now injecting viruses such as HIV into Cancer patients.   I saw images of people in HAZMAT outfits ‘neutering’ the virus so it won’t ‘grow’ in the patient.

Really?

Isn’t it bad enough that they inject patients with poison (aka chemo)?

Recently I’ve come upon a technology that I am going to check out.  It’s called PEMF.  This is an energy mat and its available through SWISS-BIONIC.  I am really excited about it and will definitely share my experiences with you.

A woman that I met at the seminar for the energy mat had received her mat a week prior.  She has breast cancer.

Like me she has questioned the conventional treatment we were prescribed.  She sent me a link to a series called THE TRUTH ABOUT CANCER:  A Global Quest.

I’ve watched Episodes 1 & 2 and then 7.

There are nine episodes.  This is the Facebook link.  https://www.facebook.com/thetruthaboutcancer?fref=ts

Having gone through the treatment it has given me a different outlook on all of this.  If I can assist in opening up dialogue about conventional treatment and the big pharmaceuticals’ and their agenda, then this will be a good thing.

I asked myself the question many times during treatment.  “If there was an inexpensive treatment for cancer, would they tell us?”

Silently I knew the answer would be ‘No.’  Being sick is a big business globally, particularly in North America.

And the telling part of all of this is that the doctors’ were not interested in some of the tell tale symptoms that came to my mind upon diagnosis.  I stated that just prior to entering menopause I had a two month cycle.  I was bleeding very heavy during this time.  They dismissed it immediately and told me this was irrelevant.  Uterine cancer is a result of an increase in the female hormone Estrogen.

At no time was I ever enlightened as to what some of the signs may have been.  I was simply told it was different for every women.   The other thing that was never discussed was my diet.

Nutrition is huge!

What we eat definitely impacts our exposure to cancer.  What else that has changed dramatically in the last 30 years or so is what’s in our food.

The dramatic change has been technology.  It has exploded and with it we have an atmosphere full of EMF’s that are not good for us.  Cell phones, towers, computers, WiFi, etc.

Did you know that if you use your cell phone as an alarm that you should set it to Airplane Mode so that you won’t be subject to  the radiofrequency energy (radio waves), a form of non-ionizing radiation. Tissues nearest to where the phone is held can absorb this energy.

And now the WHO (World Health Organization is stating that bacon and processed and cured meats contain carcinogens.

I am looking to educate myself and gain my health back.  I’m also looking to share what I come across.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Election Campaign 2015 – Part One: Political Apathy

 

We have an election coming up very soon here in Canada.

The one to the south of us seems to be garnering more attention simply because of the ‘colourful’ characters that are involved.

I have been reviewing the platforms for all of those concerned up here in Canuck land.

I am really pissed off with the attack ads the Conservatives have launched since God knows when.

I don’t want to listen to why another candidate is deemed ‘unworthy’ by another political party.

Tell what you can do for this country, for her citizens. That is my interest. I don’t care if one of the candidates has nice hair.

What a politician looks like is irrelevant.

Under the Harper administration we are in fact paying more tax than we were when he first took power.

What you need to understand is the tax structure. It is a maze really.

Now, what I’ve decided to do is attached the last six years Income Tax Rate for Federal Tax only. I’m also attaching a spreadsheet I created to show the this side by side.

I used five salary bases to show how much tax you are paying.

Now at first glance you might think, wow the tax rates came down!

It’s really very deceiving. Those making more money are slipping into a lower tax bracket.

The salaries I listed $42,000, $55,000 and $78,000 all fall within the same tax bracket.

In fact $42,000 slips into the lowest tax bracket eventually.

Those who are earning the least have found no tax relief.

This is a very basic model that I’ve created. My purpose for this is to show those earning the most are indeed paying the least amount of tax.

Take into account the cost of living these days and the multitude of other taxes we are encumbered with and you will begin to understand why many feel a great deal of political apathy.

But we should care.

It is critical that we take the time to understand, even a little, how taxation works in Canada because it’s killing us.

When families have to make the choice whether to heat their homes or buy food then you know there is a major problem.

The following excerpt is from the Globe & Mail online edition.

‘It’s making an already unaffordable market even more unaffordable, but buyers seem unfazed at paying record prices for houses that have gone up 35 per cent since 2009. Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver data shows an average sales price of a detached house for March, 2014, of $1.213-million. That number dropped from February, when the average was at $1.367-million. Back in January, 2009, the average price was $783,721.’

Wow! Housing up approximately 35% in just six years!

Did your salary keep pace? No and in fact, salaries really have not changed all that much.

And yet Stephen Harper will tell you he’s done an awesome job managing this country.

At the end of last year, as of December 2014, the average wage for Canadian employees was $943 a week – or just over $49,000 a year. This marks a 2% increase over the same period a year earlier.

Average Canadian salary by province

1. Newfoundland and Labrador – $52,572
2. New Brunswick – $44,044
3. Nova Scotia – $42,992
4. Prince Edward Island – $41,184
5. Quebec – $44,621
6. Ontario – $49,088
7. Manitoba – $45,760
8. Saskatchewan -$51,792
9. Alberta – $60,476
10. British Columbia – $46,900

AVERAGE HOUSING COSTS IN MAJOR CITIES IN CANADA AS OF JUNE 2015

Vancouver, BC	$922,000	+ 16 %
Toronto, Ont	$639,000	+ 12 %
Calgary, Alb	$466,000	– 0.2 %
Ottawa, Ont	$383,000	+ 5.0 %
Montreal, Que	$341,000	+ 2.6 %
Regina, Sask	$316,000	+ 2.6 %
Halifax, NS	$291,000	+ 4.8 %
Fredericton, NB	$179,000	– 6.8 %

AVERAGE HOUSING COSTS BY PROVINCE AS OF JUNE 2015

British Columbia	$632,000	+ 14 %
Ontario	$477,000	+ 9.3 %
Alberta	$403,000	– 1.0 %
Quebec	$278,000	+ 1.7 %
Saskatchewan	$303,000	+ 0.3 %
Newfoundland / Labrador	$280,000	– 4.6 %
Manitoba	$273,000	– 0.3 %
Nova Scotia	$236,000	+ 7.1 %
Prince Edward Island	$167,000	+ 0.3 %
New Brunswick	$164,000	– 1.3 %
Canadian Average	$453,000	+ 9.6 %

Take a good look at this. Then look where we in BC stand regarding the average wage and ask yourself who is buying all of these houses?

In any case I have assembled this information hoping to inspire you to get out and vote and become involved.

Ask those who are running in your area to answer a few questions about the economy, education, jobs and all the rest of it.

Under Harper’s regime we have definitely seen tax hikes. What his cabinet has managed to do is take away tax incentives such as the child tax credit and strip it down, shake it up and present it as something that’s even better than before.

And sadly, they are not.

I will be forwarding this document to those running in my area and I will be asking them how they plan to provide tax relief to their communities, and to their countries.

I want to know how they’ll correct astronomical cost of living and how they’ll assist those who are most vulnerable.

I went through cancer treatment without the benefit of extended health benefits offered at work. Consequently, I took very little time off. I took just two weeks off after surgery and took the day’s off that I was being fed chemo.

I’m fortunate that I looked at other means by which to deal with the side effects. Still there are some that have had a taxing effect on me.

Hell, I’m pissed off that they don’t offer free parking to cancer patients. They should. I’ve got parking tickets galore that I refuse to pay because I couldn’t just jump out of the doctor’s office or wherever I was at in the Cancer Agency to feed the meter.

I believe there are solutions to these issues and will be presenting them soon.

In the meantime, please start looking closely at those wanting to run Canada for the next 5 years and those who’ve been running the show.

Exercise your right to vote and encourage everyone that you know to do the same.

We can have a better, more efficient governing body. And more importantly they need to be accountable.

I really believe that together we can make a difference and welcome any and all comments regarding the up coming election.

Below are the tax brackets taken from Canada Revenue website.

Federal Income Tax Rates for 2009:

• 15% on the first $38,832 of taxable income, +
• 22% on the next $38,832 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $38,832 and $77,664), +
• 26% on the next $48,600 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $77,664 and $126,264), +
• 29% of taxable income over $120,887.

Federal Income Tax Rates for the Year 2010:

• 15% on the first $40,970 of taxable income, +
• 22% on the next $40,971 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $40,970 and $81,941), +
• 26% on the next $45,080 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $81,941 and $127,021), +
• 29% of taxable income over $127,021

Income Tax Rates for the Year 2011:

• 15% on the first $41,544 of taxable income
• 22% on the next $41,545 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $41,545 and $83,088)
• 26%on the next  $83,089 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $83,089 and $128,880)
• 29% of taxable income over  $128,800

Income Tax Rates for the Year 2012:

• 15% on the first $42,707 of taxable income
• 22% on the next $42,707 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $42,707 and $85,414)
• 26%on the next  $85,414 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $85,414 and $132,406)
• 29% of taxable income over  $132,406

Income Tax Rates for the Year 2013:

-Federal personal income tax rates below (provincial income tax rates are not included)

• 15% on the first $43,561 of taxable income
• 22% on the next $43,562 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $43,562 and $87,123)
• 26%on the next $87,124 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $87,124 and $135,054)
• 29% of taxable income over $135,054

• Income Tax Rates for the Year 2013:

Income Tax Rates for Year 2014

• 15% on the first $43,953 of taxable income
• 22% on the next $43,954 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $43,954 and $87,907)
• 26%on the next $48,363 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $87,908 and $136,270)
• 29% of taxable income over $136,270

**Click on the link below to pull up a PDF of the spreadsheet I created based upon the above. 

Wage Schedule 2

 

I Do Know This….

Cherry Blossoms over by Queen’s Park 

Over the past couple of days I’ve been very much in my head playing with plots and sub-plots for several of the projects that I have on the go.

They are in various stages of development.  Lately, however, I’ve found myself consumed by the aspect and the very idea regarding time.

A blog post that I’ve been working on recently and that I hope to post over the next couple of days speaks to the whole concept of time and where it may have had its beginnings and our interpretation of it.

I must say that this topic has intrigued me on a very deep level.

Last week I was flipping channels on the TV.  I came upon a documentary of a woman whose work involves trying to decode early forms of written communications.

The evidence is strewn throughout caves worldwide.  The similarities that exist cannot be coincidental.

What their meaning is, now that’s the puzzle currently being explored and may well be the mystery that is never solved.

A few conversations have been sparked this week regarding what part of history we’d like to visit, spy on or observe.  I found myself asking why my conversational combatants (i.e. friends) would like to experience those particular moments in time.

I love getting into conversations with this depth as it ignites something in me.

For me personally, I would go back to the moment that humankind had its ‘Ah Ha!” moment.

Something happened some 40,000 years ago and that is where I’d like to be a fly on the wall or in a cave.

A friend laughed and commented that they didn’t like the idea because it would be too difficult to live in the days of the caveman.  Too much work and being dragged about held little appeal.

I smiled insisting they just may like it, then stated that I didn’t want to stay permanently…I just wanted to take a peek at what caused humans to begin to develop the art forms and rudimentary written symbols all within the same time frame on a global front.

Last weekend I found myself researching the whole notion of time.  Time vs. religion, time vs. creation, and for that matter, how time has been measured.  Right or wrong.

One article written by a member of the clergy discussed the time frame around God’s creation of Heaven and Earth and when we made an appearance.

Interestingly enough his take on it was that God didn’t whip the world up with all the animals and people on it in just six days then took a break on the seventh.  His reasoning was that the span of time it took had been misinterpreted.

He felt biblical time was likely more in keeping with 40,000 years.

This intrigued me.

Now I’m not a religious person.  In fact, I find many religions to be very confining.  Being taught an ideology that does not invite exploration and free thought and where the truths being delivered are expected to be accepted based on blind faith alone is a little frightening actually.

I do know this.  There is an energy that permeates this universe and it is a beautiful thing to tap into this awareness, this consciousness that exists.

My issue is not with the message but rather with the messenger.

Now do you think it possible that maybe, just maybe something has been lost or perhaps omitted in translation?

Humans are by nature and design a rather impressionable lot, are we not?

We can be deviant and downright treacherous.  We are curious beings that are equally gullible and malleable.

Then there is this issue of power.  There are those who hunger for it even when they aren’t sure of what it is exactly.

Don’t you think it entirely possible that an omnipresent entity offered, imposed or bestowed a wisdom upon us and those blessed with this knowledge might well have deviated from sharing all of this to satisfy and/or further their own station in life?

Why is it collectively we cannot come together to, oh let’s say, end world hunger?  I’ve heard it said that there is enough food to feed the masses and that is all of us ten times over on a daily basis.

Why are we not assisting each other when it comes to illness?  Think of the recent Ebola outbreak.  Man, the minute it landed in North America…by God, they found a cure.

What about AIDS?

Why are we still fighting for girls to gain an education?

Why are we still fighting for sexual rights and freedoms?

Why do we still judge and condemn?

Every Christmas, while we all have the warm fuzzies, we wish for world peace.

This notion sells a lot of greeting cards, doesn’t it?

These are just a few things that in my mind I’m often amazed still exist on such a large scale.

Still, we wish for it.  Why?

We’ve known its opposite for far too long.

You cannot know or appreciate peace without having suffered the loss and sorrow caused by the upheaval of war.

Much the same with happiness.  If you’ve known the sadness, and most of us have, then we appreciate those moments of bliss all the more.

And we are so good at killing, are we not?

Images of men wearing black balaclavas’ with guns and machetes don’t strike me as a Godly men.

Oddly or perhaps not, the majority of ‘Gods’ at the helm of our religions worldwide dictate that certain behaviours and actions are unacceptable.

Killing happens to be one of them.  So, I will suggest that perhaps we’re not getting this whole commandment thing right.

 

And as I processed and developed my various characters and plot lines for those books that will soon be enjoyed by the masses, I thought of death and its finality.  At least on this plain and our fear of it. I created a new line of friction and the sorrow and pain my heroine will experience leading her to experience a great deal of anxiety regarding the choices she’ll have to make.

And on that note…

I was here

Welcome to the human race.

Enjoy your day.  Namaste.

 

 

 

 

 

Back Story

 

I had a good day.   It was a laid back one with no pressure.

Got out and about and went down to the Quay in New West to visit some friends who had set up for a flea market.

I grabbed a nibble then came home.  I watched the remainder of the hockey game and happily Montreal won.

CBC was paying homage to ‘Just for Laughs’ and celebrating 30 years on T.V.  I enjoyed it. Clips were shown from 1985 and onward.

A young and oh so beautiful Jon Stewart reminded me why I love his humour as did many other comedians that I don’t see much of these days.  And the political landscape from Regan to Obama…from Mulroney to Harper.  What I appreciated about how this special was put together was the categories.

The following clips are from both Jon Stewart and David Letterman after the 9-11.

They covered everything and it was being hosted by my boy George Strombopolous also known as Canada’s boyfriend.

• Racism
• Gay marriage
• War
• Politics
• Global warming
• Healthcare
• Law, etc.

Several of the comics were from the U.S. and many from other parts of the globe.

Funny how it still seemed so relevant today something that was performed some 30 years ago.

There is this hysteria over global warming. Yet no one really has done anything. And while we get up in arms about this and drive our six cylinder luxury vehicle to the protest to show our support, is there any of us who will freely admit to our hypocrisy in this matter?

I’m now into week 12 without the beneft of hot water in my suite…well, that is not entirely true. I now have it in my bathroom sink only.

Today’s bath required 28 basins of water to fill it enough for a decent scrub down.

There are certain things we just expect these days. The memory of developing the technology and infrastructure to accommodate these simple pleasures has been forgotten or ignored.

Last week I watched the news and a piece was done on the desirability of purchasing waterfront properties in the Victoria, BC area by the Chinese.  A Chinese realtor stood before the camera and stated that Chinese expected the best and wanted safe communities that were quiet.

This bothered me.

One of Vancouver’s most expensive neighborhoods

Don’t we all want the best for our dollar? Don’t we all want to live in beautiful homes that are in safe and quiet communities?

The thing is that the property values are something I would never even begin to consider. Not even remotely as I could never afford them. In Vancouver the Chinese would pay $6-$8 million for such a property. In Victoria they get it at the bargain price of $3-$4 million.

This home sold in the 2700 block of King Edward for $1,900,000.00 on Feb 27, 2015

Sounds a bit elitist does it not?  And it creates a sense of animosity when foreigners are coming over and buying up our properties and forcing those who live and work here further out into the suburbs.  This fault, however, lies with the government and their ridiculous lust for tax dollars to feed their ever increasing pensions.

The average price to purchase a detached home on the East side of Vancouver is now $1.27 million

I do know in China you can make a ridiculous amount of money. .

I do the accounting for an engineer who I’ve known for the last 15 years of so. He is Chinese and has told me on several occasions how much money could be made by moving there. He has family there. He has been offered jobs starting at a paltry $300,000 per year.

His small company that he runs here averages $500,000 per year.

I asked him once why he didn’t take the offers. He smiled thoughtfully then told me that ‘…in China you must live to work. It will consume you. Over here I can just live.”

And as the comedians weighed in on racism I could not help but smile. Yes, it is a serious subject matter, but Russell Peters explanation as to why black men have bigger penis’ than Indian people was stellar.

We have so many things that we’ve just ignore. We play these vicious war games then just change the players.

Politicians it would seem have short term memories in this regard.

War happens and the why’s and wherefores are often rather diluted these days.

Some of the comedians stepped up and offered their take on the infamous ‘weapons of mass destruction’.

I looked at my toenails then and realized that soon if I don’t get them manicured they could well cause serious damage and be classified as lethal weapons.

All kidding aside, convincing the world that Sadam was sitting on an arsenal that could blow us all to smithereens was actually quite brilliant considering George W’s quest to wipe out Sadam was a vendetta to appease the fact that Sadam had tried to kill his daddy when he was President.

Oh…the plot thickens, doesn’t it?

Look a little deeper and you’ll find out who put Sadam in power. It was a U.S. initiative to remove Khomeini as he wasn’t playing nice any longer. And the U.S. had assisted him back in the day to gain power after throwing out the Shah of Iran.

Destroying a Dictator

It’s a game of smoke and mirrors really.

Of course we here in Canada have our moments. The jokes were fast and furious.

Canada’s war offering had us giving out Tim Horton donuts and telling everyone to have a good day and then apologizing.

When the financial crisis of 2008 happened Steven Harper looked into the camera and advised Canadians to buy stocks stating how ideal the conditions were. Curious.

Wanda Sykes spoke of Viagra and how the quest to find a remedy for a limp biscuit had helped find cures for oh so many other illnesses.

One comic spoke of HIV and the search for a cure.

“We built a sheep from another sheep. We can duplicate a species. We can shoot botox into our faces and have no wrinkles….but cure AIDS?   No. Not yet.”

And as they parlayed throught their routines I was reminded once again of the duplicity of human kind.

The misunderstanding and misue of power.

The most frightening thing to me is the mind that is closed. Not open to any type of linear thinking.

Having ideas and with no allowance for failure. No compromise…nuthin!  That is frightening to me.

Life isn’t a series of headlines. While there may well be markers on this journey we call life, there is always a back story. And if you don’t feel it important to look beyond the headlines, then know you do yourself a disservice my not absorbing the full measure of the knowledge that has been offered.

And the sense of assessing what truly is important may well be lost to you.

Read ‘The Once and Future King’. It is the Arthurian tale at its finest.

I love that story and all that is stands for. The gifts we are given at birth…unique to each of us. Will we find our calling or will it find us?  Or will we waste it?

It’s all back story, baby.

Here is a link to a write up regarding the aforementioned book.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/03/featuresreviews.guardianreview4

Peace.