Sunday, November 6, 2011

My Supper last night



I am so proud of getting in touch with vegetables and juicing. It is so easy but difficult to make taste worthy. I even got to make some humus with my juicer. Great fun and I ate it all.And of course had my vitamins and antioxidants which I do now without thinking. Having cancer is not the most fun in the world but it makes me pay attention to what I am doing in so many ways, It is teaching me about me. Life is good.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

My Birthday card to all!

October 22nd the beginning of my 77th year.

I am pleased and excited to announce the 5 winners of our Count the Blooms in my garden Contest. It was fun from beginning to end.

To all those fine folks that entered I am only sorry I could not give a prize to each of you.

I am also packing my bags to go to Costa Rica for the winter; to a farm house near Jaco beach. I leave mid November and return mid April. Got to deal with my Lymphoma in a focused way. Hot and warm is what the doctor ordered. I will even be growing my own greens and vegetables.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with everything the way you and your families will treasure.

We are all blessed to be on this world, for if not here where then?

Make every minute count and love every smile you give and get.

I'm smiling now and sending each a big hug.




click: http://www.hollywoodsurvivalkit.com/

Thursday, October 13, 2011

LIFE IS FULL OF INTERESTING JOBS!!!

I am amazed at how many blooms there were in my Garden on October the 6th and now I can count them to find out who won a Hollywood Survival Kit Pocket Pack. You can see the pack and its contents at http://www.hollywoodsurvivalkit.com

It is slow work counting...LOL


Thursday, September 29, 2011

Play and win and have some fun.

My little contest closes on Saturday. You could win a Pocket Pack that can make your life calm and easy. It has no side effects and works like a charm. All you have to do is guess how many flowers will grow in my garden. Easy and who knows....

http://www.hollywoodsurvivalkit.com/

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

For the people who wonder does Homeopathy work

HPathy is the largest on line magazine for homeopathy. It has many areas of concern. In the September issue a homeopath interested in wild birds and animals has documented several illness recoveries using Homeopathy. They are worth reading to see how effective Homeopathy can be with wildlife even in extreme cases. Most of these cases were brought about by pesticides sprayed on golf courses, lawns and gardens. Lots of signs telling humans about what was going on but no way for animals or birds could know. It is nice to read how we as people can save our wild friends.


http://hpathy.com/veterinary-homeopathy/cases/homeopathic-success-in-treating-poisoned-wildlife/

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

This is a clear article about what we are facing as citizens of Canada. The CMA like its brother the AMA are hell bent to destroy all forms of healing and sustaining our health save what they prescribe. It is a world tragedy and we must resist our loss of choice whenever we can.

The Disinformation Campaign Against Homeopathy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/disinformation-about-homeopathy_b_952967.html?show_comment_id=107867702#comment_107867702,sb=777540,b=facebook

Homeopathic medicine is at present one of the leading alternative therapies practiced by physicians in Europe (particularly France, Germany, UK and Italy) and Asia, especially on the Indian subcontinent (EU Commission, 1997; Prasad, 2007). Since homeopathy's development as a medical specialty in the early 1800s, it has been a leading alternative to orthodox medicine internationally, and it has posed an ongoing threat...

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Libya: another view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJURNC0e6Ek&feature=player_embedded

Have a look at the Green Book if you will to read what Gadhafi wrote about Government and ruling.
http://911-truth.net/other-books/Muammar-Qaddafi-Green-Book-Eng.pdf

Monday, May 30, 2011

Dehumanizing Mankind

Over the last few months I have become confused more and more about what kind of a world I am in. It feels like mankind is being thrown for a loop by disastrous events like Iraq, Egypt, flu, Economic meltdowns to cite a few. Somehow it lead me to reread 1984 by George Orwell who paints a dim picture of the future. It is chilling reading for in many places he paints the road we are on now. Reading the following paragraph I was shocked.

"in the general hardening of outlook that set in round about
1930, practices which had been long abandoned, in some
cases for hundreds of years—imprisonment without trial,
the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture
to extract confessions, the use of hostages, and the deportation
of whole populations—not only became common
again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who
considered themselves enlightened and progressive".
pg 258 1984 by George Orwell
http://www.planetebook.com/1984.

This is certainly true from where I stand as I was raised with much higher standards of freedom and caring. We were fighting it seemed for a peaceful and productive world. But now like '1984' we are continually at war and this feels more and more like it is part of the strategy of control and centralizing power. We are fed through the media no different than in 1984.

I feel we are being dehumanized by this and somehow finding the control fine as we have an easy life. But we are being driven from disaster to disaster and seem to be losing the personal control of our lives.

I was directed to the following documentary:
"How the free market ideas of economist Milton Friedman and the Chicago School fostered the impact of shock from the 1970s Pinochet regime in Chile to the Bush administration today.

"Internationally renowned author, journalist and syndicated columnist Naomi Klein on her new book "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism". Klein is best known for her book from the year 2000, the international bestseller "No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies". It was called "A Movement Bible" by the New York Times referring to its incredible impact on the anti-globalization movement. In this extraordinary interview, Klein discusses the key ideas behind her concept of The Shock Doctrine and its importance as an alternate economic, social and political history of the last thirty years. She describes how the free market ideas of economist Milton Friedman and the Chicago School fostered the impact of shock from the 1970s Pinochet regime in Chile to the Bush administration today."

http://blip.tv/the-alcove-with-mark-molaro/naomi-klein-the-shock-doctrine-no-logo-author-feature-interview-526879
This doc is about 50 minutes long and riveting.

We have not yet arrived at the Orwellian world but it seems clear that we are heading in that general direction. For one example just look at the Security net that will surround North America when Canada and the US implement it. It will be as much a prison for those inside as it will be a defended island for those outside.

The US Congress or Senate have or had under discussion if they should make law that says the USA is continually at war. A clear move toward solidifying the disaster technique being used today.

This seems to be a disastrous road for humankind for it can only lead to reducing the very things that make us human; our humanity and replaces it with a group at the top who see people as slaves one way or another, to be managed in brutal ways. It is sadistic by design and Power is its goal. Absolute Power even over its own ranks.

It is insidious how Power grows until we deem it OK; an example is the Lotteries. On one hand the Power says it raises money for charities but the buyer is gambling and hoping for a big win. Should we encourage our population to resort to gambling to get ahead?

Controls over our choices and our rights to choose are already in place and more are coming as supplements get legislated against and natural and herbal remedies are being curtailed and outlawed. Our lives are being directed as much as possible from the outside.

In our favour we have communications and this gives mass rallying power when needed and opportunities to hunker down in our homes and communities and try more and more to be self reliant in every way: living within our means and not on bank loans of any kind. Become aware of who is in the driver's seat and are the intentions really good for both the mental and physical health of ourselves, our families and the community we live in. "1984" is not here yet.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

How to neutralize manipulation

Dee Nicholson dnicholson@yaknet.ca sent this to me. It is what is happening to our debates with every level of Government. Enjoy the lessons. They are worth knowing.

It is becoming extremely obvious that honest debate on important issues no longer exists and that discussions and outcomes are being totally manipulated by facilitators and manipulators who are expert at orchestrating precisely the results that THEY want, even though these are the very opposite to what makes sense or is essential.
This is called the Delphi Technique.

At no time in my memory has this technique for developing “herd compliance” been more evident than during the present Canadian Election. It is important that we all know That we are being manipulated, HOW we are being manipulated, WHY we are being manipulated - and HOW we can sabotage and neutralize these manipulative techniques.

Attached is a document detailing how to Defeat the Delphi Technique.

Please pass this on to everyone, electronically or hard copy.
This information is essential if we are going to outsmart those who are determined to undermine and destroy our democracy.

We are the only ones who can take back our democracy, take back our country, and take back control over our lives. So let’s make sure that we become masters at recognizing and Defeating the Delphi Technique.

how to neutralize manipulation

Defeating The Delphi Technique
The Delphi technique and Hegelian dialects are heavily exposed at www.freedom-force.org
This document will give some ugly but useful advice in how to defeat the Delphi Technique. If your not familiar with what it is - it is a manipulative method used by Governments, Organizations and Unions to cause a 'pre-selected outcome' at a meeting, event, or function. Its usage is also implemented in any on line instrument such as a chat room, forum or newsgroup that has 'Moderators.'
Here is how the Delphi Technique works (and boy its effective). It is based upon the Hegelian Dialectic of creating ones own opposition in order to manipulate that opposition to a unified consensus. One exposing document from the Education Reporter accurately describes it:
In group settings, the Delphi Technique is an unethical method of achieving consensus on controversial topics. It requires well-trained professionals, known as "facilitators" or "change agents," who deliberately escalate tension among group members, pitting one faction against another to make a preordained viewpoint appear "sensible," while making opposing views appear ridiculous.
So there you have it, - a highly trained change agent or facilitator is brought in whenever a dispute arises where a predetermined outcome is desired. The facilitator will host a meeting (on line or otherwise) to gather input from members of the group.
The trick is anyone who disagrees with the pre-ordained plan is segregated, ridiculed and marginalized, while those supporting the ruling powers agenda are encouraged and praised for their 'activism'. The key is that it is important that the members of the meeting or group get involved, thus causing them to have the feeling of satisfaction that they have been involved in the change. The sad reality is that the entire thing was only a mass crowd manipulation to a pre-determined end.
Here is another example of what it is.
The facilitator begins by working the crowd to establish a good-guy-bad-guy scenario. Anyone disagreeing with the facilitator must be made to appear as the bad guy, with the facilitator appearing as the good guy. To accomplish this, the facilitator seeks out those who disagree and makes them look foolish, inept, or aggressive, which sends a clear message to the rest of the audience that, if they don't want the same treatment, they must keep quiet. When the opposition has been identified and alienated, the facilitator becomes the good guy - a friend - and the agenda and direction of the meeting are established without the audience ever realizing what has happened.
Trap-Dooring the Change Agent
The simplest and most effective method to defeat the Delphi Technique is for everyone in the meeting to know about it. I call it trap-dooring the change agent. Here is how you do it.
Prior to the meeting simply make many copies of what the Delphi Technique is (and how it’s used). That could be as simple as printing and making 500 copies of this document. If there is a 'facilitator' in the meeting, and you are reading this - try to see if you can see this tactic at work. Do you think this is an acceptable method of democracy where everyone’s rights are being equally respected??
I don't think so either. Why don't we start with a polite question for him like “Are you using Delphi?”
How to Diffuse the Delphi Technique
Three steps can diffuse the Delphi Technique as facilitators attempt to steer a meeting in a specific direction.
1. Always be charming, courteous, and pleasant. Smile. Moderate your voice so as not to come across as belligerent or aggressive.
2. Stay focused. If possible, jot down your thoughts or questions. When facilitators are asked questions they don't want to answer, they often digress from the issue that was raised and try instead to put the questioner on the defensive. Do not fall for this tactic. Courteously bring the facilitator back to your original question. If he rephrases it so that it becomes an accusatory statement (a popular tactic), simply say, "That is not what I asked. What I asked was . . ." and repeat your question.
3. Be persistent. If putting you on the defensive doesn't work, facilitators often resort to long monologues that drag on for several minutes. During that time, the group usually forgets the question that was asked, which is the intent.
Let the facilitator finish. Then with polite persistence state: "But you didn't answer my question. My question was ….... ." and repeat your question.
Never become angry under any circumstances. Anger directed at the facilitator will immediately make the facilitator the victim. This defeats the purpose. The goal of facilitators is to make the majority of the group members like them, and to alienate anyone who might pose a threat to the realization of their agenda.
At a meeting, have two or three people who know the Delphi Technique dispersed through the crowd so that, when the facilitator digresses from a question, they can stand up and politely say: "But you didn't answer that lady or gentleman's question." Even if the facilitator suspects certain group members are working together, he will not want to alienate the crowd by making accusations. Occasionally, it takes only one incident of this type for the crowd to figure out what's going on.
Establish a plan of action before a meeting. Everyone on your team should know his part. Later, analyze what went right, what went wrong and why, and what needs to happen the next time. Never strategize during a meeting. A popular tactic of facilitators, if a session is meeting with resistance, is to call a recess. During the recess, the facilitator and his spotters (people who observe the crowd during the course of a meeting) watch the crowd to see who congregates where, especially those who have offered resistance. If the resistors congregate in one place, a spotter will gravitate to that group and join in the conversation, reporting what was said to the facilitator. When the meeting resumes, the facilitator will steer clear of the resistors. Do not congregate. Instead gravitate to where the facilitators or spotters are. Stay away from your team members.
Maybe the Diamond Tactic (communist tactic of crowd manipulation) will also interest you:
1. Plan ahead of time what action you want the group to take: nominate or oppose a candidate, support or oppose an issue, heckle a speaker, or whatever. Everyone on your team must know exactly what they are going to do, including contingency plans.
2. Team members should arrive at the meeting separately and never congregate together.
3. Team players should arrive early enough to take seats around the outside of the assembly area, roughly in the shape of a diamond. They must not sit together. The object of the tactic is place your people around the perimeter of the audience so that, when they begin to take action, those in the center will have to do a lot of head turning to see them – to the right, then the left, then the rear of the room, then the front, etc. The more they turn their heads, the greater the illusion of being surrounded by people in agreement with each other, and the more they will be convinced that these people represent the majority opinion.
The only way to thwart the Diamond Tactic is to always be prepared to match it with your own team. Never take a meeting for granted, especially if something important is scheduled to transpire, such as nomination of officers.
Even a simple gathering to hear an important speaker can turn into a nightmare if opponents send in hecklers. So, always plan for the worst and be prepared to spring into action with comments from the floor such as: “I want to make it clear that these people do not speak for me. I am in total opposition to what they stand for. In fact, I would like to ask them to identify themselves. Who are you? Why did you come to this meeting? What is your agenda?” If comments such as this are heard from three or four people around the outside of the room, the meeting will be very exciting, but the tactic will be defused.
Setting Up a Online Trap Door For a Change Agent in a Forum (eg - http://groups.yahoo.com)
An effective and blunt instrument to put a total kill on manipulations in a online forum is to simply post the Delphi Technique to several similar email lists. In the posting SHOW where you have attempted to post an educational expose showing how crowds are manipulated(both online and off). If a change agent is running a email group they are now in a juxtaposition. If they attempt to censor the document, it will be quickly exposed in the other groups where the posting was allowed. If they DO post the document, their techniques may be quickly realized. Either way they are cornered, and they have to cede their operations or face exposure.
I am truly of the belief that everyone in North America should know the Delphi Technique and be taught to resist it.
Now that you know the average public meeting (or online forum) can be highly manipulated from both sides, did you ever stop to think that the Hegelian Dialectic is being used at a national level by our one-mind propaganda media? Start learning some alternative information so you can become a critical thinker again.

This document is public domain - please copy and share freely with all.
www.freedom-force.org www.prisonplanet.com www.infowars.com
www.conspiracycentral.net www.pilotsfor911truth.org www.tulsatruth.org
www.anomalicresearch.com www.nutrimedical.com www.intelwire.com

URL: http://www.nogw.com/documents/_07_defeating_delphi.pdf



Share far and wide!!!!!

Friday, April 29, 2011

Homeopathy for Farm and Garden. By Kaviraj

Homeopathy for Farm and Garden. By Kaviraj

Have a look at it. Very compelling.

Kaviraj is very knowledgeable and my good fortune that he is staying with me for a month or two. If you have any questions please get in touch. Kaviraj is assessable, on line, on face book and skype.

Be well,

John

Publisher sites below


http://www.narayana-verlag.de/Homeopathy-for-Farm-and-Garden/Vaikunthanath-Das-Kaviraj/b8241

http://bit.ly/dQSbyi


\
Kaviraj.

In the service of SB 1/5/33.
Vice President, World Homoeopathic Association UK Chapter.
Author "Homoeopathy for Farm & Garden"
Available in 7 languages. 12 in progress.

KVIRAJ - Plants and Homeopathy

http://www.narayana-verlag.de/Homeopathy-for-Farm-and-Garden/Vaikunthanath-Das-Kaviraj/b8241

http://bit.ly/dQSbyi

Thursday, April 28, 2011

My life has changed now…..

There was a time at night all alone where if I was too tired I would just turn off the light, climb into bed and go to sleep. It did not matter that I had not brushed my teeth. A sinful idea.

Now the ritual is much longer and ends with me brushing my teeth and my partial dentures. Such joy.

Before that though I go down to the kitchen and get a capsule of my Magnesium supplement and the baking soda. I spill the contents of the capsule into a fruit juice glass and an equal part of the baking soda. I turn on the kettle for about a minute to generate some heat and then half fill the glass and it froths and I drink it.

My life has changed now…

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Goat Milk versus Cow Milk

When I was diagnosed with cancer one of the dietary one of the suggestions was that I use Goat Milk. Lots of positive reasons were given and so I complied. As I turn my diet around to 100% vegetarian plus Goat Milk and its products, no animal, fish or chicken products at all. I can feel the lump under my are is no worse, I am gaining weight and have good energy. There are many psychological challenges too. My continued use of tobacco through cigarettes.

I take 5 supplements: Vit Bs, D, Es, Magnesium and an anti- oxidant Resvaratrol. The Magnesium is to help my PH get to neutral between acid and alkaline. I have moved up to normal or near normal in about 3 months.

I am now juicing carrots every day and greens as well; wheat grass, kale, and beets, ginger, apple and orange. It is indeed a daily exploration to get the taste right for me but when I do it encourages me to try again. It tastes wonderful. I do the greens on their own and even them with an apple tastes ok.

I am not exercising enough but to move has always been a problem of mine. With the summer I will ride my bike and it will help I know. My 11 days of shooting at Weengushk Film Institute on Manitoulin Island, much of it working outside in below freezing weather improved my health by leaps and bounds.

The homeopathic medicines I am taking definitely have an effect which goes to my emotional core which of course is at the centre of me. My whole temperment changes to the better, to the positive side. I can feel that in this writing.

I do one visualization when I meditate in the morning. I cover myself in a stream of sparking white light and send it to my armpit. It goes inside and spreads its sparkles about encouraging my white blood cells as they enter the node. It is wonderful to watch and a few time now if it feels sore and it does sometimes I close my eyes and let my white sparking light go to the pain point and it is gone in a few seconds. Well that's what happens so who am I to argue about visualizations.

I am always reading and researching through trial and error to get myself in a totally good state to get rid of the swelling in my lymph node. the little cancer that I am dealing with.

I looked up some of the facts today wondering why it was that Goat Milk was suggested. From my personal experience with Goat Milk and its products and after reading the two articles below I conclude that were I to have children today they would only get Goats Milk to drink from crib to grave.

Here is what I read. The first is just goat facts and below it there is a link to an actual comparison between the goat and cow done by the US government

Alternative Medicine Angel This is a non-profit site offering educational information and broad based research on various health conditions, medications, supplements and therapies. In addition, this site provides information on how to naturally improve overall health, strengthen the immune system, and slow the aging process. There is a list of physicians who use alternative treatments, a newsletter and book review section, and a product guide. To access this site: Click on the link above or at the bottom of this page.

Goat Milk vs Cow Milk

· Nutrient content of goat milk is slightly less than cow milk but goat milk is more digestible because the fat molecules are one-fifth the size of those from cow milk -- making it easily tolerated by those with compromised digestive systems.

· Seventy-two percent of the milk used throughout the world is from goats. It is one-third richer than cows milk but more nourishing and easier to digest.

· The flavor of goat milk is comparable to that of cow milk. Goat milk has a milder taste.

· Goat milk has no cream separation because of smaller fat molecules.

· Goat milk contains pre-formed Vitamin A in the milk fat that allows it to be readily available for use by the body.

· Goats milk contains a more highly-evolved cholesterol than cows milk, making it more available for absorption to the brain and body. (Cholesterol is essential to the health of the myelin sheaths "white matter" of the nerves in the brain.)

· Goat milk is closer to human milk and is therefore easily accepted especially by those young or frail.

· Goat milk has an alkaline reaction the same as mother's milk. Cow milk has an acid reaction

· Goat milk does not form mucous (phlegm) and is therefore better tolerated by asthmatics and those with allergies.

· Goat milk contains more chlorine, fluorine and silicon than any other domestic livestock. Chlorine and fluorine are natural germicides and fluorine assists in preventing diabetes.

· Goat milk contains 2% curd, which precipitates in the stomach. Cows milk is 10% curd.

· Goats are naturally immune to diseases, such as tuberculosis, and are used in third-world countries to actually cure tuberculosis because of their
inherent antibodies. · Goats milk is tolerated by a compromised /damaged liver because of the smaller fat molecules and it's naturally homogenized. · Goats milk has the ability to "sweeten" the intestinal tract and assist with constipation. · Goats milk contains a higher evolved carotene (pro-Vitamin A). Researchers have found this to have cancer preventing properties

. Source: Natures Prescription Milk by Gloria Gilbere, N.D., D.A. Hom., Ph.D.

http://www.goatworld.com/articles/goatmilk/goatmilk.shtml

Saturday, April 16, 2011

What Canadians have LOST under this "Harper" Government.

Tommy Banks, Canadian conductor and pianist,
host of the CBC television’s “The Tommy Banks Show” for 15 years.

A letter from my partner Senator Tom Banks

By Sharman King on Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I apologize for this long re-post, but I'd like to share with my friends this letter from my business partner and musical associate Senator Tommy Banks. It's worth noting that Tom was a Conservative when he was appointed to the Senate. If you agree with this “food for thought” please feel free to send it to your friends of whatever political stripe. The bigger message here is how we want our government to behave, no matter who forms that government. Here's Tom's missive:
-------------------------------

Tommy Bank’s letter:

There is only one thing about the outcome of the May 2nd election on which Mr. Ignatieff and Mr. Harper agree. It is that one of them will be the Prime Minister of Canada. Mr. Layton, Mr. Duceppe and Ms. May are not in the running to form a government. They can’t. It will be either Mr. Ignatieff or Mr. Harper.

That is the choice, and it is a very clear – in fact, stark choice.
We will choose between openness or secrecy.
Between listening or refusing to listen.
Between someone who respects Parliament or someone who disdains it.
Between things we can and will do now or things that, (provided of course that everything goes well), we might do in five or six years.
Between someone who answers all questions from Canadians, or someone who won’t accept any.

Between Mr. Harper who said “It’s past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act”,
or Mr. Ignatieff who said “ . . . we don’t want user fees. We want universal, accessible, free-at-the-point-of-service health care, paid out of general revenue. That’s just bottom line. Otherwise we get two-tiered”.

Between buying jets or helping vets.
Between real early childhood learning and care or Saturday-night babysitting.
Between respect for our great institutions or contempt for them.
Between helping families or helping big corporations.
Between the Canada that we think we have, or the way in which Mr. Harper has already changed it.

Over the past few years Mr. Harper’s government has quietly engineered so many changes that there are some ways in which our country is barely recognizable. Many of us don’t yet realize the extent of those changes, because many of them have been brought about very carefully and gradually – almost imperceptibly in some cases.

This is diabolically clever. If these things had all been done at once, there would have been loud protests and reactions. But moving just one little brick at a time doesn’t cause much fuss – until you realize that the whole house has been renovated. And we’ve hardly noticed.

These are changes that are at the very heart of who and what Canadians are.
They are changes to the protections that used to exist against the tyranny of the majority – or against a single-minded my-way-or-the-highway autocrat.
These changes are losses to our very Canadian-ness. Let me remind you of some of them:

The Law Commission of Canada was created by an Act of Parliament in 1997. It worked very well. It kept an eye in a sort-of avuncular way, on necessary reforms of the law, including election law. The Commission couldn’t actually change law; but it was very good at letting governments and everybody else know when changes needed to be made and why. It was our legal Jiminy Cricket, and it performed a valuable service for Canada. The Commission was created by an Act of Parliament, and any government wanting to shut it down should have been up-front about it.
It should have come to Parliament with a Bill to rescind The Law Commission of Canada Act.
That’s what any of our 21 previous Prime Ministers would have done.

But to Mr. Harper, Parliament is an inconvenience. Somebody might ask “Why are you doing this?” But he didn’t want to go through all that Parliamentary trouble; so, rather than proposing the abolition of the Commission (a proposal about which there would have been pretty fierce debate on all sides),
they just eliminated all funding for it in the federal budget. Governments can do that.
Poof – no Law Commission.

Nice and quiet. Just one little brick. Hardly noticed.

Then there was the Court Challenges Programme, set up in 1994, which was the means by which a bit of legal help could be provided to a private individual or small organization who didn’t have a lot of money, and who was taking on, or being taken on by, the Government of Canada. It leveled the legal playing field a bit. It was a perfect example of fundamental Canadian fairness.

By convincing a tough panel of judges of the reasonableness of your cause, you could get a little help in paying for some lawyers to go up against the phalanx of legal beagles that could always, and forever, and at public expense, be brought to bear against you by the State. In other words, if you weren’t rich, and if you were taking on or being taken on by the Feds, you might have had a chance.
But Mr. Harper doesn’t like being questioned, let alone challenged. It’s so inconvenient!
Solution? Quietly announce that the Court Challenges Programme is being, er, discontinued.
Poof – no Court Challenges Programme – no court challenges.

Hardly noticed.

The Coordination of Access to Information Request System (CAIRS) was created (by a Progressive-Conservative government) in 1989 so that departments of government could harmonize their responses to access-to-information requests that might need multi-departmental responses. It was efficient; it made sure that in most cases the left hand knew what the right hand was doing, or at least what they were saying; and it helped to keep government open and accountable.
Well, if you’re running a closed-door government, that’s not a good idea, is it?
So, as a Treasury Board official explained to the Canadian Press, CAIRS was killed by the Harper government because “extensive” consultations showed it wasn’t valued by government departments. I guess that means that the extensive consultations were all with government departments.

Wait! Wasn’t there anybody else with whom to extensively consult? Wasn’t there some other purpose and use for CAIRS? Didn’t it have something to do with openness and accountability? I guess not. Robert Makichuk, speaking for Mr. Harper’s government, explained that “valuable resources currently being used to maintain CAIRS would be better used in the collection and analysis of improved statistical reporting”.

Right. In other words, CAIRS was an inconvenience to the government. So poof – it’s disappeared. And, except for investigative reporters and other people who might (horrors!) ask questions, its loss is hardly noticed.

And the bridge too far for me: Cutting the already-utterly-inadequate funding for the exposure of Canadian art and artists in other countries. That funding was, by any comparison, already laughably miniscule. Mr. Harper says that “ordinary” Canadians don’t support the arts. He’s wrong.
And his is now the only government of any significant country in the world that clearly just doesn’t get it.

All these changes were done quietly, cleverly, and under the radar.
No fuss. No outcry. Just one little brick at a time.
But in these and other ways, our Canadian house is no longer the kind of place it once was.
Nobody minds good renovations. Nobody even minds tearing something down, as long as we put up something better in its place. That’s not what has happened.

Mr. Harper fired the head of the Canadian Wheat Board because he was doing his job properly.
He removed the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission because she wanted to make sure that the Chalk River nuclear reactor was safe.

Hardly noticed.

There are many more things that were hardly noticed: Cuts to funding for the Status of Women,
Adult Learning and Literacy, Environmental Programs, museums funding, and more.
All quietly, just one brick at a time.

Hardly noticed.

As to campaign promises, everybody in sight on every side is guilty of breaking those. Except the Federal NDP of course, who haven’t yet had the opportunity. (It’s very easy to make promises that you know you will not likely have to keep).

But the government promised to end wait times in health care. They didn’t.
They promised to end, once and for all, the whining of some provinces about the non-existent “fiscal imbalance”. They didn’t.
They said they had brought final resolution to the softwood lumber problem with the U.S. They haven’t. They promised to create thousands of new child-care spaces in Canada. They haven’t.
They promised not to tax income trusts (“We will NEVER do that!” they said). They taxed them.
They promised to lower your income tax.

They raised it.

They said they had a good “made-in-Canada” plan to meet our obligations on climate change. They don’t. Mr. Harper has said plainly that whatever the Americans do is what we’ll do too.

They campaign on a platform of transparency and accountability; but they’re now trying to discredit the Parliamentary Budget Officer that they created, because he’s trying to do the job that they gave him.
Mr. Harper said that our form of government, evolved over centuries from the 900-year-old British Westminster tradition, was all wrong. We had to have fixed election dates, because otherwise, democratic principles would be trampled. “Fixed election dates”, he said, “stop leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar. They level the playing field for all parties”.

So Parliament (remember them?) at Mr. Harper’s insistence, passed a law requiring fixed election dates, which Mr. Harper promptly broke.

Somebody once said that we get the kind of government we deserve.
What did we do to deserve Mr. Harper?
He once said that we should all “Stand Up for Canada”. Well, let’s do that.
We just have to decide whether the present version of Canada is the one that we’ll stand up for. Or stand for.

Thank you

Tommy Banks (an Alberta Senator - Retired)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

CANADA AT THE CROSSROADS.

Canadians voted Tommy Douglas the Man of the Century. They did this for he stood for us as people. He put people first in the creation of a Health Care System for all Canadians. I have lived happily under this system for over 50 years.

I realize in listening to the debate that the only one really addressing people is the New Democratic Party: the NDP.

People must take back their ownership of their country. This ownership does not belong to any political party unless that party wants that too.

The very great deed that Tommy Douglas helped all of us to benefit from, the Health Care System, has been abused and become the biggest boon doggle ever perpetrated on the Citizens of Canada.

We need a proper Health Care Committee struck to examine if our system that relies on Pharmaceuticals and our current Medical Doctors is the best system to be following. We are quickly being turned into beings that cannot stay alive without their help: from vaccines to their drugs of all kinds, from Tylenol to exotic created chemicals that cost hundreds of dollars to buy onr dose.

Canadians are paying an enormous amount of every budget to support this system. Everyone is terrified of the whole system and yet is being denied more and more from seeking other ways to take care of themselves and other paradigms of healing. Only a proper Enquiry will reveal that.

We have lost our freedoms at the hands of Pharmaceuticals snf Industrial Chemical Corporations like Monsanto, Political parties and Government Departments like Health and Agriculture who have been co-opted by the power of money, from graft to the Media; all media from print to the TV Ads that sell their way into our brains and the news that speaks of them as they wish to be spoken about.

If the people of Canada want to be recognized and not just used we have to vote NDP and call for Jack Layton whether as a majority leader or the leader of a coalition to come forward in Tommy Douglas' spirit and make it better for Canadians, the poeple of the country who they represent.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

John Board at the beginning of March

Life has its turns and so we change or not and try to understand and try to make things as whole as possible.

My second CT scan was the same as the first and my blood good as well. I am dedicated to my health right
now as best I can be. I am close except in smoking but even there I am smoking 50% of what I used to.

We have an appointment in three months to see if proper living (sorta) with some thoughtful supplements and Homeopathic care can cure me.

My energy went down just after Christmas until I was sleeping 10 hours a night but I did not fight that at all.
Slowly I have improved. I fine cut the feature Oriental Pearls - 7 love stories, exquisitely shot, well directed and acted by 7 of Vietnam's finest female stars. Each story now shaped and a pleasure to enjoy.

Now I am on Manitoulin Island at the Weengushk Film Institute. Heaven and pergotory all at once. Heaven just to be here and meet another culture for the first time and feel what quiet enthusiasm is all about. Pergotory because I have to make up my own call sheets and I have never had to do the mechanics of it on a computer; just not a good sectetary.

We go out on Monday and the schedule is good now and the actors rehearsed and the 4 directors as ready as can be and we shall see how the 11 days of shooting unfold. 4 10 minute stories the first of a seriies. Light and fun. It will be challanging for me to eat enough and think enough and act enough to be a great asset in the process but I will do my best. I am excited.

Life at 76 is getting more and more fulfilling in every way. Even in paying attention to myself so I will get better.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Today's nature

The houses along the street are covered in snow.
A foot high winter wonderland created in an hour.
Now the shovelers come all bundled up and eager,
for the wind is low and the light as clear as the air is fresh.

Snow flies and techniques are varied; a pleasant sight…
How wonderful to have eyes that can see what is…

And now the sidewalks are wet from the heat of the day;
dark brushstrokes separating snow filled yards and snow deep streets.