Glad to see the year end?

As 2010 is coming to a close, I can’t help but think of not only my life this year, but others as well. For some  people there may be much nostalgia attached to this soon to be complete year. For others, the year has been an uphill battle and they are hoping that 2011 brings with it, more positive, harmonious and prosperous times.

Whatever this past year has brought to you (or taken away), there will never be another time exactly like this. There are always lessons to learn in every step of life. Sometimes the events that happen leave us wondering where the good is supposed to be. These are episodes in life that I have always been taught to think were things we weren’t supposed to understand. However, whatever has happened, it has helped someone, somewhere, somehow. This seems a nice way to think of things and quite frankly, the best way I know how to keep as positive as I possibly can.

Have you ever heard the saying “you will not be given anything you can not handle.” Did you ever notice how you thought you could never get through a challenging time, and you did? That is definitely food for thought.

As you look back through your 2010, I hope you can find the positive over the negative. If you have experienced a lot of challenge, I hope you look at yourself and the battle(s) you have endured and realize that you are stronger and better in some way for it. I hope you have more peace, more riches, more love and more laughter at the end of this year with more for 2011. A colleague of mine sent an email and one of the things he said was, "follow your passion not your pension".  In these times like these where we are so focused on money and material things, look to your heart and it will never steer you wrong.  Listening to your heart can be a difficult thing. 

Every year, I think next year I'm going to start doing this and I'm going to stop doing that.  I have made so many new year's resolutions that I have broken as quickly as I made them.  This year, instead of making resolutions, I think it's better to focus on things I have learned throughout the year.  Lessons learned definitely help me grow as a person.  I figure the more I grow the better changes I will make in my life.

This year, I learned to definitely never take anything for granted. This is a regrettable action because you should never underestimate another’s experience, kindness, time or action. When someone treats you right, treat them right back. It is so important to life. This is what we are supposed to be like. Instead from time to time, we don’t take the time out to recognize something or someone. Think twice before going down that road. It only takes a minute or two to call, write, email or text. People really enjoy acknowledgement. They like to know their action has made a difference. The feeling of giving is a feeling that provides a feeling like no other.  Study after study has proven that people feel happier when they do something to help another.

As we all say good-bye to 2010 and usher in 2011, stand up, put on your smile face and say hello to a new beginning. This is a brand new chance to change many things to the way you really want them to be. You can not change the past but you can shape the future.  Even if things happen to you that are out of your control – this is an opportunity to do something better. This is an opportunity to help someone, help yourself, help others and who knows, help everyone.

Ontario's Green Energy Initiative - The straw that will break the ratepayers back?

The following two videos have been on You Tube for a few weeks.  They are animated videos that explain some of the issues surrounding Ontario's Green Energy Initiative.  Many people who are not educated in the electricity sector would not typically know much of this information.  The Ontario government hides bitter truths behind this initiative.  The videos below help explain some of these truths.  Provincial government continues to use propaganda to set their agendas and gain the approval of the Ontario people. 

As a ratepayer, I would be concerned as to where my hydro bill is headed and whether I will have electricity on an ongoing basis. Most middle class people are having a hard time as it is paying their way in this society. The Ontario government talks about thirty per cent "conservation" as being part of their long term plan. What exactly does conservation mean in this case? Does conservation mean that we will resort to rolling brownouts that happen in places like California?  The Ontario Energy Long Term Plan proposes that Ontarians submit to energy poverty.  Energy poverty is when access to hydro, heat and other forms of power is not attainable because people cannot afford to pay for it.   


We have endured tax increases that the liberals promised would not happen.  First the health care tax, then HST, not to mention the eHealth scandal where this government squandered over $1 billion of taxpayers money.  Next came the OLG scandal where billions more was wasted.  It gets better yet, the Ontario government has been involved in sole source contracts.  Imagine that? A government that mandates all government agencies and corporations ensure a competitive bid process is adhered to, didn't even follow their own rules.  The liberals very own former Energy and Infastructure Minister, George Smitherman sole sourced a multi billion dollar contract to Samsung for wind turbines. Prior to being Energy Minister, he was Health Minister and then he went on to municipal government to run for the mayoral race in Toronto.  He lost to Rob Ford.
 
The liberals are shutting down coal-fired electricity plants in Ontario by the end of 2014, will be buying coal-fired power from the United States and ratepayers will be paying four times more for power. Those plants are in Michigan and are ready to provide Ontario the power that it will need when their Green Energy initiatives fail.  Communities in Ontario where these plants have operated in a safe, reliable and environmentally responsible way for many years are going to lose some great community citizens, volunteers, donors, and taxpayers when these plants shut down in 2014. 

As of 2014, Ontario will be entering their off coal initiative.  Steel companies and oil refineries, who both burn coal to process their products, will be exempt from this initiative. In addition to this, it's okay to buy coal fired power from our neighbours. Shutting down these plants in Ontario will at the very most save 2 percent of the C02 problem for the province and only slightly more for the country.  You can read a letter to the editor at The Hamilton Spectator here.

None of this makes any sense to me. I guess that's why they call this politics.  How do these politicians sleep at night?  How do Ontarians and supporters of this game sleep at night?  I know why I can't sleep at night and it's not because I am knowingly duping and stealing from honest working men and women in this province.  It's because I am so worried about my future, your future, Ontario's future.  This is not Ontario's problem alone, it is a global problem and we are not going to solve it alone.

Where is the green in this plan? I can make a guess where; right in the pockets of policy makers and big green energy organizations.

We are barely recovering from the recent recession and now we are going to spend billions to make a system that cannot sustain itself and needs another system to provide back up.  Residents and municipal government in rural areas have no say in what happens in their communities. 

There will come a day when the people of  Ontario will rise up and say enough is enough.  I find it sad that this plan will pull a lot of people under first. The writing is on the wall and only the affluent will stay afloat in the coming economic times.

I encourage you to view the following videos and learn more details about Ontario's Green Energy Initiative.

Attendance in Flu Shot Clinics Down This Year

In a blog from October 30, 2009, I discussed the hype of the H1N1 flu vaccine.  Last year people were racing to flu clinics to receive their flu shot for fear of catching the infamous H1N1 flu virus. There was so much hype in the media that people were literally jockeying for position as they stood in line for three and four hours with their children to wait for their turn to receive the needle. Not only was that an issue, but on top of that, they rationed the shots to elderly people and children claiming that there was a shortage. No wonder people were worried and competing to be first in line.

This is another example of how powerful our government, medical experts and media are in creating hype among the public. In the end, the H1N1 virus was not an issue through the winter season and the pandemic prediction did not come true.

This year, we see a decline in the number of people coming to flu clinics to receive their flu shots. Why?  Perhaps it's because government, media and WHO didn't create panic among the masses like they did last year. I'm sure we'll have a repeat performance when the next potential pandemic is reported.

 I didn't get a flu shot last year and I won't be getting one this year.  I have to admit that I am skeptical  about media hype and pharmaceutical companies and much of government action.  The more I watch and read the news, the more skeptical I become on many issues.  The fact is that media has a big part in shaping our beliefs, what we buy, how we vote, the list goes on, all the while, exasperating fear.

Cartoon from an editorial in the Cleavland Sun.

An Apology

I haven't posted since July and cannot believe how fast these past few months have gone by.   There has been a bit of a separation with my Internet access and I have recently gotten that problem solved.  I apologize for taking so much time in between blogs.  I am excited to get back to blogging. 
The fall is here now.  Winter is on our heels.  Where exactly did the summer go?  I certainly hope the winter season goes by just as fast.  Christmas will be here before we know it and a new year begins.

Now to get researching and find some interesting things to blog upon.
Any writer would love the following quote and it may even make you chuckle...

"No passion on Earth, neither love nor hate, is equal to the passion to alter someone else's draft" - H.G. Wells

More to come soon.  Thank you for reading.