The Crowd Will Gather

Climate Change - Why it Matters to get Involved

2014-09-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Climate change - you hear about it everywhere these days. No matter where you live, no matter what you do for a living and no matter how rich or poor you are - the climate is changing and you will be affected. When it comes to the topic of climate change - those are the thing that I know for certain.

What is climate change? What does that mean, really? That seems to depend on who you ask. Some say the earth is warming too much and the consequences will be catastrophic. Some people say that that is a gross exaggeration. Some say, people are the cause for the planet's warming - all the pollution we are putting in the air is warming the planet - others say it's just nature running it's course. Some say we can stop it, reverse it or slow it down while others say this is just part of the planetary cycle and we must adapt.

I think the truth is somewhere in there - but to me that's not what matters. What matters is what people, government and corporations are doing about it. That's why we need to get involved, we need to be aware, we need to stay informed.

If climate change is caused by nature and is inevitable, then all we can do is adapt. So let's start adapting and stop wasting time, money and resources on looking at "other" causes. If climate change is caused by humans, then we need to address that immediately and correct our ways. Either way, whether it's natural causes or caused by man - we can't just continue to abuse our planet and ignore the consequences. If climate change doesn't get us - the pollution and contamination will.

Photo: Tarsandssolutions.org

I think we first we need to get real and be honest about the cause, milking this for profit is one of the problems I see - find the truth and stop creating controversy. I cannot understand or believe the level of controversy out there on this subject - science and facts don't lie.

We all share this planet. Since I can remember, I've noticed that some people, some governments and some corporations think they can do what they want with our natural resources. It seems that for some the mighty dollar is more important than the air they breathe. They build factories that pollute the air that we all breathe, mostly in the name of greed.

Photo:onenewspage.us

We only have one planet, we all need to care about how our resources are managed because we are all affected.

We all need to get involved because it's time to find solutions. The more people who are working towards positive changes, the more positive changes will come.

Over the weekend, people rallied together in the streets and the people's voices were heard: Take care of our planet - it's the only one we have!

And that's why climate change matters to me.

Planning the Cross Canada Canoe Expedition

2014-05-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

We are Celine and Gerry, the Canadian Voyageurs. We are crossing this great land of ours by canoe – a tremendous undertaking.

We are more than just nature lovers, we are environmental ambassadors – our lifestyle is unconventional – we live off grid in the remote wilderness, we grow our own garden - we lead a very simple and natural life. We have spent a great deal of our lives exploring Canada’s spectacular wilderness. While traveling this great country, we marveled at its immenseness and absolutely stunning beauty. We've also seen some things that concern us.

A few months ago, we came across a very disturbing piece of information: “Canada is now ranked last in environmental protection. (Globe and Mail, November 08, 2013)”. This is unacceptable, we are proud Canadians and we need to get the word out and get other citizens involved. Our natural resources belong to all of us and if government won’t do it, then it’s up to us to protect them.

We were inspired by others who have crossed Canada in the past to raise awareness for various causes. We are crossing Canada by canoe filming our experience. We are also making a photo journal of our expedition. We fell in love with nature watching people like Bill Mason, Jacques Cousteau, and David Suzuki share their passion on film.

Preparing for the long journey:

The big voyage begins in the spring of 2015 – with many mini-excursions planned this summer. This year, it’s all about planning and promoting – and planning and promoting.

One of the first things we discovered when researching this idea was that there were other groups that have done this voyage before us; each journey unique, done for its own reasons and faced its own challenges. There are many different routes to explore; Canada is a canoeist's paradise. We are still debating whether we are leaving from Vancouver or 100 Mile House, in beautiful British Columbia. We are leaning towards Vancouver which means undertaking a 51 kilometer (31.7 miles) portage over the Rocky Mountains. We will travel down rivers mostly with the currents, there are a few rivers however where we will have to paddle against the current: the Winnipeg River and the North Saskatchewan River are two of these. We will cross numerous lakes including the largest lake on earth, Lake Superior. Our journey will take us across all the provinces, from one coast to the other, ending up in Moncton N.B. We have never been to Canada’s east coast, so this part of the voyage will be especially exciting for us – exploring the unseen…. The entire expedition covers over 7000km of paddling and over 300 kilometers of portaging our gear and canoe. Details about the expedition are being worked out daily and updates are posted on our website – see link below.

We have connected with members from other groups who have undertaken this journey in the past – it’s great to be able to share route and contact information. We are gaining valuable information from learning of others’ experiences. Did you know that in 1967 during the Expo 67 – 10 teams – raced across Canada by Voyageurs Canoe? We’ve linked the video on our site. Love that 8mm film sound running in the background.

Gathering gear and getting supplies

The outcome of any voyage often greatly depends on the time, thought and effort you put into preparing for it – before you leave. We both have Advanced Wilderness First Aid certifications – we are all about preparation and safety. For us this is journey, not a race – it’s about documenting nature and sharing the experience with others.

We are used to traveling for long periods of time; we have even lived out of backpacks for 189 days straight. Good gear is not only something you want it’s something you: need and must have.

One of the most important pieces of equipment, the one that can make us and break us is our canoe, of course. It took us about three weeks to shop around the internet and find the best canoe at the best price (delivered or picked up) for us. We chose the Dumoine Composite by Swift. Here we are at the factory to pick it up – it was a 15 hour round trip drive to South River, Ontario:

We have not had the chance to try out this gorgeous canoe – the thaw is very late in coming, there is still ice on the lake at the time of this writing. She sure is a beauty, isn’t she! This Kevlar composite canoe has matching reinforced bumpers as an extra option for white water, it weighs 58 pounds – not bad for a 16 feet 8 inch canoe! We will be renting advertising space on the canoe to our sponsors to help us with some of the costs of the voyage.

You can find more details about our gear in other posts on our website. Here is a quick rundown of what we already had, what we’ve purchased and what we still need to get.

Have already: Osprey backpacks, Big Agnes 2 man ultralight backpacking tent, Pic 10 waterproof video camera, Kodak Sport waterproof video camera, Canon Rebel i3eos camera/vid, MSR dragonfly stoves, air mattresses, Katadyn water filter, bucksaw, sleeping bags, solar panel for charging batteries, Spot Beacon locator, first aid kit, dry bags, cook sets, lifejacket for Pompom the navigator, tarps (of course), +

Also recently acquired: GoPro Hero3 waterproof video camera, wooden canoe paddles, life jackets, rain jackets, water shoes/sandals, 30 L food drum with harness, 12 volt mini battery for solar charging, Hap Wilson’s Missinaibi river guide book, Kevin Callan – Top 50 canoe routes of Ontario, +

Have yet to get: canoe cover (this is something we really feel we will need) would like a couple more GoPro’s, memory cards, batteries, satellite communications such as Spot Connect or InReach, maps or topo for GPS units, banner for the canoe, +

Getting the word out

We feel more at home in front of a campfire than in front of a computer. Getting the word out is part of our daily routine these days. The more people we reach – the bigger the impact we can make. Share these links with your friends:

We’ve opened a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Canadianvoyageurs2015

We’re also tweeting on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CanadianVoyage

I’ve opened a temporary free website http://celinegerry.wix.com/canadianvoyageurs, my latest challenge and what I am currently working on, while the ice melts, is building our own Canadian Voyageurs dot com. We’ll have that up and running in a few weeks. We’ll be putting a nice big banner on the canoe.

Why we are doing this and why we need your help!

We are doing this for many reasons: First because we can, our lifestyle and life experiences have prepared us to be able to do this journey. It’s not everybody who can take six months to cross Canada to raise awareness for a cause. We are not motivated by money. It is health that is real wealth and living in harmony with nature will help you achieve that. For us it’s about protecting our natural resources for our children, for yours and future generations. It makes so much more sense to prevent environmental damage than to try and clean it up. This is about raising awareness and getting others involved. We know this won’t be easy, but for us it’s a labor of love. By documenting this cross country journey on film and in photographs will be able to capture Canada’s awesome beauty and allow others to see it, fall in love with it and help us protect it. Visit our Facebook, Twitter and websites to get more information – please help us get the word out!

Happy Trails!

Meet Pompom the Canadian Voyageur's Navigator

2014-05-11T13:52:00.002-07:00

For the last seven years, we have brought our sable fox Pomeranian on all our camping, backpacking, and kayaking trips. We would not be able to leave him behind, he lives for the outdoors. Our little dog is the most happy when he is off leash in the wilderness freely exploring his surroundings. He has his own flotation jacket; he likes to ride at the stern most times and so we've given him the assignment of Canoe Navigator.

Pompom has another reason he wants to come along though - he has an important message for the children all over the world. Pompom wants to show kids how much fun it is play outside:

If you are like Pompom, then you know how much fun you can have camping, canoeing, kayaking, backpacking, swimming, chasing squirrels.... no, no, no, no - Pompoms are not allowed to chase squirrels!!!! (sometimes he gets distracted....)

Pompom wants kids to know that protecting nature is their job too. It's everybody's responsibility to do their part - our natural resources need to be protected so that children and grown ups and puppies everywhere can go outside and play! We all need clean water to drink, clean air to breathe and

Pompom is going to join his masters on the Cross Canada Canoe Expedition as Canada's new Let's Play Outside Mascot.

Make your own Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and Can it - Just like Gramma did!

2014-05-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

It seems everyone is busy these days and homemade cooking is on the decline. There is nothing more satisfying than making your own meals from scratch with fresh ingredients and preparing them exactly to your liking.

The following two part video will show you how to make you own homemade meat spaghetti sauce just like Gramma used to make. Part two also shows you how to can your own sauce so that you don't have to refrigerate or freeze it - you can store your sauce in jars in the cupboard for a year or two.

Part 2 of How to Make your own Homemade meat spaghetti sauce with instructions on how to preserve it without the need for refrigeration or freezing by canning it in jars.

Feel free to add mushrooms and peppers - slice and chop to your liking - the time of which to add each vegetable depends on how firm you like it cooked, I usually add mine about an hour before the sauce is ready.

You can use this method of canning to preserve anything: meats, vegetables, sauces, gravies...

Feel free to post any questions in the comments below. Follow this site for updates.

Stop the World I Want to Get Off!

2014-05-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or has this whole world gone crazy? I mean it, it doesn't matter where you look, there are not many subjects you can talk about and stay optimistic. To me, it looks like our world is in serious trouble. The economy is insane - the entire world is in and there just are not enough good jobs, the environment is being exploited at an alarming rate, overpopulation is becoming an issue, there are wars and threats of new ones, and countries have even collapsed... Yikes! This isn't how I thought life would be when I was growing up. Sometimes it reminds me of a ride at the amusement park, it's going too fast and it feels like it's out of control. Maybe it feels like that because so may aspects of life are out of control.. It makes me want to scream: "Stop the World, I Want to get Off!.

When I was growing up, I had a lot of hope about the future, it looked like things were going in the right direction. The economy seemed stable, the job market was booming, the water was clean and Canada's military role was that of a peacekeeper. People were allowed to take to the streets and voice their opinions without the fear of being labelled a terrorist or fined for "illegally" protesting. Life was much simpler and everything was more relaxed. People had much more time on their hands. The future looked promising.

People really cared about the environment, Greenpeace was on the news regularly stopping corporations from destroying our resources. Why don't we hear about them anymore? Where have all the activists gone? How come there have been oil spill after oil spill, pipeline break after pipeline break, oil-sands environmental disaster and yet no one is tying themselves to tankers or putting up a blockade? No one is protecting our children's interests.

It is very interesting and even surprising how, in this age of internet technology, cell phones, emails and instant text messaging we are so less organized as a community. As connected to the internet as we are, we are so disconnected from each other. We have lost our power to organize and affect change. Remember when we used to boycott gas stations when they played price wars with gas prices? Everyone would not buy gas on a Wednesday or stop buying from a particular giant supplier like Shell or Esso. It worked though, they brought the prices down again. It worked, while it lasted...What happened? How come we are less able to act as a group with all this communication technology at our fingertips? Isn't that interesting? Of course back then the media was with us. Radio stations would announce the next location to boycott. Now corporations and the government own the media and control everything we are told. It's not always the facts and it's not always the truth. Information is manipulated and censored to control and influence public opinion. I have first hand experience at how news reporters pick and choose which "angle" to give a story, which "sources" they want to be heard - they chose who will be interviewed. It's not about reporting the facts or the "whole story", it's about what they want the public to believe, react to, buy into...

Back then, it seemed like the government cared more about our well being than it does nowadays. It paid for huge advertisement campaigns on TV, magazines and billboards about eating healthy, getting regular check-ups and exercising It gave money to communities and schools to promote health. "Participaction Parks" were in almost every city and town giving people a free place to get healthy with physical exercise and helping people stay connecting with nature. We need to get away from it all, it's our way of keeping our batteries charged. All the parks are now gone or privatized and the government no longer makes public service announcement about health and diet. Our society has become very unhealthy physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It's the first time ever that the next generation has a shorter life span expectancy than the one before them. Our kids are not healthy, their life expectancy is shorter than our generation. This is unheard of. Lack of exercise and healthy eating habits is causing them to have weak hearts and bodies. The food they eat has lost it's nutritional value. Our fruits and vegetables have been so genetically modified that they no longer have the same nutritional value as they once did and still should. They have a different lifestyle than we did, it is more sedentary. Government cuts to school physical activities and social fitness programs and of course, the invention of computers are some of the contributing factors.. It's not like television wasn't enough of a great babysitter. Televisions and computers are also partly to blame for the decline of moral values and the disintegration of the family unit. Although we are more technologically connected than ever, people are more isolated and lonely than before. As internet communities and chat rooms boom, real communities and real communication are becoming a thing of the past.

Electric cars where up and coming 20 years ago, what happened to them? How come they never went mainstream? Why are we supporting still supporting the dirty polluting oil industry? Why are we continually allowing corporations to put their profits ahead of clean energy, environmental protection and ultimately our well being and that of future generations.

Government and corporations have shaped our society. They lead us this way and that way. The economy is such a mess, the whole world is on the verge of bankruptcy. Small business used to be the back bone of this country and the US. Why do we allow governments to keep giving our tax dollars to big corporations like General Motors? The government gives them million of dollars to bail them out, meanwhile they have been paying their CEO's millions of dollars in salaries. This is completely ridiculous and I would even consider this criminal activity if you ask me. Our government is corrupt, like most others in this world. The whole economic system is corrupt. The world economy is based on imaginary money - the rich get richer at the expense of the rest of us. There really are only two classes of people - those who are rich and those who want to be.

It used to be that we called this a "dog eat dog" world, but now I think it's turned into more"man eat man" world. What's happened to people? What happened to kindness, charity, generosity and looking out for your fellow man? I lived in Victoria BC, for 4 years and it is considered Canada's homeless capital, even though it is also renown for it's upper class retirement community.. Everywhere you look, elderly and sick people are roaming the city, alone and lost. They carry their belongings in shopping carts or backpacks; they sleep in cardboard boxes, in parks, stairwells and sidewalks. People drive and walk by without giving them a second thought. The BC government spent millions on the homelessness issue but are not longer using them for this purpose. The BC government has closed many psychiatric residences sending mentally ill people on the street off to fend for themselves. There must be at least a dozen government funded organizations like Our Place, Victoria Coalition for Homelessness and Cool Aid Society. and instead of solving the problem, the money is just passed among these useless agencies. It's all about keeping money in the government budget.

I think it's because life has gotten too hard. Good jobs are hard to find, job security is a thing of the past, the competition for survival is on. Whereas before, one person could support the family, now it takes both parents to work outside the home to be able to afford to live in this over inflated economy. Inflation has gone up and wages have not kept up, especially for the lower working classes. My daughter has just started university and the competition she faces is discouraging to her. Her future is so uncertain. Our children have little to give them hope.

I used to think that conspiracy theorists were all nutcases.

Camping on the Beach by the Pacific Ocean on Vancouver Island

2014-05-06T05:40:00.001-07:00

Vancouver Island is world famous for it's beauty. We spent four years here, camping, kayaking, backpacking and discovering everything it has to offer. On this camping trip, we did something really cool. We took our empty Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey bottles and put a message in them and sent out to sea. I wonder, all these years later, if they were found or if they are still bobbing out there in the ocean...

Camping in Canada's Amazing Wilderness on Vancouver Island

2014-04-28T09:16:00.001-07:00

Vancouver Island - "the" destination for the wilderness adventure lover to explore...

Meet Freedom - our 1973 Volkswagen Camper Caravan we bought on Vancouver Island British Columbia for only $3500 (and we sold it for that a year later). We had tons of great adventures with this camper; it brought us to some pretty amazing places. Canada is a beautiful vast country with tons of wilderness places to explore!

This is near Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park on the very remote part of the west coast of Vancouver Island - it's about a 5 hour drive from Victoria due to the bumpy mountain roads. This area of the Island has pockets of pure uncut virgin old growth forests. It's worth taking your time on the drive up here - it's breathtakingly beautiful. If you are looking for a remote place to go camping - this is it. The West Coast Trail attracts hikers from all over the world - it passes through the photo above.

When going to this part of the Island you can feel and see history all around you. The scenery is unspoiled - wild and untamed - some of the trees are gigantic. The eco systems are complex - the layers decades, even centuries in the making. Out here it's evident nature is not only winning - it's thriving!

When I see this picture - I want to go camping so badly! Can't you just smell the "green" of the forest, the freshness of the moist dirt on the ground?

Windsurfers from all over the world come to Nitnat Lake, the huge size and thermal winds make this a paradise for them.

Time to pack up and head out on another adventure - who knows where the road will take us this time....

Building a Small Off Grid Cabin Video

2014-04-21T11:08:00.003-07:00

Building a Small Off Grid Cabin Video

This is Part One of Building a Small Off Grid Cabin from our Youtube Channel:

Feel free to post any questions or comments below.

Becoming more Self Sufficient

2014-04-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

Lifestyles are a matter of choice. Some people like living in cities, while others are getting tired of the rat race and are tired of the old 9 to 5 and are opting to look for alternative ways of living. We fall into that category.

These are some of the things we have found that have improved our life. It’s not for everybody, but for those who want to a less conventional life - keep reading.

Unplug your television. What does this have to do with being more self-sufficient? Plenty. We used to be regular TV watchers, then we unplugged. It’s amazing how much better our life is now. TV really does rob you of your time. When we stopped tuning in, we noticed that we starting feeling more like ourselves again. Our thoughts were more our own. They don’t call them programs for nothing. We now have time to do all the things we always wanted to do. We’ve become more active and more fulfilled. Television is there to occupy you, whereas it’s so much better for you and it makes you feel so much better when you start to occupy yourself doing the things you really like doing – instead of living in a dream world. We watch movies and documentaries on the internet for entertainment when we want to. It’s been about 6 years since we went from daily couch potatoes to not owning a TV or paying monthly cable subscriptions – we would never go back – this is so much better – living the discovery channel instead of watching it on a screen.

Grow a garden. If everyone had a garden, no one would be hungry. Gardens can be big or small. People are getting very creative with gardens. There are many types of gardens: vertical garden, raised garden, balcony garden, community garden, container garden, window garden, greenhouse, your backyard, and more. Everyone once had their own garden, but not anymore. People think it’s too much work. It’s not really though, most of the work goes into it the first year and then it’s much easier. In fact, the rewards of making your own gardens far outweigh any efforts you need to put into it. The benefits you get from growing your own produce are not only financial, gardeners enjoy the health benefits they get from having fresh food at the table daily Working in the garden is also very relaxing, it’s good exercise and it’s good for you to be out in the fresh air connecting with nature. We grow raised gardens, expanding it every year, until we will get it to the size we want – in our yard beside our house.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – It used to be a popular public campaign. We need to revive it and rethink how we live. We are not consumers. Corporations operate with profits being their bottom line. They don’t care about sustainability – that would mean fewer sales. The toll this is taking on our planet is now being seen and felt. Our landfills are overflowing – we live in a disposable world, there’s just way too much waste. Instead of fixing things – we throw them away or pile them in the garage and just buy another. People are addicted to shopping, they love spending money. Shops offering services like shoe repair, tailoring and clock repair are turning into a thing of the past.

Society needs to stop promoting commercialism, it’s destroying our planet. We need to start putting the environment first. Change like this starts with each and every one of us – don’t fall victim to marketing gimmicks and follow trends. Take care of the environment.

We went from the three R's right to the mall. Messages like the one below give "consumers" an excuse to squander money.

Less is more. The less you have, the less you have to lose, the less you have to work for and the more you can enjoy life. This is the opposite of what corporations and governments want you to believe. The more you work and the more you spend the more money they get. Meanwhile, the simpler you make your life, the more time you will have for yourself to do the things you want to do. Think more along the lines of durability and efficiency – instead of following the latest trends. Cell phones are a great examples of how society falls victim to marketing scheme and constantly spend hundreds on upgrade and disposing of perfectly good phones. The piles of discarded phones are huge. This is an image of cell phones! In the United States alone 426,000 cell phones are thrown out per day!

Choose an active lifestyle. Vitality is a word that will save your life. All doctors will tell you the same thing – the best prescription to a long healthy life – is an active life with good nutrition. This is one of those things that everyone knows but we all struggle with. There are many temptations out there. Just do your best and keep trying, eventually you will find a regime you can enjoy and stick to. Stay away from prescription medicines, research and use natural cures and prevent ailments by taking proper care of yourself.

Living off gird. We live in the remote wilderness – off gird in a cabin - 14 feet wide x 24 feet long, we have a ¾ upstairs loft. For energy we use solar power with propane and gas generator back up. We’ve had large homes – the bigger the home, the more stuff you fill it with – which sits there and gathers dust – and you clean it over and over again. No more of that. This is more than enough room for two people and a Pomeranian. It’s made of wood with a metal roof. It’s more work to live like this, but it costs a lot less. We prefer working here, for our own survival than to work for someone else and pay a good chunk of those earnings as taxes. We prefer spending the energy to make a garden than the money to buy produce. You can live in the city, have two new cars, a great big house, take holidays and lead an expensive lifestyle and you both can work or you move to a remote location where taxes are low, build your own small cabin, pay cash for an older car….

This is our off grid cabin:

Life is about choices. For us life is about healthier, happier ones.

Wildflowers and Songbirds of Summer

2013-07-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

It's summertime and I can't think of a better place to enjoy it then outside admiring all that around you when you are immersed in nature.

The warm air is thick and humid. It smells so good, the aroma of sweet hay and damp forest decay surrounds me. Everywhere, the vegetation is lush and there's a million shades of green. Wildflowers abound, bright yellow honeysuckles, familiar white daisies, pink and purple clover blossoms, vivid orange and red fire-flowers; everywhere, even more wildflowers: purple, white, yellow tiny flowers peeking out from the tall summer grasses.

The sun is shining strong in a cloudless hazy blue sky. The morning dew still lingers in the shadow filled forest. The warm breeze rustles the leaves as the trees sway back and forth on this perfect start to the day. The wind rises and howls briskly and then dies down to blow soft and gentle again. It rushes past me, kisses my cheek and then it's gone. The wind and trees dance and play together like old friends in perfect unison.

In the wilderness, I am surrounded with the sounds of many different songbirds. The chirps, chatter and tweets fill the forest with life. From somewhere in the tall trees, they call out to each other and to the world. It makes me so happy to hear the birds sing - it fills my heart with joy. Butterflies flutter lazily around, big ones and small ones - white, yellow, brown and my favorite are the baby blue butterflies. Dragonflies gather by the dozens on logs to soak up the hot afternoon sun. The cicadas complain in the background... it's going to be a hot day.

Little chipmunks scurry along gathering seeds, red squirrels leap from tree to tree - it's a bustle of activity. A jack rabbit nibbles on some clover in the far corner of the yard. Life is exploding all around me - it's great to be alive and in the midst of all this beauty. I feel fortunate to be here, part of it all. Being outside with nature is so wonderful, it feels so good; it nourishes the soul.

I Want Change

2013-05-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Originally posted June 2012

When I found Occupy, I was thrilled to find so many people who shared my way of thinking. Worldwide, people were gathered together; and finally, it looked like change was coming. I heard so many inspiring messages and, for the first time, I was filled with hope. Messages just like this short clip were shared all over:

But, as quickly as the crowds came, they subsided - there are so many reasons why that happened. Ignorance and fear are the main ones.

Occupy has so much promise, especially because it became about so much more than just Wall Street. It became about solving all the world's problems - there's so much that needs to be addressed: the environment, the economy, human rights... Reality is: the problems facing civilization are very real and very serious - our future is at stake.

The world has been overwhelmed with the same problems and we have been complaining about the same things since I was born. Occupy gave us hope, a chance for a new beginning; for me it was an inspiration and a huge learning experience. I learnt so many things at Occupy - the amount of knowledge I have gained is remarkable.

And after all the tents have gone...what I have realized is that change will never happen if we all just keep doing what we've always done. The most important thing I am taking away from this experience is that I learnt that if I want things to change - I need to make change happen.

Aren't you tired of being manipulated?

2013-05-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Originally posted Jan 6, 2011

Ever since I can remember I have felt like this world of ours is just heading down the wrong path. I have tried to stay optimistic and positive about life and the future, but I am finding it more difficult as days go by. I try to remain honest and I have certain "golden rules" that I live by. I always strive to treat others as I wish to be treated; I want to be a positive influence in this world. I believe in sayings like: "an honest day's pay for an honest day's work", "it takes a village to raise a child" and "what goes around comes around". I also believe that we are all here together on this planet and everybody's actions affect all of us to one degree or another. We need to learn to come together and focus on what really matters: health and happiness. Could you even try to imagine a world where these two things were everyone's priority? Wouldn't it be nice if we could learn to work together?

Growing up, I had dreams for a wonderful life filled with security, prosperity and hope. I was raised a Catholic and I used to believe in God, now I don't know what to believe about all that. Would God not be freaking out by now? My feeling about religion nowadays is: I think someone, way back when, saw where society was headed and created a story to scare people into being good.

Religion has turned into a political money making marketing outfit out to serve it's own purpose - it is responsible for so many wars and so many deaths, it is plagued with corruption. When I see televangelists like Benny Hinn dripping with gold asking for money so he can go and preach at another exotic location - I have to ask myself how we got to this point and how people can be so gullible? People seem to want to believe just about anything, it's in our nature to want to believe anything and everything - it's just a matter of how it's presented to us. We are even being marketed to believe that we can have it all - even eternal life! Cryogenics is a huge business based on the desire of us all have wanting to live forever - people pay extraordinary sums of money to have their bodies frozen. Meanwhile, science has proven that our bodies suffer too much damage from being frozen, but we buy into a technology that doesn't exist yet - it's all about the marketing... and marketers are having a field day with us!

The rich are getting richer...

"It takes money to make money" - you've heard that saying before - but you have also heard: "money does not buy happiness" - so why the money race? Everyone wants financial security - being poor can make your life miserable - but it shouldn't be that way. We should be able to survive and thrive without money really, this planet freely provides all we need to stay alive and be happy. Governments have decided that they own the land - which in reality they don't - they just make us believe that. Taxation has gotten way out of control and yet people's needs are far from being met. Here is an interesting link on the origins of taxation, how it works and how the money is spent: http://www.prolognet.qc.ca/clyde/tax.htm

Politicians are the master manipulators of today's society. We have heard the campaign promisses so many times, many of us don't even bother voting anymore. Most of us are at the point that we just assume all politicians are crooked. We see how government squanders our hard earned tax dollars and we feel hopeless in the face of the all the corruption. The double standards they keep setting and the way they keep making up the rules as they go along makes me wonder how they keep getting away with it all. How come we keep putting up with it, as a society, should we not demand more of civil servants? Ever wonder how come they are entitled to have such outlandish benefits packages? Aren't our tax dollars paying for their dental plans, their (way too many) sick days, etc.? Shouldn't we all be getting the same treatment, since we are all paying for it? Ever wonder about that? How come any government sponsored projects always costs many many times more than in the private sector? The difference between the cost of private sector and government contracts is ridiculous.

Part of my dream as I child was to make this world a better place, I had envisioned myself making enough money to be a very charitable person. It's been my experience however that without money to begin with, it's been so hard to get ahead. It seems I started out in debt and I find making decent money is harder and harder to come by and yet it disappears so easily. The more time goes by, the less money can buy. It's costing more and more just to get by. The cost of living is just getting out of control and so many people are living off of credit in order to survive. Forty years ago people had the opportunity to buy a double lot on the Ottawa River in Ontario for only $500! The properties alone have increased in value by a whopping 100% in 40 years putting them at a modest value of $250,000 - an achievement my generation just could not dream of copying - these opportunities just no longer exist. It makes me worry for my kids' generation - what kind of a world have we created for them? Government and banks work together setting interest rates, they change the lending rules to curb inflation or increase public spending. It's all money game and we are the pawns.

Nowadays banks are coming up with all kinds of creative ways to make more money. Their profits are in the billions and yet sevice charges keep rising. Is that really fair? Our government regulates and so it must think so! You can take out a mortgage for super large sums of money and not even ever be expected to pay it all back in your lifetime. As people cannot afford the over inflated prices of homes - banks are offering mortgages for periods up to 60 years. Why buy a house, if you'll never own it? Each bank now offers it's own credit cards - credit cards are one of biggest money making schemes of all time. Credit cards are creatively offering all kinds of rewards to entice us and all the while raising interests rates to ridiculous amounts making it almost impossible to ever pay back any large purchases you charge on them. It used to be very difficult to get a credit card - now, getting approved for a $5000 credit card is common place. Did you know it takes 33 years to pay off a $5000 credit card making the minimum payments suggested by the lending company? And how many people do you see charging their basic necessities on credit cards? You shouldn't have to feed your family on credit!

Marketing and advertising have always interested me, I find it challenging to try and get the word across of just how good a products is. Using marketing practices to paint a picture and to entice buyers to buy products always seemed like something I wanted to do. I began to see marketing and advertising in a new light though when I tuned to the late comedian Bill Hicks: Totally Bill Hicks the documentary

Advertisers and marketers have also gone too far in their efforts to make money. Honesty and integrity used to be the cornerstone of every good marketing company - now it's how much money they can make for their clients, that's the bottom line. It used to be that we could believe in advertisers and good products could speak for themselves - we used to have trust. Now, we are bombarded with commercialism every second of the day. We are constantly being lied to and manipulated - anything to make more money. More and more often we, as consumers, need to read between the lines in order to find the truth. The more we get lied to, the more we lose trust. The biggest problem is, for those of us who know better, we don't know who to believe anymore and so we have doubts. Advertisers and marketers, with their greed, are helping to create a world of mistrust. They have even gone as far as to create fake worlds and sell fake things to fake people - they are now selling us a second life!: Link to the site : Second Life

People are losing faith in each other - after all, we know deep down that it's people lying to us and we are putting up our guards. We don't know who is being honest and not anymore, the more we get lied to the more we doubt - who can you trust? And those consumers who are less aware of the manipulation keep buying into these lies and are spending money foolishly and usually with regret. Usually money they don't have, as they bought into the credit card scheme as well...

We, as a society, need to say: Enough! We need to come together and create change. We need to speak up and we need to try harder to make this world a better place for our children and for us all.

Consumers are getting tired of being had, they are tired of buying junk, they are tired of getting ripped off. Consumers are getting tired of being manipulated, more and more people like me are speaking up.

I am only one voice, but I want to make a difference. I believe if we can come together to make one voice louder and stronger, a unified voice, we can speak out and be heard and we can begin to change the world. Bit by bit, the crowd will gather. Bit by bit, our voice will grow and reach everyone and bit by bit we can change the world.

My YouTube channel - gerrystiling

Earth Song by Micheal Jackson

2013-05-19T06:41:00.001-07:00

This is a song of love - a song for humanity. We need to listen to this song and let it move us to the point where we stand up together and demand change.

Michael Jackson, may he rest in peace, was a pure soul. He was the personification of love. One of the few true artists of our time. The world is a better place because of the gifts that he shared with us. He was truly a remarkable man.

When he was alive people laughed at him and ridiculed him. His pure soul was damaged by an ignorant and cruel world but yet he managed to overcome his pain and shortcomings and contribute to this world in a way few can ever even dream of. He was truly an inspiration. Having the courage to face his persecutors must have been very difficult for him, his success should prove to us all - follow your heart and your dreams will come true. Be brave, be strong and be yourself.

Asking Nestle about thier PureLIfe bottled water - is it pure? Really?

2013-04-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed that most bottled water now contains fluoride and chloride? I have. Many studies have been conducted on the effects of fluoride on our bodies and specifically, our brains. Most studies indicate that these chemicals are harmful to us.

It is common practice in America to add Fluoride and chloride to tap water. It is even said that because your skin absorbs water, that if your water is chlorinated you will absorb 70% of the chlorine they put in tap water.just by taking a shower. It is recommend you get a high tech water purifier because this amount of chloride can be harmful to us, especially children. The controversy is huge, but yet the practice continues today. It is not a subject discussed by mainstream media very often..

In Europe, the general public opinion is so against adding fluoride to water that they have managed to even keep it out of tap water. People don't have any more cavities either. This is one of the excuses they use to add it to our tap water.

Tell me this... how come if you water a plant with water containing fluoride and chloride it adversely affects it and sometimes it even dies? If it harms plants, it cannot be good for us to consume on a regular basis. Put regular tap water in your fish tank and see what happens to your fish - they'll be floating on top!

Chemicals accumulate in your body and are often difficult to get rid of. The more natural things are, the more I like them.

I want natural and pure water, I don't want any chemicals added to it. Period.

I went to the Nestle Canada PureLife website and contacted them. I want to why they are adding these chemicals now to our bottled water. I had to giive my name, address, email. I can't wait to see what their response will be. I will post their response on this blog when I hear back from them, if I hear back from them.

I found this on their website:

"We hold our products to high standards of quality and safety. Water begins in nature, clean and safe, and we take precautions to make sure it stays that way so the natural minerals and unique taste of the water from each source are preserved as nature intended. Nestlé® Pure Life® natural spring water is bottled at the source, a naturally protected spring within an ecosystem that includes areas of forests, wetlands, wildlife and surface waters. Our natural spring water is tapped from an artesian source, deep underground, protected from outside pollutants and industrial development. We manufacture our bottles on site, fill and then cap them making the whole process about 20 minutes from the artesian source to the bottle for the entire Nestlé® Pure Life® water process."

This is what I wrote to them
:
"I would like to know how you can call your water PureLife and make all these claims about it being pure and natural when you put FLUORIDE AND CHLORIDE in the water. Fluoride in water is unnecessary and unhealthy.

Since I have seen that you do that, I have switched to distilled water. I don't want fluoride in my water, nor do I want chloride. The least you can do is give people a choice!

I have a following on many social media sites and I am looking forward to your response."

I will keep you posted!

Cash Makes More Cents

2012-10-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

This post is short and sweet.

Do you like to save money? So do I. That's why I do not use my debit card and I do not own credit cards, either. I pay with cash! Good old cold hard cash!

Did you know that when shopping with a credit card you are likely to spend 12 to 18% MORE than if you were using cash. . This is an important fact to remember when you are shopping.

With both debit cards and credit cards it's very easy to lose track of how much you spend, a coffee here, a magazine there; by the end of the day, the week or the month you have no idea how much you have spent. If you are looking in your wallet - you see how much you have left - it's right there in front of you.

By shopping with cash you have better control of your money. You are much less likely to overspend. You can put aside a certain amount of money each week and easily stay on budget. The other thing that happens when you use cash instead of debit cards or credit cards if that you start noticing how much you are spending. Instead of just blindly swiping a card at the checkout and not even paying attention to the amount, you notice the cost of things when you are dishing out the bills and receiving exact change.

Try it - you'll see what I mean! And don't forget to save your change - it adds up fast - in a month I squirrel away a cup of change. (pays for my gas)

Sources:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/pay-in-cash.asp

Make your own Website Review: Wix, Godaddy, WordPress and Blogger Comparasion

2012-08-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

I am a forty-something Mom who created her own websites without having any previous training at all. It's just me, my laptop and the world wide web. I like having my own websites, places where I can share my thoughts, photos, stories and experiences with others.

It's been years now that I have been on the internet and I now have 4 websites which I have created myself with the help of the provider's designing software. Three of my websites are free: Wix, Blogger and Wordpress and I chose try and pay for a more professional site and tried a Godaddy website. As I talk about each one in detail, I will link them, so you can see what each one looks like. These were all designed by the same person (me), the only difference is that each has it's own unique design options, templates and other tools at my disposal. I will tell you which I like best and which I like least and the reasons why.

BLOGGER: The Crowd Will Gather:

This is my first website right here - Blogger. Thecrowdwillgather is the name of my site. This is just a personal site where I share experiences, projects and my views. I have had it the longest. It was very easy to open up. All I had to do was create an account with Google, go to Blogger and then choose which template I liked best and then start adding posts. Not knowing ANYTHING about computer language and programming, it took some trial and error and clicking on everything to know how things worked. I never lost anything major and I never had any real issues with Blogger.

On Blogger, I can chose to revert a post to a draft if I change my mind and would prefer not to have it seen publicly. That happens sometimes over the years. I can also change templates anytime I want - without losing anything or having to start over. If I get bored with how my website looks or if I want to try something new I can change how my looks completely. I really this about Blogger.

One of the downsides of Blogger though is that if you do need help, you need to find the answers yourself. Blogger does not provide direct customer service at all. In fact, Google (who owns Blogger and Gmail) is unreachable. You can also go to the support pages and forums for help. I have had a few technical difficulties and would have really liked to be able to reach someone to find answers quickly, but that is not the case with Blogger. You are on your own.

It is very easy for anyone to find my blog. My blog can be found on search engines by either looking up The Crowd will Gather - thecrowdwillgather - or if you search for a topic that I blogged about - that might find me as well.

It does not cost me anything to use Blogger and if I want I can choose to allow Google ads or not to appear.

I always have used Blogger as a blogging website. My Wordpress is also more of a blogging website. On the contrary, my Godaddy and my Wix are more traditional website than blogs.

I highly recommend using Blogger to open a blogging website.

Here is a link to the Blogger website: https://www.blogger.com/

WIX - Canadian Voyageurs : http://celinegerry.wix.com/canadianvoyageurs

This is a website that was created to promote a cross Canada expedition.

Here is the link to the Wix website if you want to go check it out yourself: www.wix.com/

Wix uses different formats and different templates, but it was very easy to open a website here also. Wix has many templates to chose from and it's free. Wix runs small ads sometimes on your site in exchange for the free service - I have never found these to be a problem. If you want, you can chose to upgrade your Wix website - this gives you access to better templates and better tools to design a nicer website (supposedly). By paying for a site, Wix will not run ads on your site - you also get more storage and better support if you pay for your website. These are the main differences on Wix between a free site or one you pay for. My site is free - I do not own any of it. Notice how the name of the website includes a lot more than just the name "Canadianvoyageurs" (which is the name of my site - Canadian Voyageurs)

With Wix I was able to add music in the background and many different interesting "widgets". Widgets is a term used to describe applications that you can download and that have different functions - such as playing sounds, songs, counting down a clock, showing a calendar - things like that. Many widgets are free - there are more advanced widgets that you can purchase as well.

My Wix website is easy to find - but I have to search for "Canadian Voyageurs Wix" - in order for search engines to find me.

You just point and click - drag and drop to add different things to your site. You can add pages, add text boxes and shape them to the size you want. You can add borders and chose what colors and fonts. You can add photos and videos. It's a lot of fun. If you do something wrong - you can undo your last moves. You can even start over from scratch if you want.

I highly recommend using Wix to open a free website - if you want to upgrade to a more professional site - stay with Wix.

GoDaddy - Canadian Voyageurs: http://www.canadianvoyageurs.com/

GoDaddy is the website I pay for and to be honest it's the one I like the least. I regret opening it and paying for it. In hindsight, after working with Wix and with Wordpress, subsequently to opening this site, I would have been better off never going with GoDaddy. It's been a headache. On Godaddy I have purchased the dot com CanadianVoyageurs.

It costs me about $100 for a year to have that site. That is very cheap in website terms and I guess it's true you get what you pay for because I would have to pay to upgrade my site with Godaddy to get it more like I want it. I don't have the cheapest package though, I have the Business plan - you would think that would suit my needs, but no. I have been in touch with their customer service department many times - I have told them how dissatisfied I am with their product.

I have had to start over my website 3 times with Godaddy - that is extremely frustrating and takes a great deal of time. The first time was because their template kept freezing up and not working properly - I got a 3 month credit when I asked for a refund after this happened. I should have insisted on a refund though because months later I still do not like my site and have had to contact customer service on numerous occasions for assistance because their templates don't work or because it's not EASY like advertised!

Godaddy has been very glitchy. Boxes do not close when supposed to. My photos take longer to load. I often have to reload the whole project to get things working properly again.

Another thing I am very displeased about my Godaddy website is that search engines cannot find me unless I type "canadianvoyageurs.com"!! Godaddy wants me to upgrade and pay for their SEO package so I can let them let search engines find me. I have complained to them many times about this, but I am told it's is the fault of the search engines or it just a matter of time... It's not - my site is being "prevented" from being searched - all my other sites are very easily found without paying any SEO (Search Engine Optimization). That is a scam - Godaddy is very deceiving on how they sell you their products. They do NOT have live chat support only live chat sales support - but if you need help with your website you have to call and sometimes you have to wait a long time. I hate waiting on hold. When I need help with someone I am working on, I would like help right away - not in half an hour. I have had to call back again also sometimes because the problem was not solved. What used is it to have a website if it cannot be found on the internet! Especially one you are paying for.

You cannot change templates - well you can, but it means starting over from scratch on Godaddy.

I do not recommend using Godaddy to open a website. In hindsight I should have bought the dot com from Wix and upgraded to a paid site there instead or better yet just pay for the dot com and stay free with Wix.

Here is the link to the Godaddy website if you want more information: http://ca.godaddy.com/

Wordpress - My wild Canada: http://mywildcanada.com/

I was looking for a place to make a professional looking website - I kept seeing people using Wordpress - I had tried it before going to Godaddy but I thought that if I paid for a site it would look better - wrong! Wordpress is the site that convinced me that you don't have to pay to have a nice looking site. I bought the "mywildcanada" dot com. I have set up the Wordpress site so that only mywildcanada.com appears in the address bar. You can also do that with Wix - you can buy your dot com through them.

Wordpress is a bit different from Wix and Blogger. You just have to get used to the layout and the program. With Wordpress you can use the free templates or pay for just the template to get a nicer one to work with. You have more options.

Wordpress is very user friendly. You can contact support directly by making a support ticket to get an email response/chat going and I have done that a few times and gotten really fast responses. You can also use social media to get assistance with all of the website providers. Tweet them or post on their Facebook pages - they will respond quickly.

One of the big differences between Godaddy and Wordpress/Wix/Blogger is that you can change your template anytime and as often as you want. With Godaddy if you change your template - you start over. So if you are trying out a template - you might be halfway through working with your content and realize that this may not be the best template for you.

With Wordpress I can add pages (or delete them) I can save drafts before I publish them (Blogger also). What impresses me most about Wordpress is how professional my site looks and how easy it was. Wordpress is well linked with social media - my site is very easy to find on search engines. Wordpress is designed with bloggers in mind it seems. Photos load very quickly. Wordpress is also set up so that you can link Tweets (Twitter) easily.

This is the link to the Wordpress website: https://wordpress.com/

Conclusion: Working with all these different website providers has broadened my knowledge when it comes to making websites. I now understand terms like SEO, tags, embedding - words that were like Chinese to me a few years ago. I ask a lot of questions - I do not like getting lost in forums - when I have a question I ask support or I ask for help on social media. "Googling" questions is also very helpful - by asking a question on the Google search engine - you can be directed to a blog or a post that can give you the right answer.

Building websites is fun and easy - anyone can do it. The more I "play" with it, the faster I get, the more I understand and the easier it gets. I used to get frustrated a lot, but not anymore - now website building is fun.

So go - open a FREE website - go and have fun - go be seen and heard on the world wide web. Go share with everyone!

Can you really make money online with Google Adsense?

2012-06-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Google Adsense is a product//service offered by Google which allows you to earn revenue by placing their advertisers ads on your website. These advertisers pay Google money to promote their products. Google in turn give you a share of these earnings when people click on these ads. According to Google it is easy to do; they have over 2 million publishers of all sizes using Adsense. Google claims using Adsense is a hassle free way to place relevant ads on your website to help you earn revenue. According to Google's testimonials publishers can live their dream lives thanks to using Google Ads with Adsense..

Well, I had a Google Adsense account for years, I had several different websites with Google Ads and now I can answer these questions based on my own personal experience. Is Google Adsense a real way to make money online or is it a scam? Can you really quit your job and make a living using Google Adsense? Can you really live your dream using Google Adsense to make money?

I have first hand personal experience and I will share what I learned by trying it for myself. I created three websites, I had a Youtube account and a Blogger (this one) site all on which I placed google ads - all sites were linked to the same Adsense account. I taught myself how to do it, I spent a lot of time researching and studying and trying to improve my site, my ads, and of course my earnings. .

In my opinion Google Adsense is a huge scam, I will tell you why I think that.. The only people who make any substantial money is Google itself and a few webmasters who have a enormous amount of visitors to their websites. IMany of those large sites are promoted which means that publishers pay to have their websites pushed. One of the first things Google Adsense invites you to do is promote and advertise your site(s) with Google Adwords where you pay Google directly to promote your site and therefore increase your odds of making money with Google Adsense. See how it works?

Although I consider myself an intelligent person, I always did extremely well in school... but when it came to making money online with Google Adsense I found myself feeling stupid a lot of the time. I found it a very difficult and tedious process. I could rarely find answers to my numerous questions. I found Google's information to be confusing, incomplete and often even misleading. I used all the tools available to me like Google Analytics and Dashboards, but there again I found these sites and tools too hard to follow, incomplete, misleading. I often ended up with more questions than answers. I was very frustrated. So may times I just wanted to ask a question and get an answer, it would have been so good to be able to contact Google directly for help - but that option was not ever made available to me. I always felt like Google is just raking in the money, so it doesn't care if I don't make a lot of money - IT is making money off my content. You know the old saying, it takes money to make money, that's what I feel is true with Google Adsense. You need to create a website that will appeal to the masses and you need have the money to promote it, otherwise I don't feel it's worth even bothering to put Google ads on your blog or website. The only one that is really benefiting is Google. In 2011 Google made $9.71 Billion Dollars ($9,710,000,000.00). Google does NOT disclose how much it pays it's publishers, does not tell you how much they make on each ad, does even tell you how YOU make on each ad. Many people who use Google Adsense find that their numbers (page views, clicks) do not match Google's statistics. It is a fair statement that Google is not forthcoming in how it manages and profits from Adsense. I find that Google's business practice are questionable and I find that it's advertising of it's products is deceiving.

Another problem I had with Google Ads and this is a real deal breaker in my view is that Google promised to place relevant ads on my website, you do not chose which ads were placed on your website just what type. When you create your website, you place labels and key words in a box to direct search engines (like Google (the biggest search again, Ask.com, Yahoo, Bing). to bring people to your site when they are searching for a specific topic. Google is supposed to match your content to their ads. I was often quite angry as the type of ads that Google places on my website, they were not relevant at all, no wonder people did not click on the ads, in fact it may have deterred visitors from staying or returning to my site. I have a blog that talks about living life with less and Google places ads about applying for credit cards or looking up your credit score with Equifax. I had stories about poverty and beside them advertisements for new cars. I even often had 3 identical ads on the same page, right beside each other. I really was not impressed with Google at all. I fond it very scammish. Google seems to big and seems to making too much money to care about individuals and small publishers like me. "Your account is not qualified to reach customer service directly please use the help forum for assistance or try our help section"! That's the best customer service Google Ads ever gave me.

Some webmasters create website for the sole purpose of creating "content" and lure the search engines to these sites in order to get "clicks" on their ads and therefore earn money. This is one of the reasons the internet is overloaded with websites that have duplicate information, bogus and inaccurate content and why the word spam is common place. Many internet marketers sell programs, videos, discs, templates, how to get rich quick schemes to promote making money online. These people pray on the average web user with false promises of making easy money online. There are also make pyramid type scams out there, where only the one selling this information is going to make any substantial amount of money. Another way people can make money online is by collecting information (and then selling it of course). Newsletters, people finders, sites where you are required to sign in and create accounts. Publishers sell email lists to generate revenue, I think this is an invasion of privacy. I do not like it when I get advertisements or spam in my email inbox.

You cannot contact Google directly or indirectly for assistance. Google does not have an email address, they do not offer live chat support, no phone numbers - basically you are making money for them and if you need help trying to figure out how to improve your odds at making money for yourself you cannot even ask them for help. You are directed to use their online help pages or to join a forum and ask others customers for assistance.
So how much did I make on Google Adsense and how much does Google Adwords cost? It's hard to tell you how much Google Adwords really costs, Google is very good at not giving you specific and accurate dollar amounts, you can spend as little as $10 a month (when researching this amount, I now notice that if you need help getting started with Google Adwords they now have a toll free number you can call, I guess people were just giving up - it's a difficult and time consuming process to get started)

I do not trust Google and I did not have a good experience at all trying to make extra money on the web, I never fell for the get rich quick and easy gimmick. I know that nothing is for free and with hard work only comes rewards. Well I did a lot of hard work and I had very little reward. Google does not send you any money until you have made $100 (I think that too is a scam because I am sure many people give up before making their first hundred dollars and then Google just keeps that money). It took me over a year, yes, over a year to reach the $100 threshold - I had two of my own websites (a how to install tile (with videos and pictures and 10 pages of information), a website about camping and the outdoors (again lots of photos and videos - with links to camping equipment and tons of advice). A Youtube channel about how to tile and other nature clips on it (that is the only one that made any money really - I think Youtube is your best bet for earning money through advertisement, it has a jhuge audience, but unless your videos goes viral, you won't make much money at all.) and this blog that never really made any money at all (mainly because the ads were irrelevant and the website views are very low). I never paid for Google Adwords - I found it too expensive. So in the three years I used Google Adsense I only made $119.00 total. I spend countless hours designing my websites, working on my videos, taking pictures, uploading, doing research , teaching myself how to use Adsense and how to interpret their analytical statistics which in the end I found not very helpful and was a very difficult application to navigate through.

That's what I did, I removed all ads from my sites and I closed down my Google Adsense account. I think Google should have been paying me way more to place ads which they were already getting paid to promote. I am the one who created the relevant content and I am the one attracting visitors. Google is just another corporate greedy pig thatwants to hoard all the money for itself and use the little guy to do all the work.

Links for information about this post - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Adsense

The Collapse of The American Dream Explained in Animation

2011-12-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Exceptional work. A must see. Not only is this entertaining, this clip completely explains everything in a way we can easily understand why we are where we are today. It's my favorite video to date.

Feeding the homeless of Victoria on Christmas Day - "The greatest gift they'll get this year is Love!"

2011-12-05T08:33:00.000-08:00

Originally posted December 26, 2010.

"Can someone help me please, I need a friend." The homeless we met all have one thing in common - a simple wish - they want someone to help them. We spent Christmas Day feeding the homeless of Victoria giving the best gift of all: Love.

This year, we chose to spend the money on food for the homeless instead of spending it on a Christmas tree for our family; Gerry, my husband and I, did not exchange any gifts - times are tough this year. BUT, we are very fortunate, we have a great life together and the future is bright.

It was our life's dream to move to BC, and for the past three years we have tried to stay afloat working for ourselves in Victoria. We are finding it very hard to earn an adequate living in this very expensive city, especially competing with the "cash jobs" . Decent pet friendly rentals are almost non existent and finding a reasonably priced home for us has proven to be a challenge difficult to overcome. Our present accommodations are affordable but there is always a trade off, it seems. It is the best we can find and at least our family is together and we are managing by ourselves.

We also saw many homeless that now call the streets home - those that have given up. We saw people feed themselves out of garbage cans, sleep in large metal garbage containers, and make shelters of just cardboard and pieces of plastic. We saw people who just drink all day long because they have no hope left at all. Most of these people never thought this would happen to them, it is not the life they envisioned for themselves. Most of them are here because of circumstances that are of no fault of their own. Every one of these poor souls that we talked to had a story and a wish. They just want help, someone to care. Most of the people we met want to do better and be better they just don't know how and need someone to take them by the hand and help them. They need guidance. Most probably because they never had that in their life. The only difference between them and you is a lack of support - they do not have anyone they can turn to for help and so they are outcasts.

So, instead of spending Christmas alone just the three of us, we decided to cook extra Christmas meals and bring them to the less fortunate. We wanted them to know that: Someone still cared about them. It's the most important thing - to feel loved - it gives hope. We observed people shop at the malls, we saw them buy useless and stupid gifts. People were too busy to notice or care about the homeless and the poor. Shopping was so important; we saw people laden down with packages look down on the begger and tell him to go get a job. We remembered how easy it is to get carried away with the season and forget about the less fortunate. We fell into that trap in the past, we overspent on Christmas and indebted ourselves also - no more of that.

It cost us so little to prepare a few hot meals to bring to the hungry. We bought an extra turkey to cook, not a huge one either, an 11 pounder. We made mash potatoes, corn, gravy, stove top stuffing (never made real stuffing and did not want to kill anyone!), pillsbury croissants and sugar cookies and a couple of candy canes, a can of soda, and VOILA: spread the Christmas Joy. We bought a few containers to serve the food in and we hauled the food in warmed coolers to keep it nice and hot for the folks to enjoy. We made 15 hot home cooked meals at a cost of approximately $40 (at the most) - and we changed the lives of 15 people a little for the better - if only for a day. With the help of our wonderful 16 year old daughter, the turkey, potatoes and corn were all cooked up in short time. Croissants and cookies were baked with love. Our girl willingly and lovingly helped us prepare meals for the homeless. She was very proud of all of our efforts. We are extremely proud of her for helping out!

Once we had the coolers loaded in the VW, we headed for downtown Victoria to find some people needing some Christmas cheer . We saw a man lying on the ground at the entrance of the Swiss Chalet, he had a pile of stuff beside him. I get shy, it's hard to ask if someone needs help - you don't want to insult people and I get afraid of being told to mind your business. But that's never happened. Gerry, my husband, offers: "Hey Buddy - I have hot meals for the homeless, are you hungry?" The man groggily shifts himself and slowly gets up. "Ya, ya man, thank you, thank you, I am hungry. This is a good place", he says, "lots of hot meals in the dumpster in the back - they throw alot of good food out a night". Gerry introduced himself and asked the man his name. Mark. Mark was very proud to show us a little shot size bottle (like you get on the airplanes) of Baileys Irish Cream that a stranger had given him for Christmas. He had also gotten a pair of socks. He was very pleased to receive these things and was very very appreciative. When Gerry asked him if he had anything to say to the world, if he had a wish what would it be, he answered: "Why does it have to be Christmas only that makes people come out and help him", he wondered why on any other day, he did not matter. Mark was quick to say that he was really really happy for the help today though. He could not thank us enough, and a pattern would start - we got many, many thanks - for the food, but mostly the thanks was for us CARING ABOUT THEM. Gerry asked if Mark had a wish what would that be? Mark's wish was to have a friend. Gerry and Mark shook hands and wished each other a merry Christmas.

At the corner of Cook St. and View St. we saw a man and woman and wondered if we should approach them, he looked like he may be homeless while she did not. Gerry stopped the van, got out and said: "I have hot meals for the homeless, are you hungry?" They immediately jumped up to their feet and happily came to get a meal. They asked if we had a third meal and invited their shy friend to join them. Gerry asked them if we could take their photo (we want to spread the word that people need and deserve help and we want to raise funds to help those in need). The men agreed have their photo taken (photo at top page). Gerry asked if they had a wish what would it be. The older gentleman was something of a celebrity and had been in the papers 4 times before - he wished for world peace. The younger shy friend only wanted to get back on his feet - such a touching wish.... The woman preferred not to have her picture taken, it looked like she and I could just switch places, she looked like she could be a nurse or an office worker, she wanted a job, as her wish.

We fed a young man with long blond hair walking alone with his belongings on his back in a backpack. He was very high on something. When we asked him if he wanted a hot meal, his eyes showed signs of life and he stopped and gladly took our offerings. He did not speak to us. He walked away and started singing: "Merry Christmas to me, merry Christmas to me" in the tune of happy birthday. We silently wished him a better life.

In the back alleys behind the Bay Center in downtown Victoria we came up on two young men smoking a joint. We stopped and asked if they needed a hot meal. They were very surprised we were talking to them but gladly accepted the hot meal. It seemed to be awhile ago since they had seen a square meal. "Awesome, thanks alot".

It was early afternoon when we came upon a woman dancing by herself on the sidewalk. She was very disoriented and had no clue what was going on around her. She could barely hold the container of food as she swaggered around in her sad condition. "Thank you very much", she managed in a slurred speech. Hopefully the hot meal would help her regain some of her senses. What's happened to her in her life, to send her on such a path?

The last man we helped yesterday was named Ron. Ron had been on the streets 61 days and told us of this trials and tribulations. He spoke of 2 former wives and "wished he could do it again and get it right this time". He spoke of this 3 daughters and how he missed his family in Quebec - he had not seen his 2 sisters in Montreal in 30 years - how he wished he could see them again. He felt like he was not a good example to his daughters - the father is the only one on the streets.... You could tell Ron was a good man, with a huge heart - he talked and talked - for over a half hour Gerry stood on the sidewalk and listened to this poor man talk about his life. Ron wanted what every single person we met yesterday wanted most: a friend to talk to.

Ron had alot of good things to say to us and the funny thing is we probably needed to talk to Ron as much as he needed to talk to us. He said alot of things we needed to hear. Funny how life is sometimes.

We all need people in our life, and we all need help sometimes. You can make a difference, a significant difference in someone's life. Give a little, give a lot. Don't be afraid to reach out and help someone, the world will be a better place because you did. Be the change you want to see in the world...

Sometimes people need a friend, sometimes they need hope. No matter how rich or how poor YOU are, you can always give someone HOPE.

Wishing all our new friends all the best!

Celine and Gerry

We may be contacted at celinegerry@gmail.com .

Where have the activists gone?

2011-10-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Where have all the activists gone? Are there any heroes left out there? We need someone we can believe in. We need someone who is selfless and generous and who cares more about the world than themselves. We need a real life hero. An honest to goodness hero we can look up, be inspired by, stand behind, support and follow.

As I've reached my early forties, I find myself looking at my life and wondering how I can become more of who I wanted to be. How can I make this world more of what I wanted it to be? When I had envisioned my future as a child, I had pictured a much different society than the one we live in, the one we have created. It looked like we were going to go in the right direction, it looked like we were going to clean up our act and make all of our lives better. It looked like we were going to take care of our planet and work on ending world suffering. But the reality is, today, the planet is facing all kinds of environmental challenges and more people are dying of hunger, disease and poverty than ever before.

I grew up in Ottawa, Canada's Capital and I was proud of the efforts that were being started and talked about. I remember, there was a certain buzz, an excitement that together we could change our world. It looked like we were going to make changes - correct our wrongs and move ahead in the right direction. It looked like, in our future, we would focus on bettering our lives. We were beginning to focus more on health and the environment.

That was over 20 years ago, recycling campaigns were started, electric cars were going to eradicate the need for polluting gasoline engines and solar and wind power were going to be the wave of the future. Organizations like Greenpeace made the news regularly and people were hopeful that in the future we would be better taking care of ourselves, humanity and our planet's resources. Participaction was a commonly used word, we were beginning to focus more about how to keep ourselves healthy so that we could live longer and have better quality lives. It seemed we were heading in the right direction: we were going to improve our quality of life - individually and collectively. I was excited to jump on board and help make this world a better place for all us. But then, life happened...it got real hectic and it was so easy to get swept up in the craziness. For a long time, I lost my way - I got all tangled up in society and lost myself. For a long time, I listened to others and,for awhile, I forgot who I was and what I wanted. I just want to be happy and I want other to be happy - cause that's what life is all about. Health and happiness - don't you wish that for everyone?

It turned out that many of the promises that were made were just government hype. More false campaign promises. Either the technologies they promised us don't really work well or they are being kept from becoming mainstream. Government does not always act in our own best interest - (surprise!) - often, I am saddened to know, government will make decisions based on the financial factor rather than the environmental cost. Alberta's Oil Sands environmental disaster is a perfect example of allowing profit to take precedence over our health and the environment. Even on a individual basis, people risks their lives working in a toxic environment so that they can make a few extra dollars. Is that Harley in the yard really worth the health problems created by working in such a volatile environment? You can read more about it and what Greenpeace thinks about: Alberta Oil Sands Health Risks

photo from Bing Images: garthlenz.com

The electric car should be mainstream by now, but it has just hasn't happened and both governments and big industry are to blame. The oil industry is one of the wealthiest industries in the world, if we all of a sudden had no need for oil what would that do to the world economy? What about all the tax dollars oil generates - how could governments recuperate all those billions? They couldn't. And so you pay $1.14 a litre for gas to fill your car - and it becomes status quo.

We are still such a money driven society - wealth is placed of higher value than health and greed wins over humanity. It used to be much harder to qualify for a credit card, now most people have a wallet full of plastic and more debt than they will ever be able to repay in their lifetime! What's the point of trying to get rich if you can't walk down the street when you are 60! (Either because you are too weak or the air quality index is too high). The thing that infuriates me the most is how irresponsible government and industry have become. It's all about budgets and making profits. I hate that they can take something positive like recycling and turn it into big business, driven first and foremost by the bottom line. Many of us have concerns about recycling. Recycling plastic still causes alot of pollution and what is this re-melted plastic going to do to us - is it safe? More and more controversy on the subject appears - it seems the more it's broken down the more we are creating plastic that is simply more toxic. There is just not enough focus on REDUCE! Let's stop buying so much stuff! We need to encourage people to lead simpler lives and to reduce their impact on this planet - but if people started spending less money that would affect the economy... Here is an interesting article on the: War on Plastic

It's kind of ironic even how nowadays your wallet is filled with more and more plastic designed to make you spend more and more money! Rewards cards have never been so popular, in order to save money you need a membership card to just about every retailer you can imagine. I can't wait to see the day when society shifts. It will be a welcomed day when we care more about our health than our wealth and when companies gain our loyalty by being responsible and accountable. This will be the day when will all be working towards a better world instead of living the existing rat race we call life.

We have become such a wasteful and materialistic society - it's a shame. I just hope it's not too late when we realize what we have is not to be taken for granted and that all we are doing is hurting ourselves. We need to come together as a society and demand better for ourselves and our future generations. What are you gonna do with all those shoes when the air outside is too toxic to breathe?

I feel it's very important to spend time in the great outdoors - to get away from civilization. Fresh air clears the mind and invigorates the body. Getting away from all the advertising and all the noise, commotion and pollution from the city allows us to reconnect with nature and calm our minds and spirits. Being in the great outdoors allows us to hear our selves, it allows us to find our selves. Nature provides (or at least it did) us with everything we need to survive: we can grow our food from it's soil and quench our thirst from it's water. People need to step back, stop for a minute, look around them and see what is really going on, what really matters. When you are out in the wilderness money does not matter. You can be happy just sitting there, basking in the sunshine, watching the clouds drift by. Isn't that what life is all about being happy - being well?

I don't know how to fix the world's problems, like most people I have a hard time enough with my own life. But I do know that since I reached forty, it seems to have triggered something inside me to try harder. I have been made many positive changes in my personal life: I have quit smoking, become much more active, am eating healthier and I have started writing more and more. And now that I am taking better care of myself, I want to take care of my world and I want to help others. I wish I had someone to take me by the hand and help me, someone I could completely believe in. I just find it harder to trust these days - it seems everyone has a hidden agenda. I wish I could find a real life hero.

And so I wonder where have all the activists gone? I went to Greenpeace's website and was shocked to see 2.9 million members support Greenpeace. I haven't heard about Greenpeace in a long long time - I am not saying that Greenpeace is not doing anything - I am saying we are not hearing much about Greenpeace anymore - not like we used to. We need organizations like Greenpeace to get louder - we need someone to get us all motivated. We need someone to believe in - we need some to look up to. We need to come together to make lasting positive changes to how we treat this world we live in and how we treat each other.

Living Life with Less

2011-10-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have spent a good portion of our lives trying to enjoy nature and the wilderness as much as possible. We have struggled to find a balance between earning a living and living a simple and happy life.

Earlier in our lives, we both held well paying jobs and earned good money. We drove a fancy sports car, and as quickly as we earned it, we spent our hard earned money and bought alot of things. We ate alot of fast food and we led a very fast life. We fell into the rat race trap and for awhile we bought into the hype of advertising and believed that buying things would make us happy. But the opposite happened, the more we spent the more stressed out we became. Looking around everyone was shopping and accumulating, every one's house was getting bigger and fancier. Every one's car was getting shinier and newer.

Being conservative and frugal became a sign of weakness, a sign a failure. Somewhere along the way society became money driven and greedy. Some life altering events allowed me to see that being materialistic and accumulating objects was pointless. In fact, I have learned that the less you have, the richer YOU become. We lose ourselves in things and in the struggle to earn money to buy things and in the bombardment of marketing that lie to us and tell us we need things - that we are less than without these things - that our lives will be better if not for these things. The less I have the easier life becomes and the more freedom I have. The more freedom I have, especially financial freedom (in the opposite sense of the common use of the expression!), the happier I become.

We need to turn back and go back to a simpler time. A time when people earned a little money to buy the extra things they could not supply for themselves. We need to go back to a time when life was less complicated and more enjoyable. Life has gotten too difficult, people are getting more and more stressed out. People don't have time for each other anymore; and families are becoming more and more scattered as people venture farther from their home town in search of employment.

Education is getting so expensive it will be available only to the elite and the wealthy. Competition for jobs will only get worse as the world's population increases. Food prices will continue to rise as supply and demand continually grows.

People have been herded in the cities, shutting down our small towns and killing the community spirit. The villages can no longer raise the children and the children are completely losing themselves in our cities. Cities are cold bustling noisy places where people shuffle about hurriedly and cut each other off in traffic. The vehicles keep getting bigger (despite our environmental problems) and their price tags keep climbing - the competition is never ending.

The rat race continues. My husband and I are tired of running with this crowd. We are opting for the simpler life. We want to work less and play more. We are downsizing and getting rid of most of our possessions. We have never been happier. We believe there has to be better way, an easier way to live a happy life.

This post is a work in progress....your thoughts...and feedback are welcomed.

Kayaking in Victoria on New Year's Day

2011-01-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Day 2011 in Victoria, British Columbia the sun was shining bright and we could not resist the urge to take our kayaks out to the Gorge in Esquimalt. Victoria is such a vibrant city, there were people everywhere enjoying the crisp sunny day.

My husband, Gerry and I brought along our little dog, Nounour (french for Teddy Bear) - our beloved sable fox pomeranian. He could not wait to get out in the kayaks, on shore he proudly pranced in his yellow lifejacket. Once boarded in Gerry's kayak, Nounour made himself comfortable and watched the world around him. He is such a special little dog, he calmly enjoys the ride, not surprising really, the gorge must seem pretty calm to him after all the trips he has been on - no white water today!

Originally from Ottawa, I had called my Dad earlier in that morning to wish him a Happy New Year and I wasn't surprised to hear that it was raining in our Nation's capital - the snow is almost all gone! My Dad was saying that everyone he was talking to was digusted with this "Victoria weather" and how we could just take it back. No problem, mild winters suit me just fine! Ottawa, as far as I can remember, always had very unpredictable winters: snowy, cold, rainy, freezing rain - just a mixed bag of whatever mother nature wants to dish out.

I have been in Victoria three years now, and, I admit, I do miss the snow sometimes but I just have to drive north a little to find it. One thing, I must say though, is I cannot compare the lifestyles of both these capitals' residents. Victorian's get out and enjoy their beautiful city so much more than what folks back home did.

We had so much fun yesterday, kayaking, and we met alot of wonderful and happy people. Everywhere folks were out with their dogs and their families enjoying the sunshine. The sdiewalks were brimming with people out walking. We saw a group of four kayakers who enjoyed a picnic in the parc, before continuing their trip. A couple was out playing with their cute little trick kayaks, another couple left a private club with their canoe for afternoon paddle. Kayaking is relaxing, fun and a greatly disguised excerise - you get a work out without noticing really. A beautiful excursion becomes a healthy outing.

It was a special treat to watch all the old cars as they paraded down Gorge Road, from Model T's purring along to roaring hot rods - the chrome glistened like sparkling diamonds. One after the other, these restored beauties took our breath away as we watched them from our unique vantage point.

In fact we had so much fun yesterday, we did not unload the kayaks and we are going back to do it all over again today!

I faught back against my landlord and won

2010-08-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

I fought back against my landlord and won

Over a year ago I responded to an ad for an apartment for rent “in a unique setting”. I have learnt important lessons in the past year and I feel compelled to share my experience in hopes of saving others some of the problems I have faced. I have also learnt that just because it says Saint – it doesn’t mean you won’t get lied to and just because someone works for a “not for profit society” doesn’t mean they won’t try to take advantage of you. Even though I felt I had asked all the right questions before signing any lease I should have been even more careful and less trusting. Not all the people running this organization were honestly representing or living up to the Society's good name.

Get everything in writing, get signed original copies and take any offers of employment or work related matters to a lawyer to make a binding legal contract – work related issues cannot just be added as an addendum to a residential lease. Make sure you protect yourself; do not trust what your potential landlord says. There is nothing wrong with trusting someone – if they are telling the truth, they won’t mind putting it in writing and they won’t mind if you bring it a lawyer.

Long story short: My husband and I are self employed, we work as a team, tiling and doing small renovations. We rented a small two bedroom apartment on the second floor of Abbeyfield House St. Peter’s Society: a senior residence on Reynolds road in Saanich. We moved here with our teenage daughter and our little dog. We were led to believe that there would be a lot of work for us; we were told we “would do very well here”. Prior to us signing a lease, we were shown several rooms which needed to be renovated at Abbeyfield including the kitchen and bathroom of our own unit. Many projects were discussed – now, in retrospect, it is clear we were lured here under false pretences.

The apartment we rented used to belong to a den mother – a resident caretaker for the seniors – she used to receive a modest salary along with this unit as compensation. Abbeyfield no longer employed a resident manager, however, it became clear to us pretty quickly, the society that run this place do very little around here and we were expected to do more than just pay rent. It even took months to have repairs made to our unit – repairs that should have been made prior to us moving in. The worst part is we were told we would be hired provide repairs and renovations to the building. Most of the work talked about when we first came to see if we would move here never materialised.

Abbeyfield needs a resident manager; since we moved in the staff, visitors and the residents have been led to believe that we were getting a special deal on rent in exchange for “helping out around here”. We have had so many interruptions to our personal and business lives. We were pretty much forced to be on call – it was our door that was pounded on when something came up (i.e.: no cook coming in, emergency water leaks, unannounced sprinkler and alarm checks, need help moving furniture – I could go on and on….)

The 12 seniors that live here are not all capable of living on their own, some are wheelchair bound, others are hard of hearing and some have poor mental health. Abbeyfield falsely advertises that a resident manager lives on site to help and take care of the seniors. The only staff here is a cook that comes in from approximately 10am to 6pm and a cleaning lady comes in once a week. Residents do get visits from aides but are left alone most of the time. Many of the residents need to be placed in a nursing home as their mobility and/or alertness is not what it used to be.

We have had several meetings with Barbara Walker, chair of Abbeyfield St. Peter’s Society over the period of a year to try and resolve the many issues which kept arising. We finally got tired of being strung along – all the work that Abbeyfield supposedly had just wasn’t materialising and we were tired of submitting quotes that would take months and months to get approved, if at all. We asked for a rent reduction retroactive for the last year due to untimely repairs, lack of privacy, lack of quiet enjoyment, imposed resident manager duties, misrepresentation and other valid reasons… Ms. Walker responded to us: “that Abbeyfield does not fall under the RTA (Residential Tenancy Act), that if we were not happy with the rent to move out” and then she served us with an eviction notice, and while we waited for a dispute resolution hearing, she served us with another and another. I responded by filing for a dispute resolution hearing. At first the dispute resolution officer was going to throw out the case because Ms. Walker had not followed proper procedures, but in the interest of expediency, I wanted the matter resolved. My husband and I are very happy with the dispute resolution officer’s ruling: we got a few months free rent as compensation. The landlord, Ms. Walker, wanted to have the judge throw us out immediately. Barb Walker, the Chair of Abbeyfield St. Peter’s Society House is the person from whom we rented this apartment over a year ago, she has lied to us and she violated our rights. We stood up for them and we won, that doesn’t happen very often and it feels really good! Someone in charge of a not for profit, government assisted senior’s residence should not be able to just do and say what they want. The constant delays and all the hassles made our lives miserable. It also affected our business.

Now I see where my tax dollars are going. By doing whatever they want and by not following the rules, this society wastes so much money. They approved a $14,000 illegal porch addition without taking a building permit and got caught by Saanich and then needed to pay more to take it down. What a waste of money and material. This mismanagement of our tax dollars should not be permitted. Someone should be held accountable.

This low income senior’s residence receives funding by the BC Government. It is run by a board of directors, many of whom have parents or relatives living here. Here are links to their websites: http://www.salescene.com/abbeyfieldhouse.html and http://www.abbeyfield.ca/ It would be more reassuring to know to know that places like this are inspected more often to make sure that the residents that live here don’t require to be placed in a nursing home and that the administrators are qualified and capable of ensuring the safety and well being of all the residents. Maintaining the buildings in adequate state of repairs should be the responsibility of qualified agencies. It should not be left to societies who fix things with duct tape and silicone….

Lastly, I would like to add that it is not always easy to stand and fight for your rights and the rights of others; it would make life easier and less complicated to just walk away and put things behind you. It’s very important to KNOW your rights and more important to stand up for them. This has been quite unpleasant and very hard to deal with; it took me a long time to get ready for the hearing with the RTA and I didn’t even know if this was under their jurisdiction (Barb’s lies). I took the time to write this article as I feel that, we, as a society (excuse the pun!) are going the wrong way, we need to become more involved and we need to help each other. We need to speak up and make things public, especially when our tax dollars are being mismanaged.

As we are leaving at the end of this month and Abbeyfield is looking to rent the apartment to someone else, I also wanted to warn the next guy. 

Why are large corporations like BP allowed to take such dangerous risks?

2010-07-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

I just don't understand it. Government is full of rules and regulations when it comes to us homeowners and the little guy. Take a permit for this, get a permit for that. You need a license to have a dog, you must hire an engineer to make plans for a septic field bed in the middle of nowhere, but BP on the other hand is allowed to undertake huge projects that can have irreversible and horrendously detremental consequences for the entire planet. And all in the name of profits or should I say greed. Don't kid yourself folks, this is an environmental disaster. Since day one, BP has minimined the damage this is creating. They have continually lied about how much oil is leaking out and of course they are minimizing the damage this is causing.

I am really tired of this double standard, big companies and governments seem to be able to do what they want. On Mayne Island, BC a resort developer is getting away with breaking the rules, having larger water tanks than approved. Despite complaints from the residents, goverment is turning a blind eye. But then a resident is being forced to take down her deck because a permit was not taken. You hear of it all the time...Let the big guy get away with it but stick it to little guy. It's more cost efficient for the big company to fight the government than to start over, the government does not want to get into a long legal battle - the homeowner is a do it yourselfer and cannot even afford to file a complaint. That's how it goes...

This latest oil disaster will affect us FOREVER. It will kill countless birds, fish and mammals and will more than likely even cause extinctions of species. This oil spill has contaminated our oceans and our water system and probably beyond repair. What were they thinking?

Alternative fuels have been around for quite awhile now, why aren't we focussing all our attention on solar, wind, tidal and other cleaner sources of energy? Why do companies like BP and the powers that rule the world decide to keep being greedy and keep exploiting the earth's gas supply - no matter how bad for the environment it is. I just don't understand it. Don't they know it will affect them as well - they need clean water as much as the rest of us. Oh ya...with all their millions they can build themselves a water purification plant and then sell us clean water - I get it now - government will then tax that water, and so on...

I have often wondered why we are not completely solar/wind/green powered by now? Why hasn't government pushed to go green. I have heard that the economy will colapse if the oil industry is abandoned. So? Let's rebuilt it, better and greener for all. I am for it.

How could anyone be allowed to do something that can negatively affect the whole world, how can any one corporation have that much power? So much for democracy! Did we not learn anything from the Exxon Valez oil spill? They are still finding oil there 20 years later!!! If you lift a stone on the beach you will find oil buried in the sand. And that's only from one tanker, what is this fiasco of an oil spill going to do to the US coast? To our oceans? To our planet?

I am glad BC is waiting to develop any off shore oil exploration on the west coast. It must be banned it forever.

I am so angry that this happened, as so many other people are. When will we draw the line and place life above money, when will we realize that too late means too late! Should have, would have, could have... There's no room for that - when your actions affect the whole entire planet.

The CEOs of these companies make ridiculous amounts of money and they are well paid because of their money making talents. They got paid to be snaeky, deceitful and dishonest. These CEO's should be stripped of their wealth, they should not be allowed to get away with profitting at the expense of so many.

It seems the more money you have, the more you can get away with. Like governments, large corporations, CEOs. The rich get richer at the expense of the poor - and at the expense of the world.