After Joe Cardillo, National Sales Manager with Vector Marketing Canada, returned from a Tony Robbins Power Within conference in 2009, he was inspired to start a Basket Brigade chapter here in London, ON

What began more than 30 years ago as Tony Robbins’ individual effort to feed families in need, has now grown into the Anthony Robbins Foundation’s International Basket Brigade, providing baskets of food and household items for an estimated 2 million people annually in countries all over the world.

This is the 3rd year for London’s Basket Brigade and we are once again going to be delivering bountiful baskets all across the city, to families who are struggling. The baskets are complete with a turkey or ham, and all the fixings for a fantastic Christmas dinner and plenty of other groceries to help out during the holiday season. The baskets will be delivered between Dec. 17th and Dec. 21st to 50 deserving families, and the hope is that one day, they can return the favour in some small way for someone else. In just a couple of years we’ve grown from 25 to now 50 families, and we look to continue to grow our reach in the coming years.

Most of the donations to date have come from the generous support of local businesses, as well as our family, friends and neighbours. We’ve also been fortunate to have grocery stores like Metro and companies like Kellogg’s assist with financial or food contributions.

We’re still in need of more donations and while we recognize there are many worthy charities to support this time of year, if you’re able to contribute, please contact us for a pick-up at 519-652-8248 extn. 200 or our drop-off location is at: 4474 Blakie Rd. Suite 132, look for the Vector Marketing sign. Goods such as canned cranberries, gravy, peanut butter, jam, pasta and canned vegetables would be especially appreciated. There is no donation too small, as everything adds up, and will be most appreciated.

If you know a special family who may benefit from receiving a basket, you may also contact us at: 519-652-8248 extn. 200.

Our occupation is in Victoria Park, near Richmond & Central (at the northwest corner of the park).

The Sunday general assemblies for Occupy London are at 1pm and 6pm. We basically have those assemblies to make decisions together.

Of course, everyone is welcome to come to the camp area at any time. Even if you’re just curious, you’re absolutely welcome to stop by.

There are a series of committees that anyone can join. There are groups for logistics, food, marshalls, facilitators, police liaisons (whose only role is to listen to police and report back to the assembly), media/outreach, medics, and waste management. Other committees still can be set up.

At the camp, there is a whiteboard that lists needs for the occupation. People are requesting basic supplies, so that this occupation can continue.

We are collecting endorsements from groups, organizations, and other collective entities. (One way to send those in is to e-mail toban at riseup dot net)

There are many ways to support these efforts, and the much wider movement that it all is part of. Please do what you can.

Toban

(Please note: I am typing this up on my own. Although I am on the media committee, I’m sending this without going through the time-consuming process of reaching collective agreement on it — this time.)

1000 Acts of Kindness PSA 2011
5 moms and their kids left behind
A moment alone in the darkness
Brown bears, black bears and polar bears
Catholic Church has major struggle ahead
Deeds not words
Is well-intended anti-bullying pledge just empty words?
Join the global movement: “Moving Planet”
No more secrets
Operating utilities as businesses
Provincial election recommendations
Success
What’s so wrong with saying, “I’m sorry.”

Did you know that if you have a Twitter account you can subscribe to a feed of London blogs? If you know of a local blog that you think is missing from the feed, let me know!

Sean and Stuart get the topics for their show by “focusing on issues which are making twitter users in London tweet.”

If you’d like to listen to the podcast, click HERE.

First there was the fact that she successfully retained her Council seat without disclosing (to the best of my knowledge) that she would be seeking office at the provincial level. Now that the provincial campaign has begun she appears to have upset a lot of folks by failing to attend the first all-candidates meeting.

Having been a candidate for elected office, I know that many people have unreal expectations. Lots of times these things are not planned and scheduled far enough in advance. Candidates are flooded with requests after the campaign begins, not only to attend meetings but to fill out questionnaires and to have signs made etc.

There’s the question about the usefulness of such meetings. To begin with, there’s seldom any debating. Candidates are presented with questions which they often don’t have much time to answer. Just recall the mayoralty “debates” during the last municipal election. There were so many candidates on the stage the meeting would have had to last a week for everybody to have had a meaningful chance to say anything useful.

There’s the question about who attends these things. Is it undecided voters, likely to be swayed by what they hear? Or is it the already-decided?

So, from the candidates perspective, does it make more time-management sense to skip most meetings in favour of things that may yield a greater return?

That’s not to say that voters shouldn’t have some opportunity to see candidates square off against each other. But the format of meetings and the number and when/where they’re going to be held is something that ought to be decided before the election campaign ever begins. It’s something that needs to be decided by consensus by the candidates/parties and the most likely hosts.

For now, it appears as if Nancy’s party has adopted a tactic of not attending these meetings. And it appears as if Nancy is going along with it. And whether that’s true or not, she’ll pay a price in terms of optics.

0% is a false promise
Artist’s statement
Citizenship – paying it forward
Drinking with myself
Flikr London Ontario group
Glanworth: tax fight front line
Hope
I love e-scooters
Pay it forward because little things matter
Rising water
Silly Season has arrived in Ontario
The only reason why I actually care about London
Western Fair #RealSeriousBloggers …

Did you know that if you have a Twitter account you can subscribe to a feed of London blogs? If you know of a local blog that you think is missing from the feed, let me know!

Labatt Park has made it into the final round in Baseball Canada’s Favourite Ballpark Contest. Online voting continues in this round until Tuesday, September 6th at 10 am. Winner will be announced on September 7th at 12 noon. Need you to vote here: http://www.baseball.ca/eng_news_story.cfm?NewsID=1961 If you have access to more than one computer, you can vote on each computer, laptop etc. Please send to family and friends. Thanks

Do we really want Port Arthur Stadium in Thunder Bay to beat out our own beloved Labatt Park?

Vote now!

In a world where the approaching winter will last four decades, kings and queens, knights and renegades struggle for control of a throne. Some fight with sword and mace, others with magic and poison. Beyond the Wall to the north, meanwhile, the Others are preparing their army of the dead to march south as the warmth of summer drains from the land…

A short goodbye to Jack Layton
Elders
Fun with QR codes, and maybe profit too
Gone fishin’
Helping in Goderich
Involving people experiencing homelessness in decision making
London’s most engaged citizen
Nice girl
One councillor’s spin on ‘just do it’
Reasons to come downtown this weekend
Should we demand tax freezes above all else?

Did you know that if you have a Twitter account you can subscribe to a feed of London blogs? If you know of a local blog that you think is missing from the feed, let me know!

City of Wonder takes the city builder game genre and casts it against history. Guide your civilization out of the Stone Age into the Classical Age and if you’re good, the Modern Age. With the help of trusted advisors, explore distant lands to interact, trade, and battle other civilizations.

My question is pretty simple.

Does online gaming always suck this bad?