An Addition to my Blogroll

I read a great post at another WordPress blog this morning. So, I added Hans to my “You’ll Catch Me Reading” Blogroll under the title “Too Much Information Anonymous.” Who, by the way, just celebrated his 2000th hit. Let’s give him some more!

While I’m on the bandwagon here:

This post (video) at The Invisible Opportunity deserves a nod.

Some headlines of note:

Eagerly Awaiting A Warmer Arctic by Gwynne Dyer at the Japan Times

Race for the North Pole is Cancelled by Randy Boswell from CanWest.

Khadr Trial Judge fired by Pentagon by Steven Edwards from CanWest.

5000-12000 jobs will be opening up for Filipinos in Saskatchewan over the next 5 years. Because of a booming economy? What? Anyone in Saskatchewan care to fill me in on this? Is it the hopes of more uranium mining or tar sands? Let’s hope there are jobs for these people when they get there. It will be a huge strain on UI or welfare if that’s not the case. Read the story from GMA News TV

A Meme

I’m doing this one to return the favor. Joan from Whatever I Think said it would please her, and who wouldn’t want to do that? She keeps me smiling. She reminds me of someone who was a real inspiration in my life (though I never told her until now) and her blog is a real gem.

Favorite person outside family:

I don’t think I could pick one person. I like different people for different reasons. Like a stew, together they make a great mix. I like people in general but am partial to people who take the time to tell me about their history or beliefs, who make me think, who will discuss issues (even if we differ in views) and accept that everyone has different opinions and one is not right or wrong, just different. I also like to laugh, and know a number of people who are great at that.

Favorite Food:

Just one? Baked Potato with green onion, sour cream and extra-old cheddar.

Quirks about you:

Another tough one. I have so many. I look everything up. I have a need to know more, of anything. Just wish I could retain it all.

Any regrets in life?

Ha! Many. But I think what’s meant to be, is. So, I shouldn’t regret anything. That’s really something I could only answer in the end. LOL!

Favorite Charity or Cause?

Raising awareness about the crisis of the Palestinian people. No one listens, but that never stopped me with anything else.

Favorite Blog recently:

Geez….another tough one. I have many interests and have favorites in each. Just look at my blogroll. I (((heart))) them all. (I stole that heart thing from Moonbeam.) It’s cute.

Something you can’t get enough of:

Learning. Help! I can’t stop! Now if I could only remember any of it, I’d be a freakin’ genius! Not really, I’d just be someone with a really good memory.

Worst job you’ve ever had:

I’ve enjoyed all the jobs I have had. There are people or situations I encountered that made me not like it in those instances. But that was not the jobs fault. I’ve been quite lucky in that area.

What job would you pay NOT to have:

Any desk job. I’d be climbing the walls!

If you could be a fly on the wall, where:

Hmmm….so many choices. Right now, maybe a Bilderberg meeting.

Favorite Bible verse right now:

Jesus wept.

Guilty pleasure:

Scouring lawn sales for Christmas decorations all summer long.

Got any confessions:

Oh my! Many! But I’m not telling…..

If you HAD to spend $1000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it:

Isn’t that funny that we have to put the word HAD? I find it easier to spend my $ on other people and feel terrible when I spend it on myself. But if I HAD to: metalsmithing tools.

Favorite thing about your house:

The woodwork.

Least favorite thing about your house:

I have a like/fear mixed feeling with it’s ghosts.

One thing you are bad at:

Fashion and Decor.

One thing you are good at:

Do you know how long I sat and thought about this? Observing. Detail. I notice stuff.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what would it be:

My location.

Who would you like to meet someday?

Stephen King

What makes you feel sexy:

Ha! The right outfit, I guess.

Who is your real life hero:

A woman I cared for with a terminal illness. She taught so much. Made me laugh. Shocked me. Taught me how to enjoy and live life and even how to set a table properly. So many things I couldn’t list them all. She meant the world to me.

What is the hardest part of your job:

People who don’t do their end of it properly and expect me to create a miracle out of it.

When are you most relaxed:

When I am alone. At home or somewhere in nature.

What stresses you out:

Seeing people in need and knowing you can only do so much.

What can you not live without:

I’m adaptable. So air, food, water…

Why do you blog:

It keeps me busy and occupied.

If you think you’d like to do this meme, please do so. It’s a tough one!

5000 hits!

In just over 5 months of blogging. Doing my happy dance. 

Palestine Goes Mainstream…

…media that is. After 60 years of silence and ignoring the devastation in Palestine, is the media finally going to tell the truth? Let’s hope this article is not a “one of”.

Thank you Patrick Moser for having the compassion and courage to write this. You rock!

The Bernier Document.

I haven’t noticed anything that discusses what might have been mentioned in this document. Not that I have really looked very hard, figuring it will be plastered everywhere if any information was released. Whatever, nothing new. Next…

But I have a little “ritual” I perform on my computer every now and then. Without looking for this, I stumbled upon an article that leads us here.

Everyone is up in arms about this and Bernier has resigned.

So what was this document about?

The Malta Star said this:

“Maxime Bernier said the list, which formed part of a manual on torture awareness given to diplomats, “wrongly includes some of our closest allies”.

The list included the US and Israel.

It also states:

“She said that Mr Bernier had come to her flat in April and forgotten a document there.

“He came to my place, then he left, and the document remained with me,” she told the French-language TVA network”.

In April? If this article is correct. This is old news. The torture document can be read here in an article from January.

It states:

“ForeignAffairs Minister Maxime Bernier lashed out Saturday at a controversial document identifying the U.S. and Israel as countries it suspects of practising torture, calling it “wrong” and demanding it be rewritten”.

I wonder if the paper has this wrong. Or if it is correct and that is the document left behind, why aren’t they mentioning it here? It’s not like we don’t know about it.

Oh, the Malta Star also mentions this:

Ms Couillard, 38, who had attended Mr Bernier’s 2007 swearing-in as foreign minister, had officially been designated as his “spouse” so she could join him on official trips overseas.

I think this one now opens up a whole other can of worms here. I think more people will be pissed about this than the document.

What say you?

Is the Bee Problem Solved?

I hope so! The organic sector didn’t seem affected by this “sickness.”

German scientists have found some great news for many beekeepers! This is also great news for everyone. Imagine how bad things would get without them. Our crops depend on pollination.

It seems a pesticide family produced by Bayer CropScience has been killing them.  Anyone who knows me, knows how totally UNshocked I am by this finding.

So Many Problems. What Are The Solutions? Playing God?

Is there a population problem? Is the Earth over-populated?

It’s a tough question. In some areas the case is true and others, not so much. Canada is not over-populated. So if there are areas that have a problem, why not solve the situation by populating less dense areas? If you do a search on this subject, you will find many articles about it and some Countries actively working to curb their populations through various methods. Some use the “tell it like it is approach” others prefer to take things into their own hands.

Take a look at this quote from this article.

“There is a single theme behind all our work-we must reduce population levels,” said Thomas Ferguson, the Latin American case officer for the State Department’s Office of Population Affairs (OPA). “Either they [governments] do it our way, through nice clean methods or they will get the kind of mess that we have in El Salvador, or in Iran, or in Beirut. Population is a political problem. Once population is out of control it requires authoritarian government, even fascism, to reduce it “The professionals,” said Ferguson, “aren’t interested in lowering population for humanitarian reasons. That sounds nice. We look at resources and environmental constraints. We look at our strategic needs, and we say that this country must lower its population-or else we will have trouble. So steps are taken. El Salvador is an example where our failure to lower population by simple means has created the basis for a national security crisis. The government of El Salvador failed to use our programs to lower their population. Now they get a civil war because of it…. There will be dislocation and food shortages. They still have too many people there.” ….”The quickest way to reduce population is through famine, like in Africa or through disease like the Black Death,”

I’d like to ask a few questions of you:

1 - If you lived in an over-populated area and had a choice between the above statement or moving to a less densely populated country, what would be your choice?

2 - Do you think honesty about Global problems, although tough to face and deal with, would be the best approach? It would take courage and real change. But at least you are given a choice.

3 - Would you rather remain ignorant about it and let the chips fall where they may?

4 - Now that you know things like this are being discussed and are based in reality, will this change the way you look at the world?

5 - Do you think it’s still a conspiracy theory and don’t believe it is based on fact?

Is climate change a problem or a weapon?

Two questions:

1 - What are your thoughts on climate change?

2 - Can weather be used as a weapon?

I also made an update over at my Randomness Blog on Weather Modification.

If anyone actually reads this and answers, this will be the beginning of a bit of a series of posts here. If not, I’ll leave it at that. I’m keeping this one short and sweet just to see if there is an interest in the subject because I don’t want to spend a bunch of time compiling data and writing if there isn’t.

Still not sure?
Watch this…if you dare. Though I may not agree or think everything in this video is entirely accurate. It is an eye-opener to say the least.