Sure some people like The Polka Dot Door, Today's Special, or Cucumber, all locally produced fare, but the greatest show in the early days of TVOntario featured the adventures of Jeremy, a peripatetic singing bear. Who cannot remember his enchanting song "I'm a bear called Jeremy, I can do most anything, I can dance and I can sing"? Well, today's kids, that's who!

I'm a bear called forgotten

Enjoy Jeremy's legendary song courtesy of You Tube:

Elle sera dirigée par Waltely Longo (TV Mulher & Mãe).

Les 13 compagnies fondatrices sont :

- CerejaPRN (retail)
- CineBoteco (bars et restaurants)
- Elemídia (immeubles comerciaux, hôtels, universités, collèges et commerces de proximité)
- Elemidia Empresas (corporate TV)
- Elemidia Mall (centres commerciaux)
- Indoormidia (aéroports et le centre commercial Shopping Iguatemi de Sao Paulo)
- Speed Cast (retail)
- Strat Digital Signage (retail)
- Subway Link (retail)
- TV Minuto (métro de Sao Paulo)
- TV Mulher & Mãe (centres de soins)
- TvTrem (trains, Etat de Sao Paulo)
- TVO (bus)

Title: The Cross of Thoth
Interviewer and Director: Philip Gardiner
Media: DVD
Producer: Reality Films

In The Cross of Thoth Crichton E. M. Miller makes esoteric connections among astrology, navigation, archaeology, linguistics, ancient Pagan and early Christian history.

So much material is covered in this DVD that the intelligent layperson might have a hard time assessing each of its claims.

The host, Miller, seems to be a contemporary Gnostic. And Gnostics are a bit different from orthodox Christians.

Not unlike the word orthodoxy, the meaning of the term Gnosticism is ambiguous because there have been several different Gnosticisms throughout history.

In the general sense, however, Gnostics are those who believe they learn about spiritual truth through direct, inward experience. Although Gnostics, themselves, say they don't believe at all. They apparently know.

While orthodoxy tends to view history in a linear sense, where Christ is the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets, contemporary Gnostics tend to emphasize a circular or upwardly spiraling view of time.

Gnostics also say (or imply) that orthodox churches place too much emphasis on externally imposed rules. For Gnostics, orthodox structures apparently squelch out genuine spirituality.

Meanwhile, orthodox churches tend to say (or imply) that Gnostics are fuzzy-minded mavericks, possibly deceived by ungodly spiritual powers. 

Perhaps alluding to this orthodox idea, Toronto Catholic Archbishop Michael Collins said in a televised interfaith dialogue on TVO's The Agenda that true spirituality isn't a mere "glow" but an ongoing commitment to serve God.

The popular author Elaine Pagels attempts to sum up the main differences between Gnosticism and aspects of Western orthodoxy:

When the Jewish theologian Martin Buber sought to explore the sources of religious experience, he characterized the Jewish devotee's relationship to God as "I and Thou"; but no orthodox Jew, any more than an orthodox Christian, could say, with the Hindu devotee, "I am Thou." But Gnostic interpreters share with the Hindu...that very conviction (Adam, Eve and the Serpent. New York: Vintage Books, 1989: 65).

This brings to mind a Catholic homily in which a priest once said that God doesn't want "Lone Rangers" but, rather, obedience to the Pope.

Whether or not this is an accurate depiction of what most Catholics actually believe seems debatable. But to my mind Miller would probably be viewed by traditional Catholics as both a Gnostic and a Lone Ranger.

This kind of 'in-group/out-group' approach, so common today, probably doesn't help to lessen the split between orthodox Christians and Gnostics.

But these two groups have not always been at loggerheads. Elaine Pagels notes that some early Christians admired their Gnostic counterparts, if not in every respect.

Could contemporary Gnostics and orthodox believers benefit from well-intentioned dialogue?

It seems they could, providing each side checked their biases and looked to the other as fellow human beings instead of mere objects for conversion. Dialogue isn't really dialogue is one party is utterly convinced they're right.

Along these lines, some orthodox believers might react angrily to several of Miller's ideas as set forth in this DVD. But sincere seekers of all persuasions should recognize that overblown, emotional reactions often point to something lurking in the unconscious just begging to be integrated within conscious awareness. 

Agree or disagree with Miller's complex observations and far-reaching conclusions, The Cross of Thoth is highly recommended for those wishing to reflect a little deeper into the mysteries of the human soul.

--MC

While there may be several morals to this story, one I'd like to highlight is this: many bloggers were taking potshots at various parties yesterday as the behind-the-scenes negotiations went on. While it may have made for provocative reading, much of it bore no resemblance to the truth at the time, and obviously not to what transpired in the end.

The rest.

"Acme School of Stuff" is hosted by a person named David Stringer and he's lucky enough to host an official website about him and his accomplishments he had contributed over the years. His official site can be founded here: http://www.davidstringer.ca/

Also, there's a youtube channel dedicating to the Acme School of Stuff: http://www.youtube.com/user/acmeschool

I'm still trying to find on how electronic signs\displays work from this particular series, but over time it'll be on that particular channel....lol Anyways, enjoy the videos that are my favourites, especially that phreak615 should know how a Vinyl record works (if you want to refer to my blog posting on that, click here)!

Acme School of Stuff (intro):

Electronics (from tube to transistor) - one of my favourites:

How a telephone works (with a humourous opening):

How Digital things work using ones and zeros:

Making of a Vinyl Record:

Steyn: kicked factual ass, good stats, a couple of funny jokes, too loud, accent plays badly on TV. Unless they're boozed up and talking soccer, English guys need to tone it down to sound smart. Shouldn't have debated them in the first place, because it made them seem legitimate, but he won. Best line: "Steve, let's say I missed your show on the Queen's Jubilee..."

Kids: wanna-be lawyers, so what do you expect? Shuffled too much paper. Babe on the right looked good, others too self-righteous. Guy sounded stupid when he said Libya was "oceans and continents away." Best line for looking like a dick: "I didn't interrupt you, sir."

Steve Paikin, moderator: #1 in the business. When's an American network going to call him up? Obviously didn't buy the stuff the kids were selling. Good job keeping Steyn chilled as much as possible. Best line, delivered to the kids: "You're comparing Ernst Zundel to Oriana Fallaci?"

We're guessing Steyn and the chickens won't be sharing the same green room.

Latest proposal from TVO is for me to come on first for 15 minutes one-on-one with Steve Paikin to discuss "the larger ideas", followed by the Sock Puppet Three on their own for 20 minutes to piss all over me, followed by me alone for a ten-minute rebuttal.

The rest.

Well, I'm not a scheduler. I don't schedule anything really. Not even the preschooler's tv time.

There have been times when I cringed at the amount of tv he was watching, whether it was Treehouse (a children's television program without commercials), PBS or TVO, videos or dvds, or sometimes even the Weather Network (which may have been on for our benefit rather than his what with all the flippin' snow we had this winter). But I forgive myself now, because at the time I was either 8 months pregnant in the middle of winter during basement renovations with hubby starting a new job at the same time. Or I was recuperating from a c-section while...well, see above. So he watched tv.

But it has come to my attention last night that my 3yo is not attached to the tv at all. At least not in the way some kids we know are. And I'm quite happy about this.

Here is what happened.

Benjamin was watching "In the Nightgarden" on Treehouse just after 7 pm. I was outside on the back porch just puttering around, putting things away, when suddenly, I stopped in mid-activity. Songbirds!

It was still light out, and the trees haven't even opened their buds yet, but the birds were singing out there like it was full-fledged spring! Beautiful!

So I went inside and asked Ben if he wanted to go outside and listen to the songbirds with me.

How those eyes lit up! He glanced at the tv, and I suggested that he could watch the end of the show if he wanted to, but he said "no, let's go listen to the birds". So we did.

We brought a blanket, and snuggled on a comfy chair, and observed the evening sky. There was an almost full moon shining in the pale blue sky, birds flying overhead, birds singing amongst various trees in our neighbourhood, and airplanes making their occasional appearance. And Ben, being an active 3yo, was comfy and happy sitting on his mommy's lap. There was no regret whatsoever that he may be missing a tv show.

How refreshing is that?

Hi there everyone. Just got home from an action packed evening shift at Nokia. Today was a really slow day, which means not much to do for me, but somehow always at the end of the day there comes a bit more and then you (well me) have to rush to make everything ready for the next shift to start off. Yesterday we had Endrive rehearsals and it was a good one. We have one more tune ready for our show next week (the 26th) at TVO here in Turku. The working title of this song is "Je T'aime (Vesuvius)" and it's one of these a bit longer song and will replace "I Fell Asleep" in the setlist, if you wanna hear the tune, drag yourself to TVO next week on Saturday. Also sharing the stage that evening is "Novembersoundsbetter" and local math-core act "Rites of the Youth".

peace love and understanding,
-pooki

TVO, qui opère un réseau d´écrans LCD 17" dans les bus de Sao Paulo (couverture en cours de 500 véhicules), offre aux voyageurs de diffuser leurs meilleures photos.

Le groupe qui a ouvert sa boucle de programmes à la diffusion d´oeuvres de photographes de renom (comme actuellement Klaus Mitteldorf) souhaiterait à présent y faire figurer les créations d´amateur.

To learn more about DiCarlo and to view his winning lecture, click here.

Congratulations, Chris!

Earth Hour Scam - World Wild Life Fund Scam?

"The High Priests of Globalisation"Will Hutton

Transatlantic power élite's secret Bilderberg conferences & state terrorism research - press room & Bilderberg 2008 forum from Bristol, England.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke - Bristol MP from 1774 to 1780

FIRST they came for the Muslims
THEN they came for the unembedded journalists

"...somebody has to take governments' place, and business seems to me to be a logical entity to do it." - David Rockefeller - Newsweek International, Feb 1 1999.

"Fascism should rightly be called corporatism, as it is the merger of state and corporate power" - Benito Mussolini

"It is discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit"
Noel Coward

"What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler

"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than a small one" Adolf Hitler: ''

Bilderberg - an introduction

Elitism & Depopulation lurking behind Climate Change Lies

bilderberg.org

Earth Hour Scam - World Wild Life Fund Scam?

Earth Hour is not about the environment. Global warming is not about the environment. Climate change is not about the environment.

I want each and everyone of you that think global warming is real to go stand in front of a mirror. Now, take a good hard look. When was the last time the person you see in the mirror actually questioned, I mean really questioned what you were told to believe.

Turn off the TV, don't listen to the radio, don't read a newspaper for two weeks. Now, take those two weeks and ask yourself why you haven't asked any hard questions about the people who keep screaming global warming at you.

What do they want from you? Even if the world was in peril, it's not, what could you do?, nothing, that's what. So why do they keep telling you that saving the world is your responsibility. What the hell do they want from you?

.

Your Freedom

FLICK ON

March 29th

What do I want from you? I want you to think, research, read and understand what the "Green Movement" means to you and your children and the future of your country. I guarantee you won't like what you find. The truth is like that sometimes.

Earth Hour Scam - World Wild Life Fund Scam?

The truth is, One World Government and One World Religion based on Paganism.

I posted this piece because I got this email from TVO The Agenda today.

Thursday, March 27 2008
Is Faith Inevitable?

Given that we can't understand everything, do we invoke God to fill those gaps
in our knowledge? Live from the Munk Centre for International Studies at the
University of Toronto.

For guest information and background resources, check: tvo.org/theagenda
<http://www.tvo.org/theagenda>

Do some research on Peter Munk - population control - New World Order - Club of Rome.

Now, do the same search for AL Gore

Now ask yourself why the TVO show is called

The AGENDA

Behind the Gore Barrick Link: Maurice Strong and the 1001 Club

Behind the Gore Barrick Link: Maurice Strong and the 1001 Club

APRIL 13, (LPAC)--Although Al Gore has cancelled the Barrick Gold-sponsorship of his speaking engagement in Chile, as the result of a building, LPAC-triggered scandal over Barrick's ties to the genocide in the Great Lakes region of Africa in 1994, the former Vice President's ties to the Canadian firm run a whole lot deeper than one overpriced speech. Although former President George H.W. Bush and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney are both Barrick board members, the company was founded and is, to this day, run by Peter Munk, a Canadian businessman who also happens to be a protege of Gore's own mentor Maurice Strong. The Canadian-born Strong is a righthand man to Prince Philip at the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and is also a pivotal figure in the shadowy WWF funding front, the 1001 Club. 1001 Club was a joint venture of Prince Philip and the late "Nazi Prince" Bernhard of the Netherlands, who launched the private, by-invitation-only Club in the late 1960s to bankroll the worldwide green offensive. At any given time 1001 prominent, wealthy individuals are members in the Club, and they each pay a $10,000 admission fee and annual dues, providing WWF with a revolving $10 million private operating fund. When the 1001 Club was first put together, Maurice Strong helped hand pick the members, and personally vetted all of the Canadian members--including Barrick Gold's Peter Munk.

Strong has been linked with Gore in a string of shady "green" business ventures, including Molten Metal, a Massachusetts firm that claimed to have invented a sewage treatment system. The company milked the Federal government out of tens of millions of dollars, the patented system proved to be a dud, and Strong, along with Al Gore's one-time chief of staff and current business partner at the Generation hedge fund in London, Peter Knight, sold off their company shares at a handsome profit based on inside information, just before the stock and the company tanked.

Source

Earth Hour Scam - World Wild Life Fund Scam?

Anyways, I was going through the old CBC fifth estate episodes and I came across this: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/sticksandstones.html – an episode called "Sticks and Stones".

"Sticks and Stones" is a fifth estate investigative report/documentary on the Post-9/11 American Media and its takeover by the so-called "conservatives" in the United States. (Please note that our brand of Conservatism in Canada is different from the United States brand of "conservatism").

After watching the entire 42:30 documentary, my reaction was "...wtf..." (please pardon my language). The reason for this type of reaction:

1. Ann Coulter. Nothing really needs to be said after that. As a person who graduated Cum laude from Cornell University – an Ivy League school, it's pretty sad that she clearly did not know that Canada was never involved the Vietnam war and it never intervened in the conflict in support of the American position. Yes, there were Canadians in Vietnam, not as Canadian Soldiers or part of the Canadian Armed Forces, but as "American" Soldiers. If we were in the war, we wouldn't have accepted all those draft dodgers. She acts like stubborn, tantrum making child, where she believes that every word out of her mouth and refuses to listen to other people and other views, even when she is clearly wrong. And if she can't prove the other views are wrong, she insults the people who hold those views.
2. Bill O'Reilly. From what I've seen watching his show and watching the CBC's the fifth estate episode "Sticks and Stones", all I can say is that the impression that he gave me is that he is a jerk who makes up things as he goes along. His boycott of the French goods: phony baloney and total bullshit. According to the United States Census Bureau – Foreign Trade Division [1], trade actually went up during O'Reilly's "boycott" (In thousands of USDs: 2003 = 29,219,280; 2004 = 31,605,739; 2005 = 33,842,058 2006 = 37,039,632; 2007 = 41,588,986). And his so called boycott of Canadian goods and services: again total bullshit. As each other's largest trading partners, our economies depend on each other, and therefore a boycott is unrealistic and implausible, as such an action will be a suicide pill for the United States economy. Essentially, it's "if you try to take us down, we'll take you down with us" and due to the nature of the Canadian and United States economies and the agreements that bound them so tightly together, "we" will succeed in pulling down the United States economy into the fire with "us" if "we" are pushed in first. You know really makes him such a jerk? The fact that he insults people, and telling to shut up when the other side is trying to have an intelligent conversation and debate with the man.

In my opinion, American television and news networks are way too bias and and there is no standard to guarantee the neutrality and the accuracy of their programs. What these American television and news networks should do is look at Canadian television shows such as the Agenda with Steve Paiken, where the panelists are experts in their fields, the host is neutral, discussion is fair and the show is informative, not some propaganda tool for an ideology. When the Agenda brings up a topic, they bringing commentators that know the subject first hand and/or academics. If the topic was about Pakistan and Afghanistan, the show would have people who lived in the region and have studied the situation in the region, or even experts and academics such as international relations and studies professor Janice Stein. Or if the topic was about women in politics, again, they would bring in experts such as academics and women actually elected or running for office.

In my opinion, the American news media needs to reform: to rid themselves of these lopsided, overly bias self proclaimed experts and adopt a more neutral, fair, and balanced stance and present the news as is and not use it as some sort of ideological propaganda tool.

I started this Different Fish blog after posting a rant on a music blog about a trip to a classroom I took for work; it got me thinking about the need to be able to criticize schools and teaching methods, and it got me pretty hot under the collar, and I posted an article about what I was thinking called [CENSORED] School (the attached MP3 was a ditty by the Replacements with that title.) I repost it here, cleaned up.

[CENSORED] School.

I was invited to talk to a class of kids yesterday about learning and learning disabilities and school and success - the usual spiel I love giving. I had a great time, we had a good talk, the kids were fantastic. The part I want to discuss here, though, is a weird bit about which there is a lot to say, and is related to the title of this piece. It’s a circuitous thought, but that’s how I am.

The longer I stay in this field - learning disabilities - the more I believe that LDs are a symptom of a screwed up education system. Here’s the short explanation for your edification:

LDs are a neurological condition that muddle one or a couple of the modes people have for receiving or expressing different types of information - reading, or listening, or whatever - which can make it difficult to deal with certain types of information.

Dyslexia’s a well known type of LD; it interferes with a person’s ability to decode or express words. Another LD may interfere with processing what one hears. Another might interfere with subtler things, like reading facial expressions.

I myself have a weird inability to master number facts - or even to remember number sequences. I caught myself last week singing the lead up to Destination Moon as “10 - 9 - 8 - 6 - 7 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1″ - I did it over and over. ADHD’s another kind of LD, which interferes with the ability to pay attention, plan, organize, etc.

What separates LDs from, say, a developmental or intellectual disability is the specific nature of LDs: someone who may not be able to read or write a lick might be a genius who remembers everything he hears. I myself can’t do math with any consistency, but do well in the rest of life.

LDs are a new and evolving concept - about 40 years old - which has had a great impact on schooling, as we struggle culturally to deal with the idea (in so many ways) that One Size Does Not Fit All. Teach someone the way they learn best, and you’ve saved one person from feeling dumb - and added one more capable citizen to the pool. Schools are getting better and better at treating kids like individuals.

So, I love talking to kids about this idea - I would have loved to hear it when I was young, constantly failing math and science. I tell them that it’s a Thing with a Name, that there is generally a Way Around It (can’t read? get the book read aloud.) and that their area of weakness is not what they ought to focus on. Suck at math? Do your best, get through it, and don’t get a job that needs it. Focus on what you are good at!

The contentious thing I say is that the FAULT in the situation doesn’t lie with the student - it lies with school. LDs are contextual problems: dyslexia’s not a problem in a preliterate farming community, right? A kid with a math problem who began training early as, say, a Buddhist monk (not the one who paid the bills, obviously) wouldn’t have a “disability”, would he? I think that argument is extendable to a great degree. If our culture had evolved differently, perhaps school would have developed different focusses. If dancing and singing were the thing at the centre of our culture/economy/etc, then the good dancers and the good singers would get A’s in school - and the tone-deaf uncoordinated math wiz writing novels on the weekend might be considered a failure. Right?

School’s fault (by which I do not mean an intentional wrongdoing) is that schools have focussed for a long time on certain modes of learning and teaching: much reading, much writing, much math, much sitting still, and much obeying. Certain kids thrive in this, and some fail. The fault doesn’t lie with the students, does it?

So I like to tell kids this: school’s not beamed down to us like some Ten Commandments - it’s created by people making decisions. (It’s crucial to stress that these decision-makers have for the most part been motivated by good ideas and intentions.)

I also like to tell them that the awesome thing about our time and our culture is that they can FIX the school system if they want to get involved. They can become teachers, or politicians, or involved parents, and they can have an impact on this noble and imperfect system.

That Sounds Peachy, Man. Why [CENSORED] School, Exactly?

The bad thing, which I don’t tend to go on about (because it’s complicated, overwhelming, soul-sucking) is that, often, the people who are in charge of this system - like most people in charge of most systems - don’t actually believe this stuff, not in any active way. At some point there’s too much ego invested for real problems to be dealt with. People in charge wind up protecting a broken system rather than actually serving the needs of our kids.

The night before my presentation, I listened to a podcast of a TVO show about the state of Toronto schools* (following a damning report about school safety earlier this year). Good ideas and straight talk were flowing, when parents, teachers and activists spoke. But anytime a politico spoke - former ed minister Snobelin and current power holders - the conversation died. Politicians and powerholders have this amazing ability to speak without communicating, and that ability has an amazing ability to ruin discussions. I hate it.

So then during my presentation, a similar thing happened. I was asked to share some thoughts on self-advocacy - a crucial skill for students who learn differently, as they often come up against misunderstanding/ignorance, or simply need to be able to explain how they learn best so that teachers can accommodate them. We were talking about this tricky situation - how to explain what you need, how to stick up for yourself, how to speak effectively to people in power. And a student raised her hand and started to talk about how a friend of hers had had “a teacher who was really mean to her …”

The teacher of this class - a great lady, an obviously kind teacher, and the person who’d sought me out and invited me to talk - cut the little girl off before she'd finished her sentence, saying “We’re not going to criticize other teachers” and that that wasn’t polite. This is more common than you’d believe - it’s a sacrosanct rule among teachers.

Another student raised her hand and started to tell a story about how she’d been in a split class once, and struggled the next year because of it. The teacher again turned it around - abruptly, forcefully - and said “But things worked out, didn’t they?”

I’m not dissing this teacher. She seemed like a great teacher and a lovely person. But it bears pointing this thing out: somehow we’ve got a situation where the Authority of schools seems to need to be above reproach. This social rule is so deep as to have become a matter of etiquette. This, despite the fact that we’ve ALL had at least one terrible teacher in our lives. More likely, most of us can count the exemplary, effective teachers we’ve had on one hand. I’d wager that at least a third of students HATE school. And we can measure the indicators - dropout rates are like 30 percent in Ontario. A similar percentage of new teachers leave the profession before their fifth year. I’d say that those are pretty clear messages: The education system is more than a little broken.

Who’s to blame? Easy: The people who fund schools. The people who work in schools. The people who’ve been to school. The people who make the decisions about how school works. To wit, all of us, except the kids. It follows that it’s our job to fix it.

The good news I shared with the kids is the truth: they CAN grow up and get involved and change things. It’s that sort of dedication that has got us to the point where I can go in and talk to kids like this. It’s that sort of dedicated teacher who invited me to do so. It’s that sort of things that’s improved schools to the extent that they have improved. Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying: I love and respect schools, teachers, and that we can get involved.

But this idea that something good is beyond criticism is deadly and dangerous and works against progress. Telling kids not to talk about their experience of school disables their ability to care about it. Take my word for it, the ones who grow up to become teachers have this silence ingrained and rarely question it. The teachers who go further into the system take it deeper in, and start calling their silence “being political”.

On the TVO show I mentioned, Snobelin, the boneheaded [CENSORED] who [CENSORED] Ontario’s system and scapegoated teachers brutally in the 90s was spoken to with respect and civility by most of the other panelists, all of whom were living with the devastation he set set in motion. At one brilliant point, though, an activist spoke clearly about blaming him for it, and he responded with a chuckle, saying “Hey, hey, don’t push too hard, or I will push back…” She responded with all the righteous fury of a strong and angry mother: “Oh I do wish you would!” He didn’t speak much after that. It was the best moment in the show. It wasn’t polite, or political. It was just honest, and real.

The social rule that teachers and schools shouldn’t be criticized from within needs to be discarded if we’re going to fix things for our kids. Those rules aren’t for the benefit of schools - they’re for the benefit of the people in power. But this is a democracy, yo, and we are required to pull down those people if they can’t do the job. This can’t happen unless we turn our critical minds against bad ideas and our hard words against bad teachers and corrupt politicians.

Let kids talk. We learn more when they talk. The more we learn, the better we teach.

Here’s the relevent song. Listen to the words.

[SONG CENSORED]

-----

* Here's a link to the TVO Show I talk about in this rant - it's The Agenda, an episode called The State of Our Schools.

В петък Ширин Местан обяви пред "Стандарт", че ще закрие домовете за деца в с. Могилино, с. Осенец, с. Галатин, в Рабиша, Боровци, Бардарски геран и Горна Козница.

Except it's no longer true. Water being everywhere, that is.

I happen to come across a show about this on TVO last night, that talks about this very topic. And a part of the show stuck to my mind throughout the night. In fact, I had trouble falling asleep, and staying asleep, because of this imagine it created in my head.

The show will repeat again on February 12, 2008. I doubt I'll have time to watch it again, particularly the parts I missed yesterday (the beginning and the end). What with all the issues we've been having over the past couple of days (toddler pooping, painting, infant sick, deep freeze, living LIFE).

But I digress. The gist of the show was about whether water is a human right or a commodity that can be bought and sold. We all know what it should be, but the reality is that many people in various parts of our mostly water-covered planet don't have access to safe water at all. Which brings me back to the image in my head that left me sleepless.

The show took us to Bolivia. It followed a little family who lived in a breathtakingly beautiful mountain village. The daily view they have is even an amateur photographer's dream. But the lifestyle the little family is living is far from beautiful.

The little house where our Bolivian family dwelled is little more than a shack. The camera focused in on a broken doll lying on a dirt floor. There were two beds covered in colourful blankets, indicating a higher standard of poverty than what one might imagine. The beds were filled with the entire family: parents, grandparents, children. (Makes one think about this whole idea that co-sleeping is often termed as unsafe here in the West's middle class, but that's another day's post.)

Early in the morning the family rises, collects containers, and walks a fair distance toward a well where they will obtain their daily requirement of water. I don't recall how far they had to walk, but remember a narrow path along a mountain ridge, downhill. I also remember the narrator speaking of the well not always having enough water, or any water at all, for this and other families whose livelihood depends on it. And, that the water wasn't reliably clean. In fact, the head of the family spoke about two of his children dying what he thought was due to contaminated water from the well.

The father or grandfather was interviewed for this story. He and the about 10 year old girl Vanessa were the "stars" of the Bolivian part of the story (the show went to India, and other places as well). They explained solemnly about how they don't have enough water, and how they have to ration it when they do manage to bring water back home.

Vanessa at one point cried when she told her very heartfelt perspective about this situation she find herself in. Other children won't play with her because she has no water in her home. Other children call her a filthy pig because even if she has water available to wash herself with, there isn't enough water to wash the clothes. Or vice versa.

Vanessa and her father (grandfather?) walk along the path one day and sit down on a rock. The view is breathtaking. There is a huge mountain covered in ice and snow in the distance.

The man explains to the girl that all this snow and ice will melt into water, but it won't be made available to her when she grows up.

No, the Americans will come and buy it for their Coca Cola factories.

That is what he says.

And that is the sad reality. A Coca Cola factory in fact exists next to the family's well. They visit it sometimes, when their well has run dry, to look at all the water splashing about in the humongous reservoirs, over the chainlinked fence. This water that is pumped from the mountain, their mountain, is a commodity now. It has been bought for money.

And the little family living next door to the factory can't keep their 10 year old girl clean enough so she can play with her friends.

We North Americans are probably more wasteful with water than anyone else. Even in the days of ecological and environmental awareness, not to mention the high price of water and electricity, the abundant use of water in our households is nothing less than luxurious. Everytime I turn on my High Efficiency washing machine during prime time electricity use I feel guilty. On the days I shower twice, say after a day of painting in the basement, I feel guilty. Visiting Las Vegas years ago still makes me feel bad. I mean, they import water into the desert for our amusement! Now I hear that the middle class likes the dry air of Arizona, so golf courses are springing up left, right and centre there too. And golf courses require immense amounts of water.

I commend shows like this to remind us of our responsibilities to our planet. And to teach our children that water, even though it comes out of the tap, should not be treated disrespectfully.

Water, safe water, should be available to every single human being. It is, after all a necessity for life.

We could tell that TVO and Bob are enthusiastic about convergence. On our tour, Bob must have greeted 50 people by name in many offices across many floors. The offices have been redesigned for openness and Bob's has glass walls that are used by people as a white board - a glass board ;-). The results are encouraging. TVO is doing well in new areas such as podcasting and alternative platforms such as game platforms. We were also shown e-learning applications and samples of content on the Wii.

The students are prototyping a media player using Adobe Flash and AIR and the H.264 codec. Their visit really helped them see how their project will fit within TVO. Pictured above are the students: Danni, Corey, Jeff, Anissa and Kristen with Bob Tarle from TVO. Inventor, Professor, Dan Zen accompanies the students through the props room, various studios and the TVO Kids offices.

We would like to thank Bob and TVO for working with our students and giving such a great tour of their important institution. These types of arrangements are really very beneficial for all parties. We got a nice note back from Bob that shows the type of involvement and experience:

Hi All,

FYI - Your visit on Friday was a highlight of my week, thanks. We will want to have you back before the holiday or early in the new year to present the working widget to some internal stakeholders and answer any questions they may have. I also would like to solidify a visit to Oakville for late Friday afternoon of this week or early the following week. I know that this is a busy time for all of you but remember not to let up. Sleep and tv are highly overrated:)

Bob

Sheridan Interactive Multimedia - http://imm.sheridanc.on.ca

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a “The GTA Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario

The party chiefs showed off their sparring skills on some central election issues in last week's debate, but the ninety minutes fell short on key issues for voters in Prince Edward-Hastings and beyond.

Many in this eastern Ontario riding were disappointed to hear little from the leaders on increasing supports for long term care facilities, affordable housing, school busing, climate change, green energy alternatives, sustaining agriculture, water security and alleviating poverty.

Palms empty for poor

Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty was defensive about his minimum wage adjustment time line. He talked about improving child support and creating jobs. However helpful they may be in the future, for the Gleaners Tri County Food Network in Belleville, the need is now. To continue operating its distribution warehouse, Gleaners has to fund raise $600,000 annually.

The Gleaners warehouse supplies eight food banks in Quinte, and many school breakfast programs. Curt Brinkman, chair of Central Hastings Support Network, wanted the leaders to address funding strategies to help non-profits, like foodbanks, help the poor. They didn't.

Jennifer Davis, of the Affordable Housing Network in Hastings county was also hoping the leaders would offer some relief for the working poor. But she heard no recognition from them of the needs of people in small towns and rural areas to be able to purchase and maintain their own homes.

Health for all

The three party leaders discussed health-care funding in a general way. They stressed improving home care. But in light of the growing percentage of seniors in Ontario, the leaders were mute on adding supports for long-term care.

That silence was not well received in Prince Edward-Hastings where 1000 seniors are on waiting lists for long-term care beds. Many of them, instead, are taking up acute care hospital beds.

For Tom Deline, reeve of Centre Hastings, the issue is troubling. A growing number of seniors live in the rural township. He describes the situation as so dire there’s an immediate need for more than 300 beds in Hastings County, Madoc and the City of Belleville.

Getting to schools

Much of the leaders' debate revolved around education funding and faith based schools. According to Carl Pitman, chair of Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, a holistic review of the entire funding formula for schools is what’s needed.

And for students and the schools in this large geographic area transportation is a central concern. Pitman says he plans to question local candidates on this in the all candidates meeting at Loyalist College on Oct. 4. He wants answers on what each party is prepared to do if elected "to mitigate the costs - both in dollars and time - to boards of education and to students?"

Climate for a change

Climate change is also on the minds of electors in Prince-Edward Hastings and neighbouring Lanark - Frontenac - Lennox and Addington. Dalton McGuinty and John Tory would reduce carbon emissions by building more nuclear power stations. Local viewers fighting a uranium mine proposal would have appreciated hearing more perspectives on the full environmental cost of nuclear power. The issue has high resonance here in light of Ministry of Environment efforts to cleanup an area mine site for future storage of nuclear waste.

Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, Howard Hampton called for more energy conservation. He pointed to California’s savings: the equivalent of three times the output of the Darlington Nuclear Power Station. McGuinty spoke of banning high-energy light bulbs. Where were the proposals promoting solar thermal water heating systems, wonders Madoc Township councilor, Charles Robinson?

Numerous other green initiatives are under construction or in development in eastern Ontario. Voters heard no green strategy articulated in the leaders debate.

In Quinte there's glowing reviews for an anaerobic digester on a large dairy farm near Stirling, and Quinte Conservation's new hydro-electric scheme at McLeod Dam in Belleville.

Lucille Fragomeni, communication manger for Quinte Conservation says, "This type of innovative project reduces our dependency on energy supplied by coal and gas powered generating stations that contribute carbon to the atmosphere, which increases global warming." The dam is expected to begin producing green energy in January of 2008.

Grow and know

Agriculture is a major industry in Prince Edward-Hastings and although farmers are looking into alternatives like hemp and fuel crops, food production is still the main focus. Although there was little said in the leaders debate about supporting agriculture to ensure Ontario is more self- sufficient in food, all three leaders spoke about encouraging people to buy local food. This signal was welcomed by the Hastings County Cattlemen's Association which is working to find new ways of branding and marketing their beef by selling directly to customers.

Water is also on many people's agenda in the riding. There has been little rain since August. Quinte Conservation has called for residents to conserve water. Madoc resident Gary Magwood was disappointed about lack of discussion in the debate about water. "Water is our most valuable resource and vital for our survival," said Magwood. "Without it we are toast."

Ontario leaders and candidates, best take note.

Editor's note: Many voters look to the leaders' debate to make up their mind. How much should the performance of the three chiefs determine our choice?

Kim Hutchison, Shawna Zegarra and Colin Jeffrey put the story together. Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEl-BKLfrWM

Editors note: do Ontario's political parties do enough to engage young voters? How important is the voice of youth in the political process in this province?

Tinhvan group was founded in 1997. Now we have 4 member companies:

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• Tinhvan Information Technology: focusing on Vietnam market to provide Tinhvan well-known package software products and solutions.

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