The Golden Eagle is one of the best known and largest birds of prey in North America. The adult birds are dark brown in colour with golden-brown feathers on the back of their head, neck and upper wings.
Golden Eagles use their strength, agility and powerful talons to snatch up prey including mice, rabbits, squirrels and even fox and young deer.
They are very swift and can reach speeds over 240 km per hour while diving in on their target. <240 km/h is about 150 mp/h- the top cruising speed of the American Commuter Acela- 1 express train. Watch the following video clip and note at the 1m 8s mark as the Acela passes the station at about the same speed that the Golden Eagle achieves in a dive. Wow!
Golden eagles usually mate for life.
They build huge nests in high places including cliffs, trees, or even telephone poles and may return to this same nest for several breeding years.
The Golden Eagle is listed under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007, which protects it from being killed, harmed, possessed, collected or sold, and protects the habitat from damage or destruction. For the Silo, Dixie Greenwood.
Attract attention to your feet with these two new VENUS additions to the 2568’s collection.
Are you a shoe junky? If you are, you might take a special interest in 2568’s men’s and women’s new footwear line.
These shoes are comfortable classics with a twist: moccasins, loafers and boots, ballet and pointy flats, in unexpected materials and pattern featuring distinctive fabrics and leathers. Unique details also include colorful laces and decorative tassel bows. 2568 Shoes http://2568shoes.com are inspired by Guatemalan creativity found in garments, handbags and small leather goods.
Fun,bold and funky colour patterns. The Venus line from 2568 Shoes.
The Venus loafers and Vanessa flats come in five different patterns with colors ranging from dark blues and blacks to reds and oranges. The colorful fabrics can make any outfit and can easily transition throughout the seasons.
The Vanessa line from 2568
Sizes range from 8.5 to 12. Price points range from $79 [USD] and up, and for every shoe purchase, 2568 will send a free Guatemalan friendship bracelet. About the owners: Lorenzo Castellon is the Manufacturing/Business Manager and Jamie Lawenda is the Creative Director. The couple met on a job interview and thirty years later are married, have a child and own a sourcing and shoe Design Company.
Another Vanessa example
At first they created shoes and boots for other brands, including Sendra, a Goodyear welted high-end line of leather boots made in Spain. The couple continues to design and sell Sendra in the US.
The SAMOSA boot has a decidely Guatemalan influence. #goodlooking #boot
Cross-border shopper alert! The Venus loafers and Vanessa flats can be purchased at PiperLime, ThomShoes, ShoeInn and FreePeople. The Newman is available in four other colors: patent leather black and red, silver snakeskin embossed leather, and white leather.
I’m a tomato snob. I can’t help it. I’ve had the best and will never go back.
The first summery taste of a home-grown tomato, fully matured on the vine and still warm from the sun is one of the great taste pleasures of summertime. You need to experience it to appreciate it.
The poor imported supermarket version of the tomato just doesn’t compare. And in reality, it can’t. The imports are picked when they just start to show some colour, before their texture and especially their flavors have had a chance to develop. Then they travel, sometimes halfway around the world.
Consequently on the store shelves we see these hard, bland-tasting, thick-skinned things that misrepresent what a tomato could be.
In fact, modern tomato varieties are developed specifically for this kind of handling, packaging and transport. Thick skins, uniformity of size and shape are all desirable attributes to producers. Unfortunately, flavor isn’t. But we want tomatoes, so we take what we can get. However, with a little effort, we can get better. Why not grow your own? It’s easy. And why not grow specifically old-fashioned varieties? They taste a million times better than the imports and you aren’t paying for the oil to get them here.
Why I’m hooked on heirloom tomatoes.
The variety of colours, shapes, sizes, and even flavours, is almost endless. And it is a lot like collecting antiques. In my own garden experience I’ve grown everything from the marble-sized ivory-coloured White Currant to the enormous red Sicilian Saucers. The fabulous tasting Black Krim (originating from the Isle of Krim in Russia) is my absolute favourite of all tomatoes, with it’s lovely burgundy skin and marbled magenta and green interior. The appearance, flavour and variety in the heirlooms simply cannot be approached by the mass-produced types.
Though tomatoes originate in ancient Mexico, the heirlooms in my own collection were developed, some as far back as centuries ago, in France, Italy, Germany, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, USA, Russia, and the list goes on. Some of their names are descriptive: Black Cherry, Green Grape, Big Rainbow, Indian Stripe, the absolutely beautiful Persimmon, and the absolutely weird Purple Calabash. And some of them bear the names of their sources: Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red, Aunt Gertie’s Gold, Marianna’s Peace, Martha Homestead, and my favourite named – Olga’s Round Yellow Chicken Tomato – all varieties discovered and saved by home gardeners, often passed down through families for generations, and shared with friends.
And so, through the efforts of seed-savers throughout the world, the tomatoes are spared extinction and continue to be enjoyed for their wonderful flavor, but not by the masses. Only by snobs like me. And maybe you.
When I think about whether working from home is right for any person, I remember a story that Richard Kiosaki told in his book “Poor Dad- Rich Dad”. He talks about his two dads who had two very different mentalities about money. One had the mentality of an employee and the other of a business owner. Both dads believed they were giving correct advice although they were advising exactly the opposite.
His “poor” dad told him to choose employment because it offered job security and corporate ladder, where he could become somebody after years of being promoted. The “rich” dad asked him to choose the path of an independent business owner because that way he could work for something that he owns.
Of course when you talk to most people about starting your own business and having a passion about some new idea, you will get two main reactions.
There will be … The Naysayers – These are the people who will tell you, “you will never make it” and that you are “stupid to attempt the impossible”.
But then you will find people who are…
The supporters – These are the people who will say go for it. They say “don’t worry” and “we will be there for you when you need us”.
While you may have your questions and even your doubts, listening to the naysayers will never get you where you want to go. Listen to those who will ask good questions, who will give you good advice and support you if your desire is to do something unique and be your own boss.
The fact is, working from home has some fantastic advantages. 1. Flexibility When you are juggling a family and other obligations, having a work from home business is a huge bonus. Firstly, you can more easily accommodate your customers in all the different time zones. Rather than being tied down to a regular office hour routine, having the ability to work part time or full time, takes on a whole new meaning.
2. Your overhead costs are reduced You will save money on gas, the wear and tear your vehicle (not to mention the wear and tear on your nerves), office space and utilities. The reality is that with those savings you can be a lot more flexible in how you are pricing your product.
3. Testing,Testing When you realize that more than 50% of all new businesses fail, then testing out your new business without a lot of overhead is common sense. When you test and tweak your home business, you can determine its viability before you start investing a lot of money!
4. Tax Benefits Many people don’t realize the major tax incentives there are for having a home business and while the tax laws are different from country to country, some of the perks are:
– A percentage for rent or mortgage costs (for the space you use to operate your business)
– A percentage for utility bills such as gas, electricity, water
– Business operating software and management tools, which also includes webpages etc.
– Phone and communications, including internet expenses
and of course the biggest tax saving
The initial investment you paid to start your business
5. Experience A home based business will allow you to gain invaluable business experience and business skills such as internet marketing, identifying markets, learning how to market yourself and all the other traits needed to run a successful home business. This experience can be transferred to other projects that you wish to pursue.
6. Turning Creativity into a profit Creating a home business is the ideal way to turn your hobbies or passions into a business that will be unique to your talents and what you really love to do.
You also have to be realistic in understanding what owning a home business is all about! “Working from home”, it has a wonderful sound to it doesn’t it? I bet many of you have visions in your head of sleeping in, lazing around and working when the mood strikes you right?
Like anything else there are also challenges that you should take into consideration and create a plan on tackling them. Any problem can be solved as long as you are prepared for what is coming your way.
1. Motivation It’s great to be your own boss, but with no code of conduct to follow or formal routines to keep you on track, it’s easy to fall into the trap of putting off doing your business and procrastination. If you have an ineffective time management schedule, it makes it hard to reach your goals.
Solution Make sure that you follow your passion and this will help you with getting motivated and working extra time when needed. 2. Lack of privacy Unless you have a separate office set up, privacy can be a big concern. For example if you have created your office near the family room, and your house guests drop by, they will be near your work area. Your documents, work and even files can be fair game to everyone! Take that thought one step further and if you have kids, they will come in and distract you while you work
. Solution
Create your own workspace and set your own hours. Make everyone aware that when you are working you can’t be disturbed and if anyone needs your help they need to respect your schedule like everyone else.
Finding a workplace that offers privacy can be a challenge at first. We don’t recommend setting up a home office in your bathroom. CP image: guardian.co.uk
3.Learning When starting a home based business, you are going to have to develop a lot of new skills, which will take time. You will be wearing many hats and in the beginning you won’t be able to afford to hire specialists who can quickly and efficiently do new tasks to you. You will have to learn things which you never thought you would need to learn.
Solution This generally is a positive thing. You would never embark on new challenges if it wasn’t for your business. As the oldsaying goes, “knowledge is power” and along with building your business you are becoming an expert in new domains.
4.While its nice to be the boss, you will find that you will be facing unexpected situations you will have to deal with on your own. When you make a mistake you will be dealing with the consequences on your own.
Solution Being the Boss is rewarding but paying unnecessary bills for unqualified decisions is not fun.
“One of the most important leadership lessons is realizing, you are not the most important person or the most intelligent person in the room at all times.”
~ Mario Btali
5.Loneliness is a huge downside to running your own business at home. In the beginning you love the fact that you can get your work done, but after a few days or weeks, you may find that you are tired of hearing your own voice.
It’s a sort of dread that happens and you might turn to such things as web surfing or chatting with friends to relieve the nervousness you may experience.
Solution
In business you need to talk to people about your ideas and brainstorm to see if they are workable. Set up a “support system” early in your business, and you will find yourself not only running into less problems, but you will have someone to exchange your ideas with and have good conversation when you need to step away from daily tasks.
6. Legalities. Most people do not realize that whether you are “telecommuting” or creating a home based business, you need to be sure that you are covered by insurance, that you have checked zoning laws, and that you have the proper paperwork for taxes. Completing paperwork like NDA forms is important to safeguard your business.
Solution First don’t worry about not knowing all the legalities. The Government and your suppliers will quickly communicate to you what your obligations are. They will scream loudest, and you will comply with their demands. 7. Dependency. Most people do not realize that even as a business owner, you need to create team of people who you work with. In case of a car accident, you still want to come back to functional business and want to have someone who can handle daily tasks where you are not around.
Solution Have family, business partners or a team of supporters be involved early in your business, at the very least have part time bookkeeper or a person who will answer phones for you when you are away. 7. Balancing your life. Working at home can cause a lot of stress in your life, juggling the needs of your family with the needs of your work and for some people it can cause a lot of strain in their relationships. You will want to take vacations which will require someone to look after your business while you rest and recharge. You will need to plan for things like this, so you are not surprised by life, because life has a tendency to surprise us when we least expect it.
Solution Although business is important at all times, you will not be able to benefit from it if you are stressed, tired and sick. Implement periodic holidays and time away from your work. Leave your home far enough so you can’t do anything business related while you are away. This will provide you with time to recharge.
As you can see having a home business can be a very workable solution to creating a good income. However, like anything, you need to look at all sides of the equation. Ask yourself the question, will you take the advice of the “poor” dad and be the employee or the “rich” dad and choose the path of becoming an independent business owner.
For me, I chose to be an independent owner and I have never had any regrets!
IRVINE, Calif. – Waaaay back in Summer 2011, BenQ America Corp. announced that as the official gaming monitor sponsor of Major League Gaming (MLG), the world’s largest competitive video game league, it would be supplying monitors for the then upcoming 2012 MLG Pro Circuit Summer Championship that were held in Raleigh, North Carolina. At the tournament, hundreds of the top gamers from around the world competed using BenQ’s RL2450HT and GL2450HM monitors, designed specifically for professional gaming and engineered to meet the specific needs of eSports athletes. The GL2450HM was also featured in the Virtua Fighter(TM) 5 and Skullgirls(TM) Exhibition Tournaments, alongside the Pro Circuit competition.
At the 2012 MLG Pro Circuit Summer Championship, gamers — including BenQ-sponsored Team Dynamic and Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen — competed for their share of nearly $215,000 in prizes playing the real-time strategy (RTS) games StarCraft(R) II: Wings of Liberty and League of Legends(R) on PC, and fighting games Mortal Kombat(TM) and SoulCalibur(R) V on the PlayStation(R)3 (PS3(TM)).
[Then] 26 year old Dutch professional videogamer Manuel “Grubby” Schenkhuizen and friend Cassandra. How good is he? Check out- http://www.sk-gaming.com/player/90-Grubby image:courtesy MechWarrior onlineThousands of spectators watched the tournament at the Raleigh Convention Center, and hundreds of thousands of fans watched the action online at www.majorleaguegaming.com/live.
For those retro system fans, there was even a Summer Championship that let fans get in on the action with Virtua Fighter 5 and Skullgirls Exhibition Tournaments, played on the good old PS3.
Anyone with a Raleigh Spectator or Competitor Pass could participate in these tournaments, which were sponsored by PlayStation. Winners of the best-of-three matches held the station until defeated and could re-enter as many times as they wished. The two players for each game with the longest winning streaks battled it out for $2,000 per tournament in the Finals on the
Fighting Games Main Stage.
Crowd shot from the MLG #gamerompfest
“The Summer Championship in Raleigh [was] sure to provide an exciting culmination to an amazing summer season, and we [were] honored to have our RL2450HT and GL2450HM in the middle of the action,” said Bob Wudeck, Director of Retail and e-Commerce at BenQ America Corp. “The fast response times of BenQ’s monitors result in high-action competition, while features such as the RL2450HT’s Black eQualizer help eSports athletes not just play the game, but conquer it. In addition, the incredibly low lag of the GL2450HM provides perfect timing in fighting and shooting games.”
Delivering a supreme RTS gaming experience, the RL2450HT was used for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and League of Legends PC games tournaments at the Summer Championship. The RL2450HT was engineered with input from the world-class StarCraft II professional gaming team, STARTALE, which is sponsored by BenQ. For top-level RTS gamers, the monitor features a 60-Hz refresh rate for smooth movement, an LED light engine for great color and low power consumption, and a 2-ms GtG response time with 12 million to 1 contrast ratio.
The RL Series RTS Mode maximizes StarCraft II visibility and optimizes color, while its Black eQualizer enables total visibility by allowing gamers to adjust the screen brightness without over-exposing white levels — revealing critical combat details with improved visibility in darkened areas. The RL Series Display Mode allows gamers to interchange between monitor screen sizes, while the Smart Scaling feature gives them the freedom to scale the screen manually to any custom size — from 17 to 24 inches — depending on their preferences. In addition, the unit’s adjustable height stand allows for optimal screen positioning.
The 24-inch-wide GL2450HM monitor is an ideal choice for console gaming platforms, featuring brilliant LED backlighting, a dynamic contrast ratio of 12 million to 1, and a 2-ms GtG response time that yields high dynamic videos without ghosting or other artifacts.
At a later MLG Summer Championship, console games Mortal Kombat and SoulCalibur V were played on the GL2450HM, in addition to Virtua Fighter 5 and Skullgirls in the Exhibition Tournaments sponsored by PlayStation.
Supporting competitive and competitive retro gaming, BenQ offered the monitors used in the tournament at special discount pricing available to all MLG tournament fans.
This Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar was found on Prospect Street, Port Dover, Ontario
Important safety tip: if you see a caterpillar that has hypodermic-like needles poking out from its body DON’T TOUCH.
That might seem like common sense but Summer 2014 had Ontarians reporting to emergency rooms and to family doctors with symptoms ranging from swelling and rashes to vomiting and intense pain. All this from a seemingly harmless caterpillar sting.
Nature has a way with defense mechanisms and the hickory tussock moth caterpillar is no exception.
During mid to late Summer this caterpillar has one thing on its mind: time to cocoon. In order to accomplish that task, it needs to crawl around out in the open to discover the best places to begin its transformation. So it’s easy pickings if you’re a hungry bird. That explains the caterpillars needle like barbs and the poisonous toxin that they deliver.
Other signals to predators that say “stay away” are black dots on the belly of the caterpillar .
If you see one of these critters the best way to handle them is to use a leaf or a stick to gently encourage the caterpillar to hop on board. That way you will remain safe when you transport them somewhere else- away from those areas that your family and pets enjoy. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.
As a technology writer for the Silo, I am always focusing and thinking about the evolution of technology. I write about how computers and video games have changed over the years, but of course, many other things change around us and the one I have been thinking about a lot lately is shopping. ( Consumers Distributing may be back, the relaunch namesake follows us on Twitter )
CD had some serious PPMP’s (Portable Personal Music Players)- notice how the colour and graphic schemes are totally late 80’s/early 90’s?
When I was a kid, I remember getting the Consumers Distributing catalog and taking it into my room to read thoroughly. Of course, I tended to go directly to the toys section and more specifically I looked at the video games and computers. I dreamed about the day I would own some of these items, and I patiently saved my pennies from my job as a paper route carrier. Life can be tough when you are 12.
Started in 1957, Consumers Distributing tried to save costs for consumers by creating a warehouse like environment that allowed them to operate in smaller locations.
Customers would typically shop through a catalog (which they could take home or use in-store) and fill out a request form. This form was taken to the counter where a customer service representative would go fetch your item(s) and ring up the sale.
At its peak the chain would grow to 243 outlets in Canada and 217 in the United States. By 1996, however, the customers were fading as frustration grew with items being out of stock (or, more accurately, the customer perception was that items were always out of stock). In 2006, the company appeared to emerge from bankruptcy protection but little has been done to revive the stores to the way they once were.
Nothing says vintage or captures the ‘aura’ of shopping in a Consumers Distributing store quite like a polaroid.
Even though the end of the chain could be considered a failure, the evolution of the concept continues to this day. Stores like Home Depot and Costco operate in a warehouse-like environment, there are just no catalogs.
Canadian retail giant Hudson’s Bay Company also thought it was a pretty good idea since they purchased and ran a competitive chain of stores called “Shop-Rite” that were open from 1972 to 1982.
.At its peak, Shop-Rite had 65 stores in Ontario before conceding defeat to Consumers. It wasn’t the competition that was really the problem, it was the concept.
With the recent closing of the retail operations of Blockbuster and Rogers Video, we are seeing another step in the evolutionary process. Decades from now, people will probably think it was quite strange to obtain our movies from a retail store because everything will be digitally beamed into our homes and the physical disks and tapes we use now will be completely gone.
My friend Dave Thielking is a lot like me and he remembers the days when we were kids flipping through those catalogs.
So when he obtained some old catalogs I knew we could work together to put them online and share with our other friends who remember the old days of shopping and the great toys and items we wanted to save our pennies for. The result is a new website called the Consumers Distributing Archive and you can find it at http://www.cdarchive.ca.
We are never going to be able to stop evolution – of any kind – but it doesn’t mean we have to like it, or that we can’t go back to the way things were even just for an afternoon or two. For the Silo, Syd Bolton.
For over 25 years archaeological efforts have been ongoing to delineate where potential prehistoric trails exist across the landscape of southern Ontario. Trails were created and used by the earliest inhabitants of the region after glaciers disappeared some 15,000 years ago. One of the roles for a trail system was to help keep people alive.
The challenge to identify the existence of these trails is that they existed approximately 10,000 years ago. The primary region for this research has been Haldimand-Norfolk County. In the past seven years the search for prehistoric trail systems in these two counties has become increasingly intensive as part of the Haldimand-Norfolk Archaeological Regional Project (HNARP) http://www.hnarp.ca/ .
The premise of the regional project is to better understand how early people lived and managed their lives on a landscape once rich with animal, plant, and raw resources such as rock for making stone tools.
A critical activity that has assisted this regional project is permission to walk over farm lands from supportive agricultural land owners to help find these trails. Access to farm lands assists archaeologists to identify where people lived in the region. The land mass of the two counties combined covers approximately 2,000 square kilometers.
Historically, it was always possible to read information written down and recorded about trails in the region. This would include place names and popularly used trails. Even oral history in Haldimand County by senior land owners some 30 years ago mentioned trails used by people to walk across the landscape to neighbouring farms, villages, and the shores of Lake Erie.
To date, archaeologists have identified artifacts left behind by people still exist after 10,000 years of changes to the landscape. One piece of evidence has been the type of stone used for making tools. Throughout the world people searched out different types of rock for making stone tools.
In Haldimand County, chert formations created over tens of millions of years ago can be found. These chert formations have different identifying markers such as colours and fossils that make chert distinct from others. It is these identifying markers that help chert to be identified from its original source and help to develop new evidence to show where and when people lived and crossed the landscape.
It is hoped that finding and identifying the different colour cherts and fossils in the rock will help archaeologists piece together Haldimand-Norfolk County’s long forgotten past. For the Silo, Lorenz Bruechert.
When I think back to the 1980’s I have mostly fond memories. It was time of great fun and discovery for me personally. I had both Commodore and Apple computers and a hairstyle that is happy to remain in my past. I listened to cool groups like “Twisted Sister” and wouldn’t publicly admit that I enjoyed “Culture Club”. Being in high school, I was painfully shy and didn’t have a lot of success with girls.
Apple had a pretty similar experience if you think about it. They were a little shy and reserved, but very much loved by those who understood them. They didn’t go out much – choosing to stay in schools and in a very few select homes. They had their share of identity crisis’ in the early 80’s and tried to break free with a whole new persona called “Macintosh” in 1984.
They walked around confused between educational, business, and recreational use and staggered out of the fog towards the end of the decade.
The 1990’s brought about a new confidence and independence. I had started a business just at the end of the 80’s and took my experience to heart as I tried to find the right niche for me. I knew that computers was where I was meant to be and grew a business from nothing to exceptional sales in a short time.
Steve Jobs and Apple’s Macintosh Computer.
I also saw the market hinge and my sales erode and I wasn’t quite able to move fast enough to recover my previous glory.
Apple saw their market share grow and decline in the 90’s as well. They knew that computers were where they were meant to be, but they couldn’t decide if they were the company to make them. They tried licensing out their operating system to others in a move that ultimately
muddied the market and left their loyal customers wondering just exactly where they were going next. Following graph courtesy of www.saypeople.com
The 2000’s became a year of maturity for me. More confident in the path I was following, I followed my dreams to open a computer museum and finally saw it through in 2005. I refocused my energies with my passion for video games to acquire the largest collection in Canada while at the same time educating others along the way.
I worked my way towards a global following for those that have shared my vision. Apple made the move from niche computer to dedicated
music device, to a more advanced smart phone in the 2000’s. They grew their loyal following in the computer market by making some radical
changes to their core operating system and integrating their new consumer devices flawlessly. They became the company they had always
dreamed they could be.
Today, I ’m following my dreams and am no longer the shy, awkward guy I was in high school. I ’m successful and I ’ve moved on from “Culture Club”. My life is very interesting because I like to keep one foot in the past to enjoy the good times, while putting another foot forward into the exciting future.
The best is yet to come, and I think the same is true for Apple. For the Silo, Syd Bolton. Check out www.pcmuseum.ca in Brantford,Ontario.
We’re too lazy. They say that too. And North Americans in general are pretty unhealthy. I’m saying that. Yet at the same time there are daily press releases about eating healthier, supporting local agriculture, the 100-mile diet, and buying organic produce. Of course, that requires some thought and decision-making. The default setting is to support economies of California or China, which we do, pay for the increasing cost of importing,which we do, and wonder what residual chemicals are in our salad greens, which we should.
I was at a high-end organic market in the GTA recently and I hate to say it, but the organic vegetables were a great disappointment. I felt it was a misrepresentation of what organic produce should be. But what if you grew your own? Or at least tried?
You don’t need a degree in agriculture, and don’t have to be intimidated by those who have been gardening for years. It’s OK to be new. It’s fun to be new. There are all kinds of health benefits derived from gardening, aside from the produce itself. And it gives you some time alone with your thoughts.
My advice is to just do it.
Time and experience will be your best teachers. Start simple, start small. I had mini-gardens in townhouse patios and on apartment balconies for years. At this point, I’m a big supporter of raised bed gardening for almost endless reasons. If you don’t want to go it alone, find a friend or two and have a competition. Like – who will have the first ripe tomato, (Grow the heirloom variety called stupice to win), or the biggest carrot, (oxheart will win, if you can find seed). The first thing to do is select your site. Simply, the more sun the better.
The second step: Prepare the bed.
If you are going to put in a raised bed, you can just mound up the soil into a kind of plateau, or actually construct a container. Avoid using pressure treated wood since the chemicals could leach out into the soil. I’ve seen beds built with bricks and patio stones stood up on their edges. I am
experimenting with various-sized lumber.
The next step is to add or amend the soil.
The key is to add organic matter, and not just fertilizer pellets. I think of it like feeding a child – you would never give your kids just water and vitamin pills and expect them to thrive. Mixed organic matter (leaves, composted kitchen waste, composted manure, old straw…) builds the soil, feeds the worms, and adds the micro-nutrients that will eventually find their way into your vegetables. Shortcuts are not sustainable. The most important rule is this: feed the soil, and the soil will feed the vegetables.
If the soil is healthy, the plants will also tend to be healthy and be less susceptible to infestation by insect pests. It’s one of the laws of nature that the sick and the weak are targets for the predator. So it is in the garden. Also consider “companion planting” for plant health. Among other things I plant strategically-placed marigolds, nasturtium and herbs for insect control.
In selecting the plants for your garden, in the beginning start with what your family likes. Even for the small garden you can get a pretty good yield in a small space. For early spring grow leaf lettuce. You can extend the season by picking off the outer leaves or cutting off the entire head about an inch above ground. It will push more tender leaves until the summer heat arrives.
Love peas?
Try early bush snow peas, inter-planted with carrots and radishes. All of them are great for small spaces. Grow herbs for your salads and seasoning. You’ll decrease the desire for salt and sugar on your plate which will help you stay healthy. You just have to grow tomatoes. Locate a source for an heirloom variety. Nothing compares with the taste of an old-fashioned vine-ripened tomato still holding the sun’s heat. For the Silo, Rick Posavad.
This is the most famous painting in the history of art. It is titled the Mona Lisa but it’s original name was Monna Lisa- a short form of “Madonna” or “my lady” but thanks to a spelling error we know this work as the Mona Lisa. Painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in the years 1503-1507, there are actually three different versions painted beneath the visible version. In one hidden version (discovered using xrays) she is seen clutching the arms of a chair. image/info courtesy of prlog.org
Every year 8.5 million visitors see the renowned work of art that is the Mona Lisa. It is a vision that graces t-shirts, calendars, coffee mugs, and art history books worldwide. Still, among those millions, I would wager that few are those that have left Paris remarking on the wall on which Mona is placed. More on this later….
Did you know that the Mona Lisa is the only work of art to be stolen from the Louvre( in 1911) and recovered? Not only that, but in 1956, it was attacked with acid and, in that same year, cut open with a rock thrown at Mona’s elbow. It would seem that times haven’t changed much either. In 2009 a coffee mug was thrown at it by a gazing woman.
Art hygiene: the Mona Lisa is protected by bulletproof glass while on display at Paris’ Louvre photo: Gilli8888/flickr
Time has provided the foresight to maintain Mona’s beauty. With 2 centimeters of bullet proof glass and an inner casing protecting against heat and humidity the artwork seems safe. But what about the wall ‘holding’ the Mona for all of us to admire?
Take a look at these choppers…are they healthy enough to support a Mona Lisa smile? Pay attention because we’re about to switch gears and talk a little oral health.
As a dentist I am prone to notice the wall and that famous Mona Lisa smile. That smile, seen on TV and used in advertising everything from vacations to toothpaste, would be worth little without considering the healthy gums and bone that keep it in place. In other words, without noticing the wall. Years spent in my business have taught me, that if not protected properly, a smile can be stolen from us, chipped, and worn away with acid leading to very costly repairs. If you value your smile then the bullet proof glass is a worthy investment.
By focusing on in-office prevention and care the need for extensive intervention is often averted. It is more time and cost effective to put up and maintain a very impressive wall for your work of art than it is to meticulously rework the masterpiece. This analogy holds true for your teeth, gums and your smile. Maintenance is the greatest security from acid and coffee alike and with it, your smile can continue to break the ice… but I wouldn’t count on 8.5 million visitors. That may be a little more than any of us can chew. For the Silo by Dr. Peter Gunn. Dr. Gunn’s practice is in Port Rowan, Ontario. www.facebook.com/caredental
In my lastSilo travel column, I featured five of my favorite travel destinations in Ontario within 250 kilometres of Niagara. Here’s another five, but this time “on the other side of the ditch”. First, I’d suggest if you travel into the United States frequently like I do apply for a NEXUS pass (www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus). This pass is available to Canadian and U.S. citizens and costs around $50.00. It allows you and every other occupant in your car that has the pass to quickly cross over the border and return. It’s saved me hours of waiting at the border. Also be sure to carry health insurance for travel outside of Ontario.
[The nexus card will save you time at US Canada border crossing but part of the application process involves finger-printing and the completed card uses the same controversial RFID technology used across parts of the US Mexico border CP]
Now let’s get down to business…….and in no particular order ;> Ellicottville, N.Y.
(120 kilometres from the Canada/U.S. border)
This is a place I go to two or three times a year because there’s always something happening. They have 11 festivals spread throughout the year. Ellicottville has a compact pretty-as-a picture postcard downtown. It’s void of big-box retailing. There are plenty of historic brick and wooden buildings that have been re-born as unique, quirky, crayon-coloured stores and restaurants www.ellicottvilleny.com or 1-800-349-9099
Ellicottville NY- top- late Summer bottom- mid Winter
Randolph, N.Y.
(140 kilometres)
Not far from Ellicottville you’ll find the tiny village of Randolph. This village and the outlying countryside are deliciously peaceful. You’ll find a large thriving population of Amish families. As you drive the back roads, you’ll pass numerous styles of Amish horse and buggies. Loose your camera for this part of the trip. The Amish don’t like to be photographed. We spent all day visiting and speaking with these fine people who operate numerous businesses along, “The Amish Trail” that are open to the,” English”. Some of the places we visited specialized in toy making, farming, jams, pies, cheese making, quilting, pillows, and rugging. Forget your credit card. The Amish only accept cash and they’re closed on Sundays. www.NYAmishTrail.com or 1-800-331-0543
Stay cabins along the Amish Trail in Randolph
Hammondsport N.Y.
(250 kilometres)
I was originally trying to find Watkins Glen when I got lost and stumbled upon Hammondsport N.Y. What a hidden gem it turned out to be. This small community is nestled at the southern end of Lake Kueka and set in a protected valley in New York State’s Finger Lakes region. You can’t be in a hurry here. An old-fashioned town square anchors the village. Historic buildings snuggle side-by-side around its perimeter. The star attraction here is pristine Lake Kueka. There are also well maintained homes on the tree-lined streets date back to the 1800’s.Just on the outskirts of town is the Glenn H. Curtis Museum. It pays tribute to Glenn Curtis a pilot who took the first preannounced flight in America on July 4, 1908.In January of this year Budget travel voted Hammondsport the, “Coolest Small Town in America”. Well, so much for my hidden gem. www.hammondsport.org
Heritage architecture and vintage ooze at Maloney’s Pub in Hammondsport
Medina, N.Y.
(69 kilometres)
I have known some great breakfast joints in the past but Rudy’s Diner (closed Sundays) found in this friendly village along the old Erie Canal is one of the best. Just about everything here is made from scratch and reasonably priced in this converted 1940’s Sinclair Gas Station.
This town founded in the 1820’s echoes of the nineteenth century. Check out these things. Their beautifully restored downtown is very walkable. Don’t pass up seeing the Oak Orchard River Gorge and Medina Falls. It’s hard to find so ask a local. On the outskirts of town is the Culvert Road Tunnel. It’s the only arched roadway running under the Erie Canal. This narrow tunnel is like going through the eye of a needle! One must, is a visit to the Medina Railroad Museum (closed Mondays and major holidays).If you have kids they’ll love it and so will you. Tell owner Marty that George and The Silo sent you. www.medina-ny.com
So there you have it. Enjoy the remaining bit of Summer holidays and remember September and October are beautiful months. For the Silo, George Bailey.
From a technological point of view there is nothing wrong with the way our hospitals have changed over the past thirty years but what about from the viewpoint of a person? A real, honest to gosh person. The hospital calls these folks patients or family members/visitors, but I think they must have a secret name for them too: consumers.
Let’s be honest- There is little in the way of real consumer value in our hospitals. Even before you set foot, cane or wheelchair through the front door you have to find somewhere to leave your vehicle. And just like an airport- parking costs are typically fifteen dollars a day. And what about that once staple of stand-up comedy topics- crappy hospital food? If it isn’t anymore, there certainly was a time when hospital cafeteria meals- just like airline meals- were cultural icons. In the hospitals I have visited recently, the cafeteria is slowly but surely being turned into something else…..monitors ready to dull your brain and feed you big corp.
On Monday I spent several hours at Brantford General Hospital’s C Wing. For most of that time, I’d only been on two floors and I’d already found two Tim Horton’s counters- complete counters mind you, not just a kiosk window offering a paper cup of coffee but something offering full breakfast sandwiches and lunch menu items. So why would anyone want to visit the hospital cafeteria? And if they did would they even be successful in finding the cafeteria? I could not find a sign pointing the way but Tim Horton’s were instantly visible and both perched in prime retail positions directly at or near an outside entrance. Starbucks take note.
While I was enjoying my double – double I discovered that my wifi usb stick did not work in the MRI waiting area. I moved around to no avail. I decided to let my laptop search for a public access node and I was successful in discovering that the hospital offers public internet access. With a credit card, a patient or a family member can spend upwards of $22.54 for one week of internet access or $11.24 for one day or part of a day. I was beginning to feel like a consumer. (note: these costs from September 2011)
Visiting is getting expensive.
If I need to complete work duties while I’m waiting for a hospital appointment or waiting to visit a patient, I’ve already spent 15$ on parking, $1.60 on a coffee and $11.24 for internet access. That’s $27.84 and there’s still lunch to consider if things are delayed. I decide to give up on the world wide web and look instead for something to read. Then I realize that there isn’t any reading material. Not a Maclean’s, National Geographic or even a Reader’s Digest. Instead there are two screen monitors broadcasting CP24 news , ticker tapes and car commercials into each waiting area. Not exactly the most calming environment. I stand up and walk twenty feet towards x-ray waiting area 1. There is a small mass of people sitting and staring at the side-by-side flat screen monitors. From my perspective it is terrifyingly cold and stark. It is a scene from Orwell’s 1984 and I want to shake each one of them and tell them to stop. I want to tell them to pull out their corporate i.v. but I come to my senses. (this is only television after all right?) These people love t.v. The patient beside me whisper’s “t.v. keeps everyone’s mind off of their hospital stay”. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.
One of the biggest influences that the internet and social media has on the automotive industry is the now ease of finding hard-to-find parts and procedures. Go on Google, type in your year, make, and model, followed by the part or procedure you are looking for, and in the results you are bound to find (at the very least) a forum, web group, or page dedicated to your vehicle specifically. What this means to you is that now you can discuss (with others who love the same vehicle as you) parts, repair procedures, styling, or just why you love your vehicle so much! What this also means is that you now can draw from a vast pool of knowledge from others who share your same interest.
So be it a complicated repair or common problem, you can usually chat with someone who has already been there and done that. (a majority of the time) and a lot of the forums usually have step by step procedures with pictures. This came in handy for me last month when a certain silver Smart car I know had starting issues. The first problem? Where is the starter? This may sound dumb but, Look under the bonnet (hood under the trunk) and you tell me where the starter is. I would bet 5 bucks that you could not, even from underneath. Unless, you have messed with one, prior. The next Issue, where the heck is this starter supposed to fit out? Lastly, How do you even get to the bolts that hold it in?
Luckily for me, there are many Smart car pages based out of the U.K. and one really good one I found, had many members who were very knowledgeable in this topic, this page also had step by step detailed instructions along with very clear pictures. This is substantial considering that one cannot even get a repair manual for these cars, almost nobody has parts listings OR interchanges for any of these cars with a model year prior to 2008 (this car being a 2006). Who knew that to change this starter there was insane procedure including dropping the engine and removing the intercooler system. A bunch of people on this page had already been through this and had come up with a very efficient shortcut. This saved me hours of time. All this from a free membership. Here are a few Facebook pages that I follow:
“Restoring Old Cars” – a lot of classic car posts, “Lifted Trucks USA”- lots of pics of lifted trucks lol, “Chevy Chevelle”- Lots of Chevelle pics, ”Chevy Militia”- jacked up Chevy truck pics, and my two favorite ones “Bow-tie Society”- for everything Chevrolet, also where Ford and Dodge Trollers come to get put back in their respective places. And “Black Crow Car Education System” –this guy posts all kinds of cool classic auto industry pics, vintage, and artistic mechanical pics. All of these pages are very cool. Check em out by searching them on Facebook. Till next time. For the Silo, Robb Price, WC Kustoms.
We need to take steps NOW to make sure Canada’s methane (aka Hydrogen Sulfide gas which contains up to 90% methane) emissions are being properly regulated. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is84 times more potent than carbon dioxide – and its uncontrolled emissions affect everyone.
The solutions to reducing methane emissions are actually very simple – frequent leak detection and repairs, and replacing equipment that deliberately releases methane. The industry is resisting these solutions and pushing the Canadian government for weaker methane regulations. They want longer delays before regulations come into effect, as well as less frequent monitoring so that methane leaks go undetected for longer. And, they want to be paid for reducing methane emissions – so instead of polluters pay, the industry wants it to be pay-the-polluter.
Those who live in Alberta strongly agree that regulating pollutants like methane to the strictest North American standards is the right thing to do. If the province that would be most affected by these regulations feels this way, why aren’t we doing it?
Time is running out to make sure Canada’s methane emissions are strongly regulated. For the Silo, Dale Marshall. Featured image-Les Stone /Greenpeace
The classification of coal ash is back in the news as US authorities decide on how to label and regulate this byproduct. The following article, first published in Summer 2011 deserves another look CP
One would never think of taking a bath in sewage, or, for that matter, ‘drinking’ a glass of anything harmful to our system.. Our health care providers, after the fiasco in Walkerton, would be abhored at the presence of anything harmful in our drinking water (water wells, in particular, are stringently monitored by authorities, who are now extremely paranoid of any contaminents whatsoever..) There is one thing, however, that is not monitored, should be at the top of the list for testing of those ground water supplies, and that ‘thing’ is “radioactivity”… It seems the upcoming election, with it’s schism between parties that want to maintain the status quo, and keep the coal-fired electrical generating facilities, and those in the present governing party that want to go ahead with Green Energy electrical production by means of Wind Turbines and Solar Arrays, are at loggerheads with one another… They BOTH have studies, and, arguments (fiscal, as well as, science-based) that have caused massive rifts, shifts, and polarization in the minds of the voters… But, one thing that both parties don’t want the Public, at large, to know, is their dirty, DIRTY, little secret…
Those mountains of fly-ash (pictured above) at the Ontario Power Generation facility in Nanticoke, are, in actuality, huge mountains of toxic waste that must be buried at least 3500 feet below the ground, in order to prevent ground water (drinking water, in other words..) contamination… The reason.. It’s quite simple.. Those hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fly-ash in those small mountains, covered, after a hot, dry, and cruelly humid Summer with weeds, are Highly Radioactive…
If the costs of transporting that, toxic mountain, back to the very coal mines that the raw coal came from, now abandoned, in Kentucky and Tennessee, were ever factored into the costs we pay for electricity today, we could expect to have the costs of building the Pickering/Darlington and Bruce Nuclear plants added as “Debt Reduction” costs (presently what we pay EXTRA for, on our monthly electricity bills, is the debts associated with the building of the Nuclear Energy Plants, that went so far over estimated costs, our children will be paying for them ‘ad eterna’..)… That the Conservative Party of Ontario wants to keep those coal-fired generating plants going, without ‘informing’ the Public of Ontario about the radioactive, toxic byproducts of the process, without informing them of what is common knowledge within the coal and electrical generation industries, just to achieve a state of denial for the neccessity of a Green Energy Initiative, is culpable to a criminal act… What is wrong is that the TRUTH is going to cost us much more than fiscal damage control…
If anyone, living in the downwind footprint of the ashfall from those 550 foot tall smokestacks at Nanticoke, that lost a loved one to CANCER, ever subpoenaed the Ontario Health System for the numbers of deaths by cancer in those areas up to 25 miles East of those smokestacks, AND, determined there existed enough of a cancer “cluster”, and, took those findings to a lawyer….., the Ontario Public would be facing a grievous mega lawsuit that would make ‘Erin Brocovitch’ look pale in comparison… Having run a Convenience Store in Rainham Centre for fifteen years, I often questioned the number of deaths, from cancer, in the families and couples that patronized my business… My wife’s own battle with breast cancer made me even more acutely aware of something naggingly simple that was causing the outrageous numbers of cancers.
It wasn’t until I wound up working with a fellow employee, at a firm I had been with for over 10 years as well as running the Store, who happened to have grown up in Liverpool, England,… and we, one day, were discussing the Nanticoke Generating Facility and it’s mountains of fly-ash, and he said to me, “Bill, they used to make a cinder-block out of that fly-ash that they called ‘fly-brick’.. but, they built a few suburban townhouse complexes with them, and, all the kids started to get cancers,… Mostly throat and lung cancers, but there was a lot of Leukemias as well..”
That got me to thinking about the premise for this article.. and, when I started looking on the internet for some background to his tale, and the corelation to the ‘cancer cluster’ that seems to be in our area down-wind of those stacks, this link was the first hit… Silo Direct Link to coal-ash is more radioactive than nuclear waste YOU, make your own decision in this election… I’m going Green.. Bill Stewart is a writer for The Silo. Search his name from any of our sites pages to read more articles from Bill.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination of smarts to understand that toxins can travel in water. Ohio and Southwestern Michigan which have notified the public of the water crisis are dangerously close to other Lake Erie shoreline communities. Some communities such as Norfolk County already have beaches posted with bacteria warnings and notices that the water is NOT tested by local health officials.
The Silo @thesiloteam · now
What are implications for #Oxford#NorfolkCounty#Haldimand County communities water supply? Bacteria/ Algae signs already posted on beaches
The music collective GANFUNKEL released the 5-song-EP Fighting Music with Music following the successful 2013 release of Machine Coincident Jazz. The former album produced one song that reached #1 on jazz radio charts, 2 songs that reached #2, and one song that reached #3.
Ganfunkel listing on SOMA FM charts.
Ganfunkel is California-based and led by Simcoe native Rik Ganju. Personnel on Fighting Music with Music have recorded and toured with Esperanza Spalding, the Kronos Quartet, John McLaughlin, Terry Riley, Bela Fleck, Wayne Shorter and Zakir Hussain.
Ganfunkel’s sound is influenced by rock, jazz, funk and Indian classical music. Standing out on the new album is Stars Fell on Daniel featuring tabla maestro Salar Nader, and the legendary George Brooks on saxophone.
“The success of Machine Coincident Jazz validated our belief that multi-genre music has an audience that doesn’t want to be confined by traditional categories, “ says Ganju. “People are open to many styles of music depending on their mood. And just as film music evolves from minute to minute, our sound changes texture as the mood of the tune allows.”
Ganfunkel albums are available today on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and most major music download sites, and music videos can be found by searching on Ganfunkel at Vimeo.com
Ganju’s experiments with multi-genre music stretch back to the mid-2000s when he collaborated with Jarrod Barker on many avant-garde experiments.
Jarrod Barker
The track listing for Fighting Music with Music:
Chunky Town (featuring Kai Eckhardt and Dana Hawkins)
Shot in a Gambling House
Stars Fell on Daniel (featuring Salar Nader and George Brooks)
That Feel on Flesh (featuring Kai Eckhardt and Dana Hawkins)
I’ve never particularly been a Beatle’s fan. I like some of their songs. I like a number of them very much, but if I was asked the now proverbial question, “The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?” I would probably say, Oh, I don’t know, maybe The Who? The body of work of Mark Knopfler. Massive Attack were massive for me.
But I was not a child of the sixties, “an age of assassins,” John B. Lee writes in his poignant and powerfully executed preface, when “[o]ur childhood martyred almost all the heroes that we’d had.” John F. Kennedy. Robert F. Kennedy. Martin Luther King (Malcolm X, not mentioned but later, yes). “The list is overlong,” Lee says. “It will not end.” I understand more fully than ever these life-shattering moments, for Americans and Canadians alike; for so many Across the Universe . Into this near death of hope came The Beatles. The Beatles came to America, came on a Sunday night in January 1964 to The Ed Sullivan show and, and as Lee exclaims with no exclamation mark, “sang my life awake.”
It’s not a perfect looking book. Yet as I read, the grainy cover photo (by an unknown photographer) of four dapper mop-tops fishing out the window of their Seattle hotel—they literally weren’t allowed to leave—starts to resonate. It’s imperfection could be viewed as integral, evoking a time in music when moments of “perfect imperfection,” as Michael Shatte calls them in his essay, were more common in pop; “happy accidents” which would not be tolerated in this era of hyper-produced top-forty songs, when singers voices are routinely, digitally “auto-tuned” in the studio, and we get used to being disappointed when we hear them live. Then there’s lip-synching. I don’t need to go on. There is great music being made by great musicians right now. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. This is about a particular moment in pop-music history, in cultural history, and many of the moments that followed.
The book is selected and edited by John B. Lee, a Canadian poet and writer who has published more than fifty books and received over 70 prestigious awards for his work. If you haven’t heard of him don’t feel too bad. He tells me openly there is little money in poetry, reminding me it’s not about that anyway. If it was it probably wouldn’t be poetry.
If you haven’t read him it might be time to start: his verse and prose catch the beauty of rural life, farm life, family life, hockey, human sexuality—life. Just Google him. He’s from home, you know. Right around here, right around me, the Poet Laureate of Brantford, Ontario and Norfolk County, home as well to Alexander Graham Bell and Wayne Gretzky, a poet of sport. Like McEnroe was one of the poets of my youth, making tennis beautiful, thrilling, creative; revolutionary. How I tried to emulate him…
Window Fishingis about a time of Revolution, evolutions in culture, and about growing up in the thick of it all. I wasn’t here yet, but as I read this book I learn. It is a literary volume. The cover photo and torn ticket stub on the back page are its only images. Or are they? Because black words on white paper are also images. And the book’s words, artistically rendered, conjure images as well as ideas. It is poetry, and prose poetry, and personal essays; fine writing by a collection of fine writers.
I learn that for most of the men, who were boys then, pubescent, the Beatles were all about music: musical discovery, even ecstasy. And style too. There was style.
For the women who write about the phenomenon of Beatlemania, there was music too. Absolutely. But there was something else. Something profound: the awakening of sexuality. Even a kind of love. Suddenly I understand all the screaming and crying, the fainting. For emerging, young (straight) women, the Beatles were more than musical. They were also beautiful. Sexy. As Susan Whelehan puts it in her essay: “John. He was mine and I was his…I was going to be his FOREVER. And I am.”
While many parents of the day may have dismissed The Fab Four at first as a silly “boy-band,” we might say now, shaking their longish (for the time), round hair-cuts—singing “Ooooo!” and “Yeah Yeah Yeah!”—fact is from the beginning The Beatles were always at the very least competent,andobviously compelling, musicians. Writes Honey Novick in her probing, poetic essay: “You could actually dance to their music.” And we know they became more and more sophisticated as they progressed through their careers, eventually making challenging, often satisfying real art-music, the way Radiohead did for me in my 20’s.
All this beautiful literature about The Beatles and the 1960’s has inspired me to listen, finally, seriously, to the music. Even if you thought, at the time, “Yeah Yeah Yeah” was just bubblegum for kids, consider the lyrics. One friend to another: “You think you lost your love/Well I saw her yesterday. She says it’s you she’s thinkin’ of/And she told me what to say: She says she loves you.” She loves you man. Yeah! (Yeah! Yeah!). What more is there to celebrate? Ecstatically.
If you were there, or if you want to learn, or if you care about music or culture or the 1960’s or just literature, embrace the “perfect imperfection” of this unique and potent book. Some of the poems made me close my eyes and shut the pages. To savour, digest. Bruce Meyer made me cry. I was 8 years old when Lennon was shot. Assassinated. It made no impact on me then. I wasn’t really there yet. The book put me there, as close as I can ever come. For the Silo, Alan Gibson.
Olivia has been the favourite name for girls since 2008, followed by the same
second, third and fourth place names from last year — Emma, Sophia and Ava. Emily joins the ranks to round out the top five. For boys, Ethan, Jacob and Lucas once again took spots two through four, with Benjamin coming in at five.
Ontario gives parents up to one year to register their newborn’s birth online.
Through the easy-to-use 4-in-1 Newborn Bundle<http://www.ontario.ca/government/register-your-newborn-baby>, they can register their child’s birth and apply for their birth certificate, social insurance number and Canada child benefits, including the Ontario child benefit, in one easy step. Birth certificates ordered online are guaranteed to be mailed within 15 business days or they’re free.
Making it easier for families to access important government services when and where they need them is part of the Ontario government’s economic plan to invest in people, build modern infrastructure and support a dynamic and innovative business climate.
QUOTES
“Parents can register their newly named babies online from the comfort of their own homes. By making it more convenient for families to access our services, we are helping new parents focus on what’s really important.”
— John Milloy, Minister of Government Services
QUICK FACTS
§ More than 99.5 per cent of birth certificates ordered online have been delivered on time.
§ The Ontario Registrar General compiles annual lists of given baby names from registered births in the province for the previous year.
§ ServiceOntario’s 4-in-1 Newborn Bundle was the first of its kind in Canada when it launched in 2007. Since then, more than 720,000 newborns have been registered in Ontario using the service.
§ The Ontario child
benefit<http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/financialhelp/ocb/index.aspx>
provides up to $1,210 per child per year for nearly one million children to support Ontario families.
——————-
Olivia et Liam sont les prénoms les plus populaires pour les filles et pour les
garçons nés en Ontario, et ce, pour la deuxième année de suite.
Olivia est le prénom préféré pour les petites filles depuis 2008. En deuxième,
troisième et quatrième place, il est suivi par les mêmes prénoms que l’an dernier,
soit Emma, Sophia et Ava. Emily s’ajoute à ce palmarès et figure en cinquième place.
Pour les garçons, ce sont les prénoms Ethan, Jacob et Lucas qui l’emportent encore
une fois, en deuxième, troisième et quatrième place respectivement. Ils sont suivis
de Benjamin, qui se classe au cinquième rang.
L’Ontario donne jusqu’à un an aux parents pour enregistrer la naissance de leur enfant par Internet. Grâce au Service d’enregistrement des
nouveau-nés<http://www.ontario.ca/fr/gouvernement/enregistrement-de-votre-nouveaune>,
facile à utiliser, ils peuvent enregistrer la naissance de leur enfant, demander un
extrait de naissance, un numéro d’assurance sociale et leurs prestations pour
enfants du gouvernement fédéral, le tout en une seule étape toute simple. Les
extraits de naissance commandés en ligne sont postés dans les 15 jours ouvrables suivant la commande, et le tout est garanti. En cas de retard, l’extrait de naissance est gratuit.
Offrir aux familles un accès plus facile aux services gouvernementaux au moment et à l’endroit où ils en ont besoin fait partie du plan du gouvernement en matière d’économie visant à investir dans la population, à bâtir une infrastructure moderne et à soutenir un climat d’affaires dynamique et innovateur dans l’ensemble de
l’Ontario.
CITATION
« Les parents peuvent enregistrer en ligne leur bébé avec son prénom sans avoir à sortir de la maison. En facilitant l’accès à nos services pour les familles, nous aidons les nouveaux parents à se concentrer sur ce qui compte vraiment. »
– John Milloy, ministre des Services gouvernementaux.
FAITS EN BREF
§ Plus de 99,5 % des extraits de naissance commandés en ligne ont été livrés à temps.
§ Le registraire général de l’Ontario compile des listes annuelles des prénoms à partir des naissances inscrites dans la province au cours de l’année précédente.
§ Le Service d’enregistrement des
nouveau-nés<http://www.ontario.ca/fr/gouvernement/enregistrement-de-votre-nouveaune>
4 en 1 de ServiceOntario a été le premier du genre au Canada lors de son lancement, en 2007. Depuis, plus de 720 000 nouveau-nés ont été enregistrés en Ontario à l’aide de ce service.
§ La Prestation ontarienne pour
enfants<http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/French/topics/financialhelp/ocb/index.aspx>
verse jusqu’à 1 210 $ par enfant, par année à près d’un million d’enfants pour
soutenir les familles ontariennes.
But why do we continue to feed government? Why would we participate in any political or economic system that is not serving our best interests?
Government is basically unproductive and can only give what it takes. Bigger government takes more and gives less.
The fruits of our labour are controlled, confiscated, and redistributed through taxation, inflation, interest, and government spending. There is also a systemic shortage of official currency, which leads to a shortage of paid employment, and the jobs that are available might be completely unproductive. We are forced to compete for currency that is systemically scarce, even though there are plenty of worthwhile activities that can be done and there are plenty of people who are willing and able to do productive work.
There seems to be an increasing level of dissatisfaction with government and the political process, but there certainly isn’t a consensus in defining the problem or offering a solution that will sufficiently address all of our concerns or satisfy everyone. This poses a challenge, but it also presents us with an opportunity to carefully examine the form and function of government, and explore a full range of possible alternatives.
If we have freedom of choice and a free market then we should be able to individually select the goods and services that we wish to purchase from a variety of producers and providers, who should be able to compete for customers based on the quality and price of their products and services. All products and services, including government programs and services, should be able to compete in a free market.
Trade and exchange should be voluntary and mutually beneficial. We should not be forced to pay for anything that we don’t want or don’t use, and we should not have to do business with anyone who consistently offers poor quality goods and services or who does not pay their legitimate debts.
If we have economic freedom then we should be able to negotiate agreeable prices, accept or refuse any form of payment, control the allocation of our credit, and use any method or medium of exchange. We should not be compelled to use a systemically scarce currency that is created as interest-bearing debt.
If the purpose of an economic system is to facilitate the production and exchange of goods and services then it should be possible to create numerous ways to serve this purpose, with various concurrent systems operating in any location. This would give us more control over our time, labour, skills, and resources.
If government is a provider of services then it should compete for customers based on the quality and price of any services that it is actually willing and able to provide, including education, health care, and defence. If government services were the best ones available then we would presumably choose to use them. Our wealth should not be confiscated and redistributed to pay for anything that we don’t want or don’t use.
We can already seek membership in various communities, organizations or other groups, based on our own political, religious, social, recreational, or business interests. If we have freedom of association and political freedom then we should even be able to choose a apolitical system and type of government, without having to move to a different place, and without imposing or choice on anyone else. This would give us the option to hire people to manage our affairs and make decisions on our behalf, but we would not be represented or lead without imposing our consent.
Any imposed political system or government is a method of control. Political freedom does not exist if an individual is forced to accept the decisions of any other individual or group, even if it calls itself a majority.
Imposed political systems and territorial governments with their restrictive geopolitical boundaries can be replaced with a variety of voluntary communities, mutual benefit associations, and autonomous protective groups, with overlapping membership in any location. Multiple communities can exist in any geographic region, without any imposed territorial monopolies for the provision of services.
Individual participation in any economic or political system should be entirely voluntary, based on choice and consent, rather than coercion and compulsion. No person is an island, but everyone should essentially be able to individually decide how he or she would like to organize and manage his or her economic and political activities.
Government is a human invention that has changed over time and will continue to change, but the direction of this change will be determined by the way we think and the choices we make.
Diverse methods and arrangements can co-exist simultaneously in any location to facilitate the production, provision, distribution, and exchange of goods and services, for the mutual benefit of all voluntary participants, at their own risk and expense. James Clayton
Note- boldfacing was not indicated in the original submitted letter to the Silo.
It’s coq-a-leeky time. For the past several years my friend House and I go out to our secret spot in a nearby woods and harvest wild leeks.
They grow three quarters of the way down a steep hill so the element of danger grows stronger every year with aging limbs. Let me tell you, it’s damn hard using a shovel on a steep hill when you can’t balance on one leg. Jeanine’s advice as I was leaving “try not to fall down the hill” Exactly. I had my cell phone with me but realized that if either of us went down there would be no immediate rescue.
We made a pact to leave the fallen man behind and press on should disaster strike. The soil was wet this year, so it was an easier job digging them out. It only took us about an hour to fill our recyclable shopping bags. When we had successfully dragged ourselves back up the incline we paused to sit on a fallen tree and observe the moment. We discussed as we always do how it would be great to build a camping platform at this spot and retreat here when our “other” worlds became too much. The annual pipe dream.
As the sun filtered through the trees we watched the dogs for awhile as they ran around with noses to the ground. Then, as every year we validated the ritual as something important to us that we will repeat faithfully for as long as we are able. Pause. Time to make our way back through the difficult new growth.
It takes Jeanine a long time to clean the leeks, and take off the little hairy bits on the ends, but she doesn’t seem to mind. We both know what’s coming. That night we make our version of Coq-a-leeky soup, a perennial spring favourite of many cultures including the Scottish. We get a pot of chicken broth simmering and drop in about 8 full cloves of garlic, and a couple of cut up potatoes. We let that simmer until the potatoes are quite soft ( about 15 min). Next we throw in the chopped up wild leeks (use everything) and give it about another 10 minutes. A little pepper, or soya if want to give it an Asian flavour. But not so much as to cover the subtle flavor of the leeks. No oil or fat is involved and we love the flavor. Most importantly, it is an amazing spring tonic. I notice I have better energy the next morning.
Jeanine talks about how in France it is common for people to do a “cure” from time to time. Short of an absolute fast which can be debilitating and potentially dangerous, they simply restrict themselves for a few days to eating small amounts of only one simple, nutritious thing . Some use fruit, others fish or vegetable stock, etc. Currently it is not the only thing we are eating so it can’t be considered a full cure, but we have been predominantly eating just the leek soup since, and will continue until it’s gone.
By the way, we wrap the cleaned leeks in paper towels and store them in the crisper. There are a lot of other creative and delicious ways to cook these little treasures. I recommend trying to get your hands on some while they’re in season. It’s worth the effort. For the Silo, Phil Ross.
The American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana -CP) is the largest of all North American frogs. They can be found in freshwater ponds, lakes and marshes with lots of vegetation, especially water lilies. Photograph by D. Greenwood
Bullfrogs are typically green or gray-brown with brown spots and have easily identifiable circular eardrums, or tympanum, on either side of their heads.
Females are slightly larger than the males, but only the male Bullfrog emits the trademark
baritone bellow Click for sounds of american bullfrog calls and their choruses can be heard during the day or night.
Nocturnal predators, Bullfrogs will ambush and eat just about anything they can fit in their mouths, including insects, mice, fish, birds, and snakes. Search “Dixie Greenwood” on the top of any page on our site to view more of Dixie’s nature photographs.
There are several cover variants for Toews novel, but we like this one.
Miriam Toews’ Irma Voth follows the trials and tribulations of a rebellious, yet eager to please, 19 year old young woman from a strict Mennonite community near Chihuahua. The story begins with Irma recalling the failure of her marriage to local Mexican man. Irma provides the reader with a brief glimpse into her past while she pines over her botched marriage. Her family’s mysterious and seemingly unexplained relocation from the Canadian prairies and her father’s disapproval and disownment over her marriage are vaguely addressed. The story, told by Irma, weaves her past with her present in an effort to understand her situation and the situation of those around her. In her attempt to reason and understand her surroundings, Irma reveals what she knows and what she longs to understand.
As Irma guides the reader through her interactions with the family and community that has cast her aside, the reader catches a glimpse into her very foreign and complex world. As the story unfolds, different characters are exposed. Irma’s younger sister, the 13-year-old Aggie, sees her older sister’s life as an adventure and longs to follow in her footsteps—however resistant Irma may be to this. Aggie’s innocence seems to mirror what Irma has lost in her recent actions and through her actions, the reader can understand the difficulty facing Irma: protecting her sister vs. letting her find her own way, no matter what mistakes she may possibly make. The reader cannot help by admire Aggie’s eagerness and lust for life. Irma robustly contrasts this and the reader is left to try to decipher Irma’s motivations.
Miriam Toews was born in 1964 in the Mennonite town of Steinbach,Manitoba. Did you know? Miriam was a CBC freelancer making radio documentaries. photo: Carol Loewen from www.randomhouse.ca
The novel is told through the eyes of Irma. Much of the dialogue and action is driven by Aggie’s character. Irma takes the position as an observant watcher, but through her actions and inner musings, drives the plot and offers the reader a detailed insight into her past. Not until the end does Irma take a long overdue aggressive stand and make bold moves for reasons she feels justified in. With an ending that will resonate with any reader, this novel tells a haunting tale of moral obligations and maturity.
Sarah Purdy is an educator and a book and literary reviewer for The Silo. Search “Sarah Purdy” from our site to read more Canadian book reviews.
November 1, 2012 His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D. Governor General
Your Excellency:
I am going to start with this quote i read today “I am a Canadian, free to
speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I
think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, and free to choose those
who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold
for myself and all mankind.” – John Diefenbaker.
Now as a proud First Nations citizen of Canada, I strongly urge you to use
your discretionary reserve powers as the Head of State of this country and
to suspend Stephen Harper as Prime Minister and to dissolve Parliament in
order to preserve and protect our democracy. The method in which Prime
Minister Harper negotiated in secret the Canada-China Foreign Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) and his refusal to have any
debate or discussion on it in the House of Commons is extremely
undemocratic. There are many who believe he no longer nor ever acted in
the true benefit of Canada as a whole, i speak for myself and for my
peoples, as i know many will be, or would have wanted to, sending letters.
The First Nations are only just getting word out with regards to the full
effect this will have on our peoples. We are begging for our
Constitutional Rights given to us through our treaties. I see Elders
crying, these people lead our communities not the false leaders imposed on
us. i cry as i write this…our Elders gave a unanimous decision to reject
any deals to use our lands. We have been closed out of any trade
agreements, some based on technicalities…now to quote from of the
government documents our growing youth population (which is getting
healthier) is excepted to be “400,000” these children are what we fight
for. Our beliefs are that we are here as maintainers or caretakers of this
land. Mother Earth will be here long after we leave, our children’s
children should not have to “maintain” our messes. I was raised outside
the First Nations community, taken away as a child isolated(almost
literally) from people for around 6 years of my life, i had school and i
had my sister but i was forced to spend a lot of time alone, plus
physical/psychological abuse, i am one of the lucky ones. But our
communities are only just starting the healing process, and on top of that
educating ourselves. We need to be able to Listen to our Elders, our
Elders are begging for our Treaty rights and I do know “hear” news of our
tribal leaders asking for the same.
All citizens of Canada have a democratic right to be informed and consulted
on any such far reaching agreements especially when they have the potential
for very dire repercussions as does FIPA. In ratifying this agreement,
which provides communist run corporations the power to sue Canadian
governments at all levels should our laws and policies impede their
expected profits, it is not only completely contrary to the best interest
of Canadians it in fact serves to undermine the very core of our democracy.
By ratifying this agreement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is providing
Chinese corporations the ability to challenge and overturn our laws and
strike down our democratic process and that is without question an attack
on our democracy and our ability to be sovereign country. The vast majority
of Canadians strongly oppose this agreement but their Conservative Members
of Parliament choose to follow party lines rather than to represent their
constituent’s wishes. The people of Canada have lost confidence in the
Harper Conservative Parliament and our elected representatives refuse to
act accordingly. One of the Governor’s General most important
responsibilities is to ensure that Canada always has a prime minister and a
government in place that has the confidence of the people who elected the
Parliament. For the sake of Canada and Canadians, please execute your
duties and suspend Stephen Harper as Prime Minister and dissolve Parliament.
The above is a quote from a fellow citizen, but I have done research.
Everything I have been looking up over the last month with regards to
environmental amendments and First Nation goals are extremely disturbing,
and to mention on top of those are budget indiscretions and the
environmental impact he has allowed to happen. I am not someone that can
sit on the sidelines and not do something or say something when you know
something being done is wrong. What the Conservative government is doing
to Canada is wrong, what he has planned for the First Nations communities
is wrong. This government can not be allowed to continue on with it’s
agenda.
Sincerely
Lenore Gold
From the Cree Nation and a Canadian Citizen
*The Silo is a non-partisan online and print publication and welcomes open-forum debate and comments. The opinions expressed in letters to the Silo are not necessarily those of the Silo.
“20th Century Limited Train on Tracks” by Alfred Eisenstaedt
The deficit projection for the current fiscal year has improved by more than $400 million from the 2012 Budget forecast to $14.4 billion. The province remains on track to meet the 2012 Budget deficit targets in 2013-14 and 2014–15 and for the deficit to be eliminated by 2017–18.
Ontario is projecting growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.0 per cent in 2012, 1.9 per cent in 2013, 2.3 per cent in 2014 and 2.4 per cent in 2015.
As of September 2012, Ontario employment was 356,000 net new jobs above its recessionary low in June 2009. Ontario is expected to create nearly 350,000 net new jobs by 2015, reducing the unemployment rate to 6.8 per cent from a high of 9.4 per cent in June 2009.
The fiscal plan provides no funding for incremental compensation increases for new collective agreements. The government is currently consulting on draft legislation that proposes to freeze compensation for executives and managers across the Ontario Public Service, and the Broader Public Sector (BPS) who are eligible for performance pay. It also proposes to ensure future BPS collective agreements are consistent with the province’s goals to eliminate the deficit and protect jobs and public services. The proposed draft legislation would support avoiding increased spending in the BPS of $2.8 billion over three years and help to protect roughly 55,000 public sector jobs.
QUOTE
“Despite ongoing global economic uncertainty, Ontario is ahead of its targets for lowering the deficit for the fourth year in a row. We will work with anyone who is willing to work with us to meet the objectives of eliminating the deficit and protecting jobs and public services.”
— Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance
QUICK FACTS
• The 2012–13 revenue projection of $113,019 million is $445 million above the 2012 Budget outlook, largely reflecting a higher estimated 2011–12 tax base. Consistent with the government’s continued effort toward managing the growth in expenses, total expense for 2012–13 has decreased by $3.7 million compared to the 2012 Budget plan.
• Robust business capital investment, a rebound in net trade and increased consumer spending will be key contributors to growth. Over the past two years, business investment spending on plant and equipment has risen by more than 22 per cent, or
$11.1 billion.
• In the 2011–2012 Public Accounts of Ontario, the government announced the deficit for 2011–12 was $13.0 billion, marking the third consecutive year in which the province has improved on its fiscal projections. This result is also 47 per cent lower than the 2009–10 deficit of $24.7 billion forecast in the fall of 2009, at the depth of the global recession.
• The government has brought together business, labour and public sector leaders to form the Jobs and Prosperity Council. Reporting to the Premier, and headed by RBC President and CEO Gordon Nixon, the council will explore additional opportunities in the next few months for a path to sustainable growth that will also help inform the 2013 Ontario Budget.
• The 2012 Budget extended the pay freeze for MPPs by a further two years — for a total of five years.
What kind of tax break would you like to see? Ontario has gotten itself into a difficult situation. Too many people have lost their jobs, our province has lost its leading position in the country, and government has lost its ability to balance its books.
We face a critical choice. Either we implement sensible policies that create jobs and prosperity or we accept a future of high debt, declining public services and living below our economic potential.
The first and most basic thing government needs to do is balance the books. The second is to start to pay down the debt. We can’t afford to run government on a credit card. Interest on our accumulated debt is $10.6 billion a year. That’s a cost we’re passing on to our kids. It slows the economy and restricts government services for years to come.
Over the past nine years, families and businesses in Ontario have experienced a number of unpleasant tax surprises. The primary factor in our slow job creation is high tax levels. The top marginal tax rate in Ontario today is 49.5 per cent. That’s simply too high. Economists have demonstrated that overly high tax rates can actually reduce tax dollars collected because they are a strong disincentive to work. Lower taxes create jobs and higher taxes deter them. We can address the problem of 600,000 people out of work in Ontario, in part, through tax policy.
The three main taxes in Ontario are personal income tax, corporate tax, and the harmonized sales tax. Given that tax cuts create jobs, which sector tax cut do you think would be most effective for job creation? To provide input, contact me at 1-800-903-8629 or toby.barrett@pc.ola.org.
Fair competition means giving all businesses an equal chance. It’s not up to government to act as an investment banker to support some businesses at the expense of others. Rather than use public money to favor companies that know how to work the system, use those tax dollars for broad general benefit. Ending corporate welfare will provide enough for significant tax changes.
Ontario has long benefited from free and open markets. The 1960’s Auto Pact between Canada and the United States, and the North American Free Trade Agreement that superseded it, fueled the manufacturing boom in this province. But while $2 billion worth of trade crosses the Canada-U.S. border each and every day, too often the border is a traffic jam, delaying goods and workers from crossing. Breaking this bottleneck with our largest trading partner, and the costly delays at other entry and exit points along our
southern border, is vital to growing Ontario’s economy. Ontario should embrace the economic opportunities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia and tear down the barriers that separate us.
Ontario is long overdue for a major reduction in rules that regulate businesses. Some regulations are necessary, but Ontario has accumulated an absurd paperwork burden that costs the province’s businesses too much time and money. We need fewer rules, and those rules must meet a clear need.
We can drive growth through innovation and ingenuity – and through a belief in markets, in entrepreneurialism, in competition and in free trade. These are values that have long driven economic success around the world. And government can lead economic growth with policies to reduce taxes, balance the books, boost trade and cut red tape. By MPP Toby Barrett
Corporate welfare? In 2011-2012, $ 1,021,521 was steered to Haldimand-Norfolk-Oxford newspapers in one grant alone. image: www.pch.gc.ca
Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller. The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario is the province’s independent environmental watchdog. Appointed by the Legislative Assembly, the ECO is tasked with monitoring and reporting on compliance with the Environmental Bill of Rights, and the government’s success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in achieving greater energy conservation in Ontario.
Queen’s Park – The McGuinty Liberals have consistently failed to deliver simple policies and programs to protect and conserve our environment. These failures negatively affect our economy, communities and well being.
A [Sept 25,2012] report from the Environment Commissioner of Ontario cites many examples of how the government has failed to provide adequate water protection programs, monitor wild life populations and protect public health from industrial dust pollution. Ontario needs water protection and conservation programs to deal with the more extreme weather events caused by climate change.
We saw the importance of this first hand with this summer’s drought. Not having proper water supply affects our ability to grow food, our health and the productivity of industry.
The government’s failure to invest a relatively small amount in monitoring wildlife threatens forestry, one of Ontario’s most important industries. It is short sighted and irresponsible to not have a functioning wildlife monitoring program in place.
The government’s failure to provide responsible environmental protection directly affects our health. One of the most obvious examples is the government’s inaction on complaints related to industrial dust pollution. Ontario can do better. We must do better. Getting back in touch with environmental issues is important for our health, economy and quality of life. For the Silo by the Green Party of Ontario
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known and largest birds of prey in North America. The adult birds are dark brown in colour with golden-brown feathers on the back of their head, neck and upper wings.
