Looking for Loopholes

 Direct Answers
from Wayne & Tamara

Looking for Loopholes
Q My boyfriend and I had a great start to our relationship. We were medical students then. We trusted each other and were both clear that cheating is a dealbreaker for us.
     When we moved to different cities to start our specialty training, we saw each other less. Things got busier but we tried working things out, always thinking about the light at the end of the tunnel. Nonetheless, we felt really happy once we met.
     Two years ago, someone anonymously messaged me on a networking site saying my boyfriend was seeing someone else. There was no evidence, but I immediately called him and he denied it.
     One day, I went into paranoid mode and checked his phone while he was asleep. I saw flirty messages. The next morning I confronted him and asked who she was. He said they were coworkers and friends, and he was just helping her review. That was our first big argument.  Of course, I believed him. We even got engaged last year!
     Fast forward to three months before our wedding. Another person messaged me, this time with proof! Turns out, their relationship became physical both before and after he proposed to me.
     Bit by bit, he told me the truth. He admitted they were friends, part of a group who went out together and reviewed in his apartment, until the two of them were left alone. But he never once mentioned this group of friends to me. He said he was afraid I wouldn’t give my permission to hang out with them.
     He said the girl made a move and kissed him first, and his lust took over. After that, they had sex for a few more meetings until he realized what they were doing was wrong. He claims he ended it with the other woman three months ago and was going to tell me.
     My life crumbled. The person I thought I knew best and trusted most, suddenly became a stranger. We broke up and our wedding was canceled.
     A month and a half after D-day, we still communicate. He’s remorseful and readily answers my calls, even though he knows I just want answers.
     I will be flying to another country for 18 months of further training, while he’ll be staying in our home country for his training. He says he’ll fly to see me once he’s done and court me again. He says I’m the person he wants to live with in this lifetime.
     Can a person really change? Will I be able to get past this feeling of betrayal?
Heidi

A Heidi, a loophole is defined as an exemption that can be used to avoid the effect of a law. You and your boyfriend are both looking for a loophole.
     In this case, the law you want to avoid is a law of human nature.
     Your boyfriend’s first line of defense was to lie. His second line of defense was to blame you. (You wouldn’t approve of his group.) His third line of defense was to blame the other woman. (She started it.)
     If you stay with him, his final defense will be, “It couldn’t have been all that bad because Heidi stayed.”
     Of course it isn’t all that bad to him. He’s not the one betrayed. Proceeding as before is what a cheater wants because they are not the injured party. But if you had cheated on him, would he be so lenient on you? Of course not.
     His excuses are the archetypal responses of a cheater who is caught. It’s the classic pattern, but because you haven’t been through this before, you don’t recognize the pattern. Still, your gut told you to cancel the wedding.
     When he blamed the other woman, he admitted he can “fall prey” to any other woman. In trying to wriggle off the hook, he set the hook. He admitted, “I cannot control myself and you cannot trust me.”
     You were not paranoid when you checked his phone. You smelled gas and looked for the leak. That’s realism, not paranoia.
     Perhaps you’ve had to explain to a patient that they have a terminal disease. Now you’re on the other side of that. You must face that your relationship with this man is terminal.
    Reactions to cheating—the disgust, the outrage at the unfairness, the suspicion, the traumatic response—are not something a skillful counselor can talk you out of. They are part of your human nature.
     Counseling can be helpful in many areas, but it cannot overcome the basic needs built into us for trust, for justice, and for love.
     In a marriage, there can be no loopholes. Why? Because with people who belong together, none are needed.
 Wayne & Tamara  

write:  Directanswers@WayneAndTamara.com

Afghanistan the new Vietnam

Afghanistan the new Vietnam by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East It seems that we have learned nothing from the past. The quick failure of Afghanistan is a repeat of the failure of the intervention in Vietnam. On April 29 1975 the evacuation of Saigon was very similar to the evacuation of Kabul in August 2021. After almost a half century and two generations, we are getting the same result. The problem in Afghanistan started with the Soviet invasion on Christmas day in 1979 and ended in mid February 1989 with the withdrawal of the Soviet troops. The Soviet Union intervened in support of the Afghan communist government in its conflict with anti-communist Muslim guerrillas. The aim of the Soviet operation was to prop up their new but faltering client state, headed by leader Babrak Karmal. However, Karmal was unable to attain significant popular support. Backed by the United States, the mujahideen rebellion grew, spreading to all parts of the country. The Soviets initially left the suppression of the rebellion to the Afghan army, but the latter was beset by mass desertions and remained largely ineffective throughout the war. The Afghan War quickly settled down into a stalemate, with more than 100,000 Soviet troops controlling the cities, larger towns, and major garrisons and the mujahideen moving with relative freedom throughout the countryside. Soviet troops tried to crush the insurgency by various tactics, but the guerrillas generally eluded their attacks. The Soviets then attempted to eliminate the mujahideen's civilian support by bombing and depopulating the rural areas. These tactics sparked a massive flight from the countryside; by 1982 some 2.8 million Afghans had sought asylum in Pakistan, and another 1.5 million had fled to Iran. The mujahideen were eventually able to neutralize Soviet air power through the use of shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles supplied by the Soviet Union's Cold War adversary, the United States. Now back to the future. In 2021, after a presence for 20 years of US lead NATO troops including our Canadian Forces, the result is the same as the Soviets then experienced. The quick disintegration of the Afghan Army supposedly trained by the US and its NATO allies is the failure of an intervention ill conceived and ill managed with lives and resources lost to a cause that was unclear from the beginning. Saigon 1975 (United States), Kabul 1989 (Soviets), Kabul 2021 (US and NATO) seems that something went wrong in that part of the world and that the leaders of the western world just gloriously ignored the lessons of history. No one thought in 2021 that by mid-August the Taliban would be in Kabul. The Taliban's ability to link their cause to the very meaning of being Afghan, was a crucial factor in America's defeat. For Afghans, jihad, better translated as "resistance" or "struggle", has historically been a means of defense against oppression by outsiders, part of their endurance against invader after invader since the time of Alexander the Great. In more recent times, they have first exhausted, then repelled the British, the Soviets and now the Americans. The 'forever war' for Americans was also a long war for Canadians. Never mind that apparently the NATO decision to invoke, for the first time, the collective security provisions of Article Five - that an attack on one is an attack on all - was the initiative of then Canadian NATO ambassador David Wright. That decision launched the US-led NATO intervention that is only now concluding in a controlled disaster. As a result, more than 40,000 Canadian soldiers served in Afghanistan including myself in 2007, with 158 killed between 2001 and 2014. More came home injured or psychologically wounded, and the Canadian Armed Forces reported that as a follow up 191 veterans have taken their own lives since 2011. It is a sad story for generations of Afghani people and a sad result of the Canadian efforts to try to build a responsible society. The Afghan experience is a cautionary tale for future Canadian interventions. The western experience in Afghanistan will oblige policy-makers to think hard about future interventions. Without an appreciation of the history, culture, geography and local politics, we may win battles but we lose the war. As the evacuation of Afghani who worked and supported the Canadian Forces continue at this moment it is a time to reflect. Unlike during the Cold War when Canada was a leading middle power within one of two bounded geopolitical blocs, today it faces the prospect of becoming a marginal state in an integrated - yet pluralistic - international order of global scope. The new era and the rapidly evolving world calls for a Canadian foreign policy that requires a drastic change in attitude. We need to embrace pragmatism over ideology, and strategic thinking over the endless invocation of platitudes. Canada's second consecutive failure in our bid for a UN Security Council seat should make us rethink the notion that the world cares at all about who we are. We need to have qualified people in leadership positions, be proactive internationally, regain the edge we have lost in science and technology and develop expertise in diplomacy. It is time to start the Great Canadian Awakening both domestically and internationally!

Hey where are we going with this!

hey where are we going with this!

By Rosaldo Russo Allow me to introduce begin this column by thanking the newspaper for allowing me the opportunity and access to the press. Not to many if any allow an average person like me to tell the world what I see and think. My name is Rosaldo Russo. I came to this great country to make a better life for myself and my family. I thank Canada for everything it has allowed me to do. I worked construction all my life. I know the value of hard work and honesty. I remember as a boy my father always telling me to work hard and buy land. I remember days when I did not have enough to eat or go to work... but I did not wait for hand outs. I rounded up my pride my skill and my determination to succeed and went to work. In those days the only benefits we received was the fact we were employed. Before retiring I was the owner and operator of local material supply company that allowed me to retired without worry. Now that I have time to enjoy life. I look around me and have some concern for future generations. I see that the world is finished. Opportunities for our youth are hard and few. The type of hard work I use to put in is hard to see. It appears we all have become robots of a system that does not appreciate honesty and hard work. I remember my motto when it came to my customers. Customer satisfaction comes first. I made millions of the fact that I treated my clients with respect and courtesy. It appears that in today’s world. Customer satisfaction is gone. Look at anyone doing business with companies like Bell or Rogers. They are not about customer satisfaction and or service. These giants treat their customers like cattle. A number in a sea of millions. You do as they say or they cut you off. Where are we going here... How can this happen. I tell you how it is happening. We Canadian people have no choice. When we allow this giants to not fear loss of clients. They treat us like cattle. Their meaning of convenience cost us. They want to get paid at a particular date and in particular way. No credit card. No service. Mis a payment. You get cut off. How dot these companies stay in business. Come on people. Wake up. Unfortunately we can’t do nothing about it as there is no other choice. What is happening to our Canada that we allow these giants to openly rape us? If anything they should be charged for false advertising as they claim 1G speeds and no one gets them. Or 1000 channels that are all repetitive.

WHEN THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE IS IT STILL DEMOCRACY?

 WHEN THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE IS IT STILL DEMOCRACY?
By Joe Ingino
Editor/Publisher

“I live a dream in a nightmare world”   

   The news briefing read:    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to call election for Sept. 20: sources - Trudeau aides have said for months that the ruling Liberals would push for a vote before the end of 2021, two years ahead of schedule.
  For the last 100 years we have been hiding behind false ideologies.  In North America we have been brought up to defend democracy and freedom at all costs.   Sadly many have fallen during wars in the name of the preservation of a political phantom.
Allow me to explain:  We the people all want the same.  To live free of persecution and to be able to support our families.  For our children to grow up in a society that offers opportunity based on achievements, not sexual preference, race and or ethnicity.
Democracy by definition means:  a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.   
Now the question on the table is.... If in a so called democracy there  is only one choice is that still democracy?
After all Communism by definition means: a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.
Now if we read this correctly on the first we have a choice as determined by our education/opportunity and stature in society.  On the latter you have no choice and are pigeon holed into a place in society.
  I do not know about you.  One thing both ‘isms’ share is that it is a government system to control/oppress the masses.  
In both cases you have no choice, as in democracy your choices are mandated by situation/environment/economic stature.  In Communism you are pigeon holed without any real perceived choice.  In part one could say that both “isms” are one of the same.  The only difference is the path taken to the same control.   Could this be why in many countries the traditional “isms” are failing.   Could it that this is the Chinese secret to economic success?   Unified greed.  Unified goal.  One choice in the name of national prosperity.
Now back to Canada.  In Canada we have three major political parties.  And about 30 other official unrecognized parties.   In a country with so much choice and so much freedom it appears that we may have choice but no real purpose in the selection we make.   No matter who wins.  Someone is always unhappy.   The left the right. Once in office it is business as usual.  Government in Canada has become nothing short of a marketing ploy.  People do not vote on values and principles.   On what is best for them.  Instead we as Canadians vote on nostalgia, popular thought and name recognition.   Our political system much like that in the United States is broken.   It is about greed and living through your term to possibly win again.   Now I must say that under the Liberal government during the pandemic.  Not one citizen can say they did nothing.  Sure they could have done more but that is the usual battle  cry.  With this said on has to wonder if the Conservatives had been in office if they had not done the same.   Unfortunately the conservative party in Canada has lost it’s way and in part it’s purpose. To much infighting.  The Liberals with the Trudeau flag will run with it for as long as they can.  Then we have the NDP.  A cloud in between two major storms.  Very unlikely.  Then there is the PPC proving that political ideology need change in Canada.  In Canada it appears we have no choice as no matter who we elect the same old same old will continue.  Is this democracy when we only have one choice in our wide selection?

WORTHLESS WORDS

WORTHLESS WORDS

By Joe Ingino

Editor/Publisher

“I live a dream in a nightmare world”

What is happening across the world? What an exciting and yet concerning times we are living through. Believe me I have heard this cry before.... Change is good. The future holds only one end and so on and so on. Depending on who you are talking with the outcome becomes more doom and gloom.

In reality our educational systems are making us more aware of our environments. Educating us on things that in the past we were ignorant of even having a thought about. It appears we are all experts in our own fields. To me our educational systems compounded with high tech. We are producing specialist instead of free thinkers. We are creating a social culture based on perceptual norms and not facts.

The rule of thumb appears to be, that the more people you can sway to believe a particular thought... That thought becomes reality. Even though irrational.

Take for example language.... All languages suffer from the same. We today are communicating at a much higher awareness level then ever before.

Take for example simple words like ‘LOVE’. If this basic common word can have so many uses and make so much impact on the human profile. Imagine words like Democracy, Equality.

Language in modern society is being used as a weapon to control the masses. Historically, governments and the church had that domain monopolized as one the other could not exists.

Our laws and our social/civic principles are all rooted in the 10 commandments. God is used as tool to force conformity amongst the masses. After all who wants to end up in Hell.

Unfortunately that card has been played once to many times and the game has been exposed to be nothing short of a words switch and bait type of card game.

People are today bringing to light the validity of the word of God. They question and defy law in the name of a right that in reality they do not have but have been fed the line that they do.

Our rights and freedoms are not mandated by anyone. No place does it say that this is a human right other than man saying so.

In reality we are nothing but animals. The human race. Governed by basic instincts and drives.

What is the difference between a drive and an instinct? As nouns the difference between drive and instinct is that drive is (senseid)self-motivation; ability coupled with ambition while instinct is a natural or inherent impulse or behaviour. Are these not what religion and government so tailored their laws and norms around. They like to give us the impression that we have the right while at the same time oppressing our natural impulse and keep us civil?

What is Freud's instinct theory?

Definition: Instinct. INSTINCT. A pre-lingual bodily impulse that drives our actions. Freud makes a distinction between instinct and the antithesis, conscious/unconscious; an instinct is pre-lingual and, so, can only be accessed by language, by an idea that represents the instinct.

Sigmund Freud, 1891. Freud, early in his studies, took the biological view that there are two basic instinctive forces governing life: self-preservation and reproduction.What is the flaw of instinct theory?

What is the flaw in instinct theory? Instincts don't explain behavior; they simply label it. Drive Reduction theory. A theory that states that some physiological need occurs that creates a state of tension which in turn motivates you to reduce the tension or satisfy the need.

If this stands true. Modern day norms can be said to be manipulated by the media and high tech. Could it be that world governments turn to the media in order to cast sublime messages of compliance in the future. But wait. Places like CNN and FOX are they not already doing this. God is being removed from most of society as any trace of history. Governments are still pushing the national pride line only to be denounced.

How is democracy to survive when love between man kind can’t be accomplished. Does this mean that we are looking at a world of misinformation or tailored information enforced by force disguised as law?

Wait in part it is today. Will the message remain the same. Just the delivery method change?

I remember growing up hearing of the many evil that the future would bring. From the end of time as the clock clicked midnight in 1999 to 2000 to the many religious devoted calling on followers to prepare in 2012.

The reality of existence is not based on events. I believe that our destiny has been predestined by our existence.

We are nothing but part of something much bigger.

We the human race create all these system to survive. To thrive in an environment that has limitation and an expiry date.

Much like our own lives. Many make it to 80. Not realizing that we sleep 40 of those years in the name of rest/health.

We communicate in part to oppress our rooted drives and instincts.

We go around professing based on confused opinion.

Even those that swear by science only to be proven to fault in their method.

I think the best thing we can take from life, society is fact that we are on this planet for a short time and during that time we must enjoy and live every moment as if it was our last.

Achieve and believe that you are not the one that is important. Your contributions to humanity are. Your compassion and understanding in the enlightenment of understanding who you really are. Worthless words or are they?

BEND OVER TAKE IN THE ASS AND LIKE IT

 

BEND OVER TAKE IN THE ASS AND LIKE IT
By Joe Ingino
Editor/Publisher

“I live a dream in a nightmare world”   

    As a child I remember how much I hated going to the doctor.   As a kid you only went there for a vaccination or a minor check up.   On the first, I remember him lowering my pants and before I knew it.  Boom he had pricked me with a needle on my ass cheek.
  I had no choice.  I was more worried about the fact that my genitalia was exposed then anything else.... Meanwhile I was getting pricked in the name of public health.   My mom would always kiss me in the forehead to comfort me as she slipped me a candy as a treat for being a good boy.
  In modern society it appears the same principles are being employed by the government.   They take us to a place out of fear.  In the name of public health.  Then without really having much choice prick us with a vaccine that in my opinion has not fully been studied or understood.  All they tell us is that it has shown in some fictitious study to have an affect on a virus that even today we(governments) of the world have no clue what it truly is.   
We have an idea.  But no one can without a doubt clearly say they know what this virus is doing across the planet.
   Could this be what they mean by ‘the writing on the wall’.   Could it be that out of our own ignorance we are entrusting governments.  Governments that go on a hit and miss agenda and not on what is best for the people they represent.
   They say that Russians are the most upfront people.  The people with the most real choices.  A people with true freedom.  I say this because as free and democratic the Russian may be.  They are only given one choice.   Therefore the choice is always right and easy.  This mentality appears to be what our so called ‘FREE AND DEMOCRATIC’ nations of the world are employing.
   I say this because it appears that governments across the globe without fully understanding the choice.  Taken choice from their citizens by creating a sublime hysteria over what they perceive to be the magic shield against COVID.   Only to be exposed for their ignorance of the truth by variants of COVID.
   You can’t blame the politicians.  They are flags in the wind of an agenda that is way beyond their intellect and understanding.  
Much like me taking it in the ass.  We are all taking it in the ass and forced to like it.
Just this week.  Some brilliant mind in government decided to put the idiotic idea in the arena of public ignorance, that somehow governments have given themselves the power to pass vaccination passports.   Not only that.   The same brilliant minds put the seed of ignorance amongst public opinionatos that it is OK to refuse services, entry and or opportunity based on vaccination choice.
This is in part sparking the debate over forced vaccination in general.   As it stands if you are not vaccinated for some disease you can be banned from schools and the like.  So why is it that the COVID vaccination has such an opposition?   Simple.  The COVID vaccine is to new and a fallacy.  We must not trust science but depend on it’s byproducts.  We must not enforce compliance but instead promote civil duty, free will and choice.  As a society we have given up common sense.  Basic human decency and for that we are being oppressed by laws and social pressure to comply.   Vaccines that have a solid proven record are obviously good.  Vaccines that are put forth in urgency to attempt to calm and unknown is wrong as it is not logical.  People  lets use common sense.  Let’s stop taking it in the ass in the name that science knows best.
Let’s first completely understand the source then let science find a logical solution that is reasonable and true.  Humanity will never move forward blinded by ignorance.  Open your eyes.

Your Cover Letter's Third Paragraph Getting the Reader to Act

 Your Cover Letter's
Third Paragraph  
Getting the Reader to Act
By Nick Kossovan
 If you don't ask, you don't get.
  In the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin's character, Blake, gives a shape-up or ship-out speech to a group of real estate salesmen. He turns over a blackboard on which two sets of letters are written. One set of letters is "ABC." Blake then shouts, "A-B-C. A, always; B, be; C, closing. Always be closing! Always be closing!"
To shorten your job search, envision you're looking for your next client. Finding your next client is a sales process; therefore, you need to A-B-C. When you're in A-B-C mode, you move through an employer's hiring process much faster than passive job seekers.
A-B-C isn't only for when you're at the interview stage, intending to close the deal (obtaining a job offer). To get your network to inform you of job opportunities, get past gatekeepers, and especially to get that covenant interview, you need to A-B-C, which is why your cover letter's last paragraph needs to be a call to action.
Here are 3 examples:
With my 15+ years of sales management experience, I know I can quickly get up to speed as ACME Inc.'s next Sales Director. I'd welcome the opportunity to speak with you regarding my qualifications. Next Wednesday, I'll reach out to schedule a call to discuss my thoughts on who to raise ACME Inc.'s ROI by 25% before year-end. I look forward to speaking with you.
I'm inspired by Callister Inc's success in supporting homegrown businesses. I have several ideas for marketing strategies to increase profitability among your customer base and how I can grow your reach. I look forward to the opportunity to share my thoughts with you.
I'm looking forward to discussing my skills and my 10+ years of international hotel management experience. I've several suggestions I'd like to pass by you on how Grand Budapest Hotel can increase its occupancy rate, a challenge all hotels face during the current pandemic. Please contact me at (555) 916-225-5887 or mary.smitters@hotel.com any time. I'll be in touch next Friday to follow up.
Your closing paragraph needs to:
-Be decisive. Decisiveness projects confidence, which is not to be confused with arrogance. Confidence is a massive turn-on with employers. Before the hiring manager can feel (hiring comes down to gut feel) you can do the job, they need to feel that you feel you can do the job.
-Write to what you can do for the employer, not what they can do for you.
-Offer a teaser. To use another movie analogy, think of Marlon Brando's words in The Godfather, "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." This sets the foundation for what'll be discussed and therefore puts you in the driver's seat.
-Mention you'll follow up. (Then DO IT!)
The last point is a job search game-changer. Many career experts claim following up is overly aggressive. The way I see it, not following up makes you passive, which is a form of being lazy. I'm repeating myself; employers don't hire lazy.
There's been a few instances where I've been overwhelmed with resumes. Those who called me almost always got an interview. I can recall three times where I hired the person based on a "follow-up" phone conversation.
A few weeks back, a Regional Sales Director for a large pharmaceutical company told me when hiring a sales representative, he only grants interviews to those who follow up. This makes sense since sales success requires being comfortable making calls.
Bottom-line: Following up by phone will set you apart from your competition.
Of course, if the job posting says "No phone calls please.", which is uncommon, you need to respect such instruction.
Regarding signing off, use any of the following:
-Sincerely
-Best regards
-Sincere regards
-Yours truly
-Respectfully
As I've mentioned in an earlier column, there's no universal hiring methodology. Don't stress over small details, such as how to sign off. Throughout your search, focus on communicating how you're able to bring results (value). Such focus will have you A-B-C.
If you're wondering what the other set of letters Blake had written on the blackboard, they were AIDA - Attention, Interest, Decision, Action. This is what your cover letter needs to do.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send him your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com.

MICRO SOLUTION TO A MACRO PROBLEM

 MICRO SOLUTION TO A
MACRO PROBLEM
By Joe Ingino
Editor/Publisher

“I live a dream in a nightmare world”   

    Why is it that it appears that  our elected official will not do something without some sort of political gain.    This week The Region of Durham is partnering with Lakeridge Health, Ontario Tech University and Durham College on the Oshawa Micro-Housing Pilot Project.
  A 10 modular home complex smack in an already economically depressed area of Oshawa.   Does that sound to you like good planning.  It is obvious that in Oshawa we have a huge homeless problem. Not to mention all the folks living on the edge of economic bankruptcy as they can’t afford the exuberant rents landlords are asking now a day.
  The attempt to find a solution is nothing short of an insult to those that need homes now.  To me this is nothing but yet another attempt by the University to use the people of Oshawa for their benefit.
Durham Regional Chair John Henry says the partnership between the region and Lakeridge Health, Ontario Tech University and Durham College will support the success of the Oshawa Micro-Housing Pilot Project by ensuring participants have access to the supports and services they may need.
“No one should get left behind or fall through the cracks, and, by working collaboratively with our community partners, we can end chronic homelessness in Durham Region,” says Henry.
  He has to be kidding.   ‘NO ONE SHOULD BE LEFT BEHIND’.  Really.   So with 10 modules you will serve the need of the homeless?
When the need is 1000 time more to say the least... but wait let’s let the good self appointed academia treat our people like ginea pigs in order to extract research grants from the Feds.  
This insane micro solution does not even come close to alleviating the real Macro problem we are facing in Oshawa.   
The evaluation plan will be led by Dr. Tyler Frederick, associate professor at Ontario Tech University, who is partnering with the region in-kind to develop this plan and apply for research funding.
Here is the truth.  This is not about the poor of Oshawa. This is not about the homeless.  This is about the OTU looking for ways to bleed the government for grants.
  This is what I would do.  First we have to assure that whatever we do.  We do it with the notion of maintaining the integrity of the area and the property values around it.  I propose we take back our lands that GM claims to be theirs.   DID YOU KNOW THAT THE GM LANDS ARE THAT OF THE PEOPLE OF OSHAWA.   THE DEAL WAS THAT FOR AS LONG AS GM PRODUCED CARS.  THEY HAD A ONE DOLLAR A YEAR LEASE AS THE PROPERTIES WERE GIVEN TO THE CITY BY MCLAUGHLIN.   With this said. I as your City Mayor would take back the lands from GM.   Primarily the GM pain line.   Turn that whole area into 20-30 level complex and offer them scheduled rental amounts.  This eliminating the treatment of less fortunate as second class citizens.  Take the rent right out of their social service cheques.   Offer the opportunity to dig themselves out of poverty by helping them secure a proper way of living.  Standards would be set in order to assure the property would be kept up.  The current security force the City employ would be used to assure safety and security.  Those suffering from addiction or mental health issues would become by mandate awards of the hospital until such time as the hospital would take liability in the event of an episode at the stated facility.  As it stands... sure the hospital the university will partner up... they have nothing to loose and all to gain.  This Micro solution is an insult to those suffering the real Macro problem.

Our 2021 Civic Holiday

 

Our 2021 Civic Holiday
    by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC,
FEC, CET, P. Eng.
Former Member of Parliament
Pickering-Scarborough East
   As we are approaching our Civic Holiday on August the 2nd let us think for a moment of relief from the pandemic blues. Let us celebrate with our family and friends in this beautiful but short Canadian summer. Let us be optimistic about our future.
The Civic Holiday is not a statutory holiday although it's a day off for many employees across the country. The Civic Holiday is commonly referred to as the August long weekend. It is probably the busiest day on highways as tens of thousands of families go camping and to cottages on that weekend.
So let us see a little bit of history of the Civic Holiday in Ontario. The origins of a holiday on the first Monday in August appear to date back to 1869 when Toronto City Council organized the first "day of recreation."
In Ontario, the first Monday of August is technically a municipal holiday, as it is not designated as an official statutory holiday by provincial legislation even thought various private member's bills have been introduced in the Ontario Legislature attempting to make it official, but none has passed to date.
As such, the holiday takes on different names and celebrates different subjects according to municipality. Many Ontario municipalities have chosen to honour a significant local person or organization in order to localize the celebration; when not given a local name (such as in Mississauga), the day is often generically referred to as "Civic Holiday" or "August Civic Holiday".
In 2008, the Ontario Legislature passed a law identifying the first of August as "Emancipation Day", as the British Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire as of August 1, 1834. It still does not make it an official holiday, however.
The Civic Holiday is now known by one of a number of local appellations, including, among others:
-"Founders' Day" in Brantford (named in 1982): each year, the Brantford Heritage Committee submits a report to City Council with the name or organization that is to be recognized on that day.
-"Joseph Brant Day" in Burlington (): celebrating Joseph Brant, the Mohawk Chief who became known for his treaty negotiations and loyalty to the British.
-"James Cockburn Day" in Cobourg (1999): celebrating James Cockburn, one of the "fathers of Confederation".
-"John Galt Day" in Guelph (2006): celebrating John Galt, the Scottish novelist and businessman who founded the city.
-"George Hamilton Day" in Hamilton: celebrating George Hamilton, the eponymous founder of the city.
-"McLaughlin Day" in Oshawa (1983): celebrating Robert Samuel McLaughlin, who brought General Motors to Oshawa.
-"Colonel By Day" in Ottawa (1996): celebrating Colonel John By, who led the construction of the Rideau Canal and founded Bytown, which became the city of Ottawa.
-"Peter Robinson Day" in Peterborough: celebrating Peter Robinson
-"Alexander Mackenzie Day" in Sarnia (1998): celebrating Alexander Mackenzie, the 2nd Prime Minister of Canada.
-"Simcoe Day" in Toronto: celebrating John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada and the leading proponent of the Act Against Slavery.
-"Benjamin Vaughan Day" in Vaughan: celebrating the eponymous Benjamin Vaughan
Here in Durham Region in Oshawa let's have a look at who  Robert Samuel McLaughlin was.
Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin, CC ED CD (September 8, 1871 - January 6, 1972) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He started the McLaughlin Motor Car Company in 1907, one of the first major automobile manufacturers in Canada, which evolved into General Motors of Canada.
McLaughlin was born in Enniskillen, near Bowmanville Ontario, to Robert McLaughlin and Mary Smith. As a young man, he worked briefly in a local hardware store, then in 1887 became an apprentice in his father's company, McLaughlin Carriage Works, which had opened in 1867. At one time it was the largest manufacturer of horse-drawn buggies and sleighs in the British Empire.
In 1892, McLaughlin and his brother George become junior partners in their father's company.  In 1898, he married Adelaide Mowbray.
He started producing the McLaughlin-Buick Model F with engines bought from William C. Durant of Buick, incorporating the McLaughlin Motor Car Company on November 20, 1907. In its first full year of operation, 1908, it produced 154 cars. By 1910 he was a director of General Motors. He sold his Chevrolet company stock in 1918, becoming president of General Motors of Canada, which continued to sell cars under the McLaughlin-Buick brand until 1942.
Though he retired in 1945, he remained chairman of the board until his death and remained on the board of General Motors until the early 1960s. He was replaced by Royal Bank of Canada president Earle McLaughlin, his first cousin once removed.
His older brother, chemist John J. McLaughlin (1865-1914), founded the Canada Dry company. After his brother's death in 1914, McLaughlin became president of this company until it was sold around 1923. The longest continuously-serving colonel in the history of the Canadian Forces, McLaughlin was appointed as honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 34th Ontario Regiment (1921 - 1931), when he was appointed as honorary colonel of the same unit, later designated as The Ontario Regiment (RCAC), a reserve armored regiment based in Oshawa. Affectionately known as "Colonel Sam", McLaughlin served as honorary colonel until 1967.
In 1967, McLaughlin was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada.
A great Canadian, McLaughlin made a lot of charitable contributions.
In 1951, he established the McLaughlin Foundation which, donated nearly $200 million between 1953 and 2003 to the University of Toronto and other educational causes, including the McLaughlin Planetarium at the Royal Ontario Museum.
At Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, the university's Mechanical Engineering Department is housed in McLaughlin Hall, his donation in 1948. McLaughlin Hall in Queen's University's John Deutsch University Centre is also named for him. Queen's honored his wife, Adelaide McLaughlin, in 1957, by naming the women's residence Adelaide Hall.
In 1947 McLaughlin and his wife donated land for "Camp Samac", a Boy Scout camp on the outskirts of Oshawa.
McLaughlin donated $1 million to the 1968 library building at the University of Guelph, which bears his name.
He provided partial funding to build McLaughlin College at York University in Toronto, opened in 1968. In recognition for his contributions to St. Andrew's College in Aurora, Ontario, McLaughlin Hall is named after him, which he unveiled in 1971 at the age of 99.
He endowed the Regimental Foundation of the Ontario Regiment (RCAC) and quietly paid the salaries of some of the regiment's soldiers during times of severely curtailed government funding. McLaughlin House at the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific also bears his name.
He gave generously to the art community, donating paintings from his personal collection. Among other gifts, he gave Lawren Harris`s Pic Island, Arthur Lismer`s Bright Land, and Emily Carr`s Old Tree at Dusk to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg.
So get ready to celebrate but remember that here in Durham region in Oshawa, we have history to tell. Have a safe celebration.

Challenging times for Canada's democracy

 Challenging times for Canada's democracy
    by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC,
FEC, CET, P. Eng.
Former Member of Parliament
Pickering-Scarborough East
  The latest accelerating events connected to the residential school generated crisis, amplified by toppling and destroying statues of historical figures and the churches burned down represent a new trend on the political landscape of Canada. All these atrocities are happening with the political establishment closing their eyes to recent events and the total absence of law enforcement.  How is democracy served or protected by the selective application of democratic rights already curtailed by the erratically established Covid -19 pandemic legislation?
Our nationhood is under threat by recent events. Instead of uniting the nation the political establishment is dividing it in pursuit of selfish and power hungry personal interests. They are interested only in keeping power at all costs.
The globalist declaration of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that: "Canada has no core identity" is already infamous.   
As a reaction of this declaration many of the political establishment found it imaginative, evocative, even dangerous.  It was, in effect, telling the world that the Canada everyone thought they knew was going through a transformation. What kind of transformation is the big question.
It's clear we are in a dangerous moment, one where a new direction is entirely possible under a reincarnation of newly found Marxist values and where going back to learning from the past seems unacceptable.  
Trudeau informed the New York Times that this "new" country is no longer defined by our history or European national origins but by a "pan-cultural heritage," he ran the risk of overlooking much of what made this country one of the most respected in the world and the results were seen recently in events that rapidly evolved in a divided nation.
We might be heading in a new direction, but where we have come from, despite our many failures, has helped prepare us to preserve a society for inclusion and respect for our fellow Canadians.
We have been more open than closed and more accommodating than militant and the world noticed and respected it.
Recently the term "identity" has morphed into numerous meanings, including "identity politics," and the outcome is more dangerous and dividing than tried to be defined.  
The ideals that once held this country together are now under increased threat.  It's not wrong or unpatriotic to ask how Canada will fare with so many groups seeking recognition and redress, all seeking action at the same time. Is this new identity politics going to push us past the national breaking point?
The main political parties in Canada, with the exception of the emerging Peoples Party of Canada, seem to embrace this dangerous threat to democracy. There is a general acknowledgement that the issues surrounding the residential schools, gender inequities, the casual acceptance of racism, even the trivial manner in which we treat the nation's poor can no longer be accepted and have tainted the very history we have come to accept.  But this does not mean that we should extirpate our history instead of learning from it.
All of these artificially amplified injustices actually give support to Trudeau's claim that Canada is now a "post-national" state, a globalist one, one seeking to transcend its history and supersede the nation-states.  But that sounds more like we are trying to run away from our history rather than accommodating these new directions with our abiding long applied resiliencies.
Until recently, our political world was viewed as a giant struggle between the left and the right.  The left concentrated on wealth disbursal, meaningful work, equity and equality, and democratic reform.  The right rallied around smaller government, fewer restrictions in the marketplace and moral rigour in decision-making.
Suddenly, a new concept has entered the picture, seeking to eliminate past experiences and rejecting the very foundation of this nation called Canada.
Identity is now the great pursuit of the moment and dominates the thoughts of people seeking something different, something more equal.  It makes some sense, given that all these identity-driven forces were most often ignored in our past pursuits of prosperity and respect.  
The confluence of greater indigenous experience and wisdom integrated in our future evolution can only be a good thing since they are a constituent part of our nation. Greater recognition of women's rights and proper place in the workforce is long overdue, as is the acknowledgement that the discrimination of various types that had been present in our past need not be embedded in our future.
But the fact remains that we should remain a nation a special one where we continue to live in peace and prosperity.  We have a story to tell and a world in which to tell it. Should we become a land of opposing factions seeking recognition, we can risk being motivated more by anger and pride than reason and compromise.
The Canadian experience, while never complete, can be torn apart in a time of ill motivated political ambitions. So it is time to have an intelligent political management in paying due respect from all Canadians towards each other if we are to navigate the unchartered waters ahead.
The recent identity politics is becoming more and more a disturbing and manipulative element in a democracy with its competing ideas.  It remains every group's right to seek equal recognition for the groups that have been neglected in our history. However great care must be taken that such a desire not morph into a sense of superiority and ruin the democratic pursuit of our nation.
Democracy has been improved and enhanced the more egalitarian it became which required those in privilege and power to open the access to such things to the marginalized.  But it can become toxic when those seeking inclusion then seek power to delegitimize the state.
So for of the potential challenges we live at this moment in time and, if we are not paying attention as citizens, it can quickly become one of the most dangerous moments in our country's journey, where our hegemony declines and our divisions rule our actions.
What do you think?

Fixing the Leak of Untold Incontinence

   Fixing the Leak of Untold Incontinence

 W. Gifford-Jones, M.D. and Diana Gifford-Jones
 Fixing the Leak of Untold Incontinence
Urinary incontinence is one of the most common problems of aging. It instills, needlessly, the prospect of embarrassment and a fear of leaving the house. Comedians quip, "If you don't know when you need to go, by the time you find out, you've already gone!" But in fact, it's no laughing matter when a sneeze, cough, or even just standing up causes urine suddenly to leak through your clothes.
Stress incontinence occurs when pressure in the urinary bladder is greater than the ability of the muscles to hold back the flow of urine. In men, it may be associated with aging, or the result of a radical prostatectomy for cancer of the prostate gland. For women, it's often due to repeated pregnancies and the strain on pelvic muscles during labour.
Urge incontinence is the issue when you feel a sense of panic. "I've got to go quickly to urinate or I'm in trouble." The sudden, intense urge to urinate is followed by an involuntary loss of urine.
The risk factors include obesity, which increases pressure on the bladder and surrounding muscles, and smoking, where continually coughing exerts stress on pelvic muscles.
Constipation is another factor. Grunting and pushing with bowel movements of hard, compacted stools further injures pelvic muscles and causes nerves to become overactive, which increases the urge to urinate frequently. Taking 2,000 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C at bedtime triggers results. If it does not, increase to 4,000 the next night. Then eat a high fiber cereal and a hot drink in the morning. A bowel movement will follow. As a cardinal rule, don't ruin your colon with laxatives.
Making changes in lifestyle can help to ease this problem. Decrease caffeine, alcohol and other diuretics. Stop smoking. Avoid acidic foods.
Remember dams that leak must be strengthened. So do exercises. Imagine trying to pick up a marble and hold it using the muscles in your pelvic floor. Do this eight times several times a day and continue daily for three months. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day. This simple procedure usually improves incontinence as it bulks up pelvic muscles surrounding the urethra (the tube that carries urine to the outside) and helps to stop dribbling of urine. If the muscles have become so weak that they fail to respond to this exercise your doctor may suggest electrical stimulation to trigger muscle response.
Artificial bulking agents made of biocompatible material are available to help improve urethral function. A cystoscope is inserted into the penis or vagina and the bulking agent is injected around the urethra. This may take two or three sessions to get the required result. But results are not as good in males who have had a radical prostatectomy.
If all this fails, surgery will be suggested. For women this usually means a vaginal operation, but some surgeons prefer an abdominal one. A sling operation is currently the most effective. The rationale behind this surgery is quite simple. By placing a sling under the urinary bladder, it will not only be lifted, but the procedure will also change the angle, decreasing the loss of urine.
For males with significance urinary incontinence who have had a radical prostatectomy, an artificial urinary valve can be inserted which closes the valve on a continual basis. But it can be opened by a small pump implanted under the scrotum skin.
Urinary incontinence is called a "closet problem". After all, who wants to admit they wet their pants. But too many North Americans suffer from this disorder in silence, when they should be getting help.
Visit www.docgiff.com for health tips and more. For comments, contact-us@docgiff.com. Follow us on Instagram @docgiff and @diana_gifford_jones
Sign-up at www.docgiff.com to receive our weekly e-newsletter. For comments, contact-us@docgiff.com. Follow us Instagram @docgiff and @diana_gifford_jones

Prison of Her Own Making

 Direct Answers
from Wayne & Tamara

Prison of Her Own Making
  Q I’ve never tried this before, but what the hell. A few years ago my husband of 10 years left me out of the blue. It was awful for my sons and me, though it was not a happy marriage. He was verbally and mentally abusive, and I went into an angry shell. I changed from the happy person I once was into this monster. When he left I realized it was the best thing he could have done for me. It was hard to meet people, so I tried online dating. I met two great guys. I let dating go on way too long because I couldn’t let go of either one. It was selfish of me and wrong, but I never wanted to hurt anyone.
Well, they found out. One left, never to be seen again. One stayed, but with a price. It has been over a year now and he won’t let it drop. He says he will never trust me enough to marry me. But it’s also like I am carrying his cross for the rest of the girls who screwed him over.
 I keep jumping through hoops, and nothing seems to work for him or please him. He is a hard man to deal with. He is a cop and has an awful mouth. Most of the time, it is all his way or nothing at all.
 My friends say dump him, I’m too good for him, I don’t need this, and I don’t deserve it.
 I feel I made a terrible mistake, and I am so sorry. But enough is enough. What do you think? Am I wasting my time?
Zena

A Zena, you couldn’t make up your mind between two men. The better one left, as well he should have, because he knew you didn’t see him as the right one for you.
The second man saw you as his opportunity. He judged you as not good enough. He’s a cop and he’s been around the block. You proved yourself untrustworthy, and he deals with untrustworthy people every day. He knew how to treat you, so he put you in his cuffs.
You seem to attract abusers, and this cop is your first husband all over again. Your husband did you an enormous favor by leaving you, yet now you are desperate to marry the same sort of man.
 Nothing predicts that the two of you will ever have the healthy relationship of two people in love with each other. He thinks you are not good enough for him, and you know he will never marry you. How is that not your answer? But your letter isn’t about love. It’s about trying to rescue yourself from what you did. You basked in the attention of two men, stringing them along. Now you hope to deny the reality of what you did by triumphantly landing one of them.
No one wants to be in a competition like that. That’s why people are careful their employer doesn’t find out when they are looking for another job. They know employers might fail to promote, or even fire, someone who is disloyal.
You are loath to admit that neither man was right for you. You hoped one of them would be, because that was better than the alternative—going back to the dating site and starting over again. But love is not a competition. Love is not an auction. Rewarding the highest bidder is the opposite of love.
The first man thought, how could she love me if she was trifling with him? His honest heart got a shock. The second man is a foul-mouthed bully. He wasn’t even your choice. Treat this as a lesson learned. Trust is difficult to earn. It can be lost in an instant and lost forever.
Wayne & Tamara                                             write:  Directanswers@WayneAndTamara.com

Eat Healthy Without Breaking the Bank

  

Eat Healthy Without Breaking the Bank

 W. Gifford-Jones, M.D. and Diana Gifford-Jones
 How would you like to have a cart full of healthy foods and still save money? Anyone who does the grocery shopping will tell you, it is more expensive to buy the ingredients for a healthy diet like vegetables, nuts, fruit and fish than the refined grains, processed prepared foods and meats of an unhealthy diet. Is there a way to buy healthy and keep costs down?

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, Professor of Nutrition at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, emphasizes that it is worth spending the time to spend your grocery dollars wisely. “We have seen again and again that people who eat more fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancers and other chronic diseases.”
His colleague, Dr. Jeffrey Blumberg, notes that planning makes a big difference in the food budget. He says, decide what you need for a week’s meals and buy only those items. Try to incorporate healthy meals that advantage of store deals. Build meals around items you already have in your pantry, and plan menus that are suitable for cooking extra portions that can be easily reheated for another meal.
Blumberg adds, look into the refrigerator to make good use of the things you already have. For items that have a long shelf life, buy bulk. Remember, when buying perishable foods consider what you will use promptly and freeze the rest.
Avoid purchasing ready-made meals. They are invariably more expensive than buying the ingredients.
There’s also a myth that organic selections are more nutritious than conventional counterparts. Dr Alice H. Lichtenstein, professor of nutrition and science policy, also at Tufts, says all fruits and vegetables (whether fresh, frozen, cooked or raw, organic or conventional) are health promoting choices from a nutritional standpoint.
Another misconception is that gluten-free foods are better for health than those that contain gluten. But Dr. Mozaffarian says replacing refined wheat products with refined rice and corn products may have some health gains but also possible harms. Gluten-free diets, according to studies at Tufts, were significantly lower in protein, magnesium, vitamin E, dietary fiber and higher in calories that most people do not need.
The point is that unless you are in the one percent of the population that suffers from celiac disease or the six percent that are thought to have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, there is no need for gluten-free foods. Save your money.

A few years ago, researchers showed that, on average, it cost $1.50 a day more to choose healthy foods when shopping in a supermarket. They also wisely suggested that you could save that much by saying “no” to coffee, dessert or some other goodie. These savings translate to better health for individuals and tremendous savings for families and governments in terms of health care expenditures down the road.
Finally, consider the impact of smarter shopping in terms of food wastage and environmental concerns. It is estimated that 30 to 40 percent of the North American food supply goes unconsumed every year. That is a matter of disgraceful waste and economic inefficiency. But the amount of food and food packaging that terminates unused in landfills is also an environmental problem that industry, governments and consumers all share. As consumers, when you shop, make a point of refusing to buy products in excessive or nonrecyclable packaging.
While there are still big challenges around easy and equitable access to nutritious and affordable food, you can take steps toward smarter shopping. In this uncertain world, remember this sage advice: a dollar saved is also a dollar earned.
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PAY, PAY, PAY OR WE CUT YOU OFF

 

PAY, PAY, PAY OR WE CUT YOU OFF
By Joe Ingino
Editor/Publisher

“I live a dream in a nightmare world”   

    In an age of anti bullying, fairness, equality and the championing of rights and freedoms.    We surely have become ignorant of our realities.   For the longest time we have been paying through our nose for things like convenience, customer service and many more things that are presented as good for us the consumers when in reality they are in the best interest of the supplier.
When was the last time you took a look at one of your utility bills?  Have you noticed all the extra charges... and for what.?
Look at this natural gas bill for example:
Customer Charge $21.48 - CUSTOMER CHARGE!!!  WHAT IS THIS CHARGE FOR?  BEING A CUSTOMER.  SHOULD THIS CHARGE BE ON OUR BILL?
Delivery to You $33.25  DELIVERY TO (YOU) REALLY... IT COSTS $33.25 TO SEND ME YOUR PRODUCT OVER A PIPE THAT HAS BEEN IN THE GROUND FOR THE PAST 100 YEARS.   HOW DO THEY CALCULATE THIS DELIVERY COST?  THIS IN MY OPINION IS NOTHING BUT A MONEY GRAB.
Transportation to Enbridge $13.96  TO AD INSULT TO INJURY THE GAS COMPANY HAS THE BALLS TO CHARGE  YOU A TRANSPORTATION FEE TO ENBRIDGE.... LIKE REALLY... WE PAY TWO DELIVERY FEES FOR THE USE OF THE SAME PIPE.
Federal Carbon Charge $20.02  WOW... $20.02 FOR A GHOST TAX.  WE PAY MORE FOR THE CARBON TAX THAN THE ACTUAL USAGE OF THE GAS.
Gas Supply Charges $35.87  TECHNICALLY THIS IS THE ONLY AMOUNT THE CONSUMER SHOULD BE PAYING.... ALL THE OTHERS ARE NOTHING BUT LEGALIZED THEFT.
Cost Adjustment ($4.15)  GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT THE ADJUSTMENT IS FOR.
Charges for Natural Gas $120.43    ON A $35.87 ACTUAL USAGE YOU PAY $100 MORE FOR ADDITIONAL CHARGES.
HST $15.66Total Charges for Natural Gas $136.09   REALLY.... IT SEEMS THAT EVERYONE GETS A PIECE OF THE PIE.
No wonder these companies make billions a year.   No wonder they have staff and new vehicles every other year.  No wonder they can look down at the ratepayers and threaten them with disconnection.  The utility companies hold you hostage with your own money.
   In this modern society we are raising people to follow and not to question.  Conformity is the norm.  You oppose you loose.  Companies are taking advantage of this and making millions in charges that they have no right to charge consumers.  Consumers have no choice but to pay.  How can we ever achieve equality when within our social systems so much goes unnoticed.  So many injustices, justified and so much wrong allowed?

Victimizing Canadian Retirees and Citizens living and working abroad

 

Victimizing Canadian Retirees and Citizens living and
working abroad
    by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC,
FEC, CET, P. Eng.
Former Member of Parliament
Pickering-Scarborough East
   After mismanaging the Covid-19 pandemic so disastrously the Federal Government is still using the pandemic as an excuse to subject Canadians to medieval disease management strategies by locking down our borders for most international travel since February of this year.
Locking down when the rest of the developed world is getting the pandemic under control and is opening up, demonstrates just how ineffectively our leaders have managed. Closing the barn door when the horses have already left the barn is the saying that seems most appropriate.
The Federal Government, supported and advised by government scientist(?) - more like political lapdogs than independent and incorruptible thinkers - labelled as racist, any suggestion to close the border at the beginning of the crisis, when the pandemic was brewing in China.
After the virus arrived on our shores and was spreading rapidly in Canadian communities, excuse after excuse was made, spinning public fear and uncertainty round and round. Then came the brilliant suggestion that closing the border for non essential travel and discouraging Canadians from travelling abroad would keep out the infection that had already been allowed to penetrate and fester.
Defining non essential travel very loosely and allowing numerous exceptions resulted in roughly 40 per cent of arrivals from abroad entering Canada without screening or the requirement to enter quarantine. Is it any wonder that more variants appeared and the number of infections increased drastically?  Someone finally woke up in a woke culture sort of way and decided that now was the time to clamp down on border rules. They then started forcing returning Canadians to stay in Government designated hotels, paying excessive amounts of money for a purported three day stay in prison-like conditions, even if their COVID tests come back negative after one day and they go home to complete their unnecessary quarantine.
The people hardest hit by these draconian rules were Canadian retirees. The snow birds who, after a lifetime of working to build Canada, were finally taking the time to enjoy the sun during the harsh Canadian winter months, mostly in the United States, in Florida.
As the United States accelerated Covid-19 vaccinations, fully vaccinating a high percentage of their people as well as many Canadians, Canada fell drastically behind.  Canada's pace of vaccinations was erratic and slow, both due to lack of supply and dysfunctionality in administration by the provinces.  Furthermore, the Canadian Government has behaved irrationally in refusing to recognize that fully vaccinated returning Canadians pose no danger to the local population.  In other parts of the world, fully vaccinated individuals don't even have to wear masks. Oblivious to all, they continue to apply their draconian rules when the World around Canada is opening at an accelerated pace.
Never mind that while they ruminate in their ivory towers their delusional views are destroying the economy of this country.  The tourist industry has particularly suffered, now being held in a strangle hold for the second summer in a row.  At this rate it will take years to recover from the early grave the industry has been relegated to.
Some among the thousands of affected retirees are expressing frustration over having to undergo the federally mandated hotel quarantine - even after getting fully vaccinated with one of the Health Canada approved COVID-19 vaccines.  Is this a ploy by the Federal government to attempt to rescue the struggling hotel industry? The quarantine measures, which went into effect in late February, include additional PCR tests for those flying back once they arrive.  Remember, they already tested negative to be allowed to board the plane. And then there is the $2,000 per person surcharge, paid out of pocket, for the pleasure of being herded to an undisclosed location where you are confined to your room with limited access to food and water, and no ability to communicate with the outside world until released. The reason for the restrictions - at least according to Health Canada and several self-appointed immunology experts - is that while vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness in those who have contracted the disease, it still isn't clear whether being vaccinated prevents a person from spreading the virus.
Dithering over their initial failures to act in a timely fashion, these same ineffectual policy makers now stick to their mediaeval solutions, generating furor at the federal government's mandate among Canadians returning from popular warm destinations.
"All of us snowbirds returning to Canada will be fully vaccinated, thanks to the U.S. giving us the vaccine. And yet you still want us to hotel quarantine when we could more safely quarantine at home," wrote one snowbird.
In previous interviews with Global News, Canadian snowbirds also expressed frustration over the strict measures, saying that they shouldn't be forced into hotel quarantine with other incoming non vaccinated travelers.  
Since people were able to get the vaccine abroad, they should at least be able to quarantine at home instead of having to pay for three super expensive days at a hotel.
Ignoring the vaccination status of returning Canadians also results in incorrect statistics when reporting the number of vaccinated Canadians.  Doesn't that bother anyone who might be in a position to change the rules?  Perhaps not.  After all, as Churchill once said, 'there are lies, there are damned lies, and then there are statistics'.
The Canadian Snowbirds Association (CSA) voiced discontent over the forced hotel quarantine measures as well. "To force Canadian citizens to pay over $2,000 for three nights of accommodation in a government-approved hotel is unreasonable and will be a financial hardship for many," wrote CSA President Karen Huestis in Feb. 1 letter to Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra. While the CSA is supportive of point of entry testing for COVID-19 at all Canadian airports and land crossings, they are firmly opposed to the mandatory hotel quarantine measure imposed by the federal government.
This action from the Federal Government is a clear affront to the seniors of Canada who are responsible people. They have demonstrated that by their lifetime achievements, and they should be entitled to enjoy their well deserved retirement.
Some of them went to the United States and were vaccinated in the prescribed time, unlike fellow Canadians who stayed home and are forced to wait for months to receive their second dose of a vaccine, not even sure that they will receive the same brand, or even that the vaccine they receive has not expired. These foreign vaccinated citizens are not a burden on the Canadian health system and they feel they are being treated like criminals by both the federal and provincial governments. They deserve better.
Let's not allow the limited outlook and ability of our current leaders to cast such a giant blight over their enjoyment of a well deserved retirement.

Presenting Your Professional Experience: Numbers Are Your Friends

 Presenting Your
Professional Experience:
Numbers Are Your Friends
By Nick Kossovan
Numbers rule the business world-revenue, headcount, process time, value increase, number of clients, inventory count, profit margin, credit rating, customer satisfaction score. Numbers indicate and measure success or failure, whether a business activity is positive or negative to the bottom line. You'd be hard-pressed to find a business decision made without some factoring in of "the numbers," be it stats, cost, the potential return on investment.
Hiring is a business decision.
To make a strong case for yourself (Envision your selling features.) throughout your resume use numbers, the language of business, to quantify your results and establish yourself as someone who can bring value to an employer. Using numbers shows you understand how companies operate and that they exist to make a profit. Most importantly, using results-achieved numbers displays your value.
Which job seeker displays better value?
Candidate 1: Duties included taking field measurements and maintaining records, setting up and tracking project using Microsoft Project.
Candidate 2: Spearheaded the Hazzard County water decontamination project, finishing $125,000 under budget due to a 25% decrease in staff allocation time.
Which job seeker gives a clearer picture of their responsibilities?
Candidate 1: Supervised team leaders. Candidate 2: Supervised 3 team leaders, collectively responsible for 40 CSRs answering 1,750 - 2,500 calls daily.
Which job seeker shows their work ethic?
Candidate 1: Completed first editing pass on articles.
Candidate 2: Reviewed and evaluated 50 - 75 articles per week, deciding whether to reject the article, forward it to the editorial team, or send it back to the author with revision suggestions.
Information quantified means something. Information not quantified is just an opinion. Most resumes are just a list of opinions, thus quantifying your professional experience will set you apart from your competition.
TIP: Always use bullets, not paragraphs, to describe your professional experiences.
For each position you list on your resume, ask yourself:
-Did I increase my employer's revenue? How? -Did I save my employer money? -Did I save time?
-Was my boss(es), colleagues, staff, customers, vendors, and leadership team members happier because of me?  -How did I contribute to improving my employer's business?
When answering these questions, quantify (percentage, range, monetary, frequency, before/after comparison, ratio). Creating a resume that WOWs requires filling it with quantified results-rich statements. -Reduced customer complaints by 47% by implementing a formal feedback system.
-Improved product delivery time 22% after assigning clarified monthly job tasks to team members.
-In 2020, grew revenue 33%, and improved gross margin by 22%, by standardizing business operating procedures.   -Produced $1.75M in cost-savings after renegotiating the company's supply and service contracts (14 vendors).  -Built sales organization from the ground up, hiring and training 15 sales representatives within 6 months.  -In 2019, generated over $7.25M in additional revenue by identifying, pursuing, and securing 4 new international contracts.
As I mentioned a few columns back, your resume must clearly and succinctly answer one question: How did you add or bring value to your employers? When it comes to answering this question, numbers are your friends.
Something to keep in mind: The king of numbers, the only metric in business that matters, the one that keeps a business alive and profitable, is revenue. As much as possible, throughout your resume and cover letter, demonstrate the results you've achieved that were added value to your employer's financial success. Don't write on your resume what's become a cliche, "result-oriented." Don't write it on your LinkedIn profile. Don't say it during an interview. Show your results! "In 2017, I increased sales by 29% by creating upsell opportunities for my 8-member sales team to offer."
Additional tips when bulleting your professional experience:
-Employment dates need to be month/year. Only indicating years is a red flag you're trying to cover up employment gaps. -Under 2 Lines. Your bullets shouldn't be more than 2 lines.
-The first 5 - 8 words are critical. When skimming a resume, the reader will likely read the first few words of a bullet then, unless their interest is piqued, move on to the next bullet. The first few words need to be captivating.
Next week I'll cover presenting your education, skills, and certifications. These need to demonstrate your career path, not that you simply attended classes.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send him your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com.

Time to get serious about Canada's economy

 Time to get serious about Canada's economy
    by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC,
FEC, CET, P. Eng.
Former Member of Parliament
Pickering-Scarborough East
Enough is enough! The time has come for the leadership of this country to pull together and seriously look at restarting the Canadian economy.
The blunder of vaccinations, mismanagement of lockdowns, hypocrisy of mask/no mask, travel bans/no bans and fake science have collectively induced a new disease in the political establishment; that of the allergic verbiage syndrome.
Allergic Verbiage Syndrome is characterized by a lot of talk that seems to erupt (like hives) uncontrollably, attempting to justify bad decisions, spinning issues to death, and in the end, believing in one's own lies. This seems to have become the order of the day in Canada, particularly in Ottawa, provinces not excluded.
The time has come to seriously knuckle down and face facts. Otherwise the dark clouds of an economic meltdown gathering on the horizon will sweep the Canadian economy into oblivion.  Printing more money will not be able to stop the tsunami of social unrest that will accompany an economic disaster.

So get to work, as some wise people are thinking that politicians should do, to avoid this state of potential doom. Canada needs a quick start, as other nations in the developed world are already pursuing. Open the stores, open the small businesses, open the parks, open the borders and think smart if you still can, if you have any little grey cells left.
Canada's tourist industry, a major contributor to our GDP, is in shambles.  Fifteen months of restrictions, quarantines and travel bans have seen air travel plummet to only 10 percent of 2019 levels. The land border with the US is still closed for so called non essential travel, though essential travel is loosely defined and encompasses many exceptions.
We need to take immediate steps to open the border to discretionary travel and eliminate the hotel quarantine for foreign visitors, or our tourism sector may have an even more brutal summer this year than last. Even though Canadians will be able to travel internationally more easily this summer, none of the foreign visitors our tourism sector relies on will be able to visit Canada's thousands of exciting destinations, attractions and events.
This is a matter of urgency: many of Canada's trading partners, including the U.S., U.K. and Europe are also our tourism competitors and way ahead of Canada in their reopening plans.  If we do not open our borders in a safe but timely manner, vaccinated international tourists won't wait; they will happily travel to countries that are ready to welcome them.
It was rather ludicrous to see our Finance Minister be the only person wearing a mask at the recent G7 finance ministers meeting. Is this the signature of the state of the Covid -19 pandemic management in Canada we want to communicate to the world?
It's high time our MPs showed some professionalism and stopped behaving like illiterate dilettantes insisting on tyrannical solutions. Parliament is not a place to learn on the job, it is a place to lead in the interest of the nation.

A proper restart plan, which would include measurable milestones and timelines for how and when Canada would lift travel restrictions is needed urgently. Many parts of the world, including the U.S., are opening up more quickly than Canada, and we cannot afford to be left behind.
To comprehend the urgency of the need to act on the economy, the political leadership of Canada need only consider that Canada's inflation rate increased to 3.6 per cent in May, the fastest pace in a decade, according to Statistics Canada.
The agency said in a news release last week that the cost of just about everything is going up at a much faster pace than usual, from shelter and vehicles, to food, energy and consumer goods.
The cost of shelter increased by 4.2 per cent in the year up to May, the fastest rise in the cost of putting a roof over one's head since 2008. And the cost of filling a home with furniture and appliances also went up, by 4.4. per cent. That's the fastest pace of increase for so-called durable goods since 1989.
Furniture prices in particular rose by 9.8 per cent in the past year, their biggest jump since 1982. Last month the government slapped tariffs of up to 300 per cent on some types of upholstered furniture from China and Vietnam.
Gasoline prices have risen by 43 per cent in the past year, a figure that looks especially high because it's being compared to May of last year, when demand and prices for gasoline cratered. But even on a monthly basis, the cost of gasoline went up by 3.2 per cent in May, compared to the cost in April.
Gas isn't the only cost of driving that's getting more expensive either, as the price of new cars increased by five per cent in the past year. That's the biggest jump in vehicle prices since 2016, and the major reason for it is an ongoing shortage of semiconductors, a global trend that has jacked up the price of anything that uses microchips.
If this trend continues, the mortgage rate on homes will soon increase, creating a major problem for many Canadians who have been caught up in the flurry of home purchases in recent months.
Business leaders have called on Ottawa for a clear path to reopen the economy and international borders.
Perrin Beatty, head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said:
"Canada is a G7 outlier for not having a fleshed-out reopening plan"
What we are waiting for?

It is a sad day for Canada

 It is a sad day for Canada
    by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC,
FEC, CET, P. Eng.
Former Member of Parliament
Pickering-Scarborough East
   As we all know by now findings from a survey of the grounds at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School has uncovered the remains of 215 children buried at the site, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced last week.   This is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. It is a stark example of the deep wounds the Canadian residential school system inflicted upon indigenous peoples and how the consequences of these atrocities reverberate to this day.
Looking at a brief history of the residential school system we can see that the first residential school was opened in Brantford, Ont. in 1831, before Confederation, although there were a handful of schools run by missionary groups even earlier than that.
In 1847, Egerton Ryerson - the man Ryerson University in Toronto is named after - was superintendent of schools in Upper Canada, and wrote a report recommending the establishment of residential schools for Aboriginal students in the province. Soon after his report, in the 1850s, Methodist missionaries established a number of such schools in southern Ontario. Other schools were opened in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories in the 1860s.
Post-Confederation, the federal government became more involved in residential schools in the 1880s, and the number of schools expanded.
A total of 139 residential schools were identified in the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement, though this doesn't include those run by provincial governments and those run solely by religious orders, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The residential school system which functioned in Canada until 1996 has seen 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children placed in the name of integration into the society built by the settlers.  Children were taken from their families and placed in this schools scattered all over the country.
Their treatment was miserable and they were exposed to a lot of abuses which were ignored by the authorities of the day. There is a lot to say and a lot of things have come to light lately from the testimony of survivors.
Residential school students were subject to physical and sexual abuse by staff, were often malnourished or underfed, and lived in poor housing conditions that threatened their safety, according to reports. Infectious diseases like tuberculosis and influenza often ran rampant among the students, leading to many deaths. In addition to attending class, students at many schools also had to perform chores to maintain the school and sometimes even had to do farm work to feed the school. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which released a report six years ago following a lengthy investigation into residential schools, made six recommendations regarding missing children and burial grounds. It called on the federal government to work with churches, Indigenous communities and former residential school students "to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries, including, where possible, plot maps showing the location of deceased residential school children."
The Kamloops Indian Residential School was in operation from 1890 to 1969, when the federal government took over administration, until closing it in 1978.
The discovery of 215 children's remains there confirms what community survivors have said for years, that many children went to the school and never returned. It is also a fact that federal agents often moved children around, so it is possible that some of the remains found on the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School were from other First Nations communities.  The Truth and Reconciliation Commission identified 3,200 deaths as part of its investigation. For one-third of these deaths, the government and schools didn't record the student's name. For one-quarter of these deaths, the government didn't identify the student's gender. And for around half, the cause of death wasn't identified. These numbers might not include students who got sick at school and were sent home, where they later died, or Métis students whose attendance at school wasn't funded by the federal government but who may have died there.
"Due to the limitations in the records, it is probable that there are many student deaths that have not been recorded in the register because the record of the death has not yet been located," the Commission wrote in its report.
Indigenous children in residential schools died at far higher rates than other Canadian children, the report notes. The recent discovery of unmarked burial sites containing 215 bodies at the site of the Kamloops Residential School in B.C. has highlighted that there is still a lot to learn about where these children are buried.
In a report attached to the Commission's work, anthropologist Scott Hamilton of Lakehead University noted that, "Most of these children died far from home, and often without their families being adequately informed of the circumstances of death or the place of burial."
For the most part, the cemeteries that the Commission documented are abandoned, disused, and vulnerable to accidental disturbance," wrote the TRC in its report. This issue certainly is not something that Canada as a nation should be proud of, particularly in light of certain Canadian leaders' penchant for systematically preaching and lecturing other nations about upholding democratic values.  Canada should look closely at its internal dealings with the first nations and have a sincere approach in working with them to build a healthy democratic society. Words and money thrown at first nations are not the solution. The solution is an open and clear approach to work together with all Canadians to build the future for a great nation. The things of the past are lessons for all of us and we should work to ensure that such things never happen again in our country. With all this said, we need to look at the more than 150 years of existence of the residential school system in Canada and must ask ourselves where the authorities, both political and civil, were all those years in allowing these abuses to be perpetuated on children?
Yes, there were the supporters of the residential school system including Canada's first Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald and other contemporary political figures, but what did successive Prime Ministers, either Liberal or Conservative, do about this issue?  It seems easy to blame only the very founders of our nation for the residential school program without looking closely at their successors in perpetuating this abhorrent institution. We cannot be selective in meeting out responsibility. These successive Prime Ministers are to blame too.  Canada is a great historical achievement. It is an imperfect country, but it is still a great country and we should keep it that way. We need to be clear that the atrocities committed against first nations must be acknowledged and we must learn from them to ensure that such atrocities will never be repeated or imposed on any component of our society.  We must also be careful to avoid going to the opposite extreme in cancelling every historical figure who took a position on issues of their time that we now judge harshly in historical retrospective.
We should mourn the memory of those innocent souls who did not have a chance to live, and we need to reflect and avoid such gross neglect by officials in the future.