A handwritten note is like dining by candlelight instead of flicking on the lights, like making a gift instead of ordering a product, like taking a walk instead of driving, Handwritten notes will add a lot to your life. You can still use the telephone or the web for the daily chores of staying in touch, but for the words that matter, it’s courteous, classy, caring, and civilized to pick up a pen.
Source…. Margaret Shepherd
My Thoughts
Cursive writing clearly is becoming a lost art and should be practised even in the simplist form of a note there is a true appreciation when a note is received as the effort to produce such is immense.
If you haven’t heard already crossing the road has just become a little easier with the introduction of downtown Scramble cross-way’s. Yes Scramble, this cross-way allows pedestrians to cross in any direction the same time without j-walking you can even cross kitty corner (diagonal) without traffic interference.
Toronto in its quest to become more pedestrian friendly is transferring the right of way’s to pedestrians by stopping traffic in all directions for a specified time. Scramble’s success with be determined by the patience of Toronto driver’s and the pedestrian stragglers who will need to be realistic in the travel time they require to cross the intersection.
Current Scramble locations Yonge & Dundas
Future Scramble locations Yonge & Bloor , Bay & Bloor
For all those in the know September brings scores of celebrities from Hollywood to our fair city each year for the TIFF or the Toronto Film Festival. The festival now in its third decade yes over 30 years is still going strong. Our festival is now widely recognized as one of the leading world cultural events and the most successful public film festival in the world…..
TIFF in a nutshell
The famously discriminating and sophisticated Toronto film-goers make the Toronto International Film Festival a must-attend event for public, industry, and press. Over the last thirty-one years, the movie-going public has demonstrated incredible support for the event and shaped it into the largest public film festival in the world. Every September, the city experiences the best cinema the world has to offer, with over 300,000 public and industry admissions.
As some 4 Billion people witnessed the other night with the Opening Ceremonies of the 29Th Olympiad in China there was one really big story other than the Olympics that has lasted for months if not years. Even with more than half the cars in Beijing parked and most of the industry shut down for the last few weeks to hopefully clear up the air in time for the Olympics the smog or yellow brown skies that some are calling soot like have never let up and there has been barely a glimpse of the beautiful blue sky we in less polluted lands enjoy.
Human rights maybe an issue the west feels China should resolve but this is really not the most pressing issue take a second and think about this air surrounds us we all breathe the same air that travels the world over. That polluted air in China and elsewhere in aisa maybe the air we consider clean. By the time the air travels in our direction the pollution is blown about and has dissipated. Air is cleaned so we think through rainfall but the pollutants must go somewhere right? My guess would be onto the ground/ water /oceansrivers/of the world so we now have cleaner air but we are left with soil pollution this should not be acceptable have we forgotten about the ban on leaded gasoline and what that was doing to our children. How much longer can the continued pollution like we are witnessing in China and Asia go on this cannot be a good thing can it?
Is this need for cheap goods and huge profits at the expense of humanity and the environment ruining the air and land in China my guess would be yes. China has conquered with its world dominance in manufacturing just about all the product lines we purchase on a continual basis don’t believe me look at the “made in” label and keep in mind there is alot of no label made in china goods. Now this is not meant to be a slight against china as of course the country has a great history and some vary beautiful landscapes and tourist attractions.
Now i realize there are many cities in the world with pollutted air like Mexico, los Angeles, Athens but China’s air is so filthy a mask should be worn to protect you from the small particulate matter that is pumped from the many coal plants. These plants produce energy to the local plastics/toy/product factories who inturn pump there own pollution into the air and water so cheap labour can continue and we can enjoy all the products and packaging purchased from local dollar stores and retail outlets at a extremely discounted price. Is all this sustainable given the impact low wage employment is having in china.
What i am trying to get at is who is really responsible for the pollution in china? Is it you with your need to save that dollar or is it the governments of the world in which we elect.
Our Goverments in the west including Africa and India while working together with China can implement a clean air policy or act unilaterally and i am not talking KYOTO but something that could deliver cleaner air with the use of import taxes.
Taxes a favourite revenue generating tool of the 20th century and to this day . This tool if used properly could be applied to the benefit of so called emerging economies. Think about it with the amount of trade between North America the rest of the world and China is in the trillions. If products originating from China are taxed pennies on the dollar the combined dollars worldwide could amount to billions. China’s (GDP) was worth roughly 3.43 trillion USDin ‘07. So if you take .20 mulitplied by 3 trillion you get 600 billion. With an environmental levy (import tax) witheld at customs provided to china along with sponsoring government technology could create employment and assist in cleaning up the air and could have a net benefit of opening up a very closed society with co-operation on this most vital front.
This article will most likely not ever be read by anyone in China as the goverment controls just about everything that is broadcast and printed from the outside world including the Internet is strictly regulated.
As the environment changes we and the rest of the world seriously need to give our heads a shake and re-evaluate how we purchase our goods and give some consideration to the environmental impact these discount goods have on the country in which they are produced remember air today here tommorow just as the wind blows water flows. Our environment is what we make of it does Chernobyl ring a bell.
Lets not forget there are plenty of Environmental Concerns in the world we in western society are no different than our chinese counter parts as the so called developed world have created some of the worst environmental disasters known to man there are many too many to list and they are not talked about.
Now is the time to assist our developing world neighbours create an economy that does not kill us all in the end. Maybe with elections coming in Canada Harper/Dion and Obama/Mclean in the United States something can be done before we become victims of our own success’s however small the cost could be too great for our race to bear after all we are only human and like past societies poised for extinction.
Krinos Taste of the Danforth a Toronto favourite that brings out the best in Greek foods and local cuisine
The renowned festival has something for every-one you can buy plenty of dinners for $5.00 or just make the rounds and sample foods for a $1.00 . The August festival is centred around Greek food and culture it is one of the many multicultural festivals in Toronto that is open to all and usually draws crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands over the three day event.
This year the festival features internationally acclaimed Greek artists Zik Zak. You can listen to the sensational sounds of this platinum selling group and others artists on the Mr.Greek Stage, Santorini Toronto Star stage or the World Music International stage. (artist info coming soon)
There are refreshments to Enjoy at the Krinos Hospitality tent or the various Beer and Wine gardens. While you wine and dine, keep the kids occupied at the fun and interactive Sports Zone.
Throughout the festival there will also be lots of free giveaways, product samples and an exciting contest where you can win a trip to Greece.
Take note driving to the festival is not an option park you vehicle and take the transit click TTC to get a scheduled route
Never give up on your dream…..Perseverance is all important. If you don’t have the desire and the belief in yourself to keep trying after you’ve been told you should quit, you’ll never make it.
Source….. Tawni O’Dell
My Thoughts
A truer statement has never been spoken, think back after procrastinating and giving up one day you saw it the end product your idea of 5yrs earlier on the store shelf. Remember speaking it is the easy part creating it is the actual work seek assistance never pass on a useful idea.
