A HOLIDAY STORY FOR YOU!

DO I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? NO BUT...

In 1974 I was a skinny Twenty Seven year old wannabe writer wondering homeless and almost broke on the streets of Vancouver. Almost because I had Twenty-Five cents in my left Blue Jean pocket and nothing but a hole in my other pocket. Not knowing where to find my next meal forced me to hold on tightly to that quarter.

Gas-town Vancouver was proving to be a strange place! It was the oldest and most itinerant filled part of the city and it was also far from the office towers and beautiful homes of upper middle class Vancouver. The poor and homeless felt less rejected in Gas town and so, being poor and homeless myself, I tried to blend and mingle with the street people. Mingling for me meant watching an old man feeding Pigeons. He placed a few peanuts in his hands and waved his arms gently up and down and I was surprised to see the birds land on his arms and eat the peanuts! The closest I could coax a pigeon with food was three feet before they feathered away. I noticed most of the birds were dust Grey and street smart and yet I saw a few bright multicolored feathers; too pretty to be anything but escapees from a Hutch.

These clever street birds never allowed humans closer than a few feet and so I wondered how the old man managed to land them on his arm?

“How does he do that?” I thought and kept studying until the idea finally struck me! The secret was not to stare at them. The birds were staring first and if you looked directly at them, they were gone!

“Interesting. Very interesting” Then I saw the police car cruising past and decided to walk a few steps to give the impression I had somewhere to go. I stopped when I saw the small bars of Chocolate laid out neatly in rows in the local candy store window. I was starving and so I said good-bye to my last quarter even though I knew the snack would not last long. Only Twenty Five cents and by God I was feeling hungry! When I reached for the quarter I saw the bag of Peanuts...also only Twenty Five Cents.

It was a strange choice! To buy the Peanuts and feed the Pigeons or buy a Chocolate bar and briefly, very briefly stop from starving! My curiosity was always stronger than my intelligence and so I bought the peanuts. I never claimed to be a bright human being and so I carried my treasure to the park and put some peanuts in my hand. Then I exactly imitated the old man and moved my arms gently up and down.

It was worth the pain in my stomach to feel those Pigeons land on my arm and go for my Peanuts.

End of story you would think but no, this is where my life changed completely.

Unknown to me a pretty young lady was standing across the street and watching my effort. She crossed the street and approached me.

“I always wanted to do that!" she said. "Can you show me how?”

Without a word I placed some Peanuts in her hand and gently moved her arm up and down and then I backed away.

“Don't stare at them.” I said. If you do they will fly away.

“Oh my God I can feel them! She laughed! They are on my arm! I can feel them! Thank you! Thank You! I am going to buy you lunch and a Beer!

 Like I said...I don't believe in miracles but.... Happy Holidays!

Gas and Oil exploration company is threatening narwhals and an entire way of life! Help stop them now! A tiny community is fighting Big Oil, and they need our help! Off the coast of Clyde River, Nunavut, unspoiled Arctic waters are home to 90% of the world's narwhals. These whales, with their unique tusks that look like a unicorn's horn, take up a important role in the aquatic ecosystem. They are also an important food source for the native Inuit people, many of whom must rely on subsistence hunting to survive. But Clyde River, the narwhals, and everyone whose way of life depends on the ocean are in danger. The Canadian government just granted oil corporations the right to search for drilling sites in the ocean near Clyde River. The environnmental devastation that comes with offshore drilling is bad enough, but the search is worse – these oil companies will use "seismic testing," setting off huge explosions underwater. Like all whales, narwhals use their hearing to communicate and to find their way safely beneath the Arctic ice. The search for oil will deafen, disorient, and kill any narwhals caught in its path. Save the narwhals! Sign the petition to stop Big Oil from destroying Arctic habitats. For generations, big corporations have stripped northern Canada of its natural resources, trampling the rights of native peoples and destroying entire ecosystems for profit. The government has been complicit in this, auctioning off oil and mineral rights to the highest bidder and ignoring the consequences. The people of Clyde River have had enough. They are standing up to the government and to Big Oil and fighting to protect their home. But there are only 900 people in Clyde River. They need us to stand with them. If we act now, we can stop the oil companies in their tracks before the damage is done. Sign the petition to the government of Canada, saying NO to Big Oil wrecking the Arctic Ocean. ********** More information: Help Protect Canada's Arctic from Oil Spills Save the Arctic Sign the petition to the Canadian government. Petition Text: Oil exploration and offshore drilling destroys aquatic ecosystems, putting the narwhal and Inuit communities both at risk. Don't allow Big Oil to wreck the Arctic Ocean." FULL NAMEEMAIL ADDRESS COUNTRY POSTAL / ZIP CODE SumOfUs will protect your privacy, and keep you updated about this and similar campaigns. HOME ABOUT PRIVACY POLICY CONTACT 2014 SumOfUs, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

A tiny community is fighting Big Oil, and they need our help!

Off the coast of Clyde River, Nunavut, unspoiled Arctic waters are home to 90% of the world's narwhals. These whales, with their unique tusks that look like a unicorn's horn, take up a important role in the aquatic ecosystem. They are also an important food source for the native Inuit people, many of whom must rely on subsistence hunting to survive. But Clyde River, the narwhals, and everyone whose way of life depends on the ocean are in danger.

The Canadian government just granted oil corporations the right to search for drilling sites in the ocean near Clyde River. The environnmental devastation that comes with offshore drilling is bad enough, but the search is worse – these oil companies will use "seismic testing," setting off huge explosions underwater. Like all whales, narwhals use their hearing to communicate and to find their way safely beneath the Arctic ice. The search for oil will deafen, disorient, and kill any narwhals caught in its path.

Save the narwhals! Sign the petition to stop Big Oil from destroying Arctic habitats.

For generations, big corporations have stripped northern Canada of its natural resources, trampling the rights of native peoples and destroying entire ecosystems for profit. The government has been complicit in this, auctioning off oil and mineral rights to the highest bidder and ignoring the consequences.

The people of Clyde River have had enough. They are standing up to the government and to Big Oil and fighting to protect their home. But there are only 900 people in Clyde River. They need us to stand with them. If we act now, we can stop the oil companies in their tracks before the damage is done.

Sign the petition to the government of Canada, saying NO to Big Oil wrecking the Arctic Ocean. 

**********
More information:

Help Protect Canada's Arctic from Oil Spills Save the Arctic

Sign the petition to the Canadian government.

Petition Text:

Oil exploration and offshore drilling destroys aquatic ecosystems, putting the narwhal and Inuit communities both at risk. Don't allow Big Oil to wreck the Arctic Ocean."

FULL NAMEEMAIL ADDRESS

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Hi everybody! If you see an advertisement for the Keystone Pipeline or Suncor under these words you will have absolute proof that the Oil companies are doing everything to misdirect the public and use their economic power to discredit the environment movement. I and the world humanitarian peace and ecology movement are against polluters and absolutely against the Keystone Pipeline. Fossil fuels are toxic polluters and those who profit from fossil fuels are basically heartless! They could easily re-direct their tremendous profits into wind and water Turbines or Solar panels and even Nuclear reactors using Thorium which are safer than current reactors using Uranium. We need to slow industrial production of fossil fuels and the unrestrained growth of industrialism in general. If we don't get back to nature soon, we won't have a nature left for our children and grand-children.

Happy Holidays Gentle Readers!

 Every Holiday Season the following Grinch Gang attempts to stuff advertising crap into my old computer. In the past they almost convinced me to buy a new computer...almost! Today is a new day and I would like to thank the Grinch gang of advertisers for forcing me to become a better computer user. For example I am tonight listing all those who attempted to stuff their stuff into my stuff...>
1. re-markable.net
2. dimtron.com
3. adnxs.com
4. Couponarific
5. atargetingadvertiser.com
6. ca.ozto.net/a.php....

 They did temporarily give me a hard time but with the surreptitious use of pop-up blocking and other methods which shall remain nameless, I managed to stop the advertising attacks! You can do it too! Don't be fooled into buying new computers or suffering the rude and intrusive spam advertising they try to stuff into our computers. We outlawed spam years ago and unwanted advertising remains outside the social realm of the internet. Social communication is the basis for the development of the world wide web and it remains a free-for-all system however, it is not a wild west style free for all! Do not allow advertisers to bullshit you into thinking otherwise! If companies want to sell their products that is fine and all they have to do is create their own web sites where they can sell quality guaranteed products. People who need and want to buy those products will find them on the web. However, companies who try to force feed their products into our computers are abusive and will be flagged to the point they will lose more than they gain! Which brings me to the above list. Please feel free to add to the list if you find aggressive advertisers who are bugging the hell out of you! Your security page usually includes a place you can add and ban unwanted web sites. Have a Happy Holiday Season!

Will artificially intelligent machines be dangerous to humans?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30290540

  Artificial intelligence can be a great gift for mankind or a great mistake! I believe that in the short term AI will benefit mankind as we use robots to create cleaner and better vehicles and machines for our human benefit. The danger will be when by accident or design one artificially intelligent computer becomes a super intelligent computer and a foolish human somewhere decides to use it for making war! War enhances the creation and ability of killing machines. From the Black Powder invented by the Chinese to Dynamite invented by Alfred Nobel, our ability to murder each other has progressed. The creation of the Atomic Bomb brought us to the brink of disaster and mankind took a step back. Today the small robot drones that are patrolling the skies of Iraq are a prelude to disaster! The better the technology the deadlier the invention. If we give machines the capacity to think without automatic shut off switches that turn off when Ethical and Moral codes are breached, the human race will be in trouble! Dangerous thinking machines will quickly develop the capacity to eradicate our species and perpetuate themselves.

 Experience has taught me that warnings seldom work...even when experts like professor Stephen Hawking gives the warning. Human greed is all pervasive! All I can suggest is that we take precautions and create machines with automatic shut-off  switches and self destruct mechanisms deeply implanted within their artificial brains. This will at least give the human race a chance to survive with the machines until we evolve into a more ethical and creative as well as a more humanitarian species .
Author: Joseph Raglione.

Dirty tricks and who creates them!

The world humanitarian peace and ecology movement is against the bitumen tar oil East pipeline.

________________________________________________________________

Leaked documents show TransCanada planning “dirty tricks” campaign to support Energy East pipeline

Feature story - November 18, 2014

Having a vigorous debate about pipelines and Canada’s energy future is something Greenpeace endorses – but what happens when one side of the debate creates fake groups to make it seem like they have more people on their side than they really do? That’s what appears to be happening regarding the Energy East pipeline and it’s a troubling development.

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Today, Greenpeace Canada released leaked documents that it says shows that TransCanada is using deceitful tactics to attack environmental advocates. Greenpeace said the documents involve secret public relations and a “grassroots advocacy” strategy by TransCanada to put pressure on politicians and critics of their Energy East pipeline proposal – tactics similar to those employed by the oil industry in the U.S. to attack environmental advocates.

“Clearly TransCanada is worried about the growing opposition to their Energy East tar sands pipeline,” said Keith Stewart, Greenpeace Canada Climate and Energy Campaign coordinator. “These documents show that TransCanada is planning a secret dirty tricks campaign, using third parties to attack and smear its critics.”

The strategy was prepared for TransCanada by Edelman, the largest public relations firm in the world. Edelman has worked extensively for the oil industry, including running a multi-million dollar campaign for the American Petroleum Institute and the Koch brothers-affiliated American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to defeat climate legislation in the United States.

The documents, written between May and August 2014, lay out a strategy to “Add layers of difficulty for our opponents, distracting them from their mission and causing them to redirect their resources” by recruiting third parties to do and say things “when TransCanada can’t.” They identify over 40 Edelman staff members and nine TransCanada staffers who will work on the campaign, which is led from Edelman’s DC office. The advertising and pro-Energy East advocacy website described in the documents has already been launched.

“They are importing what they acknowledge is an ‘aggressive’ U.S. model of politics and have brought in American public relations experts with a history of using fake grassroots groups to attack industry critics to execute this plan,” said Stewart. “When oil companies create front groups to smear their opponents, they degrade democratic debate. Greenpeace may be fierce in the defence of our environment, but we put our names to our statements and publish the research to back them up. We expect oil companies to do the same.”

The documents state “This campaign approach has a strong heritage in the more aggressive politics and policy fights in the U.S., and those lessons and best practices will be critical to our success.” Edelman staff identified in these documents includes key individuals with experience running pro-industry “astroturf” (fake grassroots) campaigns to attack industry critics and block action on climate change in the U.S. These individuals also have strong Republican and Tea Party ties.

The most detailed document from the TransCanada-Edelman alliance is the Strategic Plan for Quebec, which highlights specific communities, organizations and community leaders that it says pose challenges for the project.

“Quebecers want clean energy, not dirty oil,” said Patrick Bonin, a Climate and Energy campaigner with Greenpeace in Quebec. “We will share these documents with the individuals and organization targeted by TransCanada’s campaign, so that they can prepare to defend themselves.”

If you think this pipeline should be judged based on its climate impact and not just public relations spin, sign here.

A summary of the documents and background information is available here.

The leaked documents are as follows:

• Energy East Campaign Organization: Promote, Respond Pressure (August 5, 2014)
• Research Synthesis (no date)
• Grassroots Advocacy Vision Document (May 15, 2014)
• Digital Grassroots Advocacy Implementation Plan (May 20, 2014)
• Strategic Plan: Quebec (May 20, 2014)

Declare the Arctic a World Heritage Site.

Gentle People. The following is an urgent message from my friends at Green-Peace.  Apparently the Canadian Conservative government and their international friends are again trying to find Oil in the Arctic. Hopefully, the Canadian Conservatives will be voted out of office in the next election and the United Nations will declare the Arctic a world heritage site, off-limits to all polluters.

Joseph Something big is happening in one of the tiniest, most remote places in the world: the people of Clyde River, Nunavut — a hamlet of just 900 people — are taking the Canadian government to court. The National Energy Board, a federal energy regulator, has recently approved a five-year search for oil off Clyde River’s coast, allowing seismic testing — a process of firing explosions through the ocean to find oil — as a first step towards dangerous Arctic oil drilling. How loud are these explosions? Imagine standing underneath a jumbo jet as it takes off — only you can’t cover your ears to block out the sound. Already, 34,118 people have added their voice to help Clyde River keep the oil industry out of Canada's Arctic, add yours today. Incredibly, 80-90% of the world’s narwhal population lives off the coast of Clyde River, and these explosions can disrupt their migration paths, sometimes causing permanent hearing loss, and in the worst case, death. The people of Clyde River aren’t going to stand by and let this happen. It took a great deal of courage and determination to launch this legal battle against the Canadian government. And the community of Clyde River is going into it hopeful with the knowledge that in 2010, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association successfully stopped seismic testing from happening nearby in Lancaster Sound. We too are hopeful, as this important case has been described by Clyde River's lawyer as "hard, but not unwinnable." Hard, because of how much influence the oil industry has over the government, but winnable because we know that you are going to join us and stand behind this brave community. Add your voice, help Clyde River keep the oil industry out of Canada's Arctic. Thank you, Farrah Khan Arctic Campaigner Greenpeace Canada

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