Canadian citizens and Our privacy vs. Government and Police

First off… I just have to say, as I’m writing this I’m listening to Miley Cyrus’ new Bob Dylan cover of “You’re gonna make me lonesome when you go”  and I have to say that I just absolutely love her!  She’s so real, talented and inspirational… to me anyways…

I realize that I haven’t posted in the last few weeks… I’ve been busy/ didn’t have the urge to write anything.  But this past week I learnt about something happening within the Canadian government.  On Tuesday, Bill C-30 will be reviewed at the House of Commons with a vote to Pass it or not.  The Conservative and liberals are for the bill, while NDP is completely against it.

The bill is ‘An act to enact the Investigation and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act and to amend the Criminal Code and other Acts’.  In other words, the Government and Police want to implement a law where they can spy on all Canadian citizens online and receive citizens; names, phone numbers, and addresses without a warrant through internet and cell phone providers.  They claim that it is to help prevent and capture the citizens that are taking part in child pornography.  But in all actuality, it is only a way to control the citizens of Canada.  The Government is stating that you are either for this bill or are a terrorist/partake in child pornography.

I’m neither a terrorist nor do I partake in child pornography.  I am just a regular Canadian citizen, not wanting my online privacy being taken away.  Why should we law-abiding citizens be forced to give up our privacy and rights to the police?  what happened to freedom?

The following links are articles talking about the bill.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/02/14/technology-online-surveillance-bill.html

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/02/13/jesse-kline-lawful-access-bill-set-to-become-the-new-gun-registry/

This is an interesting video, as to what Canada can become.  I personally don’t think that this is in the right direction.

http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com/2012/02/judge-napolitano-final-word-on-last.html

Now, how do YOU feel about the Government trying to take away YOUR online privacy?

please follow this link to take the poll, show the government that you won’t stand for your privacy being taken away.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/02/should-police-have-access-to-isp-customer-data-without-a-warrant.html

Let me know your thoughts!  Leave a comment :)

Tags: Bill C-30, Canada, Canadian Government, Freedom, Privacy, Stephen Harper

Dance like nobody’s watching.

Back to Ballet tonight!! It felt so good to get back to class!  There were about 10-12 people in class it was so nice.  As usual I got there SUPER early. Today, it mainly had to do with the elevators… earlier when I first attempted to do laundry there was only 1 elevator running.. I assumed to myself that there would probably be only 1 elevator running when I would leave.  So I alloted myself enough time that I wouldn’t be late for the bus.  Turns out there was more than 1 running! yay!!  I was able to get a good stretch in before class, which was nice, especially considering the fact that I haven’t been in probably 4 weeks!

Tomorrow, Jessica Alba’s company ‘The Honest Company’ is being launched to the public!!  I’m excited to test some of the products!  It’s an entire line of baby and home eco-friendly products.  With all the harmful chemicals in EVERYTHING around us.  It is amazing that this is happening… especially with it being put on by a celebrity behind the image.  If you look around you can find eco-friendly diapers and such.  But for the most part they are brown and boring.  Jessica is bringing her Flair to eco-friendly products, with fun patterns and designs. I suggest everyone like the Facebook page.  They release informative articles as well :)

Today, I stumbled upon this website called www.bodysense.com  they sell multiple brands of eco-friendly certified products for the body and home, from toothpaste to petcare to cosmetics.  I just finished my wish list – and I’m SO excited to actually put my order in! they offer flat rate shipping of 5$ to Canada and free shipping over 99$!! Which is pretty good if you ask me!  All their products are reasonably priced, and they sell samples of their cosmetics!  I’ll definitely keep you all posted on what I learn!

As for tomorrow, it’s back to Choir rehearsal and Jonathan’s band rehearsal!  I love Mondays and Tuesdays! The only thing missing is Terra Nova.

That’s it from me.

Good Night World ;)

Tags: ballet, band, body sense, choir, ecofriendly, The Honest Company, vegan

Floodings in Thailand

The Universe works in funny ways sometimes. In October,  floodings in Thailand began to occur due to the large amounts of rainfall they had this year.

These floods have affected a total of 14 000 factories where hard drives, cameras, and cars are manufactured. The hard drive companies – Toshiba, Seagate and Western digital have been hit the worst.  1/3rd of the worlds hard drive production is from Thailand.  Which in turns is causing a rise in prices of hard drives.  Hard drive prices have increased from 50-150% due to the floodings. Inventory plummeted 90% in a week!  Most companies are stating that they should resume complete supply-demand inventory by the 3rd quarter of this year.  But I recently read a blog, written by someone living in Thailand with full view of where these floodings are happening and he states that the companies have an even bigger problem on their hands where these floodings may begin to happen annually. He states that they will have to most likely abandon their factories and build elsewhere, or they country could build  a water system in which they can divert this problem from happening again… This will take years.

I find it funny, how in a world where we are SO incredibly attached to our technology that these specific factories are the ones being hit the most.

Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something?

here’s a link to an article if you’re interested in learning more :)

http://www.firstpost.com/tech/hard-disk-drive-shortage-hits-manufacturers-retailers-and-you-140412.html

Tags: Flooding, technology, Thailand

Live a life of Happiness

Happiness is an option, it’s a choice that we can make as a way to live.  It’s proven that happiness is beneficial to our health and our overall well-being.  I felt the need to share these two articles with everyone.  The First article being something I saw on Facebook.  The second is written by Zooey Deschanel’s friend and fellow co-author Sarah May Bates on hellogiggles.com

http://beyondtheopposites.com/2011/11/22/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying/

http://hellogiggles.com/i-dont-know

Much Love xoxo

Happy 2012 Everyone!

2012

Already the 6th of January… where does the time go??  Over the Holidays, Jonathan and I went to Sudbury to visit my parents for New Years, have a second Christmas with my family and visit relatives :)  Thanks to my handy new camera that I received from Jonathan for Christmas I was able to document everything :) We went and rang in the New Year with my parents at the Legion!!  So much fun, I couldn’t ask for a better way to bring in this New Year! I Love you all!!

Happy New Year from me to you!!

On New Year’s day we all went to my Memere & Pepere’s house for dinner to have our second Christmas and celebrate my Pepere’s 81st birthday!  Happy Birthday Pepere!!  I wish that my cousin’s and Uncle living in the West Coast could have made it! Unfortunately it isn’t that cheap to fly! Especially during the holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my family to yours!!

On January 3rd, which was the actual date of my Pepere’s 81st birthday (the man in the middle -front row), Jonathan and I headed back Home.  That day, the roads we’re pretty bad from what I heard,  two collisions happened in separate areas near Sudbury.  With a death total of 7 all under the age of 19.  I feel loss for these families even though I knew none of the affected.  It is sad to think that so many people so young lost their lives that day, the same day that my Pepere was celebrating his 81st year being alive.

Please take the time to tell those that mean something to you that you care about them and love them.  Take the time to enjoy every moment spent with these people and enjoy the time you spend on this beautiful planet.  Because at any time – your life could be taken away.

May all of you young souls R.I.P.

Tags: 81, Death, Happiness, Love, New Years

So this is Christmas…

It’s christmas eve…

The turkey is in the oven, the potatoes are waiting to be cooked, the boyfriend is resting his hangover in bed lol and the company is soon to be arriving.

It’s my first christmas in the city, and also our first christmas in our home. I couldn’t ask for anything better :) I love you bubba <3 Our stockings are hung by the christmas tree with care, and the presents are under the tree waiting to be opened. As we all know Christmas is not a time about presents – it's a time for family, friends and loved ones. The true meaning of christmas seems to be slipping away within people.

I was raised as a catholic, going to church every christmas, and almost every sunday, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ… isn't that what christmas is supposed to be about? But now, as I got ready for christmas this year, I started thinking to myself… Since I don't exactly believe in God or Jesus (I'm sorry for offending anyone) but I'm still celebrating christmas what exactly IS the meaning of christmas?

We have grown acknowledge that christmas is associated with family and friends, but what is with all the materialistic gifts? We're now in a society that are driven on presents… So many people are stressed and unhappy at this time of year, complaining about going broke – myself included (barely any work and travelling will do that to you) although I'm not unhappy. I quite enjoy the festive time of year :) great food, drinks and great people.

I was rather annoyed when I heard that Toronto wanted to keep the Eaton Centre open this christmas day, so people can shop … I understand that not everyone in the world celebrates christmas… But even if you don't, I believe that we should take this time of year to spend the time with those who matter to us… Therefore why the hell should we have a mall open on christmas day! Material things don't fill the voids in our hearts that love does. Let people have a day off and the time to spend with their families, let them enjoy a good feast with friends! No one should have to work this weekend, unless you absolutely have to…. But I guess that's just my opinion.

Last night I met up with Jonathan at his work for drinks, we then went out and began our christmas celebrations with Matt and Jodi – great people!! We played darts for a while then headed to their place to play some euchre, bowls and just have a good time! I rode on a tire swing, put my purple painted hand mark on their wall! It was the best night!! A great way to start off our Christmas holidays! Now we're sitting here awaiting the arrival of our guests :) Next week we'll be visiting my parents for New Years!!

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and have a safe and Happy Holidays!!!
From my family to yours!!

Love

Kristen

P.S. I’ll be posting a raw uncut video of Jonathan and Matt from Bonwit Teller performing one of their songs! so stay posted!!

Tags: Christmas, drinks, family, friends, good times, Love

Nana

I recently wrote a post about my Nana, who is currently battling a rare form of cancer.

Today, I found out that the cancer has spread to her lungs.  It’s sad to think that this is happening to her.  But I guess that’s a part of life… so many things happen in the world every day.  Cherish the ones you love, embrace life around you, for this is the only one you’ll ever get.

I’m thinking of you Nana, stay strong <3

xoxo

Tags: Cancer, life, nana

Kyoto Canada Update

Last night, after I posted my blog, Jonathan came home and we began discussing the Kyoto Protocol and the incident with Canada withdrawing from the agreement.

There is ALOT of controversy involved with this incident.  Most Nation leaders are very upset with Canada’s decision to withdraw.  I understand the factor that our country can not use anymore debt, which is one of the leading reasons as to why they left the agreement.  They did also mention that when a better agreement arises, they would be more willing to participate.

It’s stated, that the Kyoto protocol is flawed. This is understandable, since it is an old agreement – it does need to be updated.  But, it is also only in its first phase.  Yes the goals for the largest emitters wasn’t possible in that short amount of time, but the foundation for a stronger, better agreement are there.

Instead of participating and getting a fine, Canada decided to withdraw and spend the money they had invested in Kyoto, on emission reductions in their own country – on their level.

I looked on the Government of Canada website to see if there was any information on any kind of plan in place to reduce our emissions, but i honestly could not find anything – that website is so confusing…

So in turns, I decided to look into Ontario’s plan.  Currently they have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6% below the 1990 levels by 2014, 15% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.  Roughly the same idea as Kyoto, but on a more personal level and without any fines. They are  also phasing out coal (which is a higher CO2 emitter than the tar sands) and supporting more renewable energy.

Here’s the link with more information if you want to check it out :)

http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/environment/en/category/climate_change/STDPROD_078897.html

I also found this very informative fact book on the oil sands in Alberta.  I’ve been hearing a lot of controversy over this as well.  But to be honest it seems like the way to go.  http://issuu.com/capp/docs/oilsands-fact-book/56

Canada, maybe you didn’t make such a bad decision after all!

 

Tags: Canada, Kyoto Protocol, Tar Sands

Canada… WAKE UP!!

Over the last couple weeks from November 28th till December 9th, 2011.  The United Nations held their annual COP17/CMP7 Climate Change Conference that took place in Durban, South Africa.

One of the subjects was The Kyoto protocol.  The Kyoto protocol is a protocol aimed at fighting global warming. It was first adopted on December 11, 1997, then put into action on February 16, 2005.  The objective of the protocol is to establish a legally binding international agreement where, all of the participating nations commit themselves to tackling the issue of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. With a target average reduction of 5.2% from 1990 levels by the year 2012.

On Monday December 5th, 2011, Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Agreement.

I’m shaking my head as I write this!  Being Canadian, this doesn’t make me proud.  I always thought Canada to be a role model… not so much anymore.

Our Environmental Minister, Peter Kent went to Durban with the idea that Kyoto was dead.  I don’t understand why he decided to withdraw.  Yes, Phase 1 – Kyoto may not be perfect, but it sure is a step in the right direction!  We all know now in this day, that things work with trial and error.  By scrapping the Kyoto agreement and trying to make a new agreement will take more time then we have to fix our worlds LARGEST problem – CLIMATE CHANGE.  By scrapping the agreement, we are risking millions of lives all over the world.

I’d like to think that Canadian people are not as ignorant as Peter Kent is.

It’s time that we as a country and a community work together.  We need to spread awareness, and help lower our emissions.

Let’s wake ourselves up and wake up our Government!!

COP17 – http://www.cop17-cmp7durban.com/index.html

Here are some facts on the situation from http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106223
- Kyoto is legally binding but it lacks penalties for non-compliance, despite Kent’s claims that Canada would have to pay 14 billion dollars in penalties. To meet its Kyoto obligations, Canada could have purchased carbon credits, which, at eight U.S. dollars a tonne, are quite inexpensive.

-Although in total China now spews more carbon than the U.S., its emissions per person are still far lower. Canada’s per capita emissions are the sixth highest in the world, just below the U.S., more than twice those of Britain, four to five times those of China and about 60 times those of Kenya.

-The Harper government has pledged to match the new U.S. emission reduction target of about three percent below 1990 emissions by the year 2020. This cutback falls far short of what climate science shows is necessary to limit climate change to two degrees Celsius: by 2020, industrialised countries need to reduce their emissions by 25 to 40 percent.

 

*Today SELF magazine published an article on Jessica Alba telling people, which Toxic Chemicals you should avoid.  In the wake of her new business The Honest Company along with the pressing issues that our world faces today.  It’s great to see celebrities like Jessica Alba being such activists.

Tags: Canada, climate change, COP17, Jessica Alba, Kyoto Protocol

The Plastic Vortex…

Our Oceans.  I remember a few months back hearing about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in our Oceans.  Some of you may know what I’m talking about, and I hope you do! I have already spoken to some people about it and they had no idea this was happening.  Which Shocked me! People know more about Celebrities than they do their own Planet!

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located in the North Pacific Gyre with a size range from 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) to more than 15,000,000 square kilometres (5,800,000 sq mi). This is where plastic garbage has collected in our Oceans over the years. Back in 1988 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, predicted that this would happen. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch.

When I first heard about this, my initial thought was “Why can’t they just build a machine and scoop everything out??” It makes sense right?  Well that would cost money! and probably ALOT of it… The Oceans are a pretty big places.  Unfortunately most people just don’t care.  It aggravates me to see people so selfish, our world is loosing so much compassion.. I see it everyday.  From bus drivers not letting poor children get on the bus without the EXACT change to celebrities spending their money on their 5th weddings and on their 6th divorces.  It boggles my mind to see our world that we live in get so corrupt.  How did we get to this point? Why are we so inclined to only think about what we want and whats convenient…instead of helping those in need and saving our planet that is on the brink of destruction?

The pollution that we as human race make everyday is disturbing to me.   So I decided to google to see if there is some kind of organization already in place that is cleaning up the gyre.  I then stumbled onto Project Kaisei.  They are a not-for-profit organization, analysing and cleaning out the gyre, also taking a look to see if the pollution is getting into our eco-systems… which it is. They are exactly the kind of organization I was thinking about!! I believe that they are a great cause that everyone who can donate should donate money to them!!  Help them get the tools that they need to make cleaning up our mess possible! You can read more about them on their website: http://www.projectkaisei.org/goals_and_objectives.aspx .  After all, it is everyone’s mess.

Currently the planet’s climate temperature is on a rise.  NASA released today, an article on the potential rapid climate change by 2100.  As of now our climate has increased .8 degrees Celsius since 1880 and is on a rise of .1 degree Celsius every decade.  The main cause of this climate change is the emission of greenhouse gases in the air, mainly carbon dioxide.

What is carbon dioxide?  Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a gas emitted from the natural carbon cycle and daily human activities.  Such as burning oil, coal and gas and deforestation.

CO2 is removed in the atmosphere by oceans and plants.  When the emissions and removals are roughly equal they are in balance.  In 2005, the total CO2 emissions were up 35% from the 1700, before the Industrial Revolution.

You can read the article here: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/rapid-change-feature.html

I feel as this information is vitally important for us to think and do something about, in any way we can help.

I found this link which has PLENTY of ways you can do your part in helping to lower CO2 emissions!  http://www.wikihow.com/Reduce-Your-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions

You can also check out www.toronto.ca/recycle to learn about the best ways to dispose of waste!!

Donate, Recycle, Get Involved in helping save OUR PLANET!!  or we won’t have one left :(

Tags: CO2, Earth, emissions, greenhouse gases, gyre, plastic, pollution