The Difference Between Man and Dog!
25-Oct-06
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you.
This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-- Mark Twain
Can we take pride in our environmental record of the last 30 or 40 years in this country? What has brought us as a nation, and as individuals, to the point where we consume far more than we will ever need?
Although we are an advanced nation and a major economic power, my sense now is that it's fear of being without a job, of not having the goods my neighbor or brother has, or that we will not sell all the products we keep assembly line producing.
It's the fear that we won't be as successful as the US, our southern neighbor, who we like to hate, envy and emulate at the same time.
Can we scare people into changing their habits as one of my friends suggests we do with smoking or drinking among young people? Maybe for a while, but they'll be back on the bottle or the weed, and needing to go into rehab or to find a patch, soon enough I suspect. Economic suasion may be more successful if we can find positive ways to implement this.
Why has there been little success in changing people's behaviour significantly? Why is climate change only now considered of dramatic importance such that other political parties appear willing to go into an election soon to challenge the current government's Climate Change initiatives?
Why is the Liberal Party, the natural governing party in this country, and the stewards of this country for most of the past 40 years, seen as the champion of the Environment?
This "cow is long out of the barn", here and elsewhere. Worrying about the i's and t's on a climate change plan is just detail and petty politicking by all concerned.
Without the desire to change and the desire to live it every day, by the people driving the economic engines of our society, and policy makers of all levels, this issue will not have the right profile.
Prohibition rarely works. Financial disincentives have short term effects and just create anger.
It's individuals who have to want to make a difference and until find effective programs to change attitudes and behaviours willingly, in spite of everything else that is done, we will still be in the same position the next time the World Wildlife Fund issues their report on "ecological consumption".
Originally seen at
globeandmail.com:
World Wildlife Fund at Google News
Summary:
Canada rated among worst resource abusers
globeandmail.com: Canada rated among worst resource abusers
The only countries with a worse ecological footprint -- the per capita measurement of a country's ecological impact -- were the United Arab Emirates (almost entirely because of its carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil fuels), the United States and Finland.
Belleville News-Democrat | 03/05/2006 | How to use time to improve your relationships
How to use time to improve your relationships
Are you worried that some of your relationships are falling apart?
For example, maybe you haven't called one of your good friends in months. You can feel this person drifting out of your life. You'd never want that to happen.
Or, do you keep failing to spend quality time with your spouse?
Maybe your mate gives you hostile looks stemming from pure neglect.
Fact is, you know you're guilty. You're not being the marriage partner you'd really like to be.
Keeping up relationships, in reality, is a full-time job. It takes effort to keep relationships on track. But, for most of us, the problem is time. Where do you find enough of it?
To succeed in relationships, use small bits of time to help you stay connected. Or, use specific slots of time during the week to keep relationships tuned up.
"I never see any of my friends anymore," a man who recently retired told us. He sent his complaint to us via mail.
The Lost Art of Outlining Before Writing
05-Mar-06
Donesia Muhammad.com » Article Marketing 101: Good Old Fashioned Outlines
that you started writing one article, and it ended
up into another article altogether. That is why I suggest
waiting until the end to come up with a title for your article.
When people look for articles online, they are looking for
solutions. Remember most people can find a lot of information
already through the newspapers, libraries, television, and
books. Your articles have to grab their attention and get them
to remember you in the long run.
Happy writing.
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