Monthly Archives: February 2005
Upgrade Success
| 2/28/2005 | Posted by Patti under Site News |
If you have been here before you’ll notice the blog has taken on a new look. I was able to successfully upgrade to WordPress 1.5. I’ve not completely caught on to using the themes feature but am getting the general gist. I’ll probably play with them at some point.
Pending Upgrade
| 2/24/2005 | Posted by Patti under Site News |
I’m going to be upgrading to the newest version of WordPress sometime in the next few days. Hopefully I’m able to follow the directions available on the web and manage the upgrade without destroying what I have. If not, hey, I shall return. Bet you just needed to know that.
Student Loans Relief
| 2/24/2005 | Posted by Patti under Canadian News, General |
Anyone who has been struggling trying to pay off student loan debt and especially if you’re really struggling with all your finances will know what the government currently has what is called a 10 year rule. That means that if you’re unable to cope with your debt load and need to file under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, that your student loans will survive the filing unless you have been out of school for 10 years before filing.
For most people who get out of school and manage to gain employment in their field of study they can usually manage to pay off their student loans over time. For those who are unable to gain employment in their field of study or even a field with a comparable income level, 10 years of unrelievable debtload is incredibly burdensome. Most can manage to apply for interest relief which can run for up to five years thus giving them an opportunity to gain an income that allows them to actually start paying off the loans.
One catch here is that you need to know you will need the interest relief before you’re struggling and slip behind because you wont get it if the loan isn’t current at the time of application.
A bill to lower the 10 years to 5 years died on the order paper when we went to the polls last year. As the government has made no move to bring that bill back, Alexa McDonough tabled a private members bill (C-236) in October 2004 to lower the rule to 2 years. The bill is coming up for second reading and one hour of debate tomorrow (Feb 25th) and then should come up for a second hour of debate and a vote in about a month. Read the rest of this entry »
Sunday Afternoon
| 2/20/2005 | Posted by Patti under General |
Had lunch with Jane today. She’s a priest who has become a friend. I met her when she was asked to serve as interim last year. An interim priest looks after a parish in between the departure of one priest and the arrival of the next. Jane was with us for several weeks and then has helped us as a supply priest as much as she could since then. She’s one of those rare people you meet who you just take to right off.
Anyways, back to lunch. She joined my niece Megan and I after service today. Megan made lunch for us, a really neat dish she called Mexican Lasagna. We really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the wine that Jane brought along as well. A nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon, good company, pleasant conversation and fine food.
On another note, Megan goes home tomorrow. I’ve enjoyed her company this week, always enjoy spending time with her.
The Marriage Debate
| 2/20/2005 | Posted by Patti under Canadian News |
I’ve been watching the debate on the blogs, in the media and of course in our House of Commons on Bill C-38 which will legalize same sex marriage in this country. Actually, it is already legal in 7 of the 10 provinces, this bill will provide national uniformity. The speeches by the four parties in the house each contained some interesting and thoughtful commentary, they also contained a lot of political posturing which does nothing positive.
I have to admit to having to do a lot of soul searching not only on the subject of same sex marriage but on my own acceptance of gays. My initial stance was one of scorn and rejection, but I was young, foolish and lacking in life experience. I’ve learned over the years simply because I don’t have an understanding where my fellow human being is coming from doesn’t mean I can’t accept who that person is.
I believe that a person’s sexual orientation is a part of their makeup as surely as the colour of their eyes or hair. I noted someone on an email discussion group I’m on suggesting that we take the arguments against same sex marriage and replace the words ‘same sex’ with ‘interracial’. While I appreciate the sentiment of what the person was trying to illustrate, interracial marriages are a conscious choice. Read the rest of this entry »
Watch Those Documents You’re Signing
| 2/19/2005 | Posted by Patti under General |
As often as I hear about these situations, I still can’t help being surprised and amazed at how inattentive people can be to their own situations. When signing documents for anything, especially anything financial, PAY ATTENTION.
Even if you don’t read all the fine print, know what the document is before you put your signature on it. A colleague told me yesterday of a situation where a couple went to a finance company for a loan. When he spoke to them he asked if the finance company had any security on the loan. Usually they get people to sign over security on vehicles or their household goods. The person told my colleague that they had noticed just that morning that it appeared the finance company might have security on their home aka a mortgage.
The couple apparently had told the person at the finance company they didn’t want a mortgage. She was apparently a little hard of hearing because she went right ahead and prepared one. Read the rest of this entry »
Katimavik
| 2/17/2005 | Posted by Patti under General |
I’ve been enjoying my visit with my niece Megan this week. She’s an easy person to spend time with. This time last year she was away at Katimavik. What a great life experience for any young person. Katimavik is a government sponsored program bringing young people from across the country together into groups which reside for a period of time in a sponsor community where the young people carry out volunteer work for the community.
Megan was in Rockland, Ontario; Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland & Regina, Saskatchewan during her almost 9 months away. She did things like working in an arena (got to drive a zamboni), helped in a nursing home, cleaned beaches, did reforestration, worked in a nursing home, prepared and did workshops etc. Probably the most important thing she took part in during that time was learned how to live in a community of 10 other young people and get along. She had a blast and felt she had learned a lot about herself she would either never have learned or taken much longer to get there.
Heading off the Pharma Giants
| 2/15/2005 | Posted by Patti under Canadian News |
An article over at Straight Goods magazine entitled Health Freedom Bill C-420 draws attention to this bill due for second reading in Parliament in March. The bill would define supplements and vitamins as ‘food’ rather than drugs. And you would care about this why?
If you care about having some options and choices in your health care, you care. If you prefer to have the pharmaceutical firms have control over what is used and how to fight health conditions, then click on over to something else.
A sub-committee of the UN called CODEX is mandated to draw up guidelines to internationally “harmonize” standards for food supplements. An European Union Directive produced in 2002 has produced the guidelines for CODEX. The end result of these guidelines is that food supplements will be treated as drugs by those who comply thus rendering them only available through prescription. The hand on the rudder of prescription ‘medications’ being the ever so large and powerful pharmaceutical firms.
The CODEX sub-committee on its own doesn’t have the power to sanction countries who choose not to comply with these guidelines. Where the potential teeth comes in is the wording and terms of various interlocking trade agreements. Most noteably, the World Trade Organization. The Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, which has not yet be ratifyed, would provide for sanctions and both Canada and the US if the guidelines are not adopted. Australia, Norway, Denmark and Germany have already adopted these “foods as drugs” guidelines and by August 1st of this year supplements and vitamins will only be available in some 25 European Union nations if certain specific rules are followed. Chris Gupta over at Share the Wealth has an article which analyzes those ‘rules”. Read the rest of this entry »
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