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Royal Manor units are selling

admin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:18:46 +0000

Royal Manor units are selling. BrightStar President John Blackburn and Mayor Francis Richardson look over a map of Meaford at the official opening of the sales office for the Royal Manor project on Saturday. Chris Fell Photo

By Chris Fell -

Units at the joint BrightStar and Royal Canadian Legion Royal Manor project are already proving to be in demand. BrightStar opened its Meaford sales office on Saturday, February 4 and the project is approximately 25 per cent sold.The new office is located in the upstairs part of the Meaford Express/Kopperud Hamilton Law Office in downtown Meaford. The focus of the sales office in Meaford will be to sell the 50 Life Lease units that make up the Royal Manor project. It is anticipated that construction on the project will begin in the spring.BrightStar President John Blackburn was on hand for the opening of the new office on Saturday."Were really excited. The response has been amazing. We havent done any promotion until today and we already have 12 spoken for," said Blackburn. "Without opening our door 25 per cent of our units are spoken for," he said.Shortly after the new sales office officially opened on Saturday BrightStar Director of Sales Valerie Rasmussen placed small stickies on the units that have already been reserved by customers. In the sales office there is an outline of each floor of the project that details the location of each unit."It really shows the need for this kind of housing in Meaford," said Blackburn.The Royal Manor project is one of the largest development projects in Meaford in recent years. The project will incorporate a brand new clubhouse facility for Branch 32 of the Royal Canadian Legion and will ensure that organizations long-term survival. The local Legion has been in limbo for two years. The Legions old building had to be shut down due to the high cost of maintaining the aging facility.The Royal Manor units are being sold as part of a life lease concept. The units are similar to condominiums, however, the title to the life lease units remains with the Legion. Branch 32 of the Legion owns the land, the Royal Manor facility and will operate the facility as a non-profit entity. With no land costs factored into the price of the units – they will sell for less than a for-profit condominium development unit would sell for.Prices of the units range from $150,000 – $310,000, Blackburn said on Saturday. Blackburn said construction on the project would start once half of the units – approximately 25 – are sold. He anticipates that happening quickly.The units are geared towards the 55 plus age group and will feature all kinds of amenities for senior citizens.The building will include: a media room, library and a heritage room. Residents will also have access to the Legions bistro-style restaurant on site and the Legion hall on the main floor. When a resident wishes to move or sell their life lease the Legion will act as their agent and will sell the unit at market value – charging a five per cent fee.

via Simcoe Article: Royal Manor units are selling.

Things Happy People Do Differently

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:22:18 +0000

By Jacob Sokol -

“I’d always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live – that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.”

-Dan Millman

Studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness. These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives. (Check out her book The How of Happiness.)

I want to honor and discuss each of these 12 points, because no matter what part of life’s path we’re currently traveling on, these ‘happiness habits’ will always be applicable.

Express gratitude. – When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value. Kinda cool right? So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness. And that’s without having to go out and buy anything. It makes sense. We’re gonna have a hard time ever being happy if we aren’t thankful for what we already have.

Cultivate optimism. – Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism. No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it. She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life. People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.

Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. – Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous. If we’re somehow ‘better’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority. Our ego inflates – KABOOM – our inner Kanye West comes out! If we’re ‘worse’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we’ve done and dismiss all the progress that we’ve made. What I’ve found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn’t stem from a healthy place. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.

Practice acts of kindness. – Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain. (Serotonin is a substance that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.) Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside. What’s even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness. How extraordinary is that? Bystanders will be blessed with a release of serotonin just by watching what’s going on. A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin. Move over Pfizer, kindness is kicking ass and taking names.

Nurture social relationships. – The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships. Did you know studies show that people’s mortality rates are DOUBLED when they’re lonely? WHOA! There’s a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with. We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.

Develop strategies for coping. – How you respond to the ‘craptastic’ moments is what shapes your character. Sometimes crap happens – it’s inevitable. Forrest Gump knows the deal. It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan. It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.

Learn to forgive. – Harboring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being. You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between past and present emotion. When you ‘hate’ someone, and you’re continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are eating away at your immune system. You put yourself in a state of suckerism (technical term) and it stays with you throughout your day.

via 12 Things Happy People Do Differently.

What’s Your Love Language?

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:17:39 +0000

There is a good joke about the difficulty of having a good relationship with a woman. A man finds a magic lantern with a genie inside. The genie says to the man “You have found the lantern and so I will grant you one wish. You can wish for anything you want.” The man thinks about this for a few minutes and then says to the genie “I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I am afraid to fly and I get seasick on boats. I wish for a bridge so that I can drive to Hawaii.” “A bridge to Hawaii?” the genie says. “That’s a really tough order. It will take years of construction. It’s very complicated. Do you maybe have a second choice of a wish I could grant instead?” The man thinks it over and then says to the genie “I would like to know the secret of having a good relationship with a woman.” The genie says to him “Do you want that two lanes or four?”

In my work with parents and couples, I have found a kind of magic lantern for helping them have better relationships. This is Dr. Gary Chapman’s idea that there are various ways in which people feel truly loved–what he calls a person’s primary love language. The languages Chapman identifies are: physical affection, compliments or words of affirmation, quality time together, acts of service, and receiving gifts. All of us need all five of these in order to feel loved, but each of us needs one of them most of all. Surprisingly, we don’t always choose a partner who has the same love language as ourselves, and this can result in problems. We think we are expressing love, but we are expressing love in our own love language which may not be the same as the other person’s love language.

For example, if Alice’s main love language is receiving compliments and her husband Nate showers her with physical affection because that is his primary love language, Alice ends up not feeling loved. And if Brad’s main love language is spending quality time with his wife Belinda, and Belinda’s main love language is receiving gifts, neither might feel truly loved by the other because Brad gives Belinda a lot of quality time but doesn’t place much importance on giving her gifts. Needing gifts, I should add, is not necessarily a sign of being materialistic. As one young woman recently told me, “The important thing for me is that my husband took time out of his frenetic schedule to think about getting me a gift. He put thought into it and went out of his way to buy it during his lunch hour. That’s what made me feel special.”

via What’s Your Love Language? | Psychology Today.

Monsanto, To Be Charged With Biopiracy In India

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:36:28 +0000

Add a new word to your lexicon: Biopiracy.

That’s what U.S.-based agribusiness giant Monsanto has been accused of in India, where the government is planning to charge the company with violating the country’s biodiversity laws over a genetically modified version of eggplant.

In doing so, India has placed itself at the focal point of the movement to challenge genetically modified crops, which opponents say are destroying traditional crops and threatening farmers’ livelihoods.

"This can send a … message to the big companies [that] they are violating the laws of the nation," K.S. Sugara of the Karnataka Biodiversity Board told France 24 (see video below). "It is not acceptable … that the farmers in our communities are robbed of the advantage they should get from the indigenous varieties."

India announced last month it is pursuing charges against Monsanto for "stealing" an indigenous crop — eggplant — and using it to create a modified version without permission, a violation of India’s decade-old Biological Diversity Act. It’s the first prosecution of a company for the act of "biopiracy" in the country, and possibly the world.

At the heart of the issue is the phenomenon of the commercialization of indigenous knowledge. Indian farmers argue that they developed the strains of eggplant grown in India over generations, and Monsanto has no right to come in and build a product out of their own indigenous species.

Monsanto took locally-grown eggplant “without any conformance with the biological diversity act, and therefore it is biopiracy,” said Leo Saldanha, director of the Environmental Support Group, an Indian NGO. Saldanha filed the initial complaint that prompted India to pursue charges.

It is not actually illegal to develop GM foods from indigenous crops in India, but the the government placed a moratorium on eggplant development last year after an outcry from farmers. It's this moratorium that Monsanto is accused of breaking.

However, in the month since the government announced it intends to file charges, no actual charges have been laid. France24 correspondent Vikram Singh said India may be coming under pressure from Monsanto and other multinationals not to pursue the case.

But Singh said government officials insist they are simply taking their time to build a water-tight case.

Farmers’ opposition to Monsanto and genetically modified crops in India goes back to before the eggplant controversy, and traces its roots at least partly to an earlier controversy about genetically modified cotton.

After successfully introducing GM cotton to India, Monsanto was besieged by bad publicity when a failed crop allegedly caused farmers to commit suicide. Crop failures are common in India, but when the GM cotton crop failed, the farmers growing it were saddled with enormous debt.

By some counts, the suicide toll related to GM crop failure is in the hundreds of thousands, thoughsome observers have challenged that notion.

The company has also been accused of using child labour in its cotton seed production operations.

Monsanto has largely refused to comment to the media about the eggplant controversy, but France24 reported that the company is blaming its Indian sub-contractor for the unauthorized use of eggplant species.

France 24’s Singh said the case “will have ramifications beyond this incident. … It’s hugely important because how they handle this will set precedent for cases in the future.”

via Monsanto, World's Largest Genetically Modified Food Producer, To Be Charged With Biopiracy In India (VIDEO).

Dream of Universal Currency Just Won’t Die

admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:53:41 +0000

The euro zone maelstrom refuses to end. Thanks to the debt crisis, some Greek officials are contemplating dumping the common currency for the drachma. Meanwhile, Italy and Spain teeter. A decade after the shared currency was heralded as a 21st-century tool for peace and prosperity, it turns out that currency unions aren’t such a hot idea.

Not so fast, though. This is undeniably a period of epic turmoil, and many economists will tell you that sovereign states need sovereign currencies—full stop. But this notion ignores a fundamental truth: Countries with their own currency may have monetary independence, but in reality—as gun battles in Libya, CDOs in the US, and tsunamis in Japan have taught us—we are only becoming more economically intertwined, regardless of what our coins look like.

Step back from the current crisis to consider the long view, and currency unions—or even a single global currency—have a fair share of appeal. A universal medium of exchange could eliminate currency risk and jack up trade. It would mean speculators couldn’t short an individual country’s currency. Exporters wouldn’t have to fret over the gap between a price on a contract and the value of the payment. A single currency could halt spastic swings in prices and end conversion fees, leaving more of the pie for little stuff like R&D and employee health insurance. Oh—and it could put an end to international disputes over currency manipulation. Hello? China?

True, sovereign currencies afford the ability to manipulate the money supply, jiggle the handle of interest rates, and buy up piles of toxic assets. When a boom goes bust, devaluing currency is the least bad way for governments to rein in wages and prices that are suddenly too high. But if you use the same currency as another country that isn’t in dire straits, good luck convincing them to accept devaluation on your nation’s behalf. (This is part of the reason for the euro zone impasse.)

But does this mean we don’t see a global currency in our future? For many, the answer is no. A recent Pew Research poll reveals that 41 percent of Americans expect it by 2050. Maybe the idea has been planted in our heads by leftist utopians and science fiction authors: a system of “credits” is used in everything from Star Wars, Star Trek, and Babylon 5 to the Foundation book series. Yet the idea has also been touted by economics titans like John Maynard Keynes.

The fact is, the modern economy and monetary system are too damn precarious for us not to examine every possible way to protect against future shocks—including going all in on a universal currency. It’s a bit like geoengineering: radical and outrageous at first blush but, given humanity’s current predicament, not as outrageous as dismissing it out of hand.

Some pundits insist that gold could do the trick or that we could achieve many of the benefits of a global currency by tying the value of national ones to a set amount of the shiny stuff. But most economists view a return to gold as anachronistic, absurd, and even hazardous. Maybe, but it’s possible they’re saying so because reviving the gold standard is so incongruous with the present and not necessarily because reordaining gold would result in a system inferior to today’s tumultuous one.

via Dream of Universal Currency Just Won’t Die | Magazine.

The 7 worst things about being a male

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:35:59 +0000

The cultural stereotype is that it’s great to be a man. Not only do we have shorter lines at the rest room, but we make scads more money and can reach things on higher shelves in the marketplace. We don’t have to deal with double standards or glass ceilings, and we’re raised to have confidence and high self-esteem, so we can all comfortably act like the Sean Connery version of James Bond. Cooly knock off a few bad guys in the afternoon, then drive our Astin Martins to our expensive hotel in Monte Carlo, where beautiful movie actresses are waiting to throw themselves into our arms.

But in truth, it ain’t like that down here in Kansas.

Here are some simple facts about what it’s really like to be a regular good ole boy:

1. People want to hurt you. I have less than fond memories of the black eyes and swollen lips I suffered at the hands of various bullies as a young man. Or the nervous feeling in my stomach all afternoon when some would-be tough guy challenged me with the classic line: “After school, punk!” When I should have been studying for my math exams in high school, my mind was often filled instead with thoughts about how to avoid some bully in one of my classes, and whether the best strategy was to stare him down or make a self-diminishing joke, allowing him to establish his dominance at the expense of my acting submissive. But except for a minor injuries and years of anxiety, I got off easy. If you go hang around almost any emergency room in any reasonable sized city, you will see a steady stream of young males staggering in, or being wheeled in with knife wounds, gunshot wounds, gashes from broken bottles, or fractured skulls from baseball bats aimed at their heads. And as Martin Daly and Margo Wilson pointed out in their classic bookHomicide, crime statistics from any year taken at random, from any society throughout history, reveal that men are many times more likely to be murdered than are women. The perpetrators are more likely to be males than females, but even when the usually more peaceful sexdecides to murder, her victim is much more likely to be a man.

A couple of decades ago, Virgil Sheets and I asked college students whether they’d ever considered committing a homicide. A surprising majority had. And who were the fantasized victims of those homicidalfantasies? When men or women thought of killing someone, the intended victim was usually a man. Some of those men who get beat up and killed, you might argue, deserved it – wife-beaters or bullies are in fact more likely to get killed by their self-defending victims. But most homicides and assaults do not involve self-defense, and many involve victims who are completely blameless. I was once purposely bumped by a muscular little guy in a bar, and chose to ignore it; but he was looking for a fight, but the next guy at the bar was a big motorcyclist, who told him to watch where he was going, for which said biker was quickly beaten and kicked into a bloody mess by the pushy (and apparently tough) young punk.

2. You have problems controlling your impulses. For years I taught students about psychology disorders in my classes on general and abnormal psychology. Whilst preparing my lectures, I was not shocked to discover that men are overwhelming represented in several diagnostic categories, sometimes called “impulse control disorders” – predilictions that lead to alcohol and drug abuse, sexual misbehaviors of various kinds, violent outbursts, delinquency, problems holding down a job, and an overrepresention in almost all categories of criminal activity (with consequent overrepresentation in arrest records and prison terms. Prostitution is one of the few crimes for which women are more likely to be arrested, but that’s likely because women are much less likely to pay for sex, a topic to which I’ll turn to next.

via The 7 worst things about being a male | Psychology Today.

How a Montreal company won the race to build the world’s cheapest tablet

admin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:37:27 +0000

Somewhere in the sky between Amritsar and Toronto, Suneet Singh Tuli has just finished an in-flight vegetarian meal and is preparing to get some sleep. He is in first class, the only way the 6-foot-2 Brampton, Ontario-based businessman can accommodate a gruelling travel schedule that sees him require a fresh passport every 18 months. Before he drifts off, though, he picks up his copy of The Economic Times of India to catch up on the news.

And there, buried in its pink pages, is where he sees it: A tiny news brief announcing the Indian government’s extension of a contract tender to build an ultracheap tablet computer for the masses. Suneet, the 43-year-old CEO of a small Canadian wireless device maker called Datawind, knows immediately what this means. India, a country of 1.2 billion people, has the fastest-growing mobile market on the planet. More than 800 million people in India have mobile phones and more than 10 million are signing up each month. Yet the number of Indians with regular access to the Internet is shockingly low: about 10%. The Indian government is banking on a nationally subsidized mobile tablet to help pull millions of its disconnected citizens online and into the modern economy. For entrepreneurs like Suneet, who focus on low-cost digital products for the disenfranchised, markets like India (and China, Asia, Africa and Latin America) are what’s referred to as the “next billion.” And they are huge.

As soon as his plane touches down in wintry Toronto, Suneet flips open his laptop to Google the Indian state’s desired specifications. They are almost identical to those found in a super-affordable tablet that Datawind is designing at its Montreal office. “It was eerie,” Suneet recalls. “The specs were so close.”

And so Suneet resolves to embark on what would become his Great Game, a grand contest of empire-building proportions: to engineer, construct and deliver the world’s cheapest tablet computer to the Indian government. It will have to be mass-produced, mainly on the subcontinent—its cost subsidized for tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of Indians. If he succeeds, it could vault his tiny company from obscurity into the big leagues of the global wireless industry. If he fails, Datawind will stumble back to the minors. It is Jan. 30, 2011. The Indian government’s deadline for bids is Feb. 14.

That leaves Suneet just two weeks—an impossibly short time frame in which he first has to convince his tight-knit board of directors, who have always done everything by consensus, that this unprecedented opportunity outweighs the risks of wading neck deep into the unpredictable Indian market, where everything seems to be cobbled together by red tape and bureaucracy; then, he will have to gear up to build 100 functioning test units of a tablet computer that, at this stage, exists only in design and scattered components; and, finally, get those tablets and himself to a dusty outpost in the deserts of Rajasthan, where his efforts will likely be blown apart and buried under the quick-shifting sands of India’s chugging, clanging, modern industrial economy.

Two weeks. Not exactly a lot of time.

via How a Montreal company won the race to build the world’s cheapest tablet – The Globe and Mail.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee On Anger

admin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:23:57 +0000

Leymah Gbowee helped stop the civil war in shattered Liberia by leading the women of the country in a protest for peace—a movement which included denying sex to the men of the country until the fighting ended. In her personal life, she has survived domestic abuse and alcoholism, both detailed in her poignant new memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers. This week, a few days before she accepts the Nobel Peace Prize, she talks with Oprah.com about one of humanity’s most powerful emotions.

Anger is Not Bad

We’ve placed so much emphasis on the negativeness of anger that people see anger as evil. It is not. How you respond to anger, however, will determine your future. Anger drives the villains to create problems in their community, and anger drives the heroes to constructively look for change.

Consider Your Container

Anger is fluid. Like a liquid. Whatever container you decide to pour anger into is the shape that it will come out as: bad or good. I have realized and recognized one thing about my anger: I have to channel it into a peaceful and positive container and get out there and meet with those people who are causing the problems.

Never Deny Your Rage

When you can’t feel your anger, you sometimes get this feeling of helplessness. I’ve been there in my life. A few weeks ago, when the capital of my country descended into riots, I walked into a local hotel and just climbed in one of the beds. I was there from 1 p.m. till 8 p.m., and I was like, “I can’t think. I can’t talk. I’m just tired.” But then I woke up at 2 a.m. that morning, and I knew what I was really feeling: rage. I just cried. Then, I called everyone who I felt would listen to me cry, and I just cried. Then, the next morning, I felt good. Everyone needs a release.

Anger is Inspiration Martin Luther King did not do everything he did in America because he was happy. He was angry at the state of the black people. He was angry at the level of suffering that they were going through. Gandhi, too, was angry, and Mandela. People do not go into fighting injustice because they are so content.

Sometimes You Must Fight

In 2003, all of my colleagues, the men that I worked with, kept saying about the women’s movement, “It’s not structured. It’s too spontaneous. It’s not going to work.” Deep down inside, I felt like I was on the right path. So, then I became very stubborn, and I would not listen to advice, and I just kept going.

via Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee On Anger – Oprah.com.

Meaford Community Theatre

admin — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:04:08 +0000

Meaford Community Theatre is pleased to announce the call for auditions for Marvin’s Room, to be performed at the Meaford Hall March 22nd – 25th, 2012. Written by Scott McPherson, winner of various awards, Marvin’s Room is the story of one family’s journey through humour and heartache to the discovery of their ultimate love for each other. It reveals the fears that paralyze us and the courage that ultimately allows us to accomplish what we never thought we could even attempt. The play examines the differences that can sometimes drive a family apart and the ties that bind them together.

With a cast of 9 there are challenging roles for both female and male adults ages 30 and up, and roles for 2 adolescents ages 12 to 18, male and female.

Being involved in a community theatre production requires a commitment of 2 evenings a week for the 10 weeks of rehearsals but it is always a rewarding experience. New friendships are made, there is the excitement and thrill of performing on stage and new skills and interests are developed.

There are also positions available on the production crew, people working behind the scenes to make the sets and costumes, manage the props and promote the play. No experience is necessary, just a willingness to help and be involved.

Auditions for Marvin’s Room will be held at the Meaford Hall on Thursday, December 15th and Friday, December 16th from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.

For further information contact Greg Brown at 519-538-0517.

Blue Mountain Village Featuring the New Fireworks Series

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:00:34 +0000

Make your holiday shopping experience a family delight in the Blue Mountain Village, with shops open weekends from 10am-9pm, and daily until 9pm after December 16th. Special holiday hours scroll down. Browse through over 40 retail shops & eateries uncovering unique gifts for everyone on your list – even those who have it all!

Stop by Activity Central with the kids for a fun break to go searching for village clues, ask for the complimentary scavenger hunt sheet.

FAMILY FIREWORKS Series Starts December 3rd!!

every Saturday in December 8pm

Meet at Dockside overlooking the Mill Pond

Dec. 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th & New Years (9pm)

Every Friday at 11am

Free Guided Snowshoeing – Meet at Columbia Sports Store Snowshoe rentals available, weather permitting

Also every Saturday and Sunday from 1-4pm

Carolers in the Village

Horse Drawn Wagon Rides (Meet outside Windy O’Neills)

Meet Santa in the Village

Five acres of family skating

Enjoy the area’s largest free outdoor rink* – 5 acres in total of outdoor skating delight!

*Weather Permitting, Skate rentals available.

via Events@Blue.