SGC Admin "thoughts"

FYI: Elderly are being targeted for phone scams:

The Durham Regional Police are telling seniors to be very careful regarding phone calls that sound too good to be true. 

Free Graphics Telephone : 3D man with a huge red phone. Rendered at high resolution on a white background with diffuse shadows.

An Elderly lady (91 years) was recently scammed out of $100’s of dollars by a telephone scam. 

It is very difficult for some of our seniors to believe or even imagine that people can do such things over the telephone. They trust that what they are being told is correct and above-board, and even if it sounds odd, they probably don’t like to ask too many questions.. 

The following advice is good for all of us to remember, but especially important for those who are more vulnerable.  If you have elderly folk in your life pass the advice on… 

  • Don’t Answer your phone unless you know who is calling. If you don’t have call display with your phone company or on your phone, an investment in a small answering machine works just as well. If the phone rings and you aren’t expecting anyone to call, let the machine kick in to answer it. If the person on the other end of the phone knows you they will leave a message, if they hang up without leaving a message you don’t need to talk to them. 
  • Tell family and friends that you do not answer your phone unless you know who is calling, and ask them to leave a message on the machine if it kicks in. If you are home you will pick up the phone, if not you will call them back later. 
  • If you do get caught on the phone with someone trying to sell you something, as soon as you can interject and say politely NO THANK YOU, if they insist say it one more time and then hang up. 
  • If you have call display and you see 1-800 1-866 or 1-888 come up when the phone rings, pick up the phone just enough for it to come off of the cradle and then hang it up. Don’t feel guilty… Don’t feel Bad.. It’s your phone you pay the bill… 
  • Do not buy anything over the phone. 
  • Do not give out any personal financial information over the phone, such as bank information, credit card information and income information, unless you have initiated such a conversation and know you are dealing with a trusted company. 
  • Any suspicious phone calls you do receive or that you feel uncomfortable about, tell someone you trust about it/them especially before committing to anything or sending funds anywhere. 

And most of all, You pay the phone bill, you have the right to answer it when you want to, to who you want to. It’s in your house, and belongs to you, so don’t feel guilty, or bad if you don’t answer it.

Remember that when you want to purchase something you are the one that needs to go looking for it, you do not need someone calling your house, selling you something you don’t need or aren’t ready for. 

 

Source: Whitby This Week: March 8th Edition

 


SGC Admin "thoughts"

Kindness and Compassion know no season…. :)

From the Editor: 

Hi folks I received the following in my email this morning, I think I have seen it circulated around Christmas time but thought it would be nice  to share again… now I know it’s not Christmas, but kindness and compassion don’t need a season… A lot of things get circulated around the internet these days, people trying to scam others, and people telling tall tales just for the fun of it…. but the following whether a true story or not, (and I hope it’s true) sure makes you think how a little kindness can make all the difference…. Enjoy…. :)

A letter from the Post Office … this is absolutely the best…

 Free Clip Art Kindness : An angel holding a candle and singing Christmas carols Stock Photo

 

We don’t know who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service ! 


 Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month.

The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.

She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.

I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:


 Dear God,

 Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much.

I ‘m happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls.

I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog.

I really miss her.

 Love, Meredith

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey & Meredith , addressed it to God/Heaven.

We put our return address on it.

Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven.

That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office.

A few days later, she asked if  God had gotten the letter yet.

I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith’ in an unfamiliar hand.

Meredith opened it.

Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’

Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope.

On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:


Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.

 Abbey isn’t sick anymore.  Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart.  Abbey loved being your dog.

Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in so I’m sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank-you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me.  What a wonderful mother you have.  I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I’m easy to find.  I am wherever there is love.

 Love,

 God

SGC Admin "thoughts", Eco News

Is Jasper Park (Alberta) in danger of being sold?

FYI From The Editor:

view details

 

If you have ever been out west to Jasper and Banff National Parks, you likely appreciated the awesome beauty of these fabulous landmarks created by Mother Earth…. 

For many years each of these parks have been a part of what Canada stands for, a connection to Nature. 

Many of us are  aware of the connection all living things have to each other, the trees clean the air, provide homes for wildlife and food for little critters….the lakes and ponds are also homes for many species. Everything has it’s time here on earth and once that time is up the decay of organic beings goes back into the earth and the cycle begins again…. creating and supplying life for all…

As humans we have assumed responsiblity for planet Earth, we believe we are the caretakers,  but EGO pushes us to also believe that we can play GOD/GODDESS and take from nature whenever we feel the need. In the past, before EGO become so powerful people were respectful of the connections and  only took or used what was necessary. 

Now, however we have become greedy, or should I say our Governments and the big corporations have  become greedy, and they believe they own nature and can sell off, use and abuse it whenever they choose. 

Jasper Park is now in trouble, those in power want to sell it off or parts of it off to our neighbour, once that is done we have no control over it, and it is likely those who buy are not buying it so they can preserve it. 

Are we ready to throw it away? I am not, and so in an effort to let my voice be heard for those who cannot speak for themselves, (the wildlife and plant life) I have lent my signature to the a protest against such abuse…. 

If you too, feel strongly about this issue, please don’t be shy, lend your signature also …. 

Please Click Here to become involved… 

SGC Admin "thoughts", News and views

Do you want to work an extra two years before being eligible to collect Canada Pension?

From the Editor: 

Free Clip Art Retirement : Cartoon Angry old woman with a wooden spoon. Isolated Stock Photo

I don’t know about the rest of you but it seems awfully unfair to the working class to make them work an extra two years before being able to collect Canada Pension… But this is what Prime Minister Harper is expecting us to do. 

Please Click Here to view the information online. 

Both hubby and I are disturbed at this news, it smacks of unfairness which doesn’t sit too well with us Libra’s. And so I have done up a letter and sent it off via Email to the Prime Minister’s Office… However, I am aware that Mr. Harper probably won’t read my letter, nor perhaps will he even be aware that it has been sent, unless others flood his office with emails, letter’s and phone calls. 

If you are concerned about your retirement years, or you are fed up with the constant “hand in your pocket” syndrome, then I implore you to send in your email or hand written letter. If you have trouble coming up with the right words, and feel our letter has said what you would like to, you are more then welcome to change our name  and submit it as your own… who knows maybe if they keep getting the same letter from many different people they will get the message… 

I have also emailed a copy of the letter to each political party. 

Please Click Here to Email your letter to Prime Minister Harper. 

Please Click Here to Email your letter to Bob Rea Leader of the Liberal Party

Please Click Here to Email your letter to Interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel

Please Click Here to Email  your letter to Elizabeth May Green Party Leader

Letters may also be snail mailed to the Prime Minister at the address below. If you would like to snail mail your concerns to the other political parties, please click on the links above to go to each parties website and view contact information. 

 

Office of the Prime Minister

80 Wellington Street

Ottawa,ONK1A 0A2

January 26, 2012

Mr. Prime Minister;

We are contacting you today, after being informed of some of the changes to be made within Canada in order to cut spending, in the effort to ensure a sustainable economic future for our country.

Specifically, we concentrate on the changes to the retirement age.

We are of an age where retirement is within our reach, it is something we look forward to and plan for. We have worked hard, lived within our means, paid our bills and our tax’s, and hope to be able to enjoy a comfortable retirement in the not too distant future.

The changes you are proposing are unfair and wrong.

How long does a politician have to work before being able to collect a pension? And how much of a pension do politicians collect? If those “running”Canada are not expected to work until 65 years of age before drawing a pension, then why on earth would you expect the rest of the population to work past the age of 65? What makes politicians (and our Prime Minister) more entitled then the “working class” to receive money from the people, ahead of the people?

It is not the working class you should be targeting it is the massive waste of tax payer’s money that should be looked into. Waste on every level of government from federal to municipal is rampant.

Parents run around trying to organize fund drives for supplies that should already be in the class room, provided with the tax money we pay into the system.

People run around trying to raise funds for Cancer research, when the tax’s we pay into the system should be taking care of such things as our health. When people are expected to see specialists in such places as the fracture clinic at the Oshawa Hospital, in a hospital cubicle for a consultation, instead of the privacy of a doctor’s office, there is something wrong.

People are fed up with the taxes that come off of their pay checks but we can’t stop you… Hubby’s pay in January 2012 was less then usual, because the U.I. and pension premiums have gone up; no one told us they would, the money was just TAKEN…

Every time we buy something we are taxed again…. What are you doing with all this money…. ???

People are dying just before they reach the age of retirement, a lot of people, which means they never get to draw on the pension they have invested in… And you expect the people to work two more years!! It’s not right and it’s defiantly not fair.

Young people can’t get jobs because there aren’t any out there, they are living at home with the parents that have worked hard and paid into the system, now those parents have to keep watching their household budget, instead of enjoying it because their adult children can’t find decent work to cover their living expenses.

In short, life sucks for the working person as it is, and you expect people to just deal with it, suck it up and spend another 2 years getting up early or dealing with shift work, commuting, work stress, boss’s who have big egos, and the list goes on,  because you guys in charge have messed things up royally.

You don’t have to deal with life on the working guy’s level; you don’t have to live in cities or towns where finding decent shelter at affordable pricing is getting increasingly difficult. You don’t have to scan the grocery flyers of the local paper to find the best deals. You don’t have to deal with the people coming into this country who think Canada is for them and for them alone because the people running Canada have made it that way. You aren’t living in Northern Ontario where the 1st nations people are living in disgusting conditions not even fit for animals. (1st Nations, the people we stole this Country from). You don’t have to take time off of work to go to see doctors in Toronto who don’t know what they are doing, and who after a five minute visit tell you, you have to take another day off of work to see a different doctor… If no sick days are given with the job, the worker loses one, two maybe 3 days pay and still may not get the answer they seek.

You and your colleges live a privileged life, outside of the working person’s life. Therefore it is not possible for you to understand how it is to make ends meet and run a household while sticking to a strict budget.

We have done that, we have been blessed and we have worked hard and we have a roof over our head. A small humble house that will never truly be ours regardless that the mortgage is paid because until the day we die we have to pay property tax’s. But hey, we got over that…. We have paid our way thank the heavens without (up to this date) having to ask YOU guys for any help… We have done what has been asked of us, and now you want more…

How can you sit back and assume that the working class people are happy to add another 2 year’s onto their working life?

It is the politicians, who have put Canada in the position she is in today.. Mass immigration and the giving away of all the manufacturing jobs to China and India, and the huge amount of waste that goes on in government and government jobs is not the fault of the people, and the consequences of such actions and decisions should not be put on the shoulders of the working class people. It’s your (politicians) mistake you fix it out of your pocket not ours.

Stop immigration, stop the big salaries, stop the perks and bonus’s, stop funding new-comer programs, stop the waste… and you will find the extra that is needed in order to allow seniors to rest at 65.

Oh and while we are at it…. WE DON’T NEED ANYMORE GROWTH…. SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY WHAT WE HAVE BEFORE IT’S ALL GONE

SGC Admin "thoughts"

Are we sending our girls the right message about body image?

From the Editor: 

Free Clip Art Body Image : Front view of women exercising

The other day on face book the subject of female body image came up.

A plus size model did a naked/natural photo shoot with a “regular” model. It was an interesting photo, and showed the incredible difference between the two… 

The information provided with the photo leads one to believe that a size 12 is a plus size?? 

Is society still bound and determined to judge women by the size of dress they wear? And if so, why? 

How can we change this attitude? 

Do we want to? 

These are just some of the questions that come to mind, if you have questions or answers to any of the above, or if you have a story you would like to share regarding body image. Please fill out the form below. 

We thank you for your participation. 

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