One point came out that was very striking: advertisers want you to really believe that buying products that are discounted will save you money.

The reality: you save money when you do not buy something.

Let me say it again: when you choose not to buy something, that is when you save money.

So, when a commercial tells you differently, think about what it is really saying. If you were intending to buy a product already, and now it is on sale, then you might save money in that instance. But if it is something you were not considering before, then you are not saving money by buying it just because it is on sale.

A corollary: Special diet food. You don’t lose weight by eating food (even special low fat food). You lose weight by not eating food.

Let the myth busting commence!

On Earth… the problem had been with cars. The disadvantages involved in pulling lots of black sticky slime from out of the ground where it had been safely hidden out of harm’s way, turning it into tar to cover the land with, smoke to fill the air with and pouring the rest into the sea, all seemed to outweigh the advantages of being able to get more quickly from one place to another – particularly when the place you arrived at had probably become, as a result of this, very similar to the place you had left, i.e. covered with tar, full of smoke and short of fish. (from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)

Satire and humour sometimes get to the absurdity of our life in a way regular speech often can’t. And, it can help us step back a minute and think about what we’re really doing with our actions and decisions.

Because reading articles about the problems with the sealants we put down on our driveways (Environmental News Network, and US Geological Service) doesn’t always have the same shock factor nor encourages us to change our actions, like:

1. Drive less and use / encourage alternative types of transportation (transit, walking, bike lanes / paths, trains, etc)
2. Put in a different driveway – gravel, interlock, grass / interlock or ‘grassy pavers‘ and the like
3. Support restriction of harmful chemicals – like coal tar and the like

We’re always going to need to travel and move around. But maybe we can think about doing it only as much as needed, not doing it needlessly, and doing it in the least destructive way possible.

One day, a truck pulls up with stones for the cement. A local worker begins to shovel it out, one shovelful at a time, while the truck driver sits in his cab. A couple of the North American men jump up on the truck to help the ‘poor’ guy.

The driver jumps out of the truck and is very angry.

The entire truck is not meant to be emptied. Each shovelful was being counted and would be charged for. That count is now disrupted.

Very rarely does acting first and listening later actually produce a better result. How many times do we need to watch and experience that the most important thing is to listen first?

No one feels good when someone comes at you with an “I know what your problem is and I’m going to help you fix it, or fix it for you.”

I read a book called “When Helping Hurts” which looks at this deeper and more clearly than I’ve seen laid out before. Read the book or at least look at this visual book summary (when_helping_hurts2).

Because trying to help could actually end up hurting someone, it is critical we think deeper. Just trying to help isn’t enough.

So, that ‘fact’ was stuck in my head.

I was looking today for some labeling regulations for another product (ingredient of ‘white whole wheat flour’ – what does that mean?) and read the regulations for Product of Canada.

A food product may claim Product of Canada when all or virtually all major ingredients, processing, and labour used to make the food product are Canadian. This means that all significant ingredients are Canadian and non-Canadian material must be negligible… Generally, the percentage referred to as very little or minor is considered to be less than a total of 2 per cent of the product. (Canada Food Inspection Agency)

So, that’s pretty good! Product of Canada means ingredients and processing done in Canada. Yay! I’m glad to have my mind’s facts changed on this!

On another note, Imported by or Imported for which a Canadian address / company tell you virtually  nothing about country of origin. Hopefully that too will change and we’ll know where all our food comes from.

If all the households in the US with a net worth of at least 1 million donated just 0.01% of that to fight poverty and other charitable activities, an additional 2.3 billion dollars would be available.

Just 0.01% goes a long way.

If these same households gave 1% that would be 234 billion dollars! That would go even further.

(If your net worth is 10 million, and you gave 1%, that means you’d still have 9.9 million left. Seems like enough to keep to me.)

Enormous untapped resources. Enormous. (And I haven’t even added in the giving of 1% or 0.1% of those under 1 million. Little bits from many adds up too.)

I began to ask around whether there are low VOC laminates. It took me quite some time to even figure out what to ask. Many people didn’t even know why I wanted this ‘feature’ and had never heard of a request like it before.

Eventually, I think I’ve made some progress, and since I’ve taken the time to try to figure this out – I thought I’d share so others won’t have to do the same!

What’s the issue? There’s actually two. (1) The backer board (particle board) is paper or sawdust held together by glue resins. (2) The plastic laminate surface is attached using a glue.

First I found out about the laminate: companies like Formica and others have a High Pressure Laminate (HPL) that is GreenGuard certified to be low VOC and use a low emitting glue to attach it to the backer board.

Next I found out about those who make backer boards: VT Industries makes a backer that is made from recycled paper and uses a water based resin. Their Canadian product from Belanger-Lamintes with the HPL and backer is called the EQ Countertop.

Perfect? Well, it was pretty hard to find a company that sells these countertops. But I did find two companies in Ontario: one is a supplier (The Top Shop) and the other is an installer (Just a Countertop).

Prices? Well, a standard laminate countertop for our kitchen of 24 linear feet was $663 not installed. The cost for the EQ Countertop was $1100, also not installed. So, that seems not too bad. (For reference we also found a solid surface countertop priced at $2500 installed. Granite, etc. is closer to $3500 and up)

So, what did I learn? I learned what to ask: do you carry a counter top that has a GreenGuard certified laminate and used a water based resin backer? I learned they can be bought in my area. I stopped searching after finding VT Industries (they have branches in the US and Canada). If you’re not in Ontario, you can call them to find out their retailers in your area.

I also learned that while you can research a lot using just the internet, things didn’t always complete sense until I actually talked to real people.

To me, it seems either ignorant or arrogant that people do not even consider there are people outside their own context.

I’ll be honest; most of the sites that bother me this way are American companies, but I’m sure they are not the only ones.

Do you write web content or even blog? Please keep in mind we live in a globally connected world now!

1. Our current food system was based on 1940s needs. We haven’t obtained the results desired then, and now the needs have changed. So, we need to rethink and come up with a new system.
2. Agricultural output is directly related currently to oil and gas input (machinery, fertilizer, transport), which is not be sustainable.
3. Consumers have become picky. “In Europe, 30% of the food grown did not appear on the shelves of the retailers because it was a funny shape or odd colour.” Biodiversity and nutrition are losers to seeds that produce food that looks appealing.

He does point out that we need to produce more food for a growing population. But that growth should not come from doing more of the same old techniques.

I’ll end with this quote:

The British consumer today has got to understand that when they make a choice, let’s say an apple – either Chinese, French or English one – they are making a political choice, a socio-economic choice, as well as an environmental one.

Right now he’s not on the health end. Sadly, he’s not even close. As I walk with him, I see confusion, and anger, and fantastic or strange ideas. I wonder about demonic influence. I recall that the last period of time when he was ‘well’, he really wasn’t as well as when I first met him, which was before another episode down this dark road.

He used to make funny jokes. He was a strong advocate for housing rights. He sat on many community boards and made worthwhile recommendations. He worked part time at a job he enjoyed.

I remember the good that he did, and the God who is good that lived in him. What does it mean for him that “God who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” ?

Will the past tenses of “used to make”, “was a strong advocate”, “sat on boards”, “worked” ever become present again? If I’m not sure I can truly hope for him, can I have hope for myself when I experience darkness myself?

I cry for mercy. I pray for healing. I grieve for what has been lost. I choose to hope for healing yet in this life. Which if I trust the promise, does not depend on me or other people and our actions. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

In a book on adult education (Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach), Jane Vella holds up quantum concepts as a breakthrough for understanding teaching and relating. Quantum physics is relatively new science in the 20th century. Applying this to the social sciences results in theories on quantum thinking. Quantum is a measure of energy. Related to quantum ‘thinking’ is synergy, separate units are seen as part of a whole, and context becomes important.

Let’s follow some logic. Modern thinking was based on a Newtonian world with mechanics of cause and effect, and defined structures.

Now that we define the world with quantum physics, ie, the Newtonian way was incorrect, does that mean that much of modern thinking was based on a false view of how the world was to work? Can we now make value judgments against much of the modernistic worldview?

It would therefore not just a different way of looking at the world, but an incorrect way.

If so, this has further implications for the way much of our current Western society is set up.