Those Who Find Beauty + WE Can Do This + Feel Sorry for Him?
Good Morning from Warren Grove, Prince Edward Island
It is so hard to believe that we are in November and the colours of nature are so glorious.
“Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves
at one with the secrets of life itself.”
~L. Wolfe Gilbert
Earth is our home, and nature gives us so many gifts.
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~ John Muir
I am grateful.
"Gratefulness makes us aware of the gift and makes us happy. As long as we take things for granted, they don't make us happy. Gratefulness is the key to happiness. Practicing gratitude is so central to my spirituality."
~ David Steindl-Rast
When I started writing this blog a few years back, I promised myself not to get into the writing of politics. Warning: I skirt around it in today’s blog.
Mother Nature doesn’t care what my political beliefs are. However, I would bet she is interested in what I am doing to ensure she can gleefully entertain my grandchildren in the future.
"Blessed is the person who sees the need, recognizes
the responsibility, and actively becomes the answer."
~ William Arthur Ward
A big week in Glasgow, Scotland, this week. The world’s most considerable negotiation is at the halfway point.
Click here for a series of articles written by scientists and researchers centred around the Glasgow climate conference.
“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent
less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”
― E.B. White.
Appreciate scientific journalism written by academics? You might sign up for The Conversation. Newsletters are available for, just from the pull down menu in the banner area, choose your country(s) of interest.
Africa, Australia, Canada, Espana, France, Global Perspectives, Indonesia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States.
My February 2020 blog post, shared a bit about a book, Measure What Matters by John Doer. Listening to this week’s Tim Ferris podcast, the Mr. Doer interview is an ear-opener concerning climate change. The first 40 minutes or so are about his life's work experience, which is interesting. Then it gets to his thoughts about the climate situation. It is worth the listen and is available on all podcast platforms. This links to the Apple Podcast.
He offers a clear path forward on his website. His engineering skills and leadership skills are worth the time.
“Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”
~Albert Einstein.
Here are five reasons to feel optimistic about the summit from Positive News.
"Citizen journalism is rapidly emerging as an invaluable part of delivering the news. With the expansion of the Web and the ever-decreasing size and cost of camera phones and video cameras, the ability to commit acts of journalism is spreading to everyone." ~ Arianna Huffington
The power of money has increased dramatically and has had a more substantial effect on governance and democracy.
Here are the Canadian rules on political donations as of 2021. The maximum yearly contribution limit is $1650 to a given federal political party. $1650 to a given party's riding associations. $1650 to a given party's leadership candidates, and $1650 for each independent candidate. The maximum contribution is set at $3300—the total tax credit for all contributions caps at $650, representing a subsidy of 42%.
When an election takes place, the most significant source of public funding for the federal political parties is the election expenses reimbursement. It subsidizes 50% of any party’s national campaign expenses, obtaining at least 2 percent support. Or at least 5 percent in the ridings (electoral districts) in which they presented candidates. In addition to this, the parties' riding organizations are reimbursed 60% of all expenses incurred by their candidates in each riding where they obtained at least 10% of the votes, plus 100% of allowable "personal expenses.”
The reimbursements are referred to as "government rebates,” "government transfers,” or "election rebates.”
Under this subsidy, the more a party spends, the more grant they receive. The assistance magnifies the public funds allocated by tax credits on political contributions and by the per-vote subsidies. (Loophole) It also means that loans to political parties and their candidates can significantly determine how much public money the parties receive.
Anyone inside or outside the country can fund think tanks, and they do not need to disclose who their donors are. The think tanks with the most to lose in the way of power/money are the best funded. They can get their biased right or very right of centre opinions into mainstream media.
Did I ever say I appreciated Mr. Rogers?
"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say, "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem."
Then there are those who see the need and respond.
I consider those people my heroes."
~ Fred Rogers
We have family visiting from Amsterdam this week, and it reminded me of our time at the Anne Frank house, and her words speak volumes of truth.
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy amidst the simple beauty of nature. Along as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be a comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”
~ Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Beatles Fan?
Are you a fan of film?
I feel Matt Damon gave an Oscar performance in this movie. Shirley and I liked the movie from the edge of our seats.
I never heard of pianist Nelson Freire before yesterday; what a treat.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful weekend!
With love from Prince Edward Island,
Bruce + Millie
ps. Your Morning Smile
A Mom was studying their wedding photos, when her six-year-old asked, “Did you marry Dad because he was good-looking?”
“Not really,” I replied.
“Did you marry him for his money?”
“Definitely not,” I laughed. “He didn’t have any.”
“So,” he said, “you just felt sorry for him?”
Comments
Leave a comment