This email is circulating everywhere in Ontario

Hello Ontario,


This new RST/GST tax is not getting any coverage in the newspaper/television and I am not sure why. It is going to be the biggest tax increase in history. It's like no one wants to inform us of the facts. I have been investigating and I would like to share my findings.
The new tax will be administered by the Federal Government. It will be based on the GST, that means if the tax is currently collected on the Goods and Service Tax at 5% it is going to be increased to 13%, that sounds fine as Ontario's Provincial Retail Sales Tax is 8%. Add the two together and things seem fine.
One problem, Retail Sales Tax is not collected on everything that Goods and Services Tax is, the key word here is "Services". Retail Sales Tax is not collected on services. What is going to increase?
Here is a small list of services currently only taxed at 5% going up to 13%.
Natural Gas bill
Internet bill
Water bill
Gas at the pumps- That is like 7 cents per L., or, in English, 31 cents a gallon (that is a tax on top of a tax)
Hair cuts
Massage therapy & Condo Maintenance Fees !
Anything that requires labour around your house- plumber, electrician, painting, grass cutting ext.
Electricity bill- This is a good one. Look at your electricity bill there is a charge on it for debt retirement charge. That is a charge for the huge debt the OPC ran up. Only in Ontario would we pay tax on a debt, and only in Ontario would we increase this tax.
This is just a small list as there is so much much more.
Let talk about small business for a minute.
Mr. Mcguinty tells us in the budget that this new tax is going to save small businesses 500 million dollars. I do not know how much it costs to fill out a six line tax return monthly, but all small business owners I know do their own. If you are in business you will know about compensation on your Retail Sales Tax return. This is when you get to keep 5% of the tax collected up to $1,500.00 per year to help with your administration costs. That is gone once this tax is combined. Really it only helps large corporations with multiple vendor permit numbers, not small businesses.
Good news, I thought. There were two places where we were going to see an advantage to this tax. First there is no GST on used cars if bought privately and provincial tax on alcohol in between 10% to 12%. That is 2% to 4% higher than our normal Retail Sales Tax. Good old Mcguinty took care of that real quick. He is now saying to make it fair between used car lots, that he will collect the Retail Sales Tax on used cars still. Get ready for this one, he is going to add a levy on alcohol to promote social responsibility. This man is using the words social responsibility at the same time as he is raising our taxes, what he promised not to do.
Sending this could save you a lot of money over your lifetime.
Please forward it to everyone in your contact list.
Stand up Ontario and tell him we cannot afford any more Mcguinty politics. No new taxes.

Thought police could have a new tool soon!

Brain scanners can tell what you're thinking about
WHAT are you thinking about? Which memory are you reliving right now? You may think that only you can answer, but by combining brain scans with pattern-detection software, neuroscientists are prying open a window into the human mind. Read more.

Keep questioning and apply the method!

It seems there is still room for those with doubts. Read "Seven questions that keep physicists up at night"

National Archives displays 'present anti-British view of history'

This is the same mindset that will fight against progress on almost every front. If they perceive that individuals will benefit without enhanced state control - they will fight us.

The National Archives in Kew have been accused of presenting an "anti-British" view of history by presenting a display which describes the Empire as having been "profoundly oppressive" to its overseas subjects. Read more of this sad story.

What's the problem with a little logo when you're helping a child learn?

Should the corporate sector be involved in supporting childhood education? It seems that some are more fearful of company logos than improving our schooling system. Read more.

50 technological advances your children will laugh at

Things are really moving fast and I am not laughing yet.

Over the last 30 years the pace of technological change has increased so quickly that one decade’s must-have gadget becomes the next decade’s laughing stock. Read more.

Some East German jokes about communism.

From an Oct. 14 article by Hans-Ulrich Stoldt and Klaus Wiegrefe in Spiegel Online International's ongoing series "20 Years After the Wall":


Did East Germans originate from apes? Impossible. Apes could never have survived on just two bananas a year. Such jokes were whispered in communist East Germany—and West German spies recorded them diligently to gain insights into the public mood, according to recently released intelligence files.

"What would happen if the desert became communist? Nothing for a while, and then there would be a sand shortage." Jokes like that made the rounds among East Germans during the communist era, and West Germany's intelligence service would collect them, as a way to assess the public mood behind the Iron Curtain but also to amuse its masters in Bonn, the West German capital.

Here's another one: "Why does West Germany have a higher standard of living than we do? Because communists can't get work permits there." The ubiquitous Trabant or Trabi, East Germany's legendary plastic car with its clattering two-stroke engine, was a favorite butt of jokes as well. Like this one: "A new Trabi has been launched with two exhaust pipes—so you can use it as a wheelbarrow." . . .

East Germans weren't averse to secretly lampooning their political leaders, bureaucracy or the chronic supply shortages that plagued the country, even though it was risky for them.

U.S. Spies Buy Stake in Firm That Monitors Blogs, Tweets

America’s spy agencies want to read your blog posts, keep track of your Twitter updates — even check out your book reviews on Amazon. Read more.

Reefer sanity

Finally something I can agree with the Obama Administration about:

In an act of merciful sanity, the Obama administration has made good on its promise to stop interfering with states that allow the medical use of marijuana. Read more.

New camera promises to capture your whole life

A camera you can wear as a pendant to record every moment of your life will soon be launched by a UK-based firm.

Originally invented to help jog the memories of people with Alzheimer's disease, it might one day be used by consumers to create "lifelogs" that archive their entire lives.

Read more.

Confessions of a Cultural Drop-out

I find myself thinking and acting the same way - but I guess that is the point of this piece.
Read it and think.

It always starts in the Balkans - Trouble in Bosnia again.

Bosnia 'on brink of new civil war'


Bosnia is heading for a new civil war as a constitutional crisis threatens to cause the collapse of the political system, the country's leaders have warned.

The concerns have been triggered by Bosnian Serb leaders who have stepped up their demands for independence with a warning the country is no longer "sustainable".

The growing ethnic divisions have raised fears of a return to the fighting which claimed the lives of up to 110,000 people between 1992 and 1995. Read more.

Brain-Dead Conservatives Obsessed with ‘Freedom’

Conservative arguments against President Obama are becoming increasingly silly. They oppose Obama rescuing businesses despite all the jobs on the line, they’re against government taking control of health care from soulless insurance companies, and they oppose increased taxes on energy consumption despite the sorry state of the environment. And why do they oppose these most sensible actions? Because of their irrational, brain-dead obsession with liberty. Read. entire story.

Self-Talk and Self-SabotageBy Steven Pressfield

Writing Wednesdays #12: Self-Talk and Self-SabotageBy Steven Pressfield

Published: October 14, 2009

If you’ve read The War of Art, you know that the thematic core of the book is the concept of Resistance. Resistance with a capital R, which the book defines as “an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It’s a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.”

Resistance is what keeps an entrepreneur from making the cold calls he knows he has to, to get his business rolling. It’s the force that keeps an aspiring painter away from her studio, or makes a writer back off from the blank page. Resistance stops us from going to the gym, from meditating, from donating our time to a cause we believe in.

That’s what Resistance is. But how do we experience it? What form does it take? How does Resistance manifest itself in our lives?

Resistance comes as a voice in our heads

The voice tells us not to work today and it gives us a reason. Our daughter’s dance recital starts at seven; this headache is killing us; the boss wants us to organize the Penske file.

This is not self-talk, it’s self-sabotage.

The difference between self-talk and self-sabotage

Self-talk is positive. It’s the coach or best friend in our heads. Self-talk sounds like this:

“Okay, that’s enough screwing around … let’s go! Crank ‘er up, buddy.”

Self-talk is our #1 self psyching up our #2. In movie terms, it’s our producer kicking our writer’s butt. On the football field, it’s forty-five bouncing, helmet-banging maniacs gathering in a circle. shouting, “One, two, three … Dominate!”

Self-talk can be Gandhi, it can be Patton; it can be Julia Child. “A slice of blueberry cheesecake tonight if you finish Act Two.” Self-talk is the opposite of self-sabotage.

Self-talk is an act of the will

Self-talk is consciously generated. Its aim is to overcome inertia, to push through Resistance. Self-talk is an act of will. It costs effort. It hurts.

Self-talk is masculine in the sense that it’s the Act of Thrust seeking to generate a response from the fertile Creative Field.

That field is our lazy-ass selves. “Put down that bottle, turn off that TV, get your sorry butt into that studio.” Self-talk is the starter that gets our engine going.

A definition of sabotage

Sabotage comes from the French word “sabot,” which means wooden shoe. When industrialization began stealing jobs from workers in Europe, the factory hands used to take off their sabots and chuck them into the gears of the machinery.

Resistance is when we, as artists and entrepreneurs, throw our own shoes into our own machinery.

My personal rule of thumb

I hear the same voices in my head that you do. We all hear them. The trick to doing our work is to listen to the good voice and tell the bad voice to go to hell.

In my opinion, the bad voice isn’t even us. It fools us. Because we hear it in our heads, we mistake it for our own legitimate thought. But it’s not. That voice isn’t us. It’s Resistance.

Once we make that critical distinction, we cease being amateurs. We become professionals.

When we can hear the voice in our heads that’s trying to distract us, deter us, derail us, and recognize it as Resistance–then it loses its power over us. We can see through it. We’re not going to believe its bullshit.

What do we do? We dismiss it. We refuse to grant it legitimacy.

That doesn’t mean we don’t go to our daughter’s recital. Hey, we’re not robots. But when we go, we resolve to carve out an extra hour sometime tomorrow or the next day and save those sixty minutes for our work.

Now that’s self-talk.

The Danger of Environmentalism

Earth Day approaches, and with it a grave danger faces mankind. The danger is not from acid rain, global warming, smog, or the logging of rain forests, as environmentalists would have us believe. The danger to mankind is from environmentalism.

Greens against green energy

Environmentalists claim, with ever-increasing hysteria, that our consumption of carbon-based energy in pursuit of prosperity and economic growth is altering the earth’s climate. Human survival, they insist, requires the immediate abandonment of fossil fuels, which provide more than 80 percent of the world’s energy, in favor of carbon-free sources. Read more.

Confusion over the definition of a "Right"

Finland becomes the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.


Thomas Paine

The Nanny State Gets Nasty

Britain is experiencing the literal embodiment of the nanny state — the government telling you who can watch the kids.

Nanny State Expansion is a Global Issue

The Nanny State is not a policy - it is an evolution. The power of the state will expand by "a thousand cuts". Here is a report from Australia.

I Counter with a few Libertarian Points

I would argue that individuals know what is best for them-selves. I do not believe that we are on this earth to serve or be served. We all have certain values and most of us accept as true that it is rational to treat others the way you would like to be treated. I have never liked paternalism in any form and I certainly would not abide by the tyranny of any person or entity that proposes that they know what is good for me. I guess I am stubborn – but it is I who will pay the price.


In a free society we must be able to discriminate against that which we do not agree. – As long as we do not initiate violence against others.

Observing history that chronicles the last two thousand years one will see that a recurring theme is the tension between individuals and the powers that be. This I fear will never end – perhaps there are genetic differences between the two types. The difference is that only one side must use force to make the other conform – the elites need the individuals not the other way around.

All I can say is that freer countries with less government interference tend to be richer, cleaner and attract many more immigrants. Also, most government programs are ruled by the law of unintended consequences; i.e. money for unwed mothers produces an increase in the number of unwed mothers, generous unemployment insurance produces more unemployed and welfare produces a larger number of poor.

Remember there is no such person as society – only the individuals within it. A free democracy like Canada, Britain or the United States is the best arena that the elites and the individuals can do battle without bloodshed. The system at least keeps the extremes in check.

Thea makes strong argument for compelling institutional compassion

"There are ways to serve others that do not infringe on a person's basic human rights. It would be lovely if everyone sought out these ways to serve willingly, unfortunately, humans do tend to be somewhat egocentric. The government can be helpful in determining (through the democratic process) ways in which it is helpful for all of us to serve others, for example Social Insurance, Unemployment insurance, Welfare, public housing. etc. There may be challenges and problems in administrating these social networks that could be improved, but they are helpful to our society."

Brain to Brain Communications Achieved!

Soon we will be able to download and upload ourselves into different bodies or perhaps synthetic entities. The first step is to reduce the content of our essence to digital information. Read this!

The Dominion Frontier Project

Canada is a land of great abundance and opportunity. Most of her land mass is sparsely populated, (a result of the escalating “cost of living” the farther one moves north) with the gigantic Nunavut Territory holding far less than half the population of Brantford Ontario. The bulk of the Canadian population lives in a temperate zone that bears no relation to the climatic extremes of the immense regions of the north. It is the unawareness of the nature of the country that shrouds the mighty potential that will transform the future.

What of the future? What will be the salient feature of the next twenty years? I suggest that it will be a time of ever increasing anxiety and retrenchment in the First World, with almost all of our societal assumptions under attack. Our individual freedom will be restricted by a deluge of arbitrary good intentions; don’t promote hatred, don’t drink and drive, don’t pollute, and above all don’t offend anyone. The concept of human rights will be debased by special interests that reject the Magna Charta and The US Declaration of Independence by substituting skewed notions like the “right” to a job, the “right” to healthcare and the “right” of cultural equality. In effect we will have lost confidence in the Western philosophy that was the foundation of our success.

Yet, as the historian Thomas Macaulay observed: “Nothing is so galling to a people not broken in from the birth as a paternal, or, in other words, a meddling government, a government which tells them what to read, and say, and eat, and drink and wear.” I am confident that a rebellion against the Nanny State is inevitable and sound rational philosophy will once again be our guiding light.

I only mention the above trend to illustrate the impediments that we must overcome in order to secure our future. It really is just a question of confidence in our civilization and how we prioritize the value of our species. The plan that I advocate will harness existing technology, is economically sustainable, and will free indigenous people, while enriching and securing the entire population.

The answer lies in the north, or more precisely in the great rivers that flow into the James and Hudson Bays. This area has the distinction of the greatest volume of water flow in the world. It is exceptionally remote and virtually untouched by modern society. Once the energy potential of this region is harvested we will solve our energy requirements for the next two hundred and fifty years.

Back in the 1970’s Hydro Quebec built the template for successful hydro-electric production in the North. Their James Bay complex has produced an abundance of reliable electric power and despite the best efforts of detractors it has been a resounding success.

The crucial drawback to the project is its remoteness from the markets it seeks to serve; it is by definition very inefficient. The line-loss over the distances to populated areas is massive and the power is subject to interruption due to single points of failure. Hydro Quebec is producing the wrong product!

Solution: Hydrogen Fuel

The only product that will make economic sense for these remote power stations is hydrogen fuel. With 100% of the electricity used locally to produce a portable fuel like hydrogen the financial side becomes viable. The production of hydrogen would be predictable and reliable and inexhaustible. Over time this would lead to price stability as enough production comes online.

This vision would rival the Apollo Project in its scope and would return benefits to North American society out of all proportion. I am opening a movement to promote the “Dominion Frontier Project” for humanity. We can make the north an entity as powerful as OPEC without the political baggage.

I will be asking for submissions on how to overcome the myriad issues that will arise and will maintain a website to share ideas.

Issues to be covered would include:

1) Respect and benefit for the indigenise population.

2) Political Champions.

3) Technology updates – i.e. tank and pipeline containment, cars, heating etc.

4) Rolling out of infrastructure – concentric deployment of hydrogen fuel.

5) Financial investment – what incentives would drive development?

6) Environmental concerns and benefits: reduced pollution etc.

7) Defeating naysayer’s arguments.

By the end of 2010 I hope to be able to have enough material to make a comprehensive case and a book.

Please make your contributions with a eye toward tangibility and adaptability to today’s capabilities.

And remember: “In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.” Galileo Galilei


Christopher J. Burton