One Life Lost... is one Life Too Many!

In our society, we value life. In addition to many things, this is certainly what makes us different than other societies around the world.

After running into the woods after his dog, Chance, James Delorey, who was an autistic child, became lost. Fortunately, Chance made it back to lead rescuers to find James. Unconscious and suffering from Hyperthermia, the 7 year old was then air-lifted to Sick Kids Hospital in Halifax Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, James died this morning.

I'm not a parent, but I have two that love me dearly. I can't imagine what James' parents are going through today, but I do know this could have been prevented. In a world where we are surrounded by technology, the loss of James under these circumstances is unacceptable. What will it take for us to realize the same technology we use to find our stolen cars or to locate a black box in downed airplanes, can be used to find our lost or abducted children. Yes, I know there's a "grey" area here. However, I, like James' parents and most of you who are parents, would be willing to over look this grey for a chance to hold your child in your arms again or to give him/her yet another big hug and a kiss before bed tonight. James' parents can't do that anymore and for that, I am going to make it my priority that this does not happen to anymore children. If we could had inserted a "beacon" or GPS chip on or inside James at birth, rescuers would have been able to find him in time so that he'd be home tonight for dinner and thinking about waking up on Christmas morning to open his presents from Mom and Dad.

Think about the many children who are abducted each year around the world or simply become lost and never to be found.... If you value the life of your son or daughter as much as you do your automobile, then I think it's time we make the same investment so that all children can be found if lost or taken away from us.

Email your thoughts and join the MIB (Make It Better) Cause!

DOA: The Blue Box Blunder

In College I was known as the "Eviro Man" and in my third year, we created SAKE, Students Against Killing the Environment. The 3R's were being praised as our new economic hope for the future. Fast forward. After almost 20 years of failed progress in mass recycling, we still have no real advancement in how we create economic development from such programs. It's now 2009 smack dab in the middle of the worse economic crises since the great depression and common sense is only now finally telling us that recycling and the blue box program is a big blue box blunder. After years and years of forcing people to recycle, we have not yet established a viable market for the recycled waste. For example, in Calgary, the last major city to adopt the blue box program, sent all of the glass it collected straight to their landfill where it's piling up waiting for a buyer. Germany has stockpiled millions of tonnes of recyclable plastics in rural fields, like above-ground dumps. San Fransico recently calculated it paid $4,000 a tonne to recycle plastic bags for a resale price of only $32. Think of the wasted fuel, costs of the trucks, the salaries of collectors and the millions of ongoing administrative costs with still no established market. The promise of environmentalists of a "flourishing recycling market" where reused goods would find ready buyers was already a dream even 40 years ago and is, unfortunately, still a dream. Ironically, in 2002, Swedan's leading envionmental authorities reported that most materials be incincerated at waste-to-energy plants, which is easier to do, and generates electricity, offsetting the need for fossil fuels. "We believe that incinceration of household waste including disposable packaging and food waste, with energy recovery, is best for the environment, economy and managment of natural resources," wrote Valfrid Paulsson, former head of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Well..., the idea of waste-to-energy is finally starting to catch on. Britain is now building 50 new waste-to-energy incinerators; Denmark's environmental protection agency recommended in a 2002 report that the country would be best to reroute parts of its recycling program to incinerators instead. With this, I encourage the leaders and policy makers from Canada, the US and Governments around the world to stop the Blue Box Blunder immediately and set a new course towards co-generation, waste-to-energy and the elimination of landfill as we know it today. Better yet, stop the financial disaster and abuse of capital, resources and the waste of human "energy" that is the blue box blunder.

Shift Wanted... No.. Shift Needed! Go Tesla

Look around and you'll see a new revolution taking place in the world. Some of us are spinning out of control and others are positioning themselves to be at the head of the new wave economy.

The consumer economy is DEAD and don't expect it to bring us out of our economic funk. So what to do? I think the "Green" rhetoric is getting old real fast. By labeling new technologies, businesses and ways to do things with such negative perceptions, we automatically limit the real potential for society to make a SHIFT in our philosophy, our belief system and our confidence in the mass potential a true shift will bring. Instead, let's just make what we do today the new standard without any kind of label. For example, take a look at Tesla Motors. The company oozes with opportunity, potential, wealth creation, economic development and more with such ability to become the new standard for the automotive industry. And it's here now. How about no noise, no pollution, 0 to 60 in just over 5 seconds, greater efficiency and a much more reliable and economical solution to the present day gas dependent steel dinosaur that currently populates our roads today. Give me a break. Seriously... the TESLA engine has one moving part, the rotor vs the thousands (ok hundreds) of moving parts in the over 100 year old cumbustional engine. Better yet, do you know how many "parts" are used to make up the fuel pump alone that car manufacturers "wisely" placed inside the gas tank of today's cars? It's a joke and I'm not laughing.

Come on folks, make a shift... MAKE IT BETTER and demand more. Stop the "Green" Garbage Talk and start making what we do better label free and the new standard in life on earth.

I'm 40 and just getting started!

Enough already. I made it to 40 and now my commitment in life is to insist people be passionate about making things (it) better in life. The next time you decide to say "I'll Pass"... stop. think. act. If you do one thing today, let's Make It Better.

Garbage Can Make It Better Too

This is one of the best ideas I've ever hear how to MIB. It came from a friend of mine in Ottawa recently while making a request on Facebook.

I realize garbage and recycling pick up is different in every community. But, most urban/suburban neighbourhoods have a truck to pick up garbage and another for recycling. Here's what my friend recommends to lower taxes, cut fuel costs, increase staff efficiency and reduce pollution. Did I mention save taxes and cut costs on garbage and recycling pickup? On the days of garbage/recycling pickup in your community, all garbage will be pickup from from the even side of the street and all recycling will be pickup from the odd side of the street. This would eliminate 2 passes by from the garbage and recycling trucks. Think of the money, the gas, and the time we'd save. Think about the sense we would make by neighbours coming together to participate in the most simple of efforts to MAKE IT BETTER!

As for those of you who are concerned about the idea of having to place your garbage or recycling on the other side of the street... think of the big picture. If this effort would allow you to see a nice reduction in your taxes (not to mention the long list of overall benefits) and even gives you a little exercise (lol), why wouldn't you MAKE IT BETTER?

It's Time for the Church To Change

Growing up as a child, I served as an Alter Boy at the local Cathedral Church. I was always encouraged by Mom and Dad to get involved since it was an honour and a privilege to be part of the church and the service. All of us know what the Catholic Church has been faced with over the years and unfortunately, the disappointment and disgrace continues. Although priests continue to be charged for their illegal and abusive behaviour, it is far more disappointing and frightening to think of the number that continue to walk freely, unscathed, not to mention the pain their victims continue to live with. This weekend, a long time priest, now a Monseigneur in the Catholic Church, turned himself in to the police on charges of molestation and sexual abuse of young children. Upon hearing this news, I was devastated. I served as an Alter Boy for this Monseigneur and he was a highly respected man of the cloth in his community and within the church. The real tragedy is the erosion of trust and respect by the public for the Catholic Church. Enough is enough. This cockamamie idea that priests are to be married to the church is joke. We have placed innocent victims (our children) in the hands of predators who are given the opportunity to abuse their influence and position in life while the Leadership of the Catholic Church continues to turn a blind eye. This is utterly irresponsible and simply wrong. From the Pope, to rank and file priests including the parishioners, everyone needs to take responsibility for this ongoing behaviour. To begin the healing process and to make this wrong right, the church needs to reverse their policy on celibacy in the church and to allow priest marry. The church, our society and religion in general will be better for it. Besides..., how can a priest carry any creditability to give marriage councilling when they've never been married. Get It Right, Make It Better!

What's Your Cause to Make It Better?

Calling all followers.... no I mean leaders of the MIB Cause. We have an exciting new publication coming this fall that is designed to rally people and their life passions to MAKE IT BETTER! All of us have something to give, somthing to share, something to contribute. This is your chance to get involved to Make It Better. Send us your cause, your idea, your game plan or solution to MAKE IT BETTER to mib@thebigbeaver.com

Watch for the new MIB Cause coming September 1st, 2009.

A Better Life for Your Children

This has often been a sticky point in our society. Parents claim to have the interests of their children at heart, but dig a little deeper and I'm not sure this is really the case. To make a difference is not only to get what you want that makes YOUR life easier to live, but taking a stand to Make It Better (MIB) for more people than just ourselves. I find it difficult to believe parents are genuine when it comes to fighting for their children. To what extent are you willing to take up your cause to Make It Better? Are you willing to give up your place in society, the things you have come to measure your sense of worth or even you pride so to instill the strength and courage of your children to truly live a life that is greater than the one we have enjoyed for so many years. What will it take to push your button?

A True Test For Mankind

A Canadian rock singer, Larry (aka Lawrence) Gowan sang about it best; "You're a strange animal I've got to follow." Man (including the ladies) is truly a strange animal. Is there hope for you? Us? You bet. I wish life was like a simple flower. What a relieve that would be. Heck, I wish every one's life was like a box of chocolates. But I'll stop right there as I'm starting to get a craving for something sweet. Now back to my point. Since the economic fallout, we continue to test people's will power, our ability to trust and our faith. With all that has gone on in the world and the many foolish things we continue to do, it's become extremely different for many of us to stay positive, to show hope or to believe in our system of life, our governments, our leaders and in institutions of influence and authority. I'm often reminded of that little white mouse in his open air loft with his one wheel exercise room he/she calls "The Cage." On those days he's inspired to go the distance with hopes of finding greener pastures, a new look or even somewhere different, our little mouse friend hops on his wheel and begins running like a silly "Mother F-----" Please tell me the mouse isn't trying to get exercise or that his inner Doctor is telling him he needs to work on his cardio... When he's in high gear, he truly believes he's going somewhere, that he's on track, that if he runs fast enough and long enough that he'll get to a new destination. A destination made for a King Mouse with unlimited cheese, plenty of ladies and with all the luxuries uphoria has to offer. Unfortunately, we both know how this story ends. The mouse never finds his oasis nor does he even get to somewhere new, different or even better for that matter. Like the mouse, I often think we have put ourselves on the same wheel. An it would seem we've become so consumed by our little lives, we can no longer stop, think and act on what we need to do to "Make It Better." Now I'm not foolish enough to say that we could just drop everything we need to do to survive, but I am saying we could take a little more time to change our ways, to make a difference, to speak out or up? to engage? to take action? to truly improve our state and the lives of everyone around us. Then why don't we? Why do we not take a change, take the risk, or even believe that we have the power and the "WILL" to make that difference? In a time when we as individuals and as a race, have the best chance to organize, to change, to improve or to make it better with the use of powerful tools such as the Internet, mass communication and mobility, that we continue to demonstrate inaction to change, to fix or even rescue our sorry state? It's as if we are mentally paralyzed without the ability or the will to actually stop what we are doing and say enough is enough. Hey now, relax. I'm not advocating violence, but rather action, will power and doing what's right to "Make It Better." Start with your own life, your family, your community and as the improvements start to pore in, look for the next opportunity to Make It Better. Man, we are at a fork in the road in our lives and in our existence. I truly hope we can realize what a difference we can make if we "shift" our way of thinking, change our path and take up the torch for our own cause that has been, like the little white mouse, getting us all worked up and going no where fast.

School Needs a Lesson in Financial Management

Can someone tell me why schools are not teaching our children about personal finance. We seem to be teaching them plenty of useless information that is uninspiring and in many cases irrelevant as seen through the eyes of our students. Teaching kids math skills is one thing, but we are talking about planting the seeds that will pay dividends for the rest of theirs lives. As it goes, our students graduate from High School and many, no most, no all have no personal financial management skills, knowledge or understanding of how to balance a cheque book let alone prepare a personal budget. Afterwards, we then send them off into the real world or College or University to learn on the job. When it comes to personal finance and money management, this is something that shouldn't be learned on the job. To MAKE IT BETTER, we need to introduce personal finance and money management curriculum so we can provide students with the tools, the skills and the ability to properly management and care for their personal finances properly. How about introducing mortgage selection and rate calculations, investing and financial markets training, loan and credit card applications or even simple money management? Is it any wonder why people experience so much stress, financial uncertainty and confusion when it comes to managing their personal finances? Not surprising. Let's Make It Better by starting early to give our students the understanding and the ability to make sound financial decisions in life. MIB.... Make It Better!

IT ALL STARTS WITH HAVING "WILL"

Have you ever wondered what the power of "WILL" could do for society? What seperates us from greatness to being mediocre? It all comes down to WILL. We have come so far in the last 100 year and now is the time to take the next big step forward towards greatness, better yet... excellence! We have the resources, the technology, the skill, the ability, but unfortunately we lack the WIll to Make It Better!

What is we decided to give the Tesla Car Company a third of the money we've thrown at the GM and Chrysler? Instead of wasting billions upon billions on yesterday's Horse and Buggy produrers, what if we gave a portion of that bailout money to Tesla so they could begin mass producing the next generation of people movers. What a statement that would make?

We are at the edge of something great and instead of pushing a bit forward, we continue to look to yesterday for our future. We have everything in front of us right now from Solar Energy, Electric Propulsion to new home construction to improved technology and internet communciations. Make note, this is just the tip of the iceburg. We must have the WILL to drive ourselves towards achieving Excellence. This needs to be our future. Make It Better starts with having a WILL.

How Far is too Far?

Everyone of us has an idea how to make our lives or the world better. When Gillett came out with their 4 blade razor, why did they stop there? Why not make it an even half dozen? Better yet, let's go with 10 blades and we'll make sure we scare the living stem out of those nasty facial and body hairs.

Next week.... land fill, garbage and waste management. In the meantime, what do you think?

NHL All Star Game
We all know this has been a real sleeper of an event for the fans and I'm sure even the players. So, why not turn the game on its head, shake it up and do something new? Let's incorporate the Skills Competition in with the All Star Game itself? It will ad a lot more excitement, break up the tedious game play and add a new twist to an event that really needs help to attract more viewers, better ratings and more excitement. Better yet, there has to be a way to make the event more interactive for fans... What if we let true fans take on the Stars in the Skills Competition? If you're short on solutions, call me. I have plenty of ideas that would really take the game and All Star Weekend to a whole new level.

How about XM TV?
Some of us remember the creation of the Radio. After all these years, it's still available in a FREE format. However, for those of you who wish to maximize your radio experience with greater selection and commercial free listening, there's XM Radio for you. For a monthly fee, you can get what you want and more. So, I say, we need to create XM TV. Tell me this. TV has never been free for consumers? Why? Cable companies sell advertising, sponsorships, etc to companies to cover their operating costs and to flog their advertiser's products to TV viewers. And, it that wasn't enough, they then charge us a monthly fee to watch those constant interruptions during the game, show or special program. Holy double dipping. Why? If you use radio for the bench mark, we should get to watch TV for free. And if we don't want to watch those pathetic commercials, we could pay a monthly fee to watch what we want, when we want and how we want. What do you say to XM TV?

Hey you... Snowboarder! Heli-Skiier! Risk Taker! Try this one on for size.
I've always been a big supporter of taking risks and being an adventurer. However, I don't think the rest of society should have to cover the cost to recover those people who go missing as a result of an avalanche or landslide. Let's compremise. If you decide to go snowboarding or skiing in an area that is very remote or unoccupied by nearby civilization (or even defy the rules), then here's the deal. You should be required to have a safety kit and GPS on you before you take off. In the event (God forbid) something happens to you, we are not only able to find you alot easier, we know your chances of survival will be greater. So when the rescue crew goes out to find you and you have these items on you or in your possession, instead of you being charged full pop for the cost, you'll only pay half the cost of recovery. And yes... no longer will this be free. You will get a bill. Think of it like calling 911 for an Ambulance... Will that be cash or credit?

Send us your MIB Ideas or Solution to mibideas@gmail.com
LG

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE IDEA!

To Make It Better... we need to share our ideas with the world.

* As community leaders struggle to balance budgets without raising taxes, it's becoming more and more difficult to meet the demands of residents in providing core and general community services. What if we took a strategic look at selling the naming rights to various services, properties, parks and/or equipment, etc to those individuals or companies who want to help their community or want to leave a legacy by supporting the growth of their own communities?

* When you buy a cable tv package, why don't companies automatically remove the channels you don't get with your package to save time when surfing to find something to watch? Can you say customer service? Then... to showcase or promote other specials, cable companies could offer "freebee weekends" featuring select channels or special offerings.

Send us your MIB Idea to mibideas@gmail.com

The MIB Cause takes flight

Imagine... What if we had an opportunity to make the world and everything in it better? This would be real power back to the people. If you've been curious abot what "Make It Better" was to be all about, the wait is over.

In the days, weeks and years to come, "Make It Better" aka MIB, will be your Centre of Influence for making everything in life better as we know it. Make It Better, YES?

Email us your MIB Idea to mibideas@gmail.com. Be sure to watch for our NEW MIB Ideas coming soon.

LG