You must have heard the story by now; how back in October 2007 Costa Rican artist Guillermo Habacuc Vargas captured a stray dog and chained it in a gallery without food and water with a big sign on the back wall made of dog biscuits stating “Eres Lo Que Lees” (“You Are What You Read”). According to the story, people watched the dog called Natividad perish in the gallery from lack of food and water. There’s only one small problem: Most of this story is pure invention – the proverbial feather that turned into five hens. For the dog did not starve, nor die!

Thousands of blogs and web sites are asking for you to sign a petition to prevent the artist from partaking in a new exhibit this year around the same theme. And hundreds of thousands have signed the petition, joined Facebook groups and sent emails, hate letters and even death threats to the artist as well as the galleries involved. Read on to see why you should check your sources before joining the witch hunt. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, maybe not your fries exactly but the oil used to fry ‘em up can, thanks to Encore BioRenewables, a new Tellurian Biodiesel joint venture with Golden State Foods (GSF). By this time next year, the leading independent American distributor and marketer of sustainable high-quality biodiesel will be opening its first biodiesel production facility in Southern California, with plans to open additional processing plants throughout the U.S. that will be sited near locations which aggregate used cooking oil from restaurants. This is where GSF comes into play. As one of the largest diversified suppliers to the quick-service restaurant industry, Encore will have direct access to an abundant supply of used cooking oil to recycle into a more sustainable biodiesel fuel that exceeds industry specifications.

The high-quality biodiesel produced by this closed-loop solution will be sold to trucking companies, municipal fleets and to GSF to fuel its distribution fleet, which services its customers in the quick-service restaurant industry.

Oil reserves are non-renewal people! If you think gas prices are high now, imagine what will happen as we reach peak oil. Take a page from California’s book of leading environmental initiatives and rally our government and businesses to get on the bandwagon and begin our journey towards a more sustainable and earth-friendly future. Read on to learn more about this venture, as well as why biodiesel is a better alternative than ethanol. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Canadian company Hansa Resources, the new Klondyke is in Sweden – more precisely Överturingen. They’ve recently signed a $2.8 million deal with two Swedish women for the rights to the gold the women found while on a blueberry picking trip.

Siv Wiik (69) and Harriet Svensson (64) are chefs and label themselves as “hobby geologists.” They’ve been searching for gold for over 40 years but on the 21st of August, 2007, they were out looking for blueberries. “When we couldn’t find any berries, we cracked out the geologist hammers and started chipping away at the bedrock” says Svensson to Dagbladet. After chipping away at an outcropping that had shown signs of gold in the past, they saw something that “shimmered like a fish.” When they took the rock for analysis they found that a third of it was zink and over 23 grams was pure gold. The sample also contained silver and lead.

Now, six months later, the failed blueberry trip has turned into a literal gold mine. Hansa Resources will pay Wiik and Svensson $600,000 over the next 4 years and they also get a 20% share of the profits of the gold sold. But for the two women, what matters the most is the investment and development in the local community. As part of the deal, Hansa Resources will invest $1.7 million in work programs that will be turned into jobs for the locals.

Some stats revealed in a recent survey of 2,000 young people (16 – 24) from around the world:

• 7 out of 10 women believe it is a man’s job to provide contraceptives – while a third of women believe carrying a condom will mark them as being ‘easy.’

• 1 in 6 women carry condoms in their handbags – with many saying that a pen or gum were more essential contents for a good night out.

• 52% of young people list HIV and AIDS as their biggest concern but 34% surveyed had unprotected sex with two or more partners.

• Men are more worried than women about getting AIDS but engage in riskier behaviour. When asked, only 44% of men, compared to 68% of women, would refuse their partner sex if they were not wearing a condom.

Pretty unnerving numbers if you ask me, that reflect the current attitudes toward safe sex amongst today’s youth. For more stats, read on. Read the rest of this entry »

Sick and tired of hearing everyone say “Just Photoshop it”? Well, if that’s because you don’t have the expensive software, then guess what? You can now join the club of users because earlier today, Adobe launched Photoshop Express! It’s a web-based application for anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects without having to slave over a manual. And the best part? It’s totally FREE! So check it out and create your own visual masterpieces. Read on for more details! Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot…

These words, penned by legendary recording artist Joni Mitchell in 1970, seemed hauntingly fitting when we jumped into the Prius and drove down to Wally’s Burgers on Sunday. And as the cruisers and hot rods started taking over the lot around the iconic green building, we realized that the end of Wally’s marks the end of an era, not just for the old-time cruisers but for Vancouver as a whole.

Angela and I only recently started going to Wally’s and were annoyed when we discovered it would be closing shop on March 27th (tomorrow!). For us, it was a great alternative to the crappy fast-food chain burgers, and the quaint little building was a rare glimpse into a time long gone. What we didn’t realize was just how historically important this burger joint was until the announcement started dragging people out of the woodwork. In a matter of days, the Wally’s Burgers post became the hot topic on Dabbler and information about someone putting on one last cruise-in surfaced. And being the diligent citizen journalists that we are, we decided to drop in and see what the fuss was all about. Check out the pictures! Read the rest of this entry »

A few months ago, I received a phone call from a dad who’s girl was going through cancer for the second time. She had just turned 15 and was put on heavier medications to try to get rid of the cancer. As a result, she lost her hair and her will to live. She quit school, would not see any of her friends, cancelled a planned family vacation, and wouldn’t even leave the house. At one point she told her mom and dad that she was going to quit the chemotherapy and she didn’t care if she died. Absolutely distraught, her parents went to speak to Dan Mornar at B.C. Children’s Hospital. Dan told them of the Wigs for Kids program and they convinced their daughter to go down to Eva & Co. Wigs and see about getting a wig. The great people at Eva’s showed her different styles and textures and colours of hair and they came up with something she was pleased with. Eva’s told her that they would rush the making of the wig and she would have it within the week. Her dad said from that point on she was a different girl. She went back to school, went out with friends and even attended our last Wigs for Kids event. He just wanted to call and tell us that of all the wonderful things that B.C. Children’s Hospital did for his daughter, the wig had the greatest impact on her life.” - Bev Friesen

This true story shows just how important small things are in a child’s life. On March 29th, 2008, Bev Friesen and her friends will be hosting the 3rd annual Wigs for Kids silent auction at the Steveston Community Centre. Thanks to the generosity of many individuals and businesses, $70,000 was raised last year for the program which benefits kids from all over the province who have lost their hair to cancer or other serious illnesses. This year, they are looking for more donations to further this worthy cause. To find out how you or your business can help make a tremendous difference in a child’s life, please read on… Read the rest of this entry »

1. Pride
2. Envy
3. Gluttony
4. Lust
5. Anger
6. Greed
7. Sloth

Unchanged for 1,500 years, this list was due for an update. Considering only 40% of Catholics in Italy even make it to confession these days, the Vatican has finally realized that maybe, just maybe times have changed.

Wait just a minute though. Don’t think for a minute that this gets you off the hook. We’re not talking about replacing the old list. No folks, this is a whole new set of deadly sins to add to your worries. Why? Cause according to Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, there’s a “decreasing sense of sin,” in the modern globalized world (ya think?) and in order to address the “rather individualistic dimension” of the old set of sins, “the sins of today have a social resonance as well…”

Can you guess what the seven new deadly sins are?

To avoid your one-way ticket to hell, read on!
Note: IMPORTANT UPDATE at the end of this article… Read the rest of this entry »

Switch to whale steak instead of opting for the regular bovine variety to help in the fight against Global Warming. That’s the message from whaling supporters of the High North Alliance.

The best thing you can do for planet earth is to eat whale meat instead of meat from other animals,” says Rune Frøvik, president of the High North Alliance.

According to a new study, the emissions from one beef meal equal that of eight whale meals. Lamb, pork, chicken and several kinds of seafood all produce much larger quantities of climate changing gases than whale.

The study is based on emission statistics from eight whaling ships. In 2007 the ships brought in 461 tonnes of whale meat, using 295 thousand litres of diesel fuel in the process. This gives a carbon footprint of 1.9 kilos of CO2 per kilo of whale meat. The number for beef is 15.8, lamb is 17.4, pork is 6.4 and chicken is 4.6.

Greenpeace gives the study a cold shoulder, stating that the protection of the species far outweighs climate protection in this instance.

It is more important that the species survives than that we can reduce our climate emissions by eating it,” says Truls Gulowsen of Greenpeace Norway.

He adds that almost every other kind of food produces lower emissions than meat and that fish and other seafood in general have lower emissions. According to the High North Alliance, fish caught close to shore produce lower emissions than whale meat (fish however, tastes like fish while whale meat is comparable to beef).

[Sources: Aftenposten article (in Norwegian) & Original Study (in Norwegian)] Read the rest of this entry »

DABBLER BOOK GIVEAWAY DETAILS AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE!

Alright fellow Canadians! Tax season’s upon us so I know the procrastination bug is going to start spreadin’ like wildfire with the CRA Personal Income Tax deadline looming on the horizon. But you must be strong and to help you fight it off, here’s a shot of the vaccine:

If you’re like most, you’ll be filing your return by April 30th and hoping for the best. Before you do that though, check out these tips. You may be pleasantly surprised…

• Do you drive your own car to work? Travel between your home and employer’s office is generally considered a personal expense, but if your boss asks you to make a business stop on the way in, the entire distance you travel that day may constitute business use (does a Tim Hortons run count as a business stop?!)

• Run your own business? Consider getting a line of credit from your financial institution. The interest incurred on a line of credit used exclusively for business purchases is tax deductible!

• Fees for summer day camps, sports schools and other recreational activities for kids may be deductible, too!

• Moving for a new job or school? You may be able to claim your travel and storage costs, fees for disconnecting and connecting utilities, and more – even if you don’t yet have a job lined up in your new city!

• If you’re a bike or foot courier, you can qualify for a meal deduction of $17 a day – without receipts!

• Skating lessons? Night school courses? You might be eligible for a tuition credit, if the person taking them is at least 16 and the class is taken through a certified educational institution

• Be sure to save those monthly bus passes – they’re eligible for a tax credit!

You can save a heck of a lot more than you think! To get the exact details on these and other great money saving tips, you’ve gotta pick up a copy of Personal Tax Planning 2007/2008, where you’ll find the most up-to-date tax information from a source you can trust, the CGA (Certified General Accountants Association of Canada). Published by Self-Counsel Press, it retails at $16.95.

This concise book outlines what you need to know to minimize the income tax you pay, or defer it for future years. Updated annually, it’s written in plain language so it’s easy to follow and it’s the same book that helps CGAs keep up with developments in the personal income tax field. Personal Tax Planning 2007/2008 addresses personal tax rates and features that are specific to the federal level as well as to each province and territory, and provides current information of interest to all Canadians on topics such as:

• Income splitting
• Investment income and expenses
• Federal and provincial/territorial non-refundable and other personal tax credits
• Business and self-employment income and expenses
• Marginal tax rates for various levels of ordinary income, capital gains, and dividends

…and much much more (there’s a lotta detailed info in this thing).

You’ve all worked too hard for your money! So we’re gonna save you your first $16.95 by offering a FREE copy of Personal Tax Planning 2007/2008 to the first ten Canadians who email me (quickly!) with their full contact info:

Full name
Full Address (including postal code)
Phone Number