You going to smoke that?

🚭 A Letter to the Young Person Picking Up a Cigarette or Vape 🚭

If you’re old enough to smoke or vape, it’s time to know the truth: tobacco isn’t just a habit—it’s a history of exploitation, pain, and death. ⚠️

🔥 The Truth About Tobacco 🔥

Tobacco was sacred to Indigenous peoples, including the Powhatan nation, used in ceremony and prayer 🙏. But colonial greed corrupted it. Pocahontas, only 12 years old, was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and used as a pawn to expand the tobacco trade. From the start, this industry profited from suffering. 💔

Over centuries, companies marketed to kids and teens, hid dangers, and made billions 💰 while millions became addicted 😔. Even non-smokers—workers in bars, offices, homes—died from secondhand smoke 🏥. Families and communities lost too much. 💔

💭 My Story 💭

I smoked for 14 years 🚬. Spent thousands 💵. Today, a pack costs almost 19 times what it did when I started 😳. And yet, the system is still rigged. Big corporations profit from addiction, and other industries push products that can keep you dependent 😡.

⚡ Why It Matters ⚡

Addiction can happen to anyone ❗. Knowing the history and manipulation behind tobacco gives you power 💪. Ignoring it doesn’t protect you—it only continues the cycle 🔄.

I tried to protect my own child. I failed 😢. But you have a chance to make a different choice ✅. Be aware. Be careful. Your choices today affect your life and the people around you 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦.

We all deserve a chance to make better choices 🌟. You deserve to know. 💯

Why Aren’t We Seeing the Protests?”

If you watch the news in Canada, you might think nothing significant happened in the U.S. on President’s Day. But the truth is, massive protests erupted all over the country—and they’re being suppressed.

This isn’t new. Controlling the narrative is a powerful tool. If protests aren’t covered by mainstream media, people assume they don’t exist. That’s how governments and corporations manufacture silence.

But people ARE resisting. They’re in the streets, they’re organizing, they’re making noise. The question is—why aren’t we seeing it?

How Censorship Works

Media blackouts and algorithm suppression mean that unless you actively search for protest coverage, you won’t find it. Social platforms shadow-ban certain hashtags. News outlets downplay events or focus on distractions. The goal? Make people feel alone. Make resistance look small. Make injustice seem inevitable.

What We Can Do

Censorship only works if we let it. Here’s how we fight back:

✅ Look beyond mainstream media – Follow independent journalists, activists, and citizen reporters. Use social media strategically: search protest hashtags, look for firsthand footage, and verify sources.

✅ Amplify what’s being erased – Share videos, articles, and eyewitness accounts. Talk about it. Make sure people know what’s really happening.

✅ Support direct action – If you’re in Canada, find local solidarity events. If you’re in the U.S., show up where you can. And everywhere—pressure officials, sign petitions, and demand accountability.

This Affects Us All

What’s happening in the U.S. isn’t just an American issue. Censorship, surveillance, and media manipulation are global threats. If we don’t push back now, we risk a world where truth is dictated, and resistance is erased before it begins.

So stay informed. Stay loud. And don’t let them pretend this isn’t happening.

📌 If you’ve found good protest coverage, drop links in the comments! Let’s keep the truth alive.

PSA- Be Harrison Aware- Respect All Water!

Water- you have to respect it. So many people do not understand how fast situations change.

Sadly it's true, it is only when a friend or loved one loses their life do you realize how dangerous water can be. RESPECT IT!

Be informed and be aware, not just of Harrison but of all water, lakes, rivers and oceans. It is powerful, mix it with wind or cold and how it affects you is radical.

RIP Gary and Daniel and to all their family and friend I send my greatest condolences and I am sad you had to make this video but it is very good of you to warn and remind everyone to not take their safety or anyone elses for granted. Thank you for doing that so I can share it with my loved ones and hopefully protect them and their friends.
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Gary Duong (25) and Daniel Reid (23) were both very strong swimmers. On one of the hottest days in 2015, they died in the cold waters of Harrison Lake, where they were swimming.

They were unaware of its dangerously cold temperatures, strong currents, and the unpredictable sudden winds which can turn a flat surface of water into a small craft warning in a matter of seconds.

 Visitors to this lake must become aware of these risks. Gary and Daniel can't speak now so we are speaking for them in hopes that future deaths will be prevented on this very beautiful but deadly body of water.

#HarrisonAware   
  www.facebook.com/harrisonaware



Let US share the above warnings so we may never need the services of  Legacy Water Search & Recovery Society
www.legacywatersearch.com
https://www.facebook.com/LegacyWaterSearch

HOMELESSNESS

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Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
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In the city, you can't ignore the homeless because they are everywhere. Someone recently said that in the 70's there wasn't homelessness like this? I don't know, but homelessness is a VERY SERIOUS issue and it's all around us. Poverty is all around us. People need to get the government to help change this. Raising the welfare rates and the minimum wage would help this. This is a CRISIS!

Something has got to give. People will only be held down for so long. Like Marie Antoinette you can not say "Let them eat cake!" 

Politicians, Corporations and Banks need to be held accountable. To amass fortunes or aid others to do this when there is such obvious need and such obvious injustice.

These are crimes against humanity to treat people this way and allow these things to happen.

Let's all do our part to Raise Awareness and Raise the Welfare Rates and help stop homelessness and child poverty here in BC.

PROJECT AWESOME-Kitshouse

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Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2011
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/#!/zipolita @zipolita
http://gplus.to/zipolita Google+

See info about this Awesome Project Below




Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Project for Awesome Into Video. 

Here are the two challenges so far. At 500 views Marcia's Meditations will donate a 5 week STRESS MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP so it will be free for participants, if a local business or organization come in on the challenge and donates a space. (contact marciasmeditations@gmail.com) more info on challenge at http://marciasmeditations.wordpress.com/

At the 10,000 view mark Marcia will podcast a book, THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE if she can get permission [UPDATE; they said no, ah well].

If not she will take suggestions for royalty free books at marciasmeditations@gmail,com and perhaps set up a poll. Kitshouse P4A contact kitshouseprojectforawesome@gmail.com 

http://kitshouseprojectforawesome.wordpress.com/  

Facebook, kitshouse project for awesome https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kitshouse-Project-for-Awesome/250881541617194? 

Twitter http://twitter.com/KitsHouseP4A 

Official Kitshouse website http://www.kitshouse.org/about/