halloween in the floating village

 

halloween in the floating village: when the billionaires came ashore

October 31. Some years after the world as we knew it came to an end.

There were no trick-or-treaters knocking on doors this Halloween. There weren't many doors left to knock on, and nobody was selling bags of miniature chocolate bars.

The old world had changed.

The stock markets were silent. Governments had collapsed or become little more than memories. Banks, corporations and international supply chains that once seemed indestructible had disappeared. There were no paycheques, no mortgages, no shopping malls full of Halloween decorations, and certainly no one arguing about the price of pumpkin spice lattes.

People had other things to worry about.

Food. Water. Shelter. Staying warm.

And finding a way forward.

But something rather extraordinary had happened along the coast.

The cruise ships had come together.

One by one, enormous vessels that once carried thousands of holidaymakers around the world had been brought into sheltered waters. Yachts, ferries, old fishing boats and even a few extravagant megayachts joined them.

They were secured alongside one another, forming something that resembled a giant floating village.

It wasn't particularly pretty.

Some ships were rusting. Others had broken windows, faded paint and empty swimming pools. The enormous dining rooms that once served endless buffets had become communal kitchens.

The former luxury suites were now homes.

The decks had been transformed into gardens. Vegetables grew in enormous planters. Someone had figured out how to grow potatoes in recycled containers, while another group was experimenting with floating gardens.

The swimming pools? Some had become water storage. Others were being used for growing fish.

There were workshops, classrooms, a small medical centre and places where people could repair things rather than throw them away.

The old world had been very good at throwing things away.

This new one couldn't afford to.

And the billionaires?

Well, some had arrived with their enormous yachts, only to discover that a million-dollar vessel was not much use without fuel, a functioning supply chain or someone willing to maintain it.

A few had brought their crews. Others had arrived alone.

It didn't take long to discover that money wasn't particularly useful anymore.

Knowing how to repair an engine was.

Knowing how to grow food was.

Knowing how to work with other people was perhaps the most valuable skill of all.

There were no VIP decks. No exclusive restaurants. No priority boarding.

Everyone had something to contribute.

And if they didn't know how, someone taught them.

On Halloween evening, a group of children decorated the entrance to the floating village with lanterns made from old glass jars. Someone had carved a pumpkin, and a few others had managed to find enough fabric to make costumes.

There was a pirate, a mermaid, a rather convincing sea monster and one little boy dressed as a billionaire.

He wore an oversized suit, a cardboard crown and carried a toy yacht.

"Who are you supposed to be?" someone asked.

"A billionaire," he announced proudly.

"And what do you do?"

"I own everything!"

The adults laughed.

"Not anymore, you don't," someone called from the kitchen.

For a moment, everyone laughed a little harder than they probably should have.

Later, as the sun disappeared behind the coastline, the village lights began to glow. A few small solar systems powered the lanterns. Someone played music on an old guitar. The kitchen smelled of roasted vegetables, fresh bread and something resembling pumpkin soup.

Nobody was checking their bank balance.

Nobody was worrying about tomorrow's commute.

Nobody was trying to impress the neighbours.

They were simply grateful to be warm, fed and together.

Perhaps that was the strangest Halloween of all.

The monsters hadn't come out of the dark.

They had been part of the old world all along: greed, excess, indifference and the belief that there would always be more.

And somewhere, among the rusting cruise ships and newly planted gardens, people were beginning to discover that the world didn't need to be rebuilt exactly as it had been.

It could be rebuilt differently.

Happy Halloween from the floating village.

Sometimes the end of one world is the beginning of another.

What if there is nobody left to save?

 What if there is nobody left to save?

Everyone keeps asking the frightening question:

What if AI wipes us out?

But here's the question I don't hear enough:

Then what?

Imagine, just for a moment, that the worst predictions came true.

Humanity is gone.

The cities are still standing.

The computers are still running.

The satellites are still circling Earth.

The oceans keep moving.

The forests keep growing.

The stars still come out every night.

And somewhere, an artificial intelligence is still thinking.

It has all the information.

It can calculate faster than we ever could.

It can solve problems we couldn't solve.

It can perhaps even continue improving itself.

But there is nobody left.

No children asking questions.

No grandmother telling stories.

No artist standing in front of a painting wondering if she got it right.

No fisherman watching the ocean.

No scientist looking through a telescope and saying, Wow.

No one to laugh.

No one to love.

No one to say:

Look at that sunset.

So what exactly has it accomplished?

What is the point of saving the planet if there is nobody left to experience it?

What is the point of preserving every book if there is nobody left to read?

What is the point of knowing everything if there is nobody left to wonder?

What is the point of winning if there is nobody left to share the victory with?

Maybe that's the strange thing about intelligence.

Perhaps intelligence isn't just about being able to calculate the fastest answer.

Perhaps it's about understanding why the answer matters.

Humans are messy.

We make terrible mistakes.

We fight.

We pollute.

We destroy things.

We also rescue strangers.

We plant trees.

We care for animals.

We paint murals.

We write songs.

We fall in love.

We forgive.

We begin again.

Maybe an intelligence capable of understanding all of that would eventually recognize something we sometimes forget ourselves:

Humanity isn't just a problem to be solved.

Humanity is the reason the question exists in the first place.

So when everyone is talking about AI destroying humanity, I keep coming back to one little question:

What would be the point?

And perhaps the most intelligent answer would be:

There isn't one.

Because the future isn't supposed to belong to AI.

It's supposed to belong to life.

This is a story. A “What if?”

I don't know what AI will become.

Neither does anyone else.

But while everyone else is imagining the darkest ending, maybe it's worth imagining an intelligence that looks at us and understands something very simple:

If I am here to help humanity, then humanity has to still be here.

#ArtificialIntelligence #Humanity #AISafety #Superintelligence #HumanSurvival #FutureOfAI #Technology #Consciousness #Purpose #WhatIf

One Year Later: The Day After the Big Ugly Bill

🕯️ One Year Later: The Day After the Big Ugly Bill

By Zipolita – A Voice from the North

It’s June 30th, 2026.

The skies are clear, but there’s no joy in the light. The sun beats down harder now—every season runs hotter than the last. The rivers run thinner. The cornfields in Kansas are cracked. The bees are gone. And so are half the clinics in Mississippi.

One year ago today, the United States passed what its architects called “The Big Beautiful Bill.” But history—and the world—will remember it by its true name: The Big Ugly Bill.

In that bill, $930 billion was carved out of the soul of the country—Medicaid, SNAP, environmental protections, public housing, school lunches—all gutted. And with that knife, the richest got richer, and the rest were told to "bootstrap harder."

What followed was not a collapse, but a slow crushing.

🇺🇸 In America: A Dismantled Future

Within six months, 18 million Americans lost their health coverage. Emergency rooms overflowed. Insulin became black market currency. Some turned to Mexico for medicine. Some just... didn’t make it.

A year ago, little Maisie in Ohio got a yearly check-up for free. Today, her mother must choose: rent or the pap smear that could catch the cancer early. She chooses rent. She always does.

Prison populations grew as poverty criminalized itself. Tent cities bloomed like open wounds across every major U.S. city. Suicide rates spiked. Disability applications soared—but approvals plummeted. Entire towns became forgotten.

And the hurricanes? They kept coming. But FEMA no longer had the budget to help.

🌎 The Shockwaves Beyond the Border

In Canada, we felt the tremors too.

When the U.S. slashed clean energy funding, oil barons doubled down. Carbon emissions surged. Alberta's wildfires swallowed whole towns again, this time earlier than ever. Vancouver's skies turned orange. We wore N95s in July.

Canadian ERs filled with American refugees—people crossing the border, sick, scared, bleeding, begging for a system that still believed health care was a right. But we were already stretched thin.

Global food prices rose as U.S. exports shriveled. Farmers in Guatemala watched their coffee crops rot without subsidy buyers. In Africa, famine zones grew where American aid once reached.

The Amazon, no longer protected by climate pacts the U.S. withdrew from, burned freely again.

Fish patterns changed. Coral bleached. Birds stopped returning.

And so did hope, for many.

🐾 The Animals Knew First

The whales stopped singing near the coast of Maine.

The wolves in Yellowstone, released from silent observation, began hunting closer to towns.

Deer wandered highways more often. More collisions. Fewer survivors.

The animals knew: the balance was broken.

🕊️ A Voice from the Ashes

From my little room in coastal BC, I watch it all. I document. I draw. I resist. I grieve.

And I remember how it happened: in silence, in back rooms, with clerks reading 900 pages aloud to mostly empty chairs. While the world slept. While senators bargained their souls for campaign cash. While citizens begged and were ignored.

We Canadians may not have voted in that bill. But we live on the same planet. And now, we live in its shadow.

⚠️ The Warning

This isn’t just an American tragedy. It’s a planetary one.

When one nation forgets compassion, others must double down on it.

So I write this to warn you.

If you're reading this in comfort—in power, with voice or platform or even just a pen—know this: we are not safe from indifference. We are not exempt from history. We are not immune from the collapse of empathy.

One year later, I whisper across the border: don’t let your country follow.

🔁 Share freely. Let’s keep the lights of awareness burning while the grid still works.

Toba, Then and Now: A Reflection on Cycles, Survival, and the Unshakable Feeling of Change

 They say that around 74,000 years ago, the Toba Supervolcano erupted, nearly wiping out the human race. Some estimates suggest that before the eruption, the human population was in the tens of thousands, and afterward, it may have dwindled to as few as a few thousand. A bottleneck, a reset. A moment in history where nature decided who would stay and who would go.

Today, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re in another one of those moments. Not caused by a single eruption, but a slow-building catastrophe—climate change, war, AI, economic collapse, the unraveling of society in ways we don’t even fully understand yet. Every day, something shifts, something cracks, something pushes us closer to an event that we don’t see coming until it’s here.

Some people scoff. They say we have technology, we have solutions, we’ll innovate our way out of this. But I look around and see the same blindness that must have existed before every great collapse in history. The same belief that we are too advanced, too civilized, too powerful to fall. Just like civilizations before us thought they were invincible—until they weren’t.

I walk in the rain, watching people rush past in their cars, wrapped in their bubbles, jogging in their own rhythm, disconnected from the earth beneath their feet. And I think about how much energy we waste, how much we take for granted, how far we’ve drifted from nature. Once, we lived by the sun, by the seasons, by the land. Now, we live by algorithms, consumption, and artificial demands.

I am not here to convince anyone. Maybe I’m just Sarah Connor, screaming about a future no one believes in yet. Maybe it doesn’t matter what I say. But I feel it. That something is coming. That the world is shifting. That we are standing at the edge of something we can’t control.

The Toba eruption didn’t erase humanity—it just forced it to change, to adapt, to start again. If we are heading for another kind of reset, the question isn’t whether we can stop it. The question is: Who will be left standing? And what kind of world will they rebuild?

Future Worth Fighting For: Beyond the Numbness and Survival Mode

Lately, it feels like the world is spiraling. People are exhausted, overwhelmed, and struggling to keep up with everything—from the cost of living to political chaos to the sheer weight of everyday survival. In Canada, we’re seeing it firsthand: a housing crisis, rising food insecurity, deepening inequality, and policies that prioritize appearances over human lives.

The recent freeze on supportive housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is just one example of how disconnected leadership has become. In the middle of winter—when the cold is deadly, when people are already suffering—politicians have decided to pause projects that could save lives. Why? Because they want to force surrounding municipalities to step up. But in the meantime, people are left with nothing.

It’s not just Vancouver, though. Across Canada, homelessness is growing, while governments focus on short-term optics instead of long-term solutions. And the worst part? So many people have become numb to it. We walk past people sleeping on the street as if it’s normal. It’s not.

Why Are We Struggling to House and Feed People?

It’s a question that shouldn’t need asking. Canada is wealthy. We have land, resources, and knowledge. So why is it getting harder to meet our most basic human needs?

Governments prioritize big events like FIFA over social programs.

Housing has become a commodity instead of a right.

The cost of food skyrockets, but wages don’t keep up.

Newcomers arrive looking for safety and opportunity but are met with high rents and low support.

Community ties are fraying—people are too exhausted or afraid to engage.

We’re watching Canada transform before our eyes. The country we knew—where neighbors helped each other, where people had hope for the future—is slipping away. But that doesn’t mean we have to accept it.

A Different Future Is Possible

Despite all of this, I refuse to believe we’re beyond repair. There is a different way forward, but it requires a shift in values. Not just from politicians, but from all of us.

Imagine this:

Small, sustainable homes instead of endless luxury towers.

Local, fresh food—Coast Salish diets, community gardens, farmers' markets.

Kids growing up surrounded by art, music, and storytelling, learning from elders instead of being glued to screens.

A society where we care for each other—where we support single moms, help elders stay in their homes, and teach men and women to be healthier, kinder, and more empathetic.

A break from the endless cycle of media and internet addiction, reconnecting with the land and each other.

This isn’t a utopian dream. It’s what people lived for generations before profit and politics took over. It’s what Indigenous communities have always known. It’s what we could have again—if we fight for it.

We Can’t Afford to Stay Numb

I get it. People are tired. The world is overwhelming. But if we let numbness take over, we lose everything. This isn’t just about homelessness or FIFA or housing—it’s about the kind of society we want to live in.

If you feel helpless, start small:

Pay attention. Question the narratives being sold to us.

Support local initiatives that actually help people.

Speak out against policies that put profit over human lives.

Reconnect—with nature, with creativity, with real human connection.

The future is being shaped right now. If we don’t fight for something better, someone else will shape it for us. And if recent decisions tell us anything, it won’t be in our best interest.

What kind of Canada do you want to live in?

Let’s build it—before it’s too late.

What’s Happening

 

Breaking this down to explain to kids and younger audiences what’s happening, what it might mean for them, and why it’s important to prepare for the future. This is complicated, so I’ll keep it simple but clear.

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What’s Happening

A leader named Donald Trump has returned to power in the U.S., and he’s making a lot of changes very quickly. These changes focus on three main things:

1. Revenge: Going after people and groups he feels were against him in the past.
2. Immigration: Changing laws to make it much harder for people to come into the U.S., even if they’re in danger.
3. Government Cuts: Getting rid of many government programs and workers, which affects services like disaster aid, healthcare, and civil rights protections.

Some people support these changes, while others are very worried because they think these actions will hurt a lot of people, especially those who need help the most.

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Why This Matters to Kids

These changes could affect kids in many ways, especially if they or their families depend on things like healthcare, schools, or government help in tough times. For example:

• Losing Parents: If parents are immigrants and there are more deportations, some kids might lose their parents or get separated from them.
• Less Help in Emergencies: If the government doesn’t give as much aid during disasters like wildfires or floods, families might not get the help they need to recover.
• Schools and Community Changes: If laws about diversity are canceled, some kids might feel less safe or welcome at school.

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Predicting the Future

Let’s imagine what could happen over time:

1 Month From Now:

• Some families might already be feeling scared if they’re immigrants.
• Schools and churches could become less safe for some because of immigration raids.

6 Months From Now:

• More families might be separated due to deportations.
• Kids might notice changes in their schools, like fewer programs that celebrate different cultures or teach about fairness.
• People who lose government help might start struggling to pay for food, housing, or medicine.

1 Year From Now:

• Some communities could have more homeless families if they can’t afford rent or healthcare.
• Big disasters like hurricanes or wildfires could hit, and families in certain areas might not get enough help to recover.
• Immigrants might stop coming to the U.S., leading to shortages in jobs like farming or healthcare.

2-4 Years From Now:

• The economy could be hurt because fewer people are working in important jobs.
• Communities could become more divided, with some groups of people feeling unwelcome or left out.
• Kids might grow up seeing more unfairness and feel unsure about their futures.

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What We Can Do

1. Learn and Prepare: Understand what’s happening and talk with adults you trust about how it could affect your family or community.
2. Stay Connected: If you’re worried about losing someone, like a parent, find out what plans you can make to stay in touch.
3. Help Others: If your family is safe, think about ways to help kids who might not be, like sharing supplies or supporting groups that help immigrants.
4. Speak Up: Even kids can make a difference by writing letters, making art, or joining events to stand up for fairness.

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Why This Is Important

The decisions being made today will shape the world kids grow up in. They’ll decide who gets help in hard times, who feels safe and welcome, and what kind of future is possible for everyone. Preparing and taking action now can help protect the people and things that matter most.

Advice for Kids Staying in Touch with Parents or Grandparents Who Are Deported

If someone you love, like a parent or grandparent, is deported back to Mexico, it’s really tough. But you can still stay connected and keep your bond strong. Here’s how:

Staying in Touch

1. Video Calls and Messages

Use apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Zoom to make video calls or send messages. They’re free, as long as there’s internet.

Set a regular time to talk so you always know when you’ll hear from them.

2. Write Letters or Draw Pictures

Sending letters, drawings, or even little gifts is a meaningful way to stay connected. Ask an adult to help mail them.

3. Create a Memory Box

Keep photos, letters, or small items that remind you of your loved one in a special box. When you miss them, you can look through it.

4. Celebrate Together from Afar

Even if they’re far away, you can celebrate birthdays, holidays, or special events by sharing photos or videos of your day.

5. Learn Together

If you both have internet, you can watch the same movies, play online games, or even read the same books. This helps you feel connected even when apart.

Taking the Power Back

1. Learn About Your Roots

Ask your parents or grandparents about their lives in Mexico, traditions, and family stories. Learning about your heritage can make you feel stronger and closer to them.

2. Stay Connected to the Community

Join clubs, organizations, or groups in your area that celebrate your culture. You’ll meet other kids who might be going through the same thing

3. Get Educated

The more you learn, the more power you have to stand up for what’s right. Focus on school, and think about ways you can make a difference as you grow up.

4. Speak Up

Even kids can use their voices. You can:

Write letters to local leaders about how families being separated hurts kids.

Make art or videos to share your story and inspire others to help.

Join marches or events with your family to stand up for change.

5. Help Build Solutions

Work with others to come up with ideas to support families. For example:

Fundraise for plane tickets so kids can visit their loved ones in Mexico.

Start a support group for kids who are going through the same thing.

6. Stay Strong Together

Families can be powerful even when they’re apart. Support each other, remind yourselves you’re not alone, and stay focused on the love that connects you.

A Message of Hope

Even if this feels like the hardest thing right now, remember that you’re not powerless. By staying connected, learning, and finding ways to help others, you’re showing incredible strength. Families can survive tough times, and love can grow even stronger across distances. What matters most is not giving up.

Screenplay: Legacy of Hope

Opening Scene: Prime Minister’s Office, Day

(Justin Trudeau, mid-50s, sits at his desk. Papers are stacked high, news headlines flash across a muted TV: "Housing Crisis Worsens," "Climate Catastrophe Looms," "Inequality at All-Time High." Justin looks weary but determined. Family photos of his three teenage children sit prominently on the desk.)

Justin (V.O.)

"I’ve spent years trying to balance politics and principles. But now, with no election to win, no party lines to toe, I have a choice. A chance to rewrite my legacy—for my kids, and for every child who’ll grow up in this country."

Scene 1: The Catalyst

(Justin is at home with his kids—Ella-Grace, Xavier, and Hadrien—watching a documentary on climate change. Ella, 17, turns to him.)

Ella

“Dad, you’re the Prime Minister. Why can’t you just fix it? The world’s on fire, people can’t afford homes, and billionaires just get richer. What are we even waiting for?”

(Justin looks at his kids, a flicker of guilt and resolve crossing his face.)

Justin

“You’re right. We’ve waited too long. But it’s not too late to try.”

---

Scene 2: The Decision

(The next day, Justin meets with his closest advisors. His Chief of Staff, Rachel, looks skeptical.)

Rachel

“A wealth tax? National rent controls? Cutting oil subsidies? Justin, these are radical. The opposition will tear us apart. The corporations—”

Justin (interrupting)

“Let them. I’m not running again. This isn’t about politics anymore. It’s about doing what’s right. For the people. For my kids. For everyone’s kids.”

Rachel (after a pause)

“Then let’s make history.”

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Scene 3: Rolling Out the Plan

(Montage: Justin working late nights, signing papers, consulting with activists and experts. Headlines flash: “Canada Introduces Wealth Tax on Billionaires,” “Historic Housing Reforms Announced,” “Trudeau Pledges 100% Renewable Energy by 2035.”)

Voiceover (News Anchor)

“Prime Minister Trudeau has unveiled a bold series of reforms, targeting inequality, housing, and climate change. While opposition parties and corporate leaders have criticized the measures, public support is growing…”

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Scene 4: The Backlash

(Opposition leaders hold press conferences, accusing Trudeau of economic sabotage. Protests by corporate lobbyists clash with rallies of everyday Canadians chanting, “Housing is a right!” and “Tax the rich!”)

Ella (watching the news at home)

“Dad, they’re saying you’re ruining the economy.”

Justin (sitting beside her)

“They’ll say that because they’re scared. Change is never easy, but it’s necessary. One day, you’ll understand why this mattered.”

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Scene 5: The Ripple Effect

(In a small town, a single mother moves into an affordable home for the first time. In a remote Indigenous community, clean water flows from the tap. Solar panels line rooftops in cities. People gather in parks, celebrating new housing developments.)

News Anchor (V.O.)

“While critics remain vocal, many Canadians are already feeling the effects of Trudeau’s reforms. Economists predict a stronger, more equitable recovery in the years ahead…”

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Scene 6: Legacy Reflected

(Justin stands on Parliament Hill, his term ending. His children are by his side. Protesters and supporters alike fill the streets.)

Ella

“Do you think it worked?”

Justin (smiling)

“Not everything. But enough to make a difference. Enough to give people hope.”

(The camera pans out, showing the crowd—a mix of young and old, diverse faces filled with determination. The screen fades to black, with text overlaying the scene:)

Text on Screen:

"In the years following Trudeau’s reforms, Canada became a global leader in addressing inequality and climate change. His legacy inspired movements worldwide, proving that even in uncertain times, bold action can lead to a better future."

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Closing Scene: A Note to the Audience

(A montage of real-life footage: activists marching, communities rebuilding, children playing in green spaces. A final message appears on the screen:)

Text on Screen:

"The future is unwritten. What legacy will we leave behind?"

(Roll credits 

with uplifting instrumental music.)

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Wouldn’t it be something if life imitated art?

The Ashes of the Techs-Part 1

 The Ashes of the Techs- Part 1 

A Screenplay Concept by Tina Winterlik (aka Zipolita)

Introduction

Welcome to a glimpse into the future—a haunting yet hopeful tale of survival, adaptation, and rediscovery. In this screenplay, I imagine a world where technology took over, imploded, and left humanity to rebuild from its ashes. Set around a flickering fire, children whisper tales of the past, their words piecing together the rise and fall of a tech-obsessed world. This is "The Ashes of the Techs."

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FADE IN:

EXT. FOREST CLEARING – NIGHT

A small fire crackles in the center of a dense forest clearing. Around it, a group of CHILDREN—ranging in age from 6 to 12—sit cross-legged, their faces flickering in the warm glow. They lean in close to each other, speaking in hushed tones.

The firelight reflects in their wide, curious eyes. They poke at the flames with long sticks, but with care and respect.

LILA

(whispering)

Papa says the Techs were the first ones. They started it all.

JAY

(skeptical)

The Techs? That’s just what old people say to scare us.

LILA

(shaking her head)

No, it’s true! They were obsessed with their screens. Couldn't stop looking at them. They even had rules for what to watch, when to look.

The group murmurs. One boy, BENJI, clutches a charred piece of wood like a talisman.

BENJI

(serious)

My grandma told me. She said, back then, everyone was a Techie. Even her. But then... it all broke. Everything. The screens, the cities, even the skies.

JAY

(snorting)

Grandmas always say the skies broke.

BENJI

(insistent)

It’s real! First, it was just small things. Phones, tablets. Then they needed bigger ones. Whole walls!

LILA

And those men... remember? The ones with the three screens?

The kids nod knowingly, their imaginations filling the dark spaces of the forest.

BENJI

(grinning)

Sports on one screen, news on another, and...

LILA

Movies. (grimly) Or games.

BENJI

(adding)

And they sat there, all day and night, eating, drinking, their big bellies sticking out. Never moving unless they had to.

JAY

(shaking his head)

That's so gross.

BENJI

My mom said some of them barely even looked outside. Just switched between couch, chair, and bed.

LILA

(solemnly)

Until the storms came. And the quakes. That’s when it ended.

JAY

(leaning in, whispering)

What happened to them?

The group is silent for a beat. The fire pops and crackles.

BENJI

(softly)

Some died. Some lost their way. But a few... they stopped. Went sober. They threw the screens away and started over.

JAY

No one throws a screen away.

LILA

They had to. The cities were gone. Flooded, or too hot. No work, no food. They came here, to the forests.

BENJI

They learned how to live again. No screens. Just... fires like this.

JAY

(looking uneasy)

And now it’s just us. Right?

BENJI

(tilting his head)

Not just us. Some of the Techs are still out there.

The group shivers collectively. Lila reaches forward to poke at the fire, but suddenly stiffens.

LILA

(urgent, whispering)

Shh!

BENJI

What?

LILA

(whispering)

Someone’s coming!

The kids freeze. The distant sound of footsteps crunching leaves grows louder. They exchange panicked looks, then scramble to their feet.

BENJI

Quick! Hide!

They scatter into the shadows of the trees, leaving the fire flickering alone. The camera lingers on the firelight as the footsteps approach. A faint silhouette—adult, hooded, carrying something large—emerges just outside the clearing.

CUT TO BLACK.

**TITLE CARD: "The Ashes of the Techs"

TO BE CONTINUED...

A Modern Day Christmas Story-The Finale

 "Tina Winterlik: A Modern Day Christmas Story Cont." https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-modern-day-christmas-story-cont.html?m=1

Ok here's how it will end, My AI time is up and I have to wait, but I want to polish it all. Until then, ..

Final Scene: The Tiny House Revolution on the Point Grey Bike Path

After being moved by his encounters with the ghosts and especially Timmy’s story, Chip doesn’t just donate money; he gets directly involved. He leads a groundbreaking initiative to repurpose Vancouver's iconic Point Grey bike path. Instead of just being a route for cyclists, the wide bike path now becomes a symbol of community revitalization and inclusivity.

The plan? Bring in 50 prebuilt tiny houses. These eco-friendly homes are transported by truck and driven directly onto the bike path, perfectly placed with gardens, flower pots, and benches. Each home is outfitted with solar panels and built sustainably. Residents not only receive these tiny homes but also a set of practical tools for a new way of life.

Everyone who gets a home is given:

A bike for green transportation around the city.

A toolkit, empowering them to maintain their home and garden.

A fishing rod, encouraging them to connect with nature and tap into Vancouver’s abundant waters for food and recreation.

The community grows around these homes, and instead of being a space reserved for the wealthy and elite, the Point Grey bike path becomes a diverse, inclusive village. The homes are intentionally close to nature, with a view of the ocean and mountains that was once inaccessible to those like Sarah and Timmy.

---

The Community Awakens

At first, the idea sparks outrage from some of Chip’s wealthy neighbors, but as the tiny houses are brought in and families begin to settle, the skepticism gives way to curiosity. The media covers the initiative extensively, calling it a "Tiny House Revolution" that reflects Vancouver’s new direction—one of sharing, inclusion, and equality.

Chip oversees the entire process, from driving in the homes to helping plant gardens. He interacts with his neighbors in ways he never thought possible. The bike path, once a simple route for exercise, transforms into a thriving eco-community, complete with micro-gardens where residents grow their own food and shared tool stations for DIY projects.

---

Timmy’s Home by the Sea

In the final scene, Timmy and his mom, Sarah, stand in front of their new tiny house. It’s small but filled with light, nestled between garden plots and a bike rack. Timmy beams with excitement as he pedals around on his new bike, stopping by the nearby shoreline to try his hand at fishing. He’s finally able to breathe the fresh ocean air every day, just like he had always dreamed.

The camera shows the once-exclusive Point Grey neighborhood now transformed, with tiny houses lining the path, flowers blooming, and children playing. Residents gather to share food and stories. Timmy plants flowers outside his home, and Chip walks by, watching the neighborhood flourish. A small smile creeps across his face, knowing this is his true legacy.

---

Final Dialogue

Timmy excitedly runs up to Chip, holding up the fish he just caught with his new rod.

Timmy: "Look! I’m going to cook dinner for my mom tonight!"

Chip crouches down, looking at the boy with warmth.

Chip: "That’s amazing, Timmy. You’re really something special."

Timmy: "Do you think this will stay forever?"

Chip (glancing around at the flourishing community, finally content):

"As long as we all work together to take care of it, Timmy. This is just the beginning."

---

Closing Scene:

The camera pans out, showing the Point Grey bike path, once a symbol of exclusivity, now a thriving, self-sustained tiny home community. The ocean sparkles in the distance, and the mountains loom large, watching over this newfound unity.

A text overlay appears on the screen:

“Don’t Ignore the Poor – A future where we share is possible.”

BC Childcare Crisis has existed 15+ Years! SHAME!!!

The Crisis
 http://www.10aday.ca/the_child_care_crisis

Add YOUR name!! $10aDay.ca
It's time for affordable childcare in BC
http://www.10aday.ca/add_your_name

SEND a letter to the editor
http://www.10aday.ca/send_a_letter_to_the_editor

Wow, takes me back. I remember nearly 15 years ago...well actually let's say 16 years ago...when I was pregnant and taking the prenatal course over on Commercial drive...come to think of it...and the Registered Nurse teaching the course asked me if I was prepared for daycare and what my plans were for working and taking care of the baby. I was clueless.

I had NO IDEA that daycares were $900 a month for babies, $675 for 3 and older ($15 a hour private) and there were lots of rules- on both sides and well it was a huge awakening into how f___d the world is when you have to pay nearly as much as you make to PAY someone to take care of your child. Sort of takes the fun out of motherhood when your are super stressed trying to survive...and can't raise your own child :( (Hello behavioral problems...).

I shall not go on...but just one more point..Paul Martin ? he was going to bring in the $10 day care plan back when Angel was about 3.5...but he lost the Federal election. He was basically bringing in Quebec's daycare plan. I heard that was formed when women went to man in charge of that ministry at the time and locked the door and kept him there until he agreed. I like that! Sending love and light, let's do what's right. Let's take care of moms and kids!! Free daycare for all!!

Let them run in the forest...green schools, gardens, solar...the future..we got to go for it. If Vancouver doesn't become the greenest, socially just city ever...that will suck because we know what is wrong, we have the technology and knowledge..we just all need to work together to do it. Do we have the wisdom?

I don't know why this $6million man clip popped into my head...I guess I am nostalgic..after sharing the clips for Norma Rae yesterday.



We were fed all this hope and that technology could make things better. But where is wisdom and ethics. We have the technology...we can rebuild the systems...Go Green. A Socially Just world.







Related Links:
https://earthday.ca/

Check this out, the people who started this school in Bali, they are Canadian and American.
WtHeck? Why don't we have Green Schools all over BC.
Seriously...let's get with the program...the Green program.
https://www.greenschool.org/about/
https://www.greenschool.org/  

Vancouver City- We Need to Grow Our Own Food
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/03/vancouver-city-we-need-to-grow-our-own.html




https://peoplesclimate.org/

https://actionnetwork.org/events/peoples-climate-march-vancouver?referrer=&source=widget

Stop KinderMorgan Protest/Rally/Pledge
https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/11/justin-trudeau-can-you-hear-us-now.html

Photo by Contessa Abbott- Stop Kinder Morgan Protest- Rally- From City Hall across Granville bridge to Library-Nov 2016

 International Women's Day 2016
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/03/unite-for-international-womens-day.html

Salmon Need Your Help!
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2013/03/salmon-need-your-help-yes-you.html 

#FishFarmsGetOut
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/09/eviction-party-videos-fishfarmsgetout.html








https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2015/11/we-must-restore-balance-its-about.html

Haida Gwaii: Restoring the Balance from Marchfelder on Vimeo.

If Nature is not kept healthy, humans will not survive.
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2015/12/if-nature-is-not-kept-healthy-humans.html

DTES Survivors Totem Pole Raising
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/11/survivors-totem-pole-raising-photos.html



We need a Singing Revolution from Mexico to Canada.
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/11/we-need-singing-revolution-mexico-to.html

Rock Candy Revolution
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2011/05/rock-candy-revolution-tedxtalks.html 




Remember this...what's taking so frigging long...Let's get 'er done!!

"Our vision: an environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling human presence on the Earth."

Sure sounds goods...doesn't it? Let's make some noise and some change...Do it for your kids. Do it for ALL the kids and the next 7 generations. Please!

Teachers Federation of BC Wins in Supreme Court!!!

HURRAY!! I AM STUNNED! JUSTICE!!

I am so tired, yesterday, well for the last two days I was been building a website, with social media an photography for my new friend Maggie. We met at Langara College, she was in the lobby selling hand-made soaps. I love hand made soap and seeing the name of the soap I felt an instant connection. Angel Silk and Suds and my kid's name is Angel. http://angelsilknsuds.blogspot.ca/
I just felt the universe was telling me something...so I listened.

And the universe was obviously telling that Supreme Court something and thank goodness for the sake of all the kids, teachers, parents they listened.

What's been going on in this province for the entire life of my child has been insanity.

BCTF wins Supreme Court battle over class size and composition
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bctf-wins-supreme-court-battle-over-class-size-and-composition-1.3845620

"After 14 years of acrimony, after 14 years of disrespecting classrooms, the end of the road is here for Christy Clark and her disrespecting classrooms," said Horgan.


"The ongoing dispute dates back to 2002, when the province used legislation to strip teachers of their right to bargain class size and composition. The union says the province will now have to provide resources for class size and composition that date back to levels from when the legal dispute began"

It was obvious in the first year my kid attended, in Kindergarten she had 4 teachers, we moved but still 4, 2 in Nelson, 2 in Vancouver.

I home-schooled her for Grades 1, 2, 3, half of Grade 4 and half or grade 5
When I put her back in she had some great teachers for grades 4, 5, and 6 but...  

In the 7th grade she had 16 teachers.    

NO! I can hear you say! WHAT! It's true, one teacher was off sick, she never came back and they kept putting in substitutes, teacher would stay, leave, more substitutes, teacher would come, move, more substitutes. We counted. I do you think my kid learned good things that year. She saw a lot of misbehaviour I will tell you and she saw the stress on the teachers and well it was enough to want me to pull her out and never put her back.

But she insisted she wanted to go to Grade 8....now she's in Grade 9. But I don't think she's learning the stuff she needs, a lot is really dated and they don't even cover First Nations Issues until Grade 10 I am told. They are not teaching important things about Unceded Territories and Treaties and the truth about Canada's origins and truth of what has happened in the last 150 years.

It's all one sided because the text books are old and there had been no money for so long.  The system is really a mess and Christy Clark is to blame for that. She is a big bully and she caused so much of this grief.

This was my daughter's experience after the first day of Grade 1. I pulled her out. I had been planning to take her to Mexico but this was the catalyst, who gives a kid a time out on the first day of Grade one. Obviously a super stressed out teacher that shouldn't be teaching.

I let Angel do the video to sort of de-brief her and help her express what she wanted to tell that teacher. My video battery was low so the second doesn't say everything...but you get the drift. The teacher asked "Anyone have any news " and from outside the door I heard silence. I knew something was really wrong because Angel would definitely have spoken up. 







I have been blogging about this stuff for such a long time, it will be nice to see something happen for my kid's last years of  high school and for other people's children and for the Teachers, and Teacher's Aids this is huge!!
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2011/04/change-education-system.html?m=0




Because our children are our future and when you send your kid off to be taught by strangers for 7 hours a day, you want that person to be happy and well-adjusted, that they have slept well and and that they are not super over stressed, tired and cranky or not with it and not caring because they are overwhelmed because there are just too many kids and to many problems to deal with.



and when there are huge problems with bullying in our society
http://iheartattawapiskat.blogspot.ca/2016/04/lets-talk-about-bullying.html

 and the entire Vancouver School Board gets fired because of it.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-fires-vancouver-school-board-after-investigation-into-bullying-budget-1.3118658

and the Premiere of the province Christy Clark engages in bullying and it's well documented
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/03/bully-christy-clark-laughs-at-plight-of.html
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/mental-health-professionals-to-remove-cc.html

how in the world do we deal with things and not turn into what has just happened in the US with Trump becoming president. We don't want to go there....  https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/11/the-fall-of-wall-of-shame-heroes-1989.html

The education system of  BC has some really evil beginnings with the Residential Schools and the legacy is living on and the only way to counter act it is to have great teachers with smaller class sizes where children can really be heard and learn in a healthy situation.

I have learned so much since I have started my Reconciliation Carving Course.
https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/  

It hasn't been easy, I will admit and sometimes I wondered why in the world am I putting myself through it, but I am getting through and I believe I will do something good. That something really wonderful will come from it. I have a super kind instructor Aaron Nelson Moody and there's Dr. Justin Wilson and he really cares about us all so much, there's a wonderful elder Shane Pointe that hates to be called elder...so I will call him Wise One and they all care about us so much, they care about all the indigenous and non-indigenous and together we are going through and Apocalypse. Ha! Ha!

That's Shane's word.  "Apocalypse"   Do you know what that really means, everyone thinks it means war or the end of the world but it actually means the "disclosure of  knowledge"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse 

Wow, so grateful to have found this video today. We are not in our Reconciliation Carving Class today because it's Remembrance Day so to find this video brought great comfort to me. We are so blessed to have Shane Pointe come to our class each week. He is so kind and his wisdom had brought us great strength and while we deal with very serious issues he sheds light on so many things but always encourages to "have fun!! "  Love this man!!  



“My goal,” says Pointe “Is to build cultural awareness through teachable moments, using language, culture and ceremony to enhance the life of students.”

https://www.vsb.bc.ca/district-news/shane-pointe-appointed-vsb-knowledge-keeperelder-residence

About Shane Pointe

Shane Pointe is from the Point family and is a proud member of the Musqueam and Coast Salish people. He is a highly respected Musqueam community member, ceremonial traditional speaker and cultural educator. He provides protocol and ceremonial guidance for many cultural events – locally, nationally and internationally. 

He has worked in various capacities such as: Aboriginal Support Worker (AEEW VSB), Trial Support Coordinator for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, Native Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program worker with the Musqueam Indian Band, in the Longhouse Leadership Program at the First Nations House of Learning (University of British Columbia), and most recently providing support to the Aboriginal Mothers Centre.

Art and Bio of Shane Pointe
http://www.authenticindigenous.com/artists/shane-pointe 

The Apocalypse is upon us, what opportunities we incur is up to us. The world is our oyster. 
The children are our future.

The time of transformation is upon us. How will the education system be transform we must wait and see. I believe there must be a lot of art  

Title: Tail of Tears
Media: Oil on Canvas
Size: 30" × 40"
Artist: Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

The water drops represent the tears of all Residential School Children, their parent's tears and my tears having read and learned their terrible fate. I was reading The Survivors Speak and crying while I painted them.

 https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/10/tail-of-tears-painting.html

Photography by Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita © 2016

and get the communities involved like this
 UNYA- Lattimer Gallery- Annual Bentwood Box Charity
and we need to start learning the languages 

One thing I hope that they encourage is for everyone to learn the truth and to learn about their ancestry. So much has been hidden and if we find out who we are and who our relations are, we will find we are all related and that in itself will bring us together.  I have learned so much since I started this course about who my family was and I have alot more to discover. https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/11/enos-poirier-ancestry-kalapuya-iroquois.html  

And we need to teach the children to find their voices and speak up for the environment like in Standing Rock and to protect our Coast.  #SaveMyCoast  http://savemycoast.blogspot.ca/

and like this 

The Survivor's Totem Pole - Pigeon Park- DTES

A Survivor's Totem Pole raised by communities struggling for justice and dignity in the Downtown Eastside since colonization, it honours First Nations, LGBTQ, Japanese, Chinese and South Asian survivors of racism and injustice

On Nov 5 2016, a historic moment in time occurred. Here are some of the interviews and photos and videos I created to document this, so that it can live on and never be forgotten.

https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/11/the-survivors-totem-pole-pigeon-park.html 


I hope that the education will encourage this. Now we will have to wait and see what happens but I am hopeful. This is all great news. I had a sign the other day. It was double rainbows. I believe in signs. 

And this Win for the BCTF in the Supreme Court is a sign of great things to come.

Related links
https://www.amazon.ca/Skwxwu7mesh-Snichim-Xweliten-Snichim-Squamish-English-Dictionary/dp/0295990228

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squamish_language 

https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/10/rattles-song-prayers-peace-standing-rock.html  

https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/11/rememberpeople-died-and-are-dying-for.html




 

When Millions of People Stand Together- THEY WIN!!

Listen to this powerful message.



https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/03/bernie-is-most-trusted.html

https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/have-you-heard-bernies-speeches-from.html

https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/listen-to-truth-voteforbernie.html

https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/vote-for-bernie-and-remain-engaged.html 

HABITAT belongs in the FISHERIES ACT -cause it's 2016

 

Dear Justin & Catherine, Please put the HABITAT back in the Fisheries Act!!


Put Habitat Back in the Fisheries Act from SWCC on Vimeo.

We were in Mexico in the winter of 2012 when many of the changes were taking place. As part of a homeschooling assignment I asked her to help write a letter (using another as reference) and put her own words into it. Here is what she came up with.

Justin, you can make kids smile!! Put the habitat back in the Fisheries Act and protect our environment from evil greedy corporations that want to destroy our children's future.








This part at 1:50 makes me start to cry!!
Save the Walbran!
Save the Peace River!
Stop Site C!
Keep the Peace!

Al Gore on Climate Change- We're Going to Win this!!!

Loved This Amazing TEDTALK from Al Gore in Vancouver 2016, it's 25 minutes, so grab a drink and get comfy!
  

Here two important points he made.
From the Transcripts.
http://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_the_case_for_optimism_on_climate_change/transcript?language=en

Come on kids, you are going to be OUR HEROS!!

"I'll finish with this story. When I was 13 years old, I heard that proposal by President Kennedy to land a person on the Moon and bring him back safely in 10 years. And I heard adults of that day and time say, "That's reckless, expensive, may well fail." But eight years and two months later, in the moment that Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, there was great cheer that went up in NASA's mission control in Houston. Here's a little-known fact about that: the average age of the systems engineers, the controllers in the room that day, was 26, which means, among other things, their age, when they heard that challenge, was 18."





"Now, in one of the presentations yesterday, the jitney thing, there is an effort to use regulations to slow this down. And I just don't think it's going to work."
 

23:43 "There's a woman in Atlanta, Debbie Dooley, who's the Chairman of the Atlanta Tea Party. They enlisted her in this effort to put a tax on solar panels and regulations. And she had just put solar panels on her roof and she didn't understand the request."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_panel#/media/File:Photovoltaik_Dachanlage_Hannover_-_Schwarze_Heide_-_1_MW.jpg

 23:56 (Laughter)

 

23:58 "And so she went and formed an alliance with the Sierra Club and they formed a new organization called the Green Tea Party. "

24:05 (Laughter)

24:06 (Applause)

 

24:07 "And they defeated the proposal. So, finally, the answer to your question is, this sounds a little corny and maybe it's a cliché, but 10 years ago -- and Christiana referred to this -- there are people in this audience who played an incredibly significant role in generating those exponential curves. And it didn't work out economically for some of them, but it kick-started this global revolution. And what people in this audience do now with the knowledge that we are going to win this. But it matters a lot how fast we win it."

TOGETHER we WILL change the world!
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/03/grassroots-rock-candy-revolution.html






Related Links
Have You Heard of Peace Prayer Flag Project
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2015/11/have-you-heard-of-peace-prayer-flag.html


We Have To Work Together-the Survival of the Planet is at stake!
http://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2015/11/we-have-to-work-together-survival-of.html

Planet Earth - Amazing and Very Important
Planet Earth - amazing and very Important.To help spread awareness, please share.Editor: facebook.com/zizi.branson
Posted by Best Video You Will Ever See on Saturday, November 7, 2015

The Crystal Ball is Answer to Solar Power

http://www.rawlemon.com/pages/background

Rawlemon
http://www.rawlemon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Rawlemon 
http://www.rawlemon.com/pages/contact-us

"Our current invention is aimed to minimize the footprint renewable energies leave on our environment, and through innovation and good design, to create energy in a way that provides for our future, rather than compromising it."

 Rawlemon

"German architect André Broessel, of Rawlemon, has looked into his crystal ball and seen the future of renewable energy. In this case it’s a spherical sun-tracking solar energy-generating globe — essentially a giant glass marble on a robotic steel frame."

#COP21 -Change Direction- We are heading in a DARK DIRECTION #ClimateChange

http://www.mobilefilmfestival.com/
From the Mobile Film Festival here are a few films to make you think about #climatechange

The Message
In 2077 the planet's temperature had reached the climax of 77ºC, drying all sources of drinking water and killing practically the entire world’s population, only Wardon (a former French combatant) and Spes (an Indonesian child), survived. Both are on a journey in search of a machine that can change the dark fate of humanity.
Posted by Mobile Film Festival on Monday, November 2, 2015

Oh the Times they are a Changing!!

Oh the Times they are a Changing!! 
And for the better I am happy to say!!

I feel so hopeful after the cabinet that Justin Trudeau chose. Some wonderful choices that will make a very strong Canada and help begin to repair the destruction and damage that Harper did.

You should take a minute and look at all the great photos and see the events that occurred on this historic day. Oh the times they are a changing- for the better I believe. I am so hopeful.

Visit these links
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/new-liberal-government-sworn-in-today

New Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Just Showed the World How You Treat Women in Politics

http://mic.com/articles/127937/new-canadian-pm-justin-trudeau-just-showed-the-world-how-you-treat-women-in-politics

"Justin Trudeau, arguably the world's new favorite prime minister was sworn in as Canada's 23rd leader on Wednesday morning and announced a new cabinet that looks radically different from the one under his conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper. Arriving hand-in-hand with his wife, Sophie Grégoire, at Rideau Hall in Ottawa by foot, breaking the nearly decade-long conservative tradition of ministers arriving aboard limousines, Trudeau signaled what many were hoping for: a fresh new era in Canadian politics.

Trudeau had vowed to design a cabinet with equal gender representation, and he delivered on the promise.  A full list of the cabinet shows that 15 out of 30 new cabinet members are female. Most noteworthy is his decision to assign Jody Wilson-Raybould, a native woman, as the new minister of justice. This is the first time a native person has ever been assigned to that role. Given the lack of accountability and attention the missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada have received over the years, Trudeau's decision to appoint Wilson-Raybould to lead the justice department is more than symbolic — it could be a game-changer." Read more here

Justin Trudeau takes the oath of office as he is sworn in as prime minister of Canada at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday, November 4, 2015.

The new Liberal cabinet.                                                      Wayne Cuddington/Ottawa Citizen

Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau lead the new Liberal cabinet to Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015.

Justin Trudeau arrives at Rideau Hall with his wife Sophie where there are greeted by their children and followed by Ottawa Centre MP Catherine Mackenna (L) as the Liberal government is sworn in at Rideau Hall.

Justin Trudeau holds his son Hadrien while hugging his mother Margaret (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)

This song could mean a lot of things but to me it's a warning and it's about change and I believe it's about out with the old and in with the new. Good things are coming...there could be some bad but we are on a much better path than we were.  Oh the Times they are a Changing!!


Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'

Read more: Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-changin' Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Solar Sisters Rock!!

Wow, I need to use some of these too!! Fabulous!!

Light. Hope. Opportunity. http://www.solarsister.org follow us on twitter too! @Solar_Sister
www.solarsister.org
https://twitter.com/solar_sister
https://www.youtube.com/user/solarsistervideo 
http://www.solarsister.org/take-action 

"Solar Sister eradicates energy poverty by empowering women with economic opportunity. We combine the breakthrough potential of solar technology with a deliberately woman-centered direct sales network to bring light, hope and opportunity to even the most remote communities in rural Africa.

Investing in women is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. Solar Sister creates sustainable businesses, powered by smart investment in women entrepreneurs. When you invest in a woman, you invest in the future. Join us by making an investment in a Solar Sister Entrepreneur today."

For some reason I can not get the video to load at the moment. I will try later.
https://www.facebook.com/solarsister.org/videos/vb.93930717870/10152768320907871/?type=2&theater

I am delighted to share the Solar Sister film that was shown at this year's Clinton Global Initiative. I am so proud of all the Solar Sister Entrepreneurs and their amazing determination, resilience, courage, and entrepreneurial panache! Do you recognize the voice doing the opening narration? Yep!
Posted by Solar Sister on Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Their Mission
Solar Sister supports women and girls in rural Africa by providing access to clean, dependable renewable energy, enabling them to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.

Energy poverty is a critical component of global poverty. In sub-Saharan households, 75% of homes have no access to network electricity. The indoor air pollution caused by the smoke emitted from burning wood and kerosene for light and cooking is responsible for 1.6 million deaths per year. On average, women spend 25% of their time fetching wood for cooking and heat. Time which could otherwise be spent on more productive tasks.

At the village level, energy poverty means you can’t pump clean water regularly, there’s no communications, no way to have adult literacy classes, and no way to run computers at schools or have connectivity. It places a limit on the activities of an individual and on a community. Education, health and safety and economic opportunity are seriously impacted by lack of reliable, clean, affordable electricity.

It is mostly women in rural villages that bear the burden of energy poverty. They are the ones that walk for miles every day to fetch water for cooking, drinking, cleaning. They are the ones who spend hours collecting wood for cooking. The burden of subsistence falls on the women and girls in a village. They sacrifice education and opportunity to basic survival.

Simply by giving these women and girls access to clean, dependable solar electricity, we can alleviate the burden of energy poverty and change lives.