Health care has been an ongoing debate raging throughout North America. Both the USA and Canada have had health care and politics tangled together for decades with issues really coming to the forefront in recent months with the sluggish economies in both countries. Barrack Obama seems intent in making some sort of socialization of the health care system in the states while here in Canada, Steven Harper seems intent on dismantling any sort of health care system that Canadians used to have. Both countries have had their economies in recessions for the past year or so with some areas being hit especially hard such as Detroit, Newfoundland, etc. These areas have had a huge increase in people becoming unable to care for their own health care needs although perhaps less so for the more basic things in Canada. Many Americans are now relying almost entirely on their social security disability cheques which seems shockingly similar to our universal health care programs here in Canada. Both countries have medicare systems that need work but with federal pockets becoming more and more empty, I'm unsure as to how these systems will be properly funded to work. In Canada, wait times can be extreme even for lifesaving procedures. While they are "free", you may just die waiting for them! Wait times in emergency rooms are increasingly long and in urban centers like where I live, it's nearly impossible to even find a family doctor! Hopefully those in charge start making the necessary changes to allow citizens to receive the proper amount of health care necessary to lead healthy lives.

The American health care system, or the lack of the health care system, is a very hot topic right now. With the economy slowly recovering from a recession, many people are finding themselves unemployed. This unemployment can lead to a lapse of health care insurance. The stress, anxiety and pain related to financial losses is immeasureable and makes people more prone to becoming sick. The lack of insurance only leads to more stress and more illness. Without getting into the whole socialized health care debate, people need to do something to cover this lapse in coverage. There is a temporary solution to this long term problem -- perhaps NC short term health insurance will be able to fill the void between now and then. Whether your lapse of insurance is due to unemployment, educational reasons, financial reasons or simply becoming to old to be covered by your parent's health care plan any longer, short term insurance may be able to help you to get coverage temporarily until a better situation can be found.

Here in Canada, there is universal health care so the idea of people not being covered is almost completely foreign to me. This is not to say that our system is without faults -- trust me, there are faults a plenty. However, I do believe that there needs to be some sort of basic level of care for every member of society regardless of class, wealth, age, race, etc. etc. A country is really only as strong as it's weakest member. How can we presume that we are able to help other needy countries until we have the situation in our own back yards under control?

There's been thousands of jobs lost over the recession. Many companies have gone under as a trip to any mall makes quite evident. There seems to be empty store fronts and buildings everywhere you look. Record numbers of people are unemployed or underemployed in many states and provinces in North America. The competition for available jobs is quite fierce so what can you do to stand out from the crowd?

Upgrading your education or changing fields seems to be a good way to get a leg up on competitors. It's helpful to research what fields are short staffed or are predicted to be short staffed in the future. One area that has a lot of potential for employment is in the medical coding for billing industry. There are hundreds of job openings available with even more to come. Try looking into taking some medical coding training courses to secure your financial future. You may even be able to arrange your work and education schedules to make it possible to work while being retrained! Definitely worth considering...

This picture from flickr user amandabhslater shows a sign in South Australia along a particularly long and boring stretch of road that says "Drowsy Drivers Die".  The sign also illustrates that there is a rest stop in 1 km.  Signs like this should be used more often as the sagging economy and dragging recession are forcing more and more people to work multiple jobs.  An entire new category of disorder called Shift Work Disorder has cropped up because people's sleep schedules have been disrupted by working long or unusual hours.

The sleep shortage and sleep disruptions can seriously effect the way that people drive.  Drowsy driving has been shown to effect drivers in many of the same serious and impairing ways as using alcohol or drugs and getting behind the wheel.  Some studies have shown that short naps, sometimes as short as 20 minutes, can readily improve a driver's ability to react appropriately behind the wheel.

If you, your co-workers or your family members are getting behind the wheel while tired, try to find time to take a short nap.  Try to stick to a sleep schedule that your body can adjust to over time.  It just may save someone's life...maybe even your own!

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Getting ready for back to school this year has gotten a whole lot tougher for everyone with the economy in shambles.  In my house, we're getting ready for school for two kids.  One's going to her first year of preschool and the other is going to his first year of high school!  That means we need everything from new desktops to a new Barbie lunch box.  You name it, we need it.  Between getting ready for school, buying supplies, getting new wardrobes ready to go, hair cuts, organizing their sport schedules, buying ballet outfits, sneakers, coats, and trying to stay sane, I think the battle for sanity is definitely losing!  There are some tips to make September a less difficult month for everyone though.

Shop the sales.  Most stores have their back to school items on sale in August.  Shop early and read the fliers online -- don't get paper ones, they're awful for the planet!.  This will save you a ton of time and energy running from store to store.  Not to mention the serious amounts of cash that you can save as well.

Make lists and stick to them.  I know that by now, I have a daily "to do" list.  Between working at the office, at home, the kids, the dog and the husband, there is just far too much to keep track of in my head.  If I have a running tally of what needs to be done by the day and the week, it's much easier to stay on track.  Absolutely make lists when you are shopping so that you don't end up with a bunch of stuff that you didn't need to buy at the end of the day.

Do it early!  The schools here really make it tough because they don't get their school supply lists until the first day.  There's lots of stuff that can be done though -- check online to see the styles of sports equipment needed for the classes the kids take.  It's a good idea for the planet and your wallet to try to buy used if you can.  Check sites like usedeverywhere, kijiji and craigs list to try to get a deal.  What you can't buy second hand, shop the sales for.  The sales start early so get that list done early.

Get shopping and good luck!!

In the current world economy, saving money has become a necessity for nearly everyone.  Bankruptcy rates are on the rise, homes are being foreclosed on and people are losing their jobs at astounding rates.  Saving money could mean cutting back on luxury items in the home or skipping vacations.  Sometimes a household has an even tighter budget with really nothing left to cut out.  What do you do then?

Well, you've got to start trying to reduce the payments for necessities.  Check out 2insure4less.com to get all kinds of ideas about insurance online.  They are not part of an insurance company so their quote services are unbiased.  They can gather a number of quotes from your area of residence quickly and efficiently which will save you not only time, but money as well!  You no longer have to make a series of phone calls answering the same questions over and over or drive around to meet with a number of insurance agents, wasting time, gas and paper to get a variety of quotes.

On the site, they also offer a large range of informative articles on all sorts of insurance issues such as car, life, health, and long term disability needs.  Check out the site today to get a look at how much money you could save every month.  Even a few dollars a month on each policy that you have can really add up over a year!

With the economy in the toliet and prison populations steadily rising, going green behind bars has become more than a means to help the environment.  Prisons are steadily going green in an effort to save money.  The sustainable practices have some great side effects besides costs savings -- they are giving the prisoners valuable work experience in green technologies and practices that can be used to help secure employment upon their release, they are helping to reduce the carbon footprint of these huge facilites which house hundreds of thousands of people, save resources, ensure a healthier food supply through organic farming, give the inmates something else to think about, talk about and particpate in, etc. etc.

This post will focus on the gardening projects currently being run behind bars.  This idea has really taken hold.  For more information, check out the book Doing Time in the Garden: Life Lessons through Prison Horticulure by James Jiler.  The author helped set up an organic farm at Riker's Island.  This program really highlighted how social connections can be made and strengthened between disparately separate groups of the population -- inmates and gardeners who were often students or community volunteers.

These organic farms have helped to provide fresh, nutritious produce to the facilities while reducing costs for buying food.  Rainwater collection techniques have been used with much success at various prisons to irrigate their pesticide free plants.  Composting has also become popular for these organic gardeners.  Anything from tomatos to flowers to lettuce to beans to melons to onions to carrots or fruit trees have been planted and tended by prisoners with nothing but time on their hands.  One prison, Cedar Creek in Washington, grew 8,000 pounds of organic produce last year.  They've even started keeping bees on site!

Helping these inmates to reconnect with nature has even more positive benefits than a reduction in carbon footprints or food budgets.  Gardening may help to rehabilitate some of these prisoners to become more productive, peaceful and law abiding members of society who can really create and help out their communities.

The recession has lead to so many people losing their jobs.  I've just never seen anything like it before -- long unemployment lines, thousands of people applying for minimum wage jobs, homes being foreclosed upon, middle class families ending up on the streets, etc.  The only thing that can really stop all of this is for people to be able to find and hold onto a job. Many of the top layers of huge companies have been cut in an effort to save money.  The competition in the marketplace is extremely fierce right now.

Try checking out LIGHTSHIP RESEARCH.  They may be just the tool that you need to be able to find a job.  They can help you to find companies that fit your career and education path instead of just finding a job that will temporarily pay the bills.  One of their testimonials from an actual customer who ended up with a great job in an incredibly short time period really says it all:

"I highly recommend Lightship Research http://www.lightshipresearch.com I was the CTO of a division of a Fortune 500 company and got laid off when the division was sold to another company. I had not looked for a job in 15 years and I didn’t even have a resume. I signed up and in 4 days I had a resume and a target list of companies that we were going to attack. Even though these guys knew how to market me and take care of all the technical aspects of the search, the biggest value to me was guiding me through the process and giving me support all along the way. I got a job in 5 weeks. I think they were glad to get rid of me, I hounded them with questions every day and they were always there to answer them, even on weekends."

T. Klineman, NY

More and more jobs are opening up in the "green sector" -- sustainable energy jobs, car manufacturer's looking at alternative fuel sources and making more eco-friendly vehicles, outside of the box jobs in the recycling sector as more and more people begin to recycle and educational consultants teaching companies how to "green up" their workplaces.  I'd highly recommend work in the environmental field in one aspect or another.  It's important to work for a company that has the same sorts of ideals that you do and to feel like you're really making a difference in the world.  Get out there and green the world!

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I discovered a cutting edge online stock service called Trade Monster today.  They've been around since 2007 although the people who make up the company have been in the industry for over 20 years.  This company is definitely worth checking out for anyone trying to make money on the stock market.  Now is the perfect time to do so because many of the prices are at near record lows.  With a company like this to work with, you don't have to be intimidated to get into the trading system at all.  They've got everything you need to get started and have a completely customizable platform that allows you to include only what you need and what you're interested in.

If you want to check out the system without putting any money at risk, open a free paper trading account.  This stock market simulator allows you to discover all the ins and outs of the system without worrying about making mistakes.  It's definitely a good way to start and discover some of the tricks of the trade.  It will also help you to learn how to use the Trade Monster platform and decide if it's the system for you.

I've looked at other online stock brokers such as TDAmeritrade and E*Trade.  The Trade Monster system has much more functionality than others that I've seen.  The standard online trading systems are simply that --  a way to trade stocks.  There's no more and no less to them.  You are generally completely on your own with other systems.  There's no back-up, it's difficult or impossible to customize your platform and if you don't have the education that you need to work the system, you're simply out of luck.  Trade Monster is so much more than your standard online stock broker.

The three main things that are really different about TradeMonster is the educational resources, the value for your money and the team of professionals standing by ready to support you.

Trade Monster has everything from webinars, online articles covering many topics, quick start learning guides, built-in trading courses and on demand educational resources.  The best thing about the educational resources offered at Trade Monster is that they are free with an account!  Their educational help is only one click away and all these resources are offered to all account holders.  The paper trading account mentioned earlier is also a great educational resource that can really help to hone skills and strategies involved in the stock market.

The value for money of this system is superb.  Not only do they have all the aforementioned educational tools available to you at no extra cost, they also have a full team of professionals standing by, which I'll discuss in a moment.  This system is so good that they even offer a price comparasion of the competitors on their website!  Who even does that in this day and age?  Competitor's prices are listed right on their website to show that Trade Monster has exceptional value in the online stock broker business.  One of the comparasions even shows a lower cost -- however, all of the benefits of using Trade Monster are, of course, not available with the competitor.

Lastly, the team of professional that are standing by is definitely unbeatable.  You don't have to feel alone when using this system because you're not!  The financial advisors that are ready to help you have an average of ten years of experience, are very knowledgeable, educated, competent and professional.  They are there to answer all of your marketing and financial investment questions.

If you are at all interested in learning about the stock market or getting involved in it, I'd definitely recommend checking these guys out.  Open a free paper trading account to decide if this is the system for you.  You might be very glad that you did!

There are two main issues that concern me the most right now -- the environment and the economy.  On the face of it, it doesn't seem like these two things would have much in common.  In fact, you could say that they are diametrically opposed.  That the economy's ways of industrialization and overconsumption have lead to the state of the environment as it currently is.  However, both problems really have some of the same solutions.

Both problems can be partially solved by making do with what we have.  Stretching our dollar helps our personal financial situation as well as helping the planet.  When the question "Should you buy new or fix what you have?" arises, both the environmental and financial impacts of your choices need to be considered.  Generally speaking, it's better for both the environment and your finances to fix what you have.

We live in a world where it's very easy to get the information and tools needed to fix what you have.  For example, you can buy car parts quickly, easily, and securely online.  Check out the Car Parts Warehouse.  They offer free shipping and the lowest guarnteed prices.  When you shop through reputable online stores such as this one, you can shop with confidence from the comfort of your own home.  Simple car repairs can be done on your own for a much reduced cost to yourself and the environment.  Ensure that all fluids are disposed of properly though if you're changing them.  Some are quite toxic and dangerous to the water supply.  Most cities have disposal sites that will properly recycle used oil, anti-freeze, etc.

When you fix something yourself, you save the cost of buying new both to yourself and on a global scale as well.  Car dealers may not want me to promote this but most repairs are not rocket science and if a vehicle is properly maintained, it can last for much longer than the average consumer usually keeps their vehicle for.  The same goes for most things -- kitchen appliances, furniture, clothes, etc. can all be fixed to extend their lifespan.  And when the article is truly worn out (or you're totally sick of it), consider selling it someone who could use it or find somewhere to recycle it!