Category: Non-Fiction


House Sitting and Property Assurance Services in Lethbridge Alberta

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November 27, 2011

Do you need a house sitter in Lethbridge Alberta?

Are you going away and need to make sure someone is keeping an eye on your house or investment property?

Have an experienced person provide peace of mind to you – affordable, effective, trusted.

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Residential House Sitting Services Offered:

  • Security checks;
  • Leak checks;
  • Thermostat check;
  • Mail/Newspapers;
  • Feeding and watering of small animals.

Additional Residential House Sitting Services Available Upon Request:

  • Live-in;
  • Cleaning;
  • Open/Close windows as requested;
  • Recycling and garbage removal;
  • Walk shovelled;
  • Lethbridge airport service;
  • Calgary airport service;
  • Great Falls airport service;
  • Purchase requested food items for your return;
  • + other services that are required during your absence.

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Investment Property Assurance Services Offered:

  • Daily drive-by;
  • First response to problems or emergencies;
  • Weekly status updates by email/phone/skype;
  • Rent collection and direct deposit;
  • Coordination of maintenance and repairs (as requested and authorized);
  • + other services that may be required.

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More than a decade of experience in projects such as:

  • acreage development;
  • cement footings, pads, and sidewalks;
  • eavestrough, soffit and fascia;
  • electrical fixture installation;
  • flooring – hardwood, linoleum, tile;
  • framing and decking;
  • landscaping and tree planting;
  • painting and staining | interior and exterior;
  • basic plumbing retrofits;
  • vinyl siding;
  • window and door installation;
  • house sitting;
  • rent collection and
  • property assurance.

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Top 5 Reasons to Use Project Goodman Property Management Services:

  1. Assurance and security: have peace of mind knowing an experienced person is looking after your property;
  2. Dedication: to complete client satisfaction;
  3. Quality service: in renovation, general maintenance, and property management services for investment properties or personal residences;
  4. Affordable: saving you money;
  5. Experience: proudly serving Southern Alberta since 2000.

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Short Term | Long Term | Flexible

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For more information or to get a complete quote please contact Curtis M. Goodman – 403 – 942 – 2897 or info @ projectgoodman.com:

  • Please be detailed, send pictures (if necessary), and remember to include contact information;
  • I can make no guarantees of my availability – unless we have an agreement in place;
  • I will promptly respond to all inquiries;
  • These services are currently only offered in Lethbridge and surrounding area in Southern Alberta.

 

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Globalization since 1492 – Personalities and Interests behind the Race to 8 Billion

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December 17, 2010

Written by

Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman

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The following document is produced as a result of being contacted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to provide an outline for a possible documentary called “The Race to 8 Billion – 1492 to 2022.”  Based on the requests of the producers, please find attached a brief outline of major historical episodes that may be of interest to the feature.  [editors note: was not contacted by BBC]

Included with each major theme are pivotal moments of human history that transformed the way we understand the world – with brief discussion of the personalities who had a role in the growth of human perception.  Rationale behind each event will should be apparent within the explanation of each major theme; as they each contributed to the process of globalization.  Each event presented herein is presented as part of larger patterns of globalization that have developed over time.  These patterns of globalization will be the focus of the conclusion of this outline.

Focusing on individuals and their influence on historical outcomes and developments provides real case studies for examination.  People have been the driver in creating change and pushing the modern boundaries of our understanding of the world around us.  Christopher Columbus, the Crown of Castile and Aragon, Sir Francis Blake, King Charles, Queen Elizabeth, Napoleon, Sir Sandford Fleming, Fredrick Jackson Turner, Edward Said, Eleanor Roosevelt, and George W. Bush are but a few names that will be essential to creating a comprehensive documentary of the time period between 1492 and 2022.   By no means is this list meant to be comprehensive, rather a point of beginning. View full article »

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FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN CANADA; BHP Billiton and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan – how exceptions shape international perception and why it matters –

Filed Under: Industry, Non-Fiction, Politics, Portfolio Sample by admin — Leave a comment
December 17, 2010

written by

Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman

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Contents

Section I  – Proposed FDI in Potash Corporation by BHP Billiton

Section II – Canadian Rejection of FDI &  the Declaration of a Strategically Significant Industry

Section III – International Relations Theoretical Foundation for Canada’s Position

Theoretical Discussion.

Summary.

Bibliography.

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F

oreign direct investment has been a key component of the development of the modern Canadian economy.  Since before confederation in 1867 an economic heritage developed based upon foreign investments from European and American sources.  The foreign capital provided basis for much of the infrastructure required to exploit the wealth and diversity of natural resources throughout the farthest reaches of Canada.  This paper will explore a most recent example of Canadian rejection of foreign direct investment – the 2010 case where a hostile bid for Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan was rejected on the grounds of preserving national interest.  This case is unique because it is the second such case in the past three years that has come to define the investment climate of the Canadian economy under Stephen Harper’s conservative government.  This paper will seek to answer the question of whether international relations theory is relevant in the formulation of foreign and domestic policy.

In doing so, this paper will first provide an overview of the case and provide context for why the rejection of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Canada matters.  It will explore the nature of the proposed acquisition of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (Potash Corp), the largest global supplier of potash, by BHP Billiton Limited (BHP) an Australian company that is currently the world leader in the iron-ore and coal industries, to name a couple.  Background information on each company will provide clarity to the importance of the proposed deal.  Ultimately this paper will delineate the exact impact such a deal would have on Canadian interests by examining the nature of the global mining industry and the nature of the potash resource for Canada in comparison to the rest of the world.  View full article »

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Things that I find interesting…

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December 16, 2010

Click on this link to see some of my favourite things from the web, as found through google reader:

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/projectgoodman

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A Book Review of “Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600-1900” By Stephen R. Bown

Filed Under: Book, Non-Fiction by admin — 1 Comment
December 16, 2010

Written by

Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman

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Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600-1900 is an interesting historical narrative of the world’s earliest global trading empires.  Stephen R. Bown examines the tales of six merchant adventurers, representing both private and public interests, in their quest to develop, monopolize and control far-flung economies.  This book provides as excellent resource for anyone interested in the early developments of: monopolies, corporations, international trade, and foreign policy.  In reviewing this book criterion include: background of the author; overall content; organization; and personal reflections.  In brief, this book is a fascinating read, often tedious in background details, but an excellent resource for better understanding issues of colonialism and the related importance of leadership in developing a functional economy and society. View full article »

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Positivism and Post-Positivism – The Points of Contention within International Relations Theory

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Portfolio Sample by admin — 2 Comments
December 16, 2010

Written by

Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman

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This paper will explore international relations (IR) theory by focusing on two specific frameworks that demonstrate the duality of the approach to the discipline.  In comparing and contrasting the particulars of both the positivist and post positivist framework it will become clear what the primary contentions of each are.  This will be useful because it addresses a key nature of the development of IR theory – that the inherent contentions of each side of the debate enrich our understanding of IR theory.  The fundamentals of each side of the debate are rooted in addressing the basis of knowledge and the advancement of intellectual thought.  The ideal would be to realize and understand the nature of humanity or perhaps more specifically, the nature of anarchy among the relations of human affairs.

This paper will first delineate the nature of IR theory.  It will then explore the major contentions of both the positivist and post-positivist approaches to IR theory.  Each perspective will become clearer.  The foundations of each approach to knowledge development will be articulated by examining the intellectual works of the following:

Positivist Post Positivist
-        John Mearsheimer, structural realist;
-        Kenneth Waltz, defensive realist;
-        Stephen Krasner, regime theorist;
-        Kenneth Oye, complex interdependence;		 -        David Held, liberal idealist;
-        Charles Beitz, normative theorist,
-        Peter Gourevitch, critical/dependency theorist;
-        Michael Walzer, communitarian perspective.

After a brief outlay of the positivist framework, followed by the post-positivist, the respective approaches to IR theory will be discussed in their relative strengths and weaknesses to each other.  This paper will establish the assertion that both frameworks contribute to the richness of IR theory development.  Furthermore, this paper seeks to provide answers to how knowledge is created in IR theory and why this matters for citizens of the world. View full article »

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Kierkegaard and Aristotle – Interpreting true friendship in marriage and virtue; the recent niqab controversy in perspective

Filed Under: Book, Non-Fiction, Politics, Portfolio Sample by admin — Leave a comment
April 29, 2010

Written by

Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman

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The highest expression of friendship has been described as being love based in marriage and that which is based in virtuous moral character.  It has been articulated as being based within action, where certain expressions make true friendships possible for humanity.  When friendship exists, an individual is able to develop morally, intellectually and spiritually.  Since all individual actions are aggregated within society, when there is a greater occurrence of true friendship between the self and others, there is a type of intellectual and moral transcendence that society itself experiences.  In turn, engaging true friendships can be thought of as beneficial to humanity.

I will argue here that true friendship is based in recognition of others, spirituality, intellectual acuity, and first begins with knowing oneself.  True friendship is made possible by distinct expressions of human action and feelings.  This paper will provide perspective on true friendship by utilizing texts written in the enlightenment and ancient periods of thought.  Specifically this paper will compare and contrast the writings of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard on marriage from Part II of “Either/Or” with the writings on ethics and virtue friendship by ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle as found in Books VIII and IX of the “Nicomachean Ethics.” The idea of marriage and true friendship will be used somewhat interchangeably.

The structure of this paper will first focus on the main argument of Kierkegaard from the first chapter, “The Esthetic Validity of Marriage,” from Part II in Either/Or.  This discussion will center on interpreting Judge William’s letter to a younger friend and his understanding of marriage as true friendship.  True friendship for Kierkegaard is based within a strong relationship with God.  His discussion is predicated on the belief human nature is either – to conquer, or to possess.  In marriage one is able to possess and has no need to conquer which seems to indicate a transcendence of human nature.  Such a relationship allows for the concrete development of humans because it is a process of internal and external self-realization.  In this way, Kierkegaard believes a marriage builds a relationship with God which makes it eternal, historical and morally correct. View full article »

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Montana Alberta Tie Ltd: A case study in Canada – United States Trade Relations; Regulatory Context and North American Electricity Integration

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Portfolio Sample, Wind by admin — 2 Comments
December 20, 2009

Written by:

Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman

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“Ben Franklin may have discovered electricity – but it is the man who invented the meter who made the money”
- Earl Warren-

Introduction to the Issue

E

conomic growth and electricity consumption are directly correlated.  As a nation’s electricity consumption increases so does the gross domestic product.[1] It is generally accepted that access to electricity is a necessary element for a healthy economy; in today’s day and age electricity is required for production of both goods and services.  Without access to reliable sources of electricity the efficiency and productivity of the North American economy would tumble.

This paper seeks to investigate the current trade policy between Canada and the United States in the case of International Power Lines (IPL) and the international sale of electricity.  The specific case of the Montana-Alberta Tie Limited (MATL) project provides an excellent case study of the Canada-U.S. relations on electrical energy.  MATL will be the first direct merchant-based grid interconnection between the province of Alberta and the state of Montana and will provide context for the regulatory environment of each country.  This paper will present the case from the Alberta perspective.  It will, however, provide analysis of both the federal and sub-federal governments from both Canada and the U.S. and their related jurisdictional authority over the MATL project.  In doing so, this paper will discuss the context surrounding the construction of an International Power Line (IPL).  The recent final approval of the MATL project demonstrates the continuing harmonization of the North American electricity grid; which will briefly be discussed.

In addition, this paper will directly examine the popular notion that Alberta is an energy superpower in the North American marketplace; albeit perhaps not a leader in the electric energy industry specifically.  In fact, this paper seeks to demonstrate that Alberta has tremendous growth opportunities but currently lacks the adequate infrastructure to exert such influence even in the North American marketplace.  To begin our discussion, let us first explore exactly what electricity is.

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American Express – Financial Services Industry: Exploring a Renewed Strategy

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December 14, 2009
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The Gender Gap in Canadian Public Opinion and Political Culture… A Short Descriptive of the Meaning, Origins & Implications

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Politics, Portfolio Sample by admin — Leave a comment
November 30, 2009

Written by

Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman

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“Women now stand on the threshold of achieving more political power than they have ever had before.  A possible dream can become real if women translate their beliefs and votes into an organized electoral and political force”

Bella Abzug 1984, page 11

T

his paper will first define gender and what a gender gap is.  It will introduce relevant evidence of the existence of a gender gap in Canadian public opinion in addition to identifying a number of areas of both convergence and divergence of public opinion when gender is considered.  Furthermore, this paper will provide an update on recent developments in the study of gender and public opinion by identifying and explaining the findings of relevant literature.  Finally, this paper will discuss the importance of understanding gender as it applies to the Canadian political system in terms of the three elements of political culture: ideology, policy, and practice.

This paper will find that the way women live their lives today is different than twenty-five years ago.  This would imply that a meaningful difference may have arisen in women’s public opinion over this same time period.  However, there is little evidence suggesting a predictable and stable gender gap on particular issues of public opinion in Canada over time.  Although there have been instances of a gender gap existing, like in the 1988 Free Trade Election and the 1993 and 1997 federal elections.  The most concerning gap that does exist in Canada is the underrepresentation of women in the federal government.  This has implications for issues of equality and there should be a significant consideration of all political parties operating within Canada. View full article »

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