That old adage “never talk about sex, politics or religion” should never apply to a couple! Firstly, to have a healthy and satisfying relationship, a couple should be very open with each other regarding sex and religion. Think of the disastrous consequences that can arise if you withhold your views on these topics and then discover that you are polar opposites who are unable to find comfort or compromise!

This year’s London Olympics will no doubt be one of the world’s greatest attractions, bringing together people and cultures from all over the globe in order to witness the world’s most elite athletes compete for gold medals.

For starters, London has already successfully hosted the Olympic Games on two occasions: in the years 1908 and 1948. Now the city will boast the most modern sports infrastructure of the planet, with tracks and stadiums that will be packed with the latest technological advancements. These range from world-class medical facilities to ultra high-definition cameras and high-sensitivity movement sensors. On top of this, thanks to the dramatic evolution of global communications, these will be the first Olympic Games that almost everyone in the world will be able to experience in full via popular social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.

But, while the Olympics are an unparalleled venue to bring together entire countries, can we say the same about couples? The answer is a definite yes. Here are a few tips and reasons for you and your significant other to enjoy the Olympics- and strengthen your bond while you do it!

Great reason to learn about London

London is considered one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. It is also one of the most romantic, offering visitors amazing sites, vistas and attractions–the Thames River, the Tower of London, Windsor and Stonehenge, to name a few–all of which normally receive dozens of millions of tourists every year. So why not use the Olympic Games as a pretext to know and learn more about this beautiful city? If you are lucky enough to be there with your partner, you will no doubt find terrific places to visit together. If you both are still on the other side of the pond then you will still be able to visit some of the city’s best locations thanks to the magic of HDTV.

Have you ever wanted to exercise together?

Have you or your partner ever wanted to play some sports together but never found the time or the mood for it? What better reason than the Olympic Games to put on your workout clothes and feel the spirit of the most popular sports by going jogging, swimming and playing any other sport together. You will both feel energized and glad to be doing something healthy and fun together. (Not to mention, you’ll both be grateful of the noticeable improvements that exercising will bring to your sex life!)

Become closer by cheering for your country

This one works regardless if you both are from separate countries. Both of you can take this opportunity to dress in your country’s colors and cheer together for your teams. And if each of you supports a different country, then you can have even more fun by teasing one another! All while sharing Friendship, Respect and Excellence – the true values of the Olympics.

Enjoy some London local food, even if you are not there

One of the great aspects of London is its terrific cuisine, making it the culinary capital of the country. This provides the perfect opportunity for you and your partner to cook some popular local dishes, such as Pie and Mash or Sunday Roast. You will not only enjoy a treat, but will also find that eating local is one of the best ways to get into the Olympic Spirit.

Spend a romantic getaway in a top class hotel

Who says that the Olympic Games can’t be romantic? Just imagine booking a room with a beautiful view in a great hotel. Once in it, you and your partner can enjoy the Olympics on TV feeling the center of the action. After the day’s events are over, you can focus on each other and create an unforgettable Olympic vacation without even being in London.

As you can see, the city of London will not only be a perfect venue for the 2012′s Olympics- it will also provide plenty of opportunities for couples to become closer. All you need is somewhere to watch the sports events together and a team to root for. You won’t believe how close you will feel to each other when you share the rush of seeing your favorite team win the gold.

In politics you can’t please everyone all of the time, but some get closer to the mark than others. Regardless of their popularity, a president’s decisions affect the American population for generations, so it’s always important to understand what laws are being passed and the context in which they’re being created.  As the 2012 elections are fast approaching, we wanted to take a close look at President Obama’s accomplishments so far, and how they’ve affected the American people, and more to the point, married couples.

#1.  Passage of the Affordable Care Act

Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment, The Affordable Care Act, expanded access to healthcare to include coverage for the roughly 50 million Americans who were not previously covered because they could not afford it.

The law just passed the Supreme Court stink test (in regards to its constitutionality) and it’s still being contested in some States, but by and large, Obamacare is now the law of the land. For married couples, particularly couples with children negatively impacted by the ongoing recession, the implications are considerable.  The new law means that health insurance is attainable for all citizens, and that insurance companies can’t turn away folks because of “pre-existing conditions”.  It’s means more people are able to see a doctor and that less people will be forced into bankruptcy simply because they get sick.

Of course, the bill ruffled many feathers, and it’s become serious ammunition for the Republicans looking to unseat the president this December.  They claim that it expands the government’s already bloated role in the lives of the citizenry and business, and that implementing the law will cause the median level of medical service to sink.  That’s not to mention the bill.  Because the full effect of the bill isn’t going to hit until 2014, there’s no telling how much it’s actually going to cost our already stretched coffers, but nobody’s arguing that it isn’t going to be expensive, because, hey… they aren’t giving MRI’s away are they?   But then, since 60% of American bankruptcies are thanks to medical bills, and a huge portion of marriages end because of financial issues, maybe there’s something to be said there too.

There’s people on the left of the political spectrum who think the bill didn’t go far enough, and that truly socialized medical coverage like the rest of the western world would be more appropriate, but they generally applaud the president’s move in what they see is the right direction.

Overall the bill has made the president more popular with women, which almost always makes him less popular with men.  For those married couples who were already covered before Obamacare came to be, this is probably the biggest effect.  Those political arguments around the dinner table can get a little nasty when you suspect your wife has a crush on the commander in chief.

#2. Taxes

Nobody likes em, but they certainly do make the world go ‘round.  During the President’s first term, corporate taxes have remained at an all time low, but he’s made overtures to the public to change the tax equilibrium should he be given another four years.  The game plan he’s presenting to Americans is a politically charged one, but for most married couples, it won’t be a dramatic change on their pocket book.

Obama is proposing a tax hike on the “rich”, but for married couples who make less than 250,000 a year, their taxes should actually decrease, if only slightly.  It’s clear that the president wants to make some political hay over the fact that the rich have been getting richer at an unprecedented rate, but of course that digs up the entire American pathos over achieving your dreams vs. social responsibility and puts him against the sort of people who pay for campaigns, own the media, and ostensibly, create jobs.

So for married couples, how this plan looks depends greatly on what side of a quarter million a year they’re sitting on.  That sort of attitude has the power to dramatically change the American political landscape, but it could just as easily be posturing for the upcoming election.  Time will tell.

Regardless of party affiliation, it isn’t controversial to state that the above Obama policies (and proposed policies) will profoundly impact the United States and will influence politics, social culture and the economy for generations to come.  The Affordable Healthcare Act alone is arguably the greatest expansion of federal power since the agencies and programs implemented during the Great Depression last century. Beneficial or detrimental, it’s a program that will change the politics and policies of the United States; we just don’t know how it will do that yet.  Obama’s policies and goals regarding taxes and healthcare will require much more time in order to fully understand how they impact the country, American couples and families specifically. As we’ve done in the past, Americans will take it in stride and move forward, together.

By March 13th, more than 76 million people had viewed KONY 2012.

Uganda was trending on Twitter at an unprecedented rate and the blogosphere teemed with attacks and defenses of Invisible Children, the San Diego-based nonprofit group that produced the half-hour documentary about the notorious Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. In fact, it is reported, “this is moving at a faster clip than the Susan Boyle video!”

While Tokii may be an internet site for couples, this story about children certainly grabbed our attention as it would for any parent or person. Yes, we’ve read the immediate criticism of the campaign made by media, government and academia ranging from ‘Where were they 15 years ago?” to “Is this really as big and current an issue as it’s made out to be?’ Whatever the company’s validity, you have to be impressed at the ingenious approach and phenomenal marketing strategy demonstrated by Invisible Children’s media savvy. Which begs the question, what’s the bigger story here? Joseph Kony, or the possibilities of social media?

Please check out and carefully consider our new DiscoveryGame KONY2012 and let us know how you feel about the issue.

Our hearts go out to these children and around the office we bought t-shirts & bracelets, but we’re still left with a lot of questions ourselves. Whether it’s 5,000 or 50,000 children that were forced into killing others, enslaved into prostitution, or were raped, these are abhorrent and despicable acts against humanity. The fact that the World Court has Kony as their most wanted criminal speaks to the severity of the crimes and their authenticity.

Just a couple of years ago, George Clooney made an all out effort to have the governments of the world and entities such as the United Nations recognize the massacres in Darfur and to label it as genocide so that UN forces and the USA would step in and stop the atrocity. His was an uphill battle as he tried to engage governments with conflicting agendas and opposite word views. His direct advocacy, tied to a larger international movement, has actually affected real change and the founding of new country.

The Invisible Children team took a very different route. While trying the more typical advocacy, they were met time and time again with the attitude that the situation was unchangeable and encountered perceived apathy at every turn. This story just did not play well in a forum beset with other global priorities. So, they conceived a brilliant plan to go to the people at large to get them engaged. If people amass and press their case in sufficient numbers, in an election year in the US, some politicians may just decide to champion the cause!

The ongoing Arab Spring stretching from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya to Syria, and to a lesser extent the Occupy WallStreet Movement, beautifully demonstrate the power of the internet: the ability to stage protests and organize opposition that can topple what seemed like perpetual dictatorships!

These groups have embraced innovative strategies and exploited the internet to further their causes. Other charities and movements should embrace these visionaries for demonstrating the ability to engage millions of people worldwide in a matter of days! Invisible Children’s foundation may succeed or it may fail in the effort to capture Joseph Kony, but they must serve as an inspiration to us all about how technology and social media can further humanist causes and real democracy!

We at Tokii want to hear your opinions about this endeavor to capture Kony and to share your thoughts regarding past and current atrocities and the role individuals should play in countering them.

Also, we want to know how aligned couples are regarding their beliefs, opinions and the elements of support that they share and how they decide whether to get involved or not.
One of our Tokii members wanted us to explore the issue and we tried to approach it with sensitivity, respect and curiosity. You can read her concerns and our thoughts at AskTokii.

We have created two different DiscoveryGames at Tokii.com that we invite you to play as a couple or solo. Once you complete the games, you’ll be able to compare your answers with the community at large, a great way to continue the discussion on this tough topic. Explore your thoughts with My Global Responsibility DiscoveryGame and then discuss your position on what you both believe in regards to charitable donations by playing My Charity, My Choice DiscoveryGame.

Then make up your own minds, and act accordingly.
Until next time,
Karla,
Tokii Founder

If you enjoyed this article you might also enjoy:
AskTokii – My Charity, My Choice
Kony2012
The Kony 2012

In a day where the average American spends 5 hours per week in front of the television, how much can it hurt if some of the hours this week have been spent learning facts however, outdated, about Joseph Kony? What harm has “Invisible Children” actually caused by their video release? Col. Felix Kulayige, a Ugandan military spokesman said. “If people cared 15 years ago, then thousands of lives would have been saved and thousands of children would have stayed at home and not been kidnapped.” (CNN).

As frustrating as it is, it seems we are always behind. Fifteen years ago the world was only just hearing the stories about the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, years too late.

The KONY2012 video has been accused of oversimplifying the situation in Uganda and other war torn areas of Africa. Of course it does, it’s a commercial, specifically designed to engage the minds of media savvy youth. It was never the intent of “Invisible Children” to put together a documentary. How many people watch documentaries? This video, in only few days, has been seen throughout the world and raised the awareness of the child soldiers and sex slaves beyond any other media method. Education and awareness are always the first step to motivate change. Filmmaker Jason Russell’s nonprofit group, Invisible Children- “It definitely oversimplifies the issue. This video is not the answer; it’s just the gateway into the conversation. And we made it quick and oversimplified on purpose,” he said. “We are proud that it is simple. We like that. And we want you to keep investigating, we want you to read the history.” (Reuters)

The Tumblr blog “Visible Children,” has received much attention for questioning the efforts of Invisible Children, they wrote on Wednesday that those social media tactics aren’t helping. “These problems are highly complex, not one-dimensional and, frankly, aren’t of the nature that can be solved by posturing, film-making and changing your Facebook profile picture, as hard as that is to swallow,” (Washington post). Social media is relatively new. The world has no idea how powerful it will end up being. Who would have thought that the radio would have been such a powerful tool of hope during World War II. Did Mark Zuckerberg imagine when he created Facebook that it would be considered a force of change in Libya in 2011?

There are serious concerns of a post-colonialism mentality and that Western countries believe that only they can solve the problems of Africa. This is valid and in a post-colonial world the countries of Africa do have to learn to solve their own problems. However, when Ethiopia suffered a famine in 1984 and the global community was flooded with horrifying images of starvation, there had to be a response. When the U.S. and other United Nations countries with veto powers refused help in Rwanda in 1994, the response of the world ten years later was outrage. As news of Sudan and Darfur became public a global response was expected and everywhere frustration was felt at the slow speed of action.

How do we know what is the correct way to deal with genocide, children as soldiers and rape of girls and women as a “benefit” for the troops? Is there a response that could be so wrong that it negates the wrong of the perpetrators?  None of us will ever agree with all the ways that our Governments, our charities, even our partners spend money, but it is our free will to research the financial records of an NGO and to decide who we will support.

There are no simple answers to solving the horrors of the world, I just know that I would rather be guilty of sending money to an organization the might get some of it wrong, than sit back years later and ask myself why I did nothing.

Christiane Amanpour of CNN said that Kony is “largely a spent force” however if the video can  “sensitize people, if a good chunk of them were in America, maybe one can educate through the viral nature of the social media.  As you know in America very few people have a daily diet of what’s going on in the world so sensitizing them is a good thing.” (CNN)

Start a dialogue, go to our DiscoveryGames

If you enjoyed this post, you should check out Ask Tokii – My Charity Choices – KONY2012

Tokii’s Discovery Game, Republican Primaries Potluck, asked men and women their opinions about how the Republican candidates are presenting themselves and what they consider to be most important. Overall, women indicated a lukewarm reception to the candidates while men showed stronger opinions.

Tokii’s Findings:

• Half of the men and 40% of the women who participated indicated that a candidate’s performance on a televised debate is important in his/her overall ability to lead a nation.
• Mitt Romney’s business acumen makes him a more appealing candidate in “fixing” America, half the men and 40% of women responded.
• 100% of men and 60% of women view Texas Republican Ron Paul as a radical or maverick when compared to the other candidates within his own party, because of his more liberal views and yet very few respondents see him as being out there on the fringe.
• Responses regarding Newt Gingrich were very polarized as half the men and 40% of the female participants think that Newt Gingrich is on the ropes as he has lost significant ground to Mitt Romney. However another 50% of men & 40% of women believe he still has a chance to regain momentum.
• Most men, 75%, and half the women responded that Rick Santorum’s strong support from the evangelical Christian groups gives him the potential to become the wildcard in the Republican race.

Play Tokii’s Discovery Game, Republican Primaries Potluck to show what you have to say about the republican’s opinions.

If you enjoyed this post, you should check out our other Current Event’s Posts

In case you’ve been avoiding the Internet, TV, radio or even the newspapers (remember those?), the debate over the proposed SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) bill is boiling over. American sites like Wikipedia, WordPress, Redditt and countless others participated in the largest online protest in history, purposely blacking out their own sites in protest yesterday. This now global issue is certain to become one of the grand precedent-setting moments of the Internet’s history. Tokii wanted to know what our Tokii members thought about this polarizing topic, and if the genders happened to see things differently. Tokii launched the Internet Regulation and Stop Online Piracy Act DiscoveryGames, some of Tokii`s most popular yet, and the feedback from our users is still pouring in.

Based on user data from the Internet Regulation DiscoveryGame, Tokii uncovered a number of seemingly contradictory opinions on the matter… A matter that’s as varied and complex as the responses to it. Tokii decided toexpand upon the results on this issue from our users, asking for perspectives from our expert and a professional in the field.

A large portion of Tokii users, male and female alike, agreed with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s quote on the necessity of a free Internet. “These results suggest that both genders passionately embrace the unconditional use of the Internet,” said Alison Sigmon, a licensed professional counselor and author. “The idea of putting restrictions and constraints is distasteful, and when imposed it can actually encourage workarounds that are dubious or even illicit. Most people simply don’t like to be told what they can and can’t do. The same holds true in relationships.”

When asked about the statistic that a large amount of men and women alike feel bad for the victims of online piracy, Sigmon explained “Women and men are more aligned on this result likely because both genders understand the value of commitment and hard work and the subsequent appreciation of that. When someone feel they haven’t been treated unfairly or are not appreciated, they tend to feel angry, hurt, and even betrayed. It’s this understanding that probably contributes to the empathy they feel the effort and expense corporations and individuals expend.”

Andrew Kingston, Managing partner of Kingston Law Partners LLP, works primarily in the internet and technology sectors, and has his own take on SOPA`s difficult task. Kingston said “Online piracy raises hard questions. How do we protect the legitimate rights of content owners without damaging the free flow of ideas and information at the heart of the Internet? Where do we draw the line between the sometimes competing rights of property and free expression?”

Kingston continues, adding: “Any serious attempt to balance two such fundamental rights must be precise, predictable and fair. The proposed SOPA legislation is a poor choice of tools for this task. Where the careful cut of the surgeon’s scalpel is required, SOPA is a sledgehammer.”

A not-insignificant amount of Tokii members see in these new bills an ominous portent of things to come… 43% of men and 25% of women think that America could become as controlled as China in terms of Internet censorship*.

When asked how the bill could impact legitimate online businesses, Tokii CEO and founder Karla Stephens-Tolstoy warned, “While the SOPA issue might arise out of some legitimate US concerns over content piracy, the proposed heavy-handed legislation overtly delivers a broad swipe at the complex issue and establishes the potential danger of over-reaction and ignores the seriously harmful impact on legitimate small businesses.”

Do you have opinions on SOPA, PIPA (PROTECT-IP Act), and other issues related to online piracy and free speech issues? Visit Tokii’s Internet Regulation DiscoveryGame and Stop Online Piracy Act in the Politics and Events Category to let your voice be heard.

We (the Tokii tribe) here at Tokii love going to all the start up community events and getting inspired by all the talent we have here in Canada. We made this video to highlight not only our undeniable support for this community, but also how inspired we are by this recent trend of start ups coming together. Tokii recently attended the Sprout up meet up last month where we met many amazing entrepreneurs and even got a few words of wisdom from the creator of #followfriday. In addition, Tokii travelled to Austin, Texas to attend SxSW where we were awarded “best new start up” by the Maple Leaf Digital Lounge- another great supporter of the start up community. Watch the video to find out what other communities Tokii has been inspired by.

We hope that this video motivates its viewers into also supporting Canadian start ups because lets face it…Canada is a country built on entrepreneurs and where would we be without our hard headed ambition?

Let us know what you think, or share your own inspirational start up moment.

So, Tokii, very spur of the moment decided it would be great idea to try out for the Dragon’s Den. Our charismatic, ever opportunity vigilant CEO, Karla, had spent most of the evening watching episodes and decided, “Hey, why not?” This spur of the moment decision left the team a little stressed out, but we managed to pull it together in eight hours.

We arrived early, energetic and in purple, of course, ready to prove ourselves to the intimidating den of dragons. We pitched our story and waited the agonizing two days it took for them to get back to us. They finally did…and we made it to the show!

After much debate back and forth, we decided as a team that participating on the show wasn’t the best thing for us at this time. We wish everyone who did audition the best of luck! Tokii loves Canadian start-ups and is excited to see them on the new season of Dragon’s Den.

Please let us know what you think. Did we make the right decision?