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Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Saturday 4 October 2014
Friday 19 September 2014
Friday 7 February 2014
Friday 13 December 2013
Wednesday 20 November 2013
Distrust of government
Ever wonder how much distrust people have of their government? Now, you know. I found quite a few surprises. The survey was conducted by a legitimate research firm...trust me.
Source
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Source
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Sunday 10 November 2013
Monday 10 October 2011
Capitalism gone mad!
At the little supermarket across the road, they sometimes feature cases of 24, 30 or 32 bottles of water for $2.49 or $2.99. A good price if one ignores the fact that it is only water, and that you can scoop up the stuff from just about anywhere you see the 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons (326 million trillion gallons) of the stuff (roughly 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 litres). These particular bottles are 500 ml. (half a litre). For the many unwashed reading this, you can think of it as about half a quart.
That works out to less than .10 a bottle. Let's assume for purposes of this discussion that it is a fair price. Or, if you like we can double that price and go with .20 a bottle. Now, I am a frequent visitor to a certain sports venue, and I happen to know that this same size bottle is sold there for...hold your breath...$3. Outrageous! Surely, as a business, they can purchase in bulk for less than the everyday price the public pays at grocery stores.
Even assuming .20 for their cost, that means that they are realizing a profit of over 93%. If car dealers were jacking up prices as much, that $30,000 car you have your eye on might have a sticker price that reads $500,000.
Now, for the piece de resistance. My sister, recently returned from a pleasant adventure to Niagara Falls, where she visited a popular tourist trap, told me that a bottle of water was going for $5. That's right, folks. That same little bottle that might not be enough to satisfy your thirst on a hot summer's day, that is worth about .20, is sold for $5. Buy for twenty cents...sell for five dollars. Nice gig if you can get it. Or should I say "sham"?
Why do our governments allow this gouging? I'll tell you why. Government is no longer in the business of protecting or serving the people. They have switched sides and now are in cahoots with the elite, powerful and wealthy. Anything it does that remotely appears to benefit ordinary people is nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the true nature of its workings.
The time has come for us to take back our power. And the robber barons wonder what all the fuss is about on Wall Street and anywhere else they operate. Join one of the many protests and demand an end to the ever-growing gap between rich and poor.
Click here to go to most recent posts.
That works out to less than .10 a bottle. Let's assume for purposes of this discussion that it is a fair price. Or, if you like we can double that price and go with .20 a bottle. Now, I am a frequent visitor to a certain sports venue, and I happen to know that this same size bottle is sold there for...hold your breath...$3. Outrageous! Surely, as a business, they can purchase in bulk for less than the everyday price the public pays at grocery stores.
Even assuming .20 for their cost, that means that they are realizing a profit of over 93%. If car dealers were jacking up prices as much, that $30,000 car you have your eye on might have a sticker price that reads $500,000.
Now, for the piece de resistance. My sister, recently returned from a pleasant adventure to Niagara Falls, where she visited a popular tourist trap, told me that a bottle of water was going for $5. That's right, folks. That same little bottle that might not be enough to satisfy your thirst on a hot summer's day, that is worth about .20, is sold for $5. Buy for twenty cents...sell for five dollars. Nice gig if you can get it. Or should I say "sham"?
Why do our governments allow this gouging? I'll tell you why. Government is no longer in the business of protecting or serving the people. They have switched sides and now are in cahoots with the elite, powerful and wealthy. Anything it does that remotely appears to benefit ordinary people is nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the true nature of its workings.
The time has come for us to take back our power. And the robber barons wonder what all the fuss is about on Wall Street and anywhere else they operate. Join one of the many protests and demand an end to the ever-growing gap between rich and poor.
Click here to go to most recent posts.
Tuesday 23 August 2011
Ripped from the headlines
Canadian military developing stealth snowmobile
I kid you not. I'm including a link to the story at the bottom of this posting.
Updated: Sun Aug. 21 2011 11:20:02 AM
The Canadian Press
The Department of National Defence plans to develop a new stealth snowmobile for covert military operations in Canada's Arctic, with $550,000 set aside to build a prototype.The Canadian Press
Apparently, this is the Canadian government's idea of "beefing up" military might in the Arctic.
Since coming to power, the Conservatives have gradually increased the Canadian Forces' presence in the resource-rich Arctic. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made annual trips to the region, where he's appeared in carefully orchestrated photo-ops on ice floes as jets screamed overhead.
A government spokeswoman could not immediately provide information as to why the military would need snowmobiles for clandestine operations.
I did a little research on this subject and I found that one prototype has already been built and delivered to the Canadian government for trial. Despite the project's top secret status, a leak has posted this single image of the vehicle on the web.
Full Story
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Thursday 8 April 2010
KFC set to unleash bunless Double Down sandwich on America
First there was the Double Big Mac. Then came the Baconator. Now KFC is triumphantly laying claim to the World's meatiest and - in our opinion - most nutritionally-challenged sandwich. Their recipe? Two strips of bacon, two slices of cheese and a healthy dollop of the Colonel's Sauce all sandwiched between (insert drum roll please) two thick and juicy filets of deep-fried chicken. That's right, this sandwich is so serious it doesn't need a bun.
The whole story.
How long before the U.S. government starts spying on KFC patrons so as to disqualify them from health insurance?
Click here to go to most recent posts.
The whole story.
How long before the U.S. government starts spying on KFC patrons so as to disqualify them from health insurance?
Click here to go to most recent posts.
Sunday 15 March 2009
The world has gone mad
Insurance giant AIG reported the largest corporate loss in history in the fourth quarter--a whopping $61.7 billion! You'd think that would be enough for them to slash salaries across the board, right? Wrong. They are handing out $165 million in bonuses mostly to members of the group responsible for the massive losses stemming from risky credit default swaps. Doh!
The kicker is that AIG was given $170 billion (yes, with a "b") in bailout money to help keep it afloat. These executives keep singing the same, tired song. We need to give bonuses so that we can retain the best talent. Duh! If you had any talent on board at all, you wouldn't be in this mess.
Here's a radical idea: Fire all those responsible for the current mess you find yourselves in and hire three truly talented individuals for every four dead wood you fire and pay each of the new hires 25% more. Here's another insane idea: Pay according to performance. What, common sense is not a pre-req to getting an MBA?
The kicker is that AIG was given $170 billion (yes, with a "b") in bailout money to help keep it afloat. These executives keep singing the same, tired song. We need to give bonuses so that we can retain the best talent. Duh! If you had any talent on board at all, you wouldn't be in this mess.
Here's a radical idea: Fire all those responsible for the current mess you find yourselves in and hire three truly talented individuals for every four dead wood you fire and pay each of the new hires 25% more. Here's another insane idea: Pay according to performance. What, common sense is not a pre-req to getting an MBA?
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Moooo!
In following one news item, yesterday, I came across another that described Canada's Speech From the Throne from just over a month ago. For those unfamiliar with the term, there is no throne involved and it sometimes barely qualifies as a speech at all. Like most things in government and law, it's steeped in tradition, much of it silly in this day and age...like men wearing blonde, braided, powder wigs in courtrooms.
The speech is used to outline what the government of the day intends to do in the near future. This one was fairly brief considering the economic climate here at home and around the world. But it did mention that they would put stimulus money into various programs to kick start the economy. I briefly surveyed them and found a couple of interesting ones, one of which I'll share.
For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with Newfoundland, it would help if I described it a bit before explaining the funding that is to soon take place. Newfoundland is one of the most impoverished areas of Canada. It was bad enough even before all the codfish were taken from the Atlantic, which was one of its main occupations, so you can imagine what it's been like since.
So, to help out our poor brethren on The Rock, what do you suppose the federal government of Canada has committed to do? Build a state of the art research centre? Relocate a government ministry to St. John's, Newfoundland? Perhaps, commit money for retraining of unemployed fishermen? Actually, the feds say they will make available about $200,000 so that peat moss can be developed into an alternate bedding material for dairy cows. Go ahead--read the previous sentence again, but I guarantee it won't sound any less bizarre. Maybe the thinking is that if those big, fat dairy cows can sleep more comfortably, they might be persuaded to produce cappuccino or other exotic drinks more lucrative than plain milk. I'm all for making animals comfortable, but how, exactly, will this stimulate the local economy?
Test cow with peat moss bed:
The speech is used to outline what the government of the day intends to do in the near future. This one was fairly brief considering the economic climate here at home and around the world. But it did mention that they would put stimulus money into various programs to kick start the economy. I briefly surveyed them and found a couple of interesting ones, one of which I'll share.
For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with Newfoundland, it would help if I described it a bit before explaining the funding that is to soon take place. Newfoundland is one of the most impoverished areas of Canada. It was bad enough even before all the codfish were taken from the Atlantic, which was one of its main occupations, so you can imagine what it's been like since.
So, to help out our poor brethren on The Rock, what do you suppose the federal government of Canada has committed to do? Build a state of the art research centre? Relocate a government ministry to St. John's, Newfoundland? Perhaps, commit money for retraining of unemployed fishermen? Actually, the feds say they will make available about $200,000 so that peat moss can be developed into an alternate bedding material for dairy cows. Go ahead--read the previous sentence again, but I guarantee it won't sound any less bizarre. Maybe the thinking is that if those big, fat dairy cows can sleep more comfortably, they might be persuaded to produce cappuccino or other exotic drinks more lucrative than plain milk. I'm all for making animals comfortable, but how, exactly, will this stimulate the local economy?
Test cow with peat moss bed:
Tuesday 25 November 2008
Ripped from the headlines
The Canadian Press
N.S. lobstermen told to stay clear of area near sunken, diesel-laden barge
HALIFAX, N.S. — On the first day of the fall season for Atlantic Canada's biggest and most lucrative lobster fishery, federal officials warned Nova Scotia lobstermen to stay away from an area where a dredging barge carrying 70,000 litres of diesel sank in rough seas on the weekend.
An emergency response team confirmed Monday that surveillance flights spotted a long, narrow slick of some kind of oily substance about 15 metres wide and about 1,600 metres long.
Reporters aboard several news helicopters as well as small crafts that have made their way to the scene confirmed that the government's warning to lobstermen is being heeded as none of the creatures have been spotted near the wreck thus far.
File photo of lobsterman.
News item
Friday 31 October 2008
My government working for and with me
Today, I received a flyer describing options for developing public transit along a major route linking my community, which is part of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) with another part adjacent to mine. The combined population is well over one million residents. It is a well-designed, three-page, glossy, full-colour pamphlet detailing options, pros and cons of options and outlines a plan of major milestones. One section is a chart indicating where and when community workshops are being held to allow input from and discussion between the public and project planners. I was very impressed with the entire content of this communication from my elected officials, especially the fact that they decided to include me in the process of shaping my community. There's only one little glitch in the whole thing: THE MEETING FOR MY AREA HAPPENED TWO DAYS AGO! In fact, two of the five scheduled meetings for different areas have already taken place! And unless I was the last one to receive my invitation, the third meeting will have taken place before some people are notified.
If the same kind of planning and execution goes into the rest of the project, it should be an overwhelming success. NOT!
I just sent a modified version of the above to my rep for Brampton. I, of course, am not holding my breath waiting for a response.
If the same kind of planning and execution goes into the rest of the project, it should be an overwhelming success. NOT!
I just sent a modified version of the above to my rep for Brampton. I, of course, am not holding my breath waiting for a response.
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