There was a lot of topics I wanted to write about today but in the end, I feel I really need to come back around to NATO military occupations around the world. They’ve found another supposed Al-Qaeda “treasure trove” of information, failed attacks, evil plans, etc. It reads like a
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Canadian Trends: The great Canadian bank bailout (now in technicolor)
In case you didn’t notice the plenty of black and white evidence showing you our banks are no more sound and stable than our U.S. counterparts then you are in luck. Everyone knows that black and white is ancient and many people can not maintain their attention, so a new report has
Continue readingCanadian Trends: The normalcy of abnormal
After the anger I felt yesterday, I have been thinking. Is it not strange that we equate today’s “wars” with real wars of the past? How has this happened? I champion democracy but not at the hand of an iron fist. What I find even stranger is that at the
Continue readingCanadian Trends: War and Hypocrisy
I have to say I am a little surprised that Harper would throw Hitler and World War II around so carelessly in a political setting to gain political points. I have to wonder what veterans are thinking about such statements. There are plenty of veterans against these “wars”. Afghanistan is not
Continue readingCanadian Trends: The Great Canadian Divide: our road to failure
Canada is divided, perhaps more than the heyday of the Quebec separatist movement. There’s a divide between generations thanks to the budget and there’s a divide between eastern and western Canada and the economic differences and difficulties each is facing. In many ways Canada is itself a mini-Europe; we are
Continue readingCanadian Trends: ‘Ethical Oil’s predecessor died today
Before ‘Ethical Oil’ there was ‘Carbon Capture’. For years CCS technology was the standard response to environmental criticism of oilsands development. Of course it was a flawed public relations strategy as the $2billion price tag tended to steal the spotlight. In a less publicized annoucement today, Alberta’s Pioneer Carbon Capture
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Canada’s fantasy economic outlook is at odds with reality
I still haven’t had an opportunity to return to my budget analysis, it’s been a busy few weeks with the Alberta election and the ever-changing economic news and I just really haven’t had time to get to it. However, the most important part was Part 3 which covered what I determined
Continue readingCanadian Trends: This response is important enough to be it’s own post
I’ve recently become a member of Progressive Bloggers. I’ve been reading many new fascinating blogs, but this one post in particular deserves a direct response. What are people supposed to do? It’s an important question. I would phrase it this way though: what are people free to do? The problems
Continue readingCanadian Trends: In the global race to the bottom it’s impossible to tax the top
You would think Ontario would have learned it’s lesson by now. The rules of economic activity in the era of globalization changed everything and created the race to the bottom, and now peak oil combined with globalization has created the race to the most cost efficient bottom and Ontario doesn’t get it.
Continue readingCanadian Trends: ARM and the return of the hardware hacker
Technology innovation has in a sense returned to the good old days where hardware and software had far less of a division between them. When Apple and Microsoft initially launched it was a huge gamble on Bill Gates’ part to believe software had value in itself, and even then initially
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Some final pre-result thoughts on the Alberta Election
It looks like the Wildrose Alliance is poised for a majority win, although I must plead with you Alberta that a minority is probably the best form of government to face the uncertainty of the future to prevent ideological rule and allow serious discussion on policy. The last thing Alberta
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Quebec student protests and the big picture
Ten weeks in and the protests in Quebec are showing no sign they will diminish anytime soon. The common take that I have been reading is that the students are being completely unreasonable. Quebec afterall does have the lowest tuition in the country and even then compared to other countries
Continue readingCanadian Trends: You’re welcome to your conscience, but keep it out of my rights
I’m about to do something I hoped I wouldn’t have to: weigh in on Alberta’s election morality battleground. I have been reluctant to do so and have been quietly biting my toungue as the arguments go back and forth. The past few weeks of revelations on Wildrose personal opinion have
Continue readingHellberta: The past year has been fun but…
I’m retiring this Hellberta blog. I am refocusing completely on global trends which will be blogged on my new blog: Canadian Trends. Hope to see you there.
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Supply when demanded: Why the free market can’t address peak oil
A friend of mine has to close their business. It’s a fresh business that was founded during the stimulus boom. It’s a green business, which took advantage of the government’s stimulus measures aimed at green conversions for homes. It’s a business which is now no longer profitable since these measures
Continue readingCanadian Trends: #abdb8 barely touched what may be Alberta’s most important issue
I’m pretty disappointed. For a province that relies on energy for revenue: I heard a lot about surpluses and very little about revenue. I heard even less about the elevated cost of living that revenue depends on. There is clearly a lack of understanding on what the problem Alberta is
Continue readingCanadian Trends: My #abvote questions
I am having a really tough time this election deciding which of my MLAs to vote for. So to help me make my decision I am putting these questions out there: When it comes to party politics & ideology I tend not to care; what’s most important for me is
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Flaherty, you’re not making any sense
So this article here just came to my attention. I have written a few different articles about debt and our housing market lately. On March 21st I published “Canada and the fine line between reality and lies“. On the 29th I published “All that matters is the math – but
Continue readingCanadian Trends: The Canadian Housing Conundrum
Canadians are now out of wiggle room. The Canadian economy is now literally at war with itself. Canadian authorities are stepping up oversight of the nation’s housing market even as lenders such as Bank of Nova Scotia warn that tougher rules could threaten the economic recovery. So we’re afraid the
Continue readingCanadian Trends: #Budget2012 Analysis – Part 4 – Supporting Jobs and Growth – Supporting Entrepreneurs, Innovators and World-Class Research
We’ll now cover section 3.1 of the budget. The highlights are as follows: Creating Value-Added Jobs Through Innovation $400 million to help increase private sector investments in early-stage risk capital, and to support the creation of large-scale venture capital funds led by the private sector. $100 million to the Business Development Bank of Canada
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