What does “extending habitability” mean? It explains “sustainability”. I prefer to sometimes call it “survivability”, because without the delicate balance our ecosystem and societies are teetering on, there’s no possible way seven billion people will survive even a short term major disruption. Our environment has one shot to work in
Continue readingTag: Economics
Politics, Re-Spun: How To Resolve The Transit Fare Evasion Problem
Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom is bringing in new legislation to crack down on fare evaders, allowing collection agencies to go after people who don’t buy tickets. If Lekstrom really wants to deal with fare evasion, then he needs to realize why people don’t pay the transit fares. If people can’t afford to buy a transit
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Debt Free – How to Get That Debt Monkey Off Your Back
So, I’ve spent the better part of a year and a half I’ve been doing my best to learn a skill that was never taught to me, and that I never really encountered out there in the big wide world until I turned 23: budgeting. When I finally was introduced
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: More Worker Bashing in BC, with Squishy Numbers
Below is a recent tweet from a new worker/NDP/union attack Twitter i.d. talking about how awful unionized workers are. Read it, then let’s de-spin it for sanity: Average salary in BC $44k, average teacher salary $70k bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/ #Underpaid #Overworked #Lies #BCPoli #BCNDP #BCTF via Twitter / @NotBCNDP: Average salary in
Continue readingearthgauge: Global greenhouse gas emissions linked to economic growth
“A new study from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research suggests that a transformation of the world’s economies or a limit to economic growth may be needed to curb the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.” This comes from a recent article about the fundamental incompatibility of an
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Crowdfunding and Politics – Innovation Delayed is Innovation Denied
The super cool, and crowdfuned, Pebble watch! So, I’ve started spending a fair amount of my spare time reading, learning and investigating a variety of different areas of social innovation and social enterprise. Not surprisingly, to some of you at least, entrepreneurship interests me from a personal and a professional stand point…at
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: No Reply from SaskPower
SaskPower’s VP May failed to respond to my followup points, so I’ve included her entire initial reply at my earlier post. I wrote a letter months ago to ask why solar power information on the SaskPower website is out of date and now wrong. The response was underwhelming. The webpages
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Canada’s message: "We’re all right Jack!"
Expectation of economic recovery in Europe is replaced now by talk of double dip recession — even depression. Nevertheless, Canada is lecturing nations there to institute the policies of economic neoliberalism favoured by Stephen Harper. Chris Williamson of financial information services company Markit commented: “Austerity in deficit-fighting countries is having an
Continue readingbastard.logic: Breaking it Down: Industrial Capitalism vs. Financial Capitalism (or, Why We’re F*cked)
Michael Hudson asks: “In light of the enormous productivity gains since the end of World War II – and especially since 1980 – why isn’t everyone rich and enjoying the leisure economy that was promised?” The answer (per Hudson) is painfully obvious, but bears repeating (ad infinitum): What was applauded
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Montreal Calling: On the “Quebec Spring” & its Enemies
Carrément dans le rouge. Just a quick memo to Canada’s vocal, reactionary minority (with vast over-representation on online forums and comments sections): the students in Quebec do not care that you think they are: “spoiled brats,” “crazy,” “anarchists,” “communists,” and/or “French” (?!). Your moaning and complaining is absolutely and utterly
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: F-35 Scandal – 40,000 Feet Above the Average Canadian
“Roger that control, commencing scandal bomb drop…” So, I was having a discussion/argument last night with some friends about the 24 hour news cycle and the 15 second soundbite information age we live in. During this chat the issue of the F-35 scandal came up, and only 2/3 of us knew what
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Austerity and recession, invariably linked
UK is back in recession, OECD says, Phillip Inman, The Guardian, March 29, 2012 “The UK is heading back into recession and will be among the slowest of the world’s largest economies to recover in the first half of this year, according to a study by the Paris-based thinktank, the
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Deconstructing the Wildrose Effect
So what happened in Alberta’s election yesterday, other than people telling pollsters that they want change, then chickening out when it came time to mark an X. The Politics, Re-spun crew deconstructs the Wildrose effect here: Are you surprised that the Wildrose Party did not win? No. Discontent polls well,
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Boycott the National Headshot League (#NHL)
Before I get into my increasingly radical antipathy towards the NHL and NHLPA and their callous disregard for brain injury risks, I’d like you to spend a few moments watching this gratuitous display of intent to injure at a bantam hockey game in Kelowna last month involving teenagers. It will
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Premier Photo Op: Your rich friends mislead
Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators, Nick Hanauer, Bloomberg Businessweek “I’m a very rich person. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I’ve started or helped get off the ground dozens of companies in industries including manufacturing, retail, medical services, the Internet and software. I founded the Internet
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Down this road, no taxes for business
While getting refunds of every cent they pay, business people enthusiastically support you and I paying HST. They aim to relieve themselves of income taxes too. While working people, even those on the brink of poverty, pay income tax, large corporations arrange business affairs to avoid or evade taxation of
Continue readingbastard.logic: Dueling Ledes (Compare & Contrast)
TorStar, March 20th: Schools, hospitals and popular burger restaurants such as Hero’s and Lick’s are part of a suddenly massive beef recall over fears of E. coli contamination. The G&M, today: Veterinarians and other inspectors responsible for food recalls and ensuring the safety of Canadian meat are among the hundreds
Continue readingmark a rayner | scribblings, squibs & sundry monkey joys: Economics 101
My economics professor told the following joke in class, so you know some of them have a sense of humor and understand theirs is a dismal science: A physicist, a chemist and an economist are stranded on an island, with … Continue reading →
Continue readingNorthern Insight: Fraud is a lie writ large
Finance expert says speculators are behind high oil and gasoline prices, David Lightman | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — Financial speculators are gambling on oil the same way they gambled on the housing market a few years ago — a frightening prospect for the fragile economy, a Democratic congressional committee was
Continue readingPaulitical Satire: Canada 2012 Federal Budget – The Top 3 Sexiest, Most Angering Things in a Boring Document
So, many MANY people checked out my recent post on my initial reaction to the Canadian Federal budget, and the unfair and unwarranted cut to a treasured program: Katimavik. Having spent this past weekend with my good friend over at www.richardallen.ca I’m even sadder, as it seems that the shutdown will be undertaken
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