Kudos to Portland Oregon's 'Wall of Moms' protecting protesters

Read the story on CBC News

China's money shouts and Apple cowers

Shame on Tim Cook and Apple

Read the story in the Guardian HERE

Shame on J.V. Car Wash and Gold King Mine, and taxing empty condos

 

New York area car wash workers get more than $91,000 each in unpaid wages - Reuters

Congrats to the 18 workers who persisted in their fight for justice for the past five years... And shame on the owners of J.V. Car Wash Ltd. who tried to shaft their employees.

New Mexico sues Colorado over 2015 mine waste spill - CTV News

The Animas River continues to bleed from the acidic crap that the Gold King Mine continues to dump into its, previously, pristine water. The only people likely to come out ahead from this court action are the lawyers on both side.

 

"Empty Home tax coming to Vancouver" - CBC News

Wow! This tax is way overdue as foreign investors - much of their money coming from illegal activities - have been 'parking' their ill-gotten gains in Vancouver, Toronto, London, Spain and other western countries for safety. These investors are buying blocks of condo and single family homes and leaving them empty - sometimes waiting until they can flip them for a profit and sometimes moving in their relatives.

Consequently, young families either can't find housing or can't afford the prices once they find something suitable for raising their kids.

What's the long-term solution? That's easy... You must live in the home you own... or, you must apply to the city in order to purchase property intended for rental. And all landlords must be licensed.

Potash Corp. and other companies need to respect human rights

The Canadian company Potash Corp. and other companies throughout the world must abide by the United Nations Guiding Principals on Business and Human Rights

Read the story on PressReader

Are all American cops racist bullies?

"No one who is even passingly familiar with the history of the Chicago Police Department can claim to be surprised by a new report showing that the department is plagued by systemic racism and operates with utter disregard for the lives of the black citizens whom it batters, maims and kills.

Nevertheless, this report, issued on Wednesday by a task force appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, lays out with extraordinary clarity the department’s long record of racial profiling, torture and killings and makes scores of recommendations that might offer Chicagoans some hope."

Read the story in the New York Times

Street activist Joshua Wong, 19, starts his own political party

"Joshua Wong, 19, is the most successful street activist in Hong Kong.

His televised arrest in September 2014 helped spark pro-democracy protests that would continue for 79 days, paralysing the heart of the city.

But they ultimately failed to win any concessions from the Chinese government on greater voting rights for the territory's residents.

Mindful of that failure, Mr Wong is stepping into an unfamiliar role: general secretary of a new political party called Demosisto.

"Street activism is not enough if we want to fight for a better future," he tells me. "We have to enter the system, create a political party and shape the political agenda, in order to drive forward our movement for self-determination."

Read Joshua Wong's inspiring story on BBC News

Do politicians lie reqularly? Check out these Truth - o - Meters

Do you, as I do, think that politicans lie regularly? Well, I just discovered to non-partisan websites that actually check the truthfulness of politician's 'facts and figures'

You can find the American PolitiFact

And here is the Canadian FactCan which was founded by Jacob Schroeder and University of Toronto alumni Wagner and Tyler Sommers

Is health care a Human Right or individual responsibility?

"One of the United Nations’ founding conventions, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states there’s a right to medical care, as does the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – the latter pushes member nations to help citizens reach the “highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”.... says Prof. Lisa Forman, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

What do you think?

Check out th article in the University of Toronto Alumni Magazine

Gore Vidal's view of the War on Terror

Right again....thank you Mr. Vidal

"Divided, we stand to lose so much"

Naheed Nehshi (that's him, as a child, playing in the snow) said, in part...

"All at once, I knew something to be true above all else. Regardless of what these ids had been through, of how little they have or had, of what wrath some vengeful god had visited on them and their families, they'd had the extraordinary good fortune.... they ended up in a community that wants them to succeed, that has a stake in them - that cares about them, and will make sure they don't fail."

Read the whole insightful, wise, and well-written column in the Globe and Mail

Holacracy - should your business place work like this?

Found this interesting article in The Atlantic about Holacracy..... a system of workplace organisation that abolishes managers, job titles and relies on 'self-governance.'.... cool!

"Holacracy is a new way of running an organization that removes power from a management hierarchy and distributes it across clear roles, which can then be executed autonomously, without a micromanaging boss. The work is actually more structured than in a conventional company, just differently so. 

With Holacracy, there is a clear set of rules and processes for how a team breaks up its work, and defines its roles with clear responsibilities and expectations."... their website

Is MONEY a conspiratorial scam?

"Consolidating the best presentations that help to explain the greatest confidence game on earth - MONEY!".... Cliff

If you are interesting in hearing a financial expert's view of the global economy and the players - especially the U.S. Treasury Board - then check out Cliff's WEBSITE.

California's strict pollution rules have decreased cancer

"The Air Resources Board reported that Californians' cancer risk from toxic air pollution has declined 76% over more than two decades, a trend the agency attributes to the state's array of regulations targeting everything from diesel trucks to dry cleaners.

State scientists measured the drop from 1990 to 2012 by tracking airborne concentrations of the seven toxic air contaminants that are most responsible for increasing cancer risks. They include the particulate matter in diesel exhaust, benzene from gasoline, perchloroethylene emitted by dry cleaners and hexavalent chromium from chrome plating operations."

Read this good-news story on the Los Angeles Times

Can a teen's low heart rate predict their criminal future?

A team led by Antti Latvala of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the University of Helsinki in Finland found....

"A slow heart rate may increase risk-taking, either because the teens seek stimulating experiences or fail to detect danger as much as their peers with normal heart rates."

Read the story in the Globe and Mail 

Welcome all the refugees!

Ok... I admit that I don't understand -what's the big deal! Why are we - and I mean First World nations - preventing these folks from coming here?

We were all immigrants and many of us, or our parents, were refugees. Irish escaping the potato famine, Italians escaping joblessness, Africans escaping slavery, draft dodgers and deserters escaping the military, Catholics escaping Protestants, Protestants escaping Catholics. Even so-called Aboriginals were immigrants waaaay back.

If we countries have billions to spend on tanks and missiles and war ships we certainly have more than enough money to accommodate new folks. So Canada, Germany, America, England etc.... do the right thing Dude! and Dude-esses

Forest Whitaker speaks out on behalf of child soldiers and gang members

"Oscar-winning actor and UN goodwill ambassador Forest Whitaker urged world lawmakers on Monday to speak out to help former child soldiers in Uganda, South Sudan and Myanmar, gang members in Mexico and the United States, and orphans in Syria and other countries.

He said many young people around the world feel marginalized because nobody listens to them and believe their only recourse is violence and extremism."

"You have to help these people find their way so they can stand strong. You have to demonstrate that everyone matters, and that every person in a democracy has power and efficacy. You have to convince them to hope again," said Mr. Whitaker

Read the story on CTV News

Who needs basketball?

Why is it that those in power think that playing basketball is just what black and brown people need? Why? Because it is easier to build a basketball court then provide quality education, access to jobs, and a safe environment free of gangs, drugs, and homicidal cops.

Munira Abukar, community organizer in one of Toronto's ghettos says basketball serves a greater purpose than pure leisure. “There’s actually a real psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical benefit of playing basketball together with your friends. It saves a lot of young lives,” she says.

 What self-serving nonsense!

Play by the rules or play by yourself

Good for the team of 'superheroes' called THE SUPERCIVICOS. Members Arturo Hernandez and partner Alex Marin y Kall are using comedy to try to get the message across to their fellow Mexicans that everybody needs to follow the rules if they are to survive as a society.

"We're bringing the message to the people that everybody can make a little change to create a better place to live," Mr. Hernandez says.

"Little by little everybody's taking small actions and I think it's working. It's a small effort but it's the best proof that two people can change things."

300 years ago Jean-Jacques Rousseau ("The Social Contract") told us that we give up our freedom to do anything we wish when we choose living in society over living alone in some cabin in the woods.

Read the story on BBC News

German couple stands up to neo-Nazis

"Artists Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer live in Jamel, near Rostock - a village that has become a neo-Nazi meeting place.

No-one was hurt in the fire. Chemical evidence of arson was found after the big 150-year-old barn was gutted on Wednesday night.

The couple had earlier reported harassment by neo-Nazis."

.... Read the story on BBC News

Survey says..."we hate banks" - what a surprise!

Check out this article in the Toronto Star that says we, the public, are 'less satisfied' this year with Big Banks because of higher fees and decreased services.

We were a little less 'dissatisfied' with alternatives to Big Banks - eg. Tangerine, Laurentian, National Bank of Canada but not much. I'm sure that surveys in America found a similar level of dissatisfaction.

Here's an idea... why not pull our  money completely out of our Big Bank and give our business to a credit union. I highly recommend them. Low fees, friendly staff, member owned, lots of products. Here's a list of all the credit unions in Canada and the US

Or better yet, start our own credit union - it's relatively easy - here is a How To Guide