47 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. Looks like container cars. A couple of years ago, I watched two empty elevator annexes (corrugated steel) get blown off their foundations. That’s where I saw the power of wind!
    Sad part of having wind turbines is that in strong winds like today, they lock them down. Total waste!!

  2. Oops–sorry!! John is the guy who phoned and told me the story about the wind turbines that go out of control in places like Cowley Ridge, where the wind blows like this a lot. Sorry John, it’s been a long day eh!!
    I was out installing netting in flower beds that get infested by cat shit. In the winds we had today, it was tough on the old man!

  3. “Looks like container cars.” If you look close that is exactly what they are, and I suspect that they are empty if the train was headed west for more Chinese junk. It appears that the wind was too strong for even a slow-down policy if container trains encounter heavy winds.
    Back to regular programming. People should be going to jail for this, but they are Liberals so will get away with it.
    75,000 manufacturing jobs lost — that’s the price of Ontario’s electricity disaster
    http://business.financialpost.com/opinion/75000-manufacturing-jobs-lost-thats-the-price-of-ontarios-electricity-disaster

  4. That was my comment. Sorry, I was talking to John on the phone when I posted that, and I had just hung up. He was talking about wind turbines that spin out of control on days like today, thus they have to lock them down. I hope he forgives me for posting his name!!
    I read you loud and clear on the Chinese products. It’s a total waste of our potential economic energy. And no doubt that electrical prices are driving manufacturers to China. Here’s but one example.
    https://youtu.be/nQV-UhzytiQ

  5. 75,000 manufacturing jobs lost — that’s the price of Ontario’s electricity disaster
    Collateral damage in the defence of Mommy Gaia. Sacrifices must be made!
    (sarcasm = off)
    As for that train, that foreign stuff is necessary. After all, the revenue generated from making it allows all those carpetbaggers from you-know-where to live comfortably in Lotusland.

  6. Re: Sarcasm-Off
    Too funny. This is the Merriam-Webster online definition of ”sarcasm.”
    ”What is the Origin of sarcasm?
    If you’ve ever been hurt by a remark full of cutting sarcasm, you have some insight into the origins of the word. “Sarcasm” can be traced back to the Greek verb sarkazein, which initially meant “to tear flesh like a dog.” “Sarkazein” eventually developed extended senses of “to bite one’s lips in rage,” “to gnash one’s teeth,” and eventually “to sneer.” “Sarkazein” led to the Greek noun sarkasmos, (“a sneering or hurtful remark”), iterations of which passed through French and Late Latin before arriving in English as “sarcasm” in the mid-16th century. Even today sarcasm is often described as sharp, cutting, or wounding, reminiscent of the original meaning of the Greek verb.” (End of Quote.)

  9. That high wind system swept through Calgary this afternoon — took down some power lines and had me repeatedly securing tarps on my back deck furniture.

  10. Lessee, the polls predicted Smith by 17%, Smith by 11%, Nenshi by 17% and Nenshi by 15%.
    Nenshi won by less than 7%.
    None of the polls were even close. Why do we bother to pay attention?
    http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/10/17/mainstreet-acknowledges-catastrophic-failure-in-projections-for-calgary-mayoral-race
    Without the early, inaccurate polls, Nenshi’s support wouldn’t have turned out in huge numbers and he could easily have lost. You could argue that bad polls cost Smith the election — inadvertant or otherwise.

  14. Holy smoke. Was talking to my sister yesterday. They are building and living in a trailer west of Calgary at the moment. She said the wind was scary. I assured her the trailer would be safe but maybe she should head into the barn for a bit.

  15. Flight of the Trudeaupian Unicorn: Crash.
    …-
    “Boeing’s Attack on Bombardier Backfires” (blooomberg)
    …-
    “Bombardier Gives Up Jetliner Ambitions for Luxury Planes, Trains”
    “By relinquishing control of its C Series jets to longtime rival Airbus SE, Bombardier Inc. is scaling back its ambitions to build jetliners for the world’s airlines.”
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-17/senator-says-deal-is-reached-on-package-of-fixes-for-obamacare

  16. The Fall of Quebec: Liberal Trudeau’s 2017 debacle.
    “That is now painfully clear as Canada’s national aerospace champion hands the C Series controls to Airbus for not even so much as a symbolic $1.”
    …-
    “Bombardier’s surrender of C Series an act of desperation”
    “During this nearly two-decade-long saga, the odds were always stacked against Bombardier. Its decision to try to take on Airbus and Boeing on their own turf – the 100-plus seat jet category – always contained an element of sheer recklessness. Betting the house on a product that sought to eat into the market share of its rich and ruthless rivals was not the kind of provocation Bombardier could ever afford to make on its own. That is now painfully clear as Canada’s national aerospace champion hands the C Series controls to Airbus for not even so much as a symbolic $1.
    Quebeckers worry about future of Bombardier jobs”
    https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/c-series-saga-from-a-dubious-start-to-a-desperate-ending/article36630722/

  17. Bill Morneau owns over $40 million of Morneau Shepell. These shares are owned indirectly through a private, Alberta registered, corporation (CCPC). Alberta is the only province that does not charge provincial tax.
    Morneau’s Alberta company is 2/3 owned by a private, Ontario registered, numbered company, which Morneau owns 100% of. The other 1/3 is owned by Morneau directly.
    In the past the Alberta-based company has paid Morneau’s wife money for services rendered to the corporation.
    Morneau believes (and the government has agreed) that because he does not own shares directly, as he owns them through private numbered corporations, he is therefore not required to register his shares in a blind trust.
    As one business analyst put it … “if this does not violate government guidelines then nothing does”.
    I’m not sure what is worse, that our own Finance Minister is using some obvious tax loopholes while threatening to close others or the fact that no one seems to care.

  21. Wow, that is sad news indeed, although long expected. Amongst many incredible Canadian rock bands, they had become one of my favorites. My thoughts go out to family, friends and his band-mates.
    We survived the wind with only the loss of a few great old trees. I hope everyone in the path of this windstorm made it through safely with no more of a loss to mourn than a few trees.

  22. Rifkin’s been around for some 40 years and you name it, he’s been against it. I first heard about him when he started griping about biotech in the late 1970s.
    Unfortunately, with Prince Rainbow Unicorn and his gang in Ottawas, Rifkin has a ready audience who’ll hail him as a genius.

  23. Bill Morneau defends his desire to eliminate tax loopholes to small business by claiming his changes don’t affect the vast majority of small businesses (then why make the changes).
    For example, Morneau claims that less than 3% of CCPCs (private corporations) own more than 80% of all passive asset investments in Canada. Passive investments within a CCPC are not taxed until the assets are removed from the company.
    But if this was the reason Morneau wanted changes to the tax code he could have limited passive investments to say $1,000,000 lifetime.
    Currently there are limits on CCPC capital to $15 million. At $10 million there begins a clawback of the small business tax deduction and it ends at $15 million (you can no longer claim the low tax rate offered to “small Business”). Morneau could have reduced this number to $5 million, for example.
    What Morneau is really interested in is increasing tax payable by the peons who are lowering their tax payable by income sprinkling but who are not rich. Of the 1.8 million CCPC over 1.7 million fall into this category. Morneau admits that only about 22,000 CCPCs have substantial passive investments.
    Today Morneau announced that existing passive investments will be grandfathered but that future PIs will be limited to $50,000/yr.
    No mention of income sprinkling changes, changes to payments as dividends at a lower tax rate instead of income or family trusts.

  25. Fire, finances and failed dreams: What went wrong in Craik?
    “The Eco-Centre opened with great fanfare in July 2004. It was the brainchild of several members of Saskatchewan’s environmental community…All our money went to that (Eco-Centre) stuff,” elderly resident Pauline Dixon said, standing in the front entrance of her home as her husband, Bob, nodded vigorously. “It’s a dream that cost our town a whole lot of money.”
    http://thestarphoenix.com/news/saskatchewan/fire-finances-and-failed-dreams-what-went-wrong-in-craik2
    The eco-village bankrupted the town. The town invested $600,000 plus various other subsidies and free labour. The eco-centre was a money loser from day 1. Craik has been under a boil water advisory for 6 years because they went with the wtp plant recommended by the eco-village. There was subsidence issues due to poor geological research so eco-houses are slumping. One eco-villager died because of poor ventilation. Newcomers were turning off idling trucks. On top of all that there was fraud in the town admin.
    2/2

  26. PET POT Cemetery Report.
    Justine Liberal Loser loses Walkom/RedStar. MAGA winning.
    “How did Canada’s most important state-subsidized, high-tech company get into this mess?”
    “The short answer is the election of America First advocate Trump as U.S. president.”
    …-
    “Bombardier jet giveaway hands Donald Trump another victory: Walkom
    Airbus deal virtually guarantees that the U.S will get the lion’s share of any new C Series jobs created.”
    https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/10/17/bombardier-jet-giveaway-hands-donald-trump-another-victory-walkom.html

  27. Somehow the first part didn’t go through. This (modified version) should precede my other post:
    Craik,Sk was in the path of last night’s wind storm so this criticism may no longer be necessary. I was reading cbc online yesterday and the name of the town triggered a memory so I looked it up. Sure enough, the town and its eco-village has a tragic-comical history with sustainable living. Probably not a place that inspires confidence in good decision making. The first report is from yesterdays news, the second from last year. Being gullible and naive has tragic consequences. I hope saskpower and the province don’t fall into this trap.
    ‘Endless sunny days’: Solar power proponents push SaskPower to embrace ‘huge’ potential
    “The sun shined on Walton as he stood in front of the largest solar farm in the province: 1,600 solar panels that he and his associates have set up outside of the town of Craik. It’s just an excellent area to do solar in,” Walton said. “Endless, endless sunny days.”
    http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/saskatchewan/saskpower-solar-1.4358539
    1/2

  28. Somehow the first part didn’t go through. This (modified version) should precede my other post:
    Craik,Sk was in the path of last night’s wind storm so this criticism may no longer be necessary. I was reading cbc online yesterday and the name of the town triggered a memory so I looked it up. Sure enough, the town and its eco-village has a tragic-comical history with sustainable living. Probably not a place that inspires confidence in good decision making. The first report is from yesterdays news, the second from last year. Being gullible and naive has tragic consequences. I hope saskpower and the province don’t fall into this trap.
    ‘Endless sunny days’: Solar power proponents push SaskPower to embrace ‘huge’ potential
    “The sun shined on Walton as he stood in front of the largest solar farm in the province: 1,600 solar panels that he and his assoc. have set up outside of the town of Craik. It’s just an excellent area to do solar in,” Walton said. “Endless, endless sunny days.”
    1/2

  29. Good thing that I sold all my Bombardier shares today.
    The only reason I had them was that I inherited them. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have touched that stock with a barge pole. I’ve been following it for many years and it’s never impressed me.

  32. I absolutely hate that made up bullshit term “sprinkling”.
    I can think of a hell of a lot of small businesses that are incorporated where the whole family works in the business. A lot of restaurants come to mind, same with farms, perhaps some corner stores.
    So picture a family run restaurant or farm or corner store where mom and dad and the three kids all work full time.
    Even at minimum wage each, that is over a hundred thousand a year in completely legit payroll, but because they are all related Moron-oh-oh decides they must be cheating and calls it “sprinkling”, and the whole media complex chimes in with this brand new term. I think it caught on with this crowd because the government and the media minions are “sprinkling” something golden over the nation, and it’s not metallic.
    Who would start a family business when earning minimum wage is taxed like you are rich? But who will be hiring at even minimum wage if nobody starts these businesses? Is this all part of the climate change plan to stop the economy? Can everyone become a civil servant writing reports about how to revitalize the economy? What will the PM’s socks look like when they announce the actual policy? All but the last question, and many more, will be ignored by the countries presstitutes and urinalists.

  34. AGW RIP.
    Weaver “claimed that Ball libelled him in an article published on the website “Canada Free Press” in January 2011.”
    …-
    “Judge shortage sees Green Party Leader Weaver’s defamation suit bumped”
    “Weaver, who was in 2013 elected as the first MLA for the B.C. Green Party in the riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head, filed a lawsuit against Timothy Ball…”
    “Among Weaver’s allegations are that the article conveyed a meaning that he was not competent or qualified to teach climate science to university students and that he cheated the Canadian taxpayer by accepting public funding for climate science research.”
    http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/judge-shortage-sees-green-party-leader-weaver-s-defamation-suit-bumped-1.23066261

  35. The story LC Benett linked contained a comment by Kate with a pitch perfect take on a sorry situation:
    ‘This fiasco didn’t occur in a vacuum.
    Each time we open a news site, turn on a TV or radio we hear an endless parroting of environmental propaganda by an incurious, innumerate and compeltely incompetent news media. Yes, that includes you, Star Phoenix.
    The facts are out there – the billions wasted on ridiculous projects, the inefficiency of “green” energy and its failures around the planet with trillions in debt and resultant energy poverty, the millions being pocketed by fraudsters and crony capitalists — yet the reporters and editors of these shameless rags are too lazy, or too invested in the fantasy to conduct even the most basic of fact checking.
    The Craik story is more than a story of gullible local politicians and citizens — it’s a metaphor for what these “enviromentalists” would inflict upon us all”

  36. Environmentalist snake oil salesman get away with this because they can avoid liability. Professional engineers are legally responsible for design failures. Scaffolders have to sign and tag their work to certify it’s safe for workers to use. Our lab workers had to sign off on air quality, water quality and lead and asbestos free work environments. When green projects pushed by experts, academics, crony capitalists and activists fail, does anyone face legal or financial liability? Maybe insisting on the same level of legal and financial responsibility as other professions would prevent such failures. Some examples of authority without responsibility:
    Academic/expert: Stanford’s Mark Jacobson research that we can 100% renewable spawned the goal of The 100 by ’50 legislation
    Activist/expert/crony capitalist: Canada’s self appointed Ecofiscal Commission. Should the commission members be held personally responsible for job losses if carbon taxes they promote don’t produce a statistically significant reduction in temperature or if CO2 reductions are only due to companies leaving Canada.
    These people and organisations need to have skin in the game, a horse in the race, consequences for failure. They should be required to sign off on their ideas and claims when they are lobbying for public policy changes and verify they have no conflict of interest.

  37. In a related story … Boeing stock more than DOUBLES in value since MY President’s election!
    Pays to sell weapons and eqiupment to both sides…what’s old is new again, the Nazi war equipment ran on Ford and GM engines.
    https://www.globalresearch.ca/lockheed-martin-boeing-and-raytheon-are-the-big-winners-in-saudi-arabias-massive-military-buildup/5591751
    Additional details are emerging about President Donald Trump’s $109.7 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia that was formally signed on May 20. Some of the big winners in the deal include defense industrial giants Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon among others. The massive arms deal had been in the works for the past two years and was coordinated via the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Threat-Based Security Cooperation Working Group.

  38. PET POT Cemetery Report.
    Justine Liberal, La Grande Poseur Fakeer of liberalism, faces off with a phony I Pagliacci clown Dog & Pony Show.
    …-
    “Justin Trudeau Cries Over Death Of Tragically Hip Frontman” (nbc)
    …-
    “Quebec lawmakers pass religious neutrality bill banning face coverings”
    ““I speak to you, you speak to me. I see your face. You see mine. As simple as that.””
    https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/10/18/quebec-lawmakers-vote-in-favour-of-religious-neutrality-bill-banning-face-coverings.html

  39. Steve – Alberta does charge provincial tax on corporations – have tax to pay on behalf of a couple of corporations this week. It’s Manitoba that has the really low tax rate. Also, Alberta requires filing of a separate tax return instead of taking the information from the federal T2. Quebec and Ontario also do. Some other provinces require account numbers, but do not – so far as I can ascertain – require a corporation to file a separate return.

  40. Deplorable – that’s not “sprinkling” – that’s having all the family work in the business and paying them accordingly. This has been allowed for many years, with a couple of provisions: 1) the company would otherwise hire an outside worker; and 2) the family employee is being paid about what an outsider would be. The rules were changed some years ago because it was the custom to put the children and spouse on the payroll whether or not they did any work. Had a job at one such place and left it in part because of this.
    Income sprinkling occurs when family members are shareholders in the corporation and are given dividends, whether or not they “contribute” in any way to the corporation. Each family member would have a separate class of shares, so dividends could be declared individually as was deemed best for all concerned. The “kiddy tax” put paid to the practice of giving minors dividends to the point where they would have to pay tax, but it is not uncommon for children in the 18 – 24 age group to get shares while at school. That way they could be somewhat self-supporting.
    While discussing all this, it must be remembered that dividends are from AFTER TAX cash. They are not an allowable deduction when calculating a corporation’s profits and, therefore, its tax payable. In contrast, salaries and wages paid to family members ARE an allowable expense.

  41. You say that like its a bad thing ?
    Personally … I prefer Mutually Assured Sunni and Shiite DESTRUCTION. Arming the Saudis to balance power with a total nut job Theocracy in Iran is most likely the most PEACEFUL thing possible.
    And would you rather the UK, FRANCE, JAPAN … or horror of all horrors … RUSSIA sell arms to the Saudis ?
    The SIPRI Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies in the world excluding China, 2010 Figures for arms sales, total sales and profit are in US$ m.Click heading to sort table. Download this data
    1 1 Lockheed Martin USA 35,730 33,430 78
    2 2 BAE Systems UK 32,880 32,540 95
    3 3 Boeing USA 31,360 32,300 49
    4 4 Northrop Grumman USA 28,150 27,000 81
    5 5 General Dynamics USA 23,940 23,380 74
    6 6 Raytheon USA 22,980 23,080 91
    S S BAE Systems Inc. (BAE Systems, UK) USA 17,900 19,280 100
    7 7 EADS Trans-European 16,360 15,930 27
    8 8 Finmeccanica Italy 14,410 13,280 58
    9 9 L-3 Communications USA 13,070 13,010 83
    10 10 United Technologies USA 11,410 11,110 21
    11 11 Thales France 9,950 10,200 57
    12 12 SAIC USA 8,230 8,030 74
    13 27 Oshkosh Truck USA 7,080 2,770 72
    14 13 Computer Sciences Corp. USA 5,940 6,050 37
    15 14 Honeywell USA 5,400 5,380 16
    16 16 Safran France 4,800 4,740 34
    S S Sikorsky (United Technologies) USA 4,530 3,980 68
    17 19 Rolls-Royce UK 4,330 4,260 26
    18 18 General Electric USA 4,300 4,700 3
    S S Pratt & Whitney (United Technologies) USA 4,080 3,940 32
    19 17 ITT Corp. USA 4,000 4,730 36
    20 22 Almaz-Antei[d] Russia 3,950 3,260 89
    S S MBDA (BAE Systems, UK/EADS, trans-European/Finmeccanica, Italy) Trans-European 3,710 3,610 100
    21 28 United Aircraft Corp.[d] Russia 3,440 2,710 82
    22 21 DCNS France 3,320 3,340 100
    23 15 KBR[e] USA 3,310 4,990 33
    24 26 URS Corp. USA 3,030 2,770 33
    25 24 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries[f] Japan 2,960 2,810 9

  42. And would you rather the UK, FRANCE, JAPAN … or horror of all horrors … RUSSIA sell arms to the Saudis ?
    In the works…
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/05/saudi-russia-visit-putin-oil-middle-east
    Saudi king’s visit to Russia heralds shift in global power structures
    More than 15 cooperation agreements worth billions of pounds were signed, ranging from oil, military and space exploration, leading the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, to claim the visit marked the moment when Saudi-Russian relations “reached a new qualitative level”. In one of the most remarkable deals, the Saudis said they would purchase the Russian S-400 defence system.

  43. Good news regarding the Quebec law on face coverings. It is about time someone stood up for Canadian values. Canadians do not hid their faces when dealing with other people. From the article, though, a possible glitch:
    “It is foreseeable … the law will end up before the UN because it can be deemed to be a violation of certain rights protected by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,” Niemi said.”
    Now wait a minute, I thought face coverings were a way of dsicriminating against women. Muslim men do not wear face coverings. Only women are disadvantaged by this.

  44. We all knew it was coming, so it’s not a shock, but it’s still sad. If Gordon Lightfoot singing “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” and “Alberta Bound” was my childhood, Gord and the Hip signing “50 Mission Cap” and “Bobcaygeon” were my 30’s and 40’s.
    If you haven’t seen this, it’s funny. Watch for the surprise cameo from someone we all know:
    https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=the+darkest+one+trailer+park+boys#id=51&vid=b66c3ffce9a6465bec591380d0c665a5&action=click

  45. Smart move by the Saudis on many levels … most notably smart move to effectively add Russia to OPEC. Look out … OPEC might actually restore its power to manipulate oil prices. Time to start adding $$$ to my long-depressed oil industry stocks … bye-bye $45/barrel oil prices … hello >$100/barrel oil prices. No … I don’t care how high oil prices soar … you will never catch my corpse in an electric car. Ever. Sorry Elon … go peddle (pun intended) your eco-cars in China …

  46. TORedStar slaps Justine Liberal ’round.
    Liberals slapping Liberals’ faces. More, please.
    …-
    “Toronto Star’s View: Bombardier deal is a slap in the face for taxpayers
    ‘Taxpayers in Canada have sunk well over a billion dollars into the venture for the privilege of subsidizing jobs making planes in Alabama.’”
    “In just the past two years governments have put more than $1.6 billion into the C Series. Quebec invested $1.3 billion in 2015 and last January the federal government committed $372.5 million, all in the name of propping up high-tech jobs in the province.
    No wonder, then, that Quebec’s opposition parties are outraged at this latest surprise twist in the Bombardier story, and rightfully so.”
    https://www.ourwindsor.ca/opinion-story/7660509-toronto-star-s-view-bombardier-deal-is-a-slap-in-the-face-for-taxpayers/

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