Category: More Money Than Brains

Mercantilist Pensions

Rather than tackle the pressing question as to why pension funds have decreased the their investments in Canada from 28% in 2000 to 3% today, a gaggle of milquetoast business leaders is demanding that Ottawa force those pension funds to invest within Canada despite lower returns. It’s as if these Wesley Mouch types believe that a depressed business climate is an unalterable fact of nature.

Government has the right, responsibility and obligation to regulate how this savings regime operates,” says the letter signed by dozens including BlackBerry Ltd founder Jim Balsillie, Metro Inc. chief executive Eric La Flèche, the CEOs of telecommunications companies Telus Corp., Rogers Communications Inc. and Quebecor Inc., and former Bank of Nova Scotia and Air Canada CEOs Brian Porter and Calin Rovinescu.

“We think the government does have some right to have an influence over the regime” in which these large funds operate, he said. “But we’re not suggesting the government tells these pension funds exactly where to invest.”

Exaggeration First Nation

As anyone who has done basic research into their family tree might know, the presence of unmarked graves in rural 19th century cemeteries is extremely common. Given the high rate of infant mortality at that time, it’s also not surprising that many were children. But careful consideration of the actual evidence doesn’t make for shocking headlines, so some feel it’s best to make sinister inferences and jump to outrageous conclusions instead.

Earlier this month, the Acimowin Opaspiw Society (AOS) — announced they have confirmed that at least 212 children were buried in unmarked graves during the school’s operations.

“It can be safely stated that in our community of 12,000 people, each family has had four to five children who went missing from this institution,” he continued.

The remnants of the Saddle Lake site are so extensive that grave diggers kept uncovering child-sized remains when digging graves for recently deceased band members.

Apparently No One in Canada Knows How To Shoot or Hunt

Times Colonist- Parks Canada says 84 deer killed in $834,000 cull using helicopter

About 84 deer were killed as part of a controversial Sidney Island deer cull that involved marksmen shooting from a helicopter, says Parks Canada.

The goal is to restore the natural ecosystem on the island, located just off Sidney, after years of grazing by the invasive fallow deer, with an estimated current population of a few hundred animals.

The eradication is part of a nearly $6-million multi-year project to restore the Coast Douglas-fir forest ecosystem on the nine-square kilometre island.

The cost of the first phase, which includes the helicopter and marksmen from the U.S. and New Zealand, is about $834,000, said Parks Canada.

Khrushchev Would Be So Proud!

During Krushchev’s reign in the Soviet Union, the state embarked on a massive residential building spree which was so ineptly carried out that Russians referred to the buildings as khrushchebys, which is a play on the Russian word for slum. Fast forward to 2023, and the Trudeau government has unveiled its own version of centrally planned housing development.

It’s not that the federal government is going to give you a house, but they will provide you with an architect at taxpayer expense to create pre-approved blueprints which they are certain you will love.

“The catalogue of pre-approved designs, is going to be tied to existing building codes — the National Building Code, which we will seek to make changes to in the future — but will also be designed to mirror the requirements of provincial building codes that are implemented across the country,” he said.

“We’re going to ensure that the pre-approved designs meet the standards to access CMHC programs so we can reduce the administrative barriers on applicants who are seeking to go through the process.”

The Part I Like Best

…about pot legalization is how it’s showering governments with a bonanza of tax revenues.

When lawmakers legalized marijuana last session, they also set aside tens of millions of tax dollars to subsidize the marijuana industry. The bill that legalized marijuana, HF 100, instructed the DEED commissioner to establish numerous programs that will provide loans or grants to individuals or organizations involved in the marijuana industry. […]

Spending on the marijuana industry does not end there, however. Last month, according to MinnPost, Minnesota agreed to spend tens of millions on a Missouri-based Cannabis company.

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We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars

The CBC, always the last to know.

Electric vehicles have proved far less reliable, on average, than gasoline-powered cars, trucks and SUVs, according to the latest survey by Consumer Reports, which found that EVs from the 2021 through 2023 model years encountered nearly 80 per cent more problems than did vehicles propelled by internal combustion engines.

Consumer Reports said EV owners most frequently reported troubles with battery and charging systems as well as flaws in how the vehicles’ body panels and interior parts fit together. The magazine and website noted that EV manufacturers are still learning to construct completely new power systems, and it suggested that as they do, the overall reliability of electric vehicles should improve.

As the stupid rich people market nears saturation

The growth of electric vehicle sales has slowed sharply since last year. In June 2022, EV sales were growing about 90 per cent year over year. By June of this year the 12-month growth rate had slowed to about 50 per cent, and automakers have become increasingly fearful that the pace will weaken further.

Going Bwoke

Investments in trendy ‘ESG’ assets collapsed by $5 trillion in just two years…

In its biannual assessment, the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) said on Wednesday that investors had $30.3 trillion in sustainable assets in 2022, down from $35.3 trillion in 2020.

In the US, where Republicans have railed against ESG funds, which push for environmental, social, and governance benefits, such assets plunged from more than $17 trillion to just $8.4 trillion over the same period.
[…]

A recent Bloomberg survey showed that investors expect the downturn to continue into 2024, with the negative sentiment extending to Tesla and other electric carmakers.

‘Sustainable bonds make for bad investments when they actually meet the radical left’s definition of sustainable, and when they don’t, Wall Street greenwashes them to justify the higher fees they charge for selling them,’ added Hild.

‘It’s a scam on investors either way.’

Related: Yesterday, America First Legal (AFL), together with co-counsel Boyden Gray PLLC and Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC, filed an amended complaint in its lawsuit against Target Corporation and its Board of Directors. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of a group of shareholders for Target’s misleading representations about its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates that betrayed Target’s customers and shareholders and caused investors to lose billions of dollars.

Groomer Kingdom

Oh no! Disney has reportedly lost a billion dollars just on four of its recent “woke” movie flops…

You can bring movies to the public, but you cannot make them sell. Once an unassailable and uniting brand, Disney brand is now negatively associated with activism by a significant number of consumers. The company is now even reporting a decline in licensing revenue from products associated with Star Wars, Frozen, Toy Story and Mickey and Friends — iconic and once-unassailable corporate images.

The question is how long Disney (or its shareholders) can tolerate falling revenues tied to its “misalignment with the public.” It is a massive corporation and it can lose billions before facing any truly dire decisions. Yet even Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, now appears to be seeking to “quiet things down” after years of culture wars.

Update: Another bad weekend at the box office.

We Don’t Need No Stinkin Giant Mirrors

Investors sour on solar as free money dries up;

Home solar companies in the US dialed back their outlooks this week amid a pileup of challenges that are dragging the sector down. Investors took notice.

Sunrun Inc., SunPower Corp. and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. reported weaker-than-expected sales in the third quarter. The key culprits: higher interest rates, an oversupply of equipment and sharply reduced state-level incentives in California — the most important domestic market.

“This has been a volatile time,” Mary Powell, Sunrun’s chief executive officer, said on an earnings call

Her comments came shortly after Sunrun revealed that a drop in its stock price prompted the company to take a $1.2 billion charge to write down the value of its 2020 purchase of rival Vivint Solar.

It’s a surprising bout of turmoil for a renewable sector that rode a wave of enthusiasm for sustainable investing since before President Joe Biden’s election. But economic headwinds and California’s slashed rooftop subsidies have recently outweighed the generous incentives bestowed in the landmark climate law that Biden signed just 14 months ago.

We Don’t Need No Flaming Racin’ Cars

Racer.com: Special ONE hits out at FIA, World RX over rallycross fire investigation

Special ONE Racing pointed out the cause of the fire in a statement issued Thursday, saying, “Various testimonies, surveillance camera footage, telemetry data, and expertise based on samples taken from the debris have definitively established the origin of the blaze: a thermal runaway of the lithium-ion battery onboard the car.

“Kreisel Electric, the supplier of this equipment, which is common to all RX1e category models, could not guarantee that such an incident would not recur in the future. Therefore, the FIA has decided not to allow these cars to compete until further notice,” the statement continued. “If this situation persists, it will have the consequence of jeopardizing the future of the discipline, as it undermines the well-being of all its stakeholders.”

While the FIA and World RX began an investigation into the cause of the fire in its immediate aftermath, there hasn’t been a significant update since it began.

h/t @arlasko

We Don’t Need No Flaming Racin’ Cars

It’s a Hot Wheels track!

The second day of Formula E testing has been canceled after a fire brought the first day of running at Valencia’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo to an early halt.

After Robert Shwartzman’s DS Penske stopped on track in the morning session, the car’s battery was removed by supplier Williams Advanced Engineering. It subsequently caught fire, resulting in a paddock evacuation and one WAE staff member being taken to a local hospital as a precaution. […]

The fire is the first incident of its kind in Formula E’s 10-season history, but follows one at July’s World Rallycross event at Lydden Hill in the UK which destroyed Special ONE Racing’s cars and equipment, ruling it out for the remainder of the season.

h/t Allan

Nothingburger trials

It’s not actually the case that bail violation charges against Tamara Lich were dropped, but rather that they were stayed, so that the prosecution could “focus” on the current trial. For a charge of mischief, it’s seems that Lich and Barber were charged based on the hope that enough evidence to convict them would magically appear afterward. So far, the fishing expedition seems to be reeling in very little.

The trial was originally scheduled to be finished on Oct. 13 but it has been stalled by delays related to the disclosure of evidence and legal arguments about the admissibility of testimony and social media posts.

The Crown is expected to call more witnesses before it completes its case. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey has said she expects the legal arguments in the case will be lengthy and complex.

The lawyers have struggled to set time to continue the trial because of conflicting schedules and scarce court time.

We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars

Via The Truth About Cars;

A Mercedes store operator said he has a more than six-month supply of EVs compared with about a 50-day supply of gasoline-powered vehicles.

“The EVs are coming whether or not you asked for them or earned them,” he said. “There is too much of a price premium — especially at the top end of the EQ lineup — and almost no [lease] support.”

The executive said the EVs lack the “lust factor” of Mercedes’ gasoline-powered flagship models, such as the S-Class sedan and AMG-GT coupe.

“Our cars need to be ‘want’ cars,” he said. “The S-Class has maintained good loyalty because it’s aspirational. An EQS is not something that most people aspire to own.”

The rest goes onto explain how they’re running out of stupid rich people.

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