5 things Bernie Sanders should know about Canadian Health Care https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B86rlXPAY3g
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L- Are there any provincial elections upcoming in Canada… ?
Yes, this youtube channel is going to have a growing audience.
Thank you Angel, surprisingly interesting
NP
I’m still going to support the PPC one more time while supporting WEXIT at the same time.
They are only the two sane courses for me and really why keep all your eggs in one basket.
As for Kenny joining Wexit I’d rather see a nobody like us get that role than a career politician and that Carbon Tax that Kenny introduced was very telling…
Reminder: set your clocks back this morning at 2 am, except for Saskatchewan. Some history about it:
Was Benjamin Franklin, the Father of DST?
Many sources also credit Benjamin Franklin with being the first to suggest seasonal time change. However, the idea voiced by the American inventor and politician in 1784 can hardly be described as fundamental for the development of modern DST. After all, it did not even involve turning the clocks. In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris, which was entitled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light”, Franklin simply suggested that Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning. What’s more: Franklin meant it as a joke.
But, but, if we have daylight saving time the cows won’t know what time it is. 🙂
But, but, as long as they get a boob job, they don’t care! Ha!
Moooooo!
Will they become…… Mad Cows ?!
hahaha
That would be boo hoo instead of moo moo!
Her cheese will be known as “La Vache Qui Pleure” if the “Laughing Cow” doesn’t get milked!
And, if one makes a mistake, to err is human, to forgive bovine.
DST has always been billed as a way to save electricity so it does seem Ironic that the government of BC, the most environmentally conscious government ever, wants to end DST.
“the most environmentally conscious government ever, wants to end DST.”
And …they sell coal.
And flush their ‘ter-lets’ in the wrong place.
And drive to the USA to buy cheaper gas.
Ah, what else?
BC wants DST year round, as you say it is a way of saving electricity. It does NOT want to end DST.
OK So today we’re falling back to the correct time for our geographic position on the map.(except Sask)
Springing ahead and keeping it there defeats the whole purpose of DST. Unless you could get businesses to start work later in the day during the winter months, the power you would save in the evening would be consumed in the dark AM.
In 1957, the Soviets launch their second Sputnik, this time with the dog Laika on board. She died during the mission, though there is still debate as to how it happened. I first heard that she died when her air ran out, but it seems that excessive heat inside her compartment was the cause.
In 1906, SOS was chosen as the official international distress call. The three letters are sent as a complete character–no pause between them. The previous call was CQD (-.-.–.–..) which, according to popular accounts, stood for “come quickly, danger”.
The reason SOS was to be used was because it was easier to remember and easy to send. The letters actually never stood for anything so “save our souls” is, apparently, apocryphal. Also, being 9 digits long, it was hard to mistake for anything else.
Earlier proposals wanted it to be shorter (SO, —…, being one of them, I think), but that might have given the impression that the character being transmitted might be a numeral or punctuation mark. Back then, the main transmission mode was Morse code with the characters being produced by the noise generated by an electrical spark. Any background static could easily obscure what was being transmitted, so a fixed pattern of sounds that was easily recognized was needed.
After the sinking of the Titanic, SOS was widely used.
So what happened to Laika? Although Moscow long insisted that she expired painlessly after about a week in orbit, an official with the Institute for Biological Problems leaked the truth in 2002: Laika died from panic and overheating within hours of takeoff.
The spacecraft circled Earth every hour and 42 minutes, travelling at 18,000 mph. But after five to seven hours into the flight, all signs of life received from the spacecraft stopped.
Poor dog. She died of fright, B A, it’s as simple as that. The ruskies lied.
Over five months later, after 2,570 orbits, Sputnik II—including Laika’s remains—disintegrated during re-entry on April 14, 1958.
Maybe if Laika knew Morse code … no, she wasn’t as brilliant nor famous as the horse who could make change, spell names, entertain people at public gatherings etc. The Ruskies said she was just a stray. She gave her life for mankind, and the study of space travel.
She’s in dog heaven now and we’re still reading and writing about her. She is famous.
Considering that Laika flew on only the second satellite ever put into orbit, it’s also possible that she might have perished to an equipment malfunction.
It was all largely for propaganda purposes. She became so famous that a brand of cigarettes was named after her.
By the way, the Soviets have long favoured dogs as experimental passengers while the Americans preferred monkeys and chimpanzees.
The Russians claimed she was a stray dog and named her “Laika” which in Russian means “the barker.” So since “after 5 to 7 hours into the flight all signs of life received from the spacecraft stopped,” likely, the people monitoring her could no longer hear her bark. They gave no other info on how else they were monitoring her. Was there a camera in the craft? Why waste the money on one.
Flying at 18,000 mph she likely had motion sickness and lacked air. She was sacrificed – killed for science.
As an engineer who loves dogs you are being generous to attribute her demise to equipment malfunction.
Your endearing quality is admired.
Considering the problems that the Americans had in getting a satellite into orbit, Laika was the Soviets thumbing their noses at them.
Getting into space has everything to do with weight. Even if Sergei Korolev’s team was able to design a camera system, it would likely have been too bulky or heavy for it to be successfully launched.
During those early days of spaceflight, failures were common. Boosters blew up on the launch pad or shortly after liftoff. Payloads often didn’t deploy or couldn’t. Even if they were able to fly free from their boosters, it was a matter of luck if the machinery actually worked, so it’s quite possible that equipment failure might have been responsible for Laika’s death.
As an engineer who loves dogs you are being generous to attribute her demise to equipment malfunction.
Your endearing quality is admired.
Thank you.
Even the Sputnik team regretted Laika’s death later on. The only reason to kill her was to make the Soviet Union look good at a time when the Politburo’s underwriters still hoped to salvage their experiment in central planning. Little of scientific value was learned from her death.
I do hope that one day we hear more of the humans sent to their deaths in space before Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin was not, of course, the first man in space, just the first to come back alive. Several poor saps blown up on the launch pad or asphyxiated or roasted alive in their capsules like Laika. Their deaths were carefully hushed up.
Sputnik was launched October 4/5, 1957 (depending on which source one uses as reference, due to time zone differences). The first American attempt was Vanguard and that failed on the launch paid nearly 3 weeks later.
It was an embarrassment and the press was merciless, calling it “Flopnik” or “Kaputnik”. Just to kick the Americans while they were down, the Soviets launched their second Sputnik with Laika on board. The only scientific return was to show that a mammal could at least survive the flight into orbit. As I mentioned earlier, it was purely for propaganda purposes and I’m sure Nikita Khruschev was pleased.
There have been persistent rumours over the years that Yuri Gagarin wasn’t the first man in space, let alone the first one to return from orbit. For example, there’s the well-known account about a radio amateur in, I think, Italy who allegedly heard a Soviet crew in trouble, though that might be more in the purview of The National Enquirer. (Further to that story, during one Gemini mission, the Americans supposedly passed by that spacecraft and found two dead cosmonauts on board.)
There have also been stories about cosmonauts injured or killed during a number of launch attempts. One, though, that has a degree of credibilty, though never officially confirmed, concerns Vladimir Ilyushin, the son of aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin.
Assuming he did make it into orbit, apparently Ilyushin’s spacecraft had a malfunction and he couldn’t re-enter when he was supposed to. The result was that he was up there for longer than planned and when he did manage to come back, he landed in China. The story goes on to mention that he was apparently injured after he ejected from his spacecraft but, due to lousy diplomatic relations between the Soviets and the Chinese, he was detained for about a year.
That didn’t suit the Kremlin as he wasn’t available to be trotted out for the next May Day parade. Gagarin, on the other hand, went up, and came back within a day, with time to spare to be put on exhibit.
Apparently a few years ago, a journalist asked Ilyushin about his mission but he had no comment. Whether it was because that mission never happened or he was “persuaded” not to say anything remains unclear.
Corrections:
SOS in Morse code is …_ _ _… three dots followed by three dashes followed by three dots.
CQD is _._._ _._ _.. dash dot dash dot for C; dash dash dot dash for Q; dash dot dot for D.
SO is …_ _ _ dot dot dot for S and dash dash dash for O.
I stand corrected on SO. Serves me right for doing writing stuff like that so late at night while fighting with a different computer that had become crash-happy at about the same time.
The reason for adopting SOS was to make it distinct even when there’s a lot of background noise, particularly when weak signals are involved. It’s unlikely that …—… could be randomly produced.
A few years ago, someone speculated about the famous transatlantic transmission test conducted by Marconi. The signal that was transmitted was admittedly weak and it was suggested that it had such low power that it might have been indistinguishable from background noise. Marconi might not have actually heard that particular transmission but imagined he did. No fraud or deception were intended. It’s just that it might have been hard for him to tell what sounds were noise and what were the actual signal, though there’s no way of confirming that.
Subsequent tests, though, confirmed that it was possible to transmit radio signals over such long distances.
Spark transmission is no longer in common use, though there are some radio amateurs who like to tinker with it. Nowadays, continuous wave (CW) is the mode used for Morse code. If nothing else, it’s hard to mistake a series of tones for background noise.
The general rule of thumb is that if one can’t even hear CW traffic on the bands, then propagation conditions are indeed poor.
Was in the Forces back in the early ’70’s
Comm research they called it.
We had to learn morse…flash cards at first
Then simulated morse exercises:
SMX: 1000 Charachters at a set speed….beginning at, If memory serves me, right 5 wpm. & working up to 18-21 wpm. One needed to do 5 straight exercises with less than 5 wrong characters to move up a speed.
It was at this time that I learnd the Russian Language had 4 extra letters..!! and as such, 4 estra morse characters. So our special Underwood typewriters (yea), had those extra keys. Bar h, Bar i, bar o and bar e – not 100% sure….again this was a LONG time ago..lol.
We would practise at night with a higher speed SMX and then after 3-4 of those, go back to the speed we were working on…just to get our brain working quicker.
When doing this transcribing of morse to typewiter….your hands would be working 3-4 characters behind what you were hearing.
Interesting times.
Steakman:
I learned my Morse code by first listening to a cassette tape I purchased from the American Radio Relay League. After I got my callsign, I cobbled together a practice apparatus using a straight key I bought at a ham flea market and a buzzer I had in my junk box.
Right after I got my callsign, the requirements for full band privileges changed. It used to be that in order to operate below 30 MHz, in what we call the high frequency part of the spectrum, one needed to pass a Morse code exam. (By then, one simply needed to demonstrate capability at 5 words per minute.) If one had a high score on the Basic exam, and one passed the one for the Advanced certificate, one could operate on the HF bands without needing code qualification.
I had already started on my Morse qualification when that change came into effect and I might have been able to get an exemption as I recall my Basic exam score was high enough. But I figured I may as well get my Morse certificate as not only had I started on it by the time of that change, I thought it would be useful to have.
I eventually passed both my Morse and Advanced exams. I’ve never used Morse code on the air, but being able to understand it came in handy once in a while. For example, several ham satellites have telemetry beacons in which they transmit operational data as a string of Morse code characters, beginning and ending each transmission with their ID.
Add stand corrected on CQD. You need to refresh your code skills?
LR:
I don’t think so. When I’ve used two dashes for Q and D, they show up on the page as if they’re single. So, dah-dit-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dit is -.-.–.–..
Enough! Time to put on your glasses!
So, dah-dit-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dit is -.-.–.–.. Wrong; your code characters are cnd not cqd; you ran your dashes together making 2 dashes look like 1 dash.
C is _._.
N is _.
Q is _ _._
D is _..
So, dah-dit-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dit is _._._ _._ _..
I’m sorry I even raised the matter. Perhaps it’s time I quit commenting on SDA.
@ 11:34 pm B
You’d be missed.
Don’t let the surly rude ones get to you.
Using your house as an Air BnB is like inviting 20 hitchhikers into it.
Forgive me if I found someone willing to talk EPL … Kenji.
Today (yesterday for you eastern folks) was very peculiar for the EPL. The top three teams in the table played teams all in the bottom five. They all managed to barely eke out 2-1 victories. Liverpool was behind as late as 87 minutes. Manchester City scored the winning goal at 86 minutes, and Chelsea had to make a brilliant save at the death. Does this mean the EPL is really that even top to bottom? (I doubt it.) Does it mean the bottom teams are taken too much for granted? (Probably, but would that explain it?)
Of course, I am biased, and I believe Liverpool either won 3-0 or 4-1. If Firmino was off side for his goal, then Aston Villa had three players off side on theirs (all three leaning forward with shoulders off side, just like Firmino had armpit off side, haha). And the Aston Villa player definitely moved his arm up to block Firmino’s (?) shot. I saw a slow mo and the arm was down before the ball was struck, and raised to chest level to block the shot. No matter, Liverpool won. But maybe the officials have been instructed to bring Liverpool back to the pack anyway they could. After all, a tight race generates more interest than a runaway, which it will become if Liverpool beats Manchester City next game.
My, my, but aren’t you ALL IN for Liverpool! Yes, VAR (more accurately, the rules for offside) need some adjustment. When the official office of the FA has to “clarify” why a shoulder pit can indeed be offside during halftime … you KNOW we’ve got a problem. But you seemed to miss Mane’s dive which gave Liverpool the winning goal. Ha! Seems Pep Guardiola saw the dive, and reported it to the Press. The mind games BEGIN for this weekends BIG showdown. God, I’d love to meet you in the local Westside “Liverpool Bar” for the match this weekend!
I feel like a genius this morning, for selecting Lundstam on my fantasy team! The big oaf scored BIG points for me on the weekend! But he may be emblematic of your marveling over the bottom of the table. Lundstram expected to be looking for his 10th team this fall, after being dumped by Everton as a prospect, and then a long list of other teams. But, as he said when interviewed, he worked extra hard over the summer to improve his skill and fitness, and voila! He is making a HUGE impact in the EPL … and an even bigger one for lowly Sheffield United. He (and his manager) are why I LOVE the EPL. There are so many factors that go into futball success. To me, it’s like playing chess on a moving chessboard. So many pieces and tactics to adjust jusssssst right … opponent by opponent, and moment by moment.
Truth be told, I watch as many games simultaneously on Sat. and Sun. I have NBC Gold and multiple screens running. Early in the season, Lundstram caught my eye. I really liked the way he was playing … and how the manager was deploying him in attack. It jumped off the screen as a hugely successful organization of attack. And unlike a team like Newcastle, who huddle back in their third and clog the box … SHU are quite aggressive in attack. So I added Lundstram. No, I’m not a genius … he’s also a CHEAP player which helps me leverage super high salary players.
BTW … Lundstram scored 21-points for me this weekend … Sterling earned me 1-point. Sterling is one of the top 3 most EXPENSIVE players in my fantasy league. Enough said.
Sorry, my friend, Mane’s “dive” got nothing but a yellow card for simulation for him. I didn’t even count that for the 4-1 score. Contact was made, initiated by the defender. Maybe he didn’t have to go down. Or maybe it was a PK if it happened to someone else than Mane.
Anyway, he answered the referee in the best way possible. Mane scored the winning goal on a header off a corner.
Sheffield United are a very good side. They defeated Arsenal, drew Chelsea, and lost to Liverpool and Leicester City by one goal each. They are one of the five other top six clubs Manchester City have yet to play in the first round robin. For a just promoted side, they are very aggressive and fearless.
I’m just giving you stick about Mane’s dubious dive. Yep, then he went on to score the winner. As I said, he’s been picking up the slack of Salah’s drop off. I called SHU “bottom of the table”, because that is the typical status of a newly promoted team. Let’s see how long they can stay up top. So far, so good. Hope they stay at the top. I LOVE parity in professional sport.
Despite being a lifelong GS Warrior fan … I wasn’t as thrilled about their recent domination, as the rest of the Bay Area. Sending a top “All Star” team against everyone else in the league is just annoying to me. When I coached my son’s Little League team, there were two dads who pulled every trick in the book (brother option, and “injured” player, for eg.) to stack their team with the very best athletes/baseball players OUTSIDE the yearly draft. It allowed them to go through the season undefeated. They fancied themselves as “brilliant” coaches/managers. What they were … was CHEATERS. My little ragtag team faced them in the playoff FINAL … my pitcher had a bad day (everything he threw was right down the pipe) and he got shelled. It was 6-0 before I pulled him … crying … as he was being literally LAUGHED off the field by our opponents (including the coaches). So, I don’t have much use for a team that can stack itself with All Stars. Sheesh, there’s a reason pro sports absolutely NEEDS a salary cap.
Now, do you want to get me started about PAYING college athletes proportional to the revenue their sport earns the college? There’s no such thing as a “student athlete” … “amateur athlete” in the top NCAA Divisions. That myth ended somewhere in the 1950’s/60’s.
Manchester City is the team that stacks itself with the best team money can buy, paid for by a filthy rich oil sheikh who bought the championship. That is the team easy to hate.
Liverpool is owned by the owners of the Boston Red Sox, and they run it as a business. They do not have a bottomless pit of money like City. Until two years ago, they were more sellers than buyers. I’ll give you one word on what changed: Courtinho. Liverpool paid 13M Euro for him from Inter, who thought so little of him they didn’t insist on any residuals. Liverpool had the advantage of a seller’s market next, Courtinho wanted to go to Barca, Barca wanted him, and upped the price to 145M Euro, a ridiculous sum of money Liverpool couldn’t turn down. They made a net of 132M Euro for him. That was why they could afford to buy Virgil and Alisson, two keys that made them probably the best defensive team anywhere. Their best acquisition last summer was Fabinho, who had to climb his way up the ladder of Liverpool midfielders, the least regarded Liverpool unit, to become a key player.
You can say they lucked out, or had an eye for talent. I’d say the latter, because they also got their entire world best front line relatively on the cheap. Robertson was a free transfer. Alexander Arnold is homegrown. The players I mentioned are the ones considered world class. Anyway, none of the other players even caused a ripple on the transfer market. What turned out to be a key transfer of the reserve keeper was even free. Give credit to the current Liverpool management team.
I have no problem with the team I root for having great players because they have an eye for talent. That is part of what it is all about. The rent a players the Dodgers paid a lot for all turn out to be disasters. Their best players are either home grown, or gotten on the cheap and developed. In that way they are very like the Liverpool Reds. And they are the only two professional teams I follow. They and the Bruins are the only teams I care anything about. I followed the Lakers when they had Bruin alums plus Jerry West, but stopped when I intensely disliked their subsequent superstars.
And Liverpool is not a new thing. I was a Liverpool fan in Hong Kong, before I went to UCLA and before the Dodgers moved to L.A. (same year, 1958.) In the old days when they were good, it wasn’t always easy to get news. And they had a down period when the English first division changed its name to EPL. And I am ecstatic they are at the top again.
P.S. In case you think I am paranoiac about the EPL wanting a tighter race, the official EPL 18 minute highlight of the Aston Villa-Liverpool match (with its logo as stamp of approval) does NOT include the following:
the yellow card on Mane for “diving” in the penalty area
the disallowed Firmino goal for “offside of the armpit”
the waved off handball by the Aston Villa defender in the penalty area
Are those not meaningful or interesting enough events in the game to be included in eighteen minutes of “highlights”? Surely they are pivotal events. Or does the EPL simply want people to forget that they happened, because the calls are indefensible and wrong? That’s one potential goal and two potential penalty kicks all called against Liverpool.
Yes, ManCity has an enormous payroll funded by men in dirty nightshirts. But lest I reveal any prejudices, I don’t think much of Russian Oligarch money either.
Look, I am a lifelong Oakland A’s fan. I know a thing or two about homegrown talent, and getting something (a LOT, actually) for nothing. Our Oaktown payroll is paltry, yet we always manage to be knocking at the playoff door, if not the Series door. I call THAT … genius. How do I feel about being the Farm System for the NY Yankees? Quite proud, actually.
I am first and foremost a midfield enthusiast. I quite loved Cutinho’s game, and how he was used by Klopp. However, Filipe made the mistake of grabbing the stack of cash negotiated by his Agent. Now he is a castaway, out on loan, riding the pine for a failing Bayern team. I distinctly remember Klopp WARNING him about the mistake he was about to make. Because I believe in Free Agency, and didn’t begrudge Cutinho his payday … but the “fatherly tone” of Klopp’s warning seemed really sincere, and born of concern – not sour grapes. Yep. Klopp was right. Cutinho and his Agent have gotten €€filthy rich€€ (notwithstanding the confiscatory EU taxes) … but he’s got nowhere to go now … but to China … or the MLS. Ouch!!
I see you are a bitter ManCity HATER … but you DO have to admit that their team is more than just a high priced all star assemblage. Pep has got all those egos working superbly well together (when they aren’t having off-days). And LOOK! Liverpool DESERVE to lift the cup after losing out in THE most competitive, quality, league run EVER … only to be edged-out by “Shitty” (as my Arsenal-loving son calls them). I would be thrilled if it’s … YOUR turn.
It seems many Germans are getting fed up with windmills
Whoosh…
Whoosh…
Whoosh…
But here’s a thought: perhaps Toronto could pilot more windmills. Put them next to the 401. The highway noise should drown out the whoosh,…whoosh, whoosh.
Second pilot project: put windmills on parliament hill, right next to Rideau cottage, and throw in a bunch at Harrington lake (Trudeau’s summer home).
And they absolutely need to be installed near C Barbie’s, Butts’ Suzuki’s place, and Gore’s.
On a recent road trip I noted: There are no windmills on Salt Spring Island!
Of course not. But they use electricity from hydro dams, which the gang greens opposed.
Joe – just how does that hydro electricity get to Salt Spring Island? I know there a few hydro dams on Vancouver Island, but is there really a power line between there and SSI?
Jim Watkins Update on 8kun
The glory and the glitches.
I overdosed on the Blues tonight. Listened to Danny Mark’s for 5 hours. He does the show on Jazz FM out of T zero.
Remember Jim Croce? He has a son AJ who is a musician. AJ hasn’t had the career his dad did but he does some good stuff.
I might suggest, ‘He’s got a Way with Women and he Just got Away with Mine’.
I hate DST.
Wow! From the album:
“He’s on Tap, in a Can, or in a Bottle!”
This is AJ Croce’s version of your song suggestion, which is better? https://youtu.be/seH-JzZVud4
He is the image of his Dad, Jim. I loved all Jim’s songs.
He died too soon!
I hadn’t heard Hanks version. I listened to Hank a lot when I was a kid. He was a great finger picker and had a skookum band. I still like listening to him. ‘Six Pack to Go’. Yeah he’s on tap!
AJ’s version is n’awlins. Gumbo, Dr John.
Yeah who didn’t like Jim Croce. Operator, I’ve Got a Name, I’ll have to Say I Love You in a Song and one of my favs Working at the Car Wash Blues – “In your rubber suit rubbin’ them cars”. Good stuff.
The Left has been running New York City for years. Sure looks like a pleasant place in these pictures. Oddly, couldn’t find in New York papers. I can’t wait for the Left to be in charge again
And now the news this morning as approved by the Liberal Party of Canada. Blackie’s Toronto Star has a major interview with Ralphie The Nazi Hunter Goodale, who explains how wonderful he is, how Blackie is wonderful, the Liberal Party is wonderful, and Nazis are running rampant in Canada. Star is upset that some immigrants don’t want more immigrants, because they like the idea of a country where the majority of people are descendants of people from Britain and Europe. The coordinated effort in Blackie’s media to replace Scheer with someone who will promote abortion, homosexual sex, global warming scams, and whiny indian issues continues. The CBC’s political scrum this morning will discuss that this needs to happen. And Blackie’s CBC interviewed people in downtown Toronto on whether Scheer needs to be replaced. Scheer was a total failure during the election, but its obvious that the bought and paid for media wants a socialist to run the Conservative Party. All political parties in Canada must have the same Liberal policies as dictated by the Laurentian elites. And Blackie continues hiding in B.C. today at taxpayer expense. Funny how the media ranted about Ford hiding, but ignore that Blackie as been avoiding Canadians since the election.
Maybe Ralphie can assist Landslide Annie in her part time job advising Blackie and his crew. She’s already got full time work and apparently she’s doing the job for free so how is that going to pan out? I’d say she may want help, quite the challenge working with Blackie and Buttsy
Rolf is angling for a sinecure. Apple polishing bongo? That’s about the equivalent of having your balls waxed by that tranny. arrrrugh
Able Translators is unable to pay their bills and have stiffed many of the people they hire as contractors to perform translations. That is the CBC story angle.
Normally, I would just read something else, but I sense the real story is not being told here (full disclosure: I have no sympathy for business owners who do not pay their bills and I did not vote for Donald Trump).
Their biggest debtor is Canada Revenue Agency who are owed $500,000 for payroll source deductions and $94,000 in unpaid HST out of $600,000 in total debt (yes CRA is their total effective debt – not really dealt with in the article).
First, let’s look at payroll deductions – $500,000 owed to CRA. Given the previous disclosure of Able’s payroll (hundreds of thousands per year, not millions) that would represent multiple years of non-payment. So Able Translators had hired all these contractors as employees? I highly doubt it. I doubt there are any employees working for Able Translators, only contractors, including the two principal owners (this is not illegal and is very common). One day, someone at CRA probably said “these contractors working for Able Translators are really employees but the company has never paid any source deductions. So we are going to unilaterally declare them as employees for at least the past 5 years and send Able Translators a bill for $500,000. Those contractors never remitted HST on their invoices (probably because they made less than $30,000 per year – again not illegal) so we’ll stiff them for the HST as well.”
It is unlikely that most of the translators would bother to get an HST number, and never collected or remitted HST to CRA. The contractors interviewed describe the arrangement as piecework and something just to pay the bills – not a thriving career with benefits. Therefore, in CRA’s wisdom (I’m betting here as I do not have any direct evidence, in part because the article was written by a lazy dolt) they want HST on all invoices paid by Able Translators submitted by their contractors.
I have been warned about this before (by CRA directly but also by my accountant). There are very specific rules on being a contractor (“the 5 rules”). But CRA can decide that your contractors are actually employees and if you don’t have a good lawyer you could face a very large tax bill. Because the onus is on you to collect the money for CRA, not your contractors and CRA only comes after people who have money.
The article does not explore what actually went wrong at Able Translators. But my issue is CRA would never let anyone get so far behind on their tax bill ($600,000) without freezing their bank accounts and dragging these people onto the carpet for a plea bargain. What is more likely is CRA decided, after a number of years, that Able Translators was structured to avoid paying employee source deductions (by treating potential employees as contractors) and went back several years, reassessing the company and then demanding immediate payment. For a company with ~ $1 million in sales, paying back $0.6 million to CRA would be impossible, even over several years. Also, going forward, the company would have to “hire” its contractors as employees, which would make for a poor business model, given they bid on piecemeal contracts.
In fact, it is a sad industry, because the people who provide translations are not deemed employees of any company. It’s all bid piece meal. The sad part is the companies who benefit from this very efficient business model are the government orgs, hospitals, legal system etc who are allowed to get around using companies without employees, but who themselves have unionized employees with deep benefits. Why don’t hospitals hire full-time translators and put them on union payrolls if this is such a problem?
I have no support for a company that does not pay its contractors. But I sense the real story (CRA is a bully) is not being told.
For those of you who are not familiar with remitting HST, you charge HST in your invoice, get paid, and then remit the HST portion to CRA – either quarterly or annually. You subtract any HST that you paid on invoices to you so you really only pay the difference between what you collect and what you pay. CRA could make the HST payment a one-way transaction, meaning while you did not charge HST on your invoice (you’re a contractor earning less than $30,000/yr for example) CRA deemed that you should have, so they assess you on uncollected HST and demand payment. You can’t go back and collect this HST so you end up paying it directly. It is easier for CRA to collect “unpaid taxes” this way than going after wealthy and well-lawyered tax evaders (such as were revealed in the Panama Papers).
You are likely correct. Canada Revenue Agency likely assesses billions every year that they have no means of collecting. It is often infinitely cheaper to walk away from a business than fight. I don’t know if they get bonuses for assessing uncollectable tax. It sure seems like it.
You are no doubt correct that CRA has assessed contractors as employees. There is a four-prong test:
1. Control – employer has ability & authority to direct worker & establish work procedures, hours, and conditions.
2. Ownership of tools – employer owns tools & equipment.
3. Financial risk – does payday come every Friday?
4. Integration – examines the results of previous three tests to determine intent of parties.
This can get tricky; CRA will ALWAYS want to establish an employer-employee relationship. If the workers had no other interpreting jobs, then it’s going to be difficult for them to claim independent contractor status. In my years of doing taxes, I always warned clients in that position to – somehow – get themselves at least 15% income from independent work. And if said workers were going to a company office to do their interpreting instead of working from their own home computers, Able Translators is dead in the water. The final blow would be if Able paid weekly or monthly, instead of requiring invoices on completion of a translation job and then holding it until the next cheque run.
Watching CTV question period They are talking western alienation and pipelines The best the liberals could muster up to give their views on this is the minister of fisheries and oceans.
I saw a headline on a news site this morning from the Hill Times. Something to this effect, ‘Forget Greenland Trump should offer Statehood to the West’. That isn’t word for word but gets the essential message. The story is behind a firewall.
I guess that sums up the sentiment of the east doesn’t it? In the end why don’t you annoying mouth breathing knuckle draggers just bugger off. Join those other mouth breathing knuckle draggers the Americans.
We had Chretien in Calgary last week. He used the pejorative “tar sands” while addressing the crowd. He knows full well what that means to Albertans but he went ahead and slapped our face with it. He has called us untrustworthy many times. That’s rich coming from him.
Increasingly I can see no way out of this. We are so removed from our eastern masters that reconciliation or accommodation is impossible. Unless Alberta is offered a full partnership in Canada whats the point?
If they believe we are not real Canadians, and our resources are not wanted and are infact a threat to the eastern elites why don’t they insist we just leave? Maybe they would be happy if we joined the US?
LTC Alex Vindman, Democrat plant, or is it whistleblower, or spy, posing as a military officer; actually persona non grata.
Blading your Commander in Chief? Not fit to wear the uniform anymore, he could have a million Purple Hearts, all gone.
If I were in his corps, I’d leave any room he entered. This disloyal Benedict Arnold works for the other side (of the people).
I won’t apologize for believing his disloyalty and dishonor disgust me. He should have resigned long ago.
This superior officer agrees and recounts previous insults to his country and its military:
“Vindman, who was a Major at the time, was sitting in one of the classrooms talking to the US & Russian Soldiers, as well as the young Officers & GS Employees about America, Russia, & Obama. He was apologetic of American culture, laughed about Americans not being educated or worldly, & really talked up Obama & globalism to the point of uncomfortable w/the Russian Soldiers & laugh as if at the expense of the US personnel.”
It was so uncomfortable & unprofessional, one of the GS employees came & told me everything above. I walked over & sat w/in earshot of Vindman, & sure enough, all was confirmed. One comment truly struck me as odd, & it was w/respect to American’s falsely thinking they’re exceptional, when he said, “He [Obama] is working on that now.” And he said it w/a snide ‘I know a secret’ look on his face. I honestly don’t know what it meant, it just sounded like an odd thing to say.”
Regardless, after hearing him bash America a few times in front of subordinates, Russians, & GS Employees, as well as, hearing an earful about globalization, Obama’s plan, etc…I’d had enough. I tapped him on the shoulder & asked him to step outside.”
At that point I verbally reprimanded him for his actions, & I’ll leave it at that, so as not to be unprofessional myself. The bottom-line is LTC Vindman was a partisan Democrat at least as far back as 2012. So much so, junior officers & soldiers felt uncomfortable around him.”
This is not your professional, field-grade officer, who has the character & integrity to do the right thing. Do not let the uniform fool you…he is a political activist in uniform. I pray our nation will drop this hate, vitriol & division, & unite as our founding fathers intended!”
“She claimed women were accused of transphobia more than men, arguing men were not ‘subjected to cries of bigotry and transphobia when they say they don’t want to have sex with a woman with a penis’.”
Time to start a pool. How long before John Brennan’s terrible, no good, very bad day? He’ll probably want to move to Australia.
“(I)f the media reports are true, and Barr and Durham have turned their focus to Brennan and the intelligence community, it is not a matter of vengeance; it is a matter of connecting the dots in congressional testimony and reports, leaks, and media spin, and facts exposed during the three years of panting about supposed Russia collusion. And it all started with Brennan.
****
The evidence suggests, however, that Brennan’s CIA and the intelligence community did much more than merely pass on details about “contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign” to the FBI. The evidence suggests that the CIA and intelligence community—including potentially the intelligence communities of the UK, Italy, and Australia—created the contacts and interactions that they then reported to the FBI as suspicious.”
The NorthWire is Canada’s
Prager U. Check this out.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=ZwOxBKLMTL0
5 things Bernie Sanders should know about Canadian Health Care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B86rlXPAY3g
————————————————————————————————-
L- Are there any provincial elections upcoming in Canada… ?
Yes, this youtube channel is going to have a growing audience.
Thank you Angel, surprisingly interesting
NP
I’m still going to support the PPC one more time while supporting WEXIT at the same time.
They are only the two sane courses for me and really why keep all your eggs in one basket.
As for Kenny joining Wexit I’d rather see a nobody like us get that role than a career politician and that Carbon Tax that Kenny introduced was very telling…
Reminder: set your clocks back this morning at 2 am, except for Saskatchewan. Some history about it:
Was Benjamin Franklin, the Father of DST?
Many sources also credit Benjamin Franklin with being the first to suggest seasonal time change. However, the idea voiced by the American inventor and politician in 1784 can hardly be described as fundamental for the development of modern DST. After all, it did not even involve turning the clocks. In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris, which was entitled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light”, Franklin simply suggested that Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning. What’s more: Franklin meant it as a joke.
But, but, if we have daylight saving time the cows won’t know what time it is. 🙂
But, but, as long as they get a boob job, they don’t care! Ha!
Moooooo!
Will they become…… Mad Cows ?!
hahaha
That would be boo hoo instead of moo moo!
Her cheese will be known as “La Vache Qui Pleure” if the “Laughing Cow” doesn’t get milked!
And, if one makes a mistake, to err is human, to forgive bovine.
DST has always been billed as a way to save electricity so it does seem Ironic that the government of BC, the most environmentally conscious government ever, wants to end DST.
“the most environmentally conscious government ever, wants to end DST.”
And …they sell coal.
And flush their ‘ter-lets’ in the wrong place.
And drive to the USA to buy cheaper gas.
Ah, what else?
BC wants DST year round, as you say it is a way of saving electricity. It does NOT want to end DST.
OK So today we’re falling back to the correct time for our geographic position on the map.(except Sask)
Springing ahead and keeping it there defeats the whole purpose of DST. Unless you could get businesses to start work later in the day during the winter months, the power you would save in the evening would be consumed in the dark AM.
Historical events on this day:
https://www.onthisday.com/events/november/3
In 1957, the Soviets launch their second Sputnik, this time with the dog Laika on board. She died during the mission, though there is still debate as to how it happened. I first heard that she died when her air ran out, but it seems that excessive heat inside her compartment was the cause.
In 1906, SOS was chosen as the official international distress call. The three letters are sent as a complete character–no pause between them. The previous call was CQD (-.-.–.–..) which, according to popular accounts, stood for “come quickly, danger”.
The reason SOS was to be used was because it was easier to remember and easy to send. The letters actually never stood for anything so “save our souls” is, apparently, apocryphal. Also, being 9 digits long, it was hard to mistake for anything else.
Earlier proposals wanted it to be shorter (SO, —…, being one of them, I think), but that might have given the impression that the character being transmitted might be a numeral or punctuation mark. Back then, the main transmission mode was Morse code with the characters being produced by the noise generated by an electrical spark. Any background static could easily obscure what was being transmitted, so a fixed pattern of sounds that was easily recognized was needed.
After the sinking of the Titanic, SOS was widely used.
So what happened to Laika? Although Moscow long insisted that she expired painlessly after about a week in orbit, an official with the Institute for Biological Problems leaked the truth in 2002: Laika died from panic and overheating within hours of takeoff.
The spacecraft circled Earth every hour and 42 minutes, travelling at 18,000 mph. But after five to seven hours into the flight, all signs of life received from the spacecraft stopped.
Poor dog. She died of fright, B A, it’s as simple as that. The ruskies lied.
Over five months later, after 2,570 orbits, Sputnik II—including Laika’s remains—disintegrated during re-entry on April 14, 1958.
Maybe if Laika knew Morse code … no, she wasn’t as brilliant nor famous as the horse who could make change, spell names, entertain people at public gatherings etc. The Ruskies said she was just a stray. She gave her life for mankind, and the study of space travel.
She’s in dog heaven now and we’re still reading and writing about her. She is famous.
Considering that Laika flew on only the second satellite ever put into orbit, it’s also possible that she might have perished to an equipment malfunction.
It was all largely for propaganda purposes. She became so famous that a brand of cigarettes was named after her.
By the way, the Soviets have long favoured dogs as experimental passengers while the Americans preferred monkeys and chimpanzees.
The Russians claimed she was a stray dog and named her “Laika” which in Russian means “the barker.” So since “after 5 to 7 hours into the flight all signs of life received from the spacecraft stopped,” likely, the people monitoring her could no longer hear her bark. They gave no other info on how else they were monitoring her. Was there a camera in the craft? Why waste the money on one.
Flying at 18,000 mph she likely had motion sickness and lacked air. She was sacrificed – killed for science.
As an engineer who loves dogs you are being generous to attribute her demise to equipment malfunction.
Your endearing quality is admired.
Considering the problems that the Americans had in getting a satellite into orbit, Laika was the Soviets thumbing their noses at them.
Getting into space has everything to do with weight. Even if Sergei Korolev’s team was able to design a camera system, it would likely have been too bulky or heavy for it to be successfully launched.
During those early days of spaceflight, failures were common. Boosters blew up on the launch pad or shortly after liftoff. Payloads often didn’t deploy or couldn’t. Even if they were able to fly free from their boosters, it was a matter of luck if the machinery actually worked, so it’s quite possible that equipment failure might have been responsible for Laika’s death.
As an engineer who loves dogs you are being generous to attribute her demise to equipment malfunction.
Your endearing quality is admired.
Thank you.
Even the Sputnik team regretted Laika’s death later on. The only reason to kill her was to make the Soviet Union look good at a time when the Politburo’s underwriters still hoped to salvage their experiment in central planning. Little of scientific value was learned from her death.
I do hope that one day we hear more of the humans sent to their deaths in space before Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin was not, of course, the first man in space, just the first to come back alive. Several poor saps blown up on the launch pad or asphyxiated or roasted alive in their capsules like Laika. Their deaths were carefully hushed up.
Sputnik was launched October 4/5, 1957 (depending on which source one uses as reference, due to time zone differences). The first American attempt was Vanguard and that failed on the launch paid nearly 3 weeks later.
It was an embarrassment and the press was merciless, calling it “Flopnik” or “Kaputnik”. Just to kick the Americans while they were down, the Soviets launched their second Sputnik with Laika on board. The only scientific return was to show that a mammal could at least survive the flight into orbit. As I mentioned earlier, it was purely for propaganda purposes and I’m sure Nikita Khruschev was pleased.
There have been persistent rumours over the years that Yuri Gagarin wasn’t the first man in space, let alone the first one to return from orbit. For example, there’s the well-known account about a radio amateur in, I think, Italy who allegedly heard a Soviet crew in trouble, though that might be more in the purview of The National Enquirer. (Further to that story, during one Gemini mission, the Americans supposedly passed by that spacecraft and found two dead cosmonauts on board.)
There have also been stories about cosmonauts injured or killed during a number of launch attempts. One, though, that has a degree of credibilty, though never officially confirmed, concerns Vladimir Ilyushin, the son of aircraft designer Sergei Ilyushin.
Assuming he did make it into orbit, apparently Ilyushin’s spacecraft had a malfunction and he couldn’t re-enter when he was supposed to. The result was that he was up there for longer than planned and when he did manage to come back, he landed in China. The story goes on to mention that he was apparently injured after he ejected from his spacecraft but, due to lousy diplomatic relations between the Soviets and the Chinese, he was detained for about a year.
That didn’t suit the Kremlin as he wasn’t available to be trotted out for the next May Day parade. Gagarin, on the other hand, went up, and came back within a day, with time to spare to be put on exhibit.
Apparently a few years ago, a journalist asked Ilyushin about his mission but he had no comment. Whether it was because that mission never happened or he was “persuaded” not to say anything remains unclear.
Corrections:
SOS in Morse code is …_ _ _… three dots followed by three dashes followed by three dots.
CQD is _._._ _._ _.. dash dot dash dot for C; dash dash dot dash for Q; dash dot dot for D.
SO is …_ _ _ dot dot dot for S and dash dash dash for O.
I stand corrected on SO. Serves me right for doing writing stuff like that so late at night while fighting with a different computer that had become crash-happy at about the same time.
The reason for adopting SOS was to make it distinct even when there’s a lot of background noise, particularly when weak signals are involved. It’s unlikely that …—… could be randomly produced.
A few years ago, someone speculated about the famous transatlantic transmission test conducted by Marconi. The signal that was transmitted was admittedly weak and it was suggested that it had such low power that it might have been indistinguishable from background noise. Marconi might not have actually heard that particular transmission but imagined he did. No fraud or deception were intended. It’s just that it might have been hard for him to tell what sounds were noise and what were the actual signal, though there’s no way of confirming that.
Subsequent tests, though, confirmed that it was possible to transmit radio signals over such long distances.
Spark transmission is no longer in common use, though there are some radio amateurs who like to tinker with it. Nowadays, continuous wave (CW) is the mode used for Morse code. If nothing else, it’s hard to mistake a series of tones for background noise.
The general rule of thumb is that if one can’t even hear CW traffic on the bands, then propagation conditions are indeed poor.
Was in the Forces back in the early ’70’s
Comm research they called it.
We had to learn morse…flash cards at first
Then simulated morse exercises:
SMX: 1000 Charachters at a set speed….beginning at, If memory serves me, right 5 wpm. & working up to 18-21 wpm. One needed to do 5 straight exercises with less than 5 wrong characters to move up a speed.
It was at this time that I learnd the Russian Language had 4 extra letters..!! and as such, 4 estra morse characters. So our special Underwood typewriters (yea), had those extra keys. Bar h, Bar i, bar o and bar e – not 100% sure….again this was a LONG time ago..lol.
We would practise at night with a higher speed SMX and then after 3-4 of those, go back to the speed we were working on…just to get our brain working quicker.
When doing this transcribing of morse to typewiter….your hands would be working 3-4 characters behind what you were hearing.
Interesting times.
Steakman:
I learned my Morse code by first listening to a cassette tape I purchased from the American Radio Relay League. After I got my callsign, I cobbled together a practice apparatus using a straight key I bought at a ham flea market and a buzzer I had in my junk box.
Right after I got my callsign, the requirements for full band privileges changed. It used to be that in order to operate below 30 MHz, in what we call the high frequency part of the spectrum, one needed to pass a Morse code exam. (By then, one simply needed to demonstrate capability at 5 words per minute.) If one had a high score on the Basic exam, and one passed the one for the Advanced certificate, one could operate on the HF bands without needing code qualification.
I had already started on my Morse qualification when that change came into effect and I might have been able to get an exemption as I recall my Basic exam score was high enough. But I figured I may as well get my Morse certificate as not only had I started on it by the time of that change, I thought it would be useful to have.
I eventually passed both my Morse and Advanced exams. I’ve never used Morse code on the air, but being able to understand it came in handy once in a while. For example, several ham satellites have telemetry beacons in which they transmit operational data as a string of Morse code characters, beginning and ending each transmission with their ID.
Add stand corrected on CQD. You need to refresh your code skills?
LR:
I don’t think so. When I’ve used two dashes for Q and D, they show up on the page as if they’re single. So, dah-dit-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dit is -.-.–.–..
Enough! Time to put on your glasses!
So, dah-dit-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dit is -.-.–.–.. Wrong; your code characters are cnd not cqd; you ran your dashes together making 2 dashes look like 1 dash.
C is _._.
N is _.
Q is _ _._
D is _..
So, dah-dit-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dah-dah-dit-dit is _._._ _._ _..
I’m sorry I even raised the matter. Perhaps it’s time I quit commenting on SDA.
@ 11:34 pm B
You’d be missed.
Don’t let the surly rude ones get to you.
Using your house as an Air BnB is like inviting 20 hitchhikers into it.
https://apnews.com/47f1797489eb4ab3928cd56aacfbfcec
100 black hitchhikers…
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Investigation-Continues-in-Shooting-that-Left-4-Dead-at-Orinda-Airbnb-Party-564266771.html
blacks killing blacks.
Forgive me if I found someone willing to talk EPL … Kenji.
Today (yesterday for you eastern folks) was very peculiar for the EPL. The top three teams in the table played teams all in the bottom five. They all managed to barely eke out 2-1 victories. Liverpool was behind as late as 87 minutes. Manchester City scored the winning goal at 86 minutes, and Chelsea had to make a brilliant save at the death. Does this mean the EPL is really that even top to bottom? (I doubt it.) Does it mean the bottom teams are taken too much for granted? (Probably, but would that explain it?)
Of course, I am biased, and I believe Liverpool either won 3-0 or 4-1. If Firmino was off side for his goal, then Aston Villa had three players off side on theirs (all three leaning forward with shoulders off side, just like Firmino had armpit off side, haha). And the Aston Villa player definitely moved his arm up to block Firmino’s (?) shot. I saw a slow mo and the arm was down before the ball was struck, and raised to chest level to block the shot. No matter, Liverpool won. But maybe the officials have been instructed to bring Liverpool back to the pack anyway they could. After all, a tight race generates more interest than a runaway, which it will become if Liverpool beats Manchester City next game.
My, my, but aren’t you ALL IN for Liverpool! Yes, VAR (more accurately, the rules for offside) need some adjustment. When the official office of the FA has to “clarify” why a shoulder pit can indeed be offside during halftime … you KNOW we’ve got a problem. But you seemed to miss Mane’s dive which gave Liverpool the winning goal. Ha! Seems Pep Guardiola saw the dive, and reported it to the Press. The mind games BEGIN for this weekends BIG showdown. God, I’d love to meet you in the local Westside “Liverpool Bar” for the match this weekend!
I feel like a genius this morning, for selecting Lundstam on my fantasy team! The big oaf scored BIG points for me on the weekend! But he may be emblematic of your marveling over the bottom of the table. Lundstram expected to be looking for his 10th team this fall, after being dumped by Everton as a prospect, and then a long list of other teams. But, as he said when interviewed, he worked extra hard over the summer to improve his skill and fitness, and voila! He is making a HUGE impact in the EPL … and an even bigger one for lowly Sheffield United. He (and his manager) are why I LOVE the EPL. There are so many factors that go into futball success. To me, it’s like playing chess on a moving chessboard. So many pieces and tactics to adjust jusssssst right … opponent by opponent, and moment by moment.
Truth be told, I watch as many games simultaneously on Sat. and Sun. I have NBC Gold and multiple screens running. Early in the season, Lundstram caught my eye. I really liked the way he was playing … and how the manager was deploying him in attack. It jumped off the screen as a hugely successful organization of attack. And unlike a team like Newcastle, who huddle back in their third and clog the box … SHU are quite aggressive in attack. So I added Lundstram. No, I’m not a genius … he’s also a CHEAP player which helps me leverage super high salary players.
BTW … Lundstram scored 21-points for me this weekend … Sterling earned me 1-point. Sterling is one of the top 3 most EXPENSIVE players in my fantasy league. Enough said.
Sorry, my friend, Mane’s “dive” got nothing but a yellow card for simulation for him. I didn’t even count that for the 4-1 score. Contact was made, initiated by the defender. Maybe he didn’t have to go down. Or maybe it was a PK if it happened to someone else than Mane.
Anyway, he answered the referee in the best way possible. Mane scored the winning goal on a header off a corner.
Sheffield United are a very good side. They defeated Arsenal, drew Chelsea, and lost to Liverpool and Leicester City by one goal each. They are one of the five other top six clubs Manchester City have yet to play in the first round robin. For a just promoted side, they are very aggressive and fearless.
I’m just giving you stick about Mane’s dubious dive. Yep, then he went on to score the winner. As I said, he’s been picking up the slack of Salah’s drop off. I called SHU “bottom of the table”, because that is the typical status of a newly promoted team. Let’s see how long they can stay up top. So far, so good. Hope they stay at the top. I LOVE parity in professional sport.
Despite being a lifelong GS Warrior fan … I wasn’t as thrilled about their recent domination, as the rest of the Bay Area. Sending a top “All Star” team against everyone else in the league is just annoying to me. When I coached my son’s Little League team, there were two dads who pulled every trick in the book (brother option, and “injured” player, for eg.) to stack their team with the very best athletes/baseball players OUTSIDE the yearly draft. It allowed them to go through the season undefeated. They fancied themselves as “brilliant” coaches/managers. What they were … was CHEATERS. My little ragtag team faced them in the playoff FINAL … my pitcher had a bad day (everything he threw was right down the pipe) and he got shelled. It was 6-0 before I pulled him … crying … as he was being literally LAUGHED off the field by our opponents (including the coaches). So, I don’t have much use for a team that can stack itself with All Stars. Sheesh, there’s a reason pro sports absolutely NEEDS a salary cap.
Now, do you want to get me started about PAYING college athletes proportional to the revenue their sport earns the college? There’s no such thing as a “student athlete” … “amateur athlete” in the top NCAA Divisions. That myth ended somewhere in the 1950’s/60’s.
Manchester City is the team that stacks itself with the best team money can buy, paid for by a filthy rich oil sheikh who bought the championship. That is the team easy to hate.
Liverpool is owned by the owners of the Boston Red Sox, and they run it as a business. They do not have a bottomless pit of money like City. Until two years ago, they were more sellers than buyers. I’ll give you one word on what changed: Courtinho. Liverpool paid 13M Euro for him from Inter, who thought so little of him they didn’t insist on any residuals. Liverpool had the advantage of a seller’s market next, Courtinho wanted to go to Barca, Barca wanted him, and upped the price to 145M Euro, a ridiculous sum of money Liverpool couldn’t turn down. They made a net of 132M Euro for him. That was why they could afford to buy Virgil and Alisson, two keys that made them probably the best defensive team anywhere. Their best acquisition last summer was Fabinho, who had to climb his way up the ladder of Liverpool midfielders, the least regarded Liverpool unit, to become a key player.
You can say they lucked out, or had an eye for talent. I’d say the latter, because they also got their entire world best front line relatively on the cheap. Robertson was a free transfer. Alexander Arnold is homegrown. The players I mentioned are the ones considered world class. Anyway, none of the other players even caused a ripple on the transfer market. What turned out to be a key transfer of the reserve keeper was even free. Give credit to the current Liverpool management team.
I have no problem with the team I root for having great players because they have an eye for talent. That is part of what it is all about. The rent a players the Dodgers paid a lot for all turn out to be disasters. Their best players are either home grown, or gotten on the cheap and developed. In that way they are very like the Liverpool Reds. And they are the only two professional teams I follow. They and the Bruins are the only teams I care anything about. I followed the Lakers when they had Bruin alums plus Jerry West, but stopped when I intensely disliked their subsequent superstars.
And Liverpool is not a new thing. I was a Liverpool fan in Hong Kong, before I went to UCLA and before the Dodgers moved to L.A. (same year, 1958.) In the old days when they were good, it wasn’t always easy to get news. And they had a down period when the English first division changed its name to EPL. And I am ecstatic they are at the top again.
P.S. In case you think I am paranoiac about the EPL wanting a tighter race, the official EPL 18 minute highlight of the Aston Villa-Liverpool match (with its logo as stamp of approval) does NOT include the following:
the yellow card on Mane for “diving” in the penalty area
the disallowed Firmino goal for “offside of the armpit”
the waved off handball by the Aston Villa defender in the penalty area
Are those not meaningful or interesting enough events in the game to be included in eighteen minutes of “highlights”? Surely they are pivotal events. Or does the EPL simply want people to forget that they happened, because the calls are indefensible and wrong? That’s one potential goal and two potential penalty kicks all called against Liverpool.
Yes, ManCity has an enormous payroll funded by men in dirty nightshirts. But lest I reveal any prejudices, I don’t think much of Russian Oligarch money either.
Look, I am a lifelong Oakland A’s fan. I know a thing or two about homegrown talent, and getting something (a LOT, actually) for nothing. Our Oaktown payroll is paltry, yet we always manage to be knocking at the playoff door, if not the Series door. I call THAT … genius. How do I feel about being the Farm System for the NY Yankees? Quite proud, actually.
I am first and foremost a midfield enthusiast. I quite loved Cutinho’s game, and how he was used by Klopp. However, Filipe made the mistake of grabbing the stack of cash negotiated by his Agent. Now he is a castaway, out on loan, riding the pine for a failing Bayern team. I distinctly remember Klopp WARNING him about the mistake he was about to make. Because I believe in Free Agency, and didn’t begrudge Cutinho his payday … but the “fatherly tone” of Klopp’s warning seemed really sincere, and born of concern – not sour grapes. Yep. Klopp was right. Cutinho and his Agent have gotten €€filthy rich€€ (notwithstanding the confiscatory EU taxes) … but he’s got nowhere to go now … but to China … or the MLS. Ouch!!
I see you are a bitter ManCity HATER … but you DO have to admit that their team is more than just a high priced all star assemblage. Pep has got all those egos working superbly well together (when they aren’t having off-days). And LOOK! Liverpool DESERVE to lift the cup after losing out in THE most competitive, quality, league run EVER … only to be edged-out by “Shitty” (as my Arsenal-loving son calls them). I would be thrilled if it’s … YOUR turn.
It seems many Germans are getting fed up with windmills
Whoosh…
Whoosh…
Whoosh…
But here’s a thought: perhaps Toronto could pilot more windmills. Put them next to the 401. The highway noise should drown out the whoosh,…whoosh, whoosh.
Second pilot project: put windmills on parliament hill, right next to Rideau cottage, and throw in a bunch at Harrington lake (Trudeau’s summer home).
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/11/02/germanys-giant-windmills-are-wildly-unpopular/
And they absolutely need to be installed near C Barbie’s, Butts’ Suzuki’s place, and Gore’s.
On a recent road trip I noted: There are no windmills on Salt Spring Island!
Of course not. But they use electricity from hydro dams, which the gang greens opposed.
Joe – just how does that hydro electricity get to Salt Spring Island? I know there a few hydro dams on Vancouver Island, but is there really a power line between there and SSI?
Jim Watkins Update on 8kun
The glory and the glitches.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PUYf8E7PHcg
Q is back up now as well with many drops…
See then here
https://qanon.pub/
I overdosed on the Blues tonight. Listened to Danny Mark’s for 5 hours. He does the show on Jazz FM out of T zero.
Remember Jim Croce? He has a son AJ who is a musician. AJ hasn’t had the career his dad did but he does some good stuff.
I might suggest, ‘He’s got a Way with Women and he Just got Away with Mine’.
I hate DST.
Wow! From the album:
“He’s on Tap, in a Can, or in a Bottle!”
https://youtu.be/TAxs8OYcLd4
” I’ve Got A Name”
By AJ Croce
Remember when his Dad, Jim did this song?
This was a HIT!
https://youtu.be/3_uAyTm60Po
Jim Croce’s version is used in the soundtrack for the Jeff Bridges movie The Last American Hero.
my kind of blues..
Beth Hart w/Joe Bonamassa (as good as it gets for Blues Guitarists)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDmfoT9Rrhw
This is AJ Croce’s version of your song suggestion, which is better?
https://youtu.be/seH-JzZVud4
He is the image of his Dad, Jim. I loved all Jim’s songs.
He died too soon!
I hadn’t heard Hanks version. I listened to Hank a lot when I was a kid. He was a great finger picker and had a skookum band. I still like listening to him. ‘Six Pack to Go’. Yeah he’s on tap!
AJ’s version is n’awlins. Gumbo, Dr John.
Yeah who didn’t like Jim Croce. Operator, I’ve Got a Name, I’ll have to Say I Love You in a Song and one of my favs Working at the Car Wash Blues – “In your rubber suit rubbin’ them cars”. Good stuff.
“Time in a Bottle”
By Jim Croce
https://youtu.be/i6rLH-X5fR8
The Left has been running New York City for years. Sure looks like a pleasant place in these pictures. Oddly, couldn’t find in New York papers. I can’t wait for the Left to be in charge again
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7641627/Anti-cop-protesters-Brooklyn-block-traffic-vandalize-bus-say-Dont-let-pigs-touch-us.html
And now the news this morning as approved by the Liberal Party of Canada. Blackie’s Toronto Star has a major interview with Ralphie The Nazi Hunter Goodale, who explains how wonderful he is, how Blackie is wonderful, the Liberal Party is wonderful, and Nazis are running rampant in Canada. Star is upset that some immigrants don’t want more immigrants, because they like the idea of a country where the majority of people are descendants of people from Britain and Europe. The coordinated effort in Blackie’s media to replace Scheer with someone who will promote abortion, homosexual sex, global warming scams, and whiny indian issues continues. The CBC’s political scrum this morning will discuss that this needs to happen. And Blackie’s CBC interviewed people in downtown Toronto on whether Scheer needs to be replaced. Scheer was a total failure during the election, but its obvious that the bought and paid for media wants a socialist to run the Conservative Party. All political parties in Canada must have the same Liberal policies as dictated by the Laurentian elites. And Blackie continues hiding in B.C. today at taxpayer expense. Funny how the media ranted about Ford hiding, but ignore that Blackie as been avoiding Canadians since the election.
Maybe Ralphie can assist Landslide Annie in her part time job advising Blackie and his crew. She’s already got full time work and apparently she’s doing the job for free so how is that going to pan out? I’d say she may want help, quite the challenge working with Blackie and Buttsy
Rolf is angling for a sinecure. Apple polishing bongo? That’s about the equivalent of having your balls waxed by that tranny. arrrrugh
Able Translators is unable to pay their bills and have stiffed many of the people they hire as contractors to perform translations. That is the CBC story angle.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/able-translations-debts-workers-1.5343083
Normally, I would just read something else, but I sense the real story is not being told here (full disclosure: I have no sympathy for business owners who do not pay their bills and I did not vote for Donald Trump).
Their biggest debtor is Canada Revenue Agency who are owed $500,000 for payroll source deductions and $94,000 in unpaid HST out of $600,000 in total debt (yes CRA is their total effective debt – not really dealt with in the article).
First, let’s look at payroll deductions – $500,000 owed to CRA. Given the previous disclosure of Able’s payroll (hundreds of thousands per year, not millions) that would represent multiple years of non-payment. So Able Translators had hired all these contractors as employees? I highly doubt it. I doubt there are any employees working for Able Translators, only contractors, including the two principal owners (this is not illegal and is very common). One day, someone at CRA probably said “these contractors working for Able Translators are really employees but the company has never paid any source deductions. So we are going to unilaterally declare them as employees for at least the past 5 years and send Able Translators a bill for $500,000. Those contractors never remitted HST on their invoices (probably because they made less than $30,000 per year – again not illegal) so we’ll stiff them for the HST as well.”
It is unlikely that most of the translators would bother to get an HST number, and never collected or remitted HST to CRA. The contractors interviewed describe the arrangement as piecework and something just to pay the bills – not a thriving career with benefits. Therefore, in CRA’s wisdom (I’m betting here as I do not have any direct evidence, in part because the article was written by a lazy dolt) they want HST on all invoices paid by Able Translators submitted by their contractors.
I have been warned about this before (by CRA directly but also by my accountant). There are very specific rules on being a contractor (“the 5 rules”). But CRA can decide that your contractors are actually employees and if you don’t have a good lawyer you could face a very large tax bill. Because the onus is on you to collect the money for CRA, not your contractors and CRA only comes after people who have money.
The article does not explore what actually went wrong at Able Translators. But my issue is CRA would never let anyone get so far behind on their tax bill ($600,000) without freezing their bank accounts and dragging these people onto the carpet for a plea bargain. What is more likely is CRA decided, after a number of years, that Able Translators was structured to avoid paying employee source deductions (by treating potential employees as contractors) and went back several years, reassessing the company and then demanding immediate payment. For a company with ~ $1 million in sales, paying back $0.6 million to CRA would be impossible, even over several years. Also, going forward, the company would have to “hire” its contractors as employees, which would make for a poor business model, given they bid on piecemeal contracts.
In fact, it is a sad industry, because the people who provide translations are not deemed employees of any company. It’s all bid piece meal. The sad part is the companies who benefit from this very efficient business model are the government orgs, hospitals, legal system etc who are allowed to get around using companies without employees, but who themselves have unionized employees with deep benefits. Why don’t hospitals hire full-time translators and put them on union payrolls if this is such a problem?
I have no support for a company that does not pay its contractors. But I sense the real story (CRA is a bully) is not being told.
For those of you who are not familiar with remitting HST, you charge HST in your invoice, get paid, and then remit the HST portion to CRA – either quarterly or annually. You subtract any HST that you paid on invoices to you so you really only pay the difference between what you collect and what you pay. CRA could make the HST payment a one-way transaction, meaning while you did not charge HST on your invoice (you’re a contractor earning less than $30,000/yr for example) CRA deemed that you should have, so they assess you on uncollected HST and demand payment. You can’t go back and collect this HST so you end up paying it directly. It is easier for CRA to collect “unpaid taxes” this way than going after wealthy and well-lawyered tax evaders (such as were revealed in the Panama Papers).
You are likely correct. Canada Revenue Agency likely assesses billions every year that they have no means of collecting. It is often infinitely cheaper to walk away from a business than fight. I don’t know if they get bonuses for assessing uncollectable tax. It sure seems like it.
You are no doubt correct that CRA has assessed contractors as employees. There is a four-prong test:
1. Control – employer has ability & authority to direct worker & establish work procedures, hours, and conditions.
2. Ownership of tools – employer owns tools & equipment.
3. Financial risk – does payday come every Friday?
4. Integration – examines the results of previous three tests to determine intent of parties.
This can get tricky; CRA will ALWAYS want to establish an employer-employee relationship. If the workers had no other interpreting jobs, then it’s going to be difficult for them to claim independent contractor status. In my years of doing taxes, I always warned clients in that position to – somehow – get themselves at least 15% income from independent work. And if said workers were going to a company office to do their interpreting instead of working from their own home computers, Able Translators is dead in the water. The final blow would be if Able paid weekly or monthly, instead of requiring invoices on completion of a translation job and then holding it until the next cheque run.
Watching CTV question period They are talking western alienation and pipelines The best the liberals could muster up to give their views on this is the minister of fisheries and oceans.
I saw a headline on a news site this morning from the Hill Times. Something to this effect, ‘Forget Greenland Trump should offer Statehood to the West’. That isn’t word for word but gets the essential message. The story is behind a firewall.
I guess that sums up the sentiment of the east doesn’t it? In the end why don’t you annoying mouth breathing knuckle draggers just bugger off. Join those other mouth breathing knuckle draggers the Americans.
We had Chretien in Calgary last week. He used the pejorative “tar sands” while addressing the crowd. He knows full well what that means to Albertans but he went ahead and slapped our face with it. He has called us untrustworthy many times. That’s rich coming from him.
Increasingly I can see no way out of this. We are so removed from our eastern masters that reconciliation or accommodation is impossible. Unless Alberta is offered a full partnership in Canada whats the point?
If they believe we are not real Canadians, and our resources are not wanted and are infact a threat to the eastern elites why don’t they insist we just leave? Maybe they would be happy if we joined the US?
LTC Alex Vindman, Democrat plant, or is it whistleblower, or spy, posing as a military officer; actually persona non grata.
Blading your Commander in Chief? Not fit to wear the uniform anymore, he could have a million Purple Hearts, all gone.
If I were in his corps, I’d leave any room he entered. This disloyal Benedict Arnold works for the other side (of the people).
I won’t apologize for believing his disloyalty and dishonor disgust me. He should have resigned long ago.
This superior officer agrees and recounts previous insults to his country and its military:
“Vindman, who was a Major at the time, was sitting in one of the classrooms talking to the US & Russian Soldiers, as well as the young Officers & GS Employees about America, Russia, & Obama. He was apologetic of American culture, laughed about Americans not being educated or worldly, & really talked up Obama & globalism to the point of uncomfortable w/the Russian Soldiers & laugh as if at the expense of the US personnel.”
It was so uncomfortable & unprofessional, one of the GS employees came & told me everything above. I walked over & sat w/in earshot of Vindman, & sure enough, all was confirmed. One comment truly struck me as odd, & it was w/respect to American’s falsely thinking they’re exceptional, when he said, “He [Obama] is working on that now.” And he said it w/a snide ‘I know a secret’ look on his face. I honestly don’t know what it meant, it just sounded like an odd thing to say.”
Regardless, after hearing him bash America a few times in front of subordinates, Russians, & GS Employees, as well as, hearing an earful about globalization, Obama’s plan, etc…I’d had enough. I tapped him on the shoulder & asked him to step outside.”
At that point I verbally reprimanded him for his actions, & I’ll leave it at that, so as not to be unprofessional myself. The bottom-line is LTC Vindman was a partisan Democrat at least as far back as 2012. So much so, junior officers & soldiers felt uncomfortable around him.”
This is not your professional, field-grade officer, who has the character & integrity to do the right thing. Do not let the uniform fool you…he is a political activist in uniform. I pray our nation will drop this hate, vitriol & division, & unite as our founding fathers intended!”
https://twitter.com/Jim_Hickman13/status/1190077859152445440
PJ Media:
Largest Child Sacrifice Graveyard Strikes Huge Blow to Native American Innocence Myth
Yeah those white opressors
Woman claims only women birth children. Gets slammed. Doubles down as a feminist. Gets crushed. Trans 2, women nil.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7643251/Charity-hounds-birth-coach-post-saying-women-children.html
So she tries to blame men…
“She claimed women were accused of transphobia more than men, arguing men were not ‘subjected to cries of bigotry and transphobia when they say they don’t want to have sex with a woman with a penis’.”
Gets crushed again.
Trans 3 – women no score.
B-B-Baby You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.
https://youtu.be/kXy2oan92BE
Steyn’s song of the week.
Time to start a pool. How long before John Brennan’s terrible, no good, very bad day? He’ll probably want to move to Australia.
“(I)f the media reports are true, and Barr and Durham have turned their focus to Brennan and the intelligence community, it is not a matter of vengeance; it is a matter of connecting the dots in congressional testimony and reports, leaks, and media spin, and facts exposed during the three years of panting about supposed Russia collusion. And it all started with Brennan.
****
The evidence suggests, however, that Brennan’s CIA and the intelligence community did much more than merely pass on details about “contacts and interactions between Russian officials and U.S. persons involved in the Trump campaign” to the FBI. The evidence suggests that the CIA and intelligence community—including potentially the intelligence communities of the UK, Italy, and Australia—created the contacts and interactions that they then reported to the FBI as suspicious.”
https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/25/all-the-russia-collusion-clues-are-beginning-to-point-back-to-john-brennan/