Author: Dennis

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Let Them Eat Taser nannystate New Governor Wuhan Flu 15 Comments

There’s an episode of Seinfeld where Kramer tries to explain to Jerry how big companies “just write off” expenses they can’t recoup. It seems that Canada is now run by Cosmo Kramer. I’m sure the losses were worth every penny when it comes to keeping Grandma safe though.

But when the government expects not to be paid back, it writes off the debt and strikes it from its ledgers.

Audits of the government’s consolidated financial statements for the last fiscal year show Ottawa wrote off $4.5 billion tied to COVID-19 benefits — up sharply from $26 million the previous year.

Housing Bust?

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing Little Known Facts 11 Comments

In the recent past, variable rate mortgages were seen as a sweet deal when interest rates were falling. Not so much now that they are going the other way.

As borrowing costs began to rise, many variable-rate-fixed-payment-mortgage holders made lump-sum payments or locked in their rate when it came time to renew to avoid the worst of the increase. But Mendes said those who didn’t take such steps could be staring at an increase of 50 per cent in their payments this fall and winter.

Well, at least Canada isn’t Paraguay. At least not yet.

 

Coudes Vers Le Bas!*

Canada’s Bolsheviks New Governor There Goes The Narrative 24 Comments

If your nation’s alleged goal is to somehow “show those Americans who’s boss”, news like this probably won’t do much for your credibility. In any case, someone should let Blubber Dougie know before he opens his trap again.

Hydro-Québec has released a report suggesting it may need to import electricity from neighbouring provinces or the United States within the next three years.

The utility expects this demand could cause it to face energy deficits as early as 2029.

*Elbows Down!

A Bonfire Of Investor Cash?

AI Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing Tech 6 Comments

It’s starting to look like “build it and they will come” isn’t working as well as hoped for the AI revolution. Could they do the same as Netflix and make users sit through commercials in addition to paying subscription fees?

User demand is just one side of the AI market equation, and the businesses churning out sophisticated and expensive models have to — or will have to, eventually — generate revenue to cover their heightened costs. The economics of the still-new and messy AI industry suggest that even healthy demand can’t always sustain the AI tools they’re selling. Not at these prices — for the users (cheap) and for the corporate compute (expensive; just look at the computing bills).

Une Autre Hissy Fit

Canada’s Bolsheviks New Governor The Tolerant Left 26 Comments

Please, Quebec. Either have a referendum and become an independent country, or accept the fact that you’re simply a province like any other. It’s beyond annoying to watch you trying to have this both ways.

St-Pierre Plamondon chose not to attend after saying he would not accept being reduced to the role of a “spectator” without the opportunity to speak or negotiate on Quebec’s behalf.

Hitting A Wall?

AI Google Commemorative Logos You'll Never See Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing Tech 14 Comments

That’s a pretty steep drop in stock value by any measure. Why don’t they just use AI to develop a trading algorithm to overcome such annoying problems?

Alphabet is one of the most influential stocks on Wall Street because it’s one of the largest, and its loss of 12.3% had it heading toward its worst day since it began trading more than 20 years ago. It was under pressure to at least meet analysts’ expectations for growth amid concerns about how much it’s spending to invest in AI.

Update. (from Kate)

Stranded Assets

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing More Money Than Brains There Goes The Narrative 6 Comments

Contrary to what these people may have believed, they didn’t actually buy a floating house. They bought a share in a boat which is now permanently docked because there’s no money for fuel. Now they’ll have to buy another house while the value of the current “house” goes to zero. That’ll be a fun retirement.

Its Florida-based operator, Villa Vie Residences, said monthly fuel expenses per cabin that historically averaged $1,800 have reached an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia due to the war in Iran. The company said it sought to reduce fuel consumption by slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port, but was unable to offset the surging costs.

 

The Devil In The Details

Canada’s Bolsheviks New Governor We Are All Treaty People 40 Comments

I’m all for abolishing the Indian Act and getting rid of racial identity documents too. But what’s going to replace that? Years ago when I ran for public office I told a group of aboriginal chiefs that I thought reserves should be turned into municipalities like any other. That suggestion was met with a wave of outrage. My guess is that Canada’s mini-Soviet Unions will get nothing more than a political facelift should this idea go anywhere.

Kinew said he feels the Indian Act should be abolished altogether. He held up his First Nations status card, which he said identifies him as an “Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act.”

Flying By The Seat Of Our Pants

Little Known Facts New Governor 33 Comments

If Canada has already taken delivery of some F-35s, what would be achieved by switching suppliers now? I can’t imagine that anything useful would arise out of trying to fly and maintain two fleets of very different fighter jets. If we go ahead with that, it’s pretty much like scoring an own goal.

Canada has received its first pair of new F-35 fighter jets, with Ottawa still deliberating on how many of the American planes it will buy.

The Royal Canadian Air Force announced receiving the two Lockheed Martin jets Friday on social media with a photo from Phoenix showing one plane with a maple-leaf roundel.

Ring Of Stupidity

Canada’s Bolsheviks Chief Big Screen TV New Governor We Are All Treaty People 25 Comments

Who in their right mind would spend two billion dollars on a road that some ungrateful residents are promising to instantly blockade? Canada, that’s who. And that’s in a region where the national highway largely remains a two lane road.

Neskantaga First Nation and Attawapiskat First Nation have built a settlement where the proposed road will cross the Attawapiskat River. The Canadian Press visited the region last year, including the settlement, where community members plan to block the road whenever construction crews arrive, years from now.

Money For Nothing

Canada’s Bolsheviks Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing nannystate New Governor 16 Comments

Here are the results of the latest Carney/Blubber Dougie love-in: ever since Canada decided not to bother with any more trade negotiations with the US, taxpayers will now be expected to backfill the losses of those affected by the standoff.

A new “joint steel action fund” that includes $3.5 billion in funding from Canada and $1.7 billion from Ontario, spread out over five years, will assist steel companies in expanding the types of products they make.

The overall plan also includes $2.5 billion for the automotive sector — with the federal government chipping in $1.5 billion.

Credit Blues

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 7 Comments

It looks like Manitoba and Saskatchewan farmers aren’t buying the same volume of farm equipment they used to. If you look at sticker prices and interest rates these days, that should come as no surprise.

The financial difficulties followed AgWest’s expansion into Saskatchewan after its 2023 acquisition by Dutch-based Zweegers Equipment Group.

Court records show AgWest has approximately $73.7 million in liabilities and $75.8 million in book assets, most of which consist of equipment inventory.

BMO is owed roughly $34.3 million under operating and credit facilities. AGCO Canada and CLAAS of America hold secured floor-plan claims totaling approximately $28.2 million, while Farm Credit Canada is owed $10 million secured against real estate.

Wilful Blindness

Antifa Canada’s Bolsheviks Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing nannystate 10 Comments

What about the shock of France going bankrupt while being pillaged by mobs of Antifa fellow travelers? Why wouldn’t that at least register on Macklem’s radar screen? Or would that get in the way of cheerleading for Canada’s new “relationship” with Europe?

The head of the Bank of Canada spoke to reporters on Saturday in a press conference from the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Bangkok.

He said the prevailing message from his peers at the summit is that the global economy has been performing better than expected in the face of ongoing wars in Iran and Ukraine, sweeping trade disruptions and higher borrowing costs from rising bond yields.

Nuisance Lawfare

Climate Cult Democrats Insufferable Twits Y2Kyoto 17 Comments

Given the litany of idiocies perpetrated under America’s tort law system, the last thing anyone needs is for this latest gambit to gain traction.

The Supreme Court grappled Monday with whether local governments can sue oil and gas companies in state court to help cover costs associated with climate change, an issue with potentially billions of dollars at stake.

Governments from largely blue-leaning areas around the country have filed similar lawsuits seeking damages that could total billions of dollars, part of a wave of legal action worldwide seeking to leverage action through the courts.

A Challenging Collapse

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 4 Comments

I seem to recall that the housing bust of 2008 lasted a lot longer than a couple of months. The company I used to work for once offered farm machinery financing at 3 to 4 percent interest. Now it’s over 7 percent. That’s got to be causing someone to say “I’ll wait”.

“The housing market was not in a robust place to start off with. And then with mortgage rates moving up the way they have, I think we’re going to see a challenging couple months ahead,” Hale told Yahoo Finance.

Mortgage rates rose sharply in September, starting the month well below 7% and ending around 7.5%.

 

Changing Channels

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing Media 11 Comments

While we still have a Netflix subscription, that used to come without ads. Now you have to pay extra for that and it’s no shock that viewers are turning away. Personally, I find an ad free subscription to YouTube to be superior value for money. The only annoying thing is that many YouTubers are now inserting lengthy product endorsements into their programs. But at least you can just hit the fast forward button.

Last month, HSBC and Wells Fargo both downgraded Netflix over engagement – with HSBC’s Mohammed Khallouf moving the stock to Hold from Buy and cut his price target to $76 from $96, citing YouTube’s growing living-room presence and Netflix’s falling share of U.S. TV time. Wells Fargo’s Steve Cahall cut his rating to Underweight from Equal Weight and his target to $57 from $80, citing “worrying” engagement trends.

Funny Money

DigitalCurrency Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 24 Comments

I’ve never owned any crypto currency mainly because I don’t believe it can serve as money in any useful fashion. That’s not to say I’m a fan of fiat currencies, but if any fiat currency experienced this kind of volatility, you couldn’t transact with it either.

The token hovered below $83,000 after a swift crypto sell-off triggered roughly $696 million in liquidations over 24 hours, with long-positioned traders bearing almost all of the losses, according to Coinglass data.

The vast majority of the damage occurred over a 12-hour window, driven primarily by forced unwinds of Ether (ETH-USD) and bitcoin positions.

 

Rioting Surrender Monkeys

entitlement generation It's Probably Nothing nannystate 16 Comments

Couldn’t they just freeze their bank accounts? Oh, wait, these protesters are leftists demanding more free stuff, so outright violence is an acceptable way to get that.

Police fired tear gas to control crowds in Paris and elsewhere in France on Tuesday as more than a quarter of a million people rallied nationwide to support high school students demanding more education funding,

“Riot police, batons, rubber bullets, tear gas,” said Aurélien Le Coq, a lawmaker with the far-left France Unbowed party. Its presidential candidate is strongly backing the protests. The violence is “absolutely unbearable,” Le Coq said.

 

This Is A Stickup!

Chief Big Screen TV entitlement generation We Are All Treaty People 10 Comments

Translation: We want a bigger bribe.

“Sometimes when that happens you’re going to hit the ground, and that ground is our First Nations. Because regardless of any legislative changes, regardless of their processes, we still have our rights — they’re still intact,” Mercredi said.

“What they’re doing is weakening their own processes to develop the resources, which does not work in their favour if a (legal) challenge comes from a nation. They can still hold the key. That’s what people have to remember.”

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