The Honourable Member From Air India
Pro-tip: When bashing the corporate elite, lose the Rolex.
Two sides of the same coin
Whatever it is that Doug Ford has in store for socialized medicine, it is certainly not privatization. It would be more accurate to term it a variation on the same centrally planned model that is currently in its death throes. Unless a direct, financial relationship can be established between patient and health care provider, the current system will continue to flounder its way to the seafloor.
Many health services in Ontario, such as blood tests and ultrasounds, are already often performed in for-profit facilities. And both Ms. Jones and Premier Doug Ford have repeatedly said whatever changes to the system they make would still see Ontarians use their health cards – not their credit cards – for needed care.
Naturally, the “fixed pie” economy clown show never misses an opportunity to chime in:
Health system experts have also warned that expanding private clinics could exacerbate the staffing crisis in hospitals, as more nurses or other staff could be lured to work outside the public system.
How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Change A City Planner?
h/t Joe
WTFTX?
The Congressional hearing on FTX is getting spicy.
Listen in:https://t.co/L9oz7DCAkb
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) December 13, 2022
Youtube link here.
WTFTX?
Unusual Whales
Questions SBF Regarding Fraud, Customer Deposits, FTX, and Alameda: “Hey Sam…
Update: SBF has been reportedly arrested by Bahamian authorities and faces extradition.
More at Zerohedge;
According to the NYT, the charges against SBF which in an indictment which will be unsealed on Tuesday included wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering. Of course, SBF should also be charged for talking too damn much and adding 15 years to his sentence by being a megalomaniac sociopath, but we’d take attempted bribery of the entire Democratic Party instead.
A lawyer chimes in, pointing out that according to federal sentencing guidelines, SBF could be looking at approximately 612,000 years in prison.
WTFTX?
BlockFi files for U.S. bankruptcy protection;
Major cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection along with eight affiliates, it said on Monday, the latest crypto casualty to follow the spectacular collapse of the FTX exchange earlier this month.
The filing in a New Jersey court comes as crypto prices plummet, with bitcoin BT*0 down more than 70 per cent from a 2021 peak.
New Jersey-based BlockFi had links with FTX, which filed for protection in the United States earlier in November after traders pulled $6-billion from the platform in three days and rival exchange Binance abandoned a rescue deal.
In a court filing on Monday, BlockFi listed FTX as its second-largest creditor, with $275-million owed on a loan extended earlier this year. It said it owes money to more than 100,000 creditors.
Bitcoin Magazine: BlockFi has $1-10 billion in liabilities but only $256M cash on hand
Crooks gonna crook.
Correct. Money should be returned to the trustee so (maybe) some folks can get some of their own $$ back.
We're trying to get all the politicians who took $$ to give us updates but many have just not responded.
Will keep updating as we can https://t.co/MtpDRUqMkk
— Brian Sullivan (@SullyCNBC) November 28, 2022
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Up In Smoke
Well, at least they put organized crime out of business.
Canadians who invested in cannabis companies have lost more than $131 billion, according to data collected by law firm Miller Thomson, which calculated the total losses of 183 publicly traded and licenced cannabis producers.
It’s a staggering number that if divided equally between an estimated three million active investors would equate to each losing about $43,000.
Larry Ellis, a lawyer with the firm, points out to CTV National News that he “doesn’t know of many Canadian investors who can afford to lose $40,000 individually.”
Read it all.
WTFTX?
Watch it all.
WTFTX?
The delicious fall of Sam Bankman-Fried;
As everybody who has brushed against big business in recent years will know, ESG stands for ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ and it rules the corporate world. There was a time when a company might aim to make money for itself and/or its shareholders. If it wanted to do some good works, it might set up an almshouse, a school for urchins or the like.
Today when you want to show that you really care – as opposed to actually caring – then you talk of how concerned your company is about ESG. Firms are even rated by their ESG scores. It is a great medieval Vatican–style scam. And it is everywhere.
In any case, FTX was big on ESG. On a video from January this year the company’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried and the vlogger Nas Daily – the first a shyster, the second possibly a naif – claimed that FTX existed only to make money that could then be given away.
Well, they can’t say they weren’t warned.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
FTX LENT SAM BANKMAN FRIED OVER $3.3 BILLION DOLLAR FOR “PERSONAL” USE
— GURGAVIN (@gurgavin) November 17, 2022
New FTX CEO John Ray: Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.
Meanwhile, at the New York Times…
WTFTX?
The FTX Collapse Explained in 99 Seconds
More: (link fixed)
In 2008, Goldman mastered the art of crony capitalism: pay up for government protection & get bailed out when you need it most. That’s why Goldman got bailed out while Lehman didn’t. Crypto-dude Sam Bankman-Fried just tried to play the same game by donating $30mm+ to Democrats.
The failed exchange FTX had no board of directors. That was one point of failure by investors. They wanted in the deal so badly, they let the ship go through the ocean without a rudder.
But of course! The Ukrainian government website detailing the partnership, which sought to raise $200,000,000 in cryptocurrency to be sent to the National Bank of Ukraine, has been wiped from the internet following FTX filing for bankruptcy.
WTFTX?
Some other Twitter accounts have said that this plane is Sam Bankman's and it is heading for Argentina right now.https://t.co/leVeyowfH9 pic.twitter.com/r91idSDJkf
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) November 12, 2022
Related: Sophisticated’ ‘Crypto traders’ really gave $50 BILLION to 2 people that
looked like this!
Oh, more bad luck.
BREAKING: Cryptocurrency exchange FTX claims it has been "hacked" as more than $600 million disappears
— BNO News (@BNONews) November 12, 2022
WTFTX?
Crypto exchange FTX lent billions of dollars worth of client funds to fund risky bets at its affiliate trading firm Alameda Research, setting the stage for the exchange’s implosion, a person familiar with the matter said.
FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried told an investor this week that Alameda owes FTX about $10 billion, the person said. FTX made loans to Alameda using money customers deposited on the exchange for trading purposes, a decision the person said Mr Bankman-Fried called poor judgement.
All told, FTX had $16 billion in client assets, according to the person, allowing FTX to lend more than half of its client funds to its sister company, Alameda.
More:
Tether stablecoin loses its dollar peg as contagion from FTX’s collapse spreads through the crypto market.
@PeterSchiff If it turns out that @SBF_FTX embezzled money from #FTX to buy stakes in $HOOD or @Scaramucci’s Skybridge, those transactions will need to be unwound to clawback money to repay creditors. Maybe the #Democrats will have to return his campaign donations. This could be a huge mess.
Zerohedge: Expect Crypto Armageddon To Continue
Evening Update: @MikeBurgersburg 🚨🚨🚨BLOCKFI BITES THE DUST. GET YOUR $$$ OFF ALL CENTRALIZED PLATFORMS NOW.
It’s Probably Nothing
Everyone thinks their house is worth a lot until they list it.
Real estate lender Romspen Investment Corp. has cut back on its dealmaking in Canada after rising interest rates caused a spike in non-performing loans.
The firm, backed by New York-based TIG Advisors, is acting “defensively” to match the current economic environment in the country, Romspen Managing Partner Derek Jenkin said in an interview. “We’re being very selective in what we finance at this time in Canada.”
Golden Casket Lottery Winners Pursue New Payout
Jones Effect: George Floyd’s family may sue Kanye West for claiming death was an overdose
Contextual murder
Ritual mass murder ought to warrant a critical response, but today’s academics just can’t seem to resist stretching the concept of context to the breaking point. If your culture is far enough removed from Western civilization, any heinous act appears to be beyond criticism.
And, as subsequent discoveries proved, the 500-year-old Inca girl and two other children were plied with drugs and alcohol before they were killed — which can either be viewed as abusive or merciful, depending on your point of view.
Charles Stanish, of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), has a different theory of why the Llullaillaco Maiden didn’t look pained: because the drugs and alcohol numbed her to her fate. “Some would say that within this cultural context, this was a humane action,” he said.
Put Your Trust In The Experts
Because it’s just that kind of day: Can someone please tell me why I apparently have put more thought into keeping my daily two-hour current events chat operating and online than Interac has given to keeping the Canadian economy online?
Return of the Great American Bubble Machine
“It’s 2008 on crack.” Matt Taibbi on the collapse of crypto (audio)
Related – In what’s probably a sign of things going terribly wrong, two former billionaire crypto hedge-fund managers have disappeared, spurring a worldwide manhunt to find them as the broader industry freezes up
This Is The Time At SDA When We Zuckerpose!
New York Post, October 2021 – A former federal election official on Thursday called the $400 million-plus that Mark Zuckerberg spent to help finance local elections a “carefully orchestrated attempt” to influence the 2020 vote…
Reuters, July 2022 – Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) has cut plans to hire engineers by at least 30% this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday, as he warned them to brace for a deep economic downturn.
Good and hard.
Old news
Must be a slow news day when the media trots out a story about a phenomenon that Canadians have been well aware of for nearly a century now. Since when has Atlantic Canada’s track record in entrepreneurship ever been something other than “disturbing”? Other than when startups have been showered with tax dollars only to fold the tent a short while later.
It might be a more worthwhile read if the author explained what companies with odd names like these actually do.
“Last year was the best of times for growing startups, as companies like Meta Materials, Introhive and Sonrai boasted large capital raises and strong revenue growth,” Entrevestor principal Peter Moreira said.