Idiot
July 30, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
A 17-year-old half-wit from the Bronx is suing the city for $5m because the school vending machine fell over on top of him as he was shaking it “very gently” trying to get his $1 Snapple. Vending machines usually weigh between 400 and 800 lbs., so only the Hulk could shake one “gently” and cause it to fall over. This kid is studying for a GED, which makes you wonder about the intellectual calibre of GED holders.
HS KID TO SUE CITY FOR $5M OVER SNAPPLE ‘DISASTER’
A 17-year-old Bronx high-school student wants the city to pay him $5 million because a Snapple vending machine fell on him at school as he shook it.
Court papers filed yesterday charge Albert Salcedo suffered a broken foot and ankle in the incident on May 25.“This could be a permanent injury — we just don’t know yet,” said Salcedo’s lawyer, Richard Rosenberg, explaining the multimillion dollar claim.
Insider trading is not a crime, Stewart is a victim
July 29, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
So Martha Stewart will do some time for insider trading. What is insider trading? It’s trading stocks based upon inside knowledge of a company. This became a law back in the protectionist 1930s, and like many other laws passed during that time it is an impingement on freedoms. It basically states that an individual does not have the right to use information she has earnt to further her own ends. Replace “information” with “wealth” and you have communism, and in this day and age, information is wealth.
A company does not belong to the government, it belongs to the owners, the shareholders. They should have the right to decide if an executive may act upon or disseminate insider information, or to decide if an executive will even be allowed to own stock at all. Insider trading has a negligible effect on the company or the economy. The information itself, not how it is used, determines the fate of the company. In the past, companies routinely viewed insider trading as a form of compensation and reserved the right to withdraw the privilege should it be abused.
Canadian healthcare, simple economics
July 28, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
There’s a lot of talk about healthcare lately, with the provincial negotiations and so forth. What’s on many people’s minds is the waiting lists. The Calgary Herald reports that around 25,000 Calgarians are waiting for treatment and the waiting times grow between 12 and 18 percent per annum.
This is basic economics. As you decrease the price of a commodity, demand increases. When you decrease the price to nothing, demand will always exceed supply no matter what you do. When you have a situation where demand exceeds supply, you have to organise consumption, and one way to do that (as the Soviets learnt) is queueing.
As long as we have our current healthcare system there will be long waiting lists. Paul Martin’s election promise to seriously reducing waiting lists under our current healthcare provision system is like talking of peace in the world: a fanciful, laudable and utterly impossible dream. The medical association’s 10-point-plan to reduce waiting times is akin to the Soviet 5-year-plans for increased production to meet demand: a vast black hole of money and resources that will have negligible effect on the situation because it does not address the actual cause of the problem.
Jose Contreras reunited with family
July 27, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
For those who don’t follow major-league baseball, Jose Contreras is a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees. He’s also a Cuban refugee, who fled his native country almost two years ago. Happily, his wife and two daughters were reunited with him a few days ago after braving the hazardous crossing to Florida in a 31-foot boat, risking capture and detention by Cuban security forces. Nicaragua had twice granted visas to his family, but the Cuban government denied them.
If you want to know the truth about Cuba, I’d ask Contreras and his family, who risked life and limb escaping Castro’s communist nightmare, rather than Lenin’s “useful idiots” like Michael Moore or Chevy Chase.
Contreras reunited with wife, two daughters
Jose Contreras said he’s dreamed of showing his wife and daughters the sights of New York, from Yankee Stadium to the Empire State Building.
He finally has that opportunity.
More Public Works scandal
July 26, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
A review by the Canadian Press suggests that even after management shakeups in 2001, numerous problems in the Public Works persisted long after. The review cites missing documentation and evidence of spurious supplier selection, missing invoice paperwork and inadequate required work statements. Quebec Superior Court Justice John Gomery will begin an inquiry in September.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Martin pledge to run a clean government and to get to the bottom of these scandals? He actually pledged to have accomplished that latter before the last election, but we (should) have all learnt that Liberal promises mean absolutely nothing by now. So why is it being left up to the Canadian Press to find this stuff, and why is there not going to be a Parliamentary inquiry?
Problems persist with federal ad programs, review suggests
The federal government’s advertising program was still rife with sloppy management practices after procedures were revamped in 2001, according to a recent review.
Lazy Norwegians Blame Oil and Welfare State for Truancy
July 26, 2004 · By H. Cameron
In what should stand as a reminder of the dangers of the welfare state, Norway has surpassed Sweden as the country with the worst work ethic in the world. Budget after budget of oil surpluses and the constant and often ill-advised expansion of the welfare state, has turned this nation into one where workers “take off half the calendar year.”
Albertan’s, and their politicians, should pay close attention to this situation. With budget surpluses poring more and more money into government coffers and the Alberta governments proclivity to spending it quicker than you can say, “non-renewable resource,” they too could be dealing with a situation where government handouts and lazy, unmotivated workers become more than just a problem of northern Europe.
Federal government throws the military a bone
July 23, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
Defence Minister Bill Graham, with a mere four days of experience, has announced that Canada will be purchasing Sikorsky S-92 helicopters to replace the aging Sea Kings. Many in the military disagreed with this decision.
It does not make any sense to have a civilian politician with four days experience decide on equipment procurement that may end up costing the lives of our servicemen and women, or affecting the outcome of our endeavours in foreign policy. Chretien’s decision to retain the aging Sea King helicopters has arguably cost the lives of at least 10 Canadian Forces personnel who died in fatal crashes. Graham has never served in the military and never held any post in a defence-related department until four days ago. The S-92 is as yet unproven, as no other country has used the aircraft for military purposes.
Many in the military disagree with Graham’s decision. They would have preferred to acquire EH-101 Cormorants, a larger, more expensive and more capable aircraft. A Tory government ordered 50 of these helicopters back in 1992, but Jean Chretien vetoed the decision for a $500m penalty, billed to the taxpayer. Opposition critics have claimed that Graham’s choice is to save face over the Chretien climb-down by avoiding the purchase of the exact same helicopter, which would mean that the Liberals had accomplished nothing but delayed the process by 12 years and wasted an extra $500 million.
After decades of delay, the Liberal government announced Friday it has chosen the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter to replace its ancient fleet of Sea Kings.
An interesting map
July 22, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
In my travels on the web I came across the Palestinian National Authority State Information Service. This is the official website for Arafat’s Palestinian Authority government. On this site, I found this map.
The map depicts what the Palestinian Authority calls “Palestine.” The obvious head-scratcher here is, “what has happened to Israel?” It’s not there. The land the Palestinians regard as theirs includes not just the West Bank and the Gaza Strip but all of Israel. Where are the Israelis supposed to go? Into the sea, or a gas chamber, for all they care.
This should be an eye-opener for all those who believe that the solution to the Palestinian problem is more autonomy for the Palestinians or an end to Israeli “aggression.” The only solution that is acceptable to Arafat and his cronies is the liquidation of the state of Israel and the exile or annihilation of the Jewish populace.
Martin committed to marijuana legalisation/scandal diversion
July 21, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
Apparently, the scale of the tobacco problem is not large enough and Martin feels compelled to add to the burden of Canadian healthcare by legalising marijuana. What’s a bit more lung cancer anyway? Why do we need to make progress? Why not just make headroom to introduce new problems?
Oh, and Martin still hasn’t re-opened the case on Adscam that he promised to get to the bottom of. Does anybody else smell a smokescreen here (pun intended)? Harper predicted that, should Martin be re-elected, we’d never see a resolution to the Liberal spending scandals. I bet a lot of Ontarians are getting that sinking feeling. Again.
Federal government committed to marijuana decriminalization: Martin
The federal government is committed to marijuana decriminalization and will reintroduce legislation to make it happen, Prime Minister Paul Martin said in his first statement on the issue since winning re-election.
Drug use on the rise
July 21, 2004 · By Hugo Chesshire
Stats Canada has released new figures on drug use. It finds that the number of Canadians aged 15 or higher who have experimented with marijuana or hashish has nearly doubled in the last 13 years. It also finds that more people have been taking cocaine or crack, ecstasy, LSD and other hallucinogens, amphetamines (speed), and heroin.
Social policies and popular movements to destigmatise drugs and move towards legalisation are apparently working. How many lives will this increase claim? How many billions of dollars will it cost the economy and the healthcare system? And most importantly, why are so many failing to condemn this vast human tragedy in the making?
Drug use up in Canada: StatsCan
The number of Canadians aged 15 or older who admit to getting high on marijuana or hashish nearly doubled in 13 years, with the highest rates among teenagers, figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada say.
About three million people in that age group reported that they used cannabis at least once in the year before the Canadian Community Health Survey, which was conducted in 2002.
The StatsCan study also found more people were taking five other drugs: cocaine or crack, ecstasy, LSD and other hallucinogens, amphetamines (speed), and heroin.
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