Holy sunburn, I’m first!
Be safe this weekend, you’re needed at work on Monday!
metalman.

I’m second. I have been enjoying my British sports car very much this year. Thank you Mr/Mrs weather guy whoever you are. Good on ya.

Beware the Prince of Darkness*, Supertech. He-she-it can strike even on the brightest of days, and leave you at the side of the road, without a spark.
Other than British electrical systems, I envy your automotive choice.
*Lucas Electrics, aka Prince of Darkness.
metalman.

Anybody ever hear anymore about the three RCMP officers who attempted to outrun the police on their street bikes, only to get caught in a road block? Was this swept under the carpet, charges dropped, or is this proceeding through the courts as it should? My guess is the police dropped the case and are hoping everyone just forgets about those three morons. Anyone have any idea?

A Low-Tech Mosquito Deterrent

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/science/a-low-tech-mosquito-deterrent.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0

I find it very entertaining that a person will push a pay shopping cart from where ever in a parking lot to get their two bits back but won’t push a cart to the storage area 5 stalls away. I had a woman tell me once that she doesn’t have the time to push a cart to the storage area yet she jumped into her vehicle and talked on her cell phone for over 10 minutes before moving.

I tell my nieces all the time that people who don’t return carts are lazy and not well brought up. I don’t care how hurried I am I always have time to push cart back to storage area. Too bad most people are in such a rush to go nowhere

Majority of retired Canadians in debt: poll

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/pay-day-/majority-retired-canadians-debt-poll-145752087.html

Latest household credit numbers from the Bank of Canada (to the end of May 2013)

http://credit.bankofcanada.ca/householdcredit

Posted by: charles on July 19 2013 6:46 AM
Majority of retired Canadians in debt: poll

———————-

I found this line from the story to be interesting.

“Pre-retirement” Canadians aged 50 to 59 are taking on an alarming amount of debt as well.

Being a part of that age group I have to wonder what they’re buying at this stage in their lives that will give them an average of over $84,000 in debt? We know retirement is just around the corner and we know that money will be tight so what gives? This is the time when we’re supposed to be winding down our mortgages and paying off our car loans.

HAs the Regional District given out any information on what they consider a “secure load”? They are advertising for it, they are going to start charging for it, but what is “it”? If I have six bags of garbage in the box of a pickup do I need one tiestrap? two? six? Follow DOT regulations? Or is it going to be a free for all, dependant on what some kid at the window figures is secure that particular day?

Debt has given our entire economy a false foundation that will crumble when the weight is greater than it can bear.

Debt gives false value to goods and services. Our fiat money system is an illusion, and it is debt based. Most people have not got the slightest clue how money is ‘created’ – literally out of thin air. The banks need debt in order to “create” this money, which is nothing more than a key stroke on a computer.

The reason so many older people are in debt is that it is the way of life that they have grown accustomed to for the last 40 years. It’s hard to break the habit.

Heyy ride On… where did you read that story??

Surprised no one saying anything bout the parking meters.

Anyone finding Fortis Gas annoying with their constant changing of meters??? I had Hi efficiency furnace put in a few years back and my bill went really low. then they came to change the meter. Guy says maybe something wrong with meter. Told him bout the furnace and how I even got a rebate from Fortis…hmmm then couple years later they came again saying they change all meters after after so long. Told him this was like still new and that my neighbour’s own is still old one put in when the house was built.. Now they wanna change it again saying the meter I have had been tested before so they must change it to ensure it’s working properly.. hmmm WHAT GIVES???? I’m curious to know if anyone else is encountering the same annoyance from Fortis..

What do you expect, Charles? If the economy itself isn’t fully financially self-liquidating as ongoing *production* continually moves through to the point of final *consumption*, we’re going to have continually rising overall indebtedness.

We can shift it around, with businesses becoming less indebted as consumers or governments become more so, or vice versa, but under the current financial conventions we can’t make it disappear or even halt its growth (for long), short of declaring bankruptcy.

It will be thus so long as “all costs enter prices”, but in each successive cycle of production in a modern industrial economy more and more of those “costs” are now CAPITAL costs ~ allocated charges flowing through into consumer product prices that do NOT distribute any INCOMES to consumers in the SAME cycle of production.

All CAPITAL costs represent incomes that WERE distributed, at some time in the PAST, but their distribution AT THAT TIME, ahead of any equivalent consumable product being ‘on the market’ THEN, tended to RAISE PRICES of those consumables that were on the market THEN, i.e. we got an inflation. And the price of that inflation was met through rising indebtedness.

‘Inflation’ always comes first under the guise of ‘prosperity’, though it is anything but. When our governments finally learn the difference, and that a genuine ‘prosperity’ (that they say they’re all aiming for), CANNOT be had if overall prices are continually rising faster than overall incomes, maybe they’ll then realise that the entire financial set-up, as it presently operates, has a correctable flaw in it. And until that flaw is corrected, what is entirely physically possible will always remain financially impossible. Short of ever burgeoning debts, incurred somewhere in the economy, and completely incapable of ever being repaid. Necessitating what we’re now seeing in places like Detroit ~ a financial bankruptcy with all the attendant further human misery that will bring.

Speaking of debt, I see in the news the the City of Detroit is declaring bankruptcy.

It said that 38% of the City’s budget was going to debt servicing and City workers’ pensions. That would never happen here, right? ;-)

By the Time your are 50 your House should be paid off Years ago and have Money in your Savings Account. Why don’t you, have you re financed to buy the New Diesel Pickup and the yearly Winter Trip to Hawaii and redone your Kitchen in Granite and Stainless Steel?

I must have all that, I can’t be without it!

“I tell my nieces all the time that people who don’t return carts are lazy and not well brought up.”

I tell myself that I am thankful to shop at places such as Costco which do not use a quarter or a loonie as an incentive to return the cart to some poorly placed storage area.

Why? Because by far the majority leave the carts nicely placed in front of their cars so that the next person who pulls in has one there or at the adjacet parking spot.

If one were to place a camera on a pole overlooking the parking lot and track the path of the carts separately plus the tracks of the people, then do the same in a parking lot with storage spaces for carts and a loonie lock, one would notice very quickly that the total distance travelled for both the carts and the people is less in the uncontrolled lot than it is in the controlled lot.

So, are we collectively on average or smart? Perhaps it is just the two characteristics appearing to result in the same outcome. ;-)

Great post Jetstream. Hear hear!!!

Wow, if you can’t walk a few metres to pick up your shopping cart and put it back when your finished maybe you should be exercising instead of buying more food.

From one of the Detroit articles:

“With a population of close to two million in the 1950s, the city now has about three quarters of a million residents. The population has declined by 25 per cent in the last decade alone.”

THAT was the cause of the bankruptcy – a major collapse of the population base. The density of population declined, not only the density per square mile, but the density of people per mile of road, mile of transit system, density of city amenities such as recreation areas/facilities, parks, etc. etc. The worse the unit costs became the more people pulled out to go to the suburbs.

The weakness in the system, in fact in all municipal systems I am aware of in the USA and Canada, is that it is dependent on having a population base that can pay to operate the municipality.

THAT is one of the reasons why some cities in Canada created metropolitan governments, why others, such as PG grew the population base by amalgamating with outside population bases such as CH, and why the most recent change in Ontario was to force cities such as Toronto and Ottawa to govern under a single city government thus creating the GTA, for instance.

Cities with dominant single industries are the most vulnerable to a decline in the population.

Here are the more complete facts about the so-called city of Detroit.
City Population 650,233
Urban population 3,734,090
Metro population 4,292,060
CSA population 5,311,449

Detroit is the classic example of the effect of increasing dependence on cars as well as affluence directed to single family dwellings on their own piece of land which moves people away from the middle towards the perimeter, thus creating the donut effect with the hole in the middle.

Even without the debt load, there are not enough people to operate the city as it stands. The taxes would be far too high compared to the taxes in the surrounding suburbs

Again, we have the case of the first journalists on the job, although this has been seen as the inevitable conclusion for some time, really not knowing why things have happened. They just know that something is happening ….. and start looking at the wrong statistics for a quick answer.

This is just curiosity, but has anyone else seen a couple of people walking around town, accompanied by a guy in a ‘Security’ uniform? Why would anyone in PG need personal security to walk to 7-11 etc…?

Ride-On

The case was thrown out of the courts by the judge due to procedural delays.If I recall, the defendants’ lawyers were dragging out the procedure, i.e. various delay tactics. Once it got before the judge, the judge threw it out as it took too long for it to go to trial, which was unfair for the accused.

This occurred in the last year I believe. I cannot fully remember when it happened though.

It was just stupid for the courts to allow something like this to occur. It has happened in other court as well. just this one was a little more higher profile.

Why would anyone anywhere walk around with personal security who has a uniform on?

gus: “THAT was the cause of the bankruptcy – a major collapse of the population base.”

The article I read pretty much drew that conculsion. Added to that a collapse of the manufacturing industry, and the City going merrily along and not making adjustments and key decisions when they needed to. In short, they were operating in an unsustainable manner.

That’s what I was thinking Gus.

Maybe we should start to call Prince George Little Detroit. We too have a large land mass, a small population, a transit system that runs empty buses, high taxes, high debt servicing costs, huge costs for services and administration, and no indication that those in charge know what the hell is going on.

We are getting close to being in serious financial difficulty. Does anyone care??

Doesn’t appear so, as we will spend $500,000.00 to fancy up the outside of the Civic Centre, another $400,000.00 to change 4th Avenue into a two way street, and of course spend $1,248,000. for a parking system downtown that we don’t need.

In fact I notice that the City is avoiding borrowing money for the Parking Project. Could this be because they are afraid to go to a referendum, or an alternative approval process, because they would lose, and thus have to cancel the project. That’s my take on it.

Good post jetstream.

I watched a pretty good documentary regarding the fiat economy and debt dependancy.

It is called Fiat Empire. I know its based on the American System and may not accurately reflect the Canadian model… but these are international bankers after all.

I hope you all get a chance to view it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K41O2QfpjA

I chucked the whole bank-is-necessary-to-live syndrome many years ago and have not looked back since. Sure some things are a bit more difficult, but not that much.

No debt. Cash only. Never buy what you haven’t saved up first. It all adds up to worry-free living.

The shock on the car salesman’s face when I paid CASH for a vehicle (used, of course), awhile back was priceless!

More and more stores will give a discount when you pay cash and besides, as an additional benefit, your purchasing habits can’t be tracked by anyone.

The problem with Detroit was not CAUSED by people moving out. That was the EFFECT of years of a failed socialist experience.

One of the best analysis on the subject can be read here (copy and paste and read).
http://www.thedailycrux.com/Post/32941/stansberry-detroit-s-socialist-nightmare-is-america-s-future

The problem with Detroit was not CAUSED by people moving out. That was the EFFECT of years of a failed socialist experience.

One of the best analysis on the subject can be read here (copy and paste and read).
http://www.thedailycrux.com/Post/32941/stansberry-detroit-s-socialist-nightmare-is-america-s-future

From your site:

“One of the most important things to remember about socialism – or coercion of any kind – is it fails eventually because human beings have an innate desire for liberty and a strong need for personal property rights. In fact, the origins of government lie in the need of agricultural communities to protect themselves from violence and theft. So it is particularly ironic that in more recent times, it is government itself that has more frequently played the role of bandit. When you start taxing people at extreme rates to pay for socialist “benefits,” when you start telling them which schools their children must attend, when you start giving jobs away to people based on race instead of ability… you quash human freedom, which bogs down productivity… and if continued for long enough, leads to social collapse.”

I will not bother to read any urther since the rest is going to be the same crap!!!

Try Germany!!! Why even bother, actually. Try Canada!!!

Want to argue? Let’s!!!

“In fact, the origins of government lie in the need of agricultural communities to protect themselves from violence and theft. So it is particularly ironic that in more recent times, it is government itself that has more frequently played the role of bandit”

I’ll start off with this.

The descriptor above has existed for thousands of years. It is how the Romans conquered more than they eventually could bite off. They protected the locals, but collected a tax for that protection.

So did the lords in the feudal system that evenually followed. Traders gathered around the walls of the castles for protection. That protection costs and thus came taxes with that. It is a symbiotic relationship.

Those who think they want freedom, can get it if they provide their own services, their own block watches, etc. etc.

It is what an affluent society and more or less respectful society can do.

Thew result? A cacooning.

What is missing in all of this is protection from foreign invaders. A society that is independent of each other, will not be able to face a common enemy from the outside.

People forget that the USA has been the guardian of the so-called free world with little help from others. That failure of potecting the country from within has cause some failures from within.

Luckily, Canada as a bit of the European influence in its make-up.

Gus says, “I will not bother to read any urther(sic) since the rest is going to be the same crap!!!”

Nothing like not letting facts get in the way of forming an opinion, eh Gus?

The issue under discussion is the root causes of Detroit’s bankruptcy. Plain and simple it was overspending and forcing the middle and upper class to bear an unreasonable tax burden which ultimately drove them out. The author of that article at least had statistics to back up his point.

You would do well to do the same. You want to argue? How can you when you are too lazy and/or opinionated to read the argument of the person who takes a different view than you?

only2c – that is a great video. Thanks for posting it!

(Here it is again for those reading this…)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K41O2QfpjA

Any updates on the pg hotel, commonwealth merry go round?

It is a political view, and shows absolutely no understanding of municipal development realities.

The City of Houston, Texas is a great one to compare to. It has been used by those who discuss urban development as a good example to show that a city with an ad hoc aproach to planning rather than a central planning approach like the article says the City of Detroit is/was will end up looking and acting very much the same as any planned city.

Texas is the fourth most endebted State in the USA. Hardly a centre of Democrats and left leaning thinking. Houston is has the highest debt of all the cities in Texas, around $9,000 per inhabitant just for the short term debts alone(generall $10,000)

THAT is why I reject the article. It is from a right wing site. I reject articles from left wing sites as well.

I look for objective thinkeers and objective writers that are not tied to ideological dogma but can see the real issues.

Sorry, I am opinionated when it comes to dogamtic arguments. I am not opinionated when it comes to examination of he real issues.

But then, how can one expect a poster who is driven by dogma, whether left or right, to understand that very notion.

BTW, for those who think the linked video about the US Federal Reserve being unconstitutional, you must also be aware that those who promote such consipracy theories they propose that rather than borrowing we ought to simply print mor money such as some earlier presidents in the USA have done.

Fine with me. Let’s try it.

Get rid of the banks, credit cards, etc. all in one fell swoop devalue the USA and thus the Canadian and some other western currencies, increase the value of the Chinese and some other Asian currencies, and then try to keep the foreigners from buying the few industries we have left and then real estate.

We can then, if a free trade environment can be retained, repatriate some of the manufacturing and service industries.

And where it will all end up can be the discussion of theoretical economists all over the world while those of us who are not in charge can blow in the wind till some of the dust settles out.

Fun, eh?

Catch 22 I would think.

Ah, but we have all of those on blogs like this all over the world connected to the electronic highway posting who are such experts in everything I find it strange that no one has started to create the newest world order.

Justin Bieber, help us out with your great wisdom young man of the next generation to save the world.

“The issue under discussion is the root causes of Detroit’s bankruptcy. Plain and simple it was overspending and forcing the middle and upper class to bear an unreasonable tax burden which ultimately drove them out”

What middle class? As best as I can tell, the middle class has been eroding in the US for decades. Ironically enough, I suspect the downfall in the middle class would roughly parallel the downfall in the US auto industry, the same industry that built Detroit and the same one that helped destroyed it.

No doubt that there was some horrific mismanagement along the way when it comes to city operations, but this is a much bigger issue than Detroit IMHO.

When entire industries re-distribute their operations to foreign countries, move those jobs with them and contribute to the destruction of the middle class in their own country, they do themselves a disservice. It may be great for the short-term bottom-line, but at the end of the day there are fewer people left that can afford to buy their products, fewer people left who can afford to buy houses in the communities they used to operate in, fewer people left who can pay their water bills and more people who are driven into lower income classes who do not pay the same amount of income taxes as the middle class, because they don’t have high income levels.

The entire model becomes fiscally unsustainable, largely in part to the pendulum swinging too far in favour of corporate profits, at the expense of some of those profits being left “at home” to allow a society to flourish.

The way we are going, you can bank on more Detroit’s . . .

jetstream:

Do you think it is mere coincidence that Detroit reached it’s peak and began a long slow decline at the same time as Japanese car makers began to enter the North American car market?

The Big Three just laughed and pointed at these upstarts Honda, Toyota and Datsun. The cars were cheaply made and it showed. Every year they increased their build quality and were in a good place when the fuel crisis hit in the 70’s, their cars were decent and they had something no N.A. car could match..fuel efficiency.

Did Ford, GM and Chrysler learn anything? Nope just kept producing the same land yachts that passed everything but a gas station even as their market share continued to shrink till Chrysler went through it’s first bankruptcy(where they learned next to nothing)

The newcomers kept getting better till they had the most reliable cars made and could compete on price till two of the big three went belly up. If Ford had not brought in Alan Mulally they too would have gone belly up, but he took a page from the competitors business and had begun to turn the company around when the 09 economic downturn hit.

If the CEO’s had their eyes open and taken the Japanese auto industry more seriously perhaps Toyota would not be the largest car maker in the world and the population of Detroit would not be 1/3 of what it was then.

=================================================

I think your Karma ran over his Dogma gus :)

Finally got a chance to view the Dan Pallotta TED video on charity that you posted the other day and do question some of his ideas.

Unless as he says at the end the overall “pie” will grow as a result I would call this a big-boxification of fundraising.

Groups like Heart and Stroke and Cancer charities would benefit but the local and regional “mom and pop” fundraisers would not have the scale to compete. If the pie did not grow they would be the ones most affected by charity burnout(also the most noticeable in the local community)

Speaking of donations. I think it’s a wise business move to get customers to donate $1 here or there. Or round up to the next dollar etc. if you think of all the money these businesses get in donations, then they give it to the charity and get a huge write off and they actually make money off of our donations.

I donate to the Salvation Army as they actually donate the highest percentage taken in. They have minor costs with no CEO making $325,000 ( united ways CEO is in this range) So more of the donations actually benifit who they are meant for. Save on, Tim Hortons, McDonald’s are making money off of ever cent you donate. It’s is very generous to donate this money., but in the long run doing a $10-20 donation yourself gives you the tax write off rather than the cooperate fat cats

Speaking of fat cats, I donate monthly to the BCSPCA. Not because I think Sally Ann isn’t worth it, but because someone needs to look after the abandoned and abused animals.

lonesome sparrow ….. I agree about Pallotta’ presentation. It is partly commercial evangelism, for sure.

I think the main thing it did for me is to point out that one should not become complacent about how things get done.

Actually I am not certain whether I buy into the notion that the charity pie is finite. There is definitely a difference between the % size of the charity pie in the USA versus Canada.

BC SPCA has had some recetn regonitions as one ofthe top charities in Canada

Here is one where it received an A+ rating, one of only 6 receiving that in Canada.

http://www.moneysense.ca/the-2012-charity-100

Oh Dearth, a fellow cart returning advocate! You will appreciate this – I was recently out in Ottawa visiting family and I noticed the Walmart parking lot was entirely free of loose carts. SERIOUSLY. Walmart. I asked my sister if they are coin operated. She says “No, everyone here returns their carts”. It’s like some sort of utopia. Never saw a single cart out of place the whole time I was there. I’ve considered doing a sociological study on the relationship between cart returns and geographical location so I can unlock the secret.

The court case against those 3 police officers charged with excessive speed was thrown out of court because it had taken over 2 years.

The reason it took so long is that the defense lawyer requested some information from the RCMP and never got it, so he requested a Judicial Stay of Proceedings because of the delay.

I wonder if the Civil Forfeiture Office seized their bikes, as they did the cars of those young chinese thought to be street racing.

What does anyone think about the new cover of the Rolling Stone?

“Now it’s all decided to blow our minds
But our minds won’t really be blown
Like the blow that’ll gitcha when you get your picture
On the cover of the Rollin’ Stone”

I think that is from some famous song ….. *smirk*

Returned carts.

I think there is a difference in cart returns right here in PG.

I find Costco to have most carts among the cars. As I posted before, I find that really handy. There are very few carts in the slots provided for them.

I find Walmart has fewer carts than Costco amongst the cars.

Save-on food is 25cents and most seem to return the carts. The placement of storage areas is reasonable depending which particular store.

Superstore is a loonie. People bring back the carts with few exceptions. The serendipitous moment is when you do not have to bring it all the way back to the storage faility because you can “sell” it to a new customer for a loonie and save both people some steps.

I find a major problem with the storage there. They were designed for three stacks of carts, problem is, it is to narrow for the carts now in use. If the original stacking starts properly, one could actually get three stacks in, but no one ever does. As a result, the twostacks often get too long and constrict the access lane to the parking spots.

I have not shopped at Target yet, but notice that they have more storage areas scattered throughout the parking lot, the same as the stores in the USA.

I have yet to see locked carts there. I would say that Costco there has the same situation as here. Generally speaking, the other stores, such as Fred Meyers, WalMart, Haggens, etc, have a much higher level of returned carts.

I think there is a direct correlation between the percent of the population that parks on downtown streets when they are downtown workers and those who do not return carts to the proper spots.

Now, can talk about those slobs who leave garbage in their carts!!!

BTW, there is likely a direct correlation between those slobs and those who do not flush public toilets they used!

Norwegian woman gets raped in Dubai goes to the police and gets 18 months for having extramarital sex. British couple visiting Dubai get a month in jail for a quick kiss on the cheek in public. Why would anyone even go to those backward medieval countries. The sooner we stop importing their oil the better.

Saturday ffa

The Americans give more to charitable causes if memory serves but the social safety net has a lot more gaps than Canada so in essence our higher tax rates close the gap.

Next rainy day I might compare Canada with some of the Scandinavian countries to see what an even higher marginal tax rate would do to donations.

Sunday Free For All?

Monday Free For All….where is everybody?