Friday Free For All – April 8th, 2016
Friday, April 8, 2016 @ 12:00 AM
It’s time for the Friday Free For All, when you get to speak up on the issues that struck a chord with you over the past seven days.
As always there are three simple rules we ask that you follow:
Keep it clean
Keep it legal
No bullying. Posts which resort to name calling will be removed.
Comments
“That the world has turned its economy into a gigantic Ponzi scheme is surely beyond doubt. There seems no other way to describe a system that, as well as being massively indebted, can only function by adding yet more debt. The big problem isn’t so much the debt mountain itself as the inability to function without an uninterrupted diet of new credit.”
“In the proverbial nutshell, then, the world has become addicted to borrowing money, spending it, and passing this off as “growth”. This is a copybook example of a pyramid scheme, which in turn means that the world’s most influential economic mentor is neither Keynes nor Hayek, but Charles Ponzi.”
ht tps://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/65-the-ponzi-economy-part-1/
Canadian annual gdp is approximately $2 trillion at the present time.
The Canadian economy grew 1.2% in 2015 – ie: the size of our economy grew by approximately $24 billion in 2015.
In the year 2015 the total government (all levels), business and household debt in Canada increased by $614 billion. (In the last 8-1/2 years it has increased by $2.90 trillion.)
Looking at just the debt of the non financial sectors of our economy, it increased by $320 billion in 2015. (In the last 8-1/2 years it has increased by $2.06 trillion.)
ht tp://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/pick-choisir?lang=eng&p2=33&id=3780122
Is there a reason why you show us only one side of the ledger?
You never write about the assets. Why is that?
Can you please provide us with a debt to asset ratio as well as a debt to income ratio.
Surely there must come a time when people making good money can no longer afford to pay 60 to 70 grand for a new truck or 300 to 400 grand for a house.
Ponzi scheme is right!
I was at the car show out here and they had a nice F-150 with a sticker of 78K. There were several luxury cars that were far less expensive and that would draw looks from people of ” must be nice to be rich”. Funny how that works.
I don’t believe ‘Ponzi’ scheme really describes what’s happening. Ponzi schemes pay off first investors with funds derived from later investors, and so on, rather than with funds derived from investing in income producing assets. Those in first are living off the ‘capital’ of those who got in later, for there really is no ‘income’ being generated through any productive activity. Granted, there seem to be some similarities which lead people to compare those kind of schemes to what’s going on now, but they’re actually quite different in many more respects.
Charles, “the system can only function by adding more debt” IF the system is not fully financially ‘self-liquidating’ in the first place. And it ISN’T. So if you want to solve the problem of exponential debt growth, make the system as it should be ~ more fully financially ‘self-liquidating’. It’s not really that hard to do, but obviously those who believe they’re benefit from things as they are will vigorously oppose doing that. What they seem to fear most is the loss of power that would befall them. Which will eventually happen anyways, only with far worse consequences for all.
Looks like another great weekend coming up.. ENJOY
All the staff at 250 went on vacation??? Seems the news hardly change
Yes, hasn’t it been a fantastic spring? I’ve noticed too that the news has been slower but I still appreciate all that this site stands for. A big thanks to all the 250 staff!
Cbc news is very slow as well with updates, with the same headlines sitting there all day long at times. I’m sure that they could do much better.
Maybe 250 news needs more contributing reporters, so if you see something happening, let the staff know so they can report on it.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone and hopefully no fires too.
Some news days are busy, some are not. Sometimes the folks you need to contact for a story aren’t available so we have to wait for their calls. So it’s not that we aren’t working, in fact, on “slow days” we are working even harder to develop stories. And if you see something going on, please give us a shout, 250-962-6397 we will be happy to track down the details and share with the rest of our readers.
Elaine Macdonald-Meisner
What, you read the CBC, oh dear.
Seamutt…you would probably be surprised to find that the CBC even covers your hero Donald Rump.
Motorcyclist are out in full force. Please try and watch out for them while driving.
Bikers, let’s do our part too. Don’t ride like morons!
bicyclists are out in full force too so now I walk on the road while they have the sidewalks.
or ride down the roads on the wrong side.
and the wheels of life go round and round…
have a great weekend all.
On the story about the dog rescue, 6 positive comments and all got at least 1 thumbs down. Time to tie a user name to the up and down or just get rid of it.
Also…
A big double middle fingers to the idiots in the double left turn lane from 16W onto Domano today at 5 PM ish.
I was a good 6 cars back and not only heard the siren but saw the flashing lights of the fire truck headed into town. I could tell it would get to the intersection about the time we got our green arrow.
Why oh why did a dozen or more of these idiots take the arrow and make a left in front of the fire truck? Sirens, lights and at the end his horn finally got them to stop turning in front of him.
To the guy blowing his horn at me in the brown F150 because I didn’t move, I have no words, you sir made me really think about how self absorbed everyone has become.
Hours later I still can’t fathom how so many didn’t notice or didn’t care.
I agree, it appears as if we have those who just go around pressing down thumbs just because they can.
I still am not exactly sure why it was stated to begin with or what useful data it supplies.
Maybe 250 News could enlighten us?
It’s pretty easy to just ignore them. Do the opinions of a bunch of anonymous people really matter to you?
I didn’t thumbs the dog story down but there’s always another side. If officer fell in to water he could’ve died from hypothemia. No thick fur coat to protect him. We would’ve borne the cost. Or instead of protecting us on streets which is his job he’s saving a dog. What if there’d been an emergency when he was out there. How fast could he get back to shore. See just a couple of reasons a non dog lover might thumbs down.
Or maybe the ones down thumbing are the same types who bow and arrow or shoot a dog, cat or other animal for kicks.
A 21 yr old native man burns a 5 yr old child 37 times with a cigarette leaving visible scars and he only gets a15 month sentence due to a clause in the law about residential schools… He was to young to even attend one. Omg
I’m not trying to justify what this guy did (don’t know how anyone could) but there are generational affects from residential school, just like the generational affects from the holocaust. The affects of these horrors are so profound that they can be passed on from the generation that was there to their children and grandchildren.
I don’t recall hearing of any such generational effects from the holocaust survivors or their descendants.
Yeah, I’m with Dirtman. You don’t hear a lot of stories of holocaust survivors molesting or abusing their children. Maybe they’re just better at keeping it secret. But while we’re on the topic of excuses, so if a non-native person is sexually abused as a child, then goes on to sexually abuse his children, he get’s a harsher sentence because he was abused in his own home vs being abused by strangers in a school? Seems a little unfair.
Maybe a better explanation for the difference, is holocaust survivors were mostly Jewish people who said that’ll never f’n happen to us again, got their own country (fair or foul is a matter of opinion), and became the meanest toughest SOB’s in the valley. That’s how they dealt with being downtrodden. They also had the benefit of billions of dollars in aid to help them do it.
I see that Pan eatery has mysteriously closed down. I wonder what happened, as we enjoyed the food there quite a lot.
Doesn’t surprise me. There was hardly anyone in the place when I went there thinking it was still CHP. The maitre’ de said that they were normally a lot busier, but I kind of doubted it.
According to their facebook page the partner changed all the locks and left them high and dry.
“Pan Eatery & Public House
When we showed up to work on that Tuesday all the locks had been changed. It was shocking. What motivates a “partner” to do something like that without communication is beyond our reckoning. We were not permitted to retrieve personal belongings. Only fear motivates such irrational behaviour. We are left holding the bag on this and we are doing it with as much grace as possible. Secrecy was never our intention…and neither is slander. So we will say no more because that is all we know. Said partner has their own personal bizzness to reconcile, clearly. The partner has changed all their email and phone numbers which makes contact impossible.”
They’ve left a lot of gift certificate holders SOL as well.
This is in regards to an article from April 5. If i was one the residents on the north side of Nechako I would be more concerned about the noise that will be generated at the former sawmill site on Ottway than the minor amount that will be coming from the former helicopter site. Canada recycle has purchased the site and will be grinding wood and concrete. The noise generated from that will pale in comparison to the back up alarms you are concerned about.
Get out open the Hood, look at the Engine , close the Hood,get in the Car and start moving ! Some Days you feel like doing this! So much Anger and Impatience in Drivers.
Noticed that there is a presentation to council next week concerning the Nissan Leaf. The vehicle was purchased in 2012 and currently has a mere 18k on the clock most of it likely shifting it between the groups that share the car….”we don’t want it you can have it”
They try to justify low useage on staff being unsure how sign the lemon out, something that might be true after a month or two but after four years. Come on!
Not wanting to throw the towel in too early (stubbornness or stupidness?) they have re-uped this failed experiment for another 4 year term. I guess it can’t do too much harm as these cars depreciate so fast it is now worth about a third what they paid for it.
Put a rack in the back seat for the giant pair of scissors and it can be the official ribbon cutting vehicle.
Going on 300,000 sold and on the road world wide . Your depreciation is also bogus . If they put it up for sale for a third of the cost , it would be snapped up in under two minutes .
Over 325,000 preorders for the model 3 tesla or 14 billion dollars worth of pre sales . The deposits are 100% refundable . Salesmutt et al must be crapping themselves . The world is changing faster than most can comprehend . The cable and satilite companies are also having their Kodak moments as well . We’re going Apple TV . So those gouging cable and satilite companies are just going to have to screw each other . We’re done with them . On an ironic note , did anyone think that harpers changes at the CRTC would be good for people ? The people where never in that pea brain of his .
Nissan invested $5.6 billion on production facilities for the leaf based on estimated sales of 500,000 cars per year(down from original estimate of a million/year) In the six years on the market they have sold a measly 300,000 units total. Nissan Etsel would be a more fitting moniker for this failed venture.
Would not be at all surprised if plants are retooled to turn out a product that actually sells.
You can’t compete with zero marginal cost . Just ask Kodak . They thought they could . View Tony Seba’s latest post at YouTube . He’s moved up his disruption dates because the disruption is gaining traction . Just because Canada is a laggard doesn’t mean it isn’t happening . South Africa is pulling ahead of us . So is most of the world .
Poor Ataloss with his elementary school yard name-calling, how mature. yep, has tesla made a profit yet? Musk is pretty good at harvesting taxpayer subsidies. If his cars are so great why the heavy subsidies. If you order one of those today it maybe 2020 before you see it. Yep lots of money can be made off those deposits.
The Leaf is lucky to get 50k range in the winter.
Not at all opposed to alternate energy but have to wonder how the electric car does in sub-zero temps compared to a fossil burner ? Think the heater-defroster is taking a lot of the available power . I do think an electric urban commuter makes sense in a larger-warmer city .
I wanted to make a comment on the article re: the presentation to the School Board of Trustees about Aboriginal education, but comments for this topic were closed. All I wanted to say about this is that the Board of Trustees is responsible for the proper education and reporting of ALL of the students in this district, not just those with special needs and First Nations students. The School District has provided Aboriginal students with the individual services that were requested and continue to do so. Just because the Aboriginal Board was disbanded does not mean that services have decreased.
Tesla isn’t that the company whose Model s is rated “not recommended” by Consumer Reports and is rated among “worst of the worst” on used car ratings list.
As for the model 3 there are already serious doubts that Tesla can even start production in 2017 and if they can the numbers will be low. Then there is the matter of what the car will even look like. The ones shown were hand built models and may not resemble the finished product as corners will have to be cut to meet advertised price. Production delays and quality issues have plagued other Tesla products so no reason to think the model 3 will be any different.
Bs
roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/news/a27094/consumer-reports-tesla-model-s-not-recommended-on-reliability/
From linked article:
“And in a rather surprising twist, the Tesla Model S that Consumer Reports gave a better-than-perfect 103-point rating less than two months ago gets a “not recommended” thanks to what CR calls “declining reliability.”
CEO Carlos Ghosn of Nissan keynote speech is available at insideevs.com . This guy know a bit about EVs and where we are on the disruption time line . Industry reveiws written by industry aren’t worth the ink they are writin with .
Ataloss, I’m sure that most of us will agree that electric vehicles will evolve and will eventually become more and more a part of most people’s “driving” lives!
However, at this point in time, the vast majority of us are abundantly aware that electric vehicles are not the panacea that you blindly suggest that they are!
At least we will have Site C to provide low cost electricity to those that will use them! That green energy will partially offset the detrimental effects to the environment that occur during the mining for minerals required for the batteries and the detrimental effects from the manufacturing processes themselves!
Thankfully we will continue to have petroleum products available for many many years to come, petroleum products that provide us with so many of the components that make up electric vehicles!
Suffice it to say that it’s never “a perfect world”, regardless of which bubble you live under!
If industry reviews written by industry are not worth the ink used to write them, then how is a speech by Nissan’s CEO any more credible? He is the ultimate industry insider for that company.
@Hart Guy
You won’t blindly accept that EV’s are the panacea that Ataloss suggests; however, you will blindly accept that power from the disastrous Site C project is going to be low cost. You really are a hoot.
Consumer Reports is not an industy publication, but an independent group that offers the average consumer a fair and unbiased review on everything from soup to nuts to unreliable fancy skinned golf carts.
Carlos must not know as much about ev’s as he thinks he does as sales are only 10% of what he predicted when he talked the board into tossing away $5.6 BILLION. Even City, Northern Health, UNBC and the Regional District employees avoid the leaf like it is infected with ebola.
On side note set top boxes are shown not to save much as you still have to pay for content, the free offerings are free for good reason. The free version of Hulu a possible exception but not available in Canada and they are clamping down on proxies.
We slim down our package during the summer but keep netflix for rainy days so annual cost is fine. There are some grey area streaming boxes available but they can be unreliable(like Tesla) and repos disappear without warning.
lifehacker.com/a-la-carte-streaming-is-here-and-it-s-just-as-expensiv-1769410396
@ Hahaha, I am very confident that British Columbia has and will continue to have electricity costs that are the envy of the industrialized world!
@Hart Guy
Drrreeaamer……You’re nothing but a dreamer. lol
(With apologies to Supertramp).
Hey Ataloss do you own one? How is your imaginary solar system working out? Oh right not past the fairy dust stage yet.
General Motors is closest to putting a mass-market electric car on the street. The Chevy Bolt, with its estimated 200-mile battery range, is expected to arrive a full year before the Model 3.
While the Bolt may now be a deep second to the Model 3 in terms of desirability, GM can do something Tesla can’t. As Business Insider’s Matt DeBord noted, Tesla’s Detroit rival can afford to lose money on the Bolt, and it can even slash prices without breaking a sweat. Tesla, on the other hand, needs to sell its Model 3s.
From ht tp://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-is-in-danger-of-becoming-the-new-saturn-2016-4
We’ll see how it all pans out in time.
@ Hahaha, I am very confident that British Columbia has and will continue to have electricity costs that are the envy of the industrialized world! Give your head a real hard shake . If that statement were true BC would be an industrial centre that the rest of the world would envy . Logic and ideology don’t mix . The gas cars , trucks , buses will go the way of the dodo because they have reached their thermodynamic Efficieny wall at a stupid low level of 18 to 21 percent . EVs are plus 90 percent . The laws of thermodynamics don’t care what ideology you or I have .
Ataloss, you will note (if you actually read my post) that I state that I’m sure that most of us will agree that electric vehicles will evolve and will eventually become more and more a part of most people’s “driving” lives!
But as I also said, at this point in time, the vast majority of us are abundantly aware that electric vehicles are not the panacea that you blindly suggest that they are!
So, while I agree with you that electric cars will have an increasing role in our day to day lives, I like most others don’t see that happening as quickly as you might think it will!
As far as my giving my head a real hard shake regarding our electricity costs, have a look at the chart in this link that shows that the major cities in North America with the lowest rates are Montreal and Vancouver, both of which benefit from hydro-electric power!
ht tps://www.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/rates-energy-use/electricity-rates/residential-rates/rates-graphic.html
The following shows Canada wide comparisons, with BC, Manitoba and Quebec leading the way with low cost hydro-electric power:
ht tpps://www.hydro.mb.ca/regulatory_affairs/energy_rates/electricity/utility_rate_comp.shtml
Lastly, this link shows Canada being extremely competitive on a global comparison:
ht tps://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/average-electricity-prices-kwh.html
Now, go give your own head a shake!
Looks like a big change coming sooner than expected.
===========
The battery, which is now patent-pending at the US and other patent offices, is expected to cost less than $100 per kWh (about one-fourth that of the best batteries today), to weigh less and therefore provide longer range to cars, to have a greater power density (power to weight ratio), have a faster charging time and much longer life. Another substantial positive is the material itself, made from common acetylene. There are no rare earths to mine and extract, no toxic residues. The halogen dopants are also common, cheap, and abundant.
This battery, which continues the use of lithium for the anode, is likely a primary contribution to the Tesla company’s announcement this week of a new mid-price all-electric car.
===========
ht tps://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/04/08/this-new-battery-is-a-game-changer/
Elon Musk just minutes ago made history again . Betting against him is like betting against the USA . If you do you lose . He just saved one of his companies 75 million dollars by landing the falcon9 on a barge .
Could be that Tesla might not be around to see petro powered vehicles go the way of the dodo. They are currently burning about a billion a year and as of the beginning of this year had only 1.2 billion cash on hand, clearly not enough to finish the design and start production of the model 3.
It has been said that the big unveiling was just a stunt to boost s/p so they could go to to the markets with a secondary offering and raise enough capital to carry on.
Palopu, About site c
Pulp Mills generate some power, not all of their needs and is not base load
Yes Alcan generates its own power and sells the excess but has done this since the fifties so is not a factor
Load is increasing mainly in the lower mainland above industrial losses. When commodities increase site c will be needed more than ever.
IPP’s are costly and mostly not base power and site c needed for backup to them.
Generators are being added to Revelstoke and Mica for peaking only. Storage and water flow issues constrain their output.
It is you who has never been able toe back up your information, and if site c is not built there will be a fiasco.
I must laugh at the defence of log truckers and the use of illegal lights installed on their trucks put forth by none other than Stompin Tom. He claims to be a self employed business man. Yes he is, he is a self employed log truck driver. Hardly any bias there hey Tom?
Seamutt. Site C is a fiasco, alive and well and living among us.
Flooding arable land to produce electricity is yesterdays way of producing power. We have sufficient natural gas in BC to last us hundreds of years even if half of the proposed LNG projects went forward, which is highly unlikely.
It makes no sense to export natural gas to other Countries to produce electricity and not to do it ourselves. The idea that Site C produces clean power is a sham. It may be cleaner than natural gas, and coal, but still not all that clean.
In any event we will just have to see how this issue plays out. I remember all those who were in favour of the great projects of Wenner Gren, the exploitation of the Rocky Mountain Trench, and the Monorail to Alaska. These are the same people who continue to harp about the great benefits of Site C.
Site C is a benefit for Construction companies only, and some jobs during construction, after that nothing. Note the contract for the turbines that went to Voith and which will be built out of Country. Expect more of the same as this project moves forward.
If you want to continue to believe that generating this amount of electricity at a cost of $9 Billion plus of borrowed money is cheap electricity then continue to believe it, I for one do not believe it for a moment.
As you are all aware, Homer Simpson, works for a Nuclear Plant in Springfield. We need to start a draft Homer campaign, and sign him up with Hydro, because he is much smarter than those who work for BC Hydro, and the Government and who support Site C.
Go Homer Go, Hmmmmmmm donuts.
Gee Palopu so you are saying the existing hydro electric should not have been built because it is so expensive. Then how come hydro is the cheapest form of power? I have shown the comparisons of various electric power sources but for some reason you never acknowledge the facts.
Ranting about a cartoon character, this debate is now getting weird.
Lets not forget that a large part of the existing hydro-electric generating capacity, the dams on the Columbia, were paid for by the USA. We got those for ‘free’ ~ and as WAC Bennett said at the time, “There’s nothing freer than free, my friend.” (Free, in the sense that it was a cheque from Uncle Sam that built them ~ but we paid for them nevertheless, through ‘inflation’. They increased the prices of everything in BC ~ and that, more than anything else, ended the long tenure of WAC’s government.)
Whether we really need Site C for the added generating capacity it’s going to provide in the future, or not, the big come on for it being built ISN’T the same as was the case when we built the Peace River hydro development in the 1960’s. Then, there actually was large scale industrial developments that had markets waiting for the products they were going to produce. Today, that’s not the case, as we’re seeing with LNG. The real reason for Site C is to try to induce ‘inflation’. The BC Liberals may have absorbed most of those who once supported Social Credit. But they have never learned from the biggest mistake to Socreds of old made ~ that ‘inflation’ is NOT, and never will be, ‘prosperity’.
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