Business

Can't Get Sex Out Of Your Television? Stop Watching Those Cheese Commercials

Mulder

I just saw a commercial that really got my goat.

A young lady, sort of trashy looking, reorganizing a bathroom medicine chest to add her own products which then cut to that annoying old lady from the cheese commercials talking to a guy in boxers in the doorway of his bedroom and she says:

Can’t get your one night stands to STAY one night stands? Stop cooking with cheese!! Don’t put Canadian Swiss in her grilled cheese. Next she’ll have you buying a minivan!.

Call me a prude, but does this need to be in a commercial? I mean really. It’s a cheese commercial that is tying in one night stands. I can understand it if they had a couple of pieces of cheese talking about relationships going bad or getting old and moldy, but one night stands??

Come on folks. Stop using sex to sell things.

Federal Tories To Pay Down Debt By 13.2 Billion!!

Mulder

What is debt? It’s money that our government owes. And to whom does the government owe this money to? Well to be honest, about 3/4’s of it is owed to Canadian Citizens. This is owed via Canada Savings Bonds, T-Bills or other financial vehicles. This means that about a quarter of the debt is owed to foreign entities and investors.

So when the debt is paid down, the government is giving us double the bonus.

1) They are paying back debt owed directly to citizen’s
and

2) They are reducing the amount of interest we pay to service the debt.

This 13.2 Billion paydown at a modest 4% interest rate means that our interest will drop by about a half billion a year. That means 500 Million more dollars to put towards social programs, tax cuts, new equipment for the military or paying down the debt even further next year, etc. Whatever the government decides to do, the bottom line is that this payment of the surplus directly to the debt will make each yar better and better for Canadians.

I just have to say “Bravo!!”

Why Unions Should Respect Conservative Values

Mulder

For those of you who don’t know why you have Labour day off work, below is an excerpt.

For the unions out there, and especially for Buzz Hargrove, I must point out the bolded text below.

The Canadian labour movement can justly claim the title of originator of Labour Day. Peter J. McGuire, one of the founders of the American Federation of Labour has traditionally been known as the ‘Father of Labour Day’. Historical evidence indicates that McGuire obtained his idea for the establishment of an annual demonstration and public holiday from the Canadian trade unionist.

Earliest records show that the Toronto Trades Assembly, perhaps the original central labour body in Canada, organized the first North American ‘workingman’s demonstration’ of any significance for April 15,1872. The beribboned parade marched smartly in martial tread accompanied by four bands. About 10,000 Torontonians turned out to see the parade and listen to the speeches calling for abolition of the law, which decreed that trade unions were criminal conspiracies in restraint of trade.

The freedom of 24 imprisoned leaders of the Toronto Typographical Union, on strike to secure the nine-hour working day, was the immediate purpose of the parade, on what was then Thanksgiving Day. It was still a crime to be a member of a union in Canada although the law of criminal conspiracy in restraint of trade had been repealed by the United Kingdom parliament in 1871.

Toronto was not the only city to witness a labour parade in 1872. On September 3, members of seven unions in Ottawa organized a parade more than a mile long, headed by the Garrison Artillery band and flanked by city fireman carrying torches.

The Ottawa parade wound its way to the home of Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald where the marchers hoisted him into a carriage and drew him to Ottawa City Hall by torchlight. ‘The Old Chieftain’, aware of the discontent of workers with the laws which made unions illegal, in a ringing declaration from the steps of the City Hall, promised the marchers that his party would ‘sweep away all such barbarous laws from the statute books’.

The offending conspiracy laws were repealed by the Canadian government in 1872.

What’s that? A Conservative Prime Minister repealed the laws that outlawed unions?

Can I get a “Hell Yeah!!” from the autoworkers in Oshawa??

Can I get a “Hell Yeah!!” from the CUPE workers in Ottawa??

Can I get a “Hell Yeah!!” from the CUPW workers around the country??

Can I get a “Hell Yeah!!” from the teachers around the country??

Not a chance in hell.

Because the unions of today have gone beyond what they were created for. They are now the impervious shield of the “me generation”. The word grievance has gone from meaning “a wrong considered as grounds for a complaint” to “Back off or my mafia style organization is going to sue you, the company and the parent corporation and put you all out of business even if it costs me my job.”

Unions are not only joined to fellow union members, but they are joined to the hips of every other union’s members as well. This is most easily demonstrated by the inability for union members to cross the picket line of another union.

This post may not change the way unions operate, but perhaps it will give union members a bit more respect for the Conservative Party because, historically, it was the Conservatives who made it all possible. It was the Conservatives who cared about the working conditions. And it was the Conservatives who cared about Canadians of all stripes, and still do.

Could The $100 Bills Being Found In Lebanon Be Legitimate?

Mulder

Michelle Malkin has a few links to some website that are noting the quantity of US $100 bills showing up all over Lebanon. Speculation is that this money is counterfeit.

This also reminds me of Tim, a CIA intelligence officer that was buying up information from Iraqi militants on the locations of various Iraqi leaders during the recent Iraq war. Tim was a fake name used by Bob Woodward in his book on the Iraq war.
Below is a funny excerpt from Bob Woodward’s book Plan of Attack:

So rare, so mind-blowing were Tim’s informants that the CIA gave them the crypt or secret designation DB/ROCKSTARS. (DB was the designator for Iraq.) Tim was now paying the two brothers $1 million a month for ROCKSTAR intelligence. The brothers seemed to spend the money in about six days, so tim would offer several hundred thousand more if they provided really good intelligence.

Swimming in a sea of $100 bills, the ROCKSTARS were buying up weapons on the black market that the PUK was also trying to buy.

…

Tim was also doling out millions to the PUK to keep them happy and for the intelligence and security they provided. One day the PUK leader, Jalal Talabani, came to see him.

“Tim, I will need if you can bring me ones and fives and tens because now everything in Sulaymaniyah costs $100.” The $100 bills had caused extreme inflation. It seemed even a cup of coffee was going for $100 because no one could make small change.

At those prices, forget Kandahar, I say we open up a Tim Horton’s in Sulaymaniyah!!

Unions Still Don't Get It

Mulder

What kind of strangle hold do union bosses have on their members?

Gerry Nicholls has a nice piece at the Brookstreet Blog on how the unions spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on NDP candidates last election without a peep coming from the employees on their opinions of which party should get the union financial support.

Well this is now changing and that money will, inevitably, be pumped into the Liberal party.

Hargrove told the convention in Vancouver that as long as he has member support, the CAW would not be part of a body that doesn’t respect one of the largest unions in Canada.

The outspoken labour leader says this doesn’t mean the CAW won’t support some New Democrat candidates, but overall the NDP will not get financing from the union.

Getting back to the stranglehold, I must point out that the only candidate other than Buzz Hargrove on the ballot has withdrawn his nomination and is now supporting three faced Buzz.

CBC Circles The Wagons, Competitors Smell Blood

Mulder

We all know the MSM has been getting pounded for their primarily left leaning bias. Well things are getting quite interesting on two fronts.
One is when Stephen Taylor busted Christina Lawand of the CBC for juxtaposing a comment by the Prime Minister right after a Lebanese protesters statement that made him look quite cold and uncaring towards the Lebanese. The two clips took place in two different places and the PM’s statement was the tail end of a quote which asked him about much more than just the Lebanese Canadian feelings.

Well in the follow up post which Stephen takes a well deserved bow after Warren Kinsella comments on the bust, a commenter, Jay, posts his feedback from Jonathan Whitten, producer of CBC’s The National. You can read the comment and response here. Whitten doesn’t admit there was any wrong doing, but does admit they could have clarified the Prime Minister’s position a little better.

I do, however, agree with your concern about the structure of the report. The construction of the piece did make it appear the Prime Minister was responding directly to the woman protester, and that was not the case. We should have taken the time to make it clear that the Prime Minister was responding to a general question, and not a specific question about the woman’s concerns, and I regret that. While this does not constitute a misrepresentation of Mr. Harper’s position, or the position of his Government, the program could have, and should have, taken the time to be clear about what prompted the response.

The second front is the CTV hostile takeover attempt at the rights to Hockey Night in Canada. I have blogged about this before and the HNIC rights are one of the only profitable divisions of the CBC.

Right now, the CBC is paying about $65-million a year for broadcasting; TSN’s cable deal is worth about $15-million; and CTV-owned RDS’s Montreal Canadiens’ French-language agreement is for about $12-million.

That adds up to $92-million, meaning a CTV-TSN bid of $140-million would exceed the current amount by almost $50-million a year.

Could the CBC match that offer? Not likely. For starters, it doesn’t have a sports cable outlet. Therefore, it would bid only for English-language broadcast rights and perhaps French-language rights for Radio-Canada.

If the CTV offer gets accepted then you can pretty much kiss either the CBC goodbye, or a big whack of your tax dollars as the national entity appeals to the government for more financing to support itself.

Can we all start singing it now?

Ding dong the witch is dead…which old witch, the CBC Witch…
Ding dong the wicked witch is dead…..

An Order of Edamame, A Rainbow Roll, and A Sleeman's Honey Brown Please!

Mulder

My friends know I am a big fan of Sushi. They also know that on the rare occasion when I hoist a brew or two, they are inevitably Sleeman’s, and in particular, the Sleeman’s Honey Brown.

Today it was announced that Sapporo of Japan is buying Sleeman’s Brewery in Canada. The deal is expected to make Sleeman’s more competitive.

I think what I like most about this deal is being able to get a good Sleeman’s when I head out for some edamame and sashimi!!!

Domo Arigato Sapporo!!

Is It All About Religion? Or Just About The Money?

Mulder

Many believe that there is a war going on between radical Islam and Western values. Is it truly a battle of philosophy and religion? I am curious how many people wonder about what drives the price of oil up?

Instability. So let’s look at the top 10 nations by oil reserves.(in billions of barrels)

1. Saudi Arabia (264.3) – Terrorists from 9/11 were primarily Saudi Arabs. What better way to keep the House of Saud rolling in cash than to support terrorism under the table.

2. Canada (178.8) – For 13 years Chretien ruled with an iron fist that tossed cash out left right and center buying votes. Adscam, HRDC, Gun Registry, etc. All the money that could have paid off our debt and reinforced our armed forces blown on cash envelopes and monogrammed golfballs.

3. Iran (132.5) – Spawned Hezbollah and support terrorism openly.

4. Iraq (115.0) – Saddam supported terrorists and ruled with an iron fist to control the oil money.

5. Kuwait (101.5) – A tiny friend among giants.

6. United Arab Emirates (97.8) – Another tiny friend among giants.

7. Venezuela (79.7) – Hugo Chavez is pushing limits of sanity and joining forces with Iran and Russia.

8. Russia (60.0) – Don’t be fooled by Putin’s G8 Status and friendly trade pacts. Putin likes the instability in the middle east which is why the Russians are indirectly supporting nations where terrorists tend to breed.

9. Libya (39.1) – We know what Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi’s nation did for terrorism in the 70’s and 80’s before Ronnie Reagan bombed his home, killing his daughter and putting the Libyan terrorism on hold.

10. Nigeria (35.9) – A nation ruled by military generals for decades before the people stepped up and put a civilian (Olusegun Obasanjo) in charge. Just when the nation is looking to be turning a corner, rumours are starting that Al Qaeda has moved their base from Afghanistan to Nigeria.

Breaking down these top ten nations we have 6 that have been indirectly involved in destabilizing the oil supplies of the world which lead to higher oil prices. You can almost toss Russia into the mix due to their support via weapon sales to many of the other nations on this list, including Iraq. (just think SCUD missiles).

This leaves Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada.

Our current government’s stance against terrorism is a refreshing change from the previous governments wishy washy approach. Bravo Stephen Harper.  Previous PM Paul Martin has received kudos for getting Canada back on track financially when he was the Finance Minister, but he also had a tripling of oil prices since 1999 to ride and the huge tax surpluses created when big oil started raking in the dough.

So when you go fill your tank up and think it is because of a religious war going on overseas, you might want to rethink what the wars and terrorism are really all about.

Follow the money.

Drug Whore Thy Name Is Apotex

Mulder

The difference in price between generic medications and brand name can be profound. Quite often, people who would never be able to afford brand name drugs end up buying the, equally as effective, generics which can prolong and even save lives.

I have always been a proponent of brand name medications because the price increase goes into research for newer, more effective medications. But when a patent ends and the generics come out, a whole new class of people can benefit from the generics. This is typically those on lower or fixed incomes.

Bloomberg is reporting about Briston-Myers Squibb Co. being investigated for a deal they struck with Apotex.

July 27 (Bloomberg) — Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said the U.S. Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe of an accord that would delay generic competition to its biggest- selling drug, the Plavix blood thinner.

The company learned yesterday of an investigation by the Justice Department’s antitrust division, according to a statement today by the New York-based drugmaker. Bristol-Myers and partner Sanofi-Aventis SA had agreed to pay generic-drug maker Apotex Inc. an unspecified amount to stay off the market with a generic copy of Plavix until 2011.

So Apotex signed a deal to take money from BMS in exchange for screwing lower income Canadians. Hmmm. What do YOU call someone who takes money to screw people?

I would imagine with their biggest selling drug possibly going generic, the bottom line at BMS would be affected significantly.

For those who don’t recall, Apotex is the company who had executives and their teenage children donating the maximum political contribution to Liberal Leadership candidate Joe Volpe.

H/T to Small Dead Animals

I Think Intel Might Be In Trouble – AMD To Buy Canadian Graphics Chip Giant ATI for $5.5B

Mulder

Source says Applied Micro Devices could announce deal with #2 Canadian chipmaker as early as Monday

When I read the post at Digg, I was thinking “no way” but sure enough CNN Money is reporting the following.

Advanced Micro Devices, the No. 2 supplier of computer processors, is close to a deal to buy graphics chip maker ATI for $5.5 billion, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Any such deal would shake up the processor industry, which is witnessing a battle over market share between AMD and larger rival Intel

For those who aren’t familiar, ATI is a company very close to my heart. (no disclosure needed because they are not close to my wallet. Too bad.) This Canadian giant of graphics has been a mainstay in almost every gamerz computer at some point in time via their Radeon series graphics cards/processors.

With Dell opening up to using AMD this year, and the ATI-Dell relationship, this is not going to be pretty for Intel. AMD also laid the gauntlet down recently and announced plans to release a true quad-core processor in 2007, which looks to have forced Intel to either open their hand up or play catch up.

The only thing that could be worse is if Lenova was to sign up AMD as their primary processor supplier. (Watch for it!)

It also raises a question that has me perplexed. Who would be Canada’s #1 chip maker?