One of the greatest ecological disasters is taking place in the Gulf off of Louisiana.
And what does the most powerful, most advanced, most protective and most democratic country on earth do ? They stand back and let BP manage the situation.

And now days later, say things like – ‘seems they’ve not been honest about the number of barrels leaking” and then they say “oops, the chemicals they said were safe, aren’t?”
Hullo ?? What about taking control and sending an invoice to BP after? Manage it, step up.

This reminds me of a monster movie – the star is frozen on screen in horror – doing nothing. The audience screams – move , run, get away...but the star just gets eaten..... Everyone saw it happening, nobody did a thing. Except the monster – it did what it was supposed to do .... ate the star.

I can spell Google without a red line appearing – but when I type Googled, MS underlines it with RED indicating a spelling mistake. So MS accepts Google as a noun, but they refuse to acknowledge it within their world as a verb.

Ok, ok nobody really Googles anything. Oops “Googles” begets another red underline. Another term that does not really exist as a verb…

AND know that when I type Binged – the MS verb that, if you will, opposes the active action of “Googled” there is no red line. MS defines their world – on their terms.

Wish I could define my world that way.

Very convenient. Always works. Uses NO batteries. Has a long cord. You’ll never believe it – it’s a phone!
Yes we like most got a cordless phone for the house, years ago. Then it progressed to a dual line cordless phone, then with 2 lines, we added 3 more cordless devices. Soon when a phone rang, all hell broke loose. We heard the base station ring and ring and ring – we could even tell if it was line one, or line two. But darned if we could find a cordless unit that worked.

Yes the phone would ring - and panic would set in. We'd run, we'd look - sometimes we'd find it - but whoever was calling had already hung up - could we have missed Readers Digest telling us we'd won the millions??

One day I was in a store, seemed like an antique store – but there it was “nirvana” a phone that I could screw to the wall.
It had a ringer bell.
It gets “power” right through the phone wires.
No batteries needed.
No electric circuits needed.
No hiding under pillows, on the deck, in the laundry room, in the basement?

Now when the phone rings for line one – we know right where to go. Planted firmly on the wall – a telephone with a handset attached by a curly cord.

Old but predictable. And I predict these things could make a comeback.
GO ON, ADMIT it - sounds like a good idea - eh?

Only as a result of Government Services, Taxes – at every level, regulated services and public utilities. And oh what a perfect time to bring on the HST in Ontario and BC.

And somehow – right here in Ontario ... Insurers have just cut the cost they will cover on Health Plans for dispensed drugs...yeah that makes sense..Government reduces costs of Generic Drugs, but my deductible goes up? Huh? Whats wrong with this story?

My sign is Aquarius but i missed the drug days of youth...i built plastic models...maybe the glue substituted. But here we are – it’s today, and I’m concerned. BC has changed the rules for the small time local drug dealers – they’re legalizing the stuff and threatening the very existence of this entrepreneurial sector.

And now Ontario threatens their big brother. Heck the way I understand it – we’re going to have to buy drugs on almost the blind faith of our Medical Doctor, no more consultations – with the Dealer. And we may not be able to buy them at 3 in the morning – and that’s a problem, cause my doctor usually stays open till at least 2:30am so I can get prescriptions. And they won’t deliver for free....means i may have to visit them on a corner, under a dimly glowing street light? Well then I agree, close earlier...I don’t like late night rendezvous. And if the line-ups and wait times get too, too long for drugs at the pharma ...I’ll do the street corner at WalMart – even though I’m not their greatest fan.

In a competitive world I just don’t understand how businesses that are loosely attached to Medical Care – refer to me as a patient. And as for this new breed of Drug Dealer holding me “hostage” as the media has been saying...only till I cross the street to WalMart.

Go back, return to your core business – sell drugs. Give up the milk, makeup, magazines and whatnot. Go take a look at what pharmacies in Europe are all about – small medical-help style dispensaries. Find your core business – balance your overhead to that core...it can all work out.

...so buddy can you spare a buck, for your local drug dealer? Send it to one of those big stores - the rents are just giant!

Dateline: April 2010
News-Magazine: Post City Magazine Thornhill edition
Feature: Real Estate Roundtable

Background - Housing "heavies" weigh-in at a round-table, about what else - the Toronto Market (real estate).

Page 15:
Conversation about a million dollar home being mortgaged for three to four hundred...that I understand to mean $300,000 to $400,000.

response from an Editor-at-large, Financial Post:
"That's a nuisance mortgage".

....and folks if the "market's" in trouble, it's exactly her attitude that drives the bus.

How can an editor at large of a financial section for a National newspaper be that far from the street of reality and fairly write about news that matters?

If I'm wrong and they really did mean $300 to $400, then like Gilda...."oops never-mind".

Decades ago they were called Snake Oil Charmers. At another time they were Potato Bug Killer Companies, selling, 2 sticks of wood during the Depression, to already depressed Farmers, that would help them “save the farm”. In a landmark decision by a US Judge about mail-fraud, it was determined that "used correctly - the advertisement supported the claim of the product which shipped - bang the 2 sticks together, with even just one of teh crop-killing bugs and indeed they served as a Potato Bug Killer.

Today’s Charmers – for sure SEO’s – Search Engine Optimizers.

They are the guru’s that will advise your business on how to best conquer Google, Jeeves and Bing to make it to the top – “above the crease”.

You pay them, they do an analysis of your business, your site, your competition And then they deliver the MAGIC. The words, the special order of the words and how many times to repeat the words to “trick” the Search Engines to putting you first. And of course – first – is in business terms – Nirvana.

But there’s a catch – the words change. Often. So you require these wizards always, on a continual basis, to trick the “net” and keep you first.

So logic has one question – why on a recent “search”, oh hell lets just call it right in the modern vernacular – “why when I Googled the term – SEO Optimizers do I then see:
1,370,000 hits AND in ONLY .18 seconds ?

The Top Bar position – the highest PAID FOR POSITION – has 3 companies who can do it for me, but not for themselves?
The Right Side Bar – another Paid Advertising Position – has 8 more imperial wizards who can save me from oblivion.
...and then there’s other 1,370,000....

Oh gosh...who to pick to save me from falling in with the masses?

...and you missed them all? Yes you did. CRTC said " Cable Companies should revenue-share with the Broadcasters...and the money should be internal "no looking to the Consumer" for the money...that makes me feel good...no more cable increases....whew that was a close call.

Oops and this just in. Cable Companies are going to be allowed to insert Paid for Advertising in Pay Services and Time Shifted programming, aka - VOD Video On Demand services. It's ANOTHER new revenue stream. You see 12 years ago the fees from from the pay portion of these services were small and today at $24.7 Million - there just "isn't a future business case" for these cable pay services. Poor cable companies - no future visions of a business case.

OK, so lets just line up the bases:
- cable carriers and broadcasters are going to do a rev-share = we pay
- in a separate CRTC stroke of consumer genius - - cable and broadcasters are going to share in a new and different "insert fee", within a service that we already buy - VOD, that was bought 'cause it was commercial-free' (sort of).
The bad news - they can leave the original commercials in and 'recharge' the advertisers.
The good news - they can insert new commercials and "recharge other advertisers".
The net-neutral news - CRTC did not say: ...hey this new found money, can be used as the cost for the Rev-share in the prior dumb decision. No guys, this is "other" money. For the "rev-share" money there's an increase coming to a cable bill near you.

Enough said!

Awful Opening Ceremonies
And let it be known, i had no issue, zero problem with the 4th arm not working.
But from the opening cut of the skier that was standing still when he should have been sliding into the stadium...it was obvious that the Director was at the party, not Directing for it.\

Then onto to the Closing Ceremonies:
- Just as the Snowboarders were forming a shape – the Director cuts to scene of fireworks on the roof. Video Sir, video for replays and cutting in later. The action was inside, on the floor, the shape.
- Buble was Buble, ok. But it should’a been Stompin’ Tom that the number ended with, not Buble on a hat.
- What comedian has ever played to simpatico piano key-taps and got a crowd laughing. The Shatner Trio was in self-deprecating way very funny, but the moment was ruined by music. Except for Michael J Fox – they get a tight shot for when he pulls the giant lever, then they roll their own mobile camera right into shot – all but blocking the lever, Michael and the ‘moment”.
- I’m not a fan – but, where was Grapes – Mr. Cherry ??
- AND Hockey Night In Canada – Brian Williams who talked solid for over a week – couldn’t shut up – he had to describe the “tune”. Would he also speak during the O Canada??
- Rare were any close-up shots of people all decked out in Moose antlers that were partying.
What these guys missed was the ‘art’ of the show. There was no party. It was a sterile series of technical cuts from scene to scene, by a Director likely reading a book, interrupted by calls of “what now?” Oh Mr. Fecan your hand picked super-star and his hand -picked crew – yes what a job.
I know the Carol Burnett show was famous, loved and an award winner...but i had a hard time watching as the talent laughed and enjoyed so much, what they did, that we missed most of the lines. The show is for the viewer.

And the Prize goes to Tylenol…still world famous for managing a crisis they did not create.

But wow over at NBC. Yikes. They create their own crisis and then drag their assets through the mud. Leno, The Man, The Star, The Hood Ornament – Johnny’s Successor. First, instead of moving his show, cause we’re all finding it harder to stay up late….they re-invent it. Leave it you dorks – it was an institution. Have you learned nothing from the TIVO? Time Shift. It works. Instead, these geniuses promissed a new show, a new format – well the chairs were different, and he didn’t sit behind a desk. Other than that....new? We enjoyed him, his humour, the format ….just we get tired earlier. Don’t agree? How many people say they like Colbert better than Stewart, but can’t make it the extra half hour? Ah ha!

So instead of NBC saying – “oops we goofed” and then picking a back room target, off camera, and punching him in the head before he saw it coming…which is normal style for corporate gamesmanship…they publicly humiliate all three, as well as themselves. Three living assets that are built on ego – have the camera and at least some – heart of the nation. NBC just throws ‘em all in the mud, and then jumps right in with them. Talk about care and feeding of the corporate assets. Who are these leaders, the business wizards, these spin masters? Bet ya’ Michael Eisner is look’n good now.

And they say Madmen is a neat behind the scenes view of craziness. This is so much better…out front stupidity.

And for those of us that are old enough...remember the Network battle with Smothers Brothers...sounds so much alike. And golly gosh I think it was NBC.....ah ha.

Please let this side-show run longer...it's got so much - comedy, tragedy, sorrow, perspective, bravado...even an insight into income, contract law and oh the leadership skills....and the stupidity of a Network Executive to try and enter any battle with the guy, no guys - there's three of 'em, anyhow back to the dummy Executive - he's fighting with three guys that have a live microphone to the public's ear....so who's going to win....money or shame?

Oh and the bright "exec" ....he gave them the mic and left it on during battle...now that one has to remind you of Regan when he did the sound-check directing...."bomb the _astards".

44 Full-Body Scanners for $11-million.

Let’s forget about privacy and all the other nilly willy issues. 44Million works out to only $250K each. Seems like a bargain to me. Bet’ya if someone does a Freedom of Information request on this one, they’d see it likely cost $100,000 to install each machine. And it will likely cost $509,000 annually to staff each unit – yes, each one, each year - $509,000 per unit. That’s $22,422,400 a year. That should be the headline. Not the $11-million acquisition cost.

How? They say - 2 people to run each. At $35 an hour for supplied cost – how? Don’t forget the Manager, the Supervisor, standby people for sick days, HR Officers, Fairness Officer, bookkeeper, profit for the supplier, etc etc etc so this leaves likely $12 to $15 for the Operators. Yes each of the two – they won’t be splitting the $15. But now back to how - $35 x 2 people x 20 hours x 7 days x 52 weeks x 44 units – and we’re back to that twenty-two million dollar number. Oh, and $35 is likely the low end of the hourly rate – think more like $50 and for real aggravation. Not included in the above numbers are: benefits, pensions, holiday time. All additional contributions which the governments will have to pay back to whoever runs the money show.

Acquisition cost? Bahh Humbug.

South of us, they sent Conrad to jail for what they term “dishonest services”. If he’s there, which he is, he should have lots of company.

Here we have an Auditor General that continues to lambaste the Government for reckless spending and horrid management and oversight. Our Premier, a few weeks back said something to the effect of “you don’t like it, unelect me at the appropriate opportunity”.

When will stop saying things like “Government Waste” and accepting it as just incompetence?

And is it enough to “unelect him”, he then gets a wonderful pension, is that they way we reward and will continue to reward ‘waste’?

....for the Cost of supporting Government services at all levels the Cost of Living in this country seems somewhat predictable, even stable.

Today is the day the CRTC hears “input” to new fees, revenue share or something like that the TV stations and networks want from us, or the cable companies or somebody…?

Let’s look back for just a moment:
Pay TV comes in – Specialty Channels they’re called.
The rules – if we want to subscribe we pay a small monthly fee. Well too many channels, too much choice – not enough sales. Solution – charge a little bit more for the “small monthly fee” and allow the new specialty channels to sell some advertising minutes, not many just a few. Still not enough revenue – allow a few more minutes of advertising sales per hour.

Suddenly Good Morning. Networks and local stations are suffering as advertisers pull back faced with hundreds of channels, the net, paper, hell even images in washrooms and projected onto the sidewalls of buildings at night. Specialty Channels have a guaranteed income and ‘regular TV” suffers. They want “rev-share”.

What ensues is a comical series of Public Service commercials – each pointing out the “other sides” grotesquely large profits, all on the back of who? Oh their good friends and advocates – Joe Public. No, not MaCain’s Joe Public, our made in Canada Joe Public.

Lets 'Michael Moore' this for just a moment –
Specialty Channels – non competitive to regular network and local tv are introduced.
Specialty channels – start selling advertising minutes, and still get monthly “user fees”
Specialty Channels get to sell more minutes.
Shaw and Rogers come to a ‘détente” and split Canada into east and west zones. No more territorial fighting between them, no more price or feature wars. ((are you beginning to get it??))

Where was the CRTC then?
Where was the Competition Bureau then?
AND have you looked at which Networks, (the Tin Cuppers) actually own some of these Speciality Channels, that have dissected their revenue markets?

The stage for today’s battleground was set slowly, over the years. It should be no surprise about the Networks wanting revenue share…and it should be surprise that somehow we’re about to pay more….

The “new” Minister of Health for the Province in responding to the mess of vaccine availability and distribution has said:
"I want Ontarians to know that we're working hard to protect you from H1N1, and we're going to keep working hard until we get this right,"
…..thanks for that Deb, your Government, still practicing. So that’s why you go through millions, oh no – billions.

Sounds a lot like her boss 'the Dalton' – “ this shows that Ontarians expect and deserve better”

Other famous Dalton lines of recent months include:

"Our responsibility as a government is to take responsibility," a chastened McGuinty told a news conference Wednesday after appointing Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews to replace Health Minister David Caplan, who resigned over the fiasco.

McGuinty said it is now clear the government needs to "insinuate ourselves into the activities that are taking place far away from the front lines, because ultimately we're being held accountable for them."

That realization does not make him angry, the premier said.

"It makes me more determined to put into place the appropriate measures."

He did not specify what actions are coming but said "there will likely be some changes made in order to breathe life into the recommendations put forward by the auditor."

Although many of the problems occurred under Caplan's predecessor, McGuinty said former health minister George Smitherman, his deputy premier and minister of energy and infrastructure, would remain in cabinet because "the minister who is in place at that time, who's up to bat, accepts responsibility."
____
There ya go Dalton, no look backs. Dalton’s Teflon world works more like a kids game of “tag – ooly olly en-free, you’re it!”
Dalton obviously believes resumes or CV’s are useless things in determining capacity or capability.

So it started out as a $200 million dollar mess. Escalated to $600 and now is reported at One Billion .
And we accept this? In fact we pay them get up in the morning and do this.

Conrad, Garth and Myron are the only ones to server time?
It don’t make sense to me.

Oh – yes, yes it does: they’re politicians we expect this, so we accept it.

A1 - In Ontario – Cell Phones with Bluetooth Voice Dial.

Q 2 - So what are the genius “marketing” folks at Bell, Rogers & Telus missing?

A2 – Opportunity. A giant opportunity - Missed.

Their collective web sites are almost void of information on Voice Dial. They continue to deliver hyper-babble mush about sleek features in hot pink, midnight black and pineapple white cases. ONLY Fido offered any close advice when doing a word search under Voice Dial.

For years these companies have pounded tens of millions of dollars expounding features that manufactures tear sheets said would sell more phones. NOW, HERE, TODAY – a reason – a change in the law – an easy reason to guide customers to an upgrade that the customer would pay for. No negotiating, no threatening to switch carriers, just a need – “help me continue to burn air-time minutes, while complying with the Law”. And they fail. Same old, same old marketing. Not an opportunity in sight.

Talk about “blowing” Investor Value. Solutions guys, this was your big chance to shine. Or at least look like you were awake. Silly gooses.

Hey, how’s the golf?

My jury still out.

Kindle – if laptop screens couldn’t kill it, will Kindle and the Sony eBook Reader be the Great Paper-Killer?

I’m thinking not. Yes, I really want a Kindle, but they just ain’t available in Canada (yet) so I went and played with the newest generation Sony Reader. Yes clear, easy to read text. Smooth fonts, non glare screen, light in weight and cool. But “it ain’t paper”. You can scroll, flip pages etc, but it’s missing the texture of how much more to read, by the thickness of the right pile, how much read, by the thickness of the left bundle.

I take zealous care of my books - their pages, even the corners of the cover. But on a beach, in the yard, I can drop a magazine as I snooze, Kindle, Sony – they’re not droppable.

And the price, for the small difference, if I wanted to carry a bundle of books these “e” readers, I’d save lots of weight. But for texture, I like a book, the art, the weight, the flipping of a real page, as I know pages. BUT back to price – a significant cost of publishing a book is printing the first copy and then the second, and so on, but the first copy …wow expensive to get to. So for Kindle books – which takes none of that financial horsepower, not even shelf space, the savings seem not there. Bravo to the author if they can reap more, but are they? Or is this really just a retail margin improvement – with loss of texture.

As for Kindle – I still really want one, and likely will jump at the chance, but like so many electronic toys, suspect I’ll tire fast and yearn to flip real pages, real fast.

You advertise to sell a product. And in retail, you even locate near and with other similar stores - to bring people into your store.

Once in your sales arena – you hope I’ll impulse buy at least another product, another thing, not just the advertised ‘special’. Properly planed, I should experience “ah-hah” moments in your establishment saying things like …”I need that”, “…and oh, I want one of them too!”

So why do you kill the opportunity. Yes on the floor crush it, stomp it. As I’m about to consider a purchase I didn’t plan, - an impulse buy – retail gold. Why do you frustrate my attempt by not having a price anywhere? Why?

Why can you build a store, inventory it, advertise it, hire people but in the end - terminate my uncontrolled emotion and preparedness to part with money, by missing the most basic point – “how much?”

…and there’s been a lot I’ve meant to say – share, but….
The headline – Ontario 24.7B Deeper In Debit got my engine going. Again.

This is what a Billion looks like:
1,000,000,000.
Hundred Million:
100,000,000.
One Million:
1,000,000.
Getting the idea about how big a billion is?

How many “working taxpayers” does it take to get the first billion of tax revenue?

For those that don’t relate to long, large, number of a Billion, take a smaller step – remember the folks at “e-health” Ontario who spent anywhere from 600 to 800 million dollars, of our money much of it recklessly? Now the Official Word is that “they thought it needed to be done quickly”. I ask was is the build of a system, or the burn of the money? And we the citizens are ok with their response, as justified and rational. Criminal maybe? Why is Conrad Black in jail? Why is Drabinsky headed there?

So when you hear $24,000,000,000; remember it was one Health scandal at a time. Had we removed the most recently discovered one, the headline would read closer to only $23 Billion, and despite what our political leaders tell us; save a billion here, a half billion there, and pretty soon we owe many less billions.

Then there was a Power Plant for a Casino in Windsor at 89 or 90 million, built by Ontario Lottery Corp, plus a management contract given out to run it for 9 or was it 25 years?.... and a few management salaries later at Ontario Hydro, then morphed into Hydro One, oh and then there were some other great ones over at The Ontario Lottery Corp, first paid, then quietly settled as it seems we fired 'em wrong; and did ya' hear about the stuff at the yet undiscovered LCBO...you will!

And why just kick the public issues, did ya’ hear about the multi-million dollar payout of the genius-guru that ran Sick Kids Hospital Charitable Foundation?

And now the Toronto School Board is hiring a Director of Marketing to help retain and enroll….got’a love it, more empirical power plays, on our dime, at a time of ‘restraint”.

No wonder we invented Viagra.
It's just with all the high blood pressure these fiasco’s should create, Viagra is a no-no. No?