Gas Price Rant #10 Asteroid run run run · Monday April 21, 2008 by colin newell
From time to time you run into something so concise… so truthful… so simply scary… as to leave you breathless. This brief from the Tom Dispatch pretty much sums up that experience.
Read it. Take the 15 minutes. Drink a coffee.
And gasp along with me.
Warning: Your gas pains may become more acute with this material.
Solution: Ride a bus, car pool, bike or walk – and the discomfort will pass.
British Columbians as sheep rant #1 · Wednesday April 16, 2008 by colin newell
When it comes to taking a fleecing, it seems that no one bends over more quickly (for the man with the scissors) than the average British Columbian.
I mean – we love being taken to the cleaners… and I am not entirely sure why? Living on the West Coast in a haze of pot smoke could not possibly account for all of the passive behavior… or could it?
Take the price of gas. It can go up 3 to 5 cents in a day and there is nary a whimper from the general public… alright, maybe there are faint little bleats from the average British Columbian… but nothing sustained.
It is simple. We are all gutless, two stomached, masticating wimps in furry lavender soaked coats.
Now take todays news for a moment. The B.C. Ferries Board (whatever the heck that is…) have just voted themselves a 60% raise… pretty much out of your ruminant pockets. And before ewe get your trotters all a-twitter (as if!) how about a few more details? The board chair, Elizabeth J. Harrison, received a pay raise on April 1, when the pay hike went into effect, from $105,000 to $140,000 a year. Five new members were appointed to the 13-member board on April 11.
On April 1, BC Ferries hiked fares by an average of 7.3 per cent on the three major routes connecting Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland and an average of four per cent on the remaining routes.
The company said the “fare increases are necessary due to the rising cost of fuel as well as operating and capital expenditures.”
I wonder what this Province of lamb-chops will do about it…
apart from uttering…
Baa
Humbug.
Your Daily Planet #1 · Friday April 4, 2008 by colin newell
Inflation is hitting everyone these days – gas prices up in Canada, the price of wheat, flour and now rice. A local baker recently reported that his price for one particular grade of flour went up 65% in one week.
And however unusual that is, pity residents of Zimbabwe in Africa. Once the breadbasket of Africa and one of the most successful and stable economies, years and years of government mismanagement have left this gem of a country in fiscal chaos. Inflation rates over the past few months have been reported in the double digits – on a typical day, prices rise 10 to 15%.
In February, the national bank of Zimbabwe issued its first 10 million dollar note – to respond, in part, to the death spiral of its own currency and buying power.
And that 10 million dollar note today? It buys a loaf of bread. If one can find a loaf of bread on the many empty grocers shelves that is.
In an even more brazen and pathetic move, the national bank issued a 50 million dollar note this week.
It is worth about 2$ American and buys about 3 loaves of bread.
Keep that in mind when you are queuing up at your local Sobey’s or Target store.
Walmart law-suit shocks even me · Wednesday April 2, 2008 by colin newell
I have ranted, in the past, about how totally and completely morally bankrupt the Walmart corporation appears to be; alleged exploitation of workers, unsafe working conditions, denial of health care coverage for almost 1/2 their work force, theft of hours, harassment of employees and on and on and on and on. The documentation backing all this up is staggering.
Now for an update: Enter Deborah Shank.
A devastating collision with a semi-trailer truck seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons won a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved. After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Mrs. Shank’s care. Or so they thought.
Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Mrs. Shank’s former employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Two years ago, the retail giant’s health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart’s favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, her family has to rely on Medicaid and Mrs. Shank’s social-security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.
Wow. Walmart must be really hurting financially to go after this woman.
But are they? Not really.
Their C.E.O. made over 17 million dollars last year – his salary alone.
That is twice the average C.E.O. salary of 9.6 million.
So how do Walmart employees fair? They get $9.68 an hour – if they are full time. 26% of Walmart employees are part-time.
How do Walmart’s myriad subcontractor employees do World wide?
Between Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Indonesia, China and Swaziland, the average wage for a Walmart subcontractor is about 25 cents… an hour. When they actually get paid that is.
25 cents an hour. So you can save money.
Back to Deborah: – Less than a week after the Shanks lost their appeal, their son Jeremy was killed in Iraq… Ironically protecting the American Dream, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.
Get this: On the advice of consultants, Jim has divorced his wife, to make her eligible for public aid as a single and totally disabled person. After attending her son’s funeral, she still could not figure out why he was missing from the family circle.
So – how does this all happen with Walmart’s HMO? When Deborah signed onto the Walmart health plan, she agreed that her employer would be first in line for payment out of any subrogation. Yea, it’s in the fine print.
Subrogation – fancy word… It means that if an accident victim is paid out – and that victim was employed when the accident happened – and insured by the employers insurance company – and there is a big pay out – guess who has their hand out?
In this case… Walmart. Cutting the heart out of the American worker by hiring Chinese workers to make toxic junk (for 25 cents an hour) so you can buy something more that you don’t need – that you will invariably throw away – to fill up a toxic landfill in China.
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