Headlines Nov. 27/09

Yet another reason to get out of the city. Not even riding on a bus is safe these days. An unsuspecting traveler was hit by a stray bullet in a random act of violence. He was not seriously injured but who shoots at buses? Really? GTA gangsta's riding the TTC? That's rich (but not moneywise). Way to represent!

In other TTC news Adam Giambrone is facing the wrath of many disgruntled customers. Not only the fare hike, but the limiting of token sales, AND the Bloor-Yonge barrier tactics has pissed off pretty much everyone. So you still wanna be mayor?

GTA Headlines Nov. 23/09

Creba killers go free. WTF? Seriously this is NOT justice.

Double whammy. TTC implement crowd control, pisses people off. Also limit/eliminate sales of tokens to ensure riders don't hoard tokens. Bloor station turned into a cattle ranch as employees tried to corral passengers. Moo!

Reasons to get out of the GTA: health, traffic, and violence.

The city's poor handling of the H1N1 crisis puts the strained health care system under the microscope. Health care workers are doing the best they can with poor management but you can't hide the crumbling/bumbling problems forever.

Need to get downtown during rush hour? Good luck. Heck, try that during non rush hour times. There's just a steady stream of cars growing every year.

Can you remember the last weekend when there WASN'T a shooting? Neither can I. It's becoming an unfortunate regularity. Toronto is becoming a poor man's New York City.

TFSA: Things You Should Know

It's getting close to that time again to dump some money into your tax free savings account (TFSA) and shelter those profits, however there are some things you should know before you do anything. It's a very good idea to review these items before you open a new account.

Fees: Before you sign anything, ask this question first. Are there withdrawal fees? Transfer fees? Switch fees? Management fees? Administration fees? Many of you will jump in with both feet before you decide test the water. Don't get caught down the road having to pay unnecessary fees when there are other financial institutions offering zero fees.

Minimum investment: Do you need $1,000 before you can open an account? Can you go as low as $50? Will you have to continue to invest money on a regular basis? Find out before you commit to anything. Save yourself the trouble of having to read the fine print.

Interest rate: What is the current interest rate? How often does the rate change? Where can I go to check the rate? Can I go online to check real time rates? Shop around to find out who's offering the biggest bang for you buck. It will definitely add up over the years. Plus with the financial markets bouncing around you want to be able to take advantage of investment opportunities by moving your money to the best investment vehicle.

Type of allowed investments: Is this a straight daily interest account? Is it money market / bond / term deposit / GIC? 1 year, 2 year, 3 year, 4 year? What about stock shares? Mutual funds? What falls under the TFSA umbrella? It's a good idea to move your more taxable investments into a TFSA, because we all know everyone hates paying taxes.

Ask these few questions and you will save yourself a lot of trouble going forward. Making smart investment decisions now will make your retirement worry free.

Quebec Rolls Out The Welcome Carpet

This is why nice people never visit. Prince Charles and wife Camilla are in town and did we (at least Quebec) offer them a welcome. Protesters showered the motorcade with rotten eggs to show their pleasure of having royalty present. Police eventually moved in to remove the protesters blocking the path so that the Prince could get in to the big party. Charles took the reaction in stride by calling the peasants a "disturbance in the force" and then farted in their direction. "Take that bitches! Straight outta the Holy Grail!" Quebec Jerks!

More Tax? Yes, Please!

Who doesn't love more taxes? However this is exactly what the Toronto city council is mulling over to deal with the budget shortfall. Hmm, forget managing expenses just keep pushing up taxes, that will fix it. Don't panic ... yet. The city needs provincial approval before anything happens but I would be surprised if it happens. The city's spending is out of control. Unions are the cause but also are the dysfunctional city council that always argues over what to do and end up doing nothing.

Oh hey, more good news: TTC fare hike is coming. Guess it's just one of those things we can't avoid, taxes, death, swine flu, and zombies.

Farmer nixes Interweb, cites mutated garlic

A farmer in Nova Scotia has put the brakes on high speed Internet access. His reasons? Mutated garlic. Eastlink, the ISP for rural areas, provides Internet access via microwave towers transmitting signals. The farmer believes that the signals may be harmful to his crops and hence, mutated garlic. The local council so far has supported his objections, however Eastlink has appealed the decision to the federal government, which is expected to rule in their favor. Big business stomps on the local farmer yet again.

NDP to support PC?

Is this politics at it's best? Jack Layton of the NDP is contemplating supporting the Stephen Harper Conservatives and to avoid another election. Does anyone remember the last election and the nasty debate which was displayed on national television in all its glory? Remember the Jack Layton "sweater" comment which clearly hit Stephen Harper below the belt? What happened to all the rhetoric from the NDP about never supporting a Harper government?

My, my, how the tides have turned. Is this all just a scheme to get some EI legislation put through? However, in doing so the NDP would also have to support an attached bill promoting a trade pact with Columbia. How's the dirty politics feeling boys? Either way, the only party really prepared to begin an election campaign are the Liberals. (link)