My Old Lady - 2014 film written, produced and directed by Israel Horovitz - There is a curious practice in France relating to real estate. The French call it ‘viager’ and it works in a similar fashion to a reverse mortgage, but without using a bank. Both systems are based on the equity inherent in …
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ABORIGINAL TITLE
I looked across the street and coveted my neighbor’s house. One side of the house had an ocean front, on the other side I saw a fishing pond and they had a creek running through acres of forested land surrounding it. They’ve lived there longer than anyone else and call themselves ‘FIRST NEIGHBOURS’. So …
THE GREAT AI CONUNDRUM
It’s SO EXCITING!!! AI and robotics are revolutionizing work and we’re ALL GOING TO BECOME REDUNDANT. Tech giants are leading the way - FIRING EMPLOYEES BY THE THOUSANDS to help pay for new facilities that use the TRILLIONS of watts of electricity needed to feed AI. This, of course, IS GOOD NEWS for those who …
FAYNE BY ANN-MARIE MACDONALD
FAYNE BY ANN-MARIE MACDONALD - Knopf 2022 - It’s not often I’m as conflicted about a book as I am with Fayne. For the most part the story is written in the tradition of a nineteenth century novel. With the main character occasionally speaking directly to the reader (Oh, reader…) and the story’s many unlikely …
UPS – AN AMERICAN DELIVERY COMPANY YOU CAN CHEERFULLY BOYCOTT
A couple of pieces of background information will be helpful to make sense of this blog, including the fact that I’ve collected first edition children’s books as a hobby for many years. Most are purchased on eBay from either the USA or the UK. You also need to know that when items cross the border …
Continue reading UPS – AN AMERICAN DELIVERY COMPANY YOU CAN CHEERFULLY BOYCOTT
IS IT JUSTICE?
Two court cases reported in the same newscast last week… CASE ONE - Nineteen year old Aiden Bell and Mark Harrison arrived at a park in Nanaimo, B.C., carrying knives, bear spray and looking for trouble. Fred Parsons, a gentle person with developmental disorders, and some of his friends, were occupying the swing set in …
CORPORATE CHUTZPAH
Have you heard the howls and seen the bitter tears from the billionaire Elong Musk-rat now his car company’s remuneration has been overturned by the courts? I’m sure Musk-rat pleaded with the judge about how hard it is to get by on a measly $56 billion a year, but it seems his lamentations fell on …
THE PROMISE
The Promise is a 2016 film directed and written by Terry George from an unproduced screenplay by Robin Swicord - While we generally view films as a commercial endeavor, ‘The Promise’ was created as a vehicle to raise awareness about the genocide of the Aremenian people by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 - something the …
THE TAXMAN COMETH
While no one is thrilled about being taxed, most people will agree that there are a few areas of responsibility that cost governments money. Defense of the realm is one that’s always been a given. Sure, we all think no one should have to spend money on armaments but, with the world situation continuing to …
THE JOYS OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Citizens of Kanadoodle have been castigated for having the ‘highest household debt in the G7 countries’. When I went on-line, I found it wasn’t easy to check this bit of news. It’s all about statistics. For starters, other countries had one number that gave the average debt for everybody but Kanadoodle had debt shown by …
Richard's Left Bank 