Capitalism With A Soul

Socially Responsible Investing, mutual funds that invest in Nice Corporations, or force Corporations to be nice. Mutual Funds. The very origin of ponzi investing schemes in the United States after WWII. Outlawed and regulated after the 1929 crash Mutual Funds became a form of Peoples Capitalism with advent of Bernie Cornfeld and IOS.

Cornfeld and his pals ironically were Trotskyites for a short period while in college. Reminding us of the Trots who later became the very backbone of the neo-conservative movement in the United States. Anyways after the IOS scandal mutual funds were disreputable until the 1980's when they became popular again. Especailly after the 1987 crash which they survived. Today credit unions, peoples capitalism, promote socially responsible mutual funds. They are big in Canada as well as the US. As Motely Fool reports; Stocks With Scruples

Here's the scoop, and please don't take it too personally: It really doesn't matter how you feel about SRI. Like it or not, this way of investing has already made its presence known in the press and in the boardroom, on campus and in congregations, through a larger number of tailored securities products, increased shareholder activism, and greater corporate acknowledgement. According to the Social Investment Forum's fifth biennial report on investment trends, which was released in January, SRI investment assets have grown faster since 1995 than all other managed assets in this country -- more than 258%. That report documents an 18.5% increase in SRI mutual funds and a 16% rise in social and corporate governance resolutions over the past two years.

And surprisingly SRI mutual funds did better in May than other mutual funds. Proving you can have your cake and eat it too. Peoples Capitalism, ethical investing, oh joy make that an Americana Vente low fat with two sugars please.

May not a merry month for mutual fund investors and salespeople

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Soccer Scandal Canadian Style

As we get closer to the World Cup more soccer scandals are being exposed. In this case its a Vietnamese mafioso who came to Canada as one of the boat people, those folks who hid their wealth on their bodies and hit the ocean to escape 'Socialist Viet-Nam'. Strange but after many so called poor oppressed boat people got here the first thing they did was start jewelry stores, having brought their stolen wealth from Viet Nam here.

Sorry but I figure after the Viet Nam war folks had the responsibility to help rebuildtheir country. But under the infulence of the Americans, who deserted them, they figured they would take their ill gotten gains from war profiteering and head West. Where they were welcomed with open arms by the folks who kept them in power during the war years.

And the reason we have an increase in Vietnamese crime gangs is because many of the kids who came here had known nothing but war. And war, creates a messed up psyche. Gee who woulda thunk it. So imagine all those other children around the world growing up in war. As they migrate around the world, as they grow older expect more violent gang crime. Life in a warzone is cheap.

Anyways this gangster was busted in Viet Nam in the eighties and then fled to Canada as politcal refugee no doubt. Where he set up his gang. Interesting story. Tip o the blog to; Frost Hits The Rhubarb.


Oh and for those who cheer the new capitalist Viet-Nam well read on in the story to find out about the scandal not only over betting but road construction which was privatized. Road Construction. Privatization. Gee sounds like the Alberta Government.

Canadian-Vietnamese soccer mafia boss nabbed

Vietnam police investigating a high profile corruption case involving government officers in Hanoi have arrested a Canadian who is reputedly the head of an international criminal syndicate.

The crime gang called "Long Haul" operates in Canada, Europe and Asia specializing in drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized betting on international soccer games, police said according to Vietnam-based news sources.

The Canadian was identified as 46-year-old Ngo Tien Dung alias Dung Kieu.

The Vietnamese native also uses the names Dung Hanoi and Lai Thanh Huu and reportedly operated out of Vancouver and Toronto.

A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Canada told The Asian Pacific Post that the Canadian Embassy in Hanoi is aware of the detention and is providing consular assistance.

She refused further information citing the privacy legislation.

The RCMP, when contacted, said they had no information to share about the suspect.

Dung, according to a police reports in Hanoi was jailed in the late 1980s in Bac Thai jail for fraud and misappropriating other people’s assets.

Seventeen years ago, he allegedly killed another prisoner at the jail and escaped.

He then fled to Canada where he led the Long Haul mafia before returning to Vietnam in 1994 posing as a wealthy Viet kieu (overseas Vietnamese) investor.

Vietnamese media said Dung changed his named to Lai Thanh Huu in Canada, obtained citizenship and has traveled to Vietnam at least 35 times as an overseas businessman.

News reports said Dung is "the owner of five villas in Canada, one of which is worth US$7 million" and that he is believed to have laundered a whopping US$26 million in Vietnam through business contracts.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

This is intrusive; a supposed survey of the sexual orientation of teachers and staff in Halifax public schools. Why? Oh cause we are concerned about human rights say the bosses, oh really or is it a fishing expedition?! MYOB!

N.S. teachers union cautioning against filling out sexual orientation survey

HALIFAX (CP) - A teachers union has cautioned its members against filling out a survey being distributed by the Halifax school board that asks about their sexual orientation, warning the sensitive information might not be protected.

The Nova Scotia Teachers Union said the roughly 8,000 teachers and other staff receiving the one-page questionnaire with their pay stubs Thursday should consider leaving several sections blank.

While the union can't offer direct advice about filling out the survey, spokesman Grant MacLean warned of the risks in completing sections that ask respondents to identify themselves as homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual, and then list their name and employee number.

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Stupid Smoking Laws

I can't believe I actually agree with this guy, but then he wrote this; Tough Anti-Smoking Laws Blanket Canada . Occasionally, rarely, maybe just this one time. The fact is you can outlaw smoking but that will not stop cancer. Cancer is caused by industrial capitalism.

Test shows pollutants in kids' blood, urine

Toxic shock

Toxic Shock, Part 1: A review by federal regulators has determined that chemicals once thought to be benign are potentially dangerous for the physical health of Canadians.

Federal regulators have determined that about 4,000 chemicals used for decades in Canada pose enough of a threat to human health or the environment that they need to be subjected to safety assessments.

The sheer number of chemicals needing review means there is probably not a person in Canada who hasn't been exposed to some of them.

While many are industrial compounds, others are widely used to make everyday products found in practically every home and office in the country, ranging from hair dryers to water bottles, fast-food wrappers, TVs, computer casings and the inside of tin cans.

A tip o the blog to I Didn't Get Where I Am Today

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Work Sucks

The headlines say it all, the problem is that workers continue to drag their asses into work, or even take all that stress home with them and work from there. Their misplaced loyalty is seldom rewarded since our bosses are psycopaths.

We need to quit enabling these sick bosses, who download more and more work onto us in the name of productivity, which is wage slavery. Work is driving us nuts.Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Comrades the revolutionary struggle is the struggle against work, that is against wage-slavery.

Work stress toll continues to rise

The stress of increasingly demanding jobs and invisible tethering to wireless devices is taking a rising physical toll on Canadian employees, according to a health study.

Twenty-one per cent of workers experienced physical health problems because of stress or depression in the past year that were bad enough to make them want to call in sick, the survey of 1,501 Canadian employees by Montreal-based pollster SOM for Desjardins Securities found.

The 'presenteeism' problem

Employers, who have long worried about absenteeism among their employees, should also be concerned about "presenteeism," suggests a report released today by a Canadian financial institution.

"In Canada, employees put work first -- before family and friends," says the report by Desjardins Financial Security, which argues that in doing so, everyone loses, including the employer.

Money worries trigger mental illness: Survey
Toronto Star, Canada - 12 hours ago
Maxed-out credit cards, BlackBerrys that buzz at all hours, and fear of being replaced were considered the most common triggers of mental health problems that

Health survey highlights

Is your job making you sick?

Stressed-out Canadians are putting work first, exacerbating mental health problems that affect their productivity and well-being, according to a survey released today.

Is your boss a corporate psychopath?
Answer 6 short questions to find out if you're working for a corporate psychopath.

Psychopath in a suit

See

Goof Off Day

The Right To Be Greedy

Relatively Speaking

Capitalism Kills

Outlaw Working Alone

Whose Family Values?

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Share The Wealth

Inco workers win takeover protection, raises

With the mere threat of a strike. In a boom economy, when nickel prices would go through the roof if they struck. While the big Canadian mininge Corporations are in the midst of an orgy of mergers and acquisitions, that is market monopoly, the mineworkers got job protection. Way to go.

The agreement "reflects Inco's extremely strong financial position and recognizes our members' contribution to that success, as well as protecting Inco employees through any merger or takeover process," Fraser said in a release.

But no matter how well paid or what signing bonuses they get they still won't be making as much as this guy.

	Inco Ltd.	Scott Hand, CEO	$10,715,736
Salary: $1,240,969 Bonus: $2,416,888 Subtotal: $3,657,857 12% chg Other: $161,791 Share Units: $2,436,903 Option Gains: $4,459,173 TOTAL: $10,715,736 New option grant: 54,000 ($800,789)

Even though it is the mineworkers who create the weath. Which is proven by the fact that had they gone on strike nickel would have become more valuable as well as making the companies involved more valuable. Maye the Steelworkers settled to short, and should have demanded shares and a seat on the board.

A looming strike at Inco Ltd.'s key Sudbury operations could send nickel prices higher and potentially make Inco's offer for Falconbridge Ltd. more attractive. That's because a strike at Inco's Sudbury operations, which account for roughly 9 per cent of global nickel output, tends to mean higher nickel prices as traders bet on potential shortages.

Also See:

Criminal Capitalism: Xstrata

Monopoly

Inco

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Soccer Scandal

Got this interesting email in response to my article on the Juventus scandal in Italy. This is the site of one member of European proto-situationist culture jammers and net artists collectively known as Luther Bissett.

Hi there,
I bumped into your post. If you're interested in following the development of this football scandal, with particular focus on its links to Italian politics, I built a lenspage on squidoo called "Calcio. Italian soccer and its nightmares", with daily updates etc.
http://www.squidoo.com/italiansoccer
And re Berlusconi's conflicts of interest:
http://www.wumingfoundation.com/english/outtakes/burlesquoni.htm

Ciao,

R. / WM1

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Uh Oh

Dodge also noted that interest rates are still historically low, 
which one analyst said seemed to be a suggestion 
that there might be room for more increases.

Told ya. Never trust the Bank of Canada. Their interventionism is old school, predictable and disastourous. Disastorous as in job losses, just like in the Mulroney era when this policy originated.

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Capitalist Demands Regulation

Regulate the market for me please.

"While I understand the Bank of Canada's role is to control inflation by varying interest rates, I have a hard time understanding why it only steps in when there is a loss of confidence in the Canadian dollar, and not in the opposite case when there is excess confidence." Laurent Beaudoin, chairman and chief executive of Bombardier Inc., questioned Bank of Canada policy at the company's annual general meeting yesterday.

See: Before the Crying Starts


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Cry Me A River

Unless the Canadian dollar cools off, he warned that manufacturers, such as Bombardier, would have little choice but to move jobs to the United States or elsewhere to remain competitive. Bombardier says its costs in Canada have increased by hundreds of millions of dollars relative to its largely U.S. dollar revenue base.

Bombardiers chicken little threats to cut jobs are hogwash. The reality is their drop in earning is BECAUSE they already cut jobs.

Bombardier's first-quarter earnings fell after a charge for job cuts at its train-making unit, but business jet deliveries and prices rose, the company said on Tuesday.

And then they will come cap in hand and ask for more corporate welfare from Ottawa to bail them out. And the reality is that Bombardier's problems are perenniel. Less to do with the dollar than the collapse of the American airline industry, and competition in Europe.

MONTREAL -- Bombardier Inc. posted a 56% decline in net income for the fiscal first quarter amid a 6% drop in revenue, as slower rail-equipment sales in Europe, the strengthening Canadian dollar and the financial struggles of U.S. airlines weighed on results.

Bombardier stock derailed over results

Cameron Doerksen of Versant Partners in Montreal said Bombardier's aerospace margin of 2.8 per cent in the first quarter was only slightly higher than the 2.7-per-cent reported a year ago.

The margin "is essentially unchanged from a year ago despite higher deliveries of business jets that were presumably sold at better prices," he wrote in a research update.

In the transportation -- or rail -- unit, the first-quarter margin was 3 per cent, up from 2.4 per cent a year earlier.

Mr. Doerksen questioned the company's ability to sustain higher margins in the longer term.

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