The Price of Gas During the Holidays

Oil is something everyone needs in this world. We need it for powering cars and powering planes. The price of oil is staggering sometimes here in Canada where it can reach over $1.10 a liter. That number can sometimes increase over the holidays where gas stations expect suckers to fill up over the holidays.

Currently oil is at a two year high. Currently the US looks worried at what would happen if oil reaches over $100 US a barrel. Currently it's at $91 US a barrel so we're getting close. Our Arab partners aren't making more oil to make the price go down because they think that increased demand will make people not want oil anymore and will drive down demand and oil prices. Well I may not be in America, but we Canadians don't like high gas prices a lot especially when a our neighbors get more for their buck.

Canadians already get high gas prices, but it gets worse during the holidays. The price could sometimes ever reach $1.20 a liter for gas. They just want to grasp the people who will probably be going to visit friends or going across the border shopping. So far people are trying to not fill up. They are trying to avoid a fill up or go across the border to do so. In Seattle, Washington the price is $0.84 a liter. In Chicago it can get to $0.82 a liter. In Boston it's $0.80 a liter. This may be so, but the rising price of crude oil is not the problem here.

Well so may be it, our local gas stations are wanting more for their oil. Hoping to snatch more profits over the holidays they increase the price.

The Fight Between North and South Korea

North Korea and South Korea are still at war. South Korea did a military exercise at the island where the dispute about the two sides border began. Is South Korea trying to threaten North Korea or are they afraid. All I can say is the war has began.

While South Korea was doing a military drill, North Korea retaliated. North Korea was threatening war if one of these were to happen again. North Korea turned this drill into a violent battle. People who have visited North Korea like Bill Richardson say North Korea is like a tinderbox. He says the US should give the North an option to strip away it's nuclear weapons in return for survival.

North Korea and South Korea are head to head in the military. North Korea may have the more man power with over 1 million man power with South Korea's 600,000. They also got more submarines and missiles, but the South have more fighter jets and US troops. The big factor is the budget. The North has a 5 billion budget while the South has a 25 billion dollar budget.

Will this threaten war? We may never know,but we may have to wait and see.

The Lululemon Recalled Bags

Lululemon has voluntarily recalled it's reusable bags after it showed that there were high contents of lead in there that made recycling the bag toxic to the environment. If this affects human health and safety is not known as they refused to comment.

At the moment there are many reusable bags. Many of the ones you bought from superstores probably have a high lead content because of where there made from. These bags pose a risk to the environment. Specialists say if you want to know if your bag has high lead toxins, ask them these questions. Does the bag have lead? Where is it made? What is it created from? This is because some countries like China have lead in their ink which may lead to a high lead content in bags.

Lululemon currently won't say where their bags are made from. This hasn't made people worried and this will probably be over soon.

The Alberta Oil Sands

The Alberta Oil Sands is where Canada gets it's oil from. This is probably the worst ways to get oil from the Earth. Extracting the oil from the oil sands takes a ton of carbon already in addition to the carbon you'll waste burning it, but that's not the problem. The problem is it's effect on nature in the area.

Last fall a study showed fish in Fort McMurray were poisoned. The fish apparently was deformed and toxic compared to normal ones. The government boasts about its world class monitoring system that's supposed to prevent these things from happening. This lead to another study by an independent panel, formed by the Alberta government, about the people that are supposed to monitor the oil sands. A group was monitored by scientists about how they were monitoring the sands. The scientists concluded that there was no leadership, no coordination, and bluntly no success.

Currently the government is given pressure to clean up from it's partners like the US. The panel recommended the study above to see the impact of the oil sands on the environment, but not just the carbon impact.

Canada's Economy: It's not great.

Canada, a country that welcomes immigrants and refugees from around the world and a country with freedom and a great atmosphere. Yet when I take Canada into economics, it doesn't do well on my list. Canada may be the best economy in the G7, but don't see that for too long.

Previously the Bank of Canada minister issued a warning. He said we have more debt than our equity. This should have brought a warning to all to be more careful with their money, but are we? We may have tighter lending laws, but is it useful? The US had bad lending laws and banks lent money to anyone without researching them. Look at Canada, our unemployment rate is 8%, which is high. Also, many Canadians aren't going to be able to pay their mortgage if one goes out of work or if interest rates go up. What does that tell you? Well, it says that people get qualified before, but can't make the payments later. Isn't that like the US only with a delay. Lets take Lehman Brothers as an example. They sold companies at a discount and bought them back at a higher price. At first it was a profit, but it swallowed and destroyed the company didn't it?

Canada also doesn't have much to offer to the world. Look at our logging industry, we have it but nobody is buying. Banking, forget about it how would they survive if Canada increased interest rates from the lowest rate in years. Mining, at least there's some hope there until gold collapses soon. Medical, what do we have there? We have a low number of drug or research companies. The list could go on forever and with Canada having a low money supply and a high deficit. I think it's safe to say its only a matter of time.

Lets look at housing for a moment. People borrowing money that they know they can't pay back if interest rates were to rise. A bubble in markets like Vancouver and Toronto. The average home price at $344,000. Interest rates at all time lows, I think we get the picture. The housing market is at a bubble right now. The federal government has created it and is trying to stop it from popping, but it will devastatingly. The bubble will pop like how people said the Dot-com bubble would't pop or how banks were too big to fail in the US and the US housing market. They said it wasn't possible, but it happened. They tried to stop it, but it happened. How about Japan? They had a bubble and they barely borrow money to buy anything. They save money rather than Canadians and Americans. Look at their housing market, it collapsed too. Yet Canadian analysts say it's not possible, but what happens if the TSX would crash 200 points in one day. What if the Bank of Canada rose interest rates? What would happen analysts? What would happen!

They say it's impossible to try and trick you into spending more to sustain the economy. Canada could've crashed earlier and not be in such a big mess than if it were to crash now. Look it interest rates rose, the housing market would be full of foreclosures. People aren't saving a lot anymore and more people are out of work to pay their bills and mortgages and are taking a lot of debt. People try to lie to themselves saying it's a good investment without thinking of the side effects.

If the crash were to happen, it would've happened earlier as Canada wouldn't have hit hard. The harder you fall, the more you lose than to have done it earlier in life or history. It's the same with economics.

Should We Put A Price on the Polar Bear

The polar bear is an amazing bear for all of us to see. It's white and shiny fur makes it unique and endangered. This bear lives in the arctic north which makes it vulnerable to global warming. Yet, should we demote the bear to a price. Well thats what the Canadian government is doing.

The government has sent EcoResources Consultants to go tally up the cost of protecting the bear. This will help the government to determine whether or not the government should protect the polar bear or not. In essence they're trying to see how much a polar bear would cost to the economy. This might be good, in my opinion, it will show the government that the polar bear is important and has a value with only 15,000 left in Canada. If we don't do this, what will happen when everyone forgets about the polar bear? Won't there be a zero dollar price tag for it then?

Currently the bear is not protected in Canada, but not all are keen to this idea. In the meantime EcoResources has until February 2011 to present it's report telling the government whether it should protect it or not.

The So-Called Wikileaks War

Wikileaks is a site with a purpose like any other: to allow whistle-blowers to release their information confidentially. Wikileaks previously wasn't a popular site until the release of many cables by Julian Assange that gained worldwide attention apparently.

Since the release of the latest cables the world has come to look at Wikileaks in a bad way. US diplomats are calling Assange a terrorist and is planning to use his site for terrorism. This came forth after the cable which showed the US having people spy on countries like Russia, Iran, and Canada. Assange released the cable and others possibly to show the world is corrupt and not as pretty as most hope to perceive it to be. Assange is said to be facing charges or espionage, but all he does is make documents available. The main leaker's are soldiers who are now warned by the government to not use any CD's, memory sticks, or DVD's.

A group named Anonymous is trying to combat the US, by saying Wikileaks is something that is needed. The either shut down temperarily or slowed down sites like Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, and Moneybookers. Apparently it has changed it's focus to now trying to release all the cables that Assange hasn't done yet. A "so-called" member told the world it has changed it's focus as apparently the sites aren't having the impact they want to happen.

Assange is currently in prison facing charges of espionage and sex charges. Assange is computerless and unable to release the cables. Now everyone must be thinking, why not shut this site down? Well this site is hosted in Sweden by PRQ, a controversial hosting service founded by Pirate Bay founders. The reason is simple: Sweden has protective laws for journalists which prevent Wikileaks from being shutdown.

Wikileaks to me is not something the world should wash away, but embrace. Wikileaks has shown that the world is not as pure as you think and what may be a smile, may have the devil's heart.