mining the mint

Copper is slumping, down 5% in the last month, due to increased inventories (doubling in three months). The mint stopped distributing pennies on February 3rd, 2013. It's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's bid to save Canadians more money lol, since a penny was 1.6 cents. Financial institutions will get reimbursed for collecting the metal. (Prediction: banking windfall) 
One Cent Coins to look for: (1) 1953-1979, (2) 1980-1981, and (3) 1982-1996

 

Years	Mass	Diameter/Shape	Composition
2000–2012	2.35 g	19.05 mm, round	94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating
1997–1999	2.25 g	19.05 mm, round	98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating
1982–1996	2.5 g	19.1 mm, 12-sided	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1980–1981	2.8 g	19.0 mm, round	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1978–1979	3.24 g	19.05 mm, round	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1942–1977	3.24 g	19.05 mm, round	98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc
1920–1941	3.24 g	19.05 mm, round	95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1876–1920	5.67 g	25.4 mm, round	95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1858–1859	4.54 g	25.4 mm, round	95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc (bronze)

Penny production ceased on May 4th, 2011. So far, I think I'm down 10-15 cents on penny-rounding at stores.

Piplyme oilive oylsands, update

These new transmission (power) lines will help Albertans. It will reduce their electrical bills, except for a mere $3/mo residential customer interim, like shoot-shovel-and-shutup-Ralph-Klein's energy-deregulation did. (ha)

Ooops. Dec 7, 2012. "AltaGas withdraws permit to export to U.S."
"AltaGas filed the application in error, and has no plans to sell power from Alberta to the U.S. We expect to withdraw the application," said AltaGas spokesperson Neil Mackie.

May 19, 2011. "Wikileaks offers insight on Alberta power lines"

Cellucci writes that Alberta’s former Energy Minister Murray Smith “and others” want the U.S. government to be “aware that over time there will be tremendous electricity co-generation available as a result of the huge thermal needs of the oil sands refining process.” “This could over time make significant new electricity exports available to the United States.” The diplomatic cable also reveals Alberta’s provincial ministers and energy sector executives “broadly” supported “U.S. goals in Iraq” and resented former federal Natural Resource Minister Herb Dhaliwal’s assertion that former U.S. President George Bush was a “failed statesman.”

lisa raitt: strikes are sexy

Never mind about the AECL Candu binder; it wasn't the same as Maxime Bernier (Beauce) and the tits cleavage biker chick NATO files. Never mind about the sexy isotope shortage for cancer patients. Never mind about no one signing off on the CEO, Toronto Port Authority expenses or a $9000 lunch. And just never mind about proroguing (and even more proroguing, forty days and forty nights). btw, are MPs 'essential services'?

Geez. Electro-Motive plant in London (now closed) and its Caterpillar parent strike in Joliet, Illinois. Canada Post. Air Canada flight attendants. Pilots. Mechanics ("flying coffins" & Aveos outsourcing), baggage handlers, cargo agents. Canadian Pacific Railway and Pershing Square's 14.2% equity stake.

Welp. Saskatchewan essential services legislation deemed unconstitutional (07 Feb. 2012).

Recalibration: On January 19, 2010, Raitt moved from the Ministry of Natural Resources to the Labour Ministry.

The house was beginning to shake,
And good press it just did not make.
So Steve shut it down, Caused the country to frown. But then he was
saved by a quake.  

Nuclear workers: 900 scientists, engineers, technologists and technicians said 94+ per cent of members sanctioned the strike action on Thursday, May 3rd 2012: a stinging indictment of SNC-Lavalin's cavalier management style and brinkmanship bargaining. A union spokeswoman said Candu is looking to gut most parts of the collective agreement.

Ongoing: RCMP officers want to end a ban, in place since 1918, on Mounties forming a union or police association and having the right to collectively bargain. (Toronto Star, Nov 20, 2012.) "Toxic workplace": Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada (MPPAC), a merger of BC and ON associations, is expecting a ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal in spring 2012.

Lay-offs: Canadian Space Agency. 100 staff and more to come? Speaking of SNC-Lavalin Defence Programs Inc. (AECL) and MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Inc., there's now a signed contract "to extend operational services for up to eight years for the Canadian Department of National Defence’s twelve Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels...Although their primary mission is coastal surveillance, the vessels perform a wide variety of operational tasks including search and rescue, fisheries and environmental monitoring, disaster relief, mine countermeasures and scientific research."

Does this make sense? The entire program of lay-offs in the public service is expected to cost Canadian taxpayers more than $2 billion.

Weird: Health care workers in Alberta have not had the legal right to strike since 1983.

open letter to joe oliver, minister of natural resources

Hey Joe,

Re: 'Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade. Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth.'

where you goin' with that gun in your hand
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand, oh
I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
Yeah, I'm goin' down to shoot my old lady
You know I caught her messin' 'round with another man
Huh! and that ain't cool
Huh hey hoe, I heard you shot your mamma down
You shot her down now
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your lady down
You shot her down in the ground yeah!
Yeah!
Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught her messin' round messin' round town
Huh, yes I did I shot her
You know I caught my old lady messin' 'round town
And I gave her the gun
And I shot her
Alright
Shoot her one more time again baby!
Yeah!
Oh dig it
Oh alright
Hey Joe,
Where you gonna run to now where you gonna go
Hey Joe, I said
Where you gonna run to now where you gonna go
I'm goin' way down south
Way down to mexico way
Alright
I'm goin' way down South
Way down where I can be free
Ain't no one gonna find me
Ain't no hang-man gonna
He ain't gonna put a rope around me
You better believe it right now
I gotta go now
Hey, Joe
You better run on down
Goodbye everybody
Hey, hey Joe...