Nov. 25, 2006: 1

Canadian miners top dogs on London's AIM exchange -- London market mining financing stronger than tech -- London's Alternative Investment Market
www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=
03e401d5-45e1-48fe-aa06-3a15e90cfde4

[....] Paul Murphy, leader of PwC's mining practice in Canada, said AIM is especially popular among Canadian mining companies with properties in Africa and the former Soviet Union.

While Mr. Murphy described both AIM and the Toronto Stock Exchange as "friendly" to mining companies, he noted that the London exchange can be favoured by companies keen to avoid Canadian stock exchange requirements or U.S. regulations.

[....] In the first half of this year, some US$6-billion in mining financings was raised on the TSX or its subsidiary, the TSX Venture Exchange. By contrast, about US$3-billion in mining financings has been raised on AIM or its parent, the London Stock Exchange.

Mr. Murphy said PwC will next month issue a report that examines the Canadian capital market for mining.

Activity tops $90-billion on back of energy, gold, metals

www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=
67c996f3-4580-4a76-be71-e7ed0a6e8506


How China's West will not be won -- Multinationals see little reason to invest in barren frontier -- but read the fine print, anyway , Judy Hua and Joy Leung, Reuters, November 23, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
f8c8f09a-91b5-44ad-9cdf-d8d433384dd3

CHONGQING, CHINA - If you build it, they will come -- except perhaps to China's vast, untapped western frontier.

Nearly seven years after Beijing launched its "Go West" campaign [....]

... Microsoft Corp. to Nokia, Motorola and Siemens [....]

Chen Xingdong, BNP Paribas's chief China economist, [....]

Intel Corp. and Ford Motor Co. ... Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and Chongqing. Carrefour S.A. and IKEA ...

Chongqing, .... William Kusters, chief of the China Mission of the Asian Development Assistance Board.

[....] For some firms, western China's isolation is a boon. Lafarge, the world's top cement firm, ... Chongqing, Chengdu, Guizhou and Yunnan, ... infrastructure.

[....] Cyrille Ragoucy, chief executive of Lafarge Shui On, a joint venture with Shui On Construction and Materials Ltd.

[....] Frederick Leung, finance director of TV maker Skyworth Digital Holdings Ltd.

... Xinjiang or Tibet ... Sichuan ... Shanghai; ... Henan or Hubei ...

[....] The central government has also directed about 70% of all multinational aid and 70% of all tax revenues toward projects in western China in the past six years, according to a cabinet Web site (http://www.chinawest.gov.cn/web /index.asp). [.... Note: that is a Chinese government website.]

Aid? For China? In whose interest? What business interest?

Watch for business councils -- Asia-Canada .... China-Canada ... in the Liberals' pre-election push to get votes. Then check for Canadian companies ... out of the usual area ... and the suckers will fall for it ... or will they? Do you suppose Prime Minister Harper has discovered a Canadian backbone after all that Lib pork fat, at long last?




Does the following help you to make sense out of how the news is reported in Canada ... and why? Perhaps I have misunderstood, but ... to make really big money, a mainstream media company needs a compliant politician and a compliant CRTC ... or they could try freedom ... you know, that stuff that Lib/leftists hate because it loosens the controls they have had. Go Bev Oda. Tear down that wall. Unleash those chains!

CTV to air shows on Internet , Barbara Shecter, Financial Post, November 23, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=
f82781c3-7673-4763-95c6-15a79dc965ad

Broadcaster CTV has negotiated a deal with Warner Bros. to stream prime-time shows Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The O.C. on the Internet.

The on-demand shows will be available at the network's website after the programs air on television. Canadian broadcasters have begun streaming domestic shows on the Internet and have been in negotiations for the Internet rights to popular U.S. programs for several months -- ever since U.S. studios began to experiment with alternate ways to broadcast their shows. Technology is used to block Canadians from receiving shows that are streamed in the U.S.

... Global television network ...

Industry sources say the recent deals between U.S. studios and Canadian TV networks have them sharing revenue generated by advertising surrounding the streamed shows on the Internet. [....]

Mr. Corcoran, meet Mr. Orwell , Mark Jaccard, Financial Post, November 25, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
1f38f40d-0f8c-4c62-940f-552d9b3ef3d3&p=2

Terry Corcoran has claimed that carbon taxes (a.k.a Pigovian taxes) are a conspiracy to impose "communist-like central planning" and that advocates such as myself are "neo-socialists." [....]

... first-year economics textbook ....The text notes that unfettered markets can fail to advance society's welfare when activities by firms or households cause damages to a common property resource that are not reflected in market prices. This market failure is called negative externality. The atmosphere is a common property resource whose value to us is placed at risk by acid emissions and perhaps carbon dioxide emissions.

Terry Corcoran has claimed that carbon taxes (a.k.a Pigovian taxes) are a conspiracy to impose "communist-like central planning" and that advocates such as myself are "neo-socialists." [....]

We should assess the costs of reducing a risk, in this case the cost of reducing carbon emissions, against the benefits of doing so, in this case a reduced risk of climate change damages. [....]

Libertarians, read the article and then write a rebuttal for me, please.

Already, consideration of price has modified my choices in the gas / oil marketplace. I simply plan better and drive less ... or say to heck with it and do without. As for the market and big business versus a controlling bunch of guys who make choices for us--aka the government--the more controlling and regulating, the more leftist/Liberal in effect.

I prefer personal choices because I do care about their impact, whether supporting Canadian business or buying the cheapest ... but I know so little about economics that I realize it is simply a personal choice. The "great minds" amongst my acquaintances tell me that the rains--or is it a torrential downpour of economic choices if the market is allowed free play--will raise all boats. Knowing nothing about markets but loving liberty, I prefer to choose for myself. Don't regulate us to death nor confiscate from those who make what they consider to be sensible choices so as to prop up those who don't.

Give us freedom from your choices. I'm fine with that.



Authoritarian regimes have their charms

Chinese porn site founder jailed for life

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=
32565bc2-d36d-4161-a08d-7b7f67e4b220

[....] Police said it was difficult to know how much money Chen made from the sites, since most of it was spent or hidden in foreign bank accounts. He evaded closure by regularly changing the domain name and server.

Any servers in Vanuatu or some cozy, corruptible, little island? Did that cash go through the gambling dens of Macau? Would the China-Canada Business Council or Asia-Pacific equivalent council recommend chastising China for using "cruel and unusual" or "draconian" punishments ... or are the really negative terms reserved for use only on PM Harper when he takes a principled stand against the Red Dragon? ... Ah, why bring it up? Remember, a rising tide lifts all boats ... and we'll make money, eh?




Ottawa first to benefit from cell-number portability -- Retailers join cyber bandwagon -- Buying habits changing , Peter Morton, Financial Post, November 23, 2006

www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=
c6b263a3-4687-4bab-91f0-11a33a93da97

[....] "Convenience will always be a factor with online shopping," Mr. Silverman says from his Washington office. "And not only that, online retailers are increasingly offering free shipping and no condition returns."

[....] Mr. Babb says Circuit City is also trying something else -- allowing consumers to buy online and pick up the product within 24 hours at their local store.
"These days," he says, "people want instant gratification."

All the comforts of home ... instant gratification ... as you buy your way into bankruptcy


Wearing a niqab is not a big deal ...

Well, the niqab is a big deal to this Western woman and I don't want you to wear what amounts to a disguise in my country, nor do I want your abysmal treatment of women ... nor sharia. You came to our country; I would never go to one of yours ... not ever, now. Clean up your own Muslim countries; don't come to mine and try to change it. Is that clear? ... Aggrieved at my bluntness? So sue me. It will be a frosty Friday before it would be worth your while ... even if you won.

There that feels better ... after the appeasement I've noted. Listen to the politically correct leftist crowd and you'll know what I mean ... if you have been so closeted from reality as to be bewildered by the comments.

www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters
/story.html?id=ffc204fb-d53d-41ee-9002-fe832a5b19db