All Purpose Politics and News Thread

[Ciel21]

Understand that Hamilton and beyond (Hagersville, etc) experienced another #RogersOutage due to a fiber cable cut or fire on the weekend. Twitter is rather hopping with upset customers who still don't have Internet or home phone service.

This weekend also marked the announcement of Pierre Poilievre as the Conservative Party leader. There was coverage on Radio-Canada about the new leader this morning. I have not checked to see what the vote counts were for all of the candidates on the first ballot. Pierre Poilievre’s landslide victory charts new course for Conservatives - The Globe and Mail

[Ciel21]

CRTC has open public consultation until Oct. 28 on whether to permit tv cable providers to hike the monthly basic cable service from $25/mo to $28/mo.
You can chime in via this page: https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/consultation/television.htm




While looking for another item on the CRTC website, I found this upcoming (for 2023) article about the new 988 code for telephone access to mental health crisis and suicide prevention service in Canada. Delay right now is that places in Canada are not using 10-digit local calling so that has to come about before the Nov. 30, 2023 service launch.

https://www.canada.ca/en/radio-television-telecommunications/news/2022/08/crtc-to-implement-new-9-8-8-number-for-mental-health-crisis-and-suicide-prevention.html

[walkonby]

I want a book of these stamps right away!

[walkonby]

very moving ( inspirational ) sermon ahead of the Nov 8th mid term elections in Georgia.

[Ciel21]

@walkonby -I'm sure you can order the Ginsberg stamps online through US Postal Service, unless you have a friend or relative willing to gift you a pack via the mail!

However, it must have been issued some time ago. The stamp is not showing up under the Forever 60c stamp category.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Island nation of Tonga had another natural disaster event in 2022 a few hours ago: a 7.3 earthquake.

Tonga issues tsunami alert after 7.3 magnitude earthquake strikes off coast (msn.com)

[Ciel21]

There's a piece of US legislation that many former Twitter employees are referencing in regards to the haste with which they were laid-off:

The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in San Francisco federal court, PEOPLE confirms.]In it, employees are asking the court to issue an order that would require Twitter to follow the [/COLOR]Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN)[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.95)], which helps ensure advance notice of at least 60 days for mass layoffs in large companies.[/COLOR]

https://people.com/human-interest/el...twitter-staff/

Additionally, threads on Twitter are pointing out additional protection that any Californian worker of Twitter has when laid off or quitting: their final paycheques have to be sent to former CA workers the SAME day, even if corporate HR staff are in another state. Enlightening information, when I read different tweets about the Twitter layoff/severance scenarios.

Actually, the Californian law allows up to 72hours for the last pay to be paid out.
https://www.classlawgroup.com/employ...e%20is%20owed.

Under California employment law, departing employees are entitled to receive their final paycheck almost immediately. Employees who quit must receive their final paycheck within 72 hours of giving notice that they’re leaving. Employees who are fired must be paid on the same day as termination.California final paycheck laws require that the final paycheck include all wages and business expenses that the employee is owed. Also, the final paycheck must include the cash value of benefits owed to the employee (such as accrued vacation days).
Fired workers who don’t get their final paycheck on their last day are entitled to recover penalties from their employer for every day they have to wait. Workers who quit and don’t receive their final paycheck within 3 days can recover the same penalties. The penalty is a full-day’s wages for every day the worker has to wait, up to a maximum of 30 days. For violating California final paycheck law, employers can end up owing more in waiting-time penalties than what they owed for the final paycheck itself.

[Lynn49]

@walkonby , you know how much I hate talking politics (I do!), but, but…russia accidentally plopped a bomb on Poland, killing two people?!
THIS!
This was the accident waiting to happen!
Release the NATO hounds!!
How will that organization respond! Cautiously, likely, but I bet Poland is beside itself!!

[Ciel21]

@Lynn49 Global News National asked Mercedes Stevenson about this very matter. Her sources say Article 4 not 5 is likely going to be used by NATO. Not actual military response but meetings will happen. Also, she said when a Russian bomb hit Moldova, a non-NATO country, there was hardly any news about strike given country's status (not a NATO nation).

What was weird for me-6:30pm today Global program reported incident as under investigation (it was not yet confirmed that it was a Russian bomb). Then at 7pm on CHCH News' Trending Now, Nicole Martin reported the story as the bomb being Russian. How is that possible given Poland is about 5 hours ahead of ET? Did Ms. Martin find out just before airtime or did she see a source confirming the outcome during her show prep?

[walkonby]

@Lynn49 and @Ciel21 Feel I have to hold my breath again. Between this " accidental " bombing of a Nato ally and the Orange gasbag 45th twice impeached x-Prez declaring " he's baaccckk ! " it's getting soul crushing. I struggle to keep my sunny optimistic demeanor.

[Ciel21]

Glad to see an update on the Red Cross fundraising for Hurricane Fiona impacted Canadians-how the money's been distributed:
Fiona: Red Cross has distributed $27 million in donations | CTV News

The federal government pledged to match all the money raised through the Hurricane Fiona in Canada Appeal until the end of October. Bedell said the matching cash from Ottawa hasn't yet arrived.

Not the image the federal government should be burnishing. If Canadians hadn't stepped up, would the Fiona impacted residents still be waiting for financial assistance?

[Ciel21]

Fuel surcharges are changing weekly at Canada Post and other companies doing package deliveries. Shipping Christmas gifts is going to cost you!

For domestic packages, if the price of a litre of diesel is between $1.51 and $1.53, the surcharge will be 20 per cent. If diesel costs between $2.51 and $2.53, the surcharge will reach 45 per cent, Canada Post said.
For U.S. and international shipping, the surcharges are lower, at 11.25 per cent and 23.75 per cent, respectively. Canada Post did not respond to an inquiry why the surcharge is less for international shipping.

https://www.thestar.com/business/202...ng-season.html

[Ciel21]

Health news in the province of Quebec today:

The statement also says those who already paid will not be reimbursed and the "exceptional" measure is for this year only. It will be reassessed next year.

Province announces free flu shots for all Quebecers effective immediately (msn.com)

[Ciel21]

Potential merger of two banks in Canada: RBC to buy HSBC's Canadian holdings.

Linda Seymour, president and chief executive officer at HSBC Canada, said in a LinkedIn post that there will be no change for now with the company’s operations. In a note to customers, HSBC Canada noted there would be a transition period spanning several months as the businesses converge.
One issue that could stand in the way of a seamless transaction is competition concerns, said National Bank of Canada analyst Gabriel Dechaine, who also noted the purchase price was about 30 per cent greater than his team expected.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/ro...121039137.html

[walkonby]

I am sobbing with JOY!! What an incredible Christmas gift for the people who love Brittney! Welcome home!!!

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...=5641670506580

[Ciel21]

I am sobbing with JOY!! What an incredible Christmas gift for the people who love Brittney! Welcome home!!!

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...=5641670506580

Much gnashing of teeth by DEA Agent involved in that Russian's capture though. Bet he'll get conscripted soon to "provide services" in Putin government's interest.
Also upset-the American jailed for about 4 years on made-up charges in Russia. I saw a video that Russia's offer of swap was contingent that Bout get swapped for Griner. US wanted the other American released with Griner too, but Russia replied "only offer on table."

Let's hope that Griner gets assistance kicking that vaping habit that got her in trouble.