Gervais, who has hosted the Golden Globes five times and has always been particularly critical of the celebrity guests, explained.
“I know what it is. With all of the austerity and people struggling, they think, ‘Why are these people lecturing me? They’re going to an awards ceremony in a limo and are telling me to recycle?’
“People just got sick of it, just got sick of virtue signaling. And they were like a beacon to aim their wrath at. The people with nothing became tired of being lectured by people who had everything.”
Monday, January 10, 2022
TAX CHANGES FOR 2022
A new year brings a new set of tax numbers, and here are the important figures you need to know for 2022.
Tax brackets for 2022
All five federal income tax brackets for 2022 have been indexed to inflation using the 2.4-per-cent rate. The 2022 federal brackets are: zero to $50,197 of income (15 per cent); more than $50,197 to $100,392 (20.5 per cent); above $100,392 to $155,625 (26 per cent); over $155,625 to $221,708 (29 per cent); and anything above that is taxed at 33 per cent. Each province also has its own set of provincial tax brackets, most of which have also been indexed to inflation, but using their respective provincial indexation factors.
Tax brackets for 2022
All five federal income tax brackets for 2022 have been indexed to inflation using the 2.4-per-cent rate. The 2022 federal brackets are: zero to $50,197 of income (15 per cent); more than $50,197 to $100,392 (20.5 per cent); above $100,392 to $155,625 (26 per cent); over $155,625 to $221,708 (29 per cent); and anything above that is taxed at 33 per cent. Each province also has its own set of provincial tax brackets, most of which have also been indexed to inflation, but using their respective provincial indexation factors.
BANKS EARNING HEFTY GREEN FEES
It’s official. For the first time since the unveiling of the Paris climate agreement in 2015, banks earned more fees arranging green-related bond sales and loans than they did helping fossil-fuel companies raise money in the debt markets.
To be sure, the final tally for 2021 was incredibly close. Overall, banks pocketed an estimated US$3.4 billion from green-labeled debt deals, compared with US$3.3 billion from their work with oil, gas and coal companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For context, in 2020, the split was US$1.9 billion for green and US$3.7 billion for fossil fuels.
The question now (at least for the less cynical among us) is are banks genuinely interested in helping companies and governments make the transition to clean technologies and energy efficiency? Or are they simply taking advantage of a market where they can currently earn hefty fees — a market where, coincidentally, transparency has yet to arrive and greenwashing runs rampant?
To be sure, the final tally for 2021 was incredibly close. Overall, banks pocketed an estimated US$3.4 billion from green-labeled debt deals, compared with US$3.3 billion from their work with oil, gas and coal companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For context, in 2020, the split was US$1.9 billion for green and US$3.7 billion for fossil fuels.
The question now (at least for the less cynical among us) is are banks genuinely interested in helping companies and governments make the transition to clean technologies and energy efficiency? Or are they simply taking advantage of a market where they can currently earn hefty fees — a market where, coincidentally, transparency has yet to arrive and greenwashing runs rampant?
Sunday, January 9, 2022
PREVENTING RELAY ATTACKS ON YOUR CAR
Modern cars are typically fitted with a keyless entry or ‘smart key’ system that allows drivers to work the door locks, trunk or tailgate, and ignition without physically touching their key fob or remote. The thing is, those signals never sleep, and they can even help thieves make off with your car from afar.
A relay attack happens when a car thief uses specialized electronic equipment to sniff out and amplify the communication signals used by your car and its fob. The goal is to pick up the signal from a key fob, amplify it, and transmit it over a distance to another device located near the car or truck that mimics its key.
In this way, thieves bridge the proximity gap to trick your car into thinking its fob is just a foot or two away — even at a great distance.
A relay attack can be carried out in your driveway, perhaps by sniffing out a signal from the key fob inside your front door. In other cases, a thief may follow you into a shopping mall to pick up the key signal from your pocket, transmitting it to an accomplice that’s waiting near your car for the unlock.
A relay attack happens when a car thief uses specialized electronic equipment to sniff out and amplify the communication signals used by your car and its fob. The goal is to pick up the signal from a key fob, amplify it, and transmit it over a distance to another device located near the car or truck that mimics its key.
In this way, thieves bridge the proximity gap to trick your car into thinking its fob is just a foot or two away — even at a great distance.
A relay attack can be carried out in your driveway, perhaps by sniffing out a signal from the key fob inside your front door. In other cases, a thief may follow you into a shopping mall to pick up the key signal from your pocket, transmitting it to an accomplice that’s waiting near your car for the unlock.
PREMIER FORD FLYING BLIND
We’re coming down to the point where the only reliable metric is the number of people in hospital with COVID. Even there, nothing is simple. Hospitals have a broader definition of what constitutes a COVID patient. The number of people in hospital with COVID is the number the provincial government releases every day. But some public health units look at it more narrowly and don’t count people admitted to hospital for something else and are later found to be COVID positive, but don’t need COVID treatment.
The two methods of counting explain why hospitals say they are overburdened with cases while public-health-unit figures show something different. For example, in Ottawa earlier this week the city’s biggest hospital and two smaller ones say they have 146 COVID patients. Ottawa public health put the number at 26.
The Ford government is no longer in a position to act on meaningful data related to specific COVID threats. That’s why it was wrong to shut down the usual suspects such as restaurants, gyms and places of entertainment. It’s a move that will have, at best, a minor effect on case numbers this month, but a major effect on those targeted.
The two methods of counting explain why hospitals say they are overburdened with cases while public-health-unit figures show something different. For example, in Ottawa earlier this week the city’s biggest hospital and two smaller ones say they have 146 COVID patients. Ottawa public health put the number at 26.
The Ford government is no longer in a position to act on meaningful data related to specific COVID threats. That’s why it was wrong to shut down the usual suspects such as restaurants, gyms and places of entertainment. It’s a move that will have, at best, a minor effect on case numbers this month, but a major effect on those targeted.
TRUDEAU DIVIDING CANADIANS
In May 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the definitive statement on why Canada did not have mandatory vaccination laws and why he opposed them.
It’s a position he is now undermining with his indiscriminate political rhetoric linking the unvaccinated to racists and misogynists.
In Canada, it is the provinces, not the federal government, that would implement society-wide mandatory vaccination policies, so what Trudeau, his health minister and his government are really doing is tossing a stick of dynamite at them under the guise of taking action against Omicron.
Saturday, January 8, 2022
CANADIANS NEED TO TAKE A STAND FOR THEIR FREEDOM
The shuttering of schools once again has pushed numerous Canadians – even those who’ve dutifully gone along with vaccine mandates and lockdowns up to this point – to a breaking point. The latest round of restrictions is seemingly being received differently, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less dangerous to the country’s economy and its citizens well-being. True North’s Andrew Lawton says lawmakers have started to demonize the unvaccinated to cover up for their own failings, and all Canadians – even the fully vaccinated – have to take a stand for their freedoms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)