You are wrong Mayor Miller

It's Official: All Plastic Bags In T.O. Stores Will Cost You 5 Cents Starting Next June

If your favourite grocery store is No Frills, Food Basics or Price Shopper, this won't really be anything new.

But if you shop at one of the other big chains in Toronto, like Metro or Loblaws, get ready for a change. And that change will be 5 cents.

City Council has passed a law making it mandatory for all stores in Toronto to charge you a nickel for every plastic bag you use.

The idea, which passed Tuesday night, is to get you to reduce the number of bags that inevitably wind up in a landfill and either use up the ones you have now or buy one of those reusable types that are earth friendly.

Mayor David Miller has complained that the carry-alls aren't biodegradable and can last for years and years at garbage dumps. "I'm very proud that Toronto is leading the way," he agrees. "It's the right thing to do."

Source: CityNews (Complete Article)
H/T DARRELL

This story comes via Darrell at NhiCAPS' entry regarding Roger's e-billing.

Although this is a step in the right direction, discouraging the use of Earth unfriendly products, I object to Mr. Mayor's affirmation that "Toronto is leading the way". Toronto is not leading the way, all it is doing is passing a superficial law that will in all likelihood have little affect on consumer behaviour.

Shoppers who buy their groceries at premium supermarkets will most probably not be swayed by the cost of five shopping bags on an eighty dollar shopping trip. As Darrell quite rightly points out, profits garnered from this five cent levy should at the very least be shared with Toronto's recycling facilities. If the Mayor's motivation is indeed our planet, why let the corporations keep 100% of the cash flow generated by this new charge? Why aren't said funds being allocated to improving Toronto's recycling facilities? Or being used to help clean up the city? Or a dozen other things?

Getting back to "Toronto is leading the way" - they are not sir. As of July 21st, 2004, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer here is a list of cities and countries who, over four and a half years ago began banning or cracking-down on plastic bag usage.

• Australia
• Bangladesh
• Ireland
• Italy
• South Africa
• Taiwan
• Mumbai, India

Leaf Rapids, Manitoba banned plastics bags in April of 2007 and later that year Nigeria and Kenya began spearheading banning plastic bags in Africa. So Toronto is hardly a leader, at least not in this respect.

I do not mean to harp on Toronto. I am proud that she is taking steps to at least try to help clean up the world in which we live, but if Toronto truly wanted to lead she would not stop at half measures that in my opinion reek of nothing more that public relations and photo op shenanigans.

Why Are Cab Fares Still So High?

Early this past summer gasoline prices in Toronto were at about $1.25 per litre. At about the same time, taxi companies increased their cab fares by 17% and the cost simply sitting in a taxi went up from $3.00 to $4.00 citing the increasing value of oil. That was in early June of 2008.

Today the price at the pump is anywhere from $0.69 to $0.75. In six odd months the cost of filling up a vehicle has fallen almost fifty percent, but when I needed to take cab ride last week, as soon I as got in to the car, the fare started at $4.00.

Why is it that the when the price of oil rises, it is reflected at the pumps and all related enterprises almost immediately, but when the opposite happens, everyone is found staring at the grounding whistling and unable to make eye contact?

This is just another example of Canadian consumers either not connecting the dots, or simply being okay with getting robbed blind.

Heart Attack Grill

H/T: Ronnie B.

The Heart Attack Grill`s menu includes such items as the single, double, triple and quadruple bypass burgers, flatliner fries - fried in pure lard, Jolt Cola and no filtre cigarettes. On Sundays they have an event called Sponge Bath Sunday, but refuse to divulge details. And as a final irony, the web-site is called Heart Attack Grill Diet Center.

Shopping Experiences - A Comparison

This is a post I made on my other blog this summer - I went to the price chopper a couple of days ago and thought I should post this on a more public forum...well as public as TFTH gets.

I've always known I've been a bit of a traditionalist, or dare I say: old fashioned, but I had never felt it as hard as I had today. It came to me at the butcher's.

It was a beautiful day today. I meandered my way towards the "market" to acquire some sustenance. I usually shop at the Food Basics for anything not meat related. Tomato Sauces, Rice, Bread, Eggs... whatever. The meat, I buy next door at the organic butcher's. I enjoy shopping at the butcher's and I hate shopping at the Food Basics.

Yes yes yes, the Food Basics have the variety and prices that can't be beat which is all well and good if all you want to do in get in, switch-back in the aisles grab what you came for and stand in line noticing that no one is noticing, no one is making eye contact with anyone let alone striking up a conversation or heaven forbid even simply smiling at anyone and being checked out by a soulless employee who on a good day may offer the perfunctory corporate mandated concept of what passes customer service, so canned, so devoid of kind of personality and more importantly sincerity that you feel dirty afterwards - have at it.

However if you like the idea of walking in to an establishment where upon entry, or first chance thereafter, you are greeted with a smile, eye contact and a words that filled with genuineness and authenticity followed by queries of your dining plan to better aid the cut of meat you buy. If you require ground meat, it's ground right there - as much or as little as you want. No pre-packaged quantities dictating how much you shall make or conversely will have to freeze. It is the kind of place where the sole butcher wears neither an apron nor gloves. But when he cuts the meat with his razor sharp blade and handles the product with his bare hands I cannot describe watching him work and still do it justice, suffice it to say it's poetic.

After reflecting on this, I longed, ached for the old days. I thought if there somewhere I could get my fruits, vegetable and dietary staples that was akin to the shopping experience of the butcher, I would patronise it even if it meant it was farther from home. There's something to said about having a rapport with the people from whom you shop. I left the butcher's smiling. I then went to back to the Food Basics for some mushrooms that I forgotten and after leaving, my smile was lost.

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Coolest Keyboard

I've seen some pretty cool keyboards, but this one is a strong front runner with programmable LED keys

Need An Breast Implant?

Free Breast Implants - Okay this is a new one. This site will find men to donate money to women who want a boob job. And here's a short news segment about it.

What the...?

This is an advertisement for the Razr 2 cellular telephone by Motorola. If you haven't seen it, the commercial is enclosed for your convenience.



Okay. Now you've seen it. I'm sorry I had to put you through that. I truly am. I saw this on commercial television and I don't get it. I just don't get it and I used to be in advertising. I get that the phone is so thin it's Razr sharp, but I don't get it. Can someone please explain it to me? Maybe I'm not in the demographic that this advertisement is targeting. What is the point of the ad? Every time I've seen this commercial, I have found myself cringing... Someone... anyone... please tell me what is the point of this ad?

Whopper Freakout!

This is just a smart promotion/campaign. Well done!

What The Fuck Man???

U.S. Publisher Takes American Price Off Magazines To Charge Canadians More

Is it dirty pool or simply smart business? Whatever you decide, it's not a story you're likely to read in a magazine. After months of being hammered over Canadians paying higher prices for U.S. goods despite the higher value of the loonie, one American firm has apparently found a way around it - they've simply removed any trace of the U.S. price for their items sold in Canada.

SOURCE: CityNews
H/T: Darrell F.

All protocol and decorum is being abandoned for this entry. WHAT THE FUCK MAN??? I'm truly sick of the Canadian consumer getting screwed at every turn. For years, when I used to buy magazines, I would look upon the USD price with Envy, and for a split second wished that I too lived the in the land of the green-back, but now that the shoe's on the other foot...

The company maintains it was simply trying to end the confusion for Canucks about the price difference and why it was there in the first place.

What a load of ox shit! There was little confusion for the dual priced magazine cover when the USD / CAD exchange rate favoured the Americans. We in Canada knew that the Loonie was not doing so well against the US Dollar, and so we forked out the extra cash. Seems logical, yes? If there is any confusion, it's why when the exchange rate now favours Canadians, do the the American publishers think that we'll keep paying the extra money!

If I still read any American magazines, this alone would be enough for me stop purchasing their rags all together. If Canadians still buy American magazines at "Canadian" prices despite the current exchange, then they deserve to take it up the tail pipe.

The First MacDonalds Commercial EVER

This is creepy!

Silly silly gift card!

Shopping Malls Exempt From Dropping Expiry Dates On Gift Cards

Before you get gift card happy this holiday season, there's something you should know.

You may recall when the Ontario government banned gift cards from having an expiry date back in October because it wants "consumers to know that gift cards are worth the money they paid for them, regardless of when those cards are used," according to Consumer Services Minister Ted McMeekin.

But it looks like that rule won't apply to shopping malls over the shopping frenzy this month as they've been granted a temporary exemption from the new law until the New Year.

Some malls are still charging a $1.50 processing fee, while others are subject to a monthly two dollar maintenance fee.

SOURCE: CityNews

I've never understood why gift cards had expiration dates to begin with. In my mind, that's the equivalent of going to the ATM and withdrawing cash with an expiration date, saying must be spent by xx/xx/xx. I mean come on shopkeepers, I've paid for the card, you have the money, let the bearer spend the card when ever they damn well please. It makes no sense to me.

But then again, I've always thought the concept of gift cards made little sense to begin with. As a comedian, whose name I cannot recall, so aptly put it, and I'm paraphrasing here, you know for the same twenty dollar gift card, you could have gotten me twenty bucks. So much for telling me not to spend it all in one place, it doesn't seem like I have a choice now, do I?

What's worse is it says about the giver that they went all the way to a store, but when they got there, were too lazy to figure out what to get.

Some might argue that giving cash may seem thoughtless and crass. I don't see how it is crass, the value of the card is printed in large bold text for the whole world to see; we know exactly how much it cost. Also, by giving someone a gift card, you're telling them where to shop... that seems a lot less thoughtful.

A thought just occurred to me. If one were to buy, say a $20.00 gift card, after taxes, that should come up to something just shy of $23.00. Now, when the recipient purchases something with that same gift can they buy something with a $20.00 sticker value and simply walk out the store, or would they have to pay taxes on that again? Would the government be double dipping on an item that was essentially only sold once?

What Would Jesus Buy?

From Producer Morgan Spurlock



Produced by the guy who brought you "Supersize me" and HBO's "30 Days" comes a docu-drama about one man's crusade against the Shopacalypse

A nickel for your thoughts?

It doesn't make 'cents' to keep the penny: study

A new study says it doesn't make 'cents' to keep the penny.

In fact, only 37 per cent of Canadians still use the coin for purchases, found a survey conducted by Desjardins Group.

According to economists with the group, there are about 20 billion pennies in circulation -- amounting to about 600 per Canadian.

But between 2001 and 2005, the government issued an average of 816,000,000 pennies annually -- indicating that consumers tend to stockpile pennies or simply throw them away.

To keep the pennies in circulation, Canadians are losing about $130 million per year in production, storage, transportation and various costs, say the economists that conducted the research.

They are proposing that Canada withdraw the penny, following in the steps of Australia and New Zealand.

Francois Dupuis, vice-president and chief economist at Desjardins' Economic Studies Department, said he doesn't think removing the penny will increase prices.

Source: CTV (Complete Article)

This has been a long time coming. However, what I am having trouble understanding is why has this taken so long to come to fruition? Most people I know don't use the penny anymore and having a penny tub just isn't worth it anymore. Have you ever tried to taking your pennies to a bank to "cash" them in? The banks take ten percent right off the top, who do they think they are? My publicity agent?

This is the first time I've heard of people licensed to print money and they can somehow still find a way to print it at a loss.

Although, I don't know what this will do to comedian Steven Wright's: "It's a penny for your thoughts, but your put your two cents in... someone's making a penny" bit