Grandpa Richard Speaks

Do you and your family know what to do in the event of a fire? How good is your knowledge of fire safety?

Please watch these videos at knowfire.ca with everyone in your household. Make sure they all know what to do.

The Ontario Government is asking all public servants in the province (I think I read that there are 700,000+ including government, health care, education, etc) to take a 2 year pay freeze.

I personally see nothing wrong with that. Our employer is not doing well, financially. A private sector employer would use the same reasoning. Poor results = pay freezes, or maybe even cuts.

But this commentary is not about that, per se.

I am once again visiting the topic of executive pay.

In a comment to reporters, a union rep said, “Is the CEO really worth 50 times more than the woman providing care?” The CEO they were talking about is head of a health care organization.

In response, Ontario Hospital Association president Tom Closson said, “If you want to run a cost-efficient health-care system, you need good management.”

While I agree that you need good management, are compensation levels for these people really where it should be? Are they really worth 25, 30, 40, 50 times a regular worker’s salary?

Then there is the bonus system, which happens to be exempt from the freeze. If an organization does well, it seems to be assumed it is because of the leader. But that is a seriously flawed assumption. It could be the economy in general. It could be, gasp, the workers!!! Does a nurse get a bonus if their hospital does better than expected?

If the organization that I work for does better than expected (I am a government worker), my management team and their bosses give me a pat on the back. In the meantime, they get a bonus. Actual money. Money to give their family a better life. I get a warm fuzzy feeling to share with my family. That makes them feel oh so good.

Get rid of bonuses. Pay a fair salary. Maybe there should be a salary cap on an organization’s executive team, tied to factors like average worker salaries. The NDP has proposed a law capping public sector salaries at twice the premier’s salary, which was $208,974 last year. Currently, direct government employees do exist under a cap. To get around the cap, the government sometimes hires “stars” through quasi-government agencies, like hospitals, where there is no cap.

The complete Toronto Star article can be read here.

Please comment in the space provided below this post.

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Is the war on drugs working? Is the war worth it? What would happen, if, like booze, cigarettes, and lottery tickets, many drugs were government regulated. Would crimes associated with drugs go down, the cost of fighting those crimes go down, prices go down, and government revenue go up?

A piece in today’s Globe and Mail (The rising trend against the war on drugs) asks some of those questions.

How many street gangs would be out of work? Yes, there would still be peddling of prostitution, and some other crimes, but drug peddling is so simple compared to them, and probably a mainstay of many of the gangs.

It seems like a natural progression to me.

Governments have regulated the sale of tobacco and alcohol for years. Then, another no-no, lotteries, was brought into the fold. It used to be illegal. Then governments saw the tax implications and made it a new business model. It seems logical that “weed” is next.

What do you think?

Leave a comment.

The stories I had heard about root canals made me shudder. Then that fateful day came. The only way to save my molar was to have a root canal done. (on the bright side, I am almost 60 and just getting my first; I have met a number of people who had theirs when still only 1/2 my age)

Yuck!

Somehow, an infection got out of control in between my regular visits to the dentist. Too much of the pulp of the tooth had been killed off. To fix this problem, my dentist had to perform a root canal. During the procedure, he numbed the area and then drilled a hole into the tooth. Using various tools and equipment, he went down inside of the tooth and scraped away the nerves and dead pulp. Afterwards a rubber-like material was inserted into the holes left behind.

This is a very effective procedure, although very time consuming as well. In most cases, a root canal can take several hours, although it is the only way to stop the dying pulp and save the tooth. Even though it may take a long time – it is more than worth it when it saves your tooth from being extracted.

In my case, it took almost 2 and 1/2 hours, after which I went to the GF’s house to rest.

Since the area had been frozen, there was little pain. Discounting the longer time in the chair, I did not find this much different than having a filling done.

I’ve thought of getting one of those custom t-shirts made.

Terry Grant, who stars in the popular show Mantracker, in which a pair of contestants try to outrun Mr. Grant as he chases them over vast stretches of Canadian wilderness on horseback using his tracking skills, is helping the British military teach their troops how to avoid IEDs.

IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) were the cause of almost 80% of the deaths of British Troops in 2009.

For further details, see this item in the Globe and Mail.

Movie celebrity Lindsay Lohan has been sentenced to 90 days in jail. The problem stems from violating her probation that resulted from two separate 2007 cases of driving under the influence of cocaine and alcohol.

Rich, famous, and suffering from some demons. She needs to get rid of the demons.

Further details at this site.

It started with a bet between blogger Jeffrey Strain and his sister. Jeffrey said he could eat for a whole month on just $31. His sister said he couldn’t. He set out to prove her wrong and blogged about it.

Interesting challenge, and some very interesting ways of beating the challenge.

Check out Jeffrey’s blog.

I came across a short book about health today. It is called Minimalist Health: How to Focus on the Essentials. It is a free e-book, well designed and an easy 20 page read. Just click on the link 2 sentences ago.

I especially liked the final sentence of the book.

Please read the book and share with your family, friends, and co-workers. Then come back here and leave a comment.

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Wow!

Talk about compact living. And very environmentally friendly.

84 sq ft. That is a small house.

I love this idea, and feel it is time for it to happen. See this article for details on the Tobin Tax.

Here is a statement from a well known Ontario based union about it.

June 25, 2010 OPSEU President Smokey Thomas and NUPGE President James Clancy will lead our Union’s delegation at the G20 rally on Saturday, June 26 at 1 pm.

Join us as we demonstrate against G20 governments who have spent trillions of dollars to save banks and financial markets only to turn around and cut public spending, public services, and jobs.

We are calling for a Robin Hood Tax – a tiny tax of 0.05% on trades in stocks, bonds and currencies – which would not affect ordinary consumers but would raise $650 billion a year to create jobs, reduce debt and fight poverty.

Did you know that the currency market (FOREX) sees about $2 trillion in trades every day? How many of these trades are speculative in nature? No goods or services are being made/produced. And the speculation and greed in our system had a lot to do with the financial collapse of many U.S. based financial companies last year.