Big news in Toronto these days.
Google has got a lot of laudatory column inches re: their "Sidewalk Labs" development on the waterfront. Yup, the natives (and I mean native Torontonians, not native Natives) have been fumbling that file for as long as I can remember, so thank God some foreigners are finally coming in to put things right.
Because we need the Alphabet crowd to show us how real estate development can be done...
But that's nothing compared to the fuss being made over the Amazon HQ2 lottery. The Bezos empire is looking to put down roots somewhere for a second HQ, because one is not enough. From what I've been reading, at least 150 cities in North America are vying to be chosen as the home base for their second headquarters.
This is allegedly going to provide 50,000 high-end (60k/yr and up) tech jobs for a lot of really smart and hyper-educated millennials.
What does it mean, "vying to be chosen?"
A cynic might say it's gonna come down to who can a) bend over best, and b) provide the most lubricant. Because whoever manages that will end up with the prize.
That said, Toronto has some advantages. First of all, it's in another country, a country that conveniently has a substantially lower corporate tax rate than the US.
Secondly, it's a lot easier to get your hyper-educated India and China millennials into Canada than into the US. The reactionary regime in DC today can turn off the gushing tap of H1-Bs on a whim. In Canada, we "celebrate diversity." And even though a sixty thousand a year income won't get you on the lowest rung of Toronto's over-priced real estate market, that still looks like decent money to folks from India and China.
So I figure we're gonna bend over for the "disrupters," because tomorrow belongs to them.
And that's the problem.
Google and Amazon between them have hundreds of billions stashed in off-shore tax-havens. Why? Because they're run by new-age entrepreneurs who have been lauded for their "disruptions" all their lives and don't understand why they should pay taxes like corporations used to in the bad old days.
And "disruption" is good, isn't it?
Of course it is!
Look at Uber!
Instead of calling a cab, which is inevitably piloted by a first generation immigrant trying to make a go of it by playing by the rules, you can just call Uber and a college kid in a new Toyota Corolla will be there in a jiffy and will save you money to boot!
What's not to like about that?
Well, first of all, what's not to like is that Uber has pretty much bulldozed its way over taxi regulations in every city it operates in. With very few exceptions, cities around the world have rolled over for them, knowing that their meagre financial resources are no match to the billions available to Uber for protracted legal conflicts. In most places Uber operates, the rule of law gave up without even putting up a fight.
That's why we'd be wise to be skeptical of the Google/Amazon invasion of Toronto. Between them they've got hundreds of billions sloshing around in off-shore tax havens. Official Plans and zoning regulations mean bugger-all when your pockets are that deep, and the initial reaction of the political classes seems to be, "well, they're gonna have their way anyway, so we might as well save millions in legal fees and bend over now."
Welcome Google!
Welcome Amazon!
Showing posts with label Uber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uber. Show all posts
Friday, October 20, 2017
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
The new face of real estate development in Toronto
Move over Bratty and Muzzo and Del Zotto.
There's a new sheriff in town.
Google.
Yup, Google's "Sidewalk Labs" is touted as the saviour of the portlands. They're gonna put fifty millions into their new development on the Toronto waterfront.
Ironically, this announcement comes hard on the heels of another announcement that three levels of government are combining to sink 1.25 billions into an infrastructure upgrade for the portlands.
Hmm... the taxpayer is putting in one and a quarter billion.
Google is investing fifty million.
Who do you think will walk away with the profits?
We're setting the stage for Google to "disrupt" the development industry the way Uber "disrupted" the taxi industry.
That is, they'll break all the rules and then put the onus on their victims to prove wrongdoing. And, like Uber, they'll get away it with because, after all, they've got a bottomless pool of off-shore capital that's locked and loaded to blow the traditional legal bulwarks off the zoning maps.
Some of the locals may have deep pockets, but they've got nothing compared to the Googlites.
Surrender now!
Resistance is futile.
There's a new sheriff in town.
Google.
Yup, Google's "Sidewalk Labs" is touted as the saviour of the portlands. They're gonna put fifty millions into their new development on the Toronto waterfront.
Ironically, this announcement comes hard on the heels of another announcement that three levels of government are combining to sink 1.25 billions into an infrastructure upgrade for the portlands.
Hmm... the taxpayer is putting in one and a quarter billion.
Google is investing fifty million.
Who do you think will walk away with the profits?
We're setting the stage for Google to "disrupt" the development industry the way Uber "disrupted" the taxi industry.
That is, they'll break all the rules and then put the onus on their victims to prove wrongdoing. And, like Uber, they'll get away it with because, after all, they've got a bottomless pool of off-shore capital that's locked and loaded to blow the traditional legal bulwarks off the zoning maps.
Some of the locals may have deep pockets, but they've got nothing compared to the Googlites.
Surrender now!
Resistance is futile.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Dicks v. cunts
Why is it that the epithet "dick" and its derivatives, ie dickface, dickhead, dickwad, etc., has less impact than the epithet "cunt?"
When it comes down to the world-wide plot by a few California billionaires to destroy the global taxi industry, the best that Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi can do is call them "dicks."
They're not dicks, they're cunts!
And while the dicks and cunts behind Uber are dicks and cunts, why do we find one of those epithets more wounding than the other?
When it comes down to the world-wide plot by a few California billionaires to destroy the global taxi industry, the best that Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi can do is call them "dicks."
They're not dicks, they're cunts!
And while the dicks and cunts behind Uber are dicks and cunts, why do we find one of those epithets more wounding than the other?
Knenshee knackered
So some shitbag in Boston, who is obviously trying to supplement his Lyft/Uber paycheques with a little hush money on the side, has recorded Naheed Nenshi saying rude things about Uber.
What, the Uber management team are dicks?
This is news???
What, the Uber management team are dicks?
This is news???
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Why Uber can break the law but you can't
The Casino of Capital has deemed Uber to have a value of at least thirty billion dollars, or forty or sixty or more, depending on what you read and when you read it.
Which means they have the wherewithal to take any municipal government anywhere in the world to the mat just by bleeding them to death with legal fees. Which is why Toronto is caving in without a fight.
Meanwhile, the entire cab industry can be written off just because the billionaire bullies behind Uber can force anybody who stands up to them into bankruptcy.
And this is applauded as "progress" in the business press?
Which means they have the wherewithal to take any municipal government anywhere in the world to the mat just by bleeding them to death with legal fees. Which is why Toronto is caving in without a fight.
Meanwhile, the entire cab industry can be written off just because the billionaire bullies behind Uber can force anybody who stands up to them into bankruptcy.
And this is applauded as "progress" in the business press?
Friday, January 29, 2016
Introducing Uber policing
Here's a thought; why not replace your local police force with an Uber app on your smartphone?
After all, if Uber can replace regulated cabbies, why not let them replace regulated law enforcement as well?
My ruminations re: Uber policing were triggered by an opinion column in the Toronto Star by a couple of criminologists at U of Ottawa. It's titled We need a leaner, modern police service, and can be found on page A15 of today's paper.
No, I'm not providing a link. You can buy the paper like I did.
So with your Uber-cops, instead of dialling 911, you'll just hit the Uber app.
The nearest Uber-cop will respond way quicker than a conventional cop to whatever emergency you happen to be mixed up in.
Neighbour's party too loud? Hell, this doesn't require the services of two or more $100,000/year Toronto Police Services constables to sort out. Some off-season CFL linebacker can fix that up for twenty bucks!
And that's mostly the kind of stuff "real cops" do when they're not directing traffic.
Yup, Professors Kempa and Waller are onto something here. And they should know. Being professional academics, they've seen how a leaner, modern professoriat has taken over teaching in universities across the country.
In fact, most of the "teaching" your kid is gonna get at the undergrad level when she toddles off to U of Ottawa or any other school in North America is going to be provided by "sessionals" or "adjunct professors." Those are folks with Doctor Phils working full-time hours for poverty wages, hoping against hope that eventually they'll find a tenure track position.
Like Professor Kempa and Professor Waller.
Ya, even though these guys are prescribing lean and modern for the cops, they're part of the old school Ivory Tower, not the lean and modern professoriat.
The Ontario "sunshine list" shows associate professor Michael Kempa pulling down $122,000 for 2014. Full professor Irvin Waller clocks in at $171,000.
That's the kind of guys who give lectures on the importance of other people working for less!
After all, if Uber can replace regulated cabbies, why not let them replace regulated law enforcement as well?
My ruminations re: Uber policing were triggered by an opinion column in the Toronto Star by a couple of criminologists at U of Ottawa. It's titled We need a leaner, modern police service, and can be found on page A15 of today's paper.
No, I'm not providing a link. You can buy the paper like I did.
So with your Uber-cops, instead of dialling 911, you'll just hit the Uber app.
The nearest Uber-cop will respond way quicker than a conventional cop to whatever emergency you happen to be mixed up in.
Neighbour's party too loud? Hell, this doesn't require the services of two or more $100,000/year Toronto Police Services constables to sort out. Some off-season CFL linebacker can fix that up for twenty bucks!
And that's mostly the kind of stuff "real cops" do when they're not directing traffic.
Yup, Professors Kempa and Waller are onto something here. And they should know. Being professional academics, they've seen how a leaner, modern professoriat has taken over teaching in universities across the country.
In fact, most of the "teaching" your kid is gonna get at the undergrad level when she toddles off to U of Ottawa or any other school in North America is going to be provided by "sessionals" or "adjunct professors." Those are folks with Doctor Phils working full-time hours for poverty wages, hoping against hope that eventually they'll find a tenure track position.
Like Professor Kempa and Professor Waller.
Ya, even though these guys are prescribing lean and modern for the cops, they're part of the old school Ivory Tower, not the lean and modern professoriat.
The Ontario "sunshine list" shows associate professor Michael Kempa pulling down $122,000 for 2014. Full professor Irvin Waller clocks in at $171,000.
That's the kind of guys who give lectures on the importance of other people working for less!
Saturday, July 25, 2015
The car of the future won't need a driver
No doubt you've heard about the Google experiments with driverless cars. And it ain't just the geeks at Google. Audi, Mercedes, Freightliner, and pretty much every other big name in over-the-road transportation is figuring out how to make cars and trucks that won't be driver-dependant.
That's gonna be a massive bummer for those of us who actually enjoy the task of piloting a motorized vehicle. Alas, those days are coming to an end.
The geeks are winning.
And not only are the geeks winning, they seem to be tied in pretty tight with the Big Dogs in what we might loosely term the "military-industrial-prison-education-agri-chem-NGO" complex.
After all, where would Bill Gates be without those guys?
Or, Zuckerberg, for that matter.
If you're old enough to recall the pre-digital era, you'll remember that files got filed, stuff got done, everybody had a job, and nobody got hacked.
After thirty years of Microsoft/Apple progress, all files get corrupted sooner or later, much less ever gets done in spite of ten times the investment, hardly anyone has a job, and everything gets hacked.
And we are led to believe that this is the result of something called "progress."
But make no mistake; progress continues its progress...
In a few short years you'll get into that driverless Uber-ride that slides up to your apartment within minutes of you having pushed the "need ride" button on your smart-phone.
You can be half or three quarters or even 100% in the bag, and you'll still get to your destination, because in the post-driver era impaired driving will be an impossibility!
It'll be like the old days, when Festus wobbled outta the saloon three sheets to the wind, tumbled into the back of the hay-wagon, and had the horses walk him home while he was passed out in the hay.
Yup, we're progressing so fast, we're almost back to that...
Except tomorrow, when you pass out in the back of that driverless Googlemobile, Uber will have scanned the data-base for outstanding outrages in your digital history.
That's when you'll find out that you can't get out of that handy-dandy driverless car till you've taken care of your outstanding library overdue fines and whatever else might be outstanding on your digital record:
That's gonna be a massive bummer for those of us who actually enjoy the task of piloting a motorized vehicle. Alas, those days are coming to an end.
The geeks are winning.
And not only are the geeks winning, they seem to be tied in pretty tight with the Big Dogs in what we might loosely term the "military-industrial-prison-education-agri-chem-NGO" complex.
After all, where would Bill Gates be without those guys?
Or, Zuckerberg, for that matter.
If you're old enough to recall the pre-digital era, you'll remember that files got filed, stuff got done, everybody had a job, and nobody got hacked.
After thirty years of Microsoft/Apple progress, all files get corrupted sooner or later, much less ever gets done in spite of ten times the investment, hardly anyone has a job, and everything gets hacked.
And we are led to believe that this is the result of something called "progress."
But make no mistake; progress continues its progress...
In a few short years you'll get into that driverless Uber-ride that slides up to your apartment within minutes of you having pushed the "need ride" button on your smart-phone.
You can be half or three quarters or even 100% in the bag, and you'll still get to your destination, because in the post-driver era impaired driving will be an impossibility!
It'll be like the old days, when Festus wobbled outta the saloon three sheets to the wind, tumbled into the back of the hay-wagon, and had the horses walk him home while he was passed out in the hay.
Yup, we're progressing so fast, we're almost back to that...
Except tomorrow, when you pass out in the back of that driverless Googlemobile, Uber will have scanned the data-base for outstanding outrages in your digital history.
That's when you'll find out that you can't get out of that handy-dandy driverless car till you've taken care of your outstanding library overdue fines and whatever else might be outstanding on your digital record:
- traffic tickets
- overdue bills
- tax arrears
- alimony
- child support payments
Yup, that brave new world driverless car gonna be way more than a car!
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Christians once again dominate Canada top ten billionaire list
The Jew-haters who believe that Jews dominate the upper echelons of the Canadian economy aren't going to take much comfort from this year's Forbes rich list.
I don't know anything about that Camp fellow. I did find a photo where he appears to be wearing a kipa, but he's a flash in the pan who gets in the billionaire club on the strength of his stake in vastly uber-inflated Uber.
Other than him, you gotta go to number ten of ten to find a Jew... hell, that's a worse showing than in years past!
Are the Christians ganging up to drive the Jews out?
Wouldn't be the first time, would it?
I don't know anything about that Camp fellow. I did find a photo where he appears to be wearing a kipa, but he's a flash in the pan who gets in the billionaire club on the strength of his stake in vastly uber-inflated Uber.
Other than him, you gotta go to number ten of ten to find a Jew... hell, that's a worse showing than in years past!
Are the Christians ganging up to drive the Jews out?
Wouldn't be the first time, would it?
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Uber is over; fuck the hedgies, take a cab
Who wouldn't want to save a couple of bucks on a cab ride?
Hey, that's everybody!
Yet, every cabbie I've ever met is a regular guy, occasionally a gal, who works really long hours for very modest pay.
Why would I want to screw over their livelihood to save five bucks on a trip to the airport?
As is often the case, this latest assault on workers is being passed off as a great boon to consumers. Yes, you may very well save a couple of bucks on that Uber ride.
At the expense of a career cab-driver.
The entire novelty of Uber presumes that some reified ideal-type "consumer" should dictate the structure of the economy.
And while a dollar or two "saved" here and there may seem like small potatoes, millions of cab rides a day add up to enough boodle that a bevy of hedgies and venture capital types and even big fat Google are banking, and I mean BANKING, on Uber screwing enough old-school cab drivers out of enough business to make this Uber venture potentially worth $200 billions.
Fuck the hedgies.
Take a cab.
Hey, that's everybody!
Yet, every cabbie I've ever met is a regular guy, occasionally a gal, who works really long hours for very modest pay.
Why would I want to screw over their livelihood to save five bucks on a trip to the airport?
As is often the case, this latest assault on workers is being passed off as a great boon to consumers. Yes, you may very well save a couple of bucks on that Uber ride.
At the expense of a career cab-driver.
The entire novelty of Uber presumes that some reified ideal-type "consumer" should dictate the structure of the economy.
And while a dollar or two "saved" here and there may seem like small potatoes, millions of cab rides a day add up to enough boodle that a bevy of hedgies and venture capital types and even big fat Google are banking, and I mean BANKING, on Uber screwing enough old-school cab drivers out of enough business to make this Uber venture potentially worth $200 billions.
Fuck the hedgies.
Take a cab.
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