Category: Odds and Ends

Oh snap, my age bracket is dying off faster than before

I hope this mi6 – Guardian article is fear porn fiction. Even if it is, it has a subconscious effect.

Rising deaths among white middle-aged Americans could exceed Aids toll in US
Alarming trend among less-educated 45- to 54-year-olds largely thought to be a result of more suicides and the misuse of drugs and alcohol

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/02/death-rate-middle-aged-white-americans-aids

Lies, damn lies, statistics and the police

The police budget and crime stats are heading in different directions, but that won’t stop the police from doing what they can to protect their turf – and why wouldn’t they? How can we keep the fear and money flowing? PsyOps and hoaxes can help.

The jumble of charts and “performance” statistics in the Toronto police presentation to the budget committee Thursday left at least one new city councillor scratching his head.Toronto’s major-crime rate has declined 27 per cent since 2005, but the police budget has risen by 37 per cent, noted John Campbell, who represents Ward 4, Etobicoke Centre.

via Dropping crime, rising Toronto police costs raise questions about officer numbers | Toronto Star.

The new upper middle class – public servants? In Canada, yes.

The $100,000 club: Who’s really making big money these days

Canada’s new upper class: firefighters, police officers, teachers

Eddie Francis, the mayor of Windsor, Ont., can count the number of murders his city has seen in recent years on one hand. Windsor recorded a single homicide in 2011, after famously going more than two years without one. But the border city is making headlines for another reason, and it’s hardly a source of civic pride. The number of Windsor police and staff who took home six-figure incomes came close to doubling in 2012. In January, an arbitrator awarded the police a hefty 12 per cent pay hike over four years, retroactive to 2011. As a result, 40 per cent of the force took home more than $100,000 last year. Crime may not pay. But in Windsor, fighting it sure does.

Tricky phone scam

Got a call tonight…

I too received a call tonight and have never had anything to do with Westjet. If anything Westjet is a victim, not a perp. The number cloaking where a local number displays fooled me. The owner of the number had no clue what was happening. Never give out personal info out over the phone and you’ll be fine. Don’t externalize your own protection and use your own common sense and you will be fine.

http://blog.westjet.com/westjet-warns-phone-scam/#comment-1769432431