Rotundus.com

China plans to put out its coalfield fires

The article mentions that the coalfield fires, some of which have been burning for fifty or more years, consume about 20 million tonnes of coal per year. I already mentioned long-running, large-scale oil spills in Africa's Niger delta, but other sources of pollution, like this Chinese case, may also have more damaging effects than the recent and still ongoing BP oil spill.

Canadians pay too much for generic drugs: Report

Noting that brand-name drugs in Canada are less expensive than in the U.S. the situtation is reversed for generic drugs with Canadians paying more than double. The article touches on some of the reasons why.

GetReligion.org: Religion reporting as public therapy?

"In other words, when mainstream journalists use the word 'moderate' (as in 'moderate' Muslims) it usually means, 'People that we like.' GetReligion readers already know that the word 'fundamentalist' has turned into an slur that usually means, 'Dangerous, uninformed, simplistic people that we don’t like.' Who cares what the Associated Press Stylebook says, anyway?"

New credit cards pose security problem: Hacker shows CBC how to crack 'contactless' MasterCard

One of the reasons that I haven't pushed too much to get one, other than in circumstances in which they're the only way to make payments. Basically, they may be crackable - and some cards, as noted have been demonstrated to be broken. Basically the chip-and-pin approach means that in the case of fraudulent transactions, you're more likely to be held liable.

Paranormal Activity At Brunswick Railroad Museum

If you already thought railfans were weird, you might have underestimated.

Good or Bad, Baby Names Have Long-lasting Effects

One example: "'I found girls with names that are relatively feminine in high school chose advanced coursework in humanities – and less feminine are more likely to choose math and science courses,' Figlio said, adding the research focused on high-achieving girls."

Do you want to live longer? Then put on weight

"Those of us carrying around a few extra pounds should take heart - the slightly overweight seem to live longer than those of 'healthy' weight. Contrary to the much publicised message that you must be slim to be healthy, a study also found that those classed as obese fare no worse than those of normal weight."

Kandahar Air Base: Part Afghanistan, Part Jersey Shore

"Should Taliban attacks on the base increase, caffeine die-hards need not worry: a sign posted outside Tim Horton's, the wildly popular Canadian coffee and doughnut chain, reminds patrons that it will reopen 'approx[imately] 15 minutes after the all clear.'"

The Globe and Mail had an interesting article on this. A lot of the points made sense - e.g. economies of scale, increased marketplace allowing for increasing competition, but in terms of labour costs and the overhead of additional regulation I didn't realize quite how high some of the gaps were:

Last year, the Canadian Auto Workers confirmed that employees at Ford of Canada's plants made, on average, $16 (U.S.) per hour more than Ford workers in the United States.

That's not an average of $16/hour, but $16/hour MORE. At a 40 hour work week with two weeks of vacation per year, that would mean that on average workers in that sector in Canada made about $30,000/year more per year than their American counterparts.

The question remaining in my mind: why would Ford have ANY plants in Canada? Is there something that this figure isn't capturing? Is the extra pay per employee coming from government subsidies intended to attract business?