Juggling Dynamite

Interesting points made in this discussion about the irrelevance of today’s election vis-à-vis the changes that are actually needed. Today the candidates and parties are still mostly pre-selected and defined by big, status quo, corporate interests. At some point, sooner than most believe I think, environmental problems and the fight for survival will galvanize all humans behind the issues and solutions that will define our mutual fate on earth.  But today, no matter who gets elected, real change is likely to allude us until crisis forces our choices.

Actress and environmental activist Susan Sarandon talks to Evan Davis about the civil resistance on the Dakota access pipeline, the US election and why she’s not supporting Hillary Clinton for US president. Newsnight is the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs TV programme – with analysis, debate, exclusives, and robust interviews. Here is a direct video link.

On Friday, a US federal court denied a motion from an annuity sales group to defeat the incoming fiduciary standard for those advising on retirement. There is some hope!! See: Federal Court rejects NAFA attempt to kill fiduciary standard rule:

In the first court decision involving a legal challenge to the DOL rule, U.S. district judge Randolph Moss in Washington, D.C., turned back the challenge brought by the National Association for Fixed Annuities.

In addition to seeking a preliminary injunction to delay the implementation date, NAFA also was asking the court to vacate and set aside the fiduciary rule and its associated exemptions…

Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, named in the suit, called the ruling “a win for working Americans who simply want a secure retirement.”

Won’t end well…

Homeowners in King Township, Ont., have basically won the lottery.

House prices in the region north of Toronto have nearly doubled in just the past year — up 89.6 per cent since October, 2015, according to data released this week by the Toronto Real Estate Board.

The average house price in King is now $1.919 million, up from $1.012 million a year earlier. House prices there have nearly tripled since 2013.  See:  GTA’s wildest house price spikes: 10 areas that have gone insane.

Here is a link to a slide show of Greater Toronto’s craziest house price jumps.

“With numbers like that, is it any wonder that nearly half the region’s millennials are seriously thinking about leaving?”