XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Sunday, 27 March 2011

British Columbia bottled water company received a massive order from Japan after Tokyo’s water supply was contaminated -

A British Columbia bottled water company has received a massive order from Japan after a government warning that Tokyo’s water supply was contaminated with radioactive materials.

As of Friday, Polaris Water, based in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, B.C., had been contracted by a Japanese distributor to ship two million 1.5-litre bottles of water by the end of April, spokesman Chris Dagenais said.

He said that’s 10 times more than what the company usually ships in April. The extra workload has meant employees are putting in overtime to meet the demand.

Tokyo’s local government issued a warning Wednesday after officials discovered slightly elevated levels of radioactive iodine in the city’s water. The iodine leaked into the water after Japan’s nuclear reactors were damaged following the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami March 11.

Parents were advised not to give tap water to babies, who are the most vulnerable to iodine. But by Friday, Japanese officials had said the radioactive levels in the water had dropped off and it was safe to drink.

Ordinarily at this time, Polaris Water would send about 15 shipping containers of water to Japan. Now they are trying to fill 150 containers with bottles of their Whistler Water Co. brand, Mr. Dagenais said.

“There’s no end in sight. It looks like our entire April schedule is dedicated to producing product for Japan,” he said.

“It’s meant multiple shifts, longer days and a good deal of overtime. But what’s really heartening is that some of the staff have volunteered their time — that was really inspiring.”

He said the company will donate two container loads out of 100 to the region.

The first shipment is due to arrive in Japan by freighter on April 4, followed by one shipment per week for the month.

“We’ll be shipping as much water as we possibly can out of that facility.”

Mr. Dagenais said that despite Japanese authorities’ attempt to ease fears, there has still been a run a water.

“Our distributor in Tokyo has been leveraged by various (non-government organizations)and government groups in Japan to supply water to the people, so as their supplier, we’re now at a bit of a manic pace to do what we can.”

Meanwhile, a Richmond, B.C., freight company is calling on more beverage companies to send water to help Japan. Canaan Transport Co. has already shipped seven containers of bottled water to the earthquake and tsunami ravaged country.

Tiffany Vandenberghe, a spokeswoman for Canaan, said they have a few containers left to donate.

Vandenberghe said the company has several bottled water suppliers volunteering to donate their water.

Canada has joined several other countries in imposing new restrictions on foods from Japan. Milk, fruit and vegetables from the area will require documents verifying their safety before they can be allowed into Canada, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Microsoft switches off privacy for Hotmail users in war-torn and repressive states -

For reasons unknown, Microsoft has changed the settings on Hotmail to disable HTTPS for users in several countries including Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Hotmail users in those countries can now be readily spied upon by ISPs and their governments. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has some good perspective:

Microsoft debuted the always-use-HTTPS feature for Hotmail in December of 2010, in order to give users the option of always encrypting their webmail traffic and protecting their sensitive communications from malicious hackers using tools such as Firesheep, and hostile governments eavesdropping on journalists and activists. For Microsoft to take such an enormous step backwards-- undermining the security of Hotmail users in countries where freedom of expression is under attack and secure communication is especially important--is deeply disturbing. We hope that this counterproductive and potentially dangerous move is merely an error that Microsoft will swiftly correct.The good news is that the fix is very easy. Hotmail users in the affected countries can turn the always-use-HTTPS feature back on by changing the country in their profile to any of the countries in which this feature has not been disabled, such as the United States, Germany, France, Israel, or Turkey. Hotmail users who browse the web with Firefox may force the use of HTTPS by default--while using any Hotmail location setting--by installing the HTTPS Everywhere Firefox plug-in.

Runaway Poisonous Snake at New York's Bronx Zoo - 20-inch-long poisonous Egyptian cobra -

Officials have closed the Reptile House at New York's Bronx Zoo after a poisonous Egyptian cobra disappeared from an enclosure that's separate from the animal exhibits.
Zoo officials say the building was immediately closed and secured after staff learned that the adolescent snake was missing Friday afternoon.
The zoo released a statement Saturday saying it's confident the 20-inch-long snake is in an area of the building that's not accessible to the public. Snakes usually seek closed-in spaces and aren't comfortable in open areas.
Officials say they are informing the public out of an "abundance of caution and will continue to take whatever steps necessary to ensure public safety."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/27/runaway-poisonous-snake-forces-zoo-shut-reptile-house/#ixzz1HoxPLf7R

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Firefox 4 Is Better Than Microsoft Internet Explorer 9: 10 Reasons Why -

It didn't take long for Mozilla's Firefox 4 to gain immense popularity. As of this writing, millions of people have downloaded the new browser and by the look of things, its appeal to Web users has yet to slow down. By all measures, Firefox 4 seems to be on top of its game, and it's ready to take on its many competitors in the browser market.

But now that Firefox 4 is out to compete against Internet Explorer 9, some people are undoubtedly wondering which browser they should go with. On one hand, Firefox 4 seems to deliver some neat new features and much faster speeds. But Internet Explorer 9 is vastly improved over its predecessor. In other words, at first glance, it's not an easy choice.

However, as people dig more into the differences between Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4, one thing becomes abundantly clear: Mozilla's option is better.

Read on to find out why:

1. A better design

One of the major improvements to both Internet Explorer and Firefox has been better designs. Both browsers feature a slimmed-down interface that will likely appeal to more users. But Firefox 4's design is a little bit better. It looks somewhat similar to Opera 11 and delivers much better menu designs. A change to how tabs are displayed—on top by default—is also a welcome addition. One can easily go on about all the changes made to Firefox 4, but suffice it to say that its interface tops Internet Explorer 9 in usability and aesthetic appeal.

2. Stability
Microsoft has said time and again that Internet Explorer 9 is the most stable browser it has released yet. And that's certainly the case. But so far, Firefox 4 seems to be a tad more stable. One of the key reasons for that is the browser's ability to continue working, even though plug-ins—like Flash, QuickTime or Microsoft's Silverlight—fail. Does that mean Firefox will never crash? Of course not, but in my testing to this point, it has proved more stable than Internet Explorer 9.

3. Multiplatform support
Considering there is a growing number of Mac OS X users out there, those folks should know that Firefox 4, unlike Internet Explorer 9, supports their favored operating system. Mozilla's browser also works with Linux. Perhaps most importantly, Firefox works with Windows XP. Internet Explorer 9, on the other hand, only works with Windows Vista and Windows 7. That's a huge issue for Microsoft, considering XP still is used by the majority of PC users—about 55 percent—around the world. And it's another win for Firefox 4.

4. Microsoft's brand problems
One of the biggest issues Microsoft faces right now is that it's trying to overcome its failures in past versions of Internet Explorer. There are still millions of people around the globe who don't trust that Microsoft's browser can be secure and stable. Mozilla, on the other hand, doesn't face that identity crisis. Thus, it doesn't necessarily need to worry about its brand affecting its decisions when it comes to adding or removing features. If users don't trust Microsoft's ability to keep its browser secure and they're looking for other options, they should go with Firefox 4.

Read more - http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Firefox-4-Is-Better-Than-Microsoft-Internet-Explorer-9-10-Reasons-Why-786501/

NASA Stardust Spacecraft Officially Ends Operations - after 11-years of collecting and returning comet material to Earth -

NASA's Stardust spacecraft sent its last transmission to Earth at 7:33 p.m. EDT Thursday, March 24, shortly after depleting fuel and ceasing operations. During an 11-year period, the venerable spacecraft collected and returned comet material to Earth and was reused after the end of its prime mission in 2006 to observe and study another comet during February 2011.

The Stardust team performed the burn to depletion, because the comet hunter was literally running on fumes. The depletion maneuver command was sent from the Stardust-NExT mission control area at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver. The operation was designed to fire Stardust's rockets until no fuel remained in the tank or fuel lines. The spacecraft sent acknowledgment of its last command from approximately 194 million miles away in space.

"This is the end of the spacecraft's operations, but really just the beginnings of what this spacecraft's accomplishments will give to planetary science," said Lindley Johnson, Stardust-NExT and Discovery program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The treasure-trove of science data and engineering information collected and returned by Stardust is invaluable for planning future deep space planetary missions."

After completion of the burn, mission personnel began comparing the computed amount of fuel consumed during the engine firing with the anticipated amount based on consumption models. The models are required to track fuel levels, because there are no fully reliable fuel gauges for spacecraft in the weightless environment of space. Mission planners use approximate fuel usage by reviewing the history of the vehicle's flight, how many times and how long its rocket motors fired.

"Stardust's motors burned for 146 seconds," said Allan Cheuvront, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company program manager for Stardust-NExT in Denver. "We'll crunch the numbers and see how close the reality matches up with our projections. That will be a great data set to have in our back pocket when we plan for future missions."

Launched Feb. 7, 1999, Stardust flew past the asteroid named Annefrank and traveled halfway to Jupiter to collect the particle samples from the comet Wild 2. The spacecraft returned to Earth's vicinity to drop off a sample return capsule eagerly awaited by comet scientists.

NASA re-tasked the spacecraft as Stardust-NExT to perform a bonus mission and fly past comet Tempel 1, which was struck by the Deep Impact mission in 2005. The mission collected images and other scientific data to compare with images of that comet collected by the Deep Impact mission in 2005. Stardust traveled approximately 13 million miles around the sun in the weeks after the successful Tempel 1 flyby. The Stardust-NExT mission met all mission goals, and the spacecraft was extremely successful during both missions. From launch until final rocket engine burn, Stardust travelled approximately 3.54 billion miles.

Read more - http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/mar/HQ_11-089_Stardust_Ends.html

Thursday, 24 March 2011

18 Reasons Why You Can Stick A Fork In The New Home Construction Industry -

If you make your living by building or selling new homes in the United States, you might want to consider taking up a different career for a while. New homes sales in the United States hit yet another new all-time record low in the month of February, and there are a whole lot of reasons why new home sales are going to stay extremely low for an extended period of time. The massive wave of foreclosures that we have seen has produced a giant glut of unsold homes in the marketplace, mortgage lenders are making it really hard to get approved for home loans, unemployment is still rampant and the global economy looks like it may soon plunge into another major recession. None of those things is good news for the new home construction industry. The truth is that we were supposed to have seen new home sales already bounce back by now. If you look at the historical numbers, new home sales in the U.S. always increased significantly after the end of every recession since World War 2. But that did not happen this time. Instead, new home sales have just continued to decline. This is absolutely unprecedented, and economists are puzzled. So what is going to happen if the U.S. economy suffers another major downturn?
New home construction has always been one of the foundational pillars of the U.S. economy. When times were good new home construction would boom, and when times were bad new home construction would falter.
Well, unfortunately the industry is stuck in the midst of a multi-year decline right now. The reality is that you can stick a fork in the new home construction industry in the United States. It is toast. There is going to be no recovery for the foreseeable future.
Not that previously owned homes are doing that much better. According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously existing homes in the United States dropped 9.6 percent in February. But at least sales of previously owned homes are not at all-time record lows like new home sales are.
As you can see from the facts posted below, new home sales are absolutely abysmal right now, and there are a lot of indications that things may get even worse. The following are 18 reasons why you can stick a fork in the new home construction industry….
#1 New home sales in the United States set a brand new all-time record low in the month of February.
#2 Only 19,000 new homes were sold in the United States during the month of February. The previous record low for new home sales during the month of February was 27,000, which was set last year.
#3 The “months of supply” of new homes in the U.S. rose from 7.4 months in January to 8.9 months in February.
#4 The median price of a new home in the United States declined almost 14 percent to $202,100 in the month of February.
#5 The median price of a new home in the U.S. is now the lowest it has beensince December 2003.
#6 As of the end of 2010, new home sales in the United States had declinedfor five straight years, and they are expected to be lower once again in 2011.
#7 Now home sales in the United States are now down 80% from the peak in July 2005.
#8 New home construction starts in the United States fell 22.5 percentduring the month of February. This was the largest decline in 27 years.
#9 In February, the number of new building permits (a measure of future home building activity) declined to the lowest level in more than 50 years. In fact, new building permits were 20 percent lower during February 2011 than they were in February 2010.
#10 There is a major glut of foreclosed homes that still need to be sold off. David Crowe, the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, recently told CNN that the constant flow of new foreclosures being put on the market is a huge hindrance to a recovery for new home sales….

“One of the biggest detriments to building new homes is the flow of existing foreclosed homes.”

#11 The number of foreclosures just continues to increase. This means that those trying to sell new homes are going to continue to be competing against a giant mountain of foreclosed homes for the foreseeable future. An all-time record of 2.87 million U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in 2010, and that number is expected to be even higher in 2011.
#12 In fact, there are a whole lot of signs that there will be very high levels of foreclosures for years to come. For example, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, at least 8 million Americans are at least one month behind on their mortgage payments at this point.
#13 A stunningly high number of Americans are “underwater” on their mortgages right now. This could lead to an increase in the number of “strategic defaults”. 31 percentof the homeowners that responded to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey indicated that they are “underwater” on their mortgages, and Deutsche Bank is projecting that 48 percent of all U.S. mortgages could have negative equity by the end of 2011.
#14 The truth is that the U.S. doesn’t need a whole lot of new housing at the moment. Right now, 11 percent of all homes in the United States are currently standing empty.
#15 Mortgage lending standards have become extremely tight. Back during the housing bubble, almost anyone that was breathing could get a zero-down mortgage. Today, mortgage lenders have made it extremely difficult to acquire a home loan, and it is quite typical these days for lenders to demand down payments of 20 percent or more. This is dramatically reducing the number of home buyers in the marketplace.
#16 American families cannot buy homes if they do not have good jobs. Unfortunately, it has become extremely difficult to find a job in the United States today. This is especially true if you are looking for a good job. It now takes the average unemployed worker in America about 33 weeks to find a job.
#17 There is not going to be a jobs recovery until the overall economy improves. Unfortunately, the price of oil continues to rise dramatically andeconomic disasters all over the planet threaten to plunge the global economy into another major recession.
#18 On top of everything else, perceptions regarding home ownership are shifting in the United States. In 1996, 89 percent of Americans believed that it was better to own a home than to rent one. Today that number has fallen to 63 percent.

Read more - http://blacklistednews.com/18-Reasons-Why-You-Can-Stick-A-Fork-In-The-New-Home-Construction-Industry-/13186/0/13/13/Y/M.html

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

Ron Paul: Obama Moving Us Toward One World Government -

Congressman Ron Paul made a sweep of television appearances yesterday to voice his strong opposition to the attack on Libya, and making it clear that the president is subverting US national sovereignty by bypassing Congress to engage in illegal acts of aggression.

Appearing on Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano, the Congressman pulled no punches when explaining why he believes Obama went to the UN for authority to drop bombs on Libya, rather than congress.

“I think he philosophically believes in one world government,” Paul stated.

“He wants to keep nudging us in that direction. I don’t believe he has a conviction that national sovereignty has any value. So therefore if they can diminish the Congress.” he continued.

“If he diminishes the Congress and he can get his authority from the United Nations then this enhances what he believes in. But he is not alone, the leadership in both parties has been nudging in that direction for a long time.” the Congressman added.

“To think of all the effort that the founders went to to make the Congress the most important body, that they are now the most willing to give up their prerogatives and give it to the executive branch and the judicial branch, and onward and onward. Our leaderships in the House as long as I’ve been there have always deferred to the executive branch.” he said.

Paul once again urged the American people to recognize the military incursion into Libya as a war of opportunity.

“It is unnecessary, it is wrong, it has nothing to do with national security, it has nothing to do with the defence of this country.” he said.

“I think there is more to do with it than just that. That may be their cover. It may be that oil is an important issue here. We didn’t go to Rwanda for humanitarian reasons, so I’m not to sure that oil might not be the real clincher here.”

Money Trouble Ahead: 15 Indications That Bad Times Are About To Hit The U.S. Economy -

2011 is shaping up to be a really bad year for the U.S. economy. There are all kinds of indications that big trouble is ahead. So far financial markets are weathering all of the chaos around the world fairly well, but just as there were huge flashing warning signs before the 2008 financial crisis there are also huge flashing warning signs now. The price of oil is soaring, the U.S. housing market is experiencing huge problems, the cost of living in America recently hit a new record high and each week the globe seems to become even more unstable. How much pounding can our fragile economic system take before it completely collapses? As the price of oil goes even higher, it is going to cause economic growth to slow down and it is going to cause the prices of the things that we all buy at the stores to go up at the same time. It is very likely that we are entering a period of "stagflation" similar to what we experienced in the 1970s. This is going to cause a huge amount of money trouble for millions of American families. Already there are vast numbers of American families that are barely making it every month. Tens of millions of Americans are already receiving government assistance. So what is going to happen when the next financial crash happens and we experience yet another major economic downturn?

The truth is that the financial system was never "fixed" after the crash of 2008. If anything, it is more vulnerable today than it was back then. Even as you read this, major imbalances are building up in the global financial system, and at some point a "tipping point" will be reached.

Once that tipping point is reached, it will not be too long before the U.S. economy experiences the next wave of economic problems. Perhaps we will be fortunate and it will not be as bad as the 2008 crash. Perhaps this next wave will be even worse than 2008 was. Only time will tell.

But all of the warning signs are there. The following are 15 indications that bad times are about to hit the U.S. economy....

#1 The price of gasoline is about to cross the psychologically-important $4 a gallon threshold in some areas of the United States. For example, the average price of gasoline is now $3.977 in San Diego County and it is $3.955 in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

#2 The price of oil moved up close to the $105 mark by the end of the day today, and that means that more gasoline price increases are likely on the horizon for American consumers.

#3 In February, food prices in the United States rose at the fastest rate in 36 years.

#4 According to the U.S. Labor Department, the cost of living in the United States hit a brand new all-time record high in the month of February.

#5 According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously existing homes in the United States dropped a stunning 9.6 percent in February. The National Association of Realtors also has announced that the median home price is the lowest it has been in 9 years.

#6 The U.S. is already in the midst of a real estate crash that never seems to end, but many are warning that it is about to get even worse. For example, prominent housing analyst Gary Shilling is warning that U.S. housing prices are likely to drop another 20 percent.

#7 According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, at least 8 million Americans are at least one month behind on their mortgage payments at this point.

#8 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of new building permits declined 20.5 percent in February on a year over year basis. According to John Carney of CNBC, a huge decline in building permits is usually an indication that a recession is coming....

All nine recessions since 1959 have seen a year over year decline in building permits. In eight of the last nine the annual rate of change hit negative 20 percent or lower, and the economy went into a recession.

#9 31 percent of the homeowners that responded to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey indicated that they are "underwater" on their mortgages.

#10 Millions of American families are drowning in debt and debt collectors are becoming increasingly aggressive. According to a new Federal Trade Commission report, consumer complaints about debt collectors rose by 17 percent last year.

#11 Meredith Whitney is warning that even though it may take longer than she originally projected, we are still going to see a wave of municipal bond defaultsworth hundreds of billions of dollars.

#12 The war in Libya is putting upward pressure on the price of oil, it is yet another drain on U.S. government finances, and it is raising tensions across the globe. Vladimir Putin has called the NATO operation in Libya a "crusade" and China is calling for an immediate cease-fire. Financial markets do not like instability of this nature.

#13 The rest of the Middle East is melting down as well. More than 40 demonstrators have been killed in Yemen and the president of that country has declared a state of emergency. Government buildings are still being set on fire in Egypt. Ivory Coast is in the midst of a full-blown revolution, and there are ongoing protests in about a dozen other nations across North Africa and the Middle East. This is really bad for global economic stability.

#14 The damage from the tsunami in Japan continues to affect more American Workers. GM has just announced that they are going to temporarily lay off workers at a Buffalo engine plant due to a shortage of parts from Japan. When supply chains are going to get fully back to normal is anyone's guess. GM has also temporarily shut down a facility in Shreveport, Louisiana due to supply problems.

#15 There continue to be indications that the amount of radiation being released by the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants is much higher than we have been led to believe. The following is an excerpt from a recent report by NHK World....

"Japan’s science ministry says radiation exceeding 400 times the normal level was detected in soil about 40 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The ministry surveyed radioactive substances in soil about 5 centimeters below the surface at roadsides on Monday. The ministry found 43,000 becquerels of radioactive iodine-131 per kilogram of soil, and 4,700 becquerels of radioactive cesium-137 per kilogram about 40 kilometers west-northwest of the plant. Gunma University Professor Keigo Endo says radiation released by the iodine is 430 times the level normally detected in soil in Japan and that released by the cesium is 47 times the norm."

400 times the normal level amount of radiation 40 kilometers from the plant?

That is something that should be taken very seriously.

Sadly, radiation levels continue to rise throughout northern and central Japan. If a significant amount of people have to be evacuated from Tokyo at some point that is going to be absolutely devastating for the global economy.

So what should Americans be doing? How can middle class families weather the storm that is coming?

Well, one thing that can be done is to start saving money and not spending it on frivolous things like new cars and international vacations. Many Americans did not learn the lessons of 2008 and they are running around blowing money as if the good times will never come to an end.

Also, now is a good time to get out of debt. Millions of American families are literally drowning in debt, and when the next financial crash comes it is the families that are overextended that will be the most financially vulnerable.

When you see a storm coming, the prudent thing to do is to make preparations. Most people believe what they want to believe, but anyone that cannot see the economic storm clouds on the horizon at this point has got to be pretty clueless.

Our entire economic system is slowly failing. Hopefully the folks running things will be able to hold the economy together for a while longer, but when you stop and think about who we have in charge, there are not many reasons to be optimistic.

Sunday, 20 March 2011

Paying your taxes on your credit card? Not in Canada - but 2.6M Americans will use one - the IRS even promotes it -

It’s tax time. Will that be cash or charge? Millions of Americans will being doing just that this tax season -- paying their bill to Uncle Sam with a credit card.

It sounds crazy but 2.6 million Americans will use their credits to pay third-party processors who submit tax bills to the U.S. federal government on behalf of clients, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of Birmingham, Ala.-based lowcards.com.

He says the Internal Revenue Service even promotes the use of credit cards for paying tax bills, noting the IRS say on its web site it is “convenient, safe and secure,” and reminds taxpayers using cards with a reward program can earn points.

And people still wonder how the U.S. got in into a credit problem.

“Heck, you can pay for everything with a credit card. They’ll let you pay for your casket if you want,” says Mr. Hardekopf, whose web site does not take advertising but makes money when people sign up for credit cards through lowcards.com,

Aside from the potential for interest charges, paying for your credit card to get points makes absolutely no sense. Third party filers in the U.S. charge a processing fee ranging from 2.35% to 3.93% to put a tax bill on a credit card. Most reward programs offer the equivalent of maybe 1% to 2% back, depending on how you calculate the reward.

Why do people love points so much?

“I don’t think you should be using your credit card unless you are in a dire emergency,” says Mr. Hardekopf. “If you need a couple of weeks, I guess you could do that. But the risk is costly, if you forget to pay, because [of interest].”

Maybe we should be thankful that Canada Revenue Agency doesn’t allow us to use credit cards in any form. You can pay your tax bill online or at the bank but it has to be from an account with actual money in it.

“You wonder why they have a debt problem,” said Cleo Hamel, senior tax analyst with H&R Block Canada.

There is a way a Canadian could conceivably use their credit card to pay off a tax bill but it would mean taking out a cash advance, which not only won’t earn you points, but usually means interest charged from the day of the transaction.

There is really not much of an argument for Canadians to use credit to pay their tax bill off by the May 2 deadline. The interest the government charges is far less than you’ll pay on most cards.

“Our interest rate is pretty low right now,” says Jamie Golombek, managing director of tax and estate planning at CIBC Private Wealth Management, adding it is 5% today based on prevailing rates. It varies by quarter.

The biggest mistake you can make if you owe taxes is to not file a return at all. If you are late it is 5% of the amount owing and 1% for every month your are late to maximum of 12 months. And that’s for a first-time offence. The penalties double if you are late paying in any of the prior three years.

Ms. Hamel says H&R Block’s general advice is if you owe money, go ahead and file your taxes right away if you have all your information ready. Between now and the tax season deadline you could pay it down and your balance won’t be as high.

As for using debt, you could use a line of credit to pay your tax bill if your rate is lower than the government of Canada’s. “A line of credit might make more sense if you are looking for the cheapest borrowing method,” says Ms. Hamel.

Tax bills are one of the things that can lead Canadians into more debt problems, says Patricia White, executive director of Credit Counselling Canada.

“We don’t see it as a major issue so maybe it’s a good thing that in Canada we don’t have the ability to put our taxes onto our credit,” she says.

I’ll take the CRA approach on this over the IRS. The last thing we need is more credit card debt, even if it is to pay off the government.

NFL lockout threatens chicken wing business - "If we don't have Sunday football, the demand will go down tremendously" -

With NFL owners and players in a standoff, the CEO of one of the nation's largest chicken farms warns that a long-lasting football lockout would be bad news for a gameday staple, the chicken wing.

"It will be a major blow," said Joe Sanderson Jr., CEO of Sanderson Farms, the fourth largest poultry company in the U.S. "If we don't have Sunday football, the demand will go down tremendously, and of course, if that happens, the price will go down."

Chicken wings are big business. According to Sanderson, wings account for 12 percent of his company's output, and the National Chicken Council estimates that in 2011, more than 13.5 billion wings will be marketed. Of course, football and wings are inextricably linked.

"We sell about three million pounds of wings a week," Sanderson said. "And a lot of those wings to go sports bars."

And while all game days are big business for wings, the "absolute peak," Sanderson said, comes on Super Bowl Sunday. According to the National Chicken Council, more than 1.25 billion wings were consumed during last Super Bowl weekend.

Pro football owners and the players union are in a disagreement over how much pay players should earn and how long the season should last. If there is no season next year, the effects will be profound, Sanderson said.

While Sanderson says that while the NFL lockout won't force layoffs at his company, he believes that plenty of other businesses, like restaurants that cater to sports fans, will be in trouble if the season is scrapped.