April 2006Dear Colleagues,
The April’s 2006 Newsletter will cover the mail, training and job search, couple of articles and ABEC’s News. |
|
|
Don't be fooled by cheap insurance offers
It's up to you to check out agency
The Star
Mar. 7, 2006. 06:59 AM
Beware of anyone offering big savings on auto insurance; there's likely a scam afoot.
Legitimate savings can be had by shopping with the help of licensed brokers, or an Internet quote service such as insurancehotline.com or kanetix.ca. But some offers are just too good to be true and could backfire on you.
Ontario's insurance regulators and investigators warn that phony brokers, lying consultants and bogus insurers have taken money from both gullible and larcenous consumers.
These drivers have exposed themselves to unnecessary fees, uninsured losses, fines, identity theft and, in some cases, criminal prosecution.
The regulators could issue orders to cease and desist until the raccoons clean up after they raid our garbage.
Until then, consumer alerts may do more good.
So, here are some different scams to keep in mind, along with a few tips for protecting yourself. Each of the scams has been used to dupe Ontario consumers in recent months.
Jeff Bear, chief executive officer of the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario, says complaints resulted from advertisements in some newspapers last fall offering months of free insurance and huge savings.
The ads had all the truth of an email message from a wealthy despot's widow.
Yet a reader complained to one of the papers that his identity was stolen after he called the telephone number listed in the newspaper ad.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada announced last fall that investigators discovered that 22 used-car dealerships were referring potential buyers to unlicensed consultants to help get insurance coverage.
Some 1,800 consumers lost between $300 and $600 in up-front fees.
Other scam artists have accepted payment for nothing more than a worthless letter claiming the driver was insured, while other crooks are producing authentic-looking pink slips as proof of insurance.
Bob Whitman, national director of the injury rings investigative unit of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, says "from information we have received, the use of bogus pink slips is reaching pandemic proportions in the GTA area."
Randy Carroll, chief operating officer for the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario, says he recently heard from a legal representative that a consumer was fined $5,000 for driving without insurance after dealing with an unlicensed consultant.
Another unlicensed consultant placed ads in foreign-language newspapers offering deep discounts on auto insurance to certain buyers, Bear said.
But it turned out the consultant was producing phony college graduation certificates to get consumers into alumnae discount programs.
Other consultants have impersonated clients, and lied about their driving records, to get coverage at a lower premium, he said.
Any policy obtained through a misrepresentation would be invalid and the driver would be exposed to uninsured losses and lawsuits. "Remember, driving without valid auto insurance, even unwittingly, is illegal," warns a new brochure produced by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.
The brochure, called "Don't Get Scammed Buying Auto Insurance" adds "it is your responsibility to ensure that you have valid auto insurance, purchased from a licensed agent, broker, or insurance company."
The commission is urging consumers to refuse to pay referral fees. Be suspicious if someone suggests you wire "insurance" payment using a service such as Western Union.
"If any agent or broker completes (an application) form on your behalf, check it for accuracy — by signing the contract, you are agreeing the statements made to the insurance company."
To check whether someone offering to arrange insurance is licensed, go to the insurance section at http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca and click consumer information at http://www.ribo.com.
You can also obtain the names of licensed insurers from the FSCO website.
If you don't have Internet service, you can call FSCO's contact centre at 416-250-7250, 1-800-668-0128;
If you suspect someone is involved with a fraudulent insurance sales scheme, call the police.
One final note: As of March 1 it became an offence under insurance regulations for towing services, garages and vehicle storage yards to make referrals to an injury treatment clinic to earn a fee.
The Northern Miner
Monday,
March 20, 2006
Volume 92 Number 4
Gold and the end of dollar hegemony
Part III
By Hon. Ron Paul of Texas, of the U.S. House of Representatives
METALS COMMENTARY
The following is the last of three parts of a speech delivered to the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 15, 2006.
The first part is in Feb. 24-March /06 issue.
The other appeared in the March 10-16/06 issue.
|
A new attempt is being made
against the petrodollar system. Iran, another member of the
"axis of evil," has announced plans to initiate an oil bourse in
March. Guess what? The oil sales will be priced in euros, not
dollars. Most Americans forget how our policies have systematically and needlessly antagonized the Iranians over the years. In 1953, the CIA helped overthrow a democratically elected president, Mohammed Mossadeqh, and install the authoritarian Shah, who was friendly to the U.S. The Iranians were still fuming over this when American hostages were seized in 1979. Our alliance with Saddam Hussein in his invasion of Iran in the early 1980s did not help matters, and obviously did not do much for our relationship with Saddam Hussein. The administration announcement in 2001 that Iran was part of the axis of evil further worsened diplomatic relations between our two countries. Recent threats over nuclear power, while ignoring the fact that Iran is surrounded by countries with nuclear weapons, don't seem to register with those who continue to provoke Iran. With what most Muslims perceive as our war against Islam, and this recent history, there's little wonder why Iran might choose to harm America by undermining the dollar. Iran, like Iraq, has zero capability to attack us. But that didn't stop us from turning Saddam Hussein into a modern-day Hitler ready to take over the world. Now, Iran, especially since it made plans for pricing oil in euros, has been on the receiving end of a propaganda war not unlike that waged against Iraq before our invasion. It's not likely that maintaining dollar supremacy was the only motivating factor for the war against Iraq, nor for agitating against Iran. Though the real reasons for going to war are complex, we now know the reasons given before the war started were false. The dollar's importance is obvious, but this does not diminish the influence of the distinct plans laid out years ago by the neo-conservatives to remake the Middle East. Israel's influence, as well as that of the Christian Zionists, likewise played a role in prosecuting this war. Protecting "our" oil supplies has influenced our Middle East policy for decades. But the truth is that paying the bills for this aggressive intervention is impossible the old-fashioned way, with more taxes, more savings, and more production by the American people. Much of the expense of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 was shouldered by our willing allies. That's not so today. Now, more than ever, the dollar hegemony -- its dominance as the world reserve currency -- is required to finance our massive spending on war. This US$2-trillion, never-ending war must be paid for, one way or another. Dollar hegemony provides the vehicle to do that. For the most part, the true victims aren't aware of how they pay the bills. The licence to create money out of thin air allows the bills to be paid through price inflation. American citizens, as well as average citizens of Japan, China, and other countries suffer from inflation, which represents the "tax" that pays the bills for our military adventures. That is, until the fraud is discovered, and the foreign producers decide not to take dollars nor hold them very long in payment for their goods. Everything possible is done to prevent the fraud of the monetary system from being exposed to the masses that suffer from it. If oil markets replace dollars with euros, it would, in time, curtail our ability to continue to print the world's reserve currency without restraint. It is an unbelievable benefit to us to import valuable goods and export depreciating dollars. The exporting countries have become addicted to our purchases for their economic growth. This dependency makes them allies in continuing the fraud, and their participation keeps the dollar's value artificially high. If this system were workable long term, American citizens would never have to work again. We too could enjoy "bread and circuses" just as the Romans did -- but their gold finally ran out, and Rome's inability to continue to plunder conquered nations brought an end to its empire. The same thing will happen to us if we don't change our ways. Though we don't occupy foreign countries to directly plunder, we nevertheless have spread our troops across 130 nations. Our intense effort to spread our power in the oil-rich Middle East is not a coincidence. But unlike the old days, we don't declare direct ownership of the natural resources -- we just insist that we can buy what we want and pay for it with our paper money. Any country that challenges our authority does so at great risk. Once again, Congress has bought into the war propaganda against Iran, just as it did against Iraq. Arguments are now made for attacking Iran economically, and militarily if necessary. These arguments are all based on the same false reasons given for the ill-fated and costly occupation of Iraq. Our whole economic system depends on continuing the current monetary arrangement, which means recycling the dollar is crucial. Currently, we borrow over US$700 billion every year from our gracious benefactors, who work hard and take our paper for their goods. Then we borrow all the money we need to secure the empire (Department of Defense budget: US$450 billion) plus more. The military might we enjoy becomes the "backing" of our currency. There are no other countries that can challenge our military superiority; therefore, they have little choice but to accept the dollars we declare are today's "gold." This is why countries that challenge the system -- like Iraq, Iran and Venezuela -- become targets of our plans for regime change. Ironically, dollar superiority depends on our strong military, and our strong military depends on the dollar. As long as foreign recipients take our dollars for real goods and are willing to finance our extravagant consumption and militarism, the status quo will continue regardless of how huge our foreign debt and current account deficit become. But real threats come from our political adversaries, who are incapable of confronting us militarily, yet are not bashful about confronting us economically. That's why we see the new challenge from Iran being taken so seriously. The urgent arguments about Iran posing a military threat to the security of the United States are no more plausible than the charges levied against Iraq. Yet there is no effort to resist this march to confrontation by those who grandstand for political reasons against the Iraq war. The strange thing is that the failure in Iraq is now apparent to a large majority of American people, yet they and Congress are acquiescing to the call for a needless and dangerous confrontation with Iran. It seems that the people and Congress are easily persuaded by the jingoism of the pre-emptive war promoters. It's only after the cost in human life and dollars are tallied up that the people object to unwise militarism. But then again, our failure to find Osama bin Laden and destroy his network did not dissuade us from taking on the Iraqis in a war totally unrelated to 9/11. Concern over oil pricing explained our willingness to drop everything and teach Saddam Hussein a lesson for demanding euros for oil. Once again, there's an urgent call for sanctions and threats of force against Iran at the precise time Iran is opening a new oil exchange with all transactions in euros. Using force to compel people to accept money without real value can only work in the short run. It ultimately leads to economic dislocation, both domestic and international, and always ends with a price to be paid. The economic law that honest exchange demands only things of real value, as currency is an economic law that cannot be repealed. The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or euros. The sooner, the better. Article received from: P. Robarts - Secretary to
the Publisher |
Dundee Precious Chelopech gets a big hand from council
2006-03-27 12:20 ET - News Release
Mr. Jonathan Goodman reports
DUNDEE PRECIOUS METALS INC.: CHELOPECH UPDATE
Further to Stockwatch news dated March 16, 2006, Dundee Precious Metals Inc. has noted that the Supreme Expert Environmental Council of Bulgaria met today and once again overwhelmingly approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Chelopech project. The issues raised by the deputy minister of Environment and Water, who is also chairman of the council, were discussed and the draft resolution was approved 23 to 2, with the deputy minister voting in favour. The dissenting votes were cast by representatives of the village of Chavdar and one NGO (non-governmental organization). Two other NGO representatives on the council voted in support of the project, as did the community of Chelopech. The company is hopeful that the Minister of Environment and Water will now be able to sign the resolution.
http://www.dundeeprecious.com/latest_news.asp?news_id=19
http://www.stockwatch.com/swnet/utilit/utilit_snapsh_result.aspx
Just enter - Symbol Name – DPM press Canada and GO.
Dundee mulls scraping Bulgarian plant project
ABEC’s News
Please use your Member’s Web Page for your Resume and Portfolio.
We are strongly encouraging all Members of the Association of Bulgarian Engineers in Canada, to make use of their personal web page at our website www.abec.ca. On this page you can place your picture, your place of birth, etc. and all of your professional achievements and work experiences. Your picture will replace 1000 words. The personal web page will permit you to advertise your self, without the new (bleaching) template of the different Employment and Immigration Centres. The personal web page will project you as a team player of European Ethnic Professional Organization. The very practical side of the personal web page is that you can include link to your web page in any of your correspondence.
Personal web page can be much more than just a simple Curriculum Vitae, in that aspect it can also be a much more detailed work experience Exposé with a relevant pictures or videos of work experience and work places. With this features the web page can be phenomenally powerful advertising vehicle of who you are, what you have learned, what you have done and where you are going.
Well-organized Portfolio will complete your business presentation and will show the extra effort you made to achieve your Professional goal.
For information on your personal web page, please refer to our Webmaster Eng. Maxim Stefanov.
Congratulations to Vladimir Neykov P. Eng for obtaining a full License from Ontario Professional Engineers- see ABEC INSIDER.
For questions, obtaining 2005 membership receipts or paying your membership, we will be in the Big Hall of the Church of “Sts. Cyril and Methody” on Sunday, April 16th 2006.
The traditional ABEC picnic will be on Sunday, August 13th 2006, in the Glen Haffy Area.
The yearly ABEC general meeting will be on April 30th 2006, Sunday - 12.05 p.m. in the Building of
Maple Library
10190 Keele Street
Maple, Ontario L6A 1G3
Telephone: (905) 653-7323
Transit Information
Downsview - Bus 107C,D, F –Extra fare north of Steels Avenue
Sunday bus every 30 min. It takes 30 min to the Maple Library-one stop north of Major Mackenzie.
(We are waiting results for the Meeting room in the office of COSTI – Vaughan, Jane and Hwy #7;
in case of changes of the location, we will e-mail and post it on the website as soon as we know.)
Membership fee, due for 2006 year is $50 per year. Please send cheque (making it payable to ABEC)
to our Treasurer at the address:
Mrs. Tonya Bojkova,
903 – 91 Cosburn Ave,
Toronto, ON, M4K 2G2
New Members are welcome!
Best Regards to all ABEC Members,
Pauline Loultcheva Lawrence
(905) 832-4451
pauline_m_lawrence@hotmail.com