After 5 years of socialist rule in France, the socialist party dropped from 280 seats to just 29. As the new majority leader Macron said, France had become Cuba without the sun. Now the chairman of the French Socialist party declares the left must change everything about itself, including its form, substance, ideas, and organization. That’s France, and its not going much better for socialist countries elsewhere either.

…speaking of socialism, from Michael: Corruption on a Gigantic Scale

Amazon’s groundbreaking Go Technology allows customers to walk into a food store, fill up a basket and walk out without any help from sales people, cashiers, shelf stockers or other low wage positions. Politicians who argue for raising the minimum wage don’t understand these changes in the marketplace, if they did they would be arguing a different strategy to meet these changes.

…also Michael’s Saturday Editorial: Brazen & Relentless: Coming To a Neighbourhood Near You?

Governments are desperate for money. A good example is the latest Liberal plan to add a 5% tax to internet services like netflix. That’s on top of the tax you already pay on cable bills! Strap-in, governments need for cash is becoming relentless, and they’re coming to get it.

….also from Michael: Changes Coming Along With Higher Canadian Interest Rates

Meanwhile a Financial Monster stalks the land. With the ramifications of the aging population going critical, we find it’s not being discussed as the appetite for the latest Trump move, or whose going to run BC grabs all the attention.

…also Michael’s Mid-Week Update: Changes Coming Along With Higher Canadian Interest Rates

This past monday, a secretive robotics startup has raised $18 million as part of its quest to replace humans with robots in the kitchens of fast-food restaurants. Minimum wage advocates can ignore this development, but they shouldn’t. They may mean well, but never before has it been easier to replace increasingly costly wage earners with technology.