The Speaker Editors

Iceland Bringing More Than Football to Euro 2016

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It’s become journalistic shorthand to describe Iceland’s impact at Euro 2016 as ‘volcanic’, but the team’s success in France is down to the close bond that exists in in the squad, and the harmony between the players and the fans.

These are the two constructive, rather than destructive, forces setting the scene for a history-making tournament for Lars Lagerback and Heimer Hallgrimsson’s players, and its little wonder that people around the world have taken a shine to them.

Such is the good feeling and bonhomie, even the fans are getting in on the act of charming the world; their good conduct means they may usurp the Republic of Ireland’s green army and become unofficially recognized as the best supporters in world football.

Their ominous, Viking roar is designed to drive on their team, in contrast to the deep pop of the flares and hooligan violence that serve only to disrupt matches and create disorder.

And they share with Ireland an underdog typecasting that is befitting of a windswept island in the Atlantic; and Euro 2016 can be for Iceland what Italia 1990 was for the Irish, a transformative event that was more about lifting a nation and less about the football.

A Team That Can Play

But they can play football, and that 1-1 draw against Hungary in the Stade Velodrome felt like a loss; Gylfi Sigurdsson slumped to the grass on the final whistle and the entire team were left to rue two points dropped.

Many of the players graduated from the Under-21 side together, and the fact that the men in the blue jersey share a friendship that extends beyond the white lines of a football pitch means they will be united in these low moments.

This familiarity is hardly surprising considering how their co-manager, Hallgrimsson, doubles as a dentist and is beloved in his community.

Hallgrimsson has also revealed a unique tradition that used to take place before every Iceland game – 200 fans would gather and learn of the lineup before the media got a chance to see it; and those fans always kept the information secret.

The practice has been discontinued now because there are too many fans following them in France, and that number looks set to grow because the Nordics keep putting in good performances – on the pitch and in the stands.

Their propensity for a headline grabbing quote or a robust tackle show that they’re not unblemished saints, but the freedom and innocence they bring to Euro 2016 is a refreshing antidote to the violence that continues to mar this tournament.

By Enda Kenneally

Methamphetamines Should Be Removed From List of Narcotics – Thai Justice Minister

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The Kingdom of Thailand’s strict stance on illicit drugs is world-famous, but this week the Justice Ministry came out in favor of giving up the current, unsuccessful approach to fighting the war on drugs and instead focusing on more health-oriented policies.

Justice Minister Paiboon Kumchaya told reporters this week that the nationwide problem of methamphetamine use had not been won during its already 28-year campaign. More people than ever are hooked on the drug, he said.

Paiboon said the Justice Minsitry was in the process of consulting relevant agencies about removing methamphetamines — known colloquially as “ya ba” [crazy drug] or “easy” — from the list of narcotic drugs and treating it instead as a normal drug, which would make it easier for Thais to seek health treatment and rehabilitation.

The minister also mentioned that other nations had been changing their drug policy in similar ways in recent years because they could not win a war on drugs by treating use as a crime.

Yaba_Tablets
Methamphetamines in the form most common in Thailand

Paiboon proposed an analogy in which an incurably diseased person tries to find a way to live more happily with their disease. In such a case, the person seeks the help of health professionals in addressing the problem.

He also mentioned that Thai society accepts cigarettes and alcohol, although both are arguably more hazardous to health than methamphetamines.

 

Tiny House Leaves Room for Parking Below

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Well prefab and modular home builders, have have ever considered building a tiny house that’s just a second floor? That’s what these guys did here, and it’s actually a somewhat common practice when it comes to certain building locations. Not only that, it has a few interesting benefits.

One is, especially if you’re building a tiny house — whether its a prefab or modular house or not — it’s not difficult to do. The foundation is just simple blocking but it’s posts, and the house is set up higher. Also, these elevated houses get good ventilation because of the wind they are exposed to. Then there’s the safety from flooding. And finally, they have the benefit of leaving room below the small house for storage, a social area in shade, or parking (like the picture). This can be a good benefit for those who have a small space to build on, but don’t want to miss out on having a certain amount of parking area.

Some of you out there might be wondering about the stairs, though. Not everyone wants to walk up and down stairs every time they enter or exit their prefab home or tiny house, right?

Actually, a read a woman writing about just this issue a while ago. She had a friend who had pets that were getting old (and the friend also planned to age in the house), and she had a house on stilts like the one in the photo. So she installed an electric stair lift. Her advice was that we don’t need to worry too much about limitations because we have ways of getting around them. That sounds quite a bit like the prefab house movement philosophy, too.

If you’re thinking of building a tiny house like this on a beach, make sure to check the local building inspector’s office (or whatever its called where you happen to live). In order to get insurance for a small house — even a prefab house in some cases — not all prefabs are set on wheels and classified as mobile homes — builders need to find out the guidelines for new constructions.

Also, some of you might have noticed, this picture shows what can be considered a tiny house in the same frame as, parked below it … a hummer, one of the more famous expensive gas-guzzling vehicles going. That’s because this house design is actually from Koa Campgrounds. They have beach house rentals, tent campgrounds, RV parks and other places (you can see what they have to offer and their locations by clicking here).

They actually built this design — not as a prefab but you can see how it would easily translate into a prefab or even a shipping container house design.

Tiny House Leaves Room for Parking Below (2)

I have a vessel operations degree, and I’m looking for work

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I just graduated from Clatsop Community College with an AAS in vessel operations.

I also graduated from their Coast Guard certified Ships program.

I graduated with high honors, and was honored by the school for my accomplishments. I graduated on June 10,2016, so I have not applied for any licenses yet.

I earned my OUPV, STCW, AB, Lifeboatman, RFPNW, Tankerman PIC, Hazwopper, 200 ton master, and marine weather, tides, and currents certificates.

I acquired 380 days sea time from the school on a 50 ton vessel, and finished my RFPNW on a 750 ton vessel.

I also have owned my own 30ft sailboat for 5 years now and sail as much as possible. I’ve worked in the fishing industry off, and on throughout my life.

I am currently 48, and desperately seeking help in finding employment.

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Family Members Say Shooter Not Particularly Religious But Was Offended by Homosexuality

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Omar Mateen was a 29-year-old man who killed 50 people Sunday — mostly or all gays — in an Orlando nightclub with guns he obtained through his security job. According to his family he committed the act not out of religious conviction but due to a strong outrage caused by the idea of homosexuality.

Omar Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, who has supported the Waziristan Taliban in Afghanistan publicly on his YouTube channel, said that Omar Mateen committed his crime for reasons other than Muslim faith:

“We were in Downtown Miami, Bayside, people were playing music,” the father told NBC News. “And he saw two men kissing each other in front of his wife and kid and he got very angry.

“They were kissing each other and touching each other, and he said, ‘Look at that. In front of my son they are doing that.’ And then we were in the men’s bathroom and men were kissing each other.”

Seddique Mateen added, “We are in shock like the whole country. This had nothing to do with religion.”

Omar Mateen’s ex-wife talked to the Washington Post about her husband’s personality, and also said that Omar Mateen’s faith was not a powerful inspiration in his life.

She said that Mateen beat her regularly for minor reasons such as not doing the laundry. She was rescued by her family and obtained a divorce, according to court documents obtained by news agency AFP.

Mateen had been interviewed twice since 2013 by the FBI after popping up on their radar for comments related to Islamic propaganda at work and ties with another American citizen who went to become a suicide bomber in the Middle East, but the FBI found no cause to monitor the man.

Omar Mateen died by police gunfire in the hostage situation he had staged after his shooting spree in Pulse night club. According to multiple law enforcement officials who made statements shortly after the crime, Mateen had called 911 just before starting his attack, during which phone call he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group.

Dalai Lama: “Now Too Many Refugees in Europe”

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The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, spoke to German press this week about his current situation, also commenting on the current refugee crisis in Europe.

The Dalai Lama has previously spoken in favor of sheltering all refugees in need, but in his interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine he also said that the numbers had become too great for the good of European countries:

“If we look into the face of each individual refugee, especially the children and women, we feel their suffering,” said the Dalai Lama. “A person that is doing a little better has a responsibility to help them. On the other hand, there are now too many.

“Europe — for example, Germany — cannot become an Arab country. Germany is Germany. [Laugh.] There are so many that it is difficult in practice.

“Also, viewed morally, I find that these refugees should be only kept on a temporary basis. The goal should be to return and help rebuild their own countries.”

17 Schoolgirls Die in Northern Thailand Fire

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At least seventeen girls aged five to 12 died in a fire in northern Thailand Sunday night.

The fire began at approximately 11:00 p.m. at the girls dormitory of Pitak Kiatwithaya School in Tambon Weng, Wiang Pa Pao district of Chiang Rai province. The school is a private institution for the children of rural hill tribes in the area.

Fire fighters fought the fire for three hours.

In addition to the seventeen dead, one girl is missing and two are in serious condition. Five girls were rescued.

Preliminary reports of the investigation have it that the doors of the dormitory were locked from the outside, a security measure to prevent theft and keep people from going out after hours. The practice is common in Thailand.

However, according to the testimony of one of the schoolgirls who escaped, she had warned the girls in some rooms after she had got up to go to the bathroom and discovered the fire. The girls didn’t believe her and closed the door on her. Together with other girls and the teacher who sleeps in the dorm with them, she tied cloth together to make a rope and climbed out the window.

The school will be closed for five days.

17 Schoolgirls Die in Northern Thailand Fire (1)
Wiang Pa Pao region

$15 Minimum Wage Would Lift All Nova Scotians Out of Low Tax Bracket

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Similar to the recent NCP campaign in Alberta that rose the minimum wage to $15, Nova Scotia NDP leader Gary Burrill has launched a “Fight for 15” campaign, but, critics have pointed out, while the bigger number has proved popular with minimum wage workers, it would mean important tax increases for those same workers while making it more difficult for small businesses and students.

Jordi Morgan, vice-president for Atlantic Canada at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), has pointed out that the increase from Nova Scotia’s $10.70 minimum wage to $15.00 would be enough to push many part-time workers, who are below the province’s basic personal exemption level (BPE), to a level where they would be taxed on income. A $15 minimum wage would also push all full time workers out of the lowest tax bracket.

At $8,481, Nova Scotia’s BPE is the second-lowest in Canada. The alternative to a wage increase, according to Morgan, is raising the BPE.

“Our premise to this point is an increase to the BPE is a better policy lever because it would have a desirable impact by reducing the tax burden for all citizens, not create downward pressure on employment for youth, and it would not have a negative impact on the growth of small- and medium-sized business,” Morgan told The Speaker.

Morgan also noted that a wage increase to $15 in Nova Scotia would not be the same as the one that happened in Alberta. “[I]t would stand to reason that the tax payable would be much higher here than Alberta because our BPE is nearly $10,000 lower and at 15.00/hr, it would push the provincial personal marginal tax rate from just under 8.79% to almost 14.95%. Alberta has a 10% tax rate up to $125,000.”

Jordi Morgan, Vice-President, Atlantic Canada
Jordi Morgan, Vice-President, Atlantic Canada

Currently, the just over $22,000 earned by minimum wage workers in Nova Scotia puts them in the lowest tax bracket, which means they are taxed under 9% provincially, and are taxed 11.43% total. Even if these workers get a raise, there is still room to remain in this low tax bracket.

The limit of this tax bracket is $29,590, so even at $14.00 workers still pay the lowest amount of taxes, grossing $29,120.

At $15.00, workers earn $31,200. They are in the next tax bracket, and are taxed just under 15% provincially, and are taxed 18.84% total.

How to Change Currency Without Paying Exchange Rates

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This money tip was pioneered by Norbert Schlenka of Libra Investment Management on Salt Spring Island, B.C., and it’s called “Norbert’s gambit.”

The process is a 1-2 of buying stocks in one currency and selling them in another.

How it works: A person buys an inter-listed Canadian stock in Canada, then transfers the stocks over to a U.S. account and sells them on a U.S. stock exchange for U.S. dollars. Some accounts allow a person to hold multiple currencies, and in this case a person transfers them over to the other currency side of that account — called “journaling them over.”

The buy/sell commission remains, as well as any market risk involved in the transfer, but foreign exchange fees are avoided.

There’s also a stock that has been recommended by Moneysense to make this easier: Horizons U.S. Dollar Currency ETF, available in two versions — a Canadian dollar stock with the ticker symbol DLR and a U.S. dollar stock with the ticker DLR.U. The price difference between the stocks is the same as the current U.S.-Canadian foreign exchange rate.

With an account that allows multiple currencies, the Canadian purchase DLR is “journaled over,” becoming DLR.U, which is sold in U.S. dollars. This involves two commissions and a small loss on the bid-ask spread.

Great, so how do I actually do it?

For example, using a TD bank (Waterhouse, Active Trader):

Set up a U.S. funds bank account (in addition to your regular bank account. At TD, it’s called a “Borderless Account.” You have to make an appointment and go in and create the account, which will cost you around 5 or 6 dollars a month. Now forget about this new account for a while while I explain more.

Now you transfer money from your regular Canadian account to your investments (stocks) account – for TD bankers, this means transferring into your Waterhouse account (to your Canadian Waterhouse account).

Now buy the stock DLR.TO in Canadian funds. This will take up to 3 business days to settle (complete the buy).

Now call Waterhouse and have them “journal” the stock over to your U.S. Waterhouse account (if you don’t have this set up already on your Waterhouse trading account, call and have them set it up). This takes 4 business days to complete.

Now your stock is held on the U.S. side of your investments with Waterhouse, and you sell DLR.U.TO and you get U.S. money for it. You have to wait another 3 days for this to settle (complete the sale).

When it has settled, you can transfer these U.S. funds from your U.S. Waterhouse account to your Borderless Account (the new U.S. funds account you created), and there you are; you now have U.S. funds.

During this process, you will have paid for 2 stock transactions (when you bought and when you sold). If you use TD Active Trader (rather than calling in to buy and sell), each transaction costs less than $10 CAD (otherwise it costs more), but you have to download the program and learn basic use for it.

You also will notice that as the FOREX fluctuates between the Canadian and U.S. Currencies, the values you hold will go up and down.

What you don’t pay is the exchange rate. So if you do $10,000, the exchange rate will cost you around $300. You lose $300 each time you buy $10,000 worth of the other currency. Norbert’s Gambit, therefore, can save you money as long as your two trades cost less than the loss on buying foreign currency. However, it takes a couple of weeks to complete the process, and during that couple weeks, you have to do several transfers and one phone call on different days. Like many things, though, while it seems complicated before you do it, after you do it a few times, it probably will become quite easy for you.

Are State-Owned Banks a Win-Win?

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Focusing on the recent success of the Bank of North Dakota, talkshow host Thom Hartmann has raised the question of whether state-owned banks are something every state should have.

Hartmann came out in favor of state-owned banks in his opinion blog, calling them a “win-win for all.”

“You need to know this,” wrote Hartmann. “In 2014, the state Bank of North Dakota was more profitable than Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase. And, that’s why every state should own their own depository institution.”

He referred to the success of the state-owned bank last year, despite the loss of what had previously been credited with the main reason for its success: the state’s oil boom.

Over the past 18 years, the Bank of North Dakota has outperformed itself year after year, and even with last years oil bust, the return on investment topped 18 percent.

He also referred to points commonly raised by proponents of state-owned banks: how they stimulate the local economy, particularly in tough times, how they save investors money by cutting out Wall Street, how they may be better at helping fund new local businesses as well as state-level projects like trains and energy plants.

“Rather than simply throwing money away in the form of interest and fees, states could protect depositors, boost local economies, and fund the new infrastructure needed for the modern era,” stated Hartmann.

“North Dakota has proven that state-owned banks are a win-win for all of us, and more states should follow their example.”

Facebook Explains How It Picks What to “Trend”

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Facebook this week published a blog post in its newsroom in response to recent accusations that the social network promotes liberal news while downplaying conservative, explaining how it picks posts for its “Trending Topics” section, a decision-making process which depends on people and machines at different stages.

Facebook’s VP of Global Operations Justin Osofsky wrote the blog post Thursday in which he explained that in Facebook’s ambition to connect people around major news events and let them together discuss ideas freely, the Trending Topics team reviews themes identified as potentially trending by the website’s algorithms, which measure Facebook user engagement. They confirm the topic is current news, find corroborating news stories, apply a label to the topic, and check if the story is getting attention from a lot of news outlets nationally and/or globally.

Osofsky further explained that because Facebook’s programs deliver posts based on what a user has demonstrated interest in, users will see different Trending Topics.

Once a user clicks to see more about a Trending Topic, however, they are seeing an organization of posts within that topic which are arranged algorithmically — the ones at the top are those that have seem to have the most social engagement because the most people have liked, shared or commented on them.

Justin Osofsky
Justin Osofsky

As far as measures Facebook takes to prevent the type of political bias that was part of the recent accusations, Osofsky wrote that it “does not allow or advise our reviewers to discriminate against sources of any political origin, period,” and that, of course, the algorithm that “surfaces” potentially trending topics has no such bias.

Facebook’s review guidelines include not permitting “the suppression of political perspectives” or “the prioritization of one ideological viewpoint over another,” and that the company regularly reviews the work of the review team members.

In a specific response to the recent allegations, Osofsky wrote, “We take these reports very seriously, and will continue to investigate the allegations. We have found no evidence to date that Trending Topics was successfully manipulated, but will continue the review of all our practices.”