CRTC is asking people to complain more about telemarketers

CANADA - Almost 10 million Canadian residential phone numbers (landline, cellular and fax) are now blocked to Canadian telemarketers (but still reachable by telemarketers operating overseas or in the USA).

However even if you register your number you may still receive calls from people trying to sell you stuff. The problem is people aren't complaining to the CRTC enough.

Since many calls now come from overseas (especially India) having your number on the Do Not Call List doesn't do much...

And the CRTC doesn't bother to investigate complaints unless at least 1 person complains PER DAY about calls from specific numbers.

And a lot of the calls are coming from overseas using fake numbers or multiple rotating fake numbers it makes it very difficult for the CRTC to block incoming telemarketers from overseas.

6 out of 10 people who get in touch with the CRTC complain about abuses of the do-not-call (DNC) rules. Half a million complaints have been filed since the list was set up in fall 2008, but very little action has been taken because telemarketers know the gaps in the rules... and they have a very good idea of how to avoid detection by staying under that 1 complaints per day limit.

Here is a suggestion to CRTC... LOWER THE LIMIT!

Make it 10 complaints per month. And if that isn't good enough, 5 per month. Just keeping lowering the limit until it reaches an optimal level where CRTC staff can do their job and Canadians can feel like the government is actually working for them instead.

About 10% of CRTC complaints are about organizations that are exempt from the telemarketing rules. They include:

• Canadian registered charities

• Political parties and candidates in federal, provincial and municipal elections

• General circulation newspapers calling to sell subscriptions

• Calls to a consumer who has an existing business relationship with an organization (having bought a product in the last 18 months or asked a telemarketer about a product in the last six months)

• Calls to a consumer who has given express consent to be called

• Calls to business consumers

But here is the thing...

Some people don't want to be called at all. Maybe they don't want a newspaper subscription or to donate to charity. Some people just want to be left alone.

If a newspaper or charity is calling several times per week to harass a person it is still harassment and it should still be punished.

A New Look for 2012

If you are a frequent visitor to Lilith News you will have noticed some immediate changes to our layout.

Left is now right, the background is now grey instead of white
We've added a lot more social media tools and we're here for the long fight
Let us know what you think, because we think its out of sight!

Sincerely,
The Lilith News Staff

Does wealth trickle down?

POLITICS - The concept that wealth trickles down is a complete sham.

Yes, technically, money flows in all directions of commerce. But tax cuts for the rich doesn't = the middle class and the poor making more money from "money trickling down" from the wealthy.

In fact its quite the opposite. The rich just get richer.

And the poor get poorer and the middle class becomes poorer too.

The best way to boost the economy is to have low (or almost no) taxes on the poor, have moderate taxes on the middle class and high taxes on the rich. This creates a balanced economy and ensures economic prosperity.

Any politician who tells you "Wealth trickles down." is lying through their teeth and lining the pockets of their rich friends (who no doubt paid for the politicians election campaign).

By 2020 the American Car Industry will be a shadow of its former self

CARS - China is mass producing cars and they're getting very good at copying other car manufacturers. Imagine being able to buy a Ford Mustang... it looks like a Mustang, it drives like a Mustang, heck it is a Mustang in every way that matters. But it is made in China.

And its place of manufacturing isn't the only thing that would be different. It would also cost less than a third of what a Mustang currently costs.

Now ask yourself, what car do you think average Americans would buy when given the option between the American Mustang and the Chinese Mustang which is exactly the same but only a percentage of the price?

The answer is obvious. National pride can't compete with that kind of low prices.

And this isn't just a matter of Ford's growing manufacturing operations in China. Every major manufacturer is now building in China because they've realize that their competitors are doing the same thing and they have to stay competitive.

In 2011 all of Europe's car manufacturers made 1.7 million cars. China beat that easily with 3 million cars. The silly thing is that China is just getting started, by 2020 China will be producing an estimated 10 million cars per year (that is roughly 20% of all new cars that are sold annually currently) and their build quality keeps improving because they're copying the best designs from Europe, Japan and the USA.

So what it really adds up to is by 2020 you will be able to buy a car designed by German, Italian and Japanese engineers and built in China... and it will cost a percentage of a new car currently costs.

The end result will be American car manufacturers (and European manufacturers too) won't be able to compete. Even the big name supercar manufacturers like Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini will be thinking about moving their manufacturing to China because they have to stay competitive with their prices.

It isn't going to happen all at once either. It will happen in stages. Jumps. Economic jitters. The occasional recession. Government bailouts with money borrowed ironically from China.

Eventually China will realize they don't have to bailout the USA's debts and the USA will have to finally reconsider their economic model.