For A Tuesday

Quickly now....


Interesting. How much do workers in China and Bangladesh get?

Companies would be forced to justify why their prices are higher in Canada than in the United States or face naming and shaming under federal legislation introduced Tuesday — a move some critics called misguided.

Industry Minister James Moore said the aim is to protect Canadian consumers, not regulate prices.
"This unexplained difference in price between American and Canadian prices for the exact same product is frustrating," Moore said at a toy store.

"It's called geographic price discrimination. A more blunt way of putting it is to call it price gouging of consumers."

Under the Price Transparency Act, Canada's Competition Bureau would have the power to compel companies to explain their strategies and how they come by their Canadian prices.

And I thought there would be safe environment in which to talk:

The union representing CBC employees is warning members that what they tell an investigator looking into the broadcaster's handling of workplace harassment allegations against Jian Ghomeshi could be used by management against them.

Some points from the auditor-general report on the sorry state of Ontario:

Provincial governments get to speed immigration applicants through the federal system if they see particular people they want, but it’s not clear Ontario is using its power wisely. “After seven years of operation, the program still lacks the necessary tools, including policies, procedures and training, to help program staff make consistent and sound decisions,” Lysyk reports. Among other things, there’s no system for checking whether someone admitted to Ontario without a specific job offer ends up being a net contributor to the province. ...

Lysyk confirmed two things that have already come out other ways: The province’s education ministry has been terrible at checking the conditions in even licensed, ministry-approved childcare facilities, and a loan the province gave to the government-sponsored “MaRS Discovery District” in downtown Toronto to build a new office tower was a bad idea.

A possible cure for Alzheimer's Disease?

Could the cure for Alzheimer’s be found in something as simple as boosting our brain’s own immune system? New research suggests that may just be the case.

A team of neuroscientists working out of Stanford University has discovered that the key to preserving normal brain function and preventing the onset of neurodegeneration may not lie with the nerve cells of the brain as many have thought until now. Instead, it may centre on keeping immune-like cells in the brain functioning at top speeds.

Called microglia, these specialized brain cells act like patrolling sentries that monitor their environment for suspicious activities and serving a number of vital functions, including neutralizing toxic debris and healing inflammation before it gets out of hand. They even neutralize invading bacteria and viruses before they can get a foothold.

During the aging process, microglia activity appears to go downhill thanks to a specific protein, called EP2, that coats all cell surfaces.

Now the Standford team has found – in their experiments with mice at least – that by blocking the action of this protein, it actually reinvigorates the microglia so that they can again seek out and destroy all the nerve-damaging substances it used to when the body was younger. So by clamping down on EP2, the researchers noticed that the IQ of their laboratory-based, Alzheimer-prone mice rose dramatically.