In Montreal, Boomers are selling their homes
:: the most-spoiled and obnoxious generation is finally making room for the next!

Just as Canadian Business was highlighting how the baby-boomers slow exiting of the job market will create some exciting new job opportunities for the years to come, La Presse in Montreal was discussing how their sudden wave of homes sales will re-stabilize the Montreal real estate market. By putting their empty nests up for sale, they are creating a supply of cottages and family dwellings while soaking up the tremendous condo boom in Montreal.

All this means that as these demanding office dinos finally make their exit from the modern workplace, they will also help us by leaving their nice houses in affluent areas and perhaps buy our over-valued condos in the downtown core! Great, I guess we owe them one more!

source
Les baby-boomers vendent leur maison | LaPresseAffaires.com 04 mars 2004
Leaders wanted | Canadian Business 2004-03-01
Baby-boomers: au diable la dépense! | LaPresseAffaires.com 01 mars 2004

Bof!
:: Pas besoin d'une étude pour corraborer!

source: Actualités - Les adolescents français sont parmi les moins doués en anglais en Europe

Mamma.com finally approaches its adequate evaluation
:: it's about time!

Well, Ashkan told you so is all I can say. I am relieved, to say the least, that Intasys management finally removed their head from their ass and was able to finally appreciate the asset that mamma.com is.

Now that even the abismally slow and trend-lagging french-canadian business press lead in this case by La Presse realized what is going on, obviously it is too late to jump in!

Nevertheless, it must be noted that those of you who did invest in earlier and stuck in, well you deserve the reward for your patience.
I do however recommend current shareholders to sell their shares because once past this euphoria, there is really no longer any value in the foreseeable future for holding on to mamma.com shares. This wild bunch took them too long to change their name to mamma.com and drop all the other follies the holding company was clinging to. Having taken this long to realize an obviously easy decision to prop up mamma's value, I doubt if the management team will be able to be proactive enough and wise enough to be able to play in the same leagues at Google and Yahoo.

source: Le volume de Mamma d?passe celui de Microsoft

Life After GE
:: BW Interview with Jack Welch

He may call himself a pensioner, but Jack Welch, 68, has hardly retired from public life. The former General Electric Co. (GE ) chairman, who stepped down in September, 2001, continues to consult and speak on everything from New York City schools to corruption in Corporate America. But the man regarded as one of the great CEOs in history has endured questions over his generous pension benefits from GE, messy divorce, and romance with Suzy Wetlaufer, who is now his fiancée. They are working on a book called Winning, due out next year. Welch sat down with Editor-in-Chief Stephen B. Shepard on Feb. 19 as part of the Captains of Industry series at New York's 92nd Street Y. Here is one notable excerpt:

"Is George Bush really good for Big Business?
The big myth is that George Bush is great for Big Business. I don't see this great connection. I never did, by the way. I never saw Ronald Reagan do it. I never saw [Bush's] father do it. Without Bill Clinton, we wouldn't have had NAFTA. Without the North American Free Trade Agreement, we would have been really behind the eight ball in competitiveness.

So Bill Clinton did a lot for business?
Yes.

You heard it here first. "

source: BW Online | March 8, 2004 | Life After GE? And How

Calling a spade a spade!
:: motion to rename Lou Dobbs Tonight

As I was watching Lou Dobbs' news hour on Friday, I had an eery deja-vu feeling.
I realized that the show is no longer a news hour. It is really two distinct shows.

It starts with a half an hour update on Exporting America, following with a full 1/2 hour coverage on Broken Borders.

It was a great business news hour from 1998 to 2000. But with all good things American, it has also turned sour since 2001.

source: Lou Dobbs Tonight

Haiti Intervention: a mere practice for a Venezuelan coup?
:: skeptical at first, but the similarities will be striking.

Weren't we all wondering why the rebels were not entering Port-au-Prince? We knew there was background negotiations going on. The Marines were there to provide assistance, if necessary. Aristide did not appear like a bluffing man when he insisted interview after interview that he would not resign. He said it on CNN, CBC and Radio-Canada. Same message, same tone, same firmness.

So what happened? What was the use of the intervention.

True, there is no oil in Haiti. Nevertheless, short-term political and electoral objectives and long-term strategic motives in the larger Americas context forced the Bush administration to react and to move fast to avoid future negative outfalls.

Pretty smart move from Bush & Co.: Apart from avoiding the influx of refugees on the shores of the swing state of Florida, by intervening, the Bush administration put on a memorable PR display against the critics who were complaining that the Chickenhawks had forgotten about the Americas while battling the New Crusade and by pretending to being good multilateralists by talking to the French, calling on CARICOM, OAS and the UN they can also confound the critics of the unilateral Iraq approach.

In the end, the Bushies pulled-off another PR stunt to prove the above two points and to be able to run through a potential script for the way a future intervention in Venezuela could be worked out.

As irrelevent as this story may appear today, it has definitely got legs. If the American, French and Canadians are able to secure Port-au-Prince and guide Haiti to a more stable Constitutional setting, during the next crisis in the American hemisphere, people will be less likely to be skeptical when presented with an American "solution".

source: Yahoo! News - Aristide Tells U.S. Contacts He Was Abducted

Haiti & Venezuela: different situations
:: Haiti does not have oil!

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan - The James S. Brady Briefing Room
March 1st 2004, 1:20 P.M. EST

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon. I will begin with one update on a world leader call. The President spoke earlier today with President Aznar of Spain. This is part of the continuing consultation among close friends. The President discussed the situation in Haiti and President Aznar discussed his recent trip to Colombia, as well as the situation in Venezuela and transatlantic relations. [...]

Q Congresswoman Maxine Waters told us that she had spoken directly with Aristide, who claims that -- over and over again saying he was kidnapped, that the coup was completed by the Americans, they forced him out, they disabled his American security force; basically saying that he did not resign, he was forced out, America completed the coup. How would you characterize those statements?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I just answered Terry's question to that effect. As I said, it's nonsense. And conspiracy theories like that do nothing to help the Haitian people realize the future that they aspire to -- which is a better future, a more free future, and a more prosperous future. We took steps to protect Mr. Aristide. We took steps to protect his family as they departed Haiti. It was Mr. Aristide's decision to resign, and he spelled out his reasons why.

Q Yes, but there were some third-party reports that were coming out of Haiti, which could be specious, as they go up the telephone chain, but this is coming directly from Aristide. What do you think he's up to here? Is he trying to save face?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't speak for Mr. Aristide, I speak for the President and this administration.

Q Are you denying -- are you denying that he was kidnapped?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I just said it's complete nonsense. (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think for the reasons that I stated, that he wanted to make sure that his family -- he and his family would be protected, his property would be protected. For the reasons that I stated.

Q Couldn't those other agencies have protected him?

MR. McCLELLAN: You would have to ask -- you can ask him. [...]

Q Scott, this is related to Haiti. The President has made a very big deal in the context of the war on terrorism to promote democracy around the world. Given the administration's track record on Haiti, on Venezuela, when Hugo Chavez was in some difficulty, on Taiwan and others, isn't there a contradiction that needs to be explained?

MR. McCLELLAN: How?

Q In terms of not sufficiently supporting democratic government.

MR. McCLELLAN: We are supporting democracy, and we are supporting the constitutional process in Haiti by the actions that we're taking. In fact, we're working through the international community. This is a multinational effort that has been underway. The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution supporting the efforts. It was important that there be a viable political solution in place before we could go in with the international community in a multinational security force to bring about order and stability in the country. [...]

Q In Ed's question about Haiti, he brought up Venezuela. The pro-Castro government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is coming under increasing pressure to agree that recall election or to resign. Chavez has complained of American meddling in internal Venezuelan affairs and has threatened to cut off oil to -- oil shipments to the United States. What is it that we are doing to -- that he is accusing us of? Are we doing any of these --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, talking about democracy, there is a democratic constitutional process underway in Venezuela. And that's where the focus should be. The focus should remain on the efforts by the Venezuelan people to exercise their constitutional and democratic rights, and on the efforts to try to resolve the political polarization through a transparent and internationally monitored presidential recall referendum.

The Organization of American States, including the United States, is working in Venezuela to monitor those events. And that's where the focus should be.

Q It seems like the observers have kind of reached their limit now, and it's my understanding that they're going to leave.

MR. McCLELLAN: We continue to support the democratic constitutional process in Venezuela --

Q Are we going to help Hugo Chavez the same way that we helped Aristide?

MR. McCLELLAN: Different situations.