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CBC Cuts by the Numbers
Amount by which the Jean Chretien Liberal government reduced the CBC’s budget between 1994 and 1998:
$414 million
Rank of Canada’s per-capita public broadcasting funding among 18 Western countries in 2011:
16
Amount by which the Stephen Harper Conservative government will reduce the CBC’s budget in the next 3 years:
$115 million
Percentage of full-time CBC staff that will be cut in the next three years:
7
Total amount cut from journalism- and news-based programming:
$12 million
(source: interview with Jennifer McGuire,
CBC General Manager and Editor-in-Chief)
Sources linked, unless otherwise stated.
Triple Thickonomics
Fri, Jun 3, 2011
Every year, international affairs magazine The Economist uses their Big Mac Index to compare the buying power of currencies in different countries. Unlike normal exchange rates, the premise of the Big Mac Index is that the same products in two different countries should cost the same when converted to the same currency. Using a Big Mac—a product that is pretty much the same no matter where you are—they calculate the actual purchasing power of a given currency. The results gives an indication of whether or not a particular currency is over or undervalued. According to the last index released last fall, Canada’s dollar was being exchanged for about 15 per cent more than it was actually worth.
When McDonald’s milkshakes were chosen as the best in our Best of Food & Drink Readers’ Survey, we called around to find the cost of large vanilla Triple Thick Milkshakes around the province and discovered the price fluctuated quite a bit. Which is weird, because they’re pretty much the same no matter where you are.
So we concocted our own Milkshake Index.
Because the currency is the same, we decided to use the term “Food Dollars” instead. These Food Dollars are based on the regional costs of a Nutritious Food Basket (a week’s worth of food for a family of four) according to the Department of Health and Community Services, the NL Statistics Agency, and regional dietitians and nutritionists (More info from the Food Security Network of NL).
So what does this all mean? The Big Mac Index, using national currency exchange rates that are determined by market forces, tries to give an indication of the real value of a dollar, dinar, drachma, or deutsche mark. Our Milkshake Index, on the other hand, is trying to give an indication of the value of a dollar’s worth of food in different areas.
The results tell us that it is probably best to spend your Food Dollars on foods other than a milkshake everywhere other than Carbonear and Labrador City, where it seems to make the most economic sense to have a milkshake for supper, because it’s relatively cheaper than other food.
How much marijuana was seized in September and October in NL?
Mon, Nov 8, 2010
Sources:
September
1. September 1st, Springdale
2. September 10th, ferry terminal in Port aux Basques
3. September 10th, Corner Brook
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/09/10/rcmp-marijuana-busts-910.html
4. September 10th, 90 plants
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/09/10/rcmp-marijuana-busts-910.html
5. September 15th, St. George’s Bay
http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2010-09-15/article-1750316/St.-George%26rsquo;s-man-facing-drug-related-charges-following-marijuana-seizure/1
6. September 29th, St. John’s
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/09/29/paradise-drug-bust-929.html
7. September 29th, ferry to Natuashish
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Police+seize+booze+bound+reserve/3612142/story.html
8. September 30th, Logy Bay
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/09/30/nl-marijuana-bust-930.html
9. September 30th, St. John’s
http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2010-09-30/article-1809395/Four-charged-in-drug-bust/1
October
10. October 5th, Kilbride
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/10/05/nl-marijuana-bust-105.html
11. October 13th, Marysvale
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/10/13/nl-marysvale-weed-1013.html
12. October 13th, Roaches Line
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/10/13/nl-roaches-line-bust-1013.html
13. October 14th, Conception Harbour
14. October 14th, Portugal Cove
http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2010-10-14/article-1848986/Another-drug-bust/1
15. October 19th, St. John’s
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/10/19/brass-knuckles-bust-109.html
16. October 19th, Pasadena
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/10/18/pasadena-drug-raid-108.html *This was reported on October 18th, not 19th.
Offshore oil projects off the coast of Newfoundland: The numbers
Thu, Jun 3, 2010
By Sarah Smellie and Alex Pierson
Sources
•••
HIBERNIA
Year of discovery: 1979
http://www.hibernia.ca/rpt/qaq/questions/why_so_long.html
First Oil: November, 1997
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/off_prod.pdf
Average price of oil in 1997: $18.64/barrel
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/inflation_rate/historical_oil_prices_table.asp
Year in which project hit payout: 2009
Number of proven and probable barrels of oil there: 1,244,000,000
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/estrr_hib.pdf
Number of barrels produced so far: 684,805,837
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/off_prod.pdf
****Number of additional barrels of oil expected from Hibernia South: 220,000,000
http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=291250&sc=82
I have 172,000,000. 172,000,000 was from one block of the project. However, there are two blocks. The first is called the AA block, and it contains 48,000,000 barrels. The second, much larger, is called Hibernia South Unit, and it contains 172,000,000 barrels. Both are Hibernia South. Hence the total should be 48,000,000 + 172,000,000 = 220,000,000. See link to Telegram article, above.
•••
WHITE ROSE
Year of Discovery: 1988
http://www.subseaiq.com/data/Project.aspx?project_id=314
First Oil: November, 2005
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/off_prod.pdf
Average price of oil in 2005: $50.04
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/inflation_rate/historical_oil_prices_table.asp
Number of proven and probable barrels of oil there: 283,000,000
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/estrr_wr.pdf
Number of barrels produced so far: 143,549,352
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/off_prod.pdf
Number of proven and probable barrels in the North Amethyst Extension: 67,900,000
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/estrr_na.pdf
First Oil in North Amethyst: May 31st, 2010
•••
TERRA NOVA
Year of Discovery: 1984
http://www.subseaiq.com/data/Project.aspx?project_id=355
First Oil: January, 2002
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/off_prod.pdf
Average price of oil in 2002: $22.81
http://inflationdata.com/inflation/inflation_rate/historical_oil_prices_table.asp
Number of proven and probable barrels of oil there: 419,000,000
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/estrr_tn.pdf
Number of barrels produced so far: 296,789,464
http://www.cnlopb.nl.ca/pdfs/off_prod.pdf
•••
HEBRON
Year of Discovery: 1981
http://www.exxonmobil.com/corporate/news_hebron.aspx
Expected First Oil: 2017
http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/exxon_hebron/
Estimated Reserves: 400-700 million barrels
http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/exxon_hebron/
Expected return from the project for the province: $20 billion
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/08/20/hebron-today.html
Average oil price per barrel this estimate is based on: $87
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/08/20/hebron-today.html
•••
Orphan Basin
Ongoing exploration project in this area: Lona O-55
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/05/10/nl-chevron-deepwell-510.html
Seabed depth, in meters, of Lona-o55 exploration wells: 2,600
Seabed depth, in meters, at BP Deepwater Horizon Spill: 1,500
Maximum percentage of a 10,000+ barrel in the area that Chevron says it could clean up: 12
Number of days after the BP ol spill began that the Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board announced its imposition of “special oversight measures” on the project: 29
Swine flu by numbers
Thu, Nov 5, 2009
Names of the known human influenza viruses currently circulating among humans:
H1N1, H1N2, H3N2
Year in which the first licensed flu vaccine appeared:
1944
Approximate number of months it takes to develop and test the seasonal influenza vaccine each year:
6
Month in which GlaxoSmithKline, the company which is supplying the H1N1 vaccine to Canada, officially announced that they had begun work on the vaccine:
May
Page number in the November 1st Globe and Mail of an article featuring a survey of various Canadian celebrities’ opinions of the H1N1 vaccine :
1
Page number of an article featuring analysis and/or explanation of the H1N1 vaccine from reputed medical sources:
n/a
Number of results in a Google News search for “H1N1 death” as of November 3rd :
16,711
Number of results for “H1N1 doctor”:
10,233
Number of waves of H1N1 that are anticipated:
3
Number of waves that we have left to put up with:
1
Sources are linked.
The Index
Thu, Oct 8, 2009
Birth year of Saint Augustine of Hippo, who famously wrote “Nothing is so powerful in drawing the spirit of a man downwards as the caresses of a woman” :
354
Century in which the Catholic Church began insisting upon a celibate clergy:
12th
Minimum number of times a week that having sex will decrease a man’s risk of heart attack or stroke by half, according to researchers at Queens University in Belfast:
3
Percent by which the levels of immunoglobulin A, an immune system aid, are increased in those who have sex once or twice a week, according to a University of Pennsylvania study:
30
Year in which neuropsychologist James W. Prescott published Body Pleasure and The Origins of Violence, an article which argues that sexual repression leads to increased violent behaviours:
1975
Number of credible accusations of sexual abuse against Catholic Clerics since 1950, as of 2007, according to the Roman Catholic Church:
13,000
Amount, in Canadian dollars, of the deficit ran by the St. John’s Roman Catholic archdiocese, partly due to compensation fees for victims of sexual abuse:
1.3 million
Amount, in Canadian dollars, of Bishop Raymond Lahey’s posted bail following allegations of possessing child pornography:
9,000
Sources are linked.
The Index
Thu, Sep 24, 2009
Photo by scazon.
Percentage change of non-residents visiting the province in the past year:
+0.7
Percentage change of camping units registered at provincial parks in Newfoundland and Labrador:
+18
Percentage change in non-resident traffic on Marine Atlantic:
+4.4
Percentage change in residents exiting the province on Marine Atlantic:
-1
Percentage change of visits to the provincial government tourism website:
+29
Number of cruise ship passengers scheduled to visit St. John’s in October:
7305
Percentage change in Airport traffic into and out of airports in Newfoundland and Labrador as of July 2009
-2.9
Sources are linked.
The Index
Thu, Sep 10, 2009
Employment numbers
Percentage change in population of Newfoundland and Labrador in the past year:
0.7 per cent
National unemployment rate as of August, 2009:
8.7 per cent
Newfoundland and Labrador unemployment rate as of August, 2009:
15.6 per cent
Number of Canadian job losses since the beginning of the recession in October:
387,000
National change in full-time employment from August 2008 to 2009:
3.2 per cent decrease
National change in part-time employment in August 2008 to 2009:
4.7 per cent increase
Change in employment among Canadian students aged 15 to 24 from August 2008 to 2009:
9.5 per cent decrease
The Index
Thu, Aug 27, 2009
Local recycling numbers.
Number of used beverage containers collected at recycling depots in 2008-2009:
149 million (293 containers per person living in the province)
Number of containers collected from schools in the province and recycled in 2008-2009:
14.4 million (199 containers for every student in the K-12 system)
Amount of money schools raised in recycling refunds from those containers, including matching grants from MMSB:
$1.4 million ($20 for every student in the K-12 system)
Amount of hazardous waste the MMSB collected in 2008-2009:
120,000 litres
Number of used tires diverted from the province’s landfills in 2008-2009:
340,000
Amount of waste dumped in Robin Hood Bay landfill in 2007-2008:
144,000 tonnes
Total number of containers collected by curbside recycling in St. John’s:
0 (check back in 2010)
Facts from
http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/statistics/fastfacts.html
MMSB by email
City of St. John’s Public Works Department by email
The Index
Thu, Aug 13, 2009
Photo by Peter Haynes
Number of rooms sold at local hotels in first six months of 2009:
258,752
(up 1.5 per cent from last year)
Average occupancy percentage rate of St. John’s hotels:
61.4
(up from 60.5 per cent in 2008)
Number of airline passengers flying into and out of St. John’s International Airport in the first six months of 2009:
554,203
(down 1.4 per cent from 2008)
The number of out-of-province residents visiting Newfoundland and Labrador via Marine Atlantic during the first five months of 2009:
18,859
(down 1.3 per cent from 2008)
Number of cruise ship passengers scheduled to visit St. John’s in 2009:
32,370
(up 45 per cent from 2008)
Number of visitors to the province in 2008:
480,100
Average annual influx of money to the province from tourism:
$800,000,000
Sources are linked.
The Index
Thu, Jul 16, 2009
Names, residence and time period of the first same-sex couple in recorded history:
Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, Egypt, circa 2400 B.C.
First place in the world to pass jurisdiction prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation: Quebec, 1977
Year in which Glen Murray, former mayor of Winnipeg and first openly gay mayor of a large North American city, was elected:
1998
Date on which Newfoundland and Labrador issued its first marriage license to a same-sex couple:
December 21st, 2004
Year in which same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada, under a Liberal government:
2005
Year in which Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an unsuccessful motion to re-evaluate that legalization, as per one of his campaign promises:
2006
Number of countries which grant full legal marriage rights:
6
Minimum number of countries in which homosexuality is still punishable by death:
5
Sources are linked.
The Index
Thu, Jun 18, 2009
Average number of hours of sunlight per year in Canada:
1989
Average number of hours of sunlight per year in Newfoundland:
1563
Minimum percentage of Canadian who suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), a depressive reaction to the lack of sunlight in winter:
2
Date which Wales psychologist Cliff Arnall calculated to be the most depressing day fo the year, using a formula which integrated the weather, lack of sunlight, and proximity to Christmas: January 24th
Rank of Katrina and the Waves’ 1985 hit “Walking On Sunshine” in VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 80’s:
91
Minimum temperature, in degrees Celsius, of the surface of the sun:
5,500
Number of estimated galaxies in the universe, according to results collected from the Hubble Space Telescope:
125 billion
Number of people worldwide who have actually been abducted by aliens:
Unknown
Amount by which Mayor Dennis O’Keefe was found to be ahead of Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth in a recent O’Keefe-commissioned poll asking who citizens favoured for mayor:
Unknown
Sources are linked.
The Index
Thu, Jun 4, 2009
Minimum number of different sounds that an average house cat can make:
100
Minimum number of different sounds that an average domesticated dog makes:
10
Rank of the Beach Boys’ 1966 album Pet Sounds, produced by Brian Wilson, in Rolling Stone’s 2003 ranking of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time:
2
Number of months and dollars, respectively, that it took the Beach Boys and an increasingly mentally ill Brian Wilson to record their 1966 hit single “Good Vibrations”:
7; 50,000
Number of eggs that Brian Wilson ate each morning when he became a shut-in for three years in the 70s:
12
Amount in US dollars that Eugene Landy charged Brian Wilson’s family per month to treat Wilson with his unorthodox 24-hour surveillance-style therapy:
$35,000
Year in which Landy was forced to surrender his license by the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance after accusations that he had brainwashed and controlled Wilson:
1989
Year in which child psychologist Boris Levinson discovered that animal assisted therapy, or pet therapy, could help withdrawn and mentally disturbed patients:
1962
Sources are linked.
Brian Wilson action figure by www.controlindustry.com
The Index
Thu, Apr 23, 2009
Number of rural communities in Newfoundland and Labrador at the time of Confederation:
approximately 1450
Number of rural communities in Newfoundland and Labrador today:
less than 700
Percentage change in population of rural Canada from 1991 to 2001:
-0.5
Percentage change in population of rural Newfoundland from 1991 to 2001:
-18
Percentage change in population of Placentia from 2001 to 2006:
-11.9
Percentage change in population of Paradise over the same time period:
31.1
Rank of Marystown in the 2007 ranking of Canada’s 25 fastest-shrinking communities, as determined by the 2006 census:
2
Percentage of residents of Grand Bruit who, in February, voted in favour of government assistance with relocating the town:
87
Number of rural Newfoundland communities in which researchers have recently found a homeless problem:
5
The Index
Thu, Apr 9, 2009
Happy Earth Day to Mount Pearl mayor Randy Simms!
Sources are linked.
—
Cost, in US dollars, of the FCX Clarity, Honda’s new hydrogen fuel cell car which emits only water as a waste product:
$21,600
Number of hydrogen fueling stations in Newfoundland and Labrador:
0
Cost, in Canadian dollars, of the ZENN (Zero Emissions, No Noise) electric car:
$14,000
Number of Canadian municipalities that allow such vehicles to drive on all their roads:
2 (Vancouver and Oak Bay, a suburb near Victoria)
—
“The gasoline makers can just shag off.”
Percentage of each barrel of crude oil which is used for gasoline:
45.5
Percentage of Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2007 GDP for which the oil industry was responsible:
35
Number of Canadian provinces who experienced greater economic growth than Newfoundland and Labrador in that year:
0
—
“It seems to me the challenge is to provide a plastic bag that is biodegradable, much like paper.”
Percentage of biodegradable matter that requires oxygen in order to break down:
100
Percentage of this required oxygen that typically reaches paper, and biodegradable bags, in an average landfill:
Approximately 0
Age, in years, of still readable newspaper dug out of a U.S. landfill in a University of Arizona landfill study:
50
Photo by Craig Richmond/yorkyowl.
Wed, May 2, 2012
The Scope