WTF?
Feed on the poor
It was hard to imagine any financial instrument sleazier
than the “viatical arrangement,” which involves the cashstrapped
terminally ill (in the 1990s, often AIDs patients)
selling their life insurance policies for a portion of the face
value. Patient dies, investor cashes in: sort of like death
futures.
But a new twist on the “vulture fund” has the dubious
distinction of being even slimier. The modus operandi: buy
up a poor country’s debt to another nation or supplier for
a fraction of its value, then sue the country involved for
full payment. A particularly well-publicized example was
this year’s Donegal International case, which involved the
company’s 1999 purchase of Zambia’s $15 million debt to
Romania for some tractors for $3.3 million. Donegal went
to trial seeking more than $55 million (an increase due to
interest, of course). The British court involved knocked the
amount down to the original $15 million—still a rich return
on an odious investment.
Such radical groups as the World Bank, the G8 and the
Paris Club have condemned the vultures as, in the words
of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, “nothing short
of scandalous.” Still, the HIPCs—shorthand for heavily
indebted poor countries — need more protection than words.
What’s next? Tarantula funds?
Slush fun
When Mac’s started selling a new slush drink this
summer called “WTF?” (a common short form of “what the
fuck?”), residents of Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins, Ontario,
threatened to boycott the convenience store’s parent
company over the advertising campaign. Mac’s, meanwhile,
insisted the acronym stands for “what the flavour?” As if,
and, like WTF?
Harper Watch
In early July, Stephen Harper declared, “Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty over the Arctic…. Either we use it or lose it.” During the 2006 election, Harper promised to secure a fleet to patrol the Arctic to reinforce Canada’s claim over the territory disputed by the U.S. A questionable idea to begin with, the promise is now only being half kept. Our new six-to-eight-ship fleet—set to arrive in 2013—will lack icebreakers, meaning they will only be usable in the warmer months. We must defend our sovereignty at all costs, boys, unless, of course, Mr. Bush tells us not to.
