Arts Degree Or Trades? You Pick!

Compare and contrast! Arts degree or trades? If you were facing that choice today, which would you choose?

Years ago, in my first year of commerce at the U of A, I was asked to go into honours English. I thought about it for around two minutes, then kept on in business. I have never regretted that decision. What exactly do you do with an honours English degree? As far as I could figure out at the time, you would have to go on and get your PhD, and then teach at a university.

The path you take in life, is yours. The decisions are yours. If you make the wrong choice, you have no-one to blame except yourself, unless you are a Quebec university student, then the blame lies with the government.

It’s a little hard for the rest of us to muster sympathy for Quebec’s downtrodden students, who pay the lowest tuition fees in all of North America. Even if the government has its way – no sure thing if the Parti Québécois gets back in power – they’ll still have the lowest tuition fees in North America. The total increase would amount to the cost of a daily grande cappuccino.............

  The truth is, the education they’re getting is overpriced at any cost. The protesters do not include accounting, science and engineering students, who have better things to do than hurl projectiles at police. They’re the sociology, anthropology, philosophy, arts, and victim-studies students, whose degrees are increasingly worthless in a world that increasingly demands hard skills. The world will not be kind to them. They’re the baristas of tomorrow and they don’t even know it, because the adults in their lives have sheltered them and encouraged their mass flight from reality.

Let's say that the Quebec students and unions get their way and get free post secondary education for all. Wouldn't that be wonderful? No student debt, everyone gets in to university, everyone gets a degree for free! Utopia!

Let's increase enrollment, and crank out those arts and business degrees. Maybe force every university student to take a basic economics course, teaching them about supply and demand.  If there are too many arts degrees (excess supply), the salaries offered will go down. Is this too hard a concept for supposedly intelligent students to understand?  Watching the Quebec students riot, I guess it is.

How about those students try something productive, like the trades? Back to economics, there is a severe shortage of tradespeople right now, and because of this, they are getting better than average salaries. The companies actually pay the apprentices wages while they are in school, so they get out with little or no debt and great paying jobs as well. What a concept!

 Thank goodness, we’re starting to give skilled workers their due respect, and our country is making huge strides toward this. We had better, because, if things keep going the way they’re going, Canada will be short one million tradespeople by 2020. If you think things are bad now — and they are — you don’t want to know what they’ll be like if half our skilled tradespeople are missing.

The only downside to the trades are the unions that have control. Ironically they are the ones who are funding the Quebec student protestors, and the union members have no say in how their union dues are being spent. I bet the Alberta pipefitters union is ticked off by the other unions support of the eco-activists. 

Get your "free" arts degree, and protest about how you want to tax the rich because you somehow deserve their money for your bad decision, or actually contribute to the betterment of society by working in the trades? Your choice...arts degree or trades? 

MASSIVE Protest!

So says Lisa La-La Land.

Environmentalists are staging a massive protest on Parliament Hill against a proposed pipeline that would carry crude oil from the Alberta oils sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast – passing through six states.

How out of touch can one reporter be? MASSIVE protest? At most, reporters are saying 500 and that's counting all the police and reporters.  Why do lefties want to kill the very industry that supports them and most of Canada? Ontario is now a have not province, be happy that Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland are supporting your MASSIVE lefty programs. The protest was a huge failure, Lisa needs to be honest, but I guess I'm expecting too much from the lefty media here is Canada. If it wasn't for the unions wasting their members money, probably only 50 people would have shown up. MASSIVE failure Lisa, MASSIVE!

Not to be outdone, thousands of union workers rallied against....well they rallied against the Toronto Mayor, because they are scared for their cushy union jobs.

About 4,000 people packed Nathan Phillip Square by 6 p.m. Monday. Many carried placards showing a cartoon of a runaway train going off a cliff, with Rob Ford in the locomotive, and the slogan, “Stop the Crazy Train.”

 Funny how those perfectly printed placards instantly appeared as if by magic. Union fees at work for political advocacy. Shame on the unions for failing their members by becoming political monsters. If you think I am exaggerating, look at the woman in this picture, reminds me of the workers union of Russia.

Look at the clenched fist, the glazed eyes and the strained neck muscles, clearly a women with a mission. Heil Union anyone? The pre-printed signs are another indication of union involvement.

So, it appears that the unions abandoned the greenies on Parliament hill to protest against any cuts to their golden pension jobs. Funny how you always find the lefties at the trough, snorting and shouting when their gravy train is threatened....In the name of the "little people" of course.

No "Right" To Opt Out!

How is it that the Greek people don't understand that their country is broke? Iceland understood it and forced their government to NOT bail out the banks. Their economy is picking up again, so short term pain led to long term gains.

Greece is only the first in serious trouble, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain are next. New Zealand went through this years ago and they recovered by selling off state assets, changing their health system, and getting rid of subsidies to farmers and businesses. What the Greeks fail to understand is that no-one is willing to buy their bonds anymore.

“After all, the scale of Greece’s problems means that markets may be reluctant to lend to Greece after the second bail-out package expires. What’s more, given the widespread opposition to the additional austerity measures, there remains a risk that the Greek government might eventually choose to default, regardless of whether a bailout package is in place.”

At some point, Germany is going to stop propping up these EU nations and start saving itself. If you have a mortgage and can't make the payments, sooner or later someone is going to come and boot you out onto the street, and everything will be lost. Greece should start packing its bags.

I guess we should look at Canada and see how the greedy unions are acting the same as the Greek people, expecting the government to bow down to their demands. At some point, the goodies have got to end, and the socialists just don't understand why. The NDP wants the postal strike to continue. So far it hasn't impacted our family except for fewer flyers. It is however impacting businesses big time, but it appears that the NDP would prefer to support unions over businesses. Why am I shocked?

Unions take dues from people who have no "right" to opt out. If that isn't communism/socialism, I'm not sure what would qualify.  Unions can even force members to donate to the political party that they dictate to be, the one to vote for. Unions could use the money they appropriate from their members to fund pensions, but that would put the onus on them to succeed, and that is simply beyond them.  

And They Blame The Toronto Councilors?

Okay, with one ear I heard about the OCAP protest that shut the budget meeting down, but I didn't really pay it any attention. Then I saw this:



And this:



And this:



Thanks to Eye on a Crazy Planet for showing the truth of those protesters.

What a bunch of juvenile idiots. Free speech has it's limits. Those police should have been able to yap right back at the spittle producing leftists. Yet the media thought Ford telling them to get a job was over the top? Did they air any of this protest? Did they hear the protesters profanity?

I wonder if an elderly woman had hit one of those mouthy protesters, if she would have been arrested, because that's exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to shout back at those fools that they needed to quit whining and get a job. I wanted to wade right in there and yell right back at them. I suspect, I would have been arrested if I had done that.

Listen to them yelling "don't hit me, don't touch me"! When they don't get hit or touched, they get aggressive against the police, and the police just have to stand there and take it, that is not right. The police should be able to escort them all out into the street, where they are free to protest all they want.

What this shows is the ugly leftist politics of activism. Just like when they shut Ann Coulter down, it shows how intolerant the progressive lefties really are. They do not stand for freedom, they stand for bullying. They are doing such a great job that people are switching their votes from the Liberals and NDP to the Conservatives. So, keep yelling, keep looking like idiots, you are only hurting your cause.

How Thick Are They?

It's easy, reduce business taxes, increase jobs and investment income. Only NDP voters lack the intellect to understand that simple logic, oops, I mean only lefties like the Liberals, NDP and Bloc can't understand the concept of reducing taxes to encourage investment. It appears David Akins suffers from the same disease.

OTTAWA – Watch out Stephen Harper: Your political opponents might be on to something when it comes to corporate taxes.

A new poll, taken exclusively for QMI Agency, finds that four in 10 Canadians believe that not only should the government scrap a planned round of corporate tax cuts, the government should be hiking corporate income taxes.

When does 40% make up a majority? The opposition are quick to tell us that ONLY 38% voted for the Conservatives and therefore a majority of people didn't. Now it appears that 40% is a majority when it comes to corporate tax increases. Okay, let's increase taxes for all those corporations that have unions, make the unions pay the new taxes from their wages. Let's see how they squeal then.

Something else the MSM is failing to tell people. The tax reductions has already been passed with the help of the Liberals. Yes, you heard that right, the tax reductions are already law. Why are the Liberals bleating about it, when they voted for it? They are using the emotional angle. Big, bad, corporations are getting a tax break. Those CEO's are raking in the dough, and people are starving in the streets! People forget that corporations employ people. Let the unions create jobs. Give me an example of one union that has created jobs, ever. They take dues from the workers and use those dues to get politically involved, like their support of Palestine. They are not democratic, they FORCE their members to give them money, and the members have no say in how they spend it. Talk about dictators.

Liberals are showing how hypocritical they really are, they vote for corporate tax reductions and then reverse their position and are against them. Flip flop, flip flop, like a fish out of water.

Our Heartless Unions!

You hear it constantly from Layton, how they are the ones that care about the little people, the downtrodden and the underprivileged. The ace in the NDP hole is the unions, and they have been very active lately. We have unions striking at a time when our economy is tanking, why?

Every person with any common sense understands that they will be lucky to keep their jobs let alone get a raise, but that hasn't stopped the unions, those lefty organizations that get money from their own membership and then spend it on political activism.

They spout about helping workers all the while they do so with a raised fist. They march with Hamas supporters, and shout about workers rights. They are organized and actively oppose the government, yet every union member fee they gather is by force of law, a law that does not allow a worker to opt out of the union. They are the dictators, telling workers how to vote, and how to strike, and how to disrupt our lives, and they tell us it is their RIGHT to do so. They have no compassion for those they disrupt. Read this:

The Survivor: She walks 12 hours a day to save job

Anna. Her name is Anna Kraisingerova, and she is somebody worth knowing. You may have seen her trudging along Prince of Wales Drive and wondered why she was walking alone in the bone-chilling cold and darkness.

She walks because she has no choice.

"I live at Carling at Bronson.

"My job is in Barrhaven. I work nights. I must walk 18 kilometres to work. It takes six hours. And then I must walk six hours home after I work all night. I am nearly 60.

"This strike shouldn't happen," she says. "I come home, I rest for a few hours. Can you imagine to work all night and after to walk 18 kilometres home and then, sit down for two or three hours and then walk back and work all night again?"

Her dignity and her indomitable spirit are evident in the simple language she uses to describe her plight. But mostly it is exhaustion you hear in her voice.

When the buses are running, Anna catches the 85 on Carling. At Merivale, she transfers to the 176 for the run to Strandherd Drive at Woodroffe Avenue in Barrhaven and her job at a grocery store, stocking shelves on the graveyard shift.

She has been working at the store for six years, and the bus ride is part of her routine. And then the transit strike came, shattering Anna's world.

Make sure to read the whole thing!

So, does the union care about the hardships that the "little" people are going through, or do they only want more money and to set their own schedules? Will Layton volunteer to drive Anna to and from work? He doesn't care, he lived in subsidized housing while he was making over $100,000. Read "We The Living" by Ayn Rand, and you will get an idea of what the unions and the NDP/Liberals are up to.

Heartless unions. They want us to save their jobs, and could care less about those that they are hurting with their soviet style activism. These are the same unions that Iggy just met with in Quebec, and they vowed their support to him. So, the coalition is stronger than ever because of the unions using their membership dues to support the NDP and Liberals. Who has the "hidden" agenda? Who is "scary"?

UPDATE:

Olivia Molenda, a fourth-year York student, pronounced herself frustrated with the NDP's stance.

"A lot of people are out of money now, paying for rent and those things. On top of it all, people are just depressed," she said.

Shipley said the union is sympathetic with the students' plight, but noted the university only spent 11 days in bargaining with the union over the 78 days of the strike.

The Bloom Is Off The Boom!

I don't like any bailout, not even one little bit. It goes against every Conservative principal in my body. It goes against every good economic principal you will find in any economics textbook. So far we have been focusing on an auto bailout, but what happens if the oil sands needs help?

Manufacturing in Ontario is not just about the auto industry. Think "dirty" oil. That's right the oil sands are a major source of manufacturing in Ontario, and right now the bloom is off the boom.

Some oilsands math
Gary Lamphier, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Thursday, November 13

One day, it would be nice if the oilsands bashing lobby deigned to explain a few things to the rest of us.

Such as. If the oilsands are shut down -- as the good folks at Greenpeace would very much like -- or even significantly scaled back, where will the billions of dollars in federal equalization money that Alberta's (oilsands-dependent) taxpayers ship to Ottawa each year, come from in future?

Just wondering. It's a small-minded little nitpick, I realize. With Ontario now a "have-not" province, and the country's manufacturing sector flat on its back, you'd think Quebecers, among others, might like to know. Especially in the middle of a provincial election campaign.

Ontario's Biggest-Ever Trade Mission Seeks Oilsands Contracts

Economic development ministers rarely work the floor at a trade show but that's what Ontario's Sandra Pupatello did last week in Edmonton at the National Oilsands Buyer/Seller Forum. "We've brought 208 people here representing 134 companies," says Pupatello (shown at left). "This is the largest trade delegation ever assembled by Ontario, even bigger than our trade mission to China [in 2005]."

Clearly, Ontario industry is hungry for bitumen-fueled business. Central Canadian metal-working companies and other suppliers, suffering from slowdowns in auto manufacturing and forestry, see the oilsands as their most promising opportunity for growth. Government preparations for this forum included a 282 page directory of potential oilsands suppliers in the province, available in printed and digital versions. Trade officials even produced a lapel pin combining the Alberta and Ontario flags.

The economic crisis and collapse in oil prices have pushed the sector to the brink, resulting in the delay of some $40-billion in new projects, taking 800,000 barrels a day of expected production growth -- about half of what had been expected -- off the table, according to CIBC World Markets.

Meanwhile, existing projects are close to losing money at today's oil prices. According to a recent Merrill Lynch report, many oil sands projects need US$38 a barrel oil to break even. Oil prices settled at US$46.28 a barrel on Friday, keeping projects in the black for now, but curtailing developers' ability to fund expansion.

Industry watchers say companies that scaled back won't be rushing to jump back in, even if oil prices recover above US$90, the level many say is required to build new projects.

Other problems would have to be resolved: mounting costs, tight financing and, of course, environmental challenges. The oil sands' poor image could lead to even tougher environmental legislation.

The implications of a no-growth period for the oil sands are grim, not just for Alberta, but the entire country. The oil sands boom has been Canada's economic engine over the past decade. The country's rise as a major global oil producer would stall and the United States would see its energy security options reduced.

For the last decade the oil sands have been driving the economy, now we have Saskatchewan and Newfoundland entering the have provinces because of oil, but for how long? Meanwhile Toronto Liberals, Quebec separatists and the NDP think the gravy train is never ending. They are busy plotting the downfall of our elected government so they can throw money at the unions. Those same unions that will not compromise, those unions that except the taxpayers to bail them out so they can continue to live in lala land on the taxpayers dime.

Quebec is so union heavy that they are like the mafia, that's why Quebec continues to suck 8 BILLION more out of Canada than they put in. I am sick of it, and so are the intelligent Quebecers. What does Quebec think will happen if the oil sands slow down? It really ticks me off when they spout off about their $7 a day, daycare that the rest of Canada is paying for. They are too ignorant to be embarrassed about freeloading on the rest of Canada. They think it is their right because they are special/different/unique. Well the fuse is getting shorter out here, and Iggy is not going to sell any better in the west than Dion did, so the divide will continue.

The bloom is off the boom out here in hicks ville Alberta, and the east better get prepared for the consequences, it's not going to be pretty. Alberta is debt free, and has some reserves for a rainy day, so we will be okay, can Quebec say the same thing?

Friday Funny 2: Hookers and Unions

Seeing as strippers are legal, why not hookers? (Or are they the same thing?)
We are told by lefties that hookers would be better off if prostitution was legalized. We know pressure is being applied to Minister Finley to let more "dancers" into the country. We all know how unions support this, but would they, if they knew about this?

A dedicated Teamsters union worker was attending a convention in Las Vegas and decided to check out the local brothels. When he got to the first one, he asked the Madam, "Is this a union house?"

"No," she replied, "I'm sorry it isn't."

"Well, if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?"

"The house gets $80 and the girls get $20," she answered

Offended at such unfair dealings, the union man stomped off down the street in search of a more equitable, hopefully unionized shop. His search continued until finally he reached a brothel where the Madam responded, "Why yes sir, this is a union house.

We observe all union rules."

The man asked, "And if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?" "The girls get $80 and the house gets $20."

"That's more like it!" the union man said.

He handed the Madam $100, looked around the room, and pointed to a stunningly attractive blonde.

"I'd like her," he said.



"I'm sure you would, sir," said the Madam. Then she gestured to a 92-year old woman in the corner, "but Ethel here has 67 years seniority and according to union rules, she's next."







Sorry, I'm bored tonight waiting for a Brother In Law to arrive, and I don't want to get into any serious issues on a Friday. If he doesn't arrive soon, I might have to entertain you all with Friday Funny 3....yah, I know, you are hoping he arrives....oh is the the doorbell I hear....false alarm. HA. Enjoy!

Update: Seems the TTC is going on strike, with all that free time, will they be visiting Vegas? Just asking.

Buzz CAWing

So Ontario releases it's budget, and everyone is so busy bashing each other, no one notices that CAW talks tough. No concessions, let's strike!

CAW vows no concessions in contract talks

Concessions by the Canadian Auto Workers union won't save the Detroit Three auto makers or restore their market share losses, but the costs of a strike would be high, the union said Tuesday as it gears up a public relations campaign before this summer's critical set of contract negotiations.

The CAW will not agree to the two-tiered wage structure that the United Auto Workers negotiated last year or to concessions, but it is prepared to consider cost-saving alternatives on such items as retiree health benefits, the union said in a presentation to analysts and reporters.

The union will redouble efforts to protect existing investment and attract new projects by maintaining the superior productivity and quality of Canadian plants and continuing its flexibility on work rules.

Let me get this straight, Ontario taxpayers are going to subsidize the auto industry so that CAW can increase it's demands, and strike if that doesn't work. Is Buzz on drugs? Or, is he so sure that the Liberal McGuinty government will continue to throw taxpayers money at his industry that he doesn't care.

The cost of a strike will be high? Sure Buzz, for your workers, especially those who do not have seniority. They are already losing their jobs, and you are still talking tough.

Add to that the fact that Democrats are protectionist, and won't care whether your plants are profitable or not, they are in election mode and will promote jobs for Americans over those for Canadians.

The solution from the McGuinty government? Re-training, for what job? No Walmart I know, even here in Alberta, pays $30/hour for an employee. If automotive employees are laid off, they won't be spending money.

The centrepiece of the government's balanced spending plan is a “skills-to-jobs” scheme that will see $1.5-billion over three years poured into training and apprenticeships. It includes a $355-million second-career strategy that will offer as many as 20,000 unemployed workers job counselling, living expenses and needs-based tuition grants so they can attend college programs.

Thanks Ontario, great idea, you spend the money to train the workers, who won't be able to find a job in Ontario, so the West will benefit. Works for me.

I met a guy from Quebec, who moved to Alberta because the union in Quebec was all about who you knew, not what your skills were, he couldn't get a job in Quebec because of the stranglehold unions have there. He got one instantly in Alberta.

Given the level of Alberta bashing that goes on from the Bloq, and Liberals in general, maybe they should thank us for the $16 Billion a year we send to Ottawa, and that doesn't include gas taxes that ALL provinces reap.

CAW needs to get real, and realize that most of the big honking trucks they produce end up in the West, and soon all their workers will be here too.