Who Wears Short Shorts?

A recent article I came across online via the Associated Press highlights a woman in Abu Dhabi concerned about the attire (or lack thereof) of young women.

It is obvious that the Middle East as a whole tends to be more conservative when it comes to how women not only dress, but what they do. Yes, I'm pointing my finger at you Saudi Arabia who only recently allowed women to participate in the Olympics and hopefully soon drive ... cough, cough.

What I thought about reading this article though, is how it pits feminists against feminists and the colour pink for men.

On one side you have conservative feminists who object to lingerie, beauty pageants, and Brittany Spears doing a strip tease routine with a chair in a video.

On the other side you have liberal feminists who rail against the idea that anyone should tell a woman how she should dress, act, and do what she will with her body.

What about men though?

It has become plain as day to me as a father of a daughter that it is ok for my daughter to wear more 'masculine' clothes rather than if I had a son to wear more 'feminine' clothes.

This 'fashion perception' has it's roots back in the 1960's, and now a woman can wear jeans and a t-shirt and not have it construed as less feminine.

But that bridge doesn't sway over to the male side.

Thankfully I saw an episode of Sesame Street that helps curb the erroneousness of this fashion perception.

In this episode, Baby Bear is ashamed when Telly finds out he has a doll he likes to play with. Baby Bear tells Gordon, who let's Baby Bear know he has nothing to be ashamed about. Gordon points out to Baby Bear that he is wearing a pink shirt because he likes the colour pink and that's all there is to it.

So the fight for equality in the Middle East is of epic proportions for women, while in North America, if we can get to a day where men can wear a pink shirt without it being perceived as either gay, straight, or Australian, I would say we are on our way!

Remove gender perception from the colour pink for men and allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia.

A Blog For Micro Blogging

As the anniversary of Tiananmen Square passes, Chinese authorities still claim that it was in defense that so many pro democracy protester were killed.

What kind of argument does that sound like today?

The Assad regime in Syria.

I always wondered why the people of China, especially in light of the Arab Spring, haven't stood up in massive numbers to demand democratic reforms.

It might have something to do with Pizza Hut, McDonald's and the drive away from the farm to the city condo, and the illusion of freedom that 'Western' ways of life engender.

But can they vote for their leaders?

No.

Sufficed to say it is quite clear that even here in Canada, the assault on democracy takes on small paper cut form, rather than one large sweeping cut.

Bill C-38, or the laughably titled Budget Implementation Act, crams so much down one hole that it's befuddling a democratically elected government would not pass each piece separately so as to ensure that the public gets a clear view of what is being passed through parliament.

Don't get me wrong, if the Liberals were in power federally they might very well be pulling off the same stunt with the Conservatives crying foul.

Here's an idea, in Papua New Guinea, in many villages, no one is really in charge and if you want a decision made, the entire village is consulted.

This is infuriating to outsiders who are not accustomed to that kind of system of discussion and debate.

Oh, what was my original point? Ahh yes, China is now apparently going to be censoring micro blogging.

So the Chinese support a blood soaked regime along with Russia via veto power at the UN while we, including me, right at this very moment with what I am posting on the Internet, still enjoy some level of freedom of expression that the Chinese government refuses to give to their people.

So long as geopolitical and economic considerations trump human life, I will not trust the words of politicians who till the Arab Spring, were more than happy to let businesses do business with regimes so long as the people didn't protest, and after the people started protesting, hypocritically told those regimes they had to go.

There is no such thing as a bad job ...

Well Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, you set yourself up for all sorts of witty remarks with your comments about EI.

I'm not surprised. Only a conservative could conceive of such lunacy as to compare his work experience in college with the lives of millions of other individuals.

I am currently suffering the indignation of sitting on thousands of dollars of debt because I wanted to return to school in the hopes that it would improve my financial future, and instead, a year on I'm floundering with only low paying call centre jobs willing to hire me. The very type of job I left.

Is that ironic or just tragic?

Could I have done more? I suppose I could have been more thorough, but no one wants to admit that finding work is almost like a lottery, and that if you have a clean resume and write a good cover letter, well, you are at the mercy of people and events not under your control otherwise.

So Mr. Flaherty, I suppose I will do what I have to even if it revolts me.

I don't suppose anyone conceives that as the population grows and more people flood the work force that something Malthusian is at play; too many people and never enough work.

Does anyone else find it distasteful when a lawyer is put in charge of a whole economy or an economist is put in charge of law?

I bring this up because I keep running into the minimum two years experience wall when looking for employment related to what I've studied. It has gotten to the point where I want to ask someone who doesn't hire me how they got experience.

Mr. Flaherty, grab a shred of common sense and keep your self serving platitudes to yourself.

To close, I think I will, at the suggestion of others that I would make a great politician, run in an upcoming election.

After all, it seems you can practice law for several years and not need two years of economic experience to run an entire countries economy.

Have and Have Not ... What should you be paid for your skills?

If only I could shoot a puck or hit a golf ball I could be making millions!

That isn't a joke when you look at what some professional athletes with minimal education are getting paid.

Wayne Gretzky didn't finish high school.

OK, so only a percentage of professional athletes have monstrous salaries and endorsement deals.

Still, I have three post secondary credentials to my name and can only anticipate an entry level salary at or just above the poverty line with my most recent course of study.

Is that justified?

The short answer is no, and I suspect the long answer is filled with economic voodoo, sociology, psychology, culture, and plain old human nature.

What constitutes a 'living wage'?

Should we all anticipate a certain level of luxury the more education we have?

The truth is high school drop outs can make millions while people with masters degrees can make minimum wage for a wide variety of reasons.

More to come on this topic.

Have and Have Not ... Good vs Bad Debt

I hope this next series of blog entries culminates in a video project with one simple objective:

Why do we use money?

To start off I will focus on a personal yet very public issue. What is good debt versus bad debt?

I will speak from personal experience and say that I have accrued nearly $20,000 in student loans over the last ten years. Good debt right?

When it pays off as the expression goes.

Canadians have apparently amassed just over one trillion in mortgage debt. Good debt you say?

Yes if you have plenty of money left over at the end of every month to save for retirement once the bills have all been paid, or are you as the saying goes, house poor?

How about debts from gambling, hobbies, drinking, smoking, eating, and well, you get the picture. It's pretty obvious that if what I have just previously mentioned is making you poor, then that could very well constitute bad debt.

Hmmm, when all is said in done, you still owe money, good debt or bad debt. Perhaps it is merely perceptions about the virtues of education and home ownership versus the vices that monopolize peoples money that we can argue about.

More on money to come!

Got Fuel Efficiency Standards?

A report on the CBC indicated that fuel efficiency of new vehicles are off by anywhere from %20 to %30.

The US uses real time testing on roads and audits the reports and no such thing happens in Canada. The federal government response was well, it's winter so we can't start adopting the US system yet.

Hmmm, perhaps you could have adopted the US system five years ago!

In my opinion, the federal government is to cheap to spend the money on audits and real time testing which will require hiring and paying the appropriate people.

That being said, I'm not confident that I got the fuel efficiency I saw on the sticker for the Ford Focus myself and my wife purchased over a year ago.

The next time I or you might be in the market for a new vehicle use the US standards so you know the actual fuel efficiency in the real world and not in some make belief world of ideal driving conditions that the federal government thinks is satisfactory.

Sage Wisdom ...

I had a professor when I was in the education program at university who was keen on distinguishing between asking students what they want to do versus what they want to be.

His distinction focused on what he perceived is the deeper intrinsic value of asking a student what they want to be. I took that to mean that asking what someone wants to do is more superfluous and doesn't create a deeper connection to the path that one might want to take.

I do believe that what you want to be is a more intrinsic understanding of a persons passion and desire to become something.

Great instructors and individuals inspire passion and being in others, so let's all try to be and encourage others to be.