Over one year has passed ...

It has been nearly one and a half years since I finished my last, and I do mean last run in post secondary education and I still have yet to achieve any gainful employment from it.

The closest I came was a little volunteer work which has now come to an end, and even that was difficult to come by.

I realize that there are easily two hundred some odd people applying for the few table scraps of entry level positions that I have applied for.

As the market gets ever so saturated, one has to wonder what the future will hold for university and college graduates.

I can respect some people lauding certain degrees and diplomas for their financial worth, because what's the point of investing time and money if there is no return on your education investment?

Some occupations might be deemed recession proof like certain careers in medicine because people are always being born, getting sick, and getting old.

Right now there is a huge demand for tech graduates in the lucrative app development scene.

So much so that I regret my previous choice of post secondary education.

Should our choices be restricted to what is in demand career wise?

When I was in high school everyone was crazy for accounting, but I was not strong in math and did not desire accounting as a career.

Should there be a guarantee before even starting a college or university that you will get employment within a year after graduating?

I don't think you could realistically police and make such promises, but I will be sure and tell my children to do some research into whatever they want to study beyond high school in the future.

Obvious Observations About The Olympics

Gymnasts short, volleyball players tall .... Cough.

Alright that wasn't very funny but it was pretty obvious.

I thought about diving and that the dive happens so quickly that you have to think that a judge might have blinked, yawned, or just daydreamed in those split seconds and was like 'whoops!' at some point.

To close on the subject of height, suppose two swimmers are exactly the same in ability and strength but one is just an inch shorter ...

With the sensors in the pool walls that inch could make or break a medal win, and under the scenario I am envisioning, has nothing to do with ability or strength.

Lastly, from a PR and tourist point of view, the Olympic committee in London should have considered placing the torch in a space similar to the Winter Olympics in British Columbia.

God, Guns, & Guts ...

The title of this post is derived from a slogan I saw, which if I'm not mistaken, was at a Tea Party rally a couple of years ago in Washington DC.

The slogan actually started out with the words "America is about ... "

George Zimmerman evoked Gods will, presence, or whatever you want to call it the night he shot and killed Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman basically lost almost all of his credibility after uttering those words as far as I'm concerned.

Why?

By claiming his shooting and killing Trayvon Martin has anything to do with divinity puts him in nearly the same league as Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, or the Taliban, all of which espouse divine reasons for brutalizing women, flying planes into buildings, and setting of bombs on busy streets.

Alright, I'll admit that the circumstances that lead to Zimmerman shooting and killing Martin does not compare with crazy acts of terrorism, except in one way.

Using God as a lightning rod to justify one or a group of persons actions.

I'm sure Zimmerman didn't intend to shoot Martin, but please, don't you dare imply a God of any kind when one person kills another under any circumstances.

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.