Back To The Drawing Board

I felt like it was time for a change, so......

Update your blogrolls, people.

I'll explain this decision on my new blog when I have time. But first, sleep!

Thanks for everyone who saw this blog through to the end- it's been a slice.

NHL- First Round Picks

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
(1) Montreal vs. (8) Boston- Montreal in 5.
(2) Pittsburgh vs. (7) Ottawa- Pittsburgh in 6.
(3) Washington vs. (6) Philadelphia- Washington in 7.
(4) New Jersey vs. (5) NY Rangers- NY Rangers in 6.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
(1) Detroit vs. (8) Nashville- Detroit in 6.
(2) San Jose vs. (7) Calgary- San Jose in 7.
(3) Minnesota vs. (6) Colorado- Minnesota in 6.
(4) Anaheim vs. (5) Dallas- Anaheim in 6.

Post your picks up here if you like.

Zimbabwe Opposition Insists Mugabe Lost Vote, Polls Still Unavailable

Come on, even the US can get at least some premature election results by the end of the day. Hell, even UVic has unofficial results within 7 hours of the polls closing. There's no excuse for Zimbabwe to take this long to process results.

Well, no legitimate one. And I think we all know the reason for it taking so long is that this is far from legit.

$10 Minimum Wage....Seriously?

If you're like me, you're probably wondering what all this hype about an increased minimum wage is. Anti-poverty activists in Ontario want $11/hr there, while in BC, the NDP wants to see $10/hr. On the surface, it seems like this idea is wonderful and amazing and all; however, looking closely at it, it is flawed in so many ways.

First of all, the argument I hear so often from these activists is that a low minimum wage makes it impossible for people earning said amount to make ends meet. While this point is debatable, the problem is that these activists fail to understand one key point- how would raising the minimum wage alleviate that? Come on now, anyone who has taken even one 100-level economics course knows that wages are tied to prices. If wages increase, so too will prices, thus making the cost of living more expensive. As a result, the majority of citizens, most of whom likely earn above the minimum wage, will end up having to pay more for things such a food, rent, etc., and those who do earn minimum wage do not benefit at all. Everyone loses.

Another thing to take into account is how this would affect employment rates. Let's use a basic situation here. Company A pays its employees minimum wage- $8/hr in BC- and can thus afford 20 employees, as it pays all employees a total of $160/hr. With this in mind, how would a raise in the minimum wage affect this? Using the $160/hr figure, a $10 minimum wage means that Company A could only afford to pay 16 employees instead of 20. So, four people are laid off, and employment goes down.

Yes, this example I used is a very small one, but it gets a point across. A raise in the minimum wage would result in an employment shortage, as jobs that pay said amount can no longer afford as many employees. But, who is hurt by this- corporations? Certainly not; it's the small businesses, the fledgling mom and pop operations that will bear the brunt of this. After all, most small businesses lack significant amounts of revenue, so a spike in wages would result in being able to have less employees. It could also lead to further deficit for businesses, and may result in an increase in them failing. And it would be a lottery. For some employees, this would mean an extra $2/hr. For others, it simply means that you're headed for the unemployment line.

But, let's put aside these cold, callous, horrifying things called facts for a second, and pose a simple question: if people earning minimum wage want more money, why don't they find a better-paying job? While minimum wage in BC is $8/hr, guaranteed that you can find jobs that provide much higher wages- it's just a matter of looking for them. They're out there. Better yet, if everyone simply decided they were going to work at jobs that paid at least $10/hr, it would result in employment shortages within some businesses that have lower paying jobs, forcing them to at least partially increase their wages. In other words, be a little more proactive; if you're earning minimum wage and want an increase, stop asking the government to do it for you and go get one yourself. It's not that difficult.

Or, you can keep asking the government to raise the minimum wage, but first let me ask you a few questions: are you willing to see unemployment rise? Are you willing to see more small businesses fail? Are you willing to see prices increase? All for $2 more an hour that is not difficult to obtain, especially in this province?

Just think it over.

Bill C-484: The Abortion Zeitgeist

There are a few matters of political debate in this country that see all intelligent discourse wiped out in favour of puerile mud-flinging and name-calling; such include race, anything to do with the Middle East, and, of course, abortion. And, every so often, a piece of legislation comes along that opens that debate and brings that immaturity back to the fold of Canadian politics, regardless of how irrelevant that is. Today, we see this with one simple piece of legislation: Bill C-484.

A quick background on the legislation: the private members bill, created by Conservative MP Ken Epp (Edmonton-Sherwood Park). Known as the "Unborn Victims of Crime Act", gives harsher sentencing to those who inflict harm upon a pregnant woman, as hurting the fetus in turn would cause a harsher prison sentence. Getting tougher on crime for those who harm, or even kill, pregnant women or their fetus- should seem like a no-brainer, right? Unfortunately, this is politics, where even anything making a slight mention of a fetus has people go up in arms. The pro-life camp rejoiced that this would give the fetus legal rights they sought to justify their stance against abortion, while the pro-choice camp opposed the bill for the same reason. And both sides horribly misunderstood what the legislation sought.

Indeed, the debate over Bill C-484 has, in fact, become reminiscent of the O.J. Simpson trial back in 1994. The case was less and less interpreted for what it actually was- a man who allegedly committed double homicide- than for what some saw it as- a black man railroaded by a white justice system. So, instead of thinking about the White Bronco, whether the glove fit, and other such relevant matters, people saw a black man who was accused of killing two white people. Even though Simpson appeared quite guilty, even though he wrote a book detailing how he would have done it just a decade later, even though his status as an affluent football star living in Beverly Hills hardly made him representative of the average African American, spectacle took over facts, and the trial became a divisive issue of race.

The same, in fact, has occurred between pro-life and pro-choice factions with Bill C-484. The debate that occurs on the legislation actually has nothing to do with what is within the bill itself, but is more about what could happen. Both envision a slippery slope where giving a fetus any rights is equitable to giving them rights that all humans enjoy. Both sides, however, could not be further from the truth.

Those who are pro-choice that fear that this bill could result in changes to abortion law need to consider for a second the nature of the legal rights being allotted to the fetus here. Yes, the fetus does have legal rights; however, these rights are not equitable to basic human rights. The pro-choice elements ought to look closely at s. 7-a of Bill C-484 which states that punishment for the termination of a fetus's life does not apply to "conduct relating to the lawful termination of the pregnancy of the mother of the child to which the mother has consented." To put in Lehman's terms, abortion does NOT apply to this law.

Essentially, the legal rights given to a fetus by C-484 are something, though they are less than that of a human being. Fetus rights are largely dependent on the choice of the mother, its life contingent on whether or not the mother wants it alive. Ironically enough, C-484 actually strengthens a woman's freedom of choice, as it toughens laws on those who wish to harm or kill a fetus against the consent of the mother. The problem, however, is that the element of the pro-choice side that opposes C-484 only sees choice one way: in terms of abortion. While abortion is a woman's choice, in my opinion, so too is choosing to keep a baby, or pursue adoption; thus, the choice of a woman to keep a fetus alive is something that deserves protections from outside forces that may wish to end it.

In the end, people need to look past the zeitgeist that the abortion debate has created over Bill C-484, and look at the substance of the legislation itself. The bill does not harbour some secret anti-choice agenda, and will not lead to a slippery slope of abortion. It simply preserves a woman's right to choice even further by getting tougher on those who wish to take it away. For this reason, and others, when one looks at the substance of C-484, it is undoubtedly legislation that warrants support.

Hopefully, those yelling about abortion can grow up and realize this sooner rather than later.

Because of the High Number of SFU Alumnus That Read This Blog

Congratulations to your alma mater coming to its senses and voting to leave the CFS by what was approximately a 2:1 margin.

Unbelievable.

The winners of the by-elections are no surprise to anyone, but Vancouver-Quadra yielded quite an interesting result:

VANCOUVER-QUADRA
Joyce Murray (LIB)- 10,155
Deborah Meredith (CON)- 10,004
Rebecca Coad (NDP)- 4,064
Dan Grice (GRN)- 3,792

For a riding that the Liberals won by 12,000 in 2006, and 15,000 in 2004, an 151 vote difference between the Liberals and Conservatives here is quite impressive.

If the by-elections are any indication of public opinion, a microcosm of the national scene, Dion will definitely not want to call an election any time soon.

SIDE NOTE: Apologies for the lack of blogging over the past month. Been busy with lots of different things on my plate, so haven't had the time to write anything here.

Afghans On Afghanistan

This is certainly worth a read.