Fines To Keep You Safe

There was a little snippet in todays local newspaper, about how our Police will be cracking down on bicycle riders.   They are going to start to levy fines if you ride your bike on the sidewalk, and they are also going to fine you, if you aren’t wearing a helmet.

Yep, Victoria has a helmet law for bicycles.

Now, personally I don’t have an issue with either of those, but here is the kicker for me.

IF you ride your bicycle on the sidewalk, well get ready to cough up $135.00

Now, I can see how some kids that tear along the sidewalk could pose a risk to the elderly. More than likely it would be more to themselves, and with grass on one side, and the road on the other, I suppose it could be serious too.

IF you are caught riding your bicycle without a helmet, well cough up a hefty $27.00

Uh, let me see here. The whole idea of requiring everyone to wear a helmet, while riding a bicycle, was due to the catastrophic head injuries that were happening, to all ages of people. It was found that even simple spills could cause some serious head injuries, hence the law to require people to wear helmets.

So just how much of a deterrent is these fines?   I would guess that most aren’t about to ride on the sidewalk than remember to wear a helmet.  Like come on, these days even young kids have more than $30 in their wallets.

I mean who comes up with these crazy fines? Like I’d say that if riding your bike on the sidewalk was worthy of $135 fine, then riding without a helmet should be at least $200.   After all, which costs more to treat, a bruised knee, or a cracked skull?

Train Immigrants Faster, Give them Citizenship Faster

so they can get screwed quicker, like the rest of us Canucks.

Stephen Harper wants to remind us all, that if we re-elect him, he will give Immigrants easier access to loans for training, & upgrading of their skills. In turn, that will help speed up their citizenship. 

Uh, Stevie Boy, how about all of us Canucks you have put into low paying jobs, shipping our high paying jobs overseas? 

Can We Get Some Help Too

Political Apathy, or is it?

There is an interesting editorial, on the CBC News website, about Political Reluctance, or becoming politically active, in a personal way. In short, about people seeking to run for elected office, or for just serving.

Part of the editorial talks about pay for elected officials, and to a degree that makes sense. I mean, who wants to take a pay cut, but then again, there is another side of that coin. One is you would expect results for that money, but then again, seems CEO’s today aren’t expected to perform for their outrageous salaries, so maybe a politician can get away with that, as well. Another is, the ability to limit bribes.

Personally, I believe their are two main reasons, why many people shy away from public service. One is the cost of getting elected. The other is that the Attack Philosophy actually works.

Getting Elected.

It really doesn’t matter which office you wish to seek, the cost is prohibited. It means you need other’s to finance your run, and having a good idea or two or way to solve problems, simply doesn’t cut it anymore. You need to be a good actor, and good at making people hand over money, or have no scruples.

Campaign laws are a joke, and too many skirt around them. In short, they seek money to run, knowing that the trade off, is to be devoid of many of their principles and ethics.  That alone precludes most dreamers from running, most idealists from seeking office.

Then there is the Opposition.

Today, instead of taking issue with your position on important matters, they attack your family, your values, your ethics, or what you did as a kid. They question your loyalty, simply because you are not W(hite) A(nglo) S(axon) P(rotestant). IN SHORT they bully people, who don’t meet their perceived elitism.

Oh, sure, some will point to Barack Obama, but he is the EXCEPTION TO THE RULE. He had the money, and the ability to reach beyond one’s fear. Then too, John McCain isn’t a pit bull, like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Sam Brownbeck and the others. Certainly not like George W. was.

Truth is, that many like our Stephen Harper spend a vast majority of their air time, leveling charges about one’s character, about one’s ideals, than about how their own plan, will solve the problems. Too many argue that they are best suited for the job, not because they have a better plan, but because they are less distastful than their opponent.

I mean who wants to go out there, and be attacked not on their policies, but on what they said 20 years ago, or how they acted in High School? Yet, that is what many do, such as Stephen Harper. They are good at turning things away from their own foibles, because if you dare question them, somehow you are being unpatriotic, or you support being soft on crime. Exactly what Harper has tried to do with opposition from The Bloc, on his mandatory sentence law. 

The idea too, is about Public Service. I think the reality is, many people are too self absorbed, and they aren’t interested in serving anyone, but their own self.

Frankly, I think people are turned off on politics, because it is MEAN SPIRITED. It isn’t the fault of society, but of the media & the narrow minded bigots, who want power. The Press needs to stop giving us OPINIONS and begin to do its job, which is to REPORT THE FACTS, NOT THE OPINIONS OF THEIR ADVERTISERS.

We too, need to make changes, by DEFEATING LIARS, CHEATS, & BULLIES. That means we need to VOTE ON THE ISSUES and not listen to the attack ads, the attack mantra. People like Bush, Harper, need to be denied public service, by not gaining any votes. They need to be shown, that BULLIES DON’T WIN.  That such harmful acts, are unaccepte by us, the voters.

AFTER ALL, IT IS OUR GOVERNMENT, NOT THEIRS.

Tried & True no longer valid.

Have you noticed lately, at how quickly society changes? Not just the population explosion, or the way new products reach market, but in the values, ethics, of people who really should know better. I mean even 60 & 70 year olds, are allowing their values to change, to be altered, which really makes me wonder, about people.

Like take Pride in Your Work.

I grew up with it being drilled into me, that one did the very best they could, for the pay being given. Even if I thought, for some egotistical moment, that I was worth a lot more than what I was being paid, I still was supposed to deliver the very best work, for that money.

Sure, I had options, like quiting, or asking for more money. In most cases, when one approached a boss, and calmly laid out what they were doing, why they believed it was worth a bit more, the raise seemed to come.

Now we expect the Government to give us a raise, by increasing the minimum wage amounts, and we go out on strike, demanding more money for the work we do. We threaten, like the Teacher’s Union here in BC, that says PAY US MORE MONEY & WE’LL HAVE LESS KIDS WHO CAN’T READ OR WRITE OR ADD. 

I mean, isn’t that what we are already paying them to do, yet for some reason, more kids are coming out of High School, functionally ILLITERATE.  Like how is that being proud of one’s job?

Seriously, I had one person tell me they were a College Graduate & knew how to add, yet they couldn’t figure out that if you have an opening credit balance of $100, buy $400 worth of stuff, return $300.00 that you owe nothing. Instead she kept insisting I owed $50.  Now, it is simple math, and that is the quality of our graduates?

No wonder people like George Bush & Stephen Harper get elected. No one voting for them, is able to understand simple math and would rather be scared into accepting their position, would rather be told who to blame, , than in actually having the problems solved.

Unemployment Continues to Rise

Protectionismis a naughty word in the United States & Canada. For some reason, wanting to protect Ono’s own is somehow, wrong, somehow unacceptable on a global stage.  HOW?

With Unemployment hitting record highs in Canada, one has to wonder about Globalization and the inability of National Governments, or Regional, to protect our jobs. Take the Billions being given just to General Motors. 60% of GM hourly wage earners in Canada are about to be put on the unemployment lines, and the drain on our resources will only grow.

Canada’s unemployment rate in March climbed to a seven-year high of eight per cent as the economy shed another 61,300 jobs. ( source – CBC News )

It is a double edged sword, because it is taxpayers who are paying for those billions to GM, and it is taxpayers who are paying for the EI benefits these out of work auto employees will be drawing on.  And that is rapidly becoming a dwindling pool as well. After all, those losing their jobs, are the one’s who have been paying into the fund, along with the companies.

Makes you wonder too, at how we can import migrant farm workers, when more and more people are losing their jobs?

Then too, we are so wrapped up in bailing out companies like GM, we aren’t providing enough resources to the very industries that actually create long term employment, which is small business.  I think we are too enamored with the big dollars, versus the small but steady income from smaller operations.

The Auto Industry employs a large number of people, which is true, but you know, the collective number employed by small business is dramatically more, and if we started protecting our smaller industries, we would have a lot more higher paying jobs being created, than lost.

You know, the ancillary industries provide more jobs than the auto industry, so wouldn’t it make more sense to beef up their business, to help them diversify, than to pour the billions into just the one aspect, hoping for a trickle down effect?

Giant Conglomerates have one concern, their bottom line. Smaller business, is also about making money, but isn’t so rigid about how much it must make, unlike companies like GM or Chrysler. Yet Government continues to IGNORE those smaller industries.

Makes you wonder a bit. If we put the 4 Billion we are giving to GM, and spread it out among several much smaller operations, would our unemployment be at 8% or would we even be in an economic recession? After all, isn’t the cause of this entire economic mess, due to the globalization impact of the Oil Industry & the Financial Markets in the USA?

Something to consider, as we see more job losses happen in the sector we are pouring billions of our money into, supposedly to protect those very jobs, that are now being lost.