All it Means is That I'm Earning Less and Less

Our illustrious Premier Ed Stalmach tossed us all a bone yesterday, raising the minimum wage in Alberta to 8 dollars per hour, up from the current rate of 7 dollars per hour. The change will come into effect in September. Furthermore, wages are to be re-evaluated annually in the future, and the minimum wage adjusted accordingly.

Now I would think raising the minimum wage should be a good thing, and I should be cheering on the Conservative government. Then, how can it be that I am about as tempered as a rabid dog right now, bent on biting the messenger?

Perhaps I can relate with a bit of history and personal experience. I am a [relatively] young punk. I am sure there are many of you who remember minimum wage being something like $1 per hour. Conversely, I began working when minimum wage was less than $5 per hour. When the minimum wage was raised to $5 per hour almost 15 years ago, was my salary adjusted accordingly? No.

Why? Because I was already making more than minimum wage. Not by much mind you, but enough for me to feel that sting from the realization that my salary was worth less, comparatively.

Obviously, I invested a great deal of my time and energy into earning a University degree, so I could get a "decent" job that would pay a "decent" salary, so that I could drive a "decent" car, and live in a "decent" house, raise a "decent" family, and if I was lucky, I could afford a "decent" pine box to put my ashes into at the end of it all.

In the five years since earning my Degree, I have yet to see any benefits from this "Economic Boom" that Alberta and (to a slightly lesser degree) the rest of the nation has endured. When I graduated I did get a job that showed potential. Sure, I took a salary hit due to my lack of experience, and settled on a training salary equivalent to twice that of the minimum wage offered at that time. It wasn't much, but it would allow me to gain some critical work experience, learn some skills, and as agreed with my employer, my salary would be adjusted as I gained experience.

What I have earned in wage adjustments over the years has hardly had any beneficiary effect on my standard of living. In fact, given the cost of living in this province, the rate of inflation, the prohibitive cost of housing, and the cost of fuel, I am actually earning considerably less than I did five years ago!

Minimum wage is completely arbitrary in Alberta, and has been for a couple years now. The employers that are offering minimum wage as a starting salary are obvious; just go to the job bank and see how many of these jobs are listed and relisted. Why? Because of two scenarios:

1. Nobody is applying for jobs that pay minimum wage, and
   
2. Whomever is earning minimum wage for unskilled labor are leaving their jobs for ones that are paying between $10 and $15 for similar duties.

What really gets my blood boiling is that there are high-school dropouts who are earning more than I, and all they have to do is ask "Would you like a donut with that large double-double?"

For $14 dollars an hour, I will ask unruly customers if they "want fries with that". It's a far easier job than what I currently put up with on a daily basis.

It blows my mind how the media thinks that there are all these "Big Money" jobs in Alberta. Unless you opt to risk your life and health in the Tar Sands or on a drilling rig, I haven't seen any good jobs being offered with equitable pay. With the average price of a home in Alberta approaching $400,000, I'd say that's an awful large amount of french fries to serve in order to pay off that mortgage.

So who are the true winners of this "Economic Boon" (misspelling intentional)? It's the wealthy. It's the business owners. It's those who hold property and the more they own, the more they are laughing their way to the bank. Liquid assets aren't paying off. Thanks to the high Canadian dollar, fueled by unprecedented economic growth, and the unstable price of oil, my Mutual Funds are in the tank. I'd get more out of my investment if I dropped it all into one of those Government-sponsored slot machines (thanks, Ralph!). At least it would pay out once in a thousand pulls.

So hats off to Ed Stalmach, for raising minimum wage in our province to $8.00 per hour. He'd better open up his eyes soon, as the least any of us are making over here is $10.00 per hour. But that could change tomorrow. It's not like it's going to affect my life any. My salary will not be adjusted accordingly, and when September rolls around, I can wake up knowing that the salary I earn is one step closer to what is better known as "unskilled labor".

While he's at it, maybe Ed can raise the minimum wage for working musicians in this province. We haven't seen a raise in over 25 years.

YouTube; Blogs Kill Culture

Andrew Keen seems to think that the internet, in all it's wonders is killing American Culture. He has written a book entitled "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture," in hopes in drawing awareness that Hollywood is losing money, market share, and most importantly their influence on American pop culture.

Keen, a former dot-com entrepreneur, argues that the phenomenon of user-generated content, particularly blogs and YouTube videos, is overpowering established media players. Consequently, he believes the notion of quality content will be eradicated as the playing field tilts in favor of consumers churning out substandard and erroneous content.

"The monkeys take over," Keen says. "Say good-bye to today's experts and cultural gatekeepers -- our reporters, news anchors, editors, music companies and Hollywood movie studios." -- Reuters

It's like he's giving a eulogy to the big, bad media conglomerate, whom for nearly one hundred years has reaped unthinkable profits from American Teenagers, all the while producing -- by their definition -- what is to be considered "quality entertainment". It's like he is saying that Hollywood in itself, defines American Culture.

Hollywood doesn't define American culture; it shoves it down the throats of anyone willing to pay attention to them. American culture is Davey Crockett, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Paul Bunyan, and Martin Luther King Jr., just to name a few.

American culture is not Mickey Mouse, or American Idol. American culture is not defined by Hollywood actors, especially those who are accused of uttering threats, antisemitism, or racial slurs (and I need not name names). America is not the latest flavor of the month or A-Team reruns on satellite television. American culture is not defined by CNN, MTV, ABC, NBC, FOX, or HBO. It is not defined by Sony, AOL Time Warner, EMI, Universal, or BMG, and it is most certainly not defined by Paramount, Disney, or any other major motion picture distributor.

We bloggers and "amateur" film producers did not kill American Culture; we took it back. Not bad, considering Keen regards us as "a bunch of monkeys".

Pre-Iraq Bombings in 2002: The Times Online

Matthew Good today published an interesting entry regarding illegal military action by the American military against Iraq in 2002.

"The American general who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war appears to have admitted in a briefing to American and British officers that coalition aircraft waged a secret air war against Iraq from the middle of 2002, nine months before the invasion began.

Addressing a briefing on lessons learnt from the Iraq war Lieutenant-General Michael Moseley said that in 2002 and early 2003 allied aircraft flew 21,736 sorties, dropping more than 600 bombs on 391 'carefully selected targets' before the war officially started.

The nine months of allied raids 'laid the foundations' for the allied victory, Moseley said. They ensured that allied forces did not have to start the war with a protracted bombardment of Iraqi positions.

If those raids exceeded the need to maintain security in the no-fly zones of southern and northern Iraq, they would leave President George W Bush and Tony Blair vulnerable to allegations that they had acted illegally."

The original Times publication can be found here.

My response to the story, as published on the mblog:

I find this surprising. At first glance, I find it entirely plausible that a secret war could have been waged nine months before George W. and Tony Blair waged the "official invasion" of Iraq.

But it doesn't make sense. In this world where we are connected internationally by the Internet, and have access to newscasts from literally hundreds of countries, we would have surely heard that strategic targets were being bombed from the air by American or British forces.

Al-Jezeera would have been all over the news like flies to excrement.

Though it is widely known that the American propaganda machine can distort facts, and make the citizens of their country believe that their actions of war are justified, I can't believe that they could have covered up something this large. Somebody would have exposed the news.

If what the American General said was true, that nearly 400 targets were bombed in 9 months, would mean that approximately 2 strategic targets would have had to been struck per day. This could not be dismissed as "random acts of terrorism"; this is far larger. Terrorists hit civilian targets, to strike fear and promote unrest in the country. Precise bombings of strategic targets are, conversely, evidence of military operations.

I don't think the full story has yet been told.
[permanent link]

The Face of A Mass Murderer

CP File Photo

In today's news, the autopsy report for James Roszko, the man who killed four RCMP officers before turning the gun on himself, was released. The autopsy did reveal a few interesting facts about the March 3 shooting near Mayerthorpe, Alberta:

Roszko apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound near the heart. No surprises there, but he had also sustained gunshot wounds to the hand and upper leg, presumably fired from the RCMP officers during the stand-off. What is also of interest, is that there was no trace of alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of his death.

What kind of person takes a final stand against a small army of Police Officers, succeeds, and then delivers one final blow to himself? He would have obviously known that he would never have gotten away with murder (both literally and figuratively). This was a person who never gave any regard to the law, and swore he would never be taken alive.

There are many intellects out there who believe "to serve and protect" is a pile of garbage. They feel our current system of laws and enforcement are biased. I can see their point to a degree. They argue the role of the police is to maintain the status quo, and keep the wealthy in power. If you think about this for a minute, you see that it makes a lot of sense. The government creates the laws. The police, the courts, and the correctional system enforce the laws that are created by the government. Who are in power to make the laws? Those who are elected to make the laws on behalf of the public. And those who make the laws are generally wealthy, or have a certain degree of power of influence. Of course, the representatives are going to make laws that reflect their best interests. Nearly every government in power, past, present, suffers from some degree of corruption, and the trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

Naturally, we don't ever think our society runs in such a way. It usually doesn't, but those who do manipulate the system, benefit from it. I cannot call every single representative of government corrupt, but it is obvious is does exist. You don't have to look any further than the Sponsorship Scandal to see corruption exists even here in the Canadian Parliament. I do not need to tell you government corruption is prevalent in many countries. Just read the headlines of the news, and you will get an idea of the amount of dirty pool that is shot daily.

If you are wondering about my feelings on the matter, I guess I feel that I have little power to change the government, unless I am elected myself. As for the law, I respect the laws the government creates and passes. I respect those who serve and protect us. They have their jobs to do -- and it's not a pretty job by any stretch of the imagination. I am lucky to have befriended a few police officers, and I can say that they are some of the genuinely nicest people I have met. Funny thing is, I can say the same thing from the Hell's Angels I have met.

It is a terrible thing that four RCMP officers had to die at Rozskos' hands. I hope the friends and family of the deceased can now have some closure. They are truly Canadian heroes.

I'll Take Potpourri For $100, Alex

Tuesdays Are Murder

I often wonder if I take on too much. Below is a synopsis of what Tuesday looked like for me.

• 0620 hrs: Alarm goes off. I get up, feeling the circles under my eyes burn.
• 0630 hrs: Hit the shower in a futile attempt to wake myself.
  
• 0700 hrs: Lay down for thirty minutes in an attempt to get a little more rest
• 0730 hrs: Cursing at MY96's idea of quality programming. "Very Exciting and Worth Listening to" is the least accurate description of Chris Savages' DJ abilities.
  
• 0735 hrs: Getting dressed, packing a snack, and reading the headlines of the news.
• 0745 hrs: Mad dash to work in traffic. Cursing at idiot drivers.
  
• 0800 hrs: At work.
  
• 1200 hrs: Driving home for a lunch break
• 1230 hrs: Watching 20 minutes of "Win Ben Stien's Money" in an attempt to make me smile for the first time that day.
  
• 1245 hrs: Cursing at construction zones and backed-up traffic in an attempt to make it back to work on-time.
  
• 1300 hrs: Back at work.
  
• 1700 hrs: Mad dash home for dinner.
  
• 1800 hrs: Loading equipment for Grease rehearsal.
  
• 1815 hrs: Putting fuel in my car so I don't run out of gas on the way to practice.
  
• 1830 hrs: Loading and setting up equipment for Grease rehearsal at the rehearsal studio.
  
• 1900 hrs: Grease rehearsal
• 2130 hrs: Rehearsal finished. Breaking down equipment and loading it into my car. Also being coerced into going to the pub for a beverage with the rest of the cast and crew.
  
• 2200 hrs: At the pub, partying like you never have partied before -- for 20 minutes.
  
• 2220 hrs: Leave the pub and drive across town, find a Kwik-E-Mart to pick up a few groceries, and go home to unload equipment.
  
• 2240 hrs: Home at last, and unwinding with a few beverages before going to sleep.
  
• 0000 hrs: Finally made it to bed. In about six hours I am going to have to go through this again.

It appears that I am a victim of my own demise. I seem to recall something in one of my previous posts about not going into detail about what I did that day. I apologize to those who were bored or offended, but it's my blog; I can write what I like. I just wanted to demonstrate that my days and nights are full. You can probably understand that when I have a night off, all I want to do is as little as possible.

There are a great many things I wanted to discuss in this entry, but I am afraid I am going to have to discuss them in utter brevity. Details will have to wait for other postings.

Beam Me Up, Scottie
The Space Race is underway. Yesterday, the first commercially-funded spacecraft had its first successful flight to the edge of the atmosphere. Scaled Composites' craft, SpaceShip One, traveled to a height of 100 kilometers above the Mojave desert. They have to successfully duplicate the flight within two weeks to clinch the X-Prize. In related news, the DaVinci Project's maiden voyage has been postponed until further notice. The X-Prize may be awarded to Scaled Composites, after all. It has been brought to my attention that in order to develop SpaceShip One, Scaled Composites has had to spend over $20 million dollars for a prize that is only $10 million. Kind of defeats the purpose, no?

Another Canadian Sports Team Goes Yankee

The Montreal Expos are migrating south to Washington DC. Although I am not a fan of baseball, it is saddening to see another major league sports team migrate south of the border. What I found most disheartening about the sale of the team is that last year's attendance record averaged 8000 spectators per game. Only 5000 spectators attended the Expos' final game on Tuesday. I found this unbelievable given 1) a city the size of Montreal, and 2) the capacity of the Olympic Oval. The place must have looked deserted. It was also stated on the Radio that the poor attendance and performance of the team was due to ownership issues. Don't quote me, that's just what I heard on CBC Radio.

Gimme Some of That Black Gold

Imperial Oil is migrating their head office to Calgary. All this likely means is another office tower downtown, more traffic, more smog, and a stronger Alberta economy. That is, until all the oil and gas wells go dry, which will likely happen within 50 years (read about life after the oil crash for doomsday predictions). Then we will be up the creek. In related news, the price of oil hit $50 per barrel, and I expect it is going to stay there for some time.

Buh-Weet Sez: "Wookin' Pu Nub In All Da Wong Pwaces"

The Dating Game is a blog written by EmGee, a thirty-something New Yorker looking for love in a city where there are 4-million Mr. Wrongs. I stumbled on her little blog while surfing the web, and found her writing to be quite entertaining. If you would like an humorous read about dating in the Big Apple, I suggest giving her blog a try.

My eMail Account Does Work!

Surprise, Surprise! I have been contacted by an old friend who stumbled onto my little corner of cyberspace. Getting a message like this made my week. One of the purposes of this blog is to find out who really is out there, interested in my humble life -- and those who manage to identify me. Congratulations! Your $32,000 check is in the mail. It is also post-dated January 1, 2063.