Peter F

"...our cultural ghetto's" ?? deja vu all over again.

I agree wholeheartedly with the above post. I would also like to point out the weird standards expressed in this thread: If christians kill people its because they're insane If atheists kill people its because of greed, lust, pride, anger etc if muslims kill people its because of their religion. I do not understand why the badly behaving persons motive is paramount in determining relative rightness. It seems to me that a persons bad-behaviour is what should be condemned - not their silly motives

What is my responsibility to the poor? Nothing whatsoever. Thus taxes.

If that is so then why are there so many people with these 'useless' degrees i keep hearing about? No doubt some capitalists do help various schools set up courses that serve their manpower needs through grants/scholarships or even funding. Some but not all, probably not even most and probably only those with lots of money. But that is not to say that it is the schools and universities task to make sure industry meets its manpower requirements is it.

So what is the issue being discussed? That tradespersons can make a nice living? That people with university degrees can't? or that they can but its unlikely? or that it depends upon the degree? The original OP asked if Harper was right (lack of skilled labour) or is the PBO right (no lack of skilled labour). My position is that if there is a skilled labour shortage then Industry can fix that by training people to meet their needs. I absolutely do not agree that its the parents problem to fill the so-called shortage by pushing their kids into trade schools. I think its backwards to expect the school system to educate to meet the requirements of industry. Industry should be taking steps to meet their requirements. Of course they do this the easy way by kicking up wages and hope enough skilled tradespeople show up for the jobs.... It isn't mom & dad's job to make sure industry has enough trained personnel - thats Managements job.

Well I am not going to argue that any degree is a guaranateed gateway to vast wealth. But I will argue that less education is a guaranteed gateway to less wealth. Edit to add: and there are many folks with Art degree's making pretty good bucks. The cheap skilled labour problem isn't due to parents overvaluing higher-education, but due to Industry failing to properly forecast needs and arranging/lobbying and/or paying for the skills training to meet their needs. Thus much higher wages in Alberta to attract that skilled labour from elsewhere.

So a shortage of cheap labour. Understood. As for parents and schools overvaluing university educations: Canadian statistics appears to support parents and schools in that the higher the education the more likely to reach higher incomes. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-sa/99-014-x/99-014-x2011003_2-eng.cfm You may very well be correct about higher-education not being all that useful for those who live and work in Alberta - but it wouldn't apply everywhere.

How does that translate to a labour shortage? Seems to me that the higher wages are attracting the labour. If there is a shortage it isn't because of parents and high-schools but because industry isn't paying enough and so there is a shortage. Perhaps you mean a shortage of cheap labour?

I agree with Black Dog and the disputed students position. Consent must be continuous for once withdrawn the continuation of sexual congress is no longer consensual and therefore rape.

"nationalistic masturbation is a high virtue Discussed By Very Serious Men." thats a keeper!

JBG: My return doesn't say "buoys on Lake Simcoe" either.

would a ballot without 2nd 3rd 4th ranked choices be accepted as valid?

Harper did absolutely nothing with abortion.

I was taught that Mr Fahrenheit first made the thermometer then put in water to measure the temperature at which water freezes. It froze at the 32 degree mark. But I see on wiki that they agree with OnGuardForThee. 0 being the brine thing and 100 F being body core temperature (close enough for 17twenty-something anyways.

• Largest captive population since detention center opened: About 660 in November 2003. Current detainee census: 155 http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/guantanamo/index.html

Are you suggesting that if Medicaid doesn't fund it then insurance companies should not insure for it?

I find death-related rituals comforting too.

This f35 thing is a cash cow!. We don't even have to buy the thing and Canada makes oodles off it. Hopefully we won't ever make the mistake of paying the operational costs of the damn thing and cut into our profit margins.

Will those who are hired from those many applicants stick around at lower pay or will they, after five or six years, move on to higher paying FD's?

She isn't called Prime Minister, she is called Premier Minister. Premier is translated as 'First'. The correct english translation is 'First Minister'. Why the press continues to translate 'Premiere minister' as 'Prime Minister' is beyond me.

During a move, my ex, my son (16 at the time) and myself were going through all his stuff to determine what to pack and what to throw out. We came across a box full of early elementary school junk. One of the items was a hand-crafted journal from grade 2 with a laboriously printed weekly entry. The journal page for the last day of school before Christmas holidays read: "This week I found out that there is no Santa Claus. My parents have been lying to me for 7 years"

Might I suggest an interesting book on the subject: On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.review here: http://www.citizen-soldier.org/On-Killing.html

I don't believe they are interested in nukes. I do believe they're interested in depleted uranium munitions to defeat US armor.

This is the part I don't understand. Demand increases so price increases. I see the truth of that when there isn't enough energy to meet the demand, resulting in gas shortages or brown-outs etc. But the Energy companies are indeed meeting the demand. There are no lineups at gas stations, or rationing, or brown-outs.