I lived in Edmonton for about 5 years while I completed my studies at the University of Alberta. At no point were my wife and I ever able to seriously consider to possibility of purchasing a home: it was just too expensive. And overpriced to a tee.
I'm not trying to be unsympathetic here but reports like this don't really bother me. I knew far too many people who jumped head-first into the real estate market without really having the means to pay for it. When asked why, the main reason was simply so that they wouldn't have to pay more later. I could maybe-sort of get the point, but it was perhaps a bit impractical.
Now prices are returning to more normal levels and I, for one, couldn't be happier. This increases the likelihood that I'll be able to purchase a home in the not-too-distant future. And I know I'm not the only one.
Home ownership shouldn't be some unachievable luxury item. That being said, the principle shouldn't be cheapened by rewarding and/or making it easier for those who are seemingly unable to make responsible financial decisions.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Another brave victim comes forward...
As if the global economic uncertainty weren't enough, a poor university student lost his X-Box on a recent flight. Clearly, it doesn't matter whether the console was taken from his luggage or not. What matters most is doing everything possible to make Mr. Maiman whole again.
It would be a weak and feeble gesture, indeed, to simply replace the console. The most expensive model retails for a mere $400 dollars US. It would only be proper for the airline to award Mr. Maiman the $1,700 dollars for the console with the 'specialized hard-drive' PLUS the $1,000,000 in additional damages, likely caused by the anxiety of the separation from a noble, electronic companion.
Pathetic.
It would be a weak and feeble gesture, indeed, to simply replace the console. The most expensive model retails for a mere $400 dollars US. It would only be proper for the airline to award Mr. Maiman the $1,700 dollars for the console with the 'specialized hard-drive' PLUS the $1,000,000 in additional damages, likely caused by the anxiety of the separation from a noble, electronic companion.
Pathetic.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Martin and Obama, sitting in a tree...
While this point has likely been made by some more eloquent that myself, I can't help but dwell on the similarities between two would-be saviours in North American politics. While the tale of St. Obama has yet to be told in its fulness, it has been remarkably similar to another former messianic figure from this side of the border: Paul Martin.
I loathed Jean Chretien. It was his so-called leadership that guided me in my quest towards the political right. When he announced that he was (finally) stepping aside, there were many Liberals who espoused the god-like virtues of their leader-in-waiting. Heck, there were times when I even thought that he might not be so bad. He was certainly no Chretien, and he did so some decent work with the federal budgets as Finance Minister.
What many Canadians soon found was someone who, and I can't remember for the life of me where I first heard this, worked so hard to become Prime Minister that he didn't figure out what he would do when he actually got there. He soared into power on the wings of his glorious promises. He wanted to be everything to every possible Canadian. Surely he would lead the country into a new era of prosperity. Instead, he fell flat in a matter of 2 years; his opportunity squandered by his own selfish ambition.
It wasn't that long ago when a euphoric citizenry propelled The One into power on promises that were not all that dissimilar from our very own Prime Minister. And while his support remains high, the questions appear to be coming more frequently. Instead of the glowing reviews I got so tired of seeing on a daily basis, I read more and more questions about the ability of Mr. Obama to actually lead the United States through this economic crisis. It would appear that the power of his promises is beginning to lose steam as reality has slowly returned to the masses.
It's still early in his term but I am not expecting miracles from this man. I never did, to be honest. While I don't necessarily want him to fail per se, I am hoping that his ability, or lack thereof, to actually enact the change he promises will wake people up to the very nature of the philosophy he and his admirers cleave to. Society cannot thrive on the mere peddling of easy answers to the public.
I loathed Jean Chretien. It was his so-called leadership that guided me in my quest towards the political right. When he announced that he was (finally) stepping aside, there were many Liberals who espoused the god-like virtues of their leader-in-waiting. Heck, there were times when I even thought that he might not be so bad. He was certainly no Chretien, and he did so some decent work with the federal budgets as Finance Minister.
What many Canadians soon found was someone who, and I can't remember for the life of me where I first heard this, worked so hard to become Prime Minister that he didn't figure out what he would do when he actually got there. He soared into power on the wings of his glorious promises. He wanted to be everything to every possible Canadian. Surely he would lead the country into a new era of prosperity. Instead, he fell flat in a matter of 2 years; his opportunity squandered by his own selfish ambition.
It wasn't that long ago when a euphoric citizenry propelled The One into power on promises that were not all that dissimilar from our very own Prime Minister. And while his support remains high, the questions appear to be coming more frequently. Instead of the glowing reviews I got so tired of seeing on a daily basis, I read more and more questions about the ability of Mr. Obama to actually lead the United States through this economic crisis. It would appear that the power of his promises is beginning to lose steam as reality has slowly returned to the masses.
It's still early in his term but I am not expecting miracles from this man. I never did, to be honest. While I don't necessarily want him to fail per se, I am hoping that his ability, or lack thereof, to actually enact the change he promises will wake people up to the very nature of the philosophy he and his admirers cleave to. Society cannot thrive on the mere peddling of easy answers to the public.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Warm fuzzies all around?
Am I the only one who's just a little uncomfortable with this?
Of course it's nice to think that we can all sit down over your beverage of choice by the campfire and hug it out and POOF!!... the problem has been solved! I'm not naive enough to think that combat alone is going to save Afghanistan but this doesn't seem all that unlike the Sudetanland.
The article goes on to talk about reaching out to those who leave the Taliban and renounce their former violent tendencies. What about those who still don't want to leave? What's the plan for them? Uninvite them to your birthday parties?
Of course it's nice to think that we can all sit down over your beverage of choice by the campfire and hug it out and POOF!!... the problem has been solved! I'm not naive enough to think that combat alone is going to save Afghanistan but this doesn't seem all that unlike the Sudetanland.
The article goes on to talk about reaching out to those who leave the Taliban and renounce their former violent tendencies. What about those who still don't want to leave? What's the plan for them? Uninvite them to your birthday parties?
Sunday, March 8, 2009
In Like a Lion...
A reluctant and hurried peak out our balcony revealed this pleasant scene yesterday. Needless to say, we kept the kids inside to play.
Education Review: Who's to Blame?
The high school where I teach recently went through a comprehensive review this past week. The review team would identify where improvements could be made and provide direction to assist us in our quest to improve the education that we provide to our community. As a first-year teacher, I've become accustomed to a near-continual state of assessment that surrounds me so I didn't really concern myself too much with the whole process.
The findings were nothing surprising: students 'appear' to demonstrate some disrespect towards teachers, academic performance could be improved, etc. The recommendation, though? In addition to the general 'do a better job' schtick, it seems as if the school will be adding an additional four instructional days to the upcoming school year. Wow. It's not really too unlike simply throwing more money at a problem to make it go away.
The big problem I have with this is that it reflects the continued knee-jerk response of society to look for the problem in 'the system.' What about the economy? Oh, the government should do more to fix it. And education? Well, obviously the teachers should be doing more to reach out to our students. In very few circles is it okay for me as a teacher to say that the big problem is that too many of my students are too lazy to actually be bothered to care about their own learning.
I've been eagerly reading America Alone by Mark Steyn (very interesting albeit a bit pragmatically bleak) and a frequent theme addressed in his work is the inability for too many in our 'modern' societies to wean themselves from the collective trough and hindering collectivist mentalities. It's one thing to identify with certain groups, whether it be your Canadian nationality, church, or bowling club. This constant big-picture denial of individual responsibility is going to get us into more trouble if we can't even admit that we screw up as people from time to time.
The findings were nothing surprising: students 'appear' to demonstrate some disrespect towards teachers, academic performance could be improved, etc. The recommendation, though? In addition to the general 'do a better job' schtick, it seems as if the school will be adding an additional four instructional days to the upcoming school year. Wow. It's not really too unlike simply throwing more money at a problem to make it go away.
The big problem I have with this is that it reflects the continued knee-jerk response of society to look for the problem in 'the system.' What about the economy? Oh, the government should do more to fix it. And education? Well, obviously the teachers should be doing more to reach out to our students. In very few circles is it okay for me as a teacher to say that the big problem is that too many of my students are too lazy to actually be bothered to care about their own learning.
I've been eagerly reading America Alone by Mark Steyn (very interesting albeit a bit pragmatically bleak) and a frequent theme addressed in his work is the inability for too many in our 'modern' societies to wean themselves from the collective trough and hindering collectivist mentalities. It's one thing to identify with certain groups, whether it be your Canadian nationality, church, or bowling club. This constant big-picture denial of individual responsibility is going to get us into more trouble if we can't even admit that we screw up as people from time to time.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
New Blogging Commitment
I've lived up in Slave Lake for the past 5 months. It is a beautiful corner of our magnificent province. But, I'm not gonna lie... things can get a bit lonely here. This is even more true during the slightly longer, colder, and darker winter that I've experienced thus far.
I teach social studies, by far the BEST subject in my opinion. This gives me ample opprtunity to read about the issues that I care about, and more importantly, that more of us should be caring about. I try to teach my students a little bit more about how they can find out about the world around them, and how they need to actually do something about it. Simply put, I need to do something a bit more for myself and that means that I need to take this blogging thing a bit more seriously.
This is not a ploy merely to increase readership, which for all intents and purposes is non-existent. If nothing else, I can outline my opinions a bit more than I normally can in the classroom.
When I started this second blog, I reluctantly avoided joing the BloggingTories blogroll because I hoped to have the potential for a wider audience. However, this has achieved the opposite effect and left this space alone in the corner for too long.
So, here's to regular posting, and a proper reemergence into the blogosphere.
I teach social studies, by far the BEST subject in my opinion. This gives me ample opprtunity to read about the issues that I care about, and more importantly, that more of us should be caring about. I try to teach my students a little bit more about how they can find out about the world around them, and how they need to actually do something about it. Simply put, I need to do something a bit more for myself and that means that I need to take this blogging thing a bit more seriously.
This is not a ploy merely to increase readership, which for all intents and purposes is non-existent. If nothing else, I can outline my opinions a bit more than I normally can in the classroom.
When I started this second blog, I reluctantly avoided joing the BloggingTories blogroll because I hoped to have the potential for a wider audience. However, this has achieved the opposite effect and left this space alone in the corner for too long.
So, here's to regular posting, and a proper reemergence into the blogosphere.
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