Friday, March 26, 2010

Ann Coulter in Calgary

The 'Cirque de Coulter' comes to Calgary. For the VERY few fans of this media whore, it must have been a delightful performance, (you gotta hand it to her - she knows how to sell tickets), but for the majority of Canadians, she is as repulsive as an unexpected winter blizzard which brings with it grief and many inconveniences.

Her theatrics at the University of Ottawa scored Coulter and her minions some publicity, (it's amazing how the Canadian media got suckered into this non-event), and she used that to her advantage in Calgary. And by the way, it wasn't U of O who cancelled the event, it's Ann Coulter who decided to run away from the students and then whimper about how the "commies" treated her badly.

Calgarians, relativley speaking, tend to have conservative tendencies, so it's no surprise that she got a receptive audience here, (perhaps the majority of it was Americans who make up 10% of Calgary's population), but it's hard to believe that most of them would have been impressed with her non-sensical diatribe in which she was trying very hard to be funny.

But make no mistake, that under the guise of free speech and discussing current issues, this radical group - led in Canada by the top provocateur and hate-monger, Ezra Levant - is only encouraging bigotry and animosity against Muslims.

These people use every single opportunity, from the cartoon issue to the burka and niqab, to malign and humiliate. The definition of 'Fascists' applies very well to them.

It's shamelessly hypocrytical for this pro-zionist gang and it's hateful Fuhrer, ezra levant, to advocate freedom of speech when these very same thugs lobbied the Canadian government to deport Ernest Zundel (no matter how racist he was) or to not allow George Galloway, the British Member of Parliament, to enter into Canada. Apparenlty, freedom to express their "politically incorrect" views is only the birthright of neo-con radicals. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

But even after being exposed to all of her mental sewage and her "raw" and un-intelligent ideas, I still believe that she should be allowed to have her fifteen minutes of fame. Let this moron spew her venom and get it over with. To organize huge protests against this unimportant person is to provide her with credibility she does not deserve.






Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Is Calgary's Job Market Improving?

Are things getting better in Calgary? Is the local economy on the rise again. Some claim that it is, others are not so optimistic.

There may be some employers who are adding more people to their payroll, but for the most part, the city's economic engine is still stalled in the middle of 'Recession Street'. Fact is, Calgary is not doing so well, it certainly is not the attractive job market it once was.

I don't think that the new graduates from U of C, SAIT and Mount Royal will have an easy time landing a job. They may have to work at their local Safeways and Borders' to pay their bills (and the student loans).

I have been working in Fort McMurray for the last 6 months and if the job market up here is any indicator of the overall provincial - and even national - economy, then there isn't much reason to be hopeful. Companies like Suncor and Syncrude have been laying off people lately and there is much more competition as an increasing number of migrants from Newfoundland and other eastern provinces make their way to the Oil Sands region.

Unless there is more investment in new projects from big corporations and until banks change their tight lending policies, the gap between the number of posted jobs and people looking for them will stay large. In fact, that gap may be the only thing that grows in the year 2010.