Thursday 30 September 2010

Working in Ottawa today --A deluge of prostitution

Good morning folks,

I will be working in Ottawa today

Things that I heard today:

"The sound of Dolphins laughing is the happiest sound on earth"

"50 smiles a day is therapeutic, but 90 will make you go insane"

I think the person that said it recently ate a morsel of a particular fungal variety.

..Read today:

In the Globe and mail, ".. effects of a landmark ruling that decriminalized prostitution in Ontario.. ..neighborhoods fortifying to fend off a possible deluge of sex-trade workers.."

Well, the reporter could have reported what the ruling actually was instead of being misleading.

Prostitution was not and is not illegal in Ontario nor Canada for that matter.  The ruling was in regard to Communicating for purposes of, Living off the avails of, and Operating a common bawdy house.

On to the worry of neighborhoods facing a deluge of sex-trade workers,  I doubt that this ruling will increase demand for such services nor do I think that more women will choose that particular career path, since the remote threat of arrest for communicating likely not what dissuades.  Moreover, having sex in public remains illegal, for professionals or the amateur.

What it may result in is a whole new bureaucracy, a growth not in prostitution but rather in prostitution registration and audit specialists.  Perhaps the unemployed PST auditors can be brought back to work.

Be sure to look for new certificate programmes at Sheridan College this fall.


Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld -- Envoyé de mon sans fil portatif BlackBerry

Thursday 16 September 2010

Working in Ottawa today --Engineering Terrorists



Good morning folks,

I will be working in Ottawa today.

On the terrorism front, a curious footnote: Of the hundreds of individuals involved in political violence, nearly half of those with degrees have been engineers. This finding, first published in 2008, has been substantiated by two years of additional research by Oxford sociologist Diego Gambetta and political scientist Steffen Hertog, of the London School of Economics.

Interesting, a London School of Engineering study determined that the other half with degrees were in the field of economics :)

Have a good day, watch out for men wearing pocket liners and carrying sliderules.


Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld -- Envoyé de mon sans fil portatif BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Puckett
Sent: Mon Sep 13 16:44:34 2010
Subject: Away tomorrow

Hi Folks,

May 18 of this year I told you that I was taking a day off to play a round of golf.

Tomorrow I am doing it again.

Monday 6 September 2010

Ontario's non-unionized nurses

I just read in the Mississauga News http://www.mississauga.com/news/news/article/868525 that the province's non-unionized nurses are steamed that they are not getting the same increases in wages as the provinces unionized nurses.  As I understand it, the province has about 50,000 nurses that are members of the Ontario Nurses’ Association union and there are several thousand nurses that are not unionized working at non-union hospitals, 2000 at Mississauga's Trillium hospital for example.

This sounds like a 'no - duh' moment for the non-unionized workers (NUWs).  I find it a bit incredulous that these NUWs honestly believe that management has any obligation to bestow upon the NUWs the contract provisions negotiated by their unionized bretheren.  There is but one way to enjoy the protection of the union, join, pay your dues, and participate.

One must ask, "why would my employer pay me a fair wage?"
Here are the only reasons I could think of at 11:30 P.M.

High employment demand, low availability of workers;
Retain specialized employees from external recruitment;
Reduce likelihood of staff to organize (that means to unionize);
Contractually bound to a contract, union or otherwise;
To prevent job action (that means to go on strike).

There is no other legitimate reason of which I can think.  The 'high moral fibre' argument that you might be thinking of, where management recognizes the value of the individual and pays fairly because it is the right thing to do, actually does not exist.  It cannot exist in a corporate/capitalist system.  As a vice president/director I cannot pay employees more than the market dictates as I have a first obligation to the shareholders of the corporation.  It would be unethical to pay more in wages than the market dictates, if I did so, I would be using shareholder funds for my own use, for my own agenda.

The province will not pay the non-unionized workers any more than it needs to based on the above 4 reasons, they will not get the 3% increase because the province has no compelling reason to pay it.  The unionized nurses will get it because they locked the province into a contract no doubt under the threat of walk out.  The province has weighed the risks and alternatives and determined that the NUWs are too comfortable to shell out for union dues and actually join a union or to organize a non-union walk out;  they are too comfortable to seek employment elsewhere; and we already know, they have no contract.

It sounds like to me that the province has set the market value. 

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Working in Ottawa today --Dr. Evil

Same same.
'cept the part about the hand gestures.
So India's Home Secretary G.K. Pillai (like our Deputy Minister) is worried, very worried, that para-gliding terrorists will attack the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Did I mention para-gliding?  If memory serves me correct, these are rectangular parachutes about 4 times wider than a minivan.  So if someone was going to attack you from the air riding one of these, you should be able to see them coming almost 10 minutes away.
Now granted that is not enough time to order a pizza or samosas but it should be enough time to take defensive action.  
Perhaps security forces flying motorized ultra-lights ala James Bond style?
Have a good day, watch out for Dr. Evil.

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld -- Envoyé de mon sans fil portatif BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Puckett
Sent: Thu Aug 26 09:35:54 2010
Subject: Working in Ottawa today
Good morning folks,
I will be working in Ottawa today.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld -- Envoyé de mon sans fil portatif BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Puckett
Sent: Thu Aug 12 07:58:51 2010
Subject: Working in Ottawa today
This email contains 60% recycled material.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld -- Envoyé de mon sans fil portatif BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Puckett
Sent: Thu Aug 05 09:24:43 2010
Subject: Working in Ottawa today
Hi folks,
Working in Ottawa today.
Cell, email, hand gestures, vocal utterances and strong telepathic signalling should all work.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld -- Envoyé de mon sans fil portatif BlackBerry