The Fiscal Cliff may affect EVERYONE (Final Blog)

 Hey people, so I been having this post on my drafts for quite some time so might as well post it as my last blog. The U.S economy has been fluctuating for over a decade, and is facing the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling and several challenges for future investments. Instead of reforming and investing to improve the economy, the United States is taxing and cutting. American will have to pay double the tax they pay now, people who have a larger income will pay even more tax than before.  This means Americans will spend less. The United States must achieve some fiscal stability before they undergo a major downfall in the economy. The Federal government spends and wastes tons of money; today most of that budget goes towards entitlements and physical, human capital to boost the economy. Investing towards human and physical capital will ensure a healthy future for the economy. One the main reasons towards this downfall is the decline in investments towards important capitals such as the federal aviation system. The United States must upgrade all utilities in order for the system to run faster and more proficiently and therefore benefit the economy. Though it is more than just the economy, there is also a war between the Republicans and the Democrats for both parties disagree about this issue. The Obama Administration plans to stabilize this long term debt as well as making investments for the future. America does not plan to end up like Japan, the third richest country with a declining GDP and no future ahead.

          If this Fiscal Cliff towards the USA continues to get worse, it will have a large negative impact on the entire economy. It will affect USA’s largest trading partner and neighbor Canada. As well as the entire world, all countries would be under a major recession. Recession means more expenses; citizens will have to pay more for goods. Their will be a limited amount of services and the unemployment rates will decrease drastically. This recession will not only affect businesses but will negatively influence the life of many citizens. Whatever happens to the US, affects the entire world, whether that’s negative or positive. To overcome the recession the US had to find ways to stabilize the economy by all means possible. This means cutting, reducing taxes and increasing employment rates. Therefore citizens can pay less for taxes and purchase more goods.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1310649--fiscal-cliff-hysteria-obscured-the-real-u-s-crisis

Here is a video which really explains what is going on, this is kind of a difficult subject to digest though its really happening to the US which may also have an affect towards us here at home in the near future.

Future of the Pig Industry in Canada

I know we all love bacon…….like seriously who doesn’t……..And hopefully after this post you will continue to eat pork or not :S if not sorry……

As you may or may not know Canada is the third largest pork exporter in the world. Though not even half of us know how the pork is available in our supermarkets. Investigation director, Twyla Francois from Mercy for Animals Canada reveals a secretly shot video of the behind the scenes. The way pigs are treated in a Sow farm owned by a major Manitoba Pork Producer, Puratone. The video reveals gruesome scenes of pigs being harmed. Almost every year thousands of pigs are slaughtered and castrated. Consumers who saw this video were devastated, even piglets endured sever pain due to fattening. Animal Abuse or more specifically cattle abuse continues to occur in Canada unpunished. When investigators interviewed a few staff and employees working in this sow farm, they claim that castration, confinement and the use of bolt guns are standard across Canada. Canada’s producers are certainly shocked and disappointed, they agree that standards are in need of instant change, though it would cost more money for new and improved methods to take into action. Money which Canada does not have at this moment.

On Nov 20, the National Form Animal Care Council says they will set new farm standards, though the whole industry may face a financial crisis, and even loose business. Many sow farms state “Low-cost, meat production cannot be made pretty, it has a huge price to pay.” Some consumers are okay with this fact, they only care about the profit and another half of consumers are devastated. Currently Maple Leaf foods are in the process of taking over the Puratone Corporation facilities for it is the only hope for change. I did not post a link, due to the fact that the video included is way to gruesome (even I myself only watched 5 minutes of it and it was horrible, for those who may be interested you may refer to the Toronto Sun or CTV news website.) I believe the Pork industry should spend those extra bucks to slaughter pigs with humane considerations. I know this is going to have a huge negative impact for the pork industry in Canada. Many Meat consumers have started to boycott and question the industry. Consumers may stop buying pork due to improper treatment of cattle and many other accusations and complaints will occur. Even animal rights groups have started to boycott the company and demand grocers to stop buying meat from hog farms which mistreat pigs. In this situation, I think that there is only two options, either the company educate and convince people it is the cheapest and easiest system to produce meat or the company will have to change the current procedures.

So what do u girls and guys think?

How is the Pork industry going to be affected due to the cruelty of pigs?

Will they loose business? Or will they come up with a clever strategy to overcome?

Please give me your opinion on this matter

"This time of year sounds good for our economy"

Last month, the Canadian and U.S economies decreased unemployment rates especially among youths fell by 0.7% The Canadian economy has become strong lately. Employers in Canada added 59, 000 new workers to their job markets which also included youths aged 15 to 24. Numerous job opportunities were available for retail, wholesale trade, professional, scientific and technical services as well as agriculture. These jobs were offered in full-time and well-paid. This was good news for many unemployed individuals especially coming closer to this time of year, where money is essential. As for America, job growth exceeded the market expectation of 85, 000 and according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics this increased in retail trade, professional services, business services and health care.

As this may seem like good news for the economy, according to Capital Economist David Madani, “this will be reversed in the next few months or so” According to David Madani this sort of decrease in unemployment rates is not as significant. For in a few more years the new generation is going to suffer tremendously to find a job. As he says there are many young educated individuals out there who are jobless. With today’s increasing unemployment rates it will become nearly impossible to find or cope with a job for many years to come. Governments have to develop new strategies to reduce unemployment. For we all know that young workers are among the best educated in our national history.

Sadly Job prospects are still insufferably poor; at least the economy is strong for the holidays. Hopefully the job market will turn around in the next few years or at least by the time we all need a job. Sadly I don’t think it will change anytime soon.

Give me your input? What do you all think will happen in the Job market in the near future? What do you think will happen to the Canadian and American economy?

Most of my information is from this article: http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1299294--canadian-and-u-s-economies-experience-job-growth

Haircut turns into the battle over Human Rights

“For me it was just a haircut and started out about me being women. Now we’re talking about religion versus gender versus human rights and business in Ontario.” said McGregor.

        So I was looking through the newspaper to find some interesting story to share for this week’s blog post when I came across this article. Here is a very brief summary: A woman named Faith McGregor wanted to get a haircut, she walks into a Barber shop on Bay St. She asks the Barber to cut her hair, but the barber denies her request due to his religion. This Barbershop does not do haircuts for Women, mainly because of their religion. As Co-Owner Omar Mahrouk states “in his Muslim faith, he is prohibited to touch a women who is not related to him.” As a customer McGregor was insulted she felt like a “second class citizen” so she filed a complaint with the human right tribunal of Ontario. So far this case didn’t seem like a big issue in the court room, currently they are thinking of a negotiation. We have to look at this article at two different viewpoints. In the customer’s point of view she should have the right to cut her hair anywhere she wants in Canada, it is a free country. However did she have to make it a big issue if that wasn’t the case? In the case of the Barber he was Muslim, though should he be mixing his religious values with his business practices? He is losing customers, which could affect his business.

Here is a video:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/11/15/toronto-haircut-mcgregor.html

So can you or should you mix religion with business? In my opinion it depends on the area in which you decide to operate your business. For example a well known grocery store is no-frills. Depending on the area the products in no-frills change according to customer demand. At steels and Markham area the larger ethnic group is Asian so the store leans towards selling ethnic dishes whereas in port union and Lawrence road the larger group is Caucasian people so it wouldn’t be a good idea to sell many spicy, Asian ethnic dishes. In a multicultural country like Canada it is not good idea to sell a product which is of value to only one group of people or one type of religion it should be available and meet the needs of all people in Canada. Another example is the global leader in the beverage industry Coca cola. Coca cola is sold around the world but could be modified depending on the region. In Saudi Arabia they sell coke and it is known as Mecca Cola named after the holiest city in Islam. Selling a drink named as such in Saudi Arabia is appropriate and good for profit however in a mixed or international society like Canada that would not be a good marketing technique since the main ethnic group is not Muslim.

In my opinion it is not a good idea to mix religion and business especially in a society which consist of a diverse population. Once again it depends where you plan to conduct the business; you must obtain knowledge of your surroundings before making or selling any products.

So what do guys think?              

I actually got this article from the Toronto Star Newspaper but here is another link, in case anyone wants to read in depth about the article

 (I doubt it:)

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/human-rights-collide-woman-files-complaint-against-muslim-170208719.html
 

Iran’s Nuclear Bomb

 

 This news is quiet old but it is still ongoing. Few weeks ago I heard on the news about Iran’s idea of making a nuclear bomb. This sparked my interest, so I asked my dad more about this issue and did some further research. Apparently Iran claims the nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes, for medicine and generating electricity. However countries around Iran fear they plan to attack Israel. Thus if Iran retaliates this might elevate a world war. Iran’s nuclear program has made a great progress in its uranium enrichment efforts. A recent report released by Institute for Science and International security showed estimates of Iran’s stockpiles of Uranium. To make any nuclear weapon a key component is uranium, and to make just one of these weapons you need a mass of 25 kg of this element. With this much progression Iran could produce enough WGU (weapons grade uranium) to make an atomic bomb within 10 months.

Western countries, the United States, the United Nations along with European Union are enforcing trade embargo’s and trade sanctions with Iran due to the countries refusal to stop nuclear enrichment. The governments will aim to penalize transactions with the central bank of Iran, medicines, aircraft parts and only continue oil related business transactions. As discussed in class a trade embargo is the banning of trade with a specific country or product, so that foreign governments in this case the Iranian government will change their decisions about the nuclear bomb. The international atomic energy agency has fear that they can not detect fast enough, since Iran is seeking the ability to produce many WGU. From 2006-2010 the UN Security Council had hit Iran hard with many trade sanctions. Some states fear that aggressive moves may cause retaliation. Some countries like China & Russia are reluctant towards supporting the UN sanctions, mainly because Iran is the major oil producing country. China and Russia do not want to loose that major trade resource instead they want to obtain as much oil as possible. This will become an international business issue if Iran decides to restrict oil trade with western countries. That would be a huge disaster!!!!

I think that there is a huge possibility that Iran will strike against Israel if they are planning to create an atom bomb. Israel should start preparing with the help of the U.S because it is possible that Iran will have a surprise break out. Sanctions are not enough to convince the Iranian government to halt their decisions. Western countries have been negotiating and making deals with Iran for a long time so I think it is time to change their approach, and possibly use a matter of force before things get out of hand. The only problem which makes many countries reluctant is oil. Iran does provide many countries with this important resource; so many countries do not want to loose this trade.  Though my question is that Iran is not the only country to make the nuclear bomb, so why do the major power countries discriminating against Iran? Or is it a question of is it in the wrong hands?

What do you guys/girls think?

    http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-could-make-a-nuclear-bomb-within-10-months-2012-10

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/more-sanctions-contemplated-as-un-chief-says-effects-felt-on-iranian-people/article4592193/

http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/secret-iran-nuclear-bomb-plant-expanding/

 http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iran/nuclear_program/index.html

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone is enjoying their Turkey

Here is a picture of  

Charlie Brown and Snoopy

And here is a video 

everyone over here is laughing hard......except for me :P