Something About News Tidbits

Alright, I know it's been a while since my last post, but I've finally found a couple of things to post about.

As most of my Canadian counterparts know, the Ontario Liberals just swept another provincial election. My political passion rests in the federal kind. I personally don't care about provincial politics. One thing that did catch my attention, and obviously a lot of peoples, was John Tory's proposal of provincially funded "faith-based" schools. It does make me scratch my head as to why those of the Catholic faith are able to enjoy government funded schools while all others are left in the cold. After graduating from a Christian elementary school as well as university you would think I would be all for the idea. The fact is that I don't support the idea of government funded faith-based schools. We all know that a government involved with funding faith-based schools will want to be involved in more ways than just financial support. I think the government should steer well clear of these schools. When the government is involved the schools will not be able to run it's programs they way they wish to.

Another thing that caught my attention was that of our precious penny. A new poll shows that 64 per cent of us wouldn't dig into the couch to salvage a coin that had fallen from our pockets. The federal government is trying decide whether they should ditch the penny or not. Well, they are very dirty and it costs almost 1 cent to produce each one. They way I see it, we should keep the penny not because of it's physical value but more for it's psychological value. Would you rather buy something for 99 cents or $1? That measly penny changes your perception of the products value. We can see the same result in things that cost $1.99 as apposed to $2, $1.49 as apposed to $1.50, etc. There will be a lot of price tags thrown in the garbage if the penny is taken out of circulation.

Another thing to consider about the penny is the matter of our sales tax. With the current sales tax in Ontario standing at %14 (GST+PST) surely we need at least a few of those pennies in our pockets. If you buy something for $1, the total will come to $1.14. If the penny is non-existent, how you pay/receive change for this purchase? The only way around it is if you do what the Koreans do and include the sales tax with each product. The price on the sticker is the price you pay the cashier. Simple as that.