Things I learned lately 22 Nov

• TicketMaster's anti-scalping online sales measures don't hurt scalpers, they help them, while screwing regular folks. 
• Desert sand is largely useless to us. The overwhelming bulk of the sand we harvest goes to make concrete, and for that purpose, desert sand grains are the wrong shape. Eroded by wind rather than water, they are too smooth and rounded to lock together to form stable concrete. The sand we need is the more angular stuff found in the beds, banks, and floodplains of rivers, as well as in lakes and on the seashore. 
• Almost 22% of Canadian residents were not born in Canada, but not all of these people are immigrants. Some are people living here on student, spousal and working visas.
• For the most part, skilled worker visas are given to people in professions that are severely under-filled in our work force.
• Foreign students help fund our schools, as they pay a lot more than a Canadian would. 
• Foreign students are also typically funded by their wealthy parents back in their home countries, meaning they're unlikely to be taking any of our jobs while in school.
• From an economic point of view, post-secondary education is a Canadian export.
• The down side to foreign students is that their wealthy parents typically buy a residence for their student children which drives the real estate market up as seen in Vancouver.