Canada and the Health Care Debate

At a time in the United States where the Canadian health insurance system keeps getting invoked, here in Canada the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) have realized that they have a problem. Incoming CMA president Dr. Anne Doig agrees with that assessment.

"We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," Doing said in an interview. "We know that there must be change," she said. "We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands."

"(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now - if it keeps on going without change - is not sustainable," said Doig.

Remember that Canada's system has only to deal with 33.6 million people, while the United States current population is just over 300 million people. If Canada who has a population the tenth of the United States and is unable to keep their system running - what does that say for the U.S. if it changes to a Canadian style health care program?

Obama's Senior Moment (8/14/09)

Medicare for All Isn't the Answer (8/13/09)

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare (8/11/09)

Memo: Dissent is no Longer Patriotic

Did everyone get that memo last week? It's official. Dissent is no longer your patriotic duty as an American. Yes, it's true.

For eight years it was a liberal's official patriotic duty to dissent... dissent which included a full length movie about the murder of President George W. Bush, of posters equating Bush with Hitler and the Nazis, of calling our soldiers' actions in Gitmo comparable to what could "have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others..." And here we are now, in 2009, it is no longer patriotic to criticize the president or his policies.

It's no longer patriotic to concern ourselves with policies that are inherently destructive to the American way of life. While it seems that dissent and discontent are good for the goose, it is not good for the gander. In fact, if one disagrees with the current President and his Democrats... you will be de-legitimized and possibly sent to the hospital.

After years of calling conservatives Nazis, it seems that the Democrats have accustomed themselves to using this type of language. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi accused those who oppose the House health care bill of "carrying swastikas and symbols like that" to town hall meetings... in effect calling those protestors Nazis. She and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) went on to call their criticisms "un-American". John Dingell (D-MI) has picked up the ball and said that the protestors remind him of the Ku Klux Klan... so in other words... protestors are racists.

Anyone who disagrees with the Obama healthcare plan is now a racist or a Nazi. Democratic officials determined to have "talks" with their constituents (many who are Democrats themselves) are bringing with them muscle to make sure their message is heard. SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is being used as the muscle. We see the results. Kenneth Gladney's attorney writes a letter describing the treatment that Mr. Gladney received at a St. Louis town hall meeting as a black conservative.

I am Kenneth Gladney’s attorney. Kenneth was attacked on the evening of August 6, 2009 at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall meeting in South St. Louis County. I was at the town hall meeting as well and witnessed the events leading up to the attack of Kenneth. Kenneth was approached by an SEIU representative as Kenneth was handing out “Don’t Tread on Me” flags to other conservatives. The SEIU representative demanded to know why a black man was handing out these flags. The SEIU member used a racial slur against Kenneth, then punched him in the face. Kenneth fell to the ground. Another SEIU member yelled racial epithets at Kenneth as he kicked him in the head and back. Kenneth was also brutally attacked by one other male SEIU member and an unidentified woman. The three men were clearly SEIU members, as they were wearing T-shirts with the SEIU logo.

Kenneth was beaten badly. One assailant fled on foot; three others were arrested. Kenneth was admitted to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center emergency room, where he was treated for his numerous injuries. Kenneth was merely expressing his freedom of speech by handing out the flags. In fact, he merely asked people as they exited the town hall meeting whether they would like a flag. He in no way provoked any argument or altercation, as evidenced by the fact that three assailants were arrested.

[Here is the video of this attack.]

Is this what we can expect? Violence, threats and de-legitimization of our concerns? Time to re-write that First Amendment protecting our right to free speech and assembly. Keep checking your in-box for that memo.

More about this by Dennis Prager.

A Photo is Worth More than a Thousand Words

Barack Obama striding ahead trying to look Presidential, while ignoring the "stupid" white officer, Sergeant Crowley, helping the wonderful Professor Gates down the stairs.

Compare this to President George W. Bush, who took the time to help Senator Byrd.

Sometimes the Office doesn't make the Man.

Worthwhile reading - take a look at this article.

Welcome to Obama-Care!

This is what Obama-Care is going to do to New Yorkers. Very scary.

Investor's Business Daily has also discovered that Obama-Care is going to outlaw private medical insurance as well.

We must not let this happen. Obama-Care will destroy our health care system.

Good Morning... Have Something to Read

The Mystery of Sarah Palin - Feminists and Sarah Palin

Now They Tell us about His Pipe Dream - New York Times finally does a background check on Barack Obama.

Obama is in Russia, but Honduras is Where the Action Is - Prager on the real situation in Honduras

Michael Jackson and the Clueless Media

On a day where there's non-stop coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial everywhere you may turn, I found a silver lining to all of it. The American People are not as enthralled with Jackson as the media seems to think.

In the non-scientific poll on cnn.com at the time of this writing (11:50am) the question posed is this:

How will you watch coverage of Michael Jackson memorial?

The fascinating fact is that an overwhelming majority will not be watching coverage of the memorial.

The results are:

TV 13% 18895
Web 10% 14792
Not watching 78% 117370

Total Votes: 151057

While this is not a scientific poll, it once again shows us all how disconnected the media really is from reality. No surprises there.

Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall

"Don't you think you'd be safer down on the ground?"

"What tremendously easy riddles you ask!" Humpty Dumpty growled out. "Of course I don't think so! Why, if ever I did fall off - which there's no chance of - but if I did ---" Here he pursed up his lips, and looked so solemn and grand that Alice could hardly help laughing. "If I did fall," he went on, "the King has promised me - ah, you may turn pale, if you like! You didn't think I was going to say that, did you? The King has promised me - with his very own mouth - to - to ---"

"To send all his horses and all his men," Alice interrupted...

Some have wondered why I have a quote from Alice's Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll on the sidebar of my blog. We all know the story, as does Alice. While walking through the woods and meeting all sorts of strange characters, Alice happens upon an egg sitting precariously on top of high wall and has the discussion we see above.

It's a fascinating encounter. Humpty Dumpty obviously knows that he's doing something dangerous. Despite his protest that "there's no chance" of him falling off, he tells us that he has a promise from the King Himself that he'll send all his horses and all his men... to presumably put him back together again. And we know... that all the kings horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty back together again.

It's not so much the end result that should concern us - that Humpty lay in pieces - but in the trust that he has in the King and His promises. Since the King has promised him therefore Humpty goes on to live his life in a dangerous, self-destructive way. He no longer has to take personal responsibility for his actions. The King's promises will protect him.

The lack of personal responsibility resounds all around us with headlines such as "Why Do We Overeat? Author Blames Fat, Sugar, Salt", or McDonald Sued for Making Kids Fat, and why we're blessed with warnings on coffee cups telling us that the coffee may be hot and pictures on hairdryers with a line drawn through water. Duh, you think?!

Self-destructive behavior is rampant whether we realize it or not. Do we really need government to save us? Are we as naive as Humpty Dumpty that the King Himself will come to our defense? Perhaps.

President Obama has surrounded himself with czars.

There's a drug czar, a U.S. border czar, an urban czar, a regulatory czar, a stimulus accountability czar, an Iran czar, a Middle East czar, and a czar for both Afghanistan and Pakistan, which in Washington-speak has been lumped together into a policy area called Af-Pak.

There are upward of 20 such top officials, all with lengthy official titles but known in the media as czars, and next week there will be one more, when Obama appoints a czar for cyber-security who will be charged with improving the security of computer networks.

And let's not forget our newest czar... the domestic violence czar. No, she won't be beating on Obama when she's upset, rather she is there to remind us that domestic violence is a serious issue. Great, we don't know that it's a serious issue that we need to create a new government job to "remind us"?

Why is Obama establishing jobs for people whose jobs are already being done by others? A drug czar... aren't the police and ATF dealing with that? What about the border czar? Can we say... border patrol? What the heck is an "urban czar"? Iran/Middle East/Afghanistan/Pakistan czars... I'm sorry, I thought that was the State Department's territory. I'm sure I'm not the only one confused, but wait there's also the health czar... I wonder if they'll start regulating what we are allowed to eat. Oh, my mistake - government already does that.

Don't worry everyone - government is here to save us from ourselves through the duplication of high paying government jobs and the destruction of personal responsibility. Don't worry about eating unhealthy foods... government will prevent restaurants from serving you transfats rather than you having to think about what you're putting in your mouth. Government is here to make your life smooth without bumps and without thinking or taking responsibility for your actions. Don't worry about a thing... I have the King's Word Himself that He'll take care of you.

Happy July 4th!

The Star-Spangled Banner

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Plastic-bag initiative fails to catch on (National Post, 30 Jun 2009, Page A5)

---

Plastic-bag initiative fails to catch on
BY SHANNON KARI
National Post
30 Jun 2009

A month after Toronto enacted a bylaw that forces businesses to charge customers 5� per pastic bag, other Canadian cities seem disinclined to follow suit, yet the measure continues to generate controversy. Calgary and Hamilton have rejected similar...read more...

Tech Tags: National Post newspaper CANADA

Here in Toronto we recently had the Ontario provincial government decide to make all businesses charge customers 5 cents for each plastic bag needed. The idea was to push people into bringing their own bags with them and reducing the number of plastic bags out there. I was very upset the day that I found out about this new tax. Other customers were not impressed either.

One woman I spoke to wanted to know where the new money was going - to the government or to the businesses? It seems that the money is going to the businesses. What's interesting is that some of the larger businesses are donating some or all of this new new money to charitable causes. This is a fascinating twist - business using a tax as a promotional tool... clever.

It seems that other provinces were thinking about forcing this new tax on businesses and according to the article above, it isn't going well at all. What's even better is that there are those here in Ontario who may be taking the government to task and trying to find this tax unconstitutional and an imposition on business practices. I welcome such action.

I understand that the government is trying to limit the amount of plastic floating around the streets - however - there has to be a better way to do it. Placing a tax on individuals is uncomfortable for businesses who actually have to collect... and makes shoppers unhappy that during this time of penny-pinching they're being taxed once again.

Happy Canada Day! Eh!

Canada has a tremendous history fighting for freedom around the world. Canadians have a lot to be proud of.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And since it is Canada... here's the anthem in French.

Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Happy Canada Day!

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New Beginnings for the Middle East

Last week President B. Hussein Obama visited the King of Arabia prior to the now-famous Cairo speech. The King clarified for President B. Hussein what was on his mind. A settlement of the "Palestinian" problem.

King Abdullah told Obama during his visit to Riyadh last week that Arab patience was wearing thin and that a solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict would be the "magic key" to all issues in the region, al-Hayat said, quoting what it called informed sources.

"We want from you a serious participation to solve the Palestinian issue and impose the solution if necessary," the Saudi monarch told Obama, according to the paper, which is owned by a nephew of the monarch. It did not elaborate.

"...impose the solution if necessary." These five words sounded a loud alarm in head and sent me into my own archives where I found a similar quote regarding the "Palestinian" issue by an Obama advisor, Samantha Power.

Unfortunately, imposition of a solution on unwilling parties is dreadful. It's a terrible thing to do, it's fundamentally undemocratic …. And, unfortunately, it does require external intervention, which, very much like the Rwanda scenario, that thought experiment, if we had intervened early.... Any intervention is going to come under fierce criticism.

Never mind the Rwanda comparison... or the Holocaust comparison made by President B. Hussein just the other day.

Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust... Six million Jews were killed -- more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today....On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they've endured the pain of dislocation.

Yes, because "dislocation" and "Holocaust" sound so much alike - the murder of 6 million innocents on one hand and the "dislocation" of people who chose not to become part of Israeli society when given the choice, and left to rot by their Arab brethren in the surrounding countries on the other. Gosh, that's a close comparison when I think of it.

"Dislocation" is when 900,000 Jews are thrown out of their homes of 3000 years without a penny to their name - billions stolen from them by their Arab governments. Dislocation is when the last Jews of Yemen are forced to leave their homes due to threats on their lives and property. Dislocation is in no way comparable to mass murder. It is obnoxious and minimizes what was done to the Jews by the Nazis. It also minimizes the sacrifices that the American People made to free Europe from totalitarian rule only 65 years ago.

President B. Hussein has named his Cairo speech "A New Beginning". What kind of new "beginning" is this? A beginning without moral clarity?

When the King of Arabia starts to sound like Obama advisors... it's time for all Americans to wonder about this "new beginning" and what it means for Israel and our Middle East policies.