The Violence Worker!

The Logical Result Of Government Health Care

Nothing is free and that includes healthcare.  Someone pays for it and when you start running out of someones, you are going to have to start cutting back.  Canadian baby boomers are starting to consume more and more of the available resources and there are less and less younger people to pay for it.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Pressured by an aging population and the need to rein in budget deficits, Canada's provinces are taking tough measures to curb healthcare costs, a trend that could erode the principles of the popular state-funded system.

Ontario, Canada's most populous province, kicked off a fierce battle with drug companies and pharmacies when it said earlier this year it would halve generic drug prices and eliminate "incentive fees" to generic drug manufacturers.

British Columbia is replacing block grants to hospitals with fee-for-procedure payments and Quebec has a new flat health tax and a proposal for payments on each medical visit -- an idea that critics say is an illegal user fee.

Simply put, Canada can no longer afford their healthcare system.  When I was in Ontario a few years back, it was in the news that people who moved to a new area often  had to wait two or more years before they could be assigned a primary care physician.  Outside of the southern cities, there are few doctors.  If you live in the less populated areas, you might get lucky to see a nurse for routine care.

And despite what some would have you believe here in the states, Canada Care does not cover everything.  There was a radio host on a local radi0o station in Belleville, Ontario whose son had cancer.  They were advertising fundraisers  to pay for his care

Scotia Capital's [Senior Economist Mary] Webb said one cost-saving idea may be to make patients aware of how much it costs each time they visit a healthcare professional. "(The public) will use the services more wisely if they know how much it's costing," she said.

"If it's absolutely free with no information on the cost and the information of an alternative that would be have been more practical, then how can we expect the public to wisely use the service?"

They won't care - to them, it's still free.  You might hear, "Gee, that's a lot of money, but that's what it's there for.  If I don't use it someone else will."  I guarantee you that such a an idea will do little to stem the costs.

Eventually, the logical result will be a system that collapses on top of itself because the costs.  This is why Government Healthcare will not work - for long.

VW

Socialized Suds - Coming To The USA?

Beer in some Canadian provinces is so controlled, you cannot just go to the local convenience mart and pick up a sixer.  In Ontario, for instance, you can only buy beer at either the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) or at a Beer Store.   The least expensive 12 pack will set you back about 14 bucks - cheaper if it's on sale.  Most are around 15 or 16 - give or take.

In New Brunswick, a 12 pack will sat you back 21 dollars or more.  A 12 pack of cans in Quebec, next door to New Brunswick, will set you back about 11 bucks or almost half of of NB's set price.  Needless to say, thirsty NBers trek to Quebec and stock up on their favorite brews.

This means that NB Liquor (the government alcohol stores in NB) figures they are losing about 12 million dollars a year to Quebec.  To combat this, NB is going to sell their own, government owned brand of suds (Called "Selection") for the low, low, price of just 18.67 for 12 cans.  Since everybody else must sell their beer for about two and half dollars more as a minimum, the government thinks they can recoup some of that money.

And why is beer so pricey in New Brunswick you ask?

New Brunswick's policy of socially responsible pricing means that the lowest allowable price for 12 cans is $18.67. That policy is designed to set a floor price for beer in the belief that any lower prices would lead people to buy too much and develop drinking problems.

What you have here is a state made beer, priced to undersell commercial brewers.  Social engineering by price control.  You know of course, that that beer could probably be sold for a profit at half that cost, but the myriad of Canadian taxes puts the cost out of reach of people of more modest means.

Could something like this be coming to a 7-11 near you?

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More Devaluation

It seems that everything is losing its value these days.  Your 401k is probably looking more like a  200.5e and your bank account has more cobwebs than cash.  The economy, once humming along like a well oiled machine, is grinding gears and sputtering to a halt. 

There's one other thing that lost value this week, although it didn't make the financial times.  The life of a white male was deemed to be worth less then any other type of human.  What's even a little surprising is that it was a committee mostly comprised  mostly of white people of Anglo-Saxon descent.   Canada has some indigenous people and the larger cities have minority populations, but by and large, the place is lily white.

From the Vancouver (Canada) Sun:

OTTAWA - The Carleton University Students' Association has voted to drop a cystic fibrosis charity as the beneficiary of its annual Shinearama fundraiser, supporting a motion that argued the disease is not "inclusive" enough.

Cystic fibrosis "has been recently revealed to only affect white people, and primarily men" said the motion read Monday night to student councillors, who voted almost unanimously in favour of it. The decision caused heated reaction and left at least one member of council calling for a new vote.

So my life is now worth less than others if I have cystic fibrosis according to these idiots.   The problem is that the idea that it is primarily a "White Man's Disease". 

The rationale for dropping cystic fibrosis as the beneficiary is not correct, [Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation chief executive Cathleen Morrison] said. CF is diagnosed just as often among girls as boys, although the health of girls deteriorates more rapidly, she said. It is commonly considered an illness that affects Caucasians, but that includes people from the Middle East, South America, North Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

" 'Caucasian' as we understand it isn't just white people," said Morrison. "It includes people with a whole rainbow of skins."

To base your decision on giving to a good caused based upon ethnicity or gender is just another form of bigotry.  That's like someone saying they won't give money to help sickle cell anemia because it isn't inclusive enough.  It affects mostly people of sub-Saharan ancestry.

It's bigotry. It's devaluing human life.  It's an example of liberal, elitist behavior.

VW

Canada Day

Happy Canada Day to our friends and allies in the Great White North!

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(I was going to post this earlier, but it's been a busy, busy day!)

Thank You Canada!

(CNN) -- A U.S. soldier who deserted to Canada will not face persecution if he returns to the United States, Canada's refugee agency ruled Wednesday.

National Guard Sgt. Corey Glass, 25, says he fled to Toronto in 2006 after serving in Iraq because he did not want to fight in a war he did not support.

"What I saw in Iraq convinced me that the war is illegal and immoral. I could not in good conscience continue to take part in it," Glass said Wednesday. "I don't think it's fair that I should be punished for doing what I felt morally obligated to do."

Glass, who's still on active duty and is considered absent without leave, applied for refugee status at the Canadian border in August 2006 on the grounds of objection to military service.

But Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board denied his application for refugee status Wednesday, prompting the Canadian Border Services Agency to issue a June 12 deportation order.

Welcome home, asshat!  And hopefully you'll get to at least one year of hard time for every month you were in Canada to think about the ones who did go and the guy they had to send to replace you. 

But you won't think about them, you selfish bastard.  You'll whine and cry about how you are being mistreated.

I don't care, so long as you are behind bars.

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Ready To Go Home

Thursday, I fly back to Tacoma after spending another two months in the Belleville/Trenton area of Ontario. It's been a good trip and as the case last summer, I met a lot of great people and got a chance to renew some friendships from my last trip. I don't know if I'll be back.  If Ottawa decides to keep us for another year, I'm sure I'll be back for another two month stint.  Who knows?

In any case, I thought I'd upload a couple of short videos to give you a small idea of what the local area looks like. This first one is taken from on top of Mount Pelion in Trenton. It's actually a big hill. Here is a picture of the sign explaining it's existence.

Essentially, it says that the hill was caused by a receding glacier.  It's a type of hill called a "drumlin".

This is the first video.  Sorry for the rumbling sound.  It was a little windy today.

What I described as a hospital was actually an apartment building. The hospital is the old brown building below it.

The next video was taken from the middle of the Belleville Bay Bridge pictured below. I walked from where I parked my car (where I was standing when I took this picture) up to the middle of the bridge. Again, it was a little windy so you get the rumble of the wind.

Here is the video:

And here is a shot of the Moira River as it runs through Downtown Belleville.

The level is down from last week. They were afraid it would flood out the northern part of the city. Last summer when I was here, you could have walked across this river from where I am standing.

It's been a good trip, we got a lot of work done and I'm ready to come home.

VW

The Dalai Obama?

Every morning here at my hotel, I get a copy of the Toronto Globe and Mail at my door.  Most of the time, it ends up in the recycle basket over by the TV.  This morning, on the top fold on the front page were large color pictures of the Dalai Lama and Barack Obama side by side underneath the headline, "TOUGH WORDS, TRYING TIMES" with large print quotes underneath. They have it on their web page but it is isn't on the main page so I took a picture of my copy.

It would seem that our Canadian friends are trying to put the Dalai Lama and Obama on the same pedestal. 

Of Course, the Canadians are salivating at the thought of an Obama Presidency.

I do have a suggestion.  If The Dalai Lama quits and Obama loses to Hillary, maybe Obama could apply for the Dalai Lama job!

VW

It's In The Star

In the Toronto Star today, I read a column filed by one Isabel Teotonio concerning "justice" for terrorists.  Ms. Teotonio is was in Guantanamo attending a trial for some Jihadis.  To say that she is sympathetic with these murderous bastards is a bit of an understatement with her pro-terrorist rant  but she is either deliberately misleading or very uninformed.   Here's the relevant parts:

For a reporter more accustomed to trekking out to a Brampton court to cover the trial of the so-called Toronto 18, this maiden voyage to Guantanamo highlights some differences in Canada's and America's war on terror. Or, at least, the war waged in the courts against those charged with terrorism. (emphasis added)

In Brampton, it's primarily relatives of the accused who fill the court's body. Many take notes during the pre-trial hearings against those arrested as part of a massive police sweep on June 2, 2006, which netted 18 men and youths. Even the accused, who speak English and seem engaged, scribble notes for their lawyers.

The men, who are all Canadian citizens or have lived there since they were young, are accused of plotting to bomb the Toronto Stock Exchange and Toronto offices of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Do you see what she is doing here?  She is telling you that in Canada, terrorists have rights because they have access to the courts.  I think she is deliberately trying to mislead her readers.  Surely, as a journalist, she would know that statement is not entirely true. 

The terrorists in the courtroom in Brampton are Canadian residents caught in Canada for acts the planned to do in Canada.  The terrorists in Guantanamo are enemy combatants captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Suspected terrorists caught in the United States are held in US jails and given access to US courts.  They are not sent to Guantanamo. 

Ms. Teotonio's leftist ideology does not let her print the facts.  She must paint the US as some kind of rogue state that would send its citizens to off shore prisons.

Another thing that should tell you her slant is that if Gitmo was such a horrible place, she would not be allowed anywhere near the base, let alone be allowed to witness a trial.

Ms. Teotonio is no real journalist.  She is a left-wing ideologue with access to a major North American Newspaper where she allowed to spread her purposeful disinformation.

VW