Taking Advantage of US Health Care

The Guelph Mercury reports today that the number of Ontario residents heading to the US for medical treatment is growing exponentially. A new report documents:

A 450 per cent increase in OHIP approvals for out-of-country care since the beginning of this decade, a period of explosive growth in new technologies and therapies not covered or available here. The province agreed to fund 2,110 procedures or treatments in 2001, and 11,775 last year.

Patient demand has created a new breed of health-system navigators, known as medical brokers, who find U.S. options for the growing number of Ontario patients who elect to pay for medical services south of the border themselves.

Medical brokers negotiate discount rates with U.S. centres to get Ontarians faster diagnostics, second opinions and surgery. Brokers say that for every patient sent south by the Ontario government, there may be up to 10 others who go — and pay — on their own.

It's easy to say we don't have a dog in America's internal fight over health care, but clearly we do. Ontarians are flocking to American hospitals because wait times are shorter, and technology is better. Both of those advantages exist because the private American system ensures both innovation and adequate resources. If the Americans socialize their system, we may no longer enjoy the same access to the best health care providers in the world.

Climate Shame

Can't believe I missed this story about leaked emails showing 'scientists' trying to spin and suppress data that contradicted the global warming thesis that has gotten politicians whipped up into a world wide frenzy. I always had a suspicion that we were being sold a faulty idea with the hype surrounding global warming, now I'm sure:

Hundreds of private e-mail messages and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university are causing a stir among global warming skeptics, who say they show that climate scientists conspired to overstate the case for a human influence on climate change.

The e-mail messages, attributed to prominent American and British climate researchers, include discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual comments — in some cases derisive — about specific people known for their skeptical views. Drafts of scientific papers and a photo collage that portrays climate skeptics on an ice floe were also among the hacked data, some of which dates back 13 years.

In one e-mail exchange, a scientist writes of using a statistical “trick” in a chart illustrating a recent sharp warming trend. In another, a scientist refers to climate skeptics as “idiots.”

Some skeptics asserted Friday that the correspondence revealed an effort to withhold scientific information. “This is not a smoking gun; this is a mushroom cloud,” said Patrick J. Michaels, a climatologist who has long faulted evidence pointing to human-driven warming and is criticized in the documents.

Some of the correspondence portrays the scientists as feeling under siege by the skeptics’ camp and worried that any stray comment or data glitch could be turned against them.

This is scary stuff. How many millions of dollars have been spent on fighting 'climate change'? How many people have been genuinely fearful of an imminent environmental disaster because of the one-sided coverage of climate data? Maybe the upcoming Copenhagen conference will finally provide an opportunity for an honest discussion about the data.

Then again, maybe not.

Set Phasers to Stun

My inner geek is yelling COOL!

Canadian researchers use `phaser' to stun worms.

The Food Post

Food is highly personal and we all need to eat something so it makes sense that it would be a hot topic. I just did a Google Blog search and found more than 71 million blog posts about food. Truth be told I'm pretty much fed up with people telling me what to eat, a few examples come immediately to mind.

Last night the lady cutting my hair said we shouldn't drink milk because we're the only animal in the world that drinks milk from another species or drinks it as an adult. Ugh - newsflash - we're not like 'other animals.' No other animals plant their own crops, raise their own livestock, or even trade different types of food. What silly logic.

Of course there are the militant vegans. Last week, the Globe and Mail gave front page coverage to that extremism in an article titled, "Is any meat OK to eat?" The article is full of bizarre assertions about animals such as, "We don't think it's right to create animals that can't reproduce sexually." The only animal I've heard of that doesn't reproduce on it's own is a donkey, and I've never seen that on a plate.

I think of my friend, affectionately known as French Fry because of her pretty clear food preference. Everyone seems to take an opportunity to make fun of her food choices, but she looks perfectly healthy to me. My only goal is to match calorie intake with usage close enough that I don't turn into a butterball. That seems to be working too.

I'm quite tired of the silliness and would prefer to be left alone to eat what I want. Unfortunately the debate seems to have been ranging for quite some time. But the good news is previous generations often figured it out.

The stoic philosopher Epictetus felt he had to address it saying, "Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you, and be silent." Sound advice there. More than 100 years ago Mark Twain made a similar observation, "Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside."

Even today there are people who get it. Max Fisher wrote earlier this year, "My mistake--and the mistake of anyone bothered by the diets of others--is placing an objective value judgment on what a person chooses to eat and not eat." Right on.

The most definitive answer to the question, "what should I eat?", probably comes from the Bible. St. Peter says:

I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' Acts 11:6-9

I won't argue with the Big Guy. Maybe I'll have a cheese burger for breakfast.

Remembering Our Soldiers

Happy Remembrance Day. This is really a beautiful song by Billy Ray Cyrus and I can't think of a better tribute today.



May God bless all our soldiers. If any of you are reading this today - Thank you for your service to us!

Godspeed Dr. Dobson

On Monday I heard Dr. James Dobson announcing his retirement from the Focus on the Family radio programs. It was a fluke that I was listening to the program at all; I rarely have the opportunity to listen, but when I do I often feel fed and encouraged by the episodes. Dr. Dobson has an exceptional gift at his ministry of helping families live faithfully, lovingly and successfully.

Focus on the Family Canada's press release is fitting noting, “Dr. Dobson’s impact on families in Canada has been profound. Over 26 years, he has left a rich and lasting legacy to Canadians through his books and radio broadcasts.”

That's true. If anything it's an understatement. Whether dealing with practical issues like building a stronger relationship with your spouse and raising godly children or somewhat more controversial responses to attacks on the family from same sex marriage to abortion, Dr. Dobson has always taken an orthodox Christian position and delivered it in an unassuming, deeply respectful way.

It's a testament to his leadership and faithfulness to God's call that he has been able to build such a strong organization and set it up for future success after he leaves the organization.

Godspeed Dr. Dobson, I'm sure whatever you do next will also bear much fruit.

Not the Time for All Day Kindergarten

Moira MacDonald is spot on with her commentary in the Toronto Sun noting that:

The decision by the McGuinty Liberal government to not only plunge ahead with all-day kindergarten, but add $500 million to its previous $1-billion cost by opting for a full-day, rather than half-day kindergarten teacher (score another one for the teachers' unions), represents a gamble in the face of a $25-billion deficit for this year.

Whether the government wins its bet or not, those same kindergartners will be among those saddled with the bill, however slickly Premier Dalton McGuinty side-stepped questions yesterday about how to pay for it.

It is a huge gamble indeed. Setting aside the merits of whether full time schooling is really the right thing for kindergarten students, this decision is really a massive expansion of government at a time when we can ill afford the increase. Cutting $25 billion annually in spending or raising taxes on an ever-shrinking provincial economy is going to be painful enough adding a new and questionable cost now is simply wrong headed.

More Questions Than Answers

The Toronto Sun reports that married men are apparently much more attractive to women than single men. Sounds like a recipe for heartbreak to me:

According to a recent study out of Oklahoma State University, the urge to lure away a married man is a real phenomenon known as "mate poaching."

For the study, men and women were asked to describe their ideal romantic partner and were told they'd be computer matched with someone who met their criteria. Half of the participants were told their matches were involved with somebody else, whereas the other 50% believed them to be single.

Here's where things get sticky. When researchers described a man as single, just 59% of the women expressed interest in him, but when he was considered off-the-market, a whopping 90% were eager to get their hooks in.

Men, however, showed no preference for women in relationships.

I never would have expected those results. I honestly would have thought people in general would look for someone unattached so there's fewer complications.


I pointed the story out to a friend of mine at work, and she explained that if a man's married at least one other woman thought he was a good catch and at least he's willing to make a committment. Once a guy gets past a certain age she figures there must be a reason he's still single.


I definitely appreciated her insight but I'm still left with more questions than answers:

Why do women and men think so differently about this?

Aren't women who pursue a married man just setting themselves up for heartbreak?

Shouldn't married men be more aware of this to better guard their hearts and remain faithful?

Is it possible that I'M EVEN MORE ATTRACTIVE than I thought? ;P

I Want a Mark Carney T-Shirt

Mark Carney clearly gets it, telling traders to focus on inflation rather than speculatively driving our dollar higher:

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said currency traders should focus more on how the bank will meet its inflation target when thinking about whether policy makers are considering action to stem its gains.

“Markets should take seriously our determination to set policy to achieve the inflation target,” Carney said at a news conference today, when asked if traders are taking seriously the chances of intervention. “Markets sometimes lose their focus, we don’t lose our focus.”

The primary responsibility of the central bank is to control inflation, that means raising interest rates when price increases threaten to destabilize the economy. It also means there's absolutely no need to raise interest when our dollar has strengthened dramatically - our dollar's strength will keep downward pressure on prices for the foreseeable future.

The strong Canadian dollar makes imports cheaper, as well as making Canadian companies' costs relatively higher than their American competitors. Anyone who participates in international markets, either by exporting, competing with imports, or selling services internationally is going to be hurt by a rapid rise in the Canadian dollar. That's why the Bank of Canada noted Tuesday that the dollar's strength will “more than fully offset” recent signs of growth.

I've noticed a lot of bravado coming from currency traders saying the drop in the dollar as a result of Carney's comments is a buying opportunity. I think it's time for those boys to take contorl of their testosterone. Bloomberg notes:

Carney also said today the bank still “retains considerable flexibility in the conduct of monetary policy at low interest rates,” and that “intervention is always an option.” He spoke during a news conference in Ottawa today after releasing a quarterly economic forecast.

“That is a pretty blunt smack down of some recent commentary,” said David Watt, senior currency strategist in Toronto at RBC Capital, a unit of Canada’s biggest bank. “It shows that the Bank of Canada isn’t musing about exit strategies; I’m not even sure it’s done with stimulus.”

RBC is right. All the tools remain in the Bank of Canada's court. The Bank recognizes that a persistently increasing dollar will seriously hurt our economy so the Bank is prepared to put the brakes on the dollar's ascent. I commend the Bank for its courage and sense of purpose and I'd warn speculators betting on a stronger Canadian dollar that taking on our central bank is likely to be a losing propostion.

Ruby Dhalla's Dead Horse Beaten Again

Ruby Dhalla's Private Member's bill to extend old age security benefits to immigrants who have been in Canada for as little as 3 years was never going to go anywhere. Now even the Brampton Guardian says it's time for Dhalla to give up on the idea:

Last June, Brampton-Springdale MP Ruby Dhalla introduced a Private Member’s Bill to amend the benefits act so immigrant seniors can qualify to receive old age security benefits after three years instead of 10 years. . .

The bill has raised a storm of controversy, and rightfully so.

Now is not the right time to toy with this issue. The economy is stressed and government coffers are also strained.

Besides, the Private Member’s Bill doesn’t have a chance in hell of passing as long has the Tories hold power.

Dhalla’s bill is nothing more than grandstanding and an attempt to win votes from her constituents. If Dhalla and the Liberals are serious about pension and benefit fairness, put the issue in their platform and run on it in the next election.

Brampton is Dhalla's home turf and it has one of the largest concentrations of recent immigrants in the country. It's bad news for her if even this newspaper wants her to give up.

The Libersals have sensibly distanced themselves from this bill, and I can't see the proposal being included in the next platform. To me the proposal violates a basic sense of fairness, and I wonder, why would elderly immigrants even expect to receive a cheque every month from Canadian taxpayers if they haven't contributed anything at all to our economy?

Shouldn't a Nobel Prize . . .

go to someone who actually accomplished something?

So Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace prize:

OSLO — US President Barack Obama sensationally won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday less than a year after he took office with the jury hailing his "extraordinary" diplomatic efforts on the international stage.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Nobel jury said in making the stunning announcement.

It said the decision was unanimous.

The committee attached "special importance to Obama's vision and work for a world without nuclear weapons" and said he had created "a new climate in international politics."

I'm just not sure how they came to this conclusion. Vision is one thing - but impact is what matters. Over his watch, the situation in Afghanistan has progressively worsened and Iran appears to be on the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons.

I don't usually put much faith in the opinions of music radio DJs but, tellingly I was listening to MacArthur in the Morning on 103.9 FM, and the one announcer said to the other, "Don't you think this is a little premature?"

"I think it's A LOT premature" was the response. My guess is that'll be the consensus opinion around the world.

Hey Panic Mongers - We Just Don't Care

The Canadian Press reports Canadians Don't see H1N1 as a Personal Threat.

In the story Dr. Michael Gardam observes, "It would be far easier to go down this road [encouraging vaccinations] if it was a more virulent virus."

No kidding this whole story has been overkill since day 1 and thankfully Canadians aren't buying it. Maybe now the media will move on and find another reason to try to create a global panic.

Here are some neat details from the poll:

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll suggests interest in the swine flu vaccine has declined in Canada, with only a third of people now saying they will get the shot, compared to 45 per cent in late August . . .

The poll, conducted from Oct. 1 to 5, suggests at this point people don't believe this virus will have much impact on their lives. Only 11 per cent of people described themselves as very concerned about H1N1, and 25 per cent said they were somewhat concerned. Nearly two-thirds of people said they either were not very concerned or weren't concerned at all about H1N1.

Three-quarters of Canadians surveyed felt they would be exposed to seasonal flu this winter, but only 45 per cent felt they would be exposed to the pandemic virus.

Only five per cent of respondents felt they were very likely to contract swine flu, and 72 per cent felt they were not that likely or not likely at all to get infected with the new virus. In contrast, 18 per cent felt they were very likely to get sick with seasonal flu. . .

The poll suggests half of people don't plan to get any flu shot at all this year. Of the 50 per cent who do, 27 per cent said they would get both seasonal and pandemic flu shots. In total, 33 per cent indicated they would get an H1N1 shot and 36 per cent said they'd get a seasonal flu shot.

Those numbers actually align pretty closely with the percentage of the population that rolls up its sleeve for flu shots in regular years - further proof, Gardam said, that suggests people don't see the pandemic virus as a greater-than-normal threat at this point.

My opinion of Harper just changed dramatically. I'd say overnight but I only saw a YouTube video of his Beatles' cover this morning:



[Note on the video. I've seen a few, this one has my favourite camera angle.]

I've campaigned for the Conservatives in the last few elections and I've kept donations going to my favourite conservative candidates or MPs, but, I've still had a mild discomfort with Stephen Harper. He strikes me as a brilliant strategist and a very effective Prime Minister, however, he very often seems cold and ruthless too.

Today, thanks to Lauren, he seems a lot more likable, even fun.

At home, he plays the piano “almost daily,” Mrs. Harper said . . .

[The] band met Mr. Harper through “a friend of a friend,” according to percussionist Phil Nolan, a high-school music teacher by day. “We've gone over [to 24 Sussex Dr.] a couple of times this summer to jam,” Mr. Nolan said Sunday.

Those jam sessions made Herringbone a natural choice for Mr. Harper's stage debut. “We got a phone call,” Mr. Nolan said. “It was Laureen's idea to play and so we decided we'd get together and see.”

He said their first real rehearsal was Sept. 27, less than a week before they were scheduled to play “the show of our lives.”

Together they chose the performance piece, Mr. Nolan said. The decision was not based on lyrics or symbolism. “My husband loves the Beatles, the song was in his vocal range and that is about it,” Mrs. Harper said.

Summertime jam sessions and covering Beatles' tunes. . . That's just plain awesome. We'll be jamming with some friends this Saturday night. It's something regular people do. All of a sudden Stephen Harper seems a lot more real.

Trying to Understand Liberal Infighting

I have to admit it's been pretty fun watching the Liberals scramble in the wake of Denis Coderre's resignation. As a Conservative I'm very familiar with revolts against the party leader. I've been on both sides, publicly calling for John Tory's resignation and staunchly defending Stockwell Day when he was leader of the Canadian Alliance.

At the same time the latest battle seems a little foreign. As I understand it Mr. Coderre and his Quebec allies had a favourite candidate to run in a very winnable riding and Ignatieff had already given his tacit approval. BUT Ignatieff's Toronto buddies decided they would pick their own candidate and convinced Ignatieff to approve theirs. Coderre was cheesed off and quit his party position.

So we've got the Quebec Liberal party elites angry with the Toronto Liberal party elites. If I were a Liberal party member in the riding in question I'd be mad at both groups. Where I come from a party membership entitles you to vote for your candidate. Apparently that's not the case if you are in a riding that the Liberals think they can win.

Canadians should be asking themselves not only how can the Liberals manage the country when they can't manage their own party, but also how much will they respect Canadian voters when they don't even respect their own party members.

Shameless Plug - Riding Fundraiser

On Saturday October 17, 2009 the Wellington Halton Hills Conservative Riding Asssociation is hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner at the Optimist Hall on Trafalgar Road west of Georgetown. Tickets are a very reasonable $40.00 each and the food is great. For tickets contact Laurie at "mlaurien - AT - yahoo.ca" by October 9.

I've gone in years past and both the actors and the meal were excellent. If you're in the area it's definitely good value for your money. If you do plan on going please leave a comment, I'm still deciding whether to go and you might help tip the scales for me.

Those Nasty Conspirators

I've had this bumper sticker hanging around my cubicle for many years now. . .

An old friend of mine pointed out that it's still useful! That's right. Bill Clinton still believes there's a network of right wing conspirators that are out to get him and the rest of the Democrats. LOL. What a guy.

Don't worry Bill it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

Congratulations Ivan Luksic

Ivan Luksic was officially nominated as the Liberal candidate for Niagara West - Glanbrook last night. I say, "Congratulations Ivan!"

Why do I care about a Liberal nomination meeting far away from where I live? Just one reason Ivan Luksic is a good man. I've kept in touch with him since my university days and I know that he is both principled and passionate. Too bad he flies the wrong colour banner.

I wish him all the best, and I have to say the Liberals are lucky they got at least one piece of good news yesterday with Ivan's nomination.

Jimmy - Give Us Some Credit

Jimmy Carter's downright stupid observation has been eating at me for a whole week now. Carter said, “an overwhelming proportion of the intensely demonstrated animosity towards President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man.’’

President Obama rightly tried to distance himself from the comments, but his comments on CNN Sunday made this attempt seem especially lame: “Are there people out there who don’t like me because of race? I’m sure there are,’’ Obama said on CNN. “That’s not the overriding issue here.’’

“Not the overriding issue.’’ Hmm. That's enough to distance himself from the comments, but it still leaves plenty of room for the charges to stick.

Anyway, others have said more than enough about the comments and their political impact. The thing that drives me is that the label 'racist' is such a powerful condemnation of a person's character it really should not be used lightly. At the same time it's completely out of date. I honestly don't think I know anyone born withing 20 years of me that doesn't judged people based on their individual merit.

I just wish the lefties would give people some credit and talk about the issues instead of trying to insult their opponents, which in the case of health care seems to be a majority of Americans.

About the Human Rights Tribunal Ruling

I'm quite sorry that I haven't taken the time to write anything about last week's decision that section 13 of the Human Rights Act is unconstitutional. The decision has already been celebrated and analyzed by much more timely, eloquent and informed bloggers. Still it's worth stating that this is a significant victory for freedom after decades of having left wing activists use the commissions as a punitive tool to beat honest Canadians into submission it's richly satisfying to see the cracks widen in this badly broken system.

In a decision released Wednesday, the commission's tribunal dismissed a complaint filed against Marc Lemire, a webmaster who runs freedomsite.org, a site that bills itself as "Canada's freedom resource center."

The complaint, which alleged that messages posted on the site were discriminatory and exposed minority groups to "hatred and contempt," was filed by Ottawa lawyer Richard Warman.

In rejecting the complaint, commissioner vice-chair Athanasios Hadjis ruled that Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act violates the Charter of Rights and Freedom, "which guarantees the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression."

This ruling creates a very significant gap in the law and now our politicians must rise to the challenge and dismantle the commissions in their entirety while still making any individuals with valid complaints aware of their options within the real court system.

The reforms can't come a minute too soon, and they shouldn't be limited to the blatant assault on free speech caused by section 13. On Tuesday the Guelph Mercury reported that an unemployed teacher is launching a complaint against a Catholic School Board policy of hiring Catholic teachers. I wonder what part of Catholic School this guy doesn't understand.

Inspirational Radio Ads

Yesterday was kind of a crummy day. I got the feeling a lot of people thought I was a jerk, and started to think they might be right. Long stories. Anyway on the drive home I heard three different radio advertisements that bear repeating. I'll have to paraphrase unfortunately.

The first one was on CKWR from a local insurance agent simply said 'feeling stressed and unsure how to act? try reading from Bible daily' and then there was a quote from the book of Proverbs that seemed to be just what I needed.

The next ad came shortly later after I had switched to Q107. It was from the Heart and Stroke Foundation and gave a detailed description of a heart surgery operation. It ended with something like, "what's so exciting about this operation? The patient hasn't been born yet, the operation is taking place inside the baby's mother. Research from the Heart and Stroke Foundation helps save babies before they are born." Awesome I thought, very pro life and very inspirational.

Later in the drive I think I was listening to Classical 96.3, there was a Ronald McDonald House commercial. It went something like this: "Look at your finger, now look at your whole hand. You're whole hand is 40 times stronger than the individual strength of all of your fingers and your thumb added together. Families are the same way. Help Ronald McDonald House keep families with sick children together." Again I thought this is wonderful; when would I hear such a pro-family message on a major radio station? More frequently it seems.

Desperate For Good News

I was surprised (pleasantly I think) by the media's coverage of Canada's GDP numbers. I read a note from RBC this morning that said consensus was that Canada's 2nd quarter GDP would shrink by 3% and that anything worse than that would be negative to the Canadian dollar. Actual 2nd quarter growth fell far short of that and yet the media have jumped on this as a good news story:

Canada's economy grew for the first time in 11 months in June, providing a glimmer of hope at the end of a period that still marked the country's third consecutive quarter of economic contraction.

Gross Domestic Product increased 0.1 per cent in June from May, led by drillers of oil and gas, wholesalers and real estate agents, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

Over the second quarter as a whole, GDP shrank at an annual rate of 3.4 per cent, compared with a contraction of 6.1 per cent in the first three months of the year, as exporters continued to struggle to find markets amid the deepest global downturn since the Second World War.

Statscan's latest GDP figures reinforce the Bank of Canada's outlook. The central bank, led by Governor Mark Carney, predicted last month that Canada's first recession since 1992 would end this quarter and begin a long, slow climb out of the hole created by the financial crisis.

I've gotta commend the media for finding the silver lining. People really are desperate for good news and it looks like we've found it.

Also I've gotta feel for the RBC forecaster, he was right about weaker overall growth in the quarter, but he got the market reaction all wrong.