I came across this post on a blog called Beyond the 140. I thought it would be good to hear about Canadian health care from a Canadian. You may remember the woman he mentions, Shona Holmes, as the Canadian who came to America for an operation because it was going to take too long in Canada. The Republicans have done a pretty thorough job showing her around the media circuit.
To my American friends: I sincerely hope you’re not taken in by the GOP propaganda featuring Canadian Shona Holmes trashing our system of universal healthcare. The problem is both that Ms. Holmes and her Republican masters misrepresented her condition and that the tactic itself is reprehensible. The GOP can’t produce any logical argument against a system that is entrenched in every Western society except yours, so they resort to fear-mongering and lies, claiming that one Canadian’s skewed view trumps the experiences and beliefs of the rest of us.
continue reading here...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sometimes magic happens...
My joy
sits in my hands
begging to be played.
I put my lips to the harp
and
sometimes
magic happens.
Admittedly, alot of the time, not so much.
But on those nights
when I find my spiritual place
when my breathing becomes
my movement becomes
my rhythm becomes
my dance,
on those nights I am alive
in ways
I've never known.
I play to everyone.
I play to no one.
I play until the music stops coming
and then I listen
to the silence
that exists
without me.
sits in my hands
begging to be played.
I put my lips to the harp
and
sometimes
magic happens.
Admittedly, alot of the time, not so much.
But on those nights
when I find my spiritual place
when my breathing becomes
my movement becomes
my rhythm becomes
my dance,
on those nights I am alive
in ways
I've never known.
I play to everyone.
I play to no one.
I play until the music stops coming
and then I listen
to the silence
that exists
without me.
Monday, July 27, 2009
A blooming musician...?
Last night I played harmonica until my lips bled. Today I can still hear the music when I touch my tongue to the wounds.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday morning blah blah blah...
Good morning, all! So I've made it through another boring week without girlfriend and am treating myself to a Sunday morning coffee and bagel at our little coffee shop. Don't come here often anymore but I sure do miss their coffee. It's been a pretty good week, though a bit uneventful. Right now they are having an international fireworks competition so there are BIG fireworks displays every couple of nights. I went to the opening night to see Team Canada blow up more fireworks than I have ever seen before. I think the show was at least 30 minutes of solid fireworks filled with multiple crescendos and chest-thumping wallops. I have skipped out on Team South Africa and some other team whose name I missed but I plan on attending Team China's display next weekend. Oh, wait... I may be watching a fight that night with Shawn and Kelly. Guess I need to check on that.
Anyway, not much to write on the update front. The apartment is making slow progress, but without Katy here there is little in the way of motivation to do anything. I've plucked my inks, pens and brushes out from hiding and have started drawing again. I've also been playing harmonica every night. Really loving that. I've got my eyes on a couple of new harmonicas that I really want to buy, but they are around the $100 mark. I'm finding the down side of growing in skill is the simultaneous growing of instrument cost. When I was much newer to the harmonica, I didn't care what I played. They all sounded about the same in my hands. But now I've learned to coax much more subtle sounds out of a harp and take better advantage of each one's particular sound characteristics. Part of the reason I've started drawing again is because I want to try to sell some art to pay for a new harmonica. It's a long shot but it's worth a try. I'll let you know when I get things put online for sale. Maybe you have friends that need an interesting conversation piece for their living room.
So to wrap up my last half hour of battery life this morning, I want to talk about something that's been really present in my mind for the past couple of weeks: health care reform in the States. I've been hearing some downright ridiculous things being said by some supposedly responsible adults down there and it scares the bejeezus out of me.
You have such baseless accusations as this from brutallyhonest.org: "What he and those in his administration are really up to, is a complete denial of medical treatments and health care period, for all who have reached or surpassed their government predetermined shelf life."
Or how about this winner from Re. Paul Broun (R-Georgia):
"And that's exactly what's going on in Canada and Great Britain today. They don't have the appreciation of life as we do in our society, evidently. Alot of people are gonna die. This program of government option [...] allowing people to have quality healthcare at an affordable price is gonna kill people."
I've gotta stop looking this stuff up before my head explodes. (But if my head did explode, I could walk down the street and walk in to see a doctor without ever pulling out my wallet because I'm in Canada where we have a socialized [oooh! shudder at the evil!] health care system.)
I don't understand the furor against universal health care? Where does the viciousness opposing health care reform come from? And how did Canada become the bad guy? Over 86 million Americans have gone without health coverage over the past two years and yet we have politicians defending our current system as though someone were trying to convert us to Voodoo! Make no mistake, there is legitimate debate happening over this vital issue and no single player has a perfect answer yet, but where did this mob of well-to-do white men full of self-righteous indignation come from?
Oh, wait, here's where alot of it is from. I'm realizing as I surf the web researching the health care debate that many of the most vocal opponents are white males somewhere in their upper 40's to early 70's. No, I can't give you a link to support this, but if you start researching all of the opponents' websites, blogs, esays and speeches you will quickly see the commonality for yourself. The most frequently-cited counterpoint to health care reform that I come across? Anti-socialism. Much of America's older generation can't stand the idea of something "socialist" in our country. They say "socialist" with the same derisive venom once reserved for the word "communist". These are the children of WWII vets and veterans, themselves, of Korea and Vietnam. These are the men who grew up in a vicious anti-Communist America. It is still programmed in the minds of these men that social = evil. And when does one get self-righteous? When one feels he is facing down evil. Be aware of the prejudices and dispositions of seemingly authoritative men.
The cost to set it up may be daunting, but the benefit over the long haul will come to my children, your grandchildren, and on and on. I think Bill Maher said it best in an essay he wrote this past week when he said, "How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit." [Amen!]
By for now, all... have a good week.
Anyway, not much to write on the update front. The apartment is making slow progress, but without Katy here there is little in the way of motivation to do anything. I've plucked my inks, pens and brushes out from hiding and have started drawing again. I've also been playing harmonica every night. Really loving that. I've got my eyes on a couple of new harmonicas that I really want to buy, but they are around the $100 mark. I'm finding the down side of growing in skill is the simultaneous growing of instrument cost. When I was much newer to the harmonica, I didn't care what I played. They all sounded about the same in my hands. But now I've learned to coax much more subtle sounds out of a harp and take better advantage of each one's particular sound characteristics. Part of the reason I've started drawing again is because I want to try to sell some art to pay for a new harmonica. It's a long shot but it's worth a try. I'll let you know when I get things put online for sale. Maybe you have friends that need an interesting conversation piece for their living room.
So to wrap up my last half hour of battery life this morning, I want to talk about something that's been really present in my mind for the past couple of weeks: health care reform in the States. I've been hearing some downright ridiculous things being said by some supposedly responsible adults down there and it scares the bejeezus out of me.
You have such baseless accusations as this from brutallyhonest.org: "What he and those in his administration are really up to, is a complete denial of medical treatments and health care period, for all who have reached or surpassed their government predetermined shelf life."
Or how about this winner from Re. Paul Broun (R-Georgia):
"And that's exactly what's going on in Canada and Great Britain today. They don't have the appreciation of life as we do in our society, evidently. Alot of people are gonna die. This program of government option [...] allowing people to have quality healthcare at an affordable price is gonna kill people."
I've gotta stop looking this stuff up before my head explodes. (But if my head did explode, I could walk down the street and walk in to see a doctor without ever pulling out my wallet because I'm in Canada where we have a socialized [oooh! shudder at the evil!] health care system.)
I don't understand the furor against universal health care? Where does the viciousness opposing health care reform come from? And how did Canada become the bad guy? Over 86 million Americans have gone without health coverage over the past two years and yet we have politicians defending our current system as though someone were trying to convert us to Voodoo! Make no mistake, there is legitimate debate happening over this vital issue and no single player has a perfect answer yet, but where did this mob of well-to-do white men full of self-righteous indignation come from?
Oh, wait, here's where alot of it is from. I'm realizing as I surf the web researching the health care debate that many of the most vocal opponents are white males somewhere in their upper 40's to early 70's. No, I can't give you a link to support this, but if you start researching all of the opponents' websites, blogs, esays and speeches you will quickly see the commonality for yourself. The most frequently-cited counterpoint to health care reform that I come across? Anti-socialism. Much of America's older generation can't stand the idea of something "socialist" in our country. They say "socialist" with the same derisive venom once reserved for the word "communist". These are the children of WWII vets and veterans, themselves, of Korea and Vietnam. These are the men who grew up in a vicious anti-Communist America. It is still programmed in the minds of these men that social = evil. And when does one get self-righteous? When one feels he is facing down evil. Be aware of the prejudices and dispositions of seemingly authoritative men.
The cost to set it up may be daunting, but the benefit over the long haul will come to my children, your grandchildren, and on and on. I think Bill Maher said it best in an essay he wrote this past week when he said, "How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit." [Amen!]
By for now, all... have a good week.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Research Firm Cited by GOP is Owned by Health Insurer
They're playing screwy politics again, except this time it's with our health. From the Washington Post:
By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff WriterBy David S. Hilzenrath
Wednesday, July 22, 2009; 6:46 PM
The political battle over health-care reform is waged largely with numbers, and few number-crunchers have shaped the debate as much as the Lewin Group, a consulting firm whose research has been widely cited by opponents of a public insurance option.
To Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, it is "the nonpartisan Lewin Group." To Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, it is an "independent research firm." To Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the second-ranking Republican on the pivotal Finance Committee, it is "well known as one of the most nonpartisan groups in the country."
Generally left unsaid amid all the citations is that the Lewin Group is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest insurers.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Just so you know...
I hear alot of garbage being spewed about the Canadian health care system by politicians in the States. I've been using this system for four years now and I can assure you, it's pretty fantastic. It's not the only option. You can have alternative coverages still, but every single Canadian citizen (and many who aren't citizens) can walk into a hospital at any time and receive treatment without pulling out their wallet. Does it have its down side? Of course it does. What system doesn't?
But don't take my word for it. In a national poll done by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Canadians voted for the man who created their health care system as the Greatest Canadian of all Time.
Don't listen to those ideologues who are trying to use Canadians to back their opposition to health care reform. Canadians have an awesome health care system that the people generally love.
But don't take my word for it. In a national poll done by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Canadians voted for the man who created their health care system as the Greatest Canadian of all Time.
Don't listen to those ideologues who are trying to use Canadians to back their opposition to health care reform. Canadians have an awesome health care system that the people generally love.
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