Bud Talkinghorn: Medical Care, Marijuana, Groping & Trains -- Khadrs -- Canada Viewed from Beyond

Two-tier Medicine Comes A'courting

Today's Supreme Court decision that declared Quebec's one-tier-only system was against the Charter opens a Pandora's Box of possibilities. As much as the current system has failed us, there are worse systems. Being a bum knees guy, I have my own horror stories to tell. While waiting (six months) for the other knee operation, I was given no advice on how to lessen more damage. One month before the operation I found myself--pedal to the metal--bombing up from LA to Silicon Valley. By the time I got there, my knee was howling with pain. That probably is the reason that when someone finally did the operation, I had to have it done again months later. Even then, I was given nada advice about rehabilitating it--not even "Don't play squash right away."

Still, in an era of doctor shortages, where are these private care doctors going to come from? The medical schools were deliberately kept under-enrolled so as to keep down federal/provincial costs. Last year's student increase is too little, too late. Short of admitting large numbers of unqualified foreign doctors--and we have seen some hideously incompetent ones among them--we have to accept that we have a finite number of doctors. These doctors are now going to be able to choose where they want to practice. Private practice offers them more quality time with their patients and a lot more money. So what happens to wait-times for treatment for the average citizen? Unless those finite doctors are going to do double shifts to handle both, we are going to see a real doctor shortage in the public system.

Some solutions might be to pay the doctors more, cut back on the electioneering fluff that the government doles out by the hundreds of millions, and boot up the nurse practitioner courses. Why are doctors still wasting their time giving blood pressure checks? The only answer for health care is to really increase the numbers in the medical school system and turn out quality students. Pay them enough to keep them here and happy. It would be beneficial to try to enroll the more altruistic ones; otherwise, we will continue to lose our doctors to the US. Today's decision is going to be another ball-breaker for the Liberals. That's the good news.

© Bud Talkinghorn




The American Supreme Court's Marijuana Decision

By banning medical marijuana the court has effectively made criminals out of disperately ill citizens. What the h*** were they thinking? That giving morphine or oxycontin to extremely ill patients was superior medical reasoning, and more righteous, than allowing them to medicate with marijuana? I guess having 2.2 million of their citizens under lock and key--many for possession drug offences--is not enough. This, all the while knowing that if they could ever catch and incarcerate all the pot smokers in America, the entire civilization would collapse. The school system would do a melt-down to begin with, while many of the students and their teachers were in court--wouldn't that create a bonding situation? This would totally overwhelm the court system as a goodly number of lawyers, police witnesses and prosecutors would be there with them. I could run through every single profession and decimate it with this scenario. Luckily, the rich, powerful and educated don't have to worry too much, as the poor and stupid will take the fall. God bless Vancouver Mayor Campbell for calling for complete legalization of marijuana in Canada. And this guy used to be a RCMP drug enforcement officer. He, at least, saw the light. If only the federal Liberals were as brave. But having scared the farm folk with their gay marriage bill, they want to pretend that they know where to hold the line. The perverse logic that is their hallmark is shown again.

© Bud Talkinghorn




The Gropes of Wrath

It appears that the Japanese men do not mind the crowded subway cars, so long as they can grope, stroke, or probe their female fellow passengers. Two-thirds of women in Tokyo claim to have been sexually assaulted so the subway system instituted separate cars for the ladies. The upshot of this was that the ladies sit in comfort, while the remaining cars are jammed to the gunnels with men. Of course, this is the country where you can buy (clean or soiled) schoolgirl panties from a vending machine. Another subway habit of some men is to flip through sex comic books, even if seated next to females or children. Rather disconcerting if you were just groped before attaining your seat. Of course, Japan is not alone in separating the sexes on certain trains. Indian women are frequently groped also, I've heard.

Still, for an adrenalin rush, you can't beat taking Indian trains. Once I took the Taj Express out of New Delhi, bound for Agra. It was advertised as a scenic wonderland trip. Well, maybe the afternoon train got that, but the morning trip featured an endless array of village folk doing their morning toilet routine. The bum tour, I nicknamed it. This train, I learned, had been stormed by village mobs the day before. It was their way of ending the Holi festival. Our group met an Irish nurse whose arm was in a sling from a broken glass cut. She had been trying to keep the mob from stealing her purse by locking herself in her comparment. They smashed in the compartment's window and she was cut. Seeing all her blood flowing, the mob ran away. Halfway to Agra, the train stopped and what looked like a mummy was carried on board and stretched out across the ailse. What was the cause of death? The second immediate thought was: are we all being exposed to cholera or typhoid fever? Anyway you look at it, Asian train travel is extreme railway. Outside Bangkok, on another trek, some Thai kid in a rice paddy whiffled a balled-up water snake straight in the window and onto my chest. Luckily, the snake was as startled as I and slithered off me and up the carriage aisle. The conductor assured me if wasn't a water cobra.. Maybe this is some Thai kid game called nail the tourist. Whatever, my compartment window went up.

© Bud Talkinghorn--Bon Voyage!




Links worth checking:

The Khadrs in the Washington Post -- "In Canada, An Outcast Family Finds Support -- U.S. Detention of Teen Draws Concern", by Doug Struck, Washington Post Foreign Service, June 9, 2005


What the World Thinks of Canada Bill Narvey

[. . . . ] Interestingly, the generally stated conclusions have in various ways been the basis of many of the negative views expressed in this public message forum concerning Chretien, Martin and the Liberal party and government.

These findings stand in stark contrast to the Liberal's self proclaimed and self aggrandizing view of their's and Canada's significance in the world. [. . . . ]

Scroll down for the article from June 8, 2005 by Faye Mallett, "Step up to it Canada, World Says"

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