Why Jack Layton Must Survive via The Nexus of Assholery
Layton's fate will become rhetorical signal for health careCanadian politics was shaken recently by the news that Jack Layton has been struck with prostrate cancer.Speaking testaments to the strength and resolve of his character, he has announced his intention to remain on as the leader of the NDP even while receiving treatment for the illness. He has, however, admitted that the illness will slow him down -- at least temporarily.His father successfully fought the same disease, and doctors report that it has been diagnosed with enough time to (hopefully) successfully treat it.But even as Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams venturing south of the border for a heart procedure, Layton has reportedly opted to remain in Canada to receive treatment for his ailment.And even beyond the basic human...
How to Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory via The Nexus of Assholery
One year ago, the Democrats appeared unbeatable. They had captured all three houses, had a slim supper majority in the Senate, and were being buoyed by popular support. The Republican Party resembled a snake trying to eat itself and many liberal bloggers speculated that this was the final end of the GOP. Now with the senate election in Massachusetts, the seat of the late Ted Kennedy, an almost certain victory for the Republicans and polls indicated the Republicans poised for an amazing recovery, commentators are asking “How did this happen?” The answer is surprisingly simple– the Democrats are pussies.It’s not like the Democrats haven’t had several opportunities to appease and even re-energize their base. For example, easy motions for them would have been to repeal “Don’t...
CUPE And the Truth — Not a Good Combination via The Nexus of Assholery
It's been difficult to escape a batch of recent ads released by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.In the ads an interviewer talks to people who are made out to be random passers-by in public places. If not for the atrocious acting on the part of the interviewees, it might even be believable.The least believable of these ads is one in which a woman sings some undue praise for Canadian health care. This isn't to say that Canada's public health care system isn't due any praise, but rather that the ad in question intentionally skates over some serious deficiencies in Canada's public health care system.In the ad, the woman recounts a story in which her daughter breaks her ankle while skating at a local ice rink. In her story, the rink staff call 911, promptly receive ambulance service,...
CUPE Ads a Good Deal (Of Goods) via The Nexus of Assholery
Few Canadians watching any amount of TV right now can escape the Canadian Union of Public Employee's "Good Deal For Canadians" ads, in which an interviewer (read: actor) asks an assortment of people-on-the-street (read: worse actors) whether or not they think Canada's public services are a "good deal for Canadians".Unsurprisingly, all of the actors in the ad agree that Canada's public services are a good deal for Canadians.For the most part, they're right. But the CUPE ads themselves are selling Canadians a deal of goods. (This is a painfully mixed metaphor, but there's a point to be made.)Many of the services the ads allude to: water treatment, sanitation, libraries and health care, are indeed necessary and valuable services for Canadians.But not all of Canada's Public Employees provide...
Karma is a bitch for Joe Lieberman via The Nexus of Assholery
Remember back in the 2006 election, when Joe Liberman was running as an independent and he formed the Connecticut for Lieberman Party to get himself on the ballot? Welp, looks like he has a major rebellion in it's ranks.This T.V. ad is now airing throughout ConnecticutIt's like watching a modern interpretation of the story "The Gollem of...
Thank You For Your Advice, Sarah… via The Nexus of Assholery
...But Canadians will make our own decisions about health careEver since she was vaulted into the international spotlight during the 2008 Presidential Election, Sarah Palin has made a bad habit of coming out on the wrong end of interactions between herself and various comedic pranksters.In November, 2008, Palin was pranked by a Montreal radio host.Just over a year later, Palin has now been burned by Mary Wash, also known as This Hour Has 22 Minutes' Marg Delahunty, who solicited some health care-related advice from Palin."We told her we're from Canada, and we're just looking for a few words of encouragement for the Canadian conservatives who have worked so tirelessly to destroy the socialized medicare that we have," Wash later recounted.Palin's answer was frank."Canada needs to dismantle... Why Sarah Palin is Wrong About “Death Panels” via The Nexus of Assholery
Sarah Palin peddles "death panels" absurdity at doctors' perilRegardless of what many people -- liberals and conservatives alike -- seem to think, Sarah Palin is not nearly as intriguing an individual as many seem to think.But one thing Palin certainly has a gift for is provoking controversy then not backing away -- which is precisely what she has done since stirring up a hornet's nest with her "death panels" remarks over the summer.In a recent post on her Facebook profile, Palin has pushed that button once again."We had been told there were no 'death panels' in the bill either," Palin wrote. "But look closely at the provision mandating bureaucratic panels that will be calling the shots regarding who will receive government health care."As was noted when Palin originally brought up the...
Are we becoming hysterical ninnies? via Werner Patels - Telling It Like It Is
Healing a Sick Health Care System via The Nexus of Assholery
One has to be very careful when approaching any film by Michael Moore.As one approaches Sicko during a time of turmoil over American health care -- the debate is as fierce as it has ever been -- one has to be especially careful.Sicko isn't specifically a film about health care. It's more a film about the American health insurance industry. In highlighting many horror stories about the actions of this industry, it paints a very unflattering picture.Many Canadians have objected to the use of Canadian horror stories -- including that of Shona Holmes -- as part of the debate over health care reform. It's certainly little fun for Canadians to watch these stories paraded out in the debate in a foreign country.Sadly, these horror stories very much are fair game. By the same token, however, so...
The Road to Universal Health Care Begins At the State via The Nexus of Assholery
Speaking via ForaTV, TR Reid has a message for US President Barack Obama:You're going about health care reform all wrong.Reid uses the story of the evolution of Canadian health care as an example of how Obama should develop his own reforms.As Reid notes, Canadian health care wasn't originally a child of the federal government -- it was a child of the Saskatchewan Provincial government of Tommy Douglas.Beginning in Saskatchewan, Douglas' program was eventually implemented by the federal government.Reid does make a few errors in his description of the evolution of Canadian health care. First off, doctors didn't flock from the other Provinces to Saskatchewan begause they "knew they'd get paid". Doctors flocked from other Provinces to Saskatchewan because doctors in Saskatchewan went on...
Obama’s Big Break (Down) via The Nexus of Assholery
Obama casts finger of blame in wrong placeAugust 2009 will be remembered as a very bad month for the President of the United States.With September 2009 not beginning on any better a note, US President Barack Obama lashed out against his adversaries yesterday, accusing them of using "scare tactics" to curtail his health care reform package."Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics," Obama thundered. "Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned."Obama insisted he's as determined as ever to pass his reform...
Anatomy of a Town Hall Revisited via The Nexus of Assholery
Anti-health care reform protesters are entitled to their sayIn a competing op/ed column in the Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee arcitect Steve Tenance offers a distinctly different account of the health care forum at which Dr Andy Opel suggests he was intimidated.Tenance suggests that the forum was Congresman Allen Boyd's method of ducking holding a town hall meeting:"Rather than hold his own town hall meeting for constituents in Tallahassee as he did in many other areas of our district, Boyd allowed himself instead to be a 'panelist' along with two self-described local experts who support a single-payer, government-funded health care system. The 'lead sponsor' for the meeting was the clearly left-leaning, pro-government health care reform advocate Capital Area Community Action Agency,...
Look Hard Enough For Something And You Will Find It via The Nexus of Assholery
Death of a Dynasty Death of a Dream? via The Nexus of Assholery
Will health care reform die with Ted Kennedy?At the age of 77, Edward Kennedy passed away last night after a lengthy fight with brain cancer.In the wake of his passing, many are insisting that his passing is the death of the Kennedy dynasty. As the longest-living of the Kennedy brothers -- John and Robert both met with unfortunately young demises -- Ted Kennedy's passing is at the very least the end of an era.(Arnold Schwarzenegger, husband to Maria Schriver, continues to govern California. One may question whether or not the Kennedy dynasty is truly dead.)But some fear that more than simply that era may end with Kennedy's passing. Some worry that Barack Obama's health care reform ambitions -- long championed by Kennedy -- may ultimately die with him.The so-called public option the...
A Recipe For Unsustainable Health Care via The Nexus of Assholery
Cameron's proposed NHS policy uncharacteristic and foolishIn the midst of a controversy surrounding a Tory MP's criticisms of the National Health Service, British Conservative party leader has managed to provoke a controversy within his own caucus.In response to scathing criticisms stemming from Daniel Hannan's recent voicing of criticisms of the NHS on Fox News, Cameron has proposed to commit to annually increasing government spending on the NHS at a rate exceeding inflation.Naturally, this has created a division within his party caucus. What he may not have expected is that his caucus would so firmly align against his proposal.Only 29% of Cameron's caucus agreed with his plan. 62% of his MPs disagreed.Furthermore, only 33% agreed that the current funding model for the NHS would be... Let it Rain on Health Care Fraud via The Nexus of Assholery
As the debate over health care in the United States (and in other countries) continues, it often helps to remember that it is hardly a new debate.Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker was released in 1997. It was a film adaptation of a 1995 book by John Grisham -- which was probably one of fewer than five books that has ever drawn tears from this author.In the film, Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) is a graduate just out of law school when he encounters the legal profession in all of its ugliness. In a market overloaded with lawyers, Baylor ends up in the cutthroat employ of "Bruiser" Stone (Mickey Rourke), a strong-arm lawyer with a taste for chasing ambulances and expertise in "stolen evidence".When Stone is forced to leave the country before he has to face down a grand jury over some seeming...
David Cameron’s Health Care Dilemma via The Nexus of Assholery
Disrupt party unity or give Gordon Brown a massive gift?As the health care debate continues to rage in the United States and (sadly to a much lesser extent) in Canada, British Conservative party leader David Cameron is facing a health care debate of his very own.He's essentially been presented with two options -- severely punish a group of Tory MPs, led by Daniel Hannan, who have endorsed the views of American opponents of health care reform who have also targeted Britain's National Health Service as an example of why Americans do not want to institute universal health care."I wouldn’t wish it on anybody," Hannan told FOX News. "We have a system where the most salient facts of it you get huge waiting lists, you have bad survival rates and you would much rather fall ill in the US."The...
MSNBC Wants You… To Be Scared Shitless via The Nexus of Assholery
John Acton once famously remarked that "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."As one apprises the state of the American left-leaning media, the former part of this maxim becomes almost immediately apparent.Once upon a time, the American left-wing derided the excesses of FOX News and other right-leaning media outlets. They were (often quite rightly) accused of being toadies for the governing Republican party, fear mongering, and otherwise helping to steamroll political dissent.A recent segment from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow show serves as a perfect example, wherein Maddow seeks to stir up fear of anti-health care reform protesters by comparing them to anti-abortion terrorists.In an interview with Dr George Hearn -- who himself has had many threats made against his life -- Maddow...
Fucked If you Do, Fucked If You Don’t via The Nexus of Assholery
Stephen Harper can't talk about health care, and he can't not talk about health careFor those unfamiliar with the Harper Index, it's an online publication run by the Golden Lake Institute.The Golden Lake Institute, in turn, is an organization that professes itself to be "a group of individuals and organizations who see themselves on the political Left.""They feel the Left needs to find new ways to think and talk, and encourage others to think and talk about its political project," their website explains. "We agree with George Lakoff and others who argue that the heart of political strategy is the ability to successfully 'frame' issues in ways that appeal to people's deepest values and understandings."In other words, the Golden Lake Institute are less a public think tank, as they'd like to...
Obama not scared of Canadians via Werner Patels - Telling It Like It Is
The Follies of Political “Evil” via The Nexus of Assholery
Sarah Palin invokes accusations of "evil" in health care debateIf Sarah Palin has any intentions of reaching out to moderate Democrats in preparation for what many speculate will be a run for the Presidency in 2012, she certainly hasn't started off on the right foot.Writing on her Facebook page, Palin denounced Barack Obama's health care plan as "evil".Alluding to a clause dealing with "advance care planning consultation" that could deal with "living wills" and "termination of life services", Palin seemed to have started out with a rather peculiar interpretation of the clause that led her to speak about the rationing of health care."Who will suffer the most when they ration care?" Palin asked rhetorically. "The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course."The America I know and love is...
Headhunting for Shona Holmes via The Nexus of Assholery
The knives are out for outspoken health care criticEver since Shona Holmes appeared on the scene in the United States telling what is actually a fairly frightening story about access to health care in Canada's public system, the knives have unshockingly been out for Shona Holmes.In a story appearing in the Hamilton Spectator, Holmes recounts a story with a Canadian-born makeup artist working in the United States who was outraged by Holmes' actions."She said, 'You have to start telling the good things about Canada's health care, you have to start telling the truth,'" Holmes recounts.Unfortunately, such an attitude seems to be rather prevalent toward Holmes. A disturbing number of people seem to be insisting that if someone declines to pretend that experiences with Canada's public health...
Continuing the Assault on the Enemies of Reason via The Nexus of Assholery
In part one of Richard Dawkins' documentary mini-series Enemies of Reason, Dawkins uses things such as astrology and water dousing to show how such superstitions lead people into irrational beliefs -- something that he seems to hope will cast a shadow over theistic religion.In part two, Dawkins takes aim at alternative medicine and attempts to demonstrate that the medical field has become a "battleground between reason and superstition".Dawkins notes that up to one third of British citizens subscribe to some sort of alternative medicine -- ranging from faith healers to homeopathic medicines. Apparently, the threat to reason posed by its enemies are very grave, indeed.Dawkins equates rising rates of people using alternative medicine as a challenge to scientific medicine.In some cases,...