Health Care Reform

Well the Health Care Reform Bill has passed the House of Representatives. I'm actually quite amazed at the number of people against this bill. I guess living in Canada for all but the first three years of my life affects my bias a little. But honestly, what is so bad about this? I think Michael Moore does a good job dispelling the myths with his movie "Sicko". If you haven't seen this movie then you should.

While watching Sicko, I was awe struck when the man who cut off the tops of his fingers had to choose which ones to put back on because he couldn't afford to re-attach them all. WTF? Living in Canada there is no question. If the doctors can, they will, re-attach all of them. They wont even ask questions about it.

I've heard bits a pieces from the media and one thing I seem to hear, complaints about the cost. I don't pay a single penny directly to this wonderful health care system. Sure I pay taxes and that goes towards it but big deal. Take away the health care and do you think my taxes will go down? I think not. Waiting times will go up they say. Well sure, now everyone can go to the hospital when they cut off a finger (or worse). No need to kid yourself that the pain in your chest is the cheeseburger you had for lunch because you don't have Medicare. On the flip side, if more patients are going to the hospital that means the hospitals and doctors make more money and thus more hospitals can open.

Everyone knows that the biggest problem with this new bill is that there is really only one looser, the Insurance companies. Profits will decrease, but they will survive. Everyone one still wants to have the extra perks; a private room; elective surgeries; life insurance; etc... Billions of dollars will be diverted from the Insurance companies and end up in the hands of the American people. This new found disposable income will boost the economy as people start buying again. Retail stores, realestate and automotive sales, to name a few, will see large growth again. Now how is that for a stimulus package!

Come on you guys! What are you thinking about!

What GlobalWarming!

Gripped by the chilling winter, we wonder if the snow will ever melt and return us again to the euphoric summer months. I've noticed lately that everyone is mocking Global Warming (or the lack there of) and some are indicating that the hype is wrong. With resent headlines of old growth forest dieing faster than expect and polar ice melting at alarming rates. I wonder where these people are finding their astute knowledge. Thus I turn to my trusty search tool: Google.

I found the site www.globalwarmingisafarce.com which claims to tell the other side of the store. There are some links to recent news reports that “support” their claim. The articles I looked at appeared to be reports poking fun at the global warming issue. One article caught my eye though. The story Report: Ice Age to blast Earth. The article explains how the northern hemisphere has had record lows for the past two years and that we are at the end of a 100,000 year cycle. But at the very end of the article, Professor Steve Colman states "the amount of greenhouse gases we are contributing to the atmosphere, and the rate at which we are doing so, completely dwarfs the natural variations.". Interesting how an article selected to convince the reader that global warming is a myth goes and contradicts itself.

There is also a great video The Global Warming Myth - Dr Noah Robinson - Telecosm 2007 that breaks down the myths presented by Al Gore. They show graphs and explain how solar radiation, not carbon emissions are affecting the planet. I was getting convinced myself. It's interesting to note however, that the video ends by saying that Carbon Dioxide is a good fertilizer (plants grow faster when their is more CO2 in the air) and that taxing or rationing energy will only hurt US industry as well as third wold countries who rely on high co2 levels for farming.

That's great, now I need to burn more fossil fuels so I wont loose my job or starve the poor people in third wold countries! I thought you told me Al Gore was trying to sell me fear!

Well I couldn't bring myself to read anymore. Sure, Al Gore and everyone he supports might be wrong. But I'd rather see humanity error on the side of caution for once. Why does a civilization need to abuse its resources in order to see what will happen.

SpotTheCamper