3.5 Timeouts Tuesday

I sometimes get stuck watching tv with the kids.  I remember back in the magical and mystical '70's, when we used to get up early on Saturdays to watch the Saturday morning cartoons.  We'd watch Bugs Bunny- before some idiot got all worried that five year olds might decide to pick up anvils and drop them on someone's head- or Superfriends, or wacky races, or Great Grape Ape, or the animated star trek series, or any other classic camp.  What do they have nowadays?  More often than not it is crap, sheer crap, served up as a platform to get kids to buy toys. So today I will discuss episodes of modern cartoons I would like to see,

1.

Caillou gets a Whuppin'.  If you have never seen this little brat and his show, you are lucky in ways you will never know.  The kid is an annoying, spoiled, unlikeable little brat.  Sometimes I would forego the whuppin' and prefer to see one called Caillou takes a Round to the Head.

2. 

Dora Gets Lost... and never finds her way back.  This show grates on my nerves like #1 grit sandpaper.  The way this dumb, big eyed kid talks like absolutely everything is THE. MOST. EXCITING. THING. EVER!!!!!!! drives me crazy.  And don't get me started about her idiot cousin, Diego the animal rescuer.  Kids will be shocked to learn that the animals he rescues aren't really friends in  the wild, but actually try and eat other.  Politically correct crap about how we're all really friends.  Yeah, Go Diego, Go... straight down the gullet of the next tiger you try and save.

3.

Spongebob gets annihilated.  You knew that garbage had to be on the list.  I know adults who actually like this show, and it used to confuse me, but then I found a piece of news that explained everything: Scientific studies have found that watching this show actually makes you dumber.  No, seriously.  Watching this show lowers your IQ, but let's face it:  if you are watching this show, your IQ could not have been too high to begin with.  This little sponge needs to be wrung out, hard, often, and permanently.

3.5

Change of topic: happy fourth to my American readers.

On Canadian Health Care

I just wanted to make a short post to address some things I have been reading about the Canadian Health Care, or more specifically, the Ontario Health care system, which I have been reading about in American blogs. The blogs and writers in their claims seem to be making two separate mistakes: 1. They claim the Canadian system is ideal. 2. They claim it is horrible in all ways. My position: It has strengths and weaknesses.

Claim: It is a national system.

Yes and no. Health care is indeed across the country, but it is run by the provinces. Fortunately, as mandated by the federal government, it is transferable, which means if I live in Ontario and get sick in Saskatchewan, I will still receive help.

Claim: Canadians have long waiting lists to see a doctor.

I can only speak from experience. I have never had that problem, at least not in seeing an ordinary doctor. Specialists are a little different, and they usually take their cases on a priority basis. My mother, for instance, went to see her doctor about a pain in her stomach and other problems she was having about three years ago. The doctor sent her to a specialist, who saw her that day, discovered her problem was a large tumour in her colon which needed an emergency operation. The tumour was removed that day, no waiting time.

That being said, I live in Toronto, where there are many doctors. Canadians do have a problem with rural areas experiencing a shortage of doctors, which I believe is also common in the States. Rural dwellers must also travel longer distances to see specialists when necessary. The government is trying to come up with incentives to relieve that problem, but it seems to be chronic.

Claim: The system is free.

Um, no. Michael More can say this as often as he likes, but repetition will not make it less false. My paycheque has a deduction labelled OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) every time. Free health care is up there with the free lunch: there ain't no such animal.

Claim: If the Canadian system is so good, why are so many Canadian crossing the border seeking American health care?

Good question. The main reason for this stems from waiting lists, which I earlier said aren't a problem. I retract a bit: There are some waiting lists to get access to some equipment and treatments. MRI scanners were one reason for Canadians crossing into Buffalo and other places. The system up here is chronically strapped for cash, and there are some things we don't have enough of. Some medical businesses in the States have seen this as an opportunity and have set up special clinics just across the border to attract the Canadians who have the money to come across and pay for a scan.

Also, Americans sometimes approve of new treatments before the Canadian medical association does, and Canadians will sometimes go seeking this treatment in hopes of a cure. This has worked in some cases, backfired in others, as approval of some treatments have been rescinded.

Claim: (related to the above): if the Canadian system is so good, why aren't Americans crossing the border to get Canadian treatments?

Americans coming here would get the same treatments they get in the States: namely, they or their insurance company would have to pay for it, as they are not insured up here. There is usually no benefit in them coming to Canada for treatment in that respect.

Having said that, when there is a benefit, the Americans do cross the border, often in droves, to get some treatment up here. For example, a few years ago Ontario was offering cheap flu shots, even for American tourists. Result: Thousands of Americans crossing the border for the cheap shot. Not as sexy as an MRI scan, but still a crossing of the border for treatment.

There you have my $.02. Our system is neither perfect nor horrible. Whether or not the Americans should follow our lead I can't say. That's for them to decide, and I neither encourage nor dissuade them from doing so. Just thought I'd throw a little information out there.

My one and only post on recent event in the US

There's been a lot of discussion up here about the US election, and on the blogs and whatnot. There's only a few things I am willing to put into print. for what they're worth, here they are:

First: I am still praying for you. All of you.

Next: For those of you- by you I mean Catholics- who support Obama, I hope and pray he is the man you hope him to be.

Last: For those of you who did not support Obama, who prayed and fasted over this election- your prayers were not wasted. From where I am, it seems something extraordinary has happened over the course of this campaign. The bishops came out, over a hundred I am told, who taught and upheld Catholic teaching. This is so unusual and rare as to be unprecedented. If it continues, we may see a return of a stronger Catholicism, a true Church Militant.

I would not be so bold or arrogant as to claim to know the mind of God. However, it seems to me you may wish to entertain the notion that the bishop's actions may be part of God's answer to your prayers. He has not given you the leader you want, but perhaps he has given you the leaders you need.