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1. 

   DrCanuck said, 2 months ago

   Fer shure.

2. 

   churchillwasright said, 2 months ago

   (OFF TOPIC)
   DR.SHAMUCK: I’ve been meaning to ask you why you never replied to my post on View of the World 8/20. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, and say the post was late and you never saw it, or you were away on vacation. This seems like a good time to repost it. I eagerly await your reply:

   DR.SHAMUCK: Explain me this:
   “Dr. Anne Doig, the new president of the Canadian Medical Association, says it’s clear Canadians are getting less than optimal care. “We all agree that the system is imploding. We all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize,” she told the Canadian Press.”
   Bill O’Reilly had on Dr. Brian Day, former president of the Canadian Medical Assoc last night (Dr. Doig was “unavailable”). He confirmed this evaluation. He also said “The biggest problem with the Canadian system… is access… 5 million out of a population of 33 million don’t have primary drs., the first line of defense for a sick patient… ranking 26 out of 28 for the number of drs per population in developed countries…” “It’s part of the mechanism of rationing that has to happen when you promise to deliver everything and don’t have enough resources” “We have over 1million people waiting for surgery and another million waiting to see a specialist before they get to wait to get the surgery…”(remember this is a country of 33 million, not the nearly 350 million the US has). Canada’s system was just rated on a value for money basis by a European group that rates all the European countries and Canada came in on the bottom [29 of 29]….”
   (I know this was on Faux News and they have the ability to use computer graphics to make it seem like this was the former president of the CMA, and put words in his mouth. I’m sure you will see right past that. /sarc off)
   http://tinyurl.com/moewf8
   I post this not because I have a problem with the Canadian system. Hopefully whatever we do in the states will not emulate Canada. My problem is with YOU!
   You are continually on here saying how stupid we Americans are for not embracing socialized medicine, and how absolutely wonderful Canada’s system is. Any mention of problems with your system is attacked as being insurance co. propaganda and uninformed lies.
   Most Americans barely follow our own issues, let alone what’s going on in Canada. Yet you are so enlightened that you have time to follow domestic policy debates (and comment) on a country that you’re not even a citizen of. I’m sure that as one of Canada’s “elite” you must be extremely well informed of your own countries problems as well, and people here would be eager to hear an honest assessent from one of our neighbors from the North. Yet one would never know there are any problems at all from listening to you.
   My question to you: what is your real agenda?

3. 

   DrCanuck said, 2 months ago

   Churchy, I am hesitant to spend any time answering your question when I know full well you will ignore or misconstrue my answer as you unfailingly do. Still, that almost sounded like a serious question and I am ALWAYS ready to engage people in serious and honest discussion. As an academic, I understand that “the Great Conversation” is the essence of our civilization. So here goes.

   I have no agenda concerning American health care. What system you adopt affects me in no way whatsoever. How could it? As a philosopher, my agenda is truth. As an educator, my agenda is dissemination of knowledge such that reasonable decisions can be made. That’s it. These posts show Americans have little knowledge of the world outside their borders and will quickly accept lies told by those who DO have agendas. Perhaps I can contribute to the dialogue.

   Further, you shouldn’t find it surprising that an educated and intelligent person would try to understand the world around him. Of course I am conversant with Canada, the States, and various other countries. I’m an academic; it’s my job. And I learn a great deal from the folks here and I thoroughly enjoy exchanging ideas with our developing on-line community. (Also, it’s an entertaining break from planning this fall’s lectures to bug the nutcases.)

   And here’s the answer you’ve been waiting for. The Canadian system is not perfect and I have never once suggested it is. There are longer wait times than some of us would want and there are shortages on the frontiers, especially the North, and there are occasional disasters as with any human endeavour (but nowhere NEAR what I read in the American press).

   But I have lived under both the Canadian and American systems for extended periods and there is really no comparison; the Canadian system is superior. No one is uninsured, no one is ever dropped, no one loses his or her home because of illness. Services are not appreciably lower than America’s. And it is SO much cheaper.

   So now let’s see if you really are “eager to hear an honest assessment” from the North from someone with no agenda, or would you prefer to follow the opinions of those with obvious agendas in your own country?

4. 

   churchillwasright said, 2 months ago

   DR.SHAMUCK: Out of the many, many posts of yours of HC, that is the only time I have ever heard you mutter anything critical about Canadian HC, even if it was a muted 2 sentences out of a 5 paragraph reply. I suppose that’s as much “agenda of truth” as you can muster.

   A true “agenda… to disseminate knowledge that a reasonable discussion can be made” should include the pluses and minuses of the two systems being compared. It should not need to be dragged out of you.

5. 

   fennec said, 2 months ago

   Thing is, DrC, church is into getting points in an argument. I’m not sure the substance of the argument has much value for him. He has his opinions, and no presentation of other data is likely to register. I’m not a debater as a sport, but I think that many on this site are.

6. 

   believecommonsense said, 2 months ago

   ^ I ditto fennec once again

7. 

   pbarnrob said, 2 months ago

   Thanks, Dr.C, for shedding a little light in the sea of darkness. We’ve certainly got to do something, since being 37th in the WHO rankings, given what we spend, is just shameful.

   H.R. 676 from Mr. Cucinich would be a start, but it’s an uphill battle, with the foe well dug-in (insurance industry and PhARMA donations already spent, thank you!)

   Drop the Medicare age to zero, and raise the cap on the contributions, and we’d be there. It works now (and yes, it’s not perfect either, I’m sure) but the model is in place.

8. 

   nz4m60 said, 2 months ago

   Since when is Bill O’Reilly someone to take seriously or to let them do your thinking for you?