Re: “A disingenuous debate” by Max Silverman (26.1.10) Max Silverman is woefully misinformed as to the terms of the debate over health care here in the United States – as are most Canadians. While it might feel good to sneer about the American system of government being beholden to “corporate interests” (especially in the wake of the Citizens United case), can we all adopt a little nuance here and recognize that corporations have a spectrum of competing interests, not all of which align in perfect lockstep unison? The truth about the health care debate is that the insurance companies and HMOs were relatively cooperative early in the debate over health care reform.
Opinion
Opinions from our editorial board and contributors.
THE SITUATION: Ready to make nice
I know a lot of things. Not that I’m trying to be immodest. I mean, I am immodest: I spend most of my Facebook hours stalking myself and am the star of most of my favourite conversations. But in this case, I’m really not being self-indulgent. After two and a half years of university education and campus media, not to mention a lifetime of reading the news, I know a ton of facts.
BLACK & WHITE: Be honest, then be right
I woke up, uncertain and lost, to a staccato burst of screams. I lay in bed for a few more seconds, staring into the darkness, and my heartbeat picked up as the screams rose in pitch. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to go back to sleep and pretend I hadn’t heard anything.
EDITORIAL: Cuts to Level II athletics are a sign of things to come
Next year’s projected budget for McGill Athletics (see cover story), which includes a 67 per cent funding cut for Level II varsity sports, is a sign that the first round of funding cuts have begun at McGill, as the university attempts to reduce a projected $14-million deficit within the next year.
PIÑATA DIPLOMACY: Middle-class guilt
Social organization, for all its clumsiness and evil, has accomplished far more and embodies more good than I do, for at least it sometimes gives justice. I am a mess, and talk about justice. I owe the powers that created me a human life. And where is it! Where is that human life which is my only excuse for surviving! – Saul Bellow, Herzog I live in the Global North.
OFF THE BOARD: Trouble down under
Viewers of x-rated films should be able to appreciate the pornographic prowess of men and women of all shapes and sizes as they please, free from fear of censorship. It seems, to me at least, that this is the objective of porn. But members of the Australian Classification Board, however, disagree.
COMMENTARY: Communication breakdown
It’s amazing that in this advanced age we have yet to master the simple skill of communication. Communication is an ability that doesn’t rely on individual capabilities, but on the cooperation of the group, and on trust. Like paper money, words carry with them a meaning and value that is entirely derived from our trust that other people mean what we do when they say any given word.
Common sense lacking in feud over MBA tuition hike
The latest round in the McGill administration’s ongoing feud with the Quebec government is much the same as the last. Predictable cries of “accessibility” are again pitted against claims of underfunding, as the sides face-off over a proposed tuition increase for McGill Master of Business Administration students.
A small step towards reducing doctor shortages
In a province with a severe physician shortage, it is somewhat surprising that only 35 per cent of foreign-trained doctors who pass the exams required to practice medicine in Quebec are granted residency positions. Last week, however, Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc took an important step in addressing this issue when he announced that the province will reserve 65 residency spots per year for foreign-trained doctors.
MY POINT … AND I DO HAVE ONE: A disingenuous debate
The American health care “debate” has been doomed from the beginning. Rooting their campaign in blatant lies, the American Right came out swinging the moment the massive profits of certain special interests – namely the Medical Insurance/Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex – were put into question.
