A few examples that might surprise you. Tim Hudak’s team apparently doesn’t know how to draw to scale. This conveniently allows them to make values seem much larger or smaller than they really are.
How stupid does he think we are?
The y-axis is fudged to visually exaggerate the portion of the area under the curve corresponding to the increase under McGuinty. Notice how the distance between $0 and $150 billion is the same as the distance between $150 billion and $200 billion. The x-axis is rescaled such that all of McGuinty’s portion looks far bigger (apparently he’s been in power half of Ontario’s history). http://www.ontariopc.com/pdf/Changebook_en.pdf
A 77% increase should correspond to about 3 and a half little men. Instead there are 20 more. Nevermind no adjustment being done for revenue/population increases or inflation. http://www.ontariopc.com/pdf/Changebook_en.pdf
The proposed $6.1 billion increase in healthcare spending is a modest, 12% increase, probably mostly in line with the spending necessary to keep up with a growing population. But look at that, in the illustration it goes from 16 ambulances to 40! That’s a 150% increase! http://www.ontariopc.com/pdf/Changebook_en.pdf
Harper’s own people have been quickly and silently fired for DWH (disagreeing with Harper)
Government organisations that presented versions of the truth that were not beneficial to Harper’s cause were quietly “defunded” or denied federal funds until they ceased to exist (eg. Canadian Council of International Cooperation)
The end of the long form census. It may soon be difficult to argue the need for social services without statistically accurate information.
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences has been “disappeared” by a removal of all federal funds. Again, it is hard to explain the need for environmental protection without any relevant data to support it.
The Commons: The daring Mr. Harper is a McLean’s article explaining how Harper’s communications style very effectively suppresses the truth. Some important points:
After repeating his message that Canada is tired of its fourth election in seven years, Harper does not once mention that he was responsible for 2 of the 4 elections.
Harper prorogued parliament twice to avoid defeat
His government is the first in the history of British democracy to be found in contempt of the House of Commons
Anyone But Harper: A Globe and Mail article as rebuttal to the Globe’s endorsement of the Conservative Party
Vote Compass is a tool developed by the CBC that by asking a series of questions points you towards the political party that is closest to your views. Even if you disagree with the answer, the questions asked will open your eyes to important issues you may not have considered
The following is based on interviews on January 6, 2009 with some of the staff at the Policlinico Guanabo, a state-funded physiotherapy clinic in Guanabo, a town 15km east of Havana. Treatment at the clinic, as in all Cuban health care facilities, is free of charge to Cubans.
After visiting the acupuncture ward at a Cuban hospital a few days earlier, I was curious how health care was provided in other environments. At the community level, the Policlinico Guanabo provides for all the health care needs of the town of Guanabo and its environs. There is a full range of medical personnel including a physiotherapy ward.
The physiotherapist was named Reinier. He was 27 years old and licensed in physiotherapy after completion of a 5 year program. He was also licensed in acupuncture after taking a specialization course. He headed the department and worked primarily with electronic therapeutic devices such as laser, magnetic gamma, ultra sound, Hivamat, as well as acupuncture. The machines were all very new, in good condition and surprisingly sleek and modern, in contrast to the clinic’s rustic appearance.
Reinier
Servilio was licensed in “cultura fisica” which literally translates to “physical culture”. I imagine that it means something similar to kinesiology. He is the graduate of a 3 year program with a specialization in rehabilitation. While Reinier works primarily with electronic therapeutic devices, Servilio does almost all of his work manually. He was 54 years old with 25 years of experience. He particularly enjoys working with children and was extremely proud to say that in his career, he has helped more than 15 handicapped children learn to walk. This was inspirational, but even more surprising was that the process only took a year on average. He has also helped 30 handicapped adults learn to walk. I loved how content he was in telling me this. How wonderful it must be to say that the thing they love most of their work or the thing that they are most proud of is that they helped 50 handicapped people learn to walk.
Servilio
Servilio has a standard education in cultura fisica, but he has taken courses, lectures and workshops in a wide variety of modalities. He has branched out his approach into quite a few alternative healing modalities which he regularly incorporates into his treatments. His treatments can contain any combination of massage, tai chi, reflexology, qi gong, acupressure, shiatsu, reiki, chakra healing, ear acupuncture, yoga, william technique, pilates and su jo.
In Canada these therapies are not uncommon, but you would almost never find them in a state run physiotherapy clinic. You would also never find these courses, workshops or treatments offered free of charge. These alternative therapies are strictly operated on a for profit basis outside of Canada’s government run medical system. We have access to natural healing but only if we can afford $20 a group session or $100 for a treatment. Unfortunately, this usually means that much of the market for alternative therapy in Canada choose it only after the western medical system fails them. There is a strong growing movement of people that are adopting alternative health care as a personal preference, but wouldn’t it be grand if we didn’t have to make a choice? What if the Cuban system could be adopted to other western countries and we received prescriptions for yoga, acupuncture, massage or Aspirin from our family doctor?
This post has absolutely nothing to do with the regular themes of my blog, but as an Asain, I feel the need to help give issues like this some visibility. It is a story that will likely be buried by the media. That no one will ever hear about.
The administration of South Philadelphia High School has been hiding reports of racial violence for years. In the past 2 years 45 attacks against Asian students have been ignored. None of the attackers were disciplined. During an attack on December 9 2009, 7 Asian students ended up in the hospital. In protest, 50 Asian students staged a 7 day boycott. Even more unbelievably, 19 of the protesters were suspended and 14 were transferred to other schools.
A formal investigation was launched recently headed by retired judge James Giles. There have been numerous complaints from the witnesses interviewed that their testimony was cut short or the facts manipulated.
I should almost rename the site to “Massage, Acupuncture & Ken’s stomach”. Here is another blog post about the wonderful things my clients are feeding me. Not quite about healthy living, but let’s call it Customer Appreciation.
I’d like to give a shout out to a certain client’s culinary skills. She has brought me little treats in the past, but this weekend she simply outdid herself. This weekend, she cooked me up a cup of lobster thermidore, which was absolutely superb. I really don’t know how I was ever so lucky as to deserve such great clients. But thank you very much.
Hi everyone, you’re probably going to assume that I am always on vacation after this one, but I will be off this weekend after I see a few clients this morning. I will be back to work on Monday. My lovely cousin Gina is getting married in Ottawa this weekend and I can’t miss the opportunity for some good old Trinidadian fruit cake. Have a great weekend.
