There will be lots of talk about this or that epoch changing development. That’s great for pundits, but we need only look back to the ADQ’s recent victory and then subsequent demise in Quebec politics for a cautionary tale. The New Democrats have a chance to really become a major force nationally, but that is …
Category Archives: Politics
Liveblogging the Canadian Election from California
J: I just bought a Quebec flag on Amazon. Also, CBC’s glee at Duceppe’s loss (vs. Ignatieff’s) is palpable. J: Ignatieff on the liberals: “I am the humble heir of that tradition. And I didn’t come into politics to see it die.” Um. Oops. C: Are we gonna watch this all night or what? It’s …
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The Cost of (Getting Sick Under) Socialized Medicine
I wanted to start this line of posts with the observation that there is no more nationally-specific experience than getting sick. But that’s not necessarily true. In Canada, provinces manage their own healthcare, and when I show you some pictures of where I stayed, you will understand why Michael Moore picked a nice Ontario clinic …
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Healthcare and Taxes
Despite its obvious shortcomings, I have never questioned that Obama’s healthcare plan is a major step forward for the United States, since it takes a positive step toward moving American healthcare from a privilege to a right. This is exactly why I was horrified to see the new proposal by the Quebec government on provincial …
New Text
Yet another short one. I feel like I keep doing these forum things when I should be doing full articles. Oh well, such is the life of a chair. I also have this book manuscript on its way, so I shouldn’t complain. Anyway, it’s timely and apropos, what with that Thomas H. Benton guy publishing …
Some Kennedy Considerations
Doug Henwood, as usual, offers a salutary alternative to the funerary hagiography.
A Few Words in Praise of Public Health
Now that h1n1 has degenerated from a worldwide crisis to a party favor, people have been complaining about how various public health authorities handled the crisis, when the flu turned out to be a regular flu. While I’m certainly not keen on the paranoid behavior of Japanese bureaucrats who effectively shut down the Society for …