Not because I think most of you on my flist need it, but maybe you can link others to it. This is a great article addressing the myths about the Canadian health care system.

Debunking Canadian health care myths, in the Denver Post.

From it being financially impossible:

Myth: The Canadian system is significantly more expensive than that of the U.S.

Ten percent of Canada's GDP is spent on health care for 100 percent of the population. The U.S. spends 17 percent of its GDP but 15 percent of its population has no coverage whatsoever and millions of others have inadequate coverage. In essence, the U.S. system is considerably more expensive than Canada's. Part of the reason for this is uninsured and underinsured people in the U.S. still get sick and eventually seek care. People who cannot afford care wait until advanced stages of an illness to see a doctor and then do so through emergency rooms, which cost considerably more than primary care services.

to it being too bureaucratic:

Myth: Canada's health care system is a cumbersome bureaucracy.

The U.S. has the most bureaucratic health care system in the world. More than 31 percent of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. goes to paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries, profits, etc. The provincial single-payer system in Canada operates with just a 1 percent overhead. Think about it. It is not necessary to spend a huge amount of money to decide who gets care and who doesn't when everybody is covered.

to wait times:

Myth: There are long waits for care, which compromise access to care.

There are no waits for urgent or primary care in Canada. There are reasonable waits for most specialists' care, and much longer waits for elective surgery. Yes, there are those instances where a patient can wait up to a month for radiation therapy for breast cancer or prostate cancer, for example. However, the wait has nothing to do with money per se, but everything to do with the lack of radiation therapists. Despite such waits, however, it is noteworthy that Canada boasts lower incident and mortality rates than the U.S. for all cancers combined, according to the U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group and the Canadian Cancer Society. Moreover, fewer Canadians (11.3 percent) than Americans (14.4 percent) admit unmet health care needs.

All these ones in particular have been driving me *nuts* to read over and over again.

( cut because I'm dissing the US a little more than I meant to and I mean to subject my flist to without giving them the choice of clicking )

Sigh.

( sort of a pre-post on food and self-image )

Also, I think I'm going to try and have a "Spend Nothing Month" in September. It probably won't start until I'm back from camping (because sometimes when camping you just need to buy a spoon because you forgot all yours) but from Sept. 9th to Oct. 9th would work, assuming I've already bought my textbooks. Obviously, things like bathroom products and groceries are allowed, but not much else. Eating food out would only be okay if it was a social thing (and not "I was too lazy to pack a lunch"), but no more random coffees*, off-the-cuff iTunes downloads, clothes, nail polish & make-up... actually I can't think of anything else I randomly buy. But this will probably (a) be harder than I'm anticipating and (b) save me all that "where did that thirty dollars disappear to?" lost money.

There are a few things like this I'd like to do, to be more active about the social issues I think and read about, but most of them will probably wait until I move out of my parents house. Things like cutting out all processed foods, being aggressive in how much non-recyclable, non-composting waste I produce (and therefore purchase - like trying not to buy food products in non-recyclable containers, shunning blister packs as much as possible), being more aware of what impact the brands I purchase have on the world, using "natural" household cleaners rather than the chemical ones, trying not to use the car unless absolutely necessary, and so on and so forth. The boy and I are really interested in putting energy in those directions when we move back in together, and I think picking apart our consumer habits and lifestyle will be really interesting and worth the time. We were lazy in the past when neither of us had the spoons for it, but I think now we do.

*I might keep going to my local organic "more than" fair trade coffeeshop, because that's something I feel like supporting as a consumer.

You've probably already seen that ad, and you've probably already been linked to bodlon's post on the topic of the backlash against gay marriage. smirnoffmule also linked me to a breakdown of the lies in the video.

Last night, I was watching the latest episode of Project Runway Canada, the second-last episode where the mentor goes back to the contestants homes to see their collections and meet their friends and families. The front-runner, Sunny Fong, who we already know lost his father to cancer, talks a bit about how he hopes his mum will be proud of him if he wins, because even though he knows she is, she's never said it out loud. He tears up - it's very moving, and very clear there's some difficulty between them. 

And then we go meet his friends, who are "more his family than his actual family", including... his husband. 

You know, gay marriage has been legal here for a few years now, and I still get startled and excited when I hear a man introduce his husband, or a woman introduce her wife. Because it's true. Because they get to say it. Because they don't have to help anyone hide their bigotry behind vague terms like "partner", or juvenile terms like "boyfriend/girlfriend".

Because they've been together for nine years, and how dare anyone tell Sunny he doesn't have a right to make a new, legal family with this man whom he so clearly adores? 

Take heart, my American friends. You'll get there. It'll suck, it might take the overturning of a generation, but I believe with all my heart you will get there. Because it's about freedom. Because it's about love. Because it's the only right thing to do, and though sometimes getting it right takes time, you're pretty damn good at getting there eventually.