Shwa

But is that 'common-sensical?' Much peace and security has been generated by war and violence. So does this mean that war - that has generated much violence, sorryow death and bad health - is also 'right?' How about rape where the female victim is impregnated with "life" is that also 'right?'

Please explain how you arrived at the conclusion that this statement is "right."

I think labelling someone as a 'racist' is iffy, and clearly this is the case with Lictard. Racism implies, and may even require, a measure - even small - of power of something; whether that is institutional power, social power, intellectual power, etc. Things Lictard simply does not possess. Since posters here have expended considerable energy on careful and correct arguments that clearly make his/her position untenable at best, and he refuses to acknowledge such rational sanction, the best he can aspire to is simple-minded bigotry. Or boogey-man syndrome since his beliefs are likely grounded in fear than anything else. His beliefs have no rationale, they make no sense, they carry no weight, thus - even as a wanna-be racist - his ideas are rather impotent and limp and lean towards obstinancy and intolerance, the hallmarks of a mere frustrated bigot. The interesting part is that his bigotry is likely a reaction against his lack of personal power - for example, note the thread where he was "dragged out" to see the movie "Sex in the City 2.' The use of his language betrays his position - being "dragged out" used as an excuse for publically admitting his easy submission to someone else, likely a woman. Lictard continually tries to erect some political perspective, but either can't get it up enough to aspire to bona fide racism or he quickly blathers on from the onset to completely unsatisfactory results. Hence the submissive act to the woman, who likely is unaware of his views such as the woman who is unaware that her hubbie us secretly beating off while watching porn on the Internet. But racist? Nah. No power whatsoever, except over his own private club of one; which is a small membership no matter how you look at it.

Ottawa has a "nightlife?" Where??

So are you sure that your mushroom love experience wasn't simply a psychological response to the anxiety caused by the psilocybin coupled with a state of constant anxiety over the perception of your present social environment? That is, more of a personal distortion than a universal truth that allowed you to continue the experience without discomfort? I am wondering if you simply accept notions that come to you during drug enduced experiences and then expand on them during times when you are not in the drug induced state. The second (or third, or fourth, or fifth - I can't quite remember) time I took mushrooms, my vision changed to resemble colour television 'snow' followed by hours of painful cramps. Love did me no good at that time.

Wow. Well, I feel much better knowing that you are here sitting in judgement on anyone who happens to post because, you know, someone has to. Is there a book or something that you can suggest that can show the rest of us unwashed masses how you determine right from wrong?

That's interesting. I thought it meant 'to feel strangled' Anger - Online Etymology Dictionary

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/820913--recovered-fertilizer-quashes-g20-bomb-fears?bn=1 There were "fears?" I wasn't feaful were you? Was there low, quick paced music in the background while they searched? Did Tom Cruise show up to save the day? Did James Earle Jones narrate? Nope: The RCMP anti-terrorist unit took over. Good thing the guy turned himself in! That's funny. The RCMP anti-terrorist unit "took over," but the Toronto Police had last word. And a witty last word it was. A gardening "incident." LOFL!

The thing is that I don't see a march towards privatization at all outside that of outsourcing some functions of the system where that outsourcing makes sense, like some material supply, service contracts for technology, etc. Even at that, the sum total of management knowledge has learned that outsourcing is not a silver bullet solution to anything. Besides, what people never seem to pay attention to is that we have lots of private interests presently in clinics, some hospitals, hospices and other health related enterprises, nevermind material and equipment supply. What I see happening is the that the public sector is going through a management process makeover and you don't need to be an insider to see this phenomenon. It might not be 100% Gov 2.0, but the information is out there. Now one can say that the public sector has always followed along the same path as the private sector practices and that might be partially true to the point where the bureaucracy sees themselves as having a fundamentally different bottom line. But there is an adoption of principles that are equally true for both private and public sector functions. However, when we see a private corporation issue wide-sweeping edicts about practices, processes or products, similiar edicts in the public sector are problematic, even if pushed through as a policy of one institution or another. And I don't think even the most ardent privateer wants the government to generally rush through anything as it concerns health care. I mean, sure, specific instances must be addressed, but lets use legislation for the big picture.

I guess horror genre in Europe has changed quite a bit since the 'Mad Butcher of Vienna.' However, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is, to me, the benchmark and has yet to be duplicated. The original Leatherface, great movie villain!

My second youngest has taken his youthful exuberance for movies into a desire for film and film criticism at the higher education level. While he is partial to the zombies and campy slasher genre, I am certainly going to recommend he view the titles you provided. He much preferred the original Spanish REC to the American remake Quarantine and I think a little European type gore will round out his perspective.

Is that what I wrote? Initiative?? Is is an Act that has passed through the House and is on its way to coming into force. Now, do you have some legitimate report or study that foretells the implementation of modern management practices will result in declining services coupled with increasing costs or are you simply guessing? So during the life of the process to get the Excellent Care for All Act passed, can you show me some severe and withering criticism offered by the opposition parties? News stories of wide reaching protests or some other indicator that this Act will increase the shortcomings of the present health care system in Ontario? Seriously, I am looking for some reports, studies, protests, editorials and such that provide a definitive that what the sitting government is doing actually amounts to nothing or worse, a hindrance. There are some advantages and some disadvantages. But I prefer things as they are. I can always go to Buffalo for an MRI if I really want. Pliny and the like want radical change and that will never happen with our present society. That doesn't mean the radical argument is invalid, in fact those sorts of arguments are often used as modifiers or input into localized initiatives. There will be changes overall, but careful, incremental ones. Innovative. But never comprehensive to any degree so long as we move toward modern management practices.

I am not "upset" at the results of these reports - the example I have given - because a 75%-84% satisfaction level is pretty good considering that the services that many of the respondents had likely involved pain of some sort. Those percentages could be higher, and that means there is room for improvement, like any human endeavour. My old uncle was in the hospital a few years ago after falling and breaking his hip. He complained about the food and the "art" that was in the lobby, but loved his nurses. How do we measure his "upsetedness?" I will become "upset" at the level in which the health of the general population is actually threatened or my confidence going into an Ontario hosptial is low. No one wants to face pain with fear and dread. Would that mean a satisfaction rate of less than 50%? Less that 75%? Only time will tell. In the meantime, here is an interesting editorial from today's Star: Bed blockers still there The idea that aging baby boomers are unnecessarily taking hospital beds away because of lack of beds in nursing homes isn't going to get any better for another generation. And if you are as old as I am - which I think you are if you have been involved in politics for four decades - then we have met the enemy and the enemy is us.

And insight into your forum handle perhaps?

So I take it you are the spokesman for the un-PC and higher standard right?

"These reports" Do you mean this one? Satisfaction indicators: Percent of population that rates hospital services received as good or excellent (2007): 81% Percent of population that rates health services received as good or excellent (2007) 84.7% Percent of population that rates medical care received as very good or excellent (2007) 75% These percentages are more or less in line with the rest of Canada. So, what reports are you specifically referring to that indicates that active legislation is a sign of complacency?

I agree, keep it to one response. Firstly, I have no quarrel with your ideas, which are worthy and noble. But I do have issue with your method - especially the parts where you mis-quote, mis-state or plainly fabricate. I think you do a disservice to your argument by resorting to these sorts of tactics and it borders on hyperbole. There is a sense of irony - and a little sense of confusion - as to you starting this thread in the 'Media and Broadcasting' section. It is difficult to decipher if you are talking about the media presentation of the issue, or your own. So there is an argument on two levels - yours and that of the G&M. I am not "satisfied" with the way "things are" with our current health system and I never said that. I said I was confident going to a hospital for treatment and the service and treatment were always very good and then I qualified that statement by saying that it isn't perfect. So... the health care system is not perfect, but we cannot simply stop it for a few weeks or few months to re-tool like is done in some manufacturing sectors. So any work that has to be completed, has to be done during production time (24X7). We can sit back and prognosticate, but the front line of this institution does not have that luxury. And despite any party stripe, we are all more or less liberal in our outlook and that means carefully managed incremental changes to institutions. There will never be any radical changes to the health care system in Ontario, it can only consist of modifications, tweaks and course corrections. Now I fully agree that modern reporting techniques should be applied, but the scope of those reports and the scope of the stakeholders access to those reports is something that needs to be altered. The Excellent Care for All Act 2010 appears to be moving those goals in the right direction, yet you have not touched on this active legislation at all. It appears to address some of the things you are concerned about. Now whether you "trust the government to make change happen" is a titch absurd or near-sighted or both. Look at the long term results of changes to Ontario institutions and that view becomes untentable. Liberalism is about small incremental changes over periods of time; it isn't radicalism and the health care system cannot afford this view nor the inherent risks. And it doesn't matter if you are NDP, Lib or PC, the managerial aspects are more or less the same.

And yet national myths and legends are alive and well along with cultural and religious myths and legends. (In the Catholic religion they call their heroes "saints.") And why is this? If the purely rational is supposed to be as all-powerful and righteous as its close adherents want us to believe, then why hasn't it taken over as the prima facie driver of nations and cultures? I mean really, it has had thousands of years to make it's case... Perhaps a little hero here and there helps combat the stark existential outlook that people get when they peer into the face of their own demise. Perhaps there is a purpose after all.

"can be" maybe, but in my experience - and listening to the experiences of others - it usually isn't. And when trying to communicate technical details with a person reading a script in a heavily accented attempt at proper English, well, not productive. Even with an accent and the use of regional colloquilisms, I can understand Mary or Maryanne much easier and they can understand me fine.

The importance of performance statistics and key deliverables has been a part of modern management practices for the past few decades. They are just making their arrival in the public bureaucracy within the past decade. I didn't really notice them until engineering project management practices started to become the rage within corporate management. The timing of this phenomenon coincides with the emergence of modern computing technology, the Internet and Government 2.0. Now, there's an interesting little tidbit of history: engineering project management practices being generally applied to social program delivery. I wonder what term we could use to refer to this phenomenon...

If I understand correctly the province doesn't deliver health care either except in limited situations like remote postings and internal health care to provincial staff. My local hospital is part of a large corporation called Lakeridge. How about yours?

So where in this quote does it indicate more complex? Generally, improved services and efficiencies result is less-complexity wouldn't you say? Management consultants are usually hired to give a somewhat objective view/advice/report of the current management practices in a given organization. This may be temporary or it may be an on-going initiative during a change window. WHen projectizing organizations was the rage, there were many project management consultants. Sometimes they are hired to get an org up to ISO standards. Other times ITSO standards. Often "management consultants" are former employees hired back on contract so that there is a continuity of organizational knowledge. Me too. People have an expectation of the end results when there is a change window. But not everyone reads the manual (RTFM) and when the change is finally initiated, they get all pissy because it isn't what they expected. I mean, who decides what colour to paint the corridors of hospitals anyways??

Really? What if there is only raw data and no one in the media to synthesize those into information the public will comprehend given the context? (The public finds out the unemployment rate from EI; but I am sure there is some number crunching going into that data before we say 8% is unemployed.) Or what if the data exists in several different formats, some of it proprietary like a PeopleSoft database or something? Or... {gulp} what it the data has never really been collected in a comprehensive form? All you did was spin the words to suit your own argument. In fact you did not quote one single phrase at all, but paraphrased some words into the spin. And you want "new media" to do what? Radicalism from the Provincial Liberals? Are you kidding me? If you are waiting for a radical approach, you are not going to see this in mainstream Canadian politics, at least not for very long. LOL, I think they adressed the eHealth problems with some urgency though. Political expediency if you will... That is just pessimism. And I am not certain they can't meet "thge guidelines." Again, you want radical change. Again! You are completely fabricating facts to suit your argument. One more time now: Almost half of Ontario patients who require urgent cancer operations don’t get them within the recommended two weeks or less Your representing the facts "is far worse than unperfect." You it be improved? You're not upset, so maybe it is your intention to continue to misprepresent what has been said? So now an appeal to emotion eh? Come on now... And this is different from other institution, corporations and organizations how? Do you want change to the Ontario Health System with more performance oriented management techniques or do you want an overhaul or organization psychology? You are giving me a personal anecdote about middle level managers with a large corporation and applying that as a template to the Ontario Health System? You're kidding me right? So then what is it about updating management practices, using key performance indicators, moving to a JIT serivce model, etc., that does not apply to what you are seeking? Seems to me that what you want in the above quote is the same sort of thing that is being acted upon right now.

Of course not. That is why I qualified it with "un-PC."

OHQC is a provincial agency, whioch you noted in your OP and which is clearly marked out on their website under the "Mandate" section: They are no more independent than the Animal Care Review Board, a Police Service Board, or the Travel Industry Council of Ontario. However, the use of the word "independent" is from the Globe and Mail article.