tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762075.post8555930607143892077..comments2024-03-27T13:28:50.405-07:00Comments on Alienated in Vancouver: My Sore Throat Vs. the Case of Omar KhadrAllan MacInnishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05394301776870727673noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762075.post-10929468014389231252008-03-28T23:58:00.000-07:002008-03-28T23:58:00.000-07:00The Canadian health care system is good in some wa...The Canadian health care system is good in some ways. You don't have to shell out money very often, for one, and you can be secure that you'll get seen to eventually, even in an Emergency Ward. But there are some problems, for sure. If you need surgery done, it can take forever. I can tell you stories of someone being told by the doctor to fake a heart attack, for instance, so they could get seen to for heart surgery more quickly, or someone with symptoms that could have been (and in fact were) the result of a tumour having to wait months to even see a specialis, while the tumour grew inside. (Once it was diagnosed, surgery followed fast on, mind you). My own impression of the American health care system is largely the horrific one offered by Michael Moore, but the rosy picture he paints of Canadian health care overlooks so many things, it makes me wonder if his view of the US system isn't highly skewed, as well... He also completely misrepresented the situation with guns in Canada in BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, since we DO have very strict gun control laws<BR/><BR/>Pros and cons of Vancouver: <BR/><BR/>Pros: <BR/><BR/>- a fairly rich arts scene if you dig around - there's just enough to keep the soul fed, especially in the summer and fall<BR/><BR/>- abundant weed<BR/><BR/>- pretty mountains & opportunities to be close to nature<BR/><BR/>- some fairly counterculture-friendly neighborhoods and pluralistic attitudes, agreeable to liberal types: there's a leftist-friendly political consensus in no way reflected by our government; a thriving queer community; and people of many different cultures and lifestyles(tho' there are invisible barriers, too - more on that below)<BR/><BR/>- a pleasant spring/summer - not too hot, not too humid, quite sunny and lovely <BR/><BR/><BR/>Cons:<BR/><BR/>- a dark, rainy, long fall-winter-early spring that leaves everyone depressed<BR/><BR/>- a spreading bedbug problem at the moment, and mice, silverfish, and even roaches in some buildings<BR/><BR/>And there are a too many people in the following categories:<BR/><BR/>a) unambitious stoned slackers, lazy bastards, people who have no drive <BR/><BR/>b) fit, plastic rollerbladers and pod people, who are driven but cold and Me-Firstish<BR/><BR/>...and then there's our huge homeless population, often either addicts or mentally ill folks, sleeping in every second doorway and asking you for money around each corner. The increasingly neoliberal provincial government and the gentrification of poor areas in the development rush up to the 2010 Olympics mean that these numbers will doubtlessly get worse. I've also been told (by Nels Cline, in fact) that, compared to LA, there's a very different VIBE to our poor and homeless - that there's a lot more obvious drug damage visible.<BR/><BR/>- and speaking of 2010, it's expensive to live here, getting moreso, and the architecture just keeps getting more ugly. <BR/><BR/>Finally: I'm not sure what you found "wrong" with Torontonians, but in my experience, they were pretty friendly, open people. People here seem a bit cliquish and wary of strangers - it takes a long time to build a social network, and I think a lot of people feel isolated here. I've heard that this is a singularly difficult city to meet women in, and I've known people from other cities who came to live here who found Vancouverites rather hung-up and uncommunicative, and found it very difficult (compared to Toronto, explicitly) to make social connections. <BR/><BR/>And on that topic, there was a transplanted BC'er who relocated to Toronto trying to provoke a west-east regional feud with me last month - see the comments for the post entitled, I think, "Japanese land leeches," for his views.Allan MacInnishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05394301776870727673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762075.post-38748260058946785672008-03-28T21:57:00.000-07:002008-03-28T21:57:00.000-07:00christ, man- hope you get to feelin' better. i'm ...christ, man- hope you get to feelin' better. i'm glad i'm blessed with the best immune system ever, seeing as how i don't have medical insurance. is canadian medicine really as bad as conservative talk radio makes it out to be (long lines and wait periods, all that shit)? i'd much rather have to wait a little longer or deal with a rude, tired doctor than not be able to afford to go at all, but maybe that's just me.<BR/><BR/>as for omar khadr, considering i myself might be facing jailtime (my court date is next week) over some ridiculus bullshit (his takes the cake, no doubt...don't think i think we are in the same boat at all), i feel the plight of him and the vast majority of those my government has imprisoned and tortured. this is not the exception in this country, but the rule. <BR/><BR/>the more i think about things, the more i really want to move, perhaps to vancouver or something. it's close enough to family i have in washington. i'm sure it's more expensive...definitely something to consider once i graduate school...and only really an option if i get a deferred entry of judgement and my drug case is dismissed in the next 18 months. i'm sure canada is no paradise and has her own problems, but weed being practically legally and some good experiences the few times i've visited (except when i stayed with my friend's parents in toronto for a couple of weeks...who do those people think they are?!)(and yes, i mean the entire whole of toronto) and a love of chicks saying "i'm soe-ree i can't come over two-moe-row" i developed over a childhood of watching degrassi...i dunno. at the very least, i want out of where i live now. ugh.<BR/><BR/>what are the pros and cons of vancouver as a place of semi-permanent residence?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762075.post-63289484456796984182008-03-27T18:08:00.000-07:002008-03-27T18:08:00.000-07:00...and midway through the day, I got a migraine, a......and midway through the day, I got a migraine, around the same time that I lost my voice. <BR/><BR/>All 'round, it's been a perfectly consistent day.Allan MacInnishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05394301776870727673noreply@blogger.com