Tax Sugar!

Some U.S researchers are calling Sugar a toxic substance that needs to be taxed. Now I am all for taxing sugar  as well as soda drinks and then putting that money either at reducing the deficit or putting into Health Care. I don't like saying that sugar is toxic. Everything CAN BE TOXIC in a certain concentration. Paracelsus stated "the dose makes the poison." So all substances can be toxic if you have too much, but we tax substances like Alcohol and tobacco, because the government has to then provide the money for the health problems they have later . I think that since sugar is linked to obesity and a lot of money is put into providing health care for people who are obese it would only make sense to tax this substance to pay for the amount of money is needed to provide health care for them. Rather then continuing to allow the straining of our health care system .Now I don't think that people should just be taxed without being given an alternative. Like a carbon tax taxing companies we should also provide clean renewable energy for them to shift to. More local farming and and reduce the amount of sugar in food are alternatives our government must look into. We need a food revolution to make healthy food the economical choice for families. We need to always try and make good healthy food less expensive so that if people who want to buy healthy food can always.

Secret Toxins

For years, the Quebec government has not revealed what is in one of the most toxic dump sites in Canada, the Mercier lagoons. Yet, there are people living right next to these toxins and government after government has not found it necessary to inform the people living there. I would like to see Jean Charest sleep in a garbage can for twenty years. There have been two studies done on what is in those lagoons and they have used any excuse to be exempt from a Quebec law that says that the population must know what is in those lagoons. This information must be made public. It is our right to know.

Twenty years is a very long time for the Quebec government to deny the residents near the Mercier lagoons information about what exactly lurks in those dumpsites, known to be one of the most toxic in Canada.

Read more at the Montreal Gazette.

Health Care Stays!

Obama's health care bill that by itself isn't enough to fully fix the health care in the U.S, but an amazing big jump forward. Now  many Republicans want to destroy the bill that helps people who have a pre-existing condition get health care insurance. The Health care bill that helps people not big insurance companies. Repealing the health care bill would add to the deficit over 100 billion in the first 10 years alone. The Republicans would like to take coverage from people who are sic and increase the deficit at the same time. Yet they blame Obama for helping people and lowering the deficit. Some of these Republicans are hypocrites. The bill to destroy the health care bill was stooped in the democratic controlled senate, and for now the health care bill is staying. But how long will the Republicans milk this. Maybe all the way to the white house, but even if Obama loses his presidency the senate unless the Republicans gain 13 seats which would be historic and impossible none the less the health care bill will stay.

Read more here

Asbestos Must End

The asbestos industry in Quebec must end. Asbestos has been proven to be a harmful mineral that causes more than one disease and also causes suffering. Yet the government in Quebec wants to expand the industry. This mineral used for insulation has long been put out of usage in all of Canada. Instead, we ship asbestos to developing nations, letting them suffer the consequences. And they do not have as good a healthcare system as Canada. It is time to stop the asbestos industry and the accumulation of money at the expense of other people's health and lives.

MONTREAL - More than three-quarters of Quebecers oppose the idea of the Quebec government financing a project to expand the Jeffrey asbestos mine, according to a survey commissioned by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

Read more at The Gazette.

Related articles

• Medical journal slams Canadian 'hypocrisy' on asbestos (nationalpost.com)
• Victims, activists urge Canada to stop asbestos exports (thestar.com)
• Asian anti-asbestos delegation headed to Quebec (ctv.ca)

G.O.P Want To Increase The Deficit.

The new Republican house wants to now repeal Obama's health care bill that passed last year. This was one of the promises that many Republicans made if they were elected. This of course will never happen, because the democrats hold the senate and the presidency , so no way it will be repealed now. The republicans are hypocrites they want to repeal the health care which will increase the deficit by 230 billion over the next 10 years. this means that not only will the under a Republican government the health of the nation will lower and they will increase the deficit. Under Obama's plan although it is not universal health care it would at least insure that all Americans can have health care insurance. The Republicans are hypocrites when it comes to the deficit. There is no reason not to have Obama's health care bill stay in fact it isn't enough universal health care is what the United state's need. The U.S under Republican ideology will be moving years back not that the U.S isn't already going backwards.

The people "want this bill repealed and we are going to repeal it," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. If it is not repealed, "it will ruin the best health care system in the world ... (and) will ruin our economy."

The new house speaker thinks the U.S has the best health care in the world that is false. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) ranks the U.S 37 on the best health care system. Canada is 30th 1st is France. The U.S is behind Costa Rica.

Legislation being pushed by House Republicans to repeal President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will add $230 billion to the federal debt by 2021, according to an analysis released Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Read more here

Food Law In The U.S!

Obama has signed a food law bill that was the first major overhaul of food safety in the U.S all the way back since the 1930's were back then our food supplies weren't what they are today. This will now allow the Government to force re-calls of food if there is an out break, before a recall wasn't mandatory, but voluntary! The bill will make companies of food more accountable and reduce the risk of outbreaks which the U.S has faced in the last decade almost every year. The only problem with this bill is that it will cost 1.4 billion dollars. This is not a real problem considering that life and health is worth the 1.4 billion over five years, but rather the Republicans might say that the spending to expensive considering the deficit. I think if the Republicans want to cut 280 million a year because it cost too much I say there earmarks are 8 billion a year.  Although I think earmarks are okay I think that instead of putting the earmarks in legislation that have nothing to do with the earmarks. I think the U.S should have an earmark bill every year that is only for the use of earmarks to see how much every politicians spend on earmarks. Making earmarks more transparent. Anyways the Republicans I hope actually won't hit this piece of legislation to cut the 1.2 trillion dollar deficit. There are many other area's that should be cut like subsidies to fossil fuels.

The legislation gives the federal Food and Drug Administration the authority to impose new rules to prevent contamination and allows the agency to order, rather than simply suggest, the recall of tainted foods.

Hamburg told reporters Monday that she is optimistic Congress will provide the necessary resources to implement the bill's key provisions.

Read more here

Better Warnings

Canada is to beef up the graphic warnings on cigarette boxes. The new labels, like the one found below will cover 75% of packages. It also includes the phone number of a quit smoking hotline. This is a good initiative from the Conservative government to improve the health of our nation. Cigarettes harm the different systems of the human body. Smokers eventually have to go to publicly funded hospitals for their problems. The cost then falls on all of Canada to pay. While the new labels might not be that efficient in encouraging smokers of a long time to quit, I can see this marketing scheme discouraging people from taking a first smoke.

The Liberals and NDP have accused the Tories of backing down in the face of lobbying from the tobacco industry against these labels. They say that this announcement is just "damage control" from when Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq postponed the creation of the new labels and the quit hotline. Maybe they are right. Maybe they are not. There is no proof to support these claims. Therefore, I do not care whatsoever. The plan is laid out and ready to be set in action.

Read more at the Toronto Star.

Related articles

• Canadian Tobacco Warnings Bigger, More Graphic (cbc.ca)
• Smokers shrug at graphic new warning labels (thestar.com)

Assess the Tar Sands

Alastair Sweeny, author of Black Bonanza says that we should assess the Athabasca watershed to see if there is pollution in the river, where is it from, and if it's a risk to us. The problem is that this should have been done a long time ago. The oil producers claim that the tar sands pose no health risk to Canadians. What does Mr. Sweeny have to say on this issue? "We don't know." For years, the tar sands have been harvested. Why we do not officially know whether the tar sands contribute to pollution in the Athabasca river remains a mystery to me.

A U.S. senator has called it "Canada's national treasure." It's been demonized by environmentalists as the "worst project in the world." Maude Barlow likens it to Mordor in Lord of the Rings -- a place where nature goes to die.

It's the Athabasca Sands, the largest single deposit of oil on the planet, and all you have to do it dig it up, wash off the oil, or extract it using underground steam, and then clean up when you leave.

Read more at the Ottawa Citizen.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Oil sands polluting river with heavy metals, say researchers (businessgreen.com)
• Kumi Naidoo: Tar Sands: is this the real Canada? (huffingtonpost.com)

A joint a day keeps the doctor away?

Bye bye apple, hello pot is what you can say about neurotic pain. A new study shows that herbal cannabis helps with neurotic pain. The study gave people with the neurotic pain either a placebo with 0% THC (most common chemical in Marijuana), 2.5% THC, 6% THC or 9.4% THC. It showed a significant reduction in neurotic pain for people taking 9.4% THC against the people who took 0% THC. Now there were some side effects, some of which included headache, dry eyes, burning sensation in areas of neuropathic pain, dizziness, numbness, cough. Some even said that it helped with sleep. I think that the U.S should at the very least legalize medical Marijuana. Which by the way 80% of Americans agree with. Currently though Obama is against legalizing even medical Marijuana.

Smoking marijuana does help relieve a certain amount of pain, a small but well-designed Canadian study has found

"We found that 25 mg herbal cannabis with 9.4 per cent THC, administered as a single smoked inhalation three times daily for five days, significantly reduces average pain intensity compared with a zero per cent THC cannabis placebo in adult subjects with chronic post traumatic/post surgical neuropathic pain," the study's authors concluded in Monday's online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The participants also reported improvements in measures of sleep quality, the researchers said

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/08/30/marijuana-medical-neuropathic-pain.html

World hunger what is the world doing?

World hunger an issue I find has not been stressed enough, Because clearly if it was a big issue it wouldn't be that bad. Here are some interesting facts about hunger in our world.

Did you know that 15 million people die from hunger every year. That is 1 person every 3.6 seconds! In the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America 500 million people are leaving in absolute poverty. 50% of our planet live on less than 2$ a day. It is also in the U.S one in eight children under the age of 12 in the U.S go to bed hungry. Now what is the world doing about it. Well the cost to satisfy all hunger needs in the world would cost 13 billion dollars. That is how much people in the U.S and the E-U spend on perfume. Now nothing against perfume, but the fact is that not enough money is given to end global hunger. In Japan 5 times more food is thrown in the garbage than the UN gives for hunger relief. 13 billion is a lot of money for you and me, but for our government especially the U.S and E-U have plenty they can give. In fact the cost of one missile can feed a hungry school every day for 5 years.

Here is something you can do and it won't even cost a cent. Click here

For some more facts read here

A Good Decision on the new MS Treatment

Yves Bolduc, the Quebec health minister has decided to fund a clinical trial of the new treatment for multiple sclerosis. Even though those who have been treated with it have reported good results, there hasn't been any scientific study done on this besides the one done by the person who discovered the treatment. Those with MS should be able to live as normal as they can. However, this "cure" could have side-effects we do not know about yet. Therefore, it is a good idea to fund a study as soon as possible so we will be able to decide whether this procedure works and is not dangerous.

Quebec's health minister says he's ready to join other provinces in a national clinical trial of a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Yves Bolduc says he's very open to Quebec collaborating on clinical studies, adding he will ask his own experts to provide him with an opinion.

Manitoba Health Minister Theresa Oswald has written a letter to provincial, federal and territorial health ministers seeking their support.

She has called for a pan-Canadian randomized clinical trial of the efficacy of the so-called liberation procedure.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Smog Day!

Today, there was a smog warning in place for Montreal. It was mostly because of the forest fires around but also because of pollution. I could smell the ozone and fine particles in the air. In fact, pollution is the reason for smog. Smog is yet another consequence of polluting in cities. I would guess that transportation is the leading cause for smog. There should be more funding public transit and even more funding for zero emission transportation like biking and walking. We need to reduce the space for cars and replace it with pedestrian, bike and public transit reserved lanes. That is good urban planning and great sustainable development. Nobody likes smog nor breathe it. Cutting down on the polluting cars would ensure fewer smog days.

Voting is Good

New research shows that political activism is good for people. Mentally, of course. They feel better, have a sense of purpose, better relationships and have a good sense of self esteem. This is very interesting. Of course, after the 2008 election with the lowest voter participation on record, we have to wonder whether there should be vote legislation. Anyway, I hope more people get involved in politics.

When it comes to politics, why are more of us becoming disengaged? Are we more cynical? Lazy? Self-absorbed? Distracted? Busy? Despairing? All of the above?

New psychological research suggests that rising indifference to politics among Canadians, as well as people in many parts of the world, may actually reflect a lack of personal happiness, an existential melancholy. In fact, the novel psychological experiments conducted by a U.S. psychologist and a German psychologist suggest that humans feel more satisfied and alive when they jump into political action, even at a relatively minor level.

Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

Bottled Bacteria

A new study has shown that popular brands of bottled water has a huge amount of bacteria. Even compared to tap water, bottled water had more bacteria. In fact, 70% of the brands tested didn't make the American standards for the number of colony forming bacteria allowed in drinking water. Bottled water is a waste. As shown, tap water is just as good, if not better. Bottled water, as we learn from the study, has potentially pathogenic bacteria inside and isn't good for the environment. When we consume it, we lose. The companies have obviously done a good job of marketing the product as we get water for free anyway. They are selling us something we get for free! I say we use bottled water only for emergencies.

Canadian researchers say they've discovered some bottled water in Canada contains more bacteria than what comes out of the tap — although they won't reveal which brands are the culprits. 

Researchers from C-crest Laboratories in Montreal bought and tested several popular brands of bottled water, and found many of them had heterotrophic bacteria counts that were "surprisingly high."

Read more at the Vancouver Sun.

Defunding

We all thought the abortion issue was over. Now the issue came back. We are hearing that the Conservative government has cut funding for organizations that went against the Conservative position on maternal health. An organization's funding should not be decreased just because of their beliefs. This does not sound like the Canada I know. The Canada I know is the one who does not discriminate on organization for saying their opinion. I ask the government to apologize to each organization personally and restore all funding.

The following organizations have lost there funding:

• Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW)
• Conseil d'intervention pour l'accès des femmes au travail  (CIAFT)
• New Brunswick Pay Equity Coalition
• Réseau des Tables régionales de groupes de femmes du Québec
• Alberta Network of Immigrant Women
• Centre de documentation sur l'éducation des adultes et la condition feminine
• Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale (AFEAS)
• Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH)
• Womenspace Resource Centre (Lethbridge, AB)
• Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)
• Feminists for Just and Equitable Public Policy (FemJEPP) in Nova Scotia

http://goo.gl/dydz

Canadians Live Longer Lives

A new study has shown that Canadians are healthier and live longer than Americans. That was a bit obvious as we have universal health care. It's a bit weird that Americans are fighting against socializing health care. They should really get to know the truth and the greatness of providing care for the fellow human beings. Health care is a human right.

Canadians tend to lead longer, healthier lives than Americans on average, say researchers who point to lack of universal health care in the U.S. as one reason.

The study in Thursday's online issue in BioMed Central's journal Population Health Metrics was based on data from the 2002-03 Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health, which offered comparable data on the health of the population in both countries.

Read more at CBC.

Governments + Cigarette Companies Forever

You would think that in our high deficit times that our government would do all that they could to reduce the deficit. What if I told you that the government can get 10 billion dollars, but instead, they settle for a smaller amount. Not 6 billion, not 3 billion, not 2 billion not even a billion, but 550 million dollars. Yeah, that's right our government gave a 94.5% discount on the amount it sued for. What happened was that the tobacco company's were involved in selling crates of cigarettes into the US subsidizers, then those sold them to the smugglers who brought the cigarettes illegally into Canada. Now I think that we should charge these company's guess what full price they did something illegal why should they be allowed to get a 94.5% discount. Let's get this money and lower the deficit, and invest money into our economy, and not allow the cigarette CEO get off easy while we have the legal right to that money for our economy, and lowering our deficit, but apparently making tobacco companies happy is more important than jobs, economy, health care and education.

Canadian companies shipped crates of cigarettes to American subsidiaries; the cigarettes were then sold to smugglers and brought illegally into Canada through native reserves and border checkpoints; once back in the country, the cigarettes were sold to consumers at a big discount - sometimes for about half the price of legally purchased smokes.

It noted that the federal and provincial governments filed claims for nearly $10 billion over contraband smokes. Mahood said that makes the $550-million settlement "a complete sellout." 

 "Canadian governments led by the feds had an opportunity to play hard ball, to build trust among Canadians in the rule of law related to white-collar crime. Instead, they blew away the opportunity to recoup billions of desperately needed lost tax revenues and made big tobacco financially stronger, with a greater capacity to prey on our children."

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/100413/n0413113A.html

Conservatives do not want contraception in health initiatives

Harper in the G8 said he would not like to talk about contraception or abortion. Harper stated how the opposition is playing petty politics, but the truth is the conservative government do not approve of helping people in the poor country's by providing contraception while I and 74% of Canadians believe that Harper should be providing contraception. I do think that in the G8 the 8 richest countries may have more important things to do like the economy, jobs and debt. I still think this should be something Harper should concern himself considering he does have health initiative. Now the most arguable thing in this debate is whether the initiative should include providing abortion. I believe strongly that if indeed people want an abortion they should have to pay for it, but if it endangers the mothers life it should be provided.


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100323/family_planning_100323/20100323?hub=TopStoriesV2

Americans > Canadians?

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency didn’t allow Americans to eat food that was under investigation. However, these deli meats were good enough for Canadians. These meats were under investigation for the killer listeriosis. This happened last week. Why should Canadians be treated any differently than Americans? Our agency should be working for us, not the Americans. The meat should have been discontinued in both countries. Safety for everyone comes first, not just Americans.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency cut off access to American markets for the Toronto plant at the centre of an ongoing listeriosis investigation connected to tainted deli meats while allowing the company to continue to produce food for Canadians, Canwest News Service has learned.

The Siena Foods Ltd., facility was quietly delisted as an eligible certified plant to export meat to the United States this week in response to recalls in Canada last week of four different deli meats for possible listeria contamination.

http://www.theprovince.com/health/Deli+meat+Canadians+limits+Americans/2694606/story.html

Bye Bye Pepsi

PepsiCo stated that they will remove all soft drinks from primary school worldwide, and will sell only fat free milk, water, and juice to replace the soft drinks. I think this is a great first step. This will take effect in 2012, but I do think that they should also take way these soft drinks in secondary schools too. I believe that other Company's should follow in this example to help lower child obesity. Coca Cola also said that they will not be selling soft drinks in primary school, but they said they will if the school district or parents want them to. I think that with no question should the soft drinks be out of all schools around the world. Not even if the school disrict or the parents want to. The fact is that kids will still be able to buy other soft drinks that are not owned by Pepsi or Coca-Cola.

Both PepsiCo Inc., the world's second-biggest soft drink maker, and No. 1 player Coca-Cola Co. adopted guidelines to stop selling sugary drinks in U.S. schools in 2006.

 PepsiCo's policy requires co-operation from its bottlers, vending companies and other distributors who take the company's products to schools worldwide

In primary schools, PepsiCo will sell only water, fat-free or low-fat milk, and juice with no added sugar. In secondary schools, it will sell those drinks along with low-calorie soft drinks, such as Diet Pepsi. Sports drinks are permissible when they're sold to students participating in sports or other physical activities.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/03/16/pepsi-school-pullout.html