House passes landmark health bill - Patrick O'Connor - POLITICO.com

House passes landmark health bill - Patrick O'Connor - POLITICO.com

Not a "perfect" piece of policy legislation, but one that is a great reminder that (as Sam Cooke sang so beautifully) "A Change is Gonna Come". No policy is ever perfect, but one that honors the internationally mandated right to health care is not only long overdue, but a reminder that caring for all members of our communities means caring for their health.

Who are we, if not individuals recognized by those around us? And who of us could genuinely look another member of our community in the eye and say, "my right to health (and subsequently life) supersedes yours". It happens in less time than a synapse, that sometimes that member of your community is someone you love.. or maybe it's you.

There are some thing about this bill that will need fixing in time, but it's not about getting it perfect from the start, it's just about finally. getting. it. right.

I will do my best to remember March 21st: the day that being a woman stopped being a medical condition.

Deconstructing "Ghetto Dude"

A quick debrief of the "ghetto dude" story:

Evon Reid, a (black) UofT Student and job candidate was described as "ghetto dude" in an internal email by a provincial government employee, to which he was mistakenly made privy. He was contacted shortly thereafter by the Premier of Ontario himself,(Dalton McGuinty,) who apologized for the descriminatory language used by the cabinet staffer who wrote the email. She is a political science student... zing!
Score one for civil libertarianism, score negative one for using it at work!

Anyhooski, a good friend from my high school days, Mr.Ike Awgu wrote a well-versed comment which is up on the globe and mail site. Check out "Discrimination: more than a matter of semantics" if you're interested in this story. Good to see my former schoolmates unleashing those smarts!