Health Canada's Medicinal Marijuana Plans Get Smoked Out!

According to the CBC, Health Canada's controversial medicinal marijuana system is leaving the government to pick-up a $500,000 tab of unpaid patient bills. While the agency has sent out 462 arrears notices along with corresponding calls to collection agencies, Health Canada reveals that only $2000 has been recouped in lost revenue. Out of the 739 current registered pot users, stats provided by the Access to Information Act have reveal that a whopping two-thirds are fronting delinquent accounts.


However, many patients are arguing that the government's 1500% mark-up of its supply is ludicrous considering most other medications are covered by Blue Cross or Pharmacare. Jason Wilcox has been HIV-positive since the early 90s, and uses marijuana to ease pain and to help him sleep at night. He currently owes Health Canada $6,770.06. Enraged by the government's enormous profits, Wilcox makes no qualms about sharing his true feelings: "At that point [upon discovering the government mark-up], I refused to pay. Also, not to mention that their product is crap." Read the article here...


So even though I support the government distribution of medicinal herb, I am shocked by what a gong show of a system it is! Are the Feds basically distributing weed on the honour system in which a buy now-pay later scheme allows patients to score their little baggie in the mail?! Doesn't this strike you as...I don't know...completely insane and not to mention--ineffective? Anyway, I've tried to find more info on Health Canada's payment procedure for medicinal marijuana users but I haven't had any luck thus far. So if anyone out there in cyberspace has any of the answers, I do pray thee to share...

It's Called PRIORITIZE, Alberta!

Alberta.

Let me describe this province in just three words for you--oil, rich, jobs. This is where labourers earn six-figure salaries, where there's a labour shortage in the service industry due to the concentrated work force in the resource sector, and where the provincial government has enough cash to provide every single Albertan a hefty rebate check due to its incredible budget surplus. In fact, during the 2006-2007 fiscal year, the province reported a $7 billion surplus! Which brings me to my next question: Why the heck did 25,000 women and children from abusive homes get turned away at Alberta's local shelters in 2006??

According to a report released by the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters (ACWS), 41 shelters were forced to close their doors on these troubled families due to the lack of provincial funding. Lack of provincial funding? While I'm definitely not a mathematician, a province that can afford to hand each of its citizens a whopping $400 cheque for the sake of being an Albertan, does not experience a lack of funding. They experience a lack of fiscal accountability.

Even more disconcerting is the fact that Alberta women's shelters only receive a mere $22 million province-wide. According to Jan Reimer, the ACWS's provincial coordinator, an additional $20 million is needed to fund employment, infrastructure, and facilate programs needed to effectively support these victims of domestic violence.

C'mon Alberta, we all know you're sitting on a gold mine so the last place you should be cutting corners is from the sanctuaries that provide a safe haven for thousands of women and children. Seriously...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2007/11/23/womens-shelters.html

http://www.finance.alberta.ca/publications/budget/index.html#06_07

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/02/26/alberta-money.html

Fix Your Asian Lids! (A very SARCASTIC commentary on Asian blepharoplasty surgery...This is NOT a bloody endorsement!)

bleph·a·ro·plas·ty (blěf'ər-ə-plās'tē): n. Plastic surgery of the eyelids.

Are you of Asian descent and sick and tired of those non-existent eyelids? Do you waste hundreds of dollars a year buying the latest designer eyeliners and eyeshadows in hopes of enlarging those invisible eyes? Well, today's your lucky day! As you will see in the testimonial video above, this beautiful young woman has taken the appropriate steps to beautify her once, squinty eyelids. The procedure is called "Asian eyelid surgery" or "Asian blepharoplasty surgery" and it has changed the lives of thousands of Asian people worldwide. Don't miss your opportunity to permanently fix your Asian lids! Remember, you only have one chance to make a lasting first impression!

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The Flight of the Filipina Phoenix: The Rise of Pinay Feminism

FYI: Learn more about the history of Filipina feminism. Back in March, I wrote a paper on the emergence of Filipina women's movements both in the Philippines and North America. Check out this link:
http://bamboo.blitz.googlepages.com/home