U.S.A Health Care Reform - by Moses

Funding into Health Care versus funding into Television sitcoms. Should the U.S Congress pass Health Care Reform across America, the Federal Communications Commission will essentially be broadcasting Health Issues with greater frequency, as opposed to Family sitcoms in such frequency (as we see today). What is to be said of people that are bi-Polar, Paranoid Szchizophrenic, Obsessive Compulsive, Depressive, Obese, or suffering from Cerebral Pulsy?
Today, in America, Dr. Phil, Dr. Drew, and Oprah Winfrey, are three legitimate sources of F.C.C therapy, as their shows are syndicated and broadcast to the masses. What would be said of another 10 shows, bringing to light the aforementioned Mental and Physical Health Care Issues. This funding would mean that the average American would have a form of Medical Education that could be used in practicality within the home. This would raise the standards as to how to deal with these issues that have become epidemic.
Should 40% of Health Care in the U.S.A be in the Public Sector/domain, the lower class income earners' would be left with viable treatments. Say you weigh 450lbs and have an income of $10,000/year, where are you supposed to go to treat this Health Issue? In Canada, these cases are treated by a 'Special Diet Allowance' and any Family Practitioner can lobby for this privelage. Would the U.S.A benefit from less stigmae towards people with Cerebral Pulsy?
What would a five year old boy think, if they saw a number of people that suffer from Cerebral Pulsy on a Medical Health Show? Wouldn't that end the stigmae that was there before? It wasn't even as far back as 1975 when Geraldo Rivera broke the story of Willowbrook. At that time, children with Cerebral Pulsy were called retards in the Home of Willowbrook Clinic, and also made to eat their own feces when the staff thought they were being 'bad'.
Wouldn't a show of obese clients of the Health Care System within the U.S.A be an excellent educator as to how to lose weight? Sometimes, bringing touchy subjects to air in a bold manner creates therapy that didn't exist before. For example, Robin Williams, Jane Paulie, and Quincy Carter are bi-Polar. A show dedicated to this Mental Health issue would break down barriers that otherwise would have remained, and manifested into greater incidence.
Say, for example, 40% of the U.S.A Health Care System became Public Health Care. How many people would benefit? Would publically funded Naturopathic Medicine benefit the physically obese? What about having a dedicated weekly one hour show of smokers' that quit, on a National spotlight, as opposed to 100 - 30second commercials that air for this purpose? Maybe less infommercials, sitcoms, and daily soaps would be a good thing. These forms of gentrification and commercialization are somewhat obtuse.

Hockey's Dilemma - By Moses (a.k.a Stacey Goldman)

Ever since the game of Hockey was organized into the original N.H.A (National Hockey Association) and W.C.H.L (Western Canadian Hockey League), Hockey flourished. In the N.H.A we saw teams such as; Montreal A.A.A (Amateur Athletic Association)-Shamrocks-Wanderers-Canadians, Ottawa Silver Sevens-Senators, Toronto St. Pats-Blueshirts-Arenas-Maple Leafs and the Quebec Bulldogs. In the W.C.H.L the teams included; Victoria Cougars, Vancouver Millionaires, Winnipeg A.A.A, and the Seattle Metropolitans. It was during these years 1897-1917 that we saw the winner of the N.H.A, playoff against the winner of the W.C.H.L for the prized Stanley Cup. The League became Professional in 1918 (becoming the National Hockey League), and so began, as a five team League - Montreal Canadians, Montreal Wanderers, Toronto Arenas, Quebec Bulldogs, and the Ottawa Senators. The League evolved, and in 1930/31the N.H.L had an Eastern Division and a Western Division. In the East the teams were; Montreal Canadians, Montreal Maroons, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Ottawa Senators. In the Western Division; Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Black Hawks, New York Americans-Rangers, Detroit Falcons-Cougars-Red Wings (just prior to 1930 there was actually a team called the Hamilton Tigers - 1925). Eventually the Pirates became the Philadelphia Quakers, before folding. The New York Americans became the Rangers, while the Falcons became the Cougars and finally the Detroit Red Wings. The League dwindled and eventually by 1937 became known as the Original Six; Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks.
The Original Six Canadian organizations, the Canadians and the Maple Leafs won the prized Stanley Cup most years (1937-1967). The player base in the N.H.L was almost exclusively Canadaian. Radio broadcast the games on AM and Shortwave, and had an enormous fan base on both sides of the border. When television became a mainstay in 1947, Canada broadcast games on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation across Canada. The U.S.A broadcast networks abstained as the C.B.C used tape delay on their feeds (similar to the movie 'The Sting' that followed this premise, shown across America in 1972).
In 1967/68 the N.H.L went into expansion and added six new franchises (California Seals - later the Oakland Seals - and then the California Golden Seals, St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota North Stars, and the Los Angeles Kings). The League still flourished financially, although there was the question as to whether or not these new markets would be able to support an N.H.L franchise. John Ziegler, the N.H.L Commissioner at the time, entered into these new markets, hoping to sell the game of Hockey to the average American.
This began the dilemma. Sure enough, the Seals were short lived, and the North Stars ended up re-locating. This begged the question as to why there wasn't a U.S Television contract with the N.H.L.
In 1970/71, the N.H.L again decided to add new franchises in another expansion, to compete with the new rival League the W.H.A (World Hockey Association). Into the League came the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks.
The qustion as to why there wasn't a National U.S Television contract for the game was still being asked. In 1972, again Ziegler brought in expansion to the League, and we saw the Atlanta Flames and the New York Islanders. The problem of low fan base in these new markets became more obvious, and at this time the N.H.L entered into the quagmire of diseconomies of scale (probably due to the advent of a new rival League). Of the ten organizations that came into the League at this time, only seven survived (Buffalo, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and the Islanders) to our present day (albeit most are pretty good Hockey Towns to date).
The only solution, it would stand to reason, would be to reach the average American through a National U.S Television contract. Major League Baseball had one, as did the N.F.L, the N.B.A. Pro Wrestling and even Golf Tournaments were broadcast across the U.S.A.
The C.B.C dutifully broadcast games across Canada, and it was seemingly obvious that in the right markets a Television contract in the U.S would be highly profitable. Cities like Detroit, Chicago, Boston, New York, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, L.A and St. Louis among others are sports magnets, and friends to the game of Hockey. Still, the N.H.L was reserved in pushing for a U.S television contract, and its' passivity was noticeable. It was 1974 when two more teams were introduced into the League; the Washington Capitals and the Kansas City Scouts. The Scouts became the Colorado Rockies, and eventually they folded.
As the W.H.A folded in 1979, the N.H.L once again took in franchises in expansion. Former W.H.A franchises; the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and the Winnipeg Jets (the Flames organization re-located to Calgary the following year). At this point the N.H.L caught a huge break. Marquee players started to enter the N.H.L, in droves. Prior to this expansion there had been greats such as Bobby Orr, Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Terry Sawchuck, and Jacques Plante. In one year however (1979) Gordie Howe came back to the N.H.L, Wayne Gretzky entered the League, as did Peter Stasney, Mark Messier, and Kent Nilsson. With this influx of talent from the W.H.A pool, the time was right to broadcast the N.H.L across the States.
Gretzky and Messier led their Oilers to Cup after Cup just after the Montreal Canadians and New York Islanders dynasty's, and Americans coast to coast took notice. Then, as if to re-affirm the greatness of the game, Mario Lemieux (1983) joined the Leaugue as the next 'Great' one, and a souring market in Colorado as well as Hockey crazy New Jersey entered the N.H.L. At this time U.S and European players started to enter the League in great numbers, yet Ziegal still didn't capatalize. (The first Soviets to enter the N.H.L were Victor Krutov, Igor Larionov, and Vladimir Fetisov. Prior, Stan Makita (born in Czechoslovakia) and Borje Salming (from Sweden) were the first Europeans to join the N.H.L)
In this period of history, Gretzky was suddenly dealt to the Los Angeles Kings, and he took them to the Cup finals in 1993. At this point the U.S.A loved Hockey to the level they did in 1980 when they brought the 'Miracle on Ice' to Lake Placid in 1980, winning their first Gold Medal in Ice Hockey. Salaries soared, as attendance was up, and because there was no seconday income from a U.S Television contract, ticket prices went up enormously.
The sad thing about it is that it's the fans of Hockey that suffer.
As a Torontonian, I can't even afford the cheap seats of a Leaf game, as a ticket at bare minimum is around $70.
Over the past seventeen years the League has gone into expansion four times, and has added another seven teams (Anahein Mighty Ducks-Ducks, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, and the Columbus Blue Jackets). Many would say that the current Commissioner Gary Betteman has entered into some questionable markets. There have been four re-locations in the past fifteen years, and these misguided judgements from the Ziegler years have led to the rising cost of the average N.H.L game ticket. We now see teams in Carolina, Florida, Nashville, Columbus, Phoenix, San Jose, Dallas, Anaheim, and the re-emergence of Atlanta, markets that are currently struggling or adequate at best.
Should the owners think that it is wise inflating the cost of going to a Hockey game, they are dead wrong. Gary Betteman had better take a realistic look at the game today, and increase revenue to bring down the cost of tickets, otherwise he'll start losing real Hockey fans, fans that are paying $100+/ticket.

Words of advice to Gary Betteman;

1) Downsize the League - lose markets that don't have fan base to support their
franchise.
2) Get a television contract with a MAJOR U.S.A NETWORK.
3) Bring down the ticket prices.

The current crop of N.H.L'ers are pooled roughly 40-50% European. This means that the quality of Hockey overseas is at roughly the same level as here. A European N.H.L would probably flourish, and serve as an excellent example of globalization of sport. With roughly 50% North American Hockey players' playing overseas, and 50% European players' playing here, a summit of Leagues is encouraged. This, in its' own right is a fair measurement of trade between North America and Europe. Let's enter market places where the demand of that sport is high, and not try and create this parity of demand.

The Trade - by Moses

Today's Roy Halladay trade was altered slightly to bring son of former Cy Young Award Winner Doug Drabek, Kyle Drabek, to Toronto in place of J.A Happ. I suppose with Lefty Ricky Romero in the Rotation, this will still lend for a strong up and coming Blue Jays rotation that includes Shaun Marcum and Scott Richmond.
All other pieces in the trade puzzle remain the same. With a possible resulting trade between the Jays and the Oakland A's.

The Trade - by Moses (a.k.a Stacey Marc Goldman)

Today, Pat Gillick engineered perhaps the 'Greatest' trade of the past 20 years. Picking up Roy 'Doc' Halladay for their organization, and offering up a Rookie of the Year talent in J.A Happ and 'Ace' Cliff Lee. In a three-team trade; Seattle received Cliff Lee, the Blue Jays received 2 former High-round draft picks from the Mariners and Left-Handed Starter J.A Happ from the Phillies. Roy Halladay is now 'Ace' of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Considering that Gillick, a present consultant to the Phillies Club President, has worked as General Manager for all three organizations - this trade may be considered the most intriguing of his career (Fernandez and McGriff for Alomar and Carter also comes to mind, in this context).
It is unclear to this writer why a position player in the class of Utley or Howard wasn't offered up, before Cliff Lee. Halladay with Lee would have been as dominant as the 1998 World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks who sported Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. Even still, I think that the Phillies benefited most from this trade in the short-mid run of five to ten years. Halladay has been consistently referred to as the best pitcher in Baseball since 2000. From 2002 until today, Halladay has recorded 130 Wins (Number 1 of all starters), a .667 Winning Percentage (Number One of all starters), and a 3.07 E.R.A (Number two after Johan Santana).
'Lefty' Grove of 1930/31, Sandy Koufax of 1963, Spahn and Ford of 57/58, and Satchel Paige of 1930/31 were all dominant Pitchers in their times. It is with precedent that Lee and Halladay, alongside C.C Sabathia, and Johan Santana, are considered to be the 'Greatest' of our day. Surely as Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddox, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz were, just 10 years ago. It was during this time that 'Doc's' career began (1998 First start - one-hitter). Halladay has averaged 17 wins, 9 losses, a 3.43 E.R.A, 232 IP, 226 hits/year, 52 BB/year, and 169 SO/year, to date... In the class of Philly Greats Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, and Curt Schilling, these lifetime numbers of Halladay's (still growing) will be compared to Lee's in Historical Magnatude in fifty years. Who do you rank higher; Gibson or Seaver? Palmer or Seaver? Tiant or Carlton? Steve Carlton or Jim Palmer? 'Doc' Halladay or 'Lefty' Lee?
Between Halladay and Lee, Lee is the only to appear in the Post-Season. In the lone year of '09 that Lee pitched in the Post-Season he went 4-0 with a 1.56 E.RA in 40.1 IP, 6 BB, and 33 K's. What would most Baseball insiders project from Roy Halladay, with respect to playoff potential? In other words, say it came down to one game; Game Seven of the World Series, Would you rather Halladay or Lee as your Starter?

Which Ballclubs' rotation looks best now, in the eyes of their fans?

The Phillies with 'Doc' Halladay as Ace, Hammels, Blanton and Moyer/Martinez
The Mariners with Cliff Lee as their 'Ace', alongside 23 year old phenom Felix Hernandez (34 starts 19-5 2.49 E.R.A 34 starts 238.2 IP 200 Hits), Jarrod Washburn 8-6 2.64 in 20 starts, and Canadian Erik Bedard (5-3 2.82 E.R.A in 15 starts)
or
The Blue Jays with J.A Happ (2nd in the N.L Rookie of the Year Voting of '09) or Kyle Drabek , Ricky Romero (10th in the A.L Rookie of the Year Voting of '09) , Shaun Marcum, and Scott Richmond - within five years time?

What does Philly look like for the upcoming season. The Phillies have four men returning from 30+ Homerun Seasons (Utley, Howard, Werth, and Ibanez), a fifth batsmen in the lineup who's two years removed from a 30+ HR season (Rollins). Four Phillies had 20+ Stolen Bases this last year (Rollins, Victorino, Werth, and Utley - a perfect 20 for 20). Halladay as their Ace, Hammels as their 'Lefty' Ace (a four game post-season winner of '08 - the year they won the World Series), and Joe Blanton who is considered to be a young gamer. Was Cliff Lee expendable?

Ethiopia - A Food Product - by Moses

Ethiopia - A Food Product

Conception - Develop the most nutritional food product. Market research among doctors (those treating bulimic conditions), nutritionalists, and naturopaths. Take the 100 elite, in each field, and have them recommend a food supplement that is able to be used as a meal supplement. Focus on traditional gathering foods, i.e. - grains, dried fruits/vegetables, and iron producing foods. Foods that are considered waste to first and second world countries - wheat, corn, barley, bran, dried peaches and apricots.

Step One - Consult with Ethiopian health officials and determine whether product meets with their specifications.

Marketing - Market research must be conducted among all ethnic groups (in each field) and finalized by Ethiopian health officials.
The marketing begins with the governments that have been approved by Ethiopian,
Sudanese and Indian officials. Those governments approved will be contacted by our representatives to find the cheapest price for the necessary products.
The first 10 million dollars will be spent through private finance, and when the final product is ready for production, the Ethiopian health officials will report how long the average 40 year old Ethiopian mans' energy was sustained. The final product will also be tested by a multicultural group of 7 year olds, and 13 year olds.
The North American public will be contacted by the allotted time given by the major North American networks. The public will be informed that this is a public/private venture, 50%/50%.
The announcement made will be that 50% of all profits from this 1 product company will be used in food supply to Ethiopia (the food we're selling) and monitored by Ethiopian, Sudanese, and Indian representatives (paid for with dollars from our profits). After 40% of the television viewing market, and 20% of the radio market has been reached we will put the company on trading exchanges to finalize funding for the material costs.

Distribution - 25% of the product will be given away by multinational food organizations as a promotional item. The major centers that will be targeted will be Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto,Seattle, and Montreal.

Capital - Of the ten million dollars originally invested, 40% of the private funding for this company will be sought from chartered banks in North America. 40% of the private funding will be sought from other chartered banks worldwide. 20% of the private funding will be our burden.


Product Design - The food will be packaged with Ethiopia (in Hebrew) in letters (traditional) and the ingredients written in English and French.


Local Distribution - All venues of the food industry will be hit - Promotional in the restaurants with food items. All variety stores will be stocked, with close monitoring on their progress. Department stores, grocery stores, gas stations will also be supplied.

Pension Fraud and Ramifications Towards the Canadian Economy - by Moses

Unfortunately in Canada today, there are a growing number of cases that involve pension fraud. Either cases involving people that never lived in the Country collecting old age pension, or of people that have been deceased still collecting cheques in their name. This appalling occurance costs the Federal Governtment and the taxpayer Millions of dollars and saps from the bluecollar worker in the name of C.P.P. What would happen if the Canadian Government double and triple checked their files and found 1% of these unreported cases. Would the cost of administration for this recheck, outweigh the amount that is essentially stolen from the taxpayer? Even still, wouldn't the salaries of these administrators justify this course? and, wouldn't a few bad apples being set as an example of such cases being found, serve as a strong enough deterent to offenders (or future offenders). This may seem to be a modest crime, however, what do you tell a five year old in Portugal, or England, should they ask their parents, where does our money come from (should Mom and Dad not be employed)? Are we supposed to lie to our children when it comes to their innocence?
In the Canadian economy today, we see roughly half of all Canadians living paycheck to paycheck. When I was growing up, I always thought to live in adulthood in the workforce, as most of my peers. Today, I live paycheck to paycheck like that of roughly half of all Canadians. This statistic could radically change with legal pre-emp done from the Federal level. First off; Double check C.P.P frauds that have been committed in the last 10 years. 2) Tax each private sector union an additional 1% from their pension funds, and recalculate that 1% using a variance of time (ie. 20 years after the fact as opposed to 10 years). 3) Increase foreign investment into the Country by 1% by lowering Canadian Bank Rates Worldwide to stimulate the economy as this increases goodwill of trade with Canada and looks favourable amongst 'poor' Nations. The logic here is that, should you be starving in China, or Ethiopia, why should you care in the least of a wealthy Canada, when the only people from your Nations that are able to do business with Canada are the financially secure?
In other words, let's play it straight and stop conniving to get results. As, people worldwide that have respected our great Nation to this time, may not in the future.

De-regulation of Telecommunications by the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission - Report submitted by Moses

The C.R.T.C de-regulated the telecommunications industry under Jean Chretien in approxiamately 1998. This decision was made (among a few reasons) mainly to allow communication between Homelands more accessible (as most Canadians are English-Canadian, French-Canadian, Italian-Canadian...). For example, you live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North America and you want to be in touch with your friend in Copenhagen, Denmark, Europe. We should not be stripped of our innate ability to communicate with a friend, or family member in another Country and Continent. It is for this reason that Canadians can buy long distance phone cards for such a low price today, relative to before this decision being made. It is also the reason that one computer tied to the internet can communicate with another computer tied into the internet in another part of the world for free.
The name of the software company that facilitated this change was Sonic Solutions (now a Sony Product). The premise is that the software itself is tied into Hardware components, and interfaced with user-software carrying enough broadband capability to facilitate practically any shortwave. Essentially Star Trek technology had already been instituted in most North American homes since 1942 - the year WW11 ended in Normandy, France. It's known today as individual ground hubs, independant from home to home (in lamen terms - the outlets in the walls). This is why we saw so many conventional inventions and appliances shortly after WW11. In todays' age we see conventional inventions such as Electronic Control Units, the internet (intranets) - hubs, search engines. These modern inventions of the last twenty years allow access with respect to communication and privacy issues of communication of one family member/or friend with another family member/or friend in another Country and Continent.
This telecommunications issue had been addressed by the G.A.T.T as early as 1914, when Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier rejected a Free-Trade agreement with the U.S.A, due to British and French fears of the U.S.A taking over Canada without a regulated Telecommunications Industry. This is one of the reasons Bell Canada stayed unified for as long as they did (under the umbrella of STENTOR).
Ask yourself this; Should a man that is Japanese-Canadian communicate by the internet with a family member in Japan be considered a risk to National security, as he was in 1942?