You sir Madcap, are a manipulator of the facts. I'm going to tell you why you are a manipulator very soon, first I'd like to address this:
You said: "The people in this country prefer freedom of choice and the responsibility that comes with making that choice than to be told who, when, and where by the government"
I replied: Can you tell me how the restriction of Americans to play online poker/sportsbook wagering is consistent with what you just said?
You say wagering is different? How so? Your words:
"The people in this country prefer freedom of choice and the responsibility that comes with making that choice than to be told who, when, and where by the government". In your own words, the people of the US prefer the choice to play and accept the responsibility of online poker than to be told who, when and where they can play online poker by their government.
Please explain to me how this is different? Are you saying it's different now because it completely contradicts what you said? It's not different. Your freedoms are being ripped away from you. Your government bailed out powerhouse corporations to the tunes of hundreds of billions of dollars. Where is the "preference for freedom of choice and the responsibility that comes with making that choice"? The freedoms you think you have and the freedom you actually have are two different things. Land of the Free? LOL my ass, that's the biggest scam your government has sold you. You have to wonder who's worse, your government for being so deceiving, or the general populace for buying into it? Either way, any rational person realizes how much of a ridiculous facade the US actually is.
Now, onto my next point. You stated that "So it's... 2-5 months to get an MRI". Maybe your reading comprehension isn't up to par, but the article stated that "The median wait for an MRI across Canada was 10.1 weeks." This is 2.5 months, not 2-5 months. And don't tell me that it's 5 months because Newfoundland is a tiny fraction of Canada. If some ONE PERSON, for some unexplainable reason, waited 1 year, you would then change your statement to 2-12 months. Good effort in manipulating the facts though, you almost got away with it. The median wait time for an MRI was 2.5 months, not 2-5 months, for the record.
You also stated that "A friend of mine lives outside of Calgary, says MRI wait times are 6-8 months there". With the median wait time being 10.1 weeks (2.5 months roughly), how does it make any sense that your friend is waiting 6-8 months for an MRI? Does your friend exist or did you just make him up to build this case of yours? Median wait time of 2.5 months, yet your "friend" is waiting 6-8 months. I'll let the jury decide that one.
I just found this too:
Go to Page 12
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/produc...bles_aib_e.pdf
After seeing this, I'm absolutely positive that your friend doesn't exist and that you made him up. 50% of people received an MRI within 41 days (1.3 months) and 90% of people received their MRI within 136 days (4.5 months). Based on these figures, what is the probability that it takes 6-8 months to get an MRI in Alberta (which is where Calgary is for the geographically inclined)? Your friend is a ghost. You made that up.
Furthermore, the article stated that "...the Canadian health-care system, the average patient waited more than 18 weeks in 2007 between seeing their family doctor and receiving the surgery or treatment they required". Since you couldn't comprehend this statement, it essentially meant that from start to finish, from going to see the first doctor, to having your surgery completed, the average wait time was 18 weeks (4.5 months). Yet, you said that "it's 4-5 months to see a surgeon". Those are two different things. Either reading comprehension is something you don't excel at, or you're a manipulator. I'll add too that your link was from 2007 which at that point, this figure of just over 18 weeks was an all time high.
In your post, you stated "It would take me almost a year or more to get that type of attention in Canada" and "4-5 months to see a surgeon". How do you conclude that it would take you almost a year or more to get an MRI in Canada when the median wait time was 10.1 weeks? With that said, like I mentioned earlier, it doesn't take 4-5 months to see a surgeon, the entire process, from start to finish takes 4.5 months. Do you know how to comprehend what you read? It's no wonder why Fox News exists in the US, Americans are so easy to manipulate, but I don't buy your BS.
With the contents of this article aside, and MRI and surgery are something that only a small population goes through during their lifetime. To form a judgment from one component of a health care system and apply that judgment to the entire system is beyond ludicrous. That's like saying that the LA Clippers are a great team because they have Blake Griffin (one component) but in reality, their team sucks because the rest of the players suck (the entire system). Sure, wait times in Canada may be a little longer than in the US for MRIs and surgeries in general, but there's more to the system than that.
Now, I really don't want to get started about what fully encompasses a health care system, but I'll tell you about my own experience. About a month ago, I went to the doctor to get a regular check up. It took about 3-4 days from the day I called for the appointment to when I saw the doctor. When I saw the doctor, he cleared me for a physical, gave me the slips and told me to go to the clinic. I went to the clinic the very next day, and waited a total of maybe 10 minutes in line to give a urine sample, a blood sample and get a chest x-ray. These are facts, I'm not making this up like your "friend" from Calgary. If you want to dismiss this experience, go right ahead, but this is the typical care I receive. Ah also, do you know how much I paid for this? $0.00 like I would with any surgery or MRI.
Maybe you realize this, maybe you don't, health care in the US is a business, health care in Canada is a right. The US is the only industrialized nation in the world without a universal health care system. Can any nation seriously proclaim themselves as the greatest nation in the world when nearly 1/6th of the population has no public health insurance? The days of US dominance are dwindling my friend. Keep thinking your hot sh*t all you want if it makes you feel better, but the fact of the matter is that it's simply not the truth. Your unemployment is getting out of control. The US dollar is becoming more and more worthless each day. Obesity rates and the monsters they create are an eyesore. The US housing market and financial system have as solid a foundation as a house of cards. The US is the most hated nation in the world, why do you guys pretend you're Canadian when you travel overseas? Keep up your manipulating ways, you'll fool a lot of people, but you won't fool me.