More Health Care Trojan Horse
This one comes via a reader, and is from Belgium:
Two sets
of parents in Belgium were recently handed five month prison terms for failing
to vaccinate their children against polio. Each parent was also fined 4,100
euros ($8,000)...."Nobody
has the right to unfettered liberty, and people do not have a right to endanger
their kids," said John Harris, a professor of bioethics at the
University
of Manchester."The
parents in this case do not have any rights they can appeal to. They have
obligations they are not fulfilling."
ChrisR:
These children are 'free riders' and as long as the number is low, then in a pool of mostly vaccinated people, they are not a public health threat. Prison sentences are an extreme over reaction.
I live in South-Western Ontario in a community that contains a lot of Mennonites (Amish), some of whom do not use the "free" health care provided. There have been outbreaks of polio in our area due to the relatively large pool of unvaccinated children. This is a threat to everyone in the area whose immunity is low. Something to be aware of if you do move here.
Growing up, I could never imagine such a draconian over reaction as in Brussels. But times have changed a lot, with our shifty Premier of Ontario, who himself is the worst of a recent bad bunch. His latest plan is to ban smoking in cars with children under 16. Discussions continue on a province-wide ban on pesticides. They recently implemented a seizure of motor vehicles for excessive speeding or racing on the roads, including wheelies on motorcycle. His solution to increasing gang violence in Toronto is to demand a handgun ban -- fortunately our ruling Conservatives are ignoring this (and it's a federal area so he can't do anything unilaterally).
Last night I heard the latest idiocy: we have a so-called "Smart Server" designation for people who dispense alcoholic beverages. I've done fund raising for Minor Hockey and tended the bar at our local Rod & Gun without taking the course and getting the card --it's basically common sense not to serve the inebriated! New rules as of the first of the month make it illegal for anyone handling (not just dispensing) to have taken the 3-hour Smart Server course. That means when we pick up the beer for a function, anyone carrying a case in from the truck to the coolers has to have the course. If not, we risk losing our liquor license. Of such small petty mindless bureaucratic rules, we slowly lose our volunteers -- and we wonder why.
March 12, 2008, 10:06 am