The Knights have been on and off a lot over the summer months. And lately, we’ve just been off. One would venture to guess by now that we would put an end to this ill-conceived, readerless, uninteresting Web log. Yet we continue. Neither fame nor fortune compel us to pen our opinions and epiphanies. Nay, only the need for instant blogging gratification.
There are some big changes around the corner. We are changing the format of our content, narrowing our scope to some degree. The idea is straightforward. Each week, one of the Knights will name and briefly discuss a Round Table Heretic (with which regulars will be familiar) and a new title, a Square Table Hero. We will likely name a day of the week to post, and try to keep that schedule from week to week.
In the process, we will be transitioning our old material to the archives. We will most likely keep old posts on the blog, but we will probably streamline our categories and revamp our sidebar.
So far, Matt and I are the only writers for the new format. We likely bring in Knights contributor Laz on occasion. Who knows, maybe even Knights heckler hossenphepher would be interested in making some contributions.
More on the Knights’ revival soon. Until then, I’m going to share an excerpt from an article I found at The New American on the healthcare system that explains my beef with Obamacles.
On the other side of the big pond, Europeans have been experimenting with varying degrees of socialized medicine for over a century. They have tried every idea to keep the socialist systems functioning, but they are failing. In fact, socialized medicine is failing everywhere. For instance, wait lists in non-European countries with socialized medical care, like Canada and New Zealand, have become so long that many patients die waiting for necessary care.
A 2004 article in the New Zealand Herald tells the story of one gastroenterologist with 458 patients on his waiting list, 180 of whom were still waiting on a definite time for treatment. According to the story, “The hospital was trying to deal with the most urgent cases first. Less urgent cases were being pushed further down the list.” Deciding on patient priority was difficult, leaving the doctor in quite a bind. “In an ideal world I would see the patients and then decide what to do,” he said.
Canada is facing similar problems. A short documentary film by Free Market Cure illustrates the consequences of government medicine. The film’s segment entitled “Two Women” documents the medical stories of two patients - one woman needed an urgent surgery to save her bladder, and another patient “needed” a sex-change operation. The woman needing the bladder surgery was told she would have to wait more than three years for her operation. Also, she was told that, as a Canadian citizen, she would not be allowed to pay for the surgery out of her own pocket in order to move up the date of the surgery. During her interminable wait, she finally had to have her bladder removed to save her life. The other patient was well-received by the Ontario health minister who promised to cover the surgery before taking office. “I believe God wanted me to be a woman but the angel got the directions wrong,” the “trans-sexual” person explained.
