The "Bible Belts" in Canuckville

[Cliffy]

Yeah, and the hotels are in on the conspiracy too. They're in thick with the Gideons...but the evidence is in the night table, not under the bed. :lol:

Hey Cliff...what diversion? The Bible Belts I know of (southern Manitoba, for example) are located in farming areas, for the most part. Farm areas produce food, and thus the discussion of food and its impact on our wellbeing is pertinent to the subject. I mean, if we start eating better, we'll do a better job of supporting our Bible Belt brothers, and they'll begat each other and go forth and multiply, etc. See? I made the connection! ;-)

Oh, for god's sake, don't encourage them.

What is really funny is that modern religion is in direct opposition to the ancient earth based religions that originally came out of the agricultural revolution. They take away the power of the mother and give it to some nebulous male ghost in the sky.

 

[countryboy]

Just been waiting here with baited breath for an epistle from Ron to steer back from health to Bible thumping. Maybe we should change the title of this thread unless you are not done with Bible thumping/bashing. Meantime the way you two fellas are going is leading right back to User fees for health care- the sensible solution in the first place.

I have an excuse for being diverted - I'm 50% Mennonite from an area adjacent to the southern Manitoba Bible Belt, and thus am considered to be one of God's little lambs. And that nasty shepherd led me straight to the wolves. Again. Gosh-darn. :-(

OK, Yea, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of diversion, I shall strive to mend my sins and stick to the subject in the future. ;-)

And please keep that nasty wolf away from me...it ain't my fault - I'm Canadian! :lol:

(Seriously, sorry about the diversion)...

 

[countryboy]

Oh, for god's sake, don't encourage them.

What is really funny is that modern religion is in direct opposition to the ancient earth based religions that originally came out of the agricultural revolution. They take away the power of the mother and give it to some nebulous male ghost in the sky.

Well, I remember meeting quite a few religious farmers back home that had a ... let's see...I'd say a spiritual connection with the land. Sure, they read the Bible and all that, but I really think there was something really ancient and "earthy" about their overall sense of spirituality.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Crime could be a lucrative supplier of "work" for those in the medical profession- patching up old shot up gun slingers..................:lol:

But of course. It may be callous to say so, but any kind of adversity is good for medical profession. In these days of economic turmoil, my wife tells me she sees many more patients with stress, anxiety attacks etc. In a perfectly healthy, ideal world, there will be very little need for doctors.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was referring to St. John's, where the language is known to be a little bit "different." Especially in bars.

I don’t think he was ever serious about St. John’s or Saskatoon. He told me that he almost did not apply to those places, he decided to E Mail his application at the last minute. So he probably was going to rank them last anyway, the snow storm and the resultant delay in St. John’s was a ready made excuse.

But I think they do get more snow in St. Johns’ than they get here in Southern Ontario. The winters there (and in Manitoba, Saskatchewan) are much harsher than here.

We know a couple, their son is even smarter than our son (he got residency in Toronto, the best program in the country, Toronto did not even interview our son). After he came back from Winnipeg, he found it so cold, so miserable that he told me he is not going to Winnipeg, period, it wouldn’t matter to him it he doesn’t get a residency in Internal Medicine. He probably didn’t even rank Winnipeg, so that there would be no question of his getting matched there.

My son didn’t go that far, he was willing to go to the West if there was no alternative.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Well, it might surprise you to know that my drinking is limited to about 3 beers a year, and maybe a couple of glasses of wine. But I used to love going to bars to listen to the music, meet people, and have some fun. Most of the time, I drank iced tea but still had a good time. My "drinking buddies" loved it, 'cause they always had a driver.

That's not to say I never drank generously...I just lost my taste for it around the age of 20, as I had done my share of boozing from about the age of 15. Shocking, I know, but it's just another benefit of being from the country and learning about real life at an early age. That's what makes us "hillbillies" so wise. And conservative, too!

My son is an Atheist and he has never touched a drop of alcohol. Go figure.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

What the heck does any of this have to do with Bible Belts? Do thumpers eat less healthy, drink and exercise more or less, speak funnier than your regular bar fly? Who derailed this thread again?

It wouldn’t surprise me if they eat less healthy, Cliffy. Vegetarianism, eating natural, organic foods, no preservatives etc., are mainly associated with the left. In the Bible Belt they mostly tend to be meat and potato people.

I haven’t seen any statistics on the subject, but it wouldn’t surprise me if people in conservative states in USA are less healthy than places like Vermont, New Hampshire etc.

 

[AnnaG]

A lot of this crap goes on because ( as our resident sage pointed out) we commoners don't have the expertise to make decisions on complicated matters like this and truth be known the Gov't. doesn't have the expertise either.

... even in Bible Belts.

 

[AnnaG]

That is absolutely priceless. I think they should change "beer" to "juice" and start teaching it in elementary school right now. Great piece!

Do Bible Belters drink beer?

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Meantime the way you two fellas are going is leading right back to User fees for health care- the sensible solution in the first place.

It is an idiotic solution, like we discussed it on the other thread. It will make people more sick, not more healthy.

 

[AnnaG]

I agree. The question is, how are you going to force Canadians to eat right and exercise? There are temptations all around us, there is cheap and delicious (if nutritionally disastrous) food available at McDonald’s and other places. You can’t ban McDonald’s in a free enterprise. For that matter, there are salads and other healthy foods available at McDonald’s, but how many people stick to burgers and French Fries (the French must feel insulted that Americans call that disgusting product French)?

If you cannot force people to eat right and exercise, the next best thing is to look after their health as best as we can. And that means taxation.

Now, part of health care expenses are being used to teach people to exercise and eat right. But you can’t force people to do these things.

Are Bible Belters more fit?

 

[AnnaG]

Indeed, that is what my son was worried about when he was applying for residencies. In addition to several places in Ontario, he also went to Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary for interviews. He was worried that he may be matched to one of those places and he may end up living in a high crime area.

When they do resident matching, they don’t give you any choice. You interview with the medical programs and rank them (and of course, medical programs rank you). Then the matching program finds the best match and gives it to you. You either take it or leave it, there is no other choice. So if he had been matched somewhere in the West, he would have to take it, he would have no choice in the matter.

He was relieved when he was assigned to London, Ontario (at Western).

Incidentally, he also went to St. John’s (Memorial University) for interview. He was stuck there for two days due to a snow storm, at a time when Ontario was bone dry. He was quite pi**ed off about it, he told me that he ranked Memorial University the last.

We aren't as fascinated by your son as you are, especially since he isn't a Bible Belter.

 

[AnnaG]

"Force?" OK, Adolf.

Taking a more moderate, tolerant, and humane approach, how about educating, encouraging, and supporting the move toward better nutrition? Of course, you'd have to detach yourself for a minute from your totalitarian approach to all things human, but you might be surprised what can get done by individuals - even just the lowly "normal and common people" - when you show them better alternatives and help them achieve them.

Your comment, "If you cannot force people to eat right and exercise, the next best thing is to look after their health as best as we can. And that means taxation" is about what I'd expect...as usual, short-sightedness combined with the old "let's throw some money at it" approach to a problem.

Are Bible Belters taxed as much as the rest of us?

 

[AnnaG]

Good morning, S.J. - I don't think it's so much a matter of forcing people to change their ways than to get them to want to. As I've said before I'm dead against raising taxes, but I think your suggestion is a good one in one respect, taxing people where they have a choice and that is to tax the hell out of salt, sugar, trans fats and saturated fats. That should kill two birds with one stone. McDonalds and their ilk will find it is probably just too expensive to cook with this crap (especially if they try to pass the price on to the consumer and the consumer quits buy it. There's French fries nad then there's French Fries. They don't have to be boiled in 3 gallons of grease. I make a damn fine French fry using a tablespoon or so of Olive oil and just baking on a pan in the oven., so I guess they could be change to "French baked" It's not just McDonald's there are other worse culprits, like Nalleys who are in the salt bagging business and throw in a couple of potato chips, or cheesies. Now the Gov''t can use half those taxes realized to pay down health costs and use the other half to set up organized physical fitness activities. I'm not sure if there is the technology to do it yet but I think it would be possible to give tax breaks to people who do regular strenuous exercise, but it would have to be fool proof as it would attract thousands of cheaters. Another thing Gov't could do is give tax breaks to restaurants that only serve healthy food or at least have a "health food section".

Do Nalley's, McDonald's, etc. have facilities in Bible Belts?

 

[AnnaG]

There is the added benefit of learning a whole bunch of new words in the bars too. A great opportunity to actually learn more about the country and its people, as opposed to reading about it on Wikipedia.

Yeah. And I think we could learn a little more about Bible Belts in Canada.

 

[AnnaG]

It sounds as if he made the right decision. Wasn't it north of London that the OPP officer was gunned down a couple of days ago? He should be OK though, if he stays to the inner part of London.

Is London in a Bible Belt?

 

[AnnaG]

I don't think communities in Ontario are any different. They keep pretty much to themselves.



I have a friend in South Carolina, he tells me the same thing about South Carolina. And do you mean have I been to Taxes? The answer is no, I haven't been to southern USA at all, except Florida, and I don't think that counts as Bible Belt.

If you mean have I been to Alberta, I visited Alberta for ten days (and enjoyed my trip thoroughly). We visited Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Columbian Ice Field, Jasper etc.

This thread's about Bible Belts in Canada, not about you.

 

[AnnaG]

The last laugh will be with London and surrounding areas, TenPenny. They will get a damn good Internist in 4 or 5 years. I assume having spend 8 or 9 years in London, he will settle somewhere in that area.

This thread's about Bible Belts in Canada, not you.... or your son.

 

[TenPenny]

This thread's about Bible Belts in Canada, not about you.

Anna, you missed the memo. Every thread is about...

 

[AnnaG]

Oh-oh. I just spotted another liberal Freudian slip up there, and it's a dandy. We can all tell what's on your mind, SirJP - the answer to all problems, right?

His fixation is on the USA. But it should be on Bible Belts in Canada in this thread.