CBC's QUANDRY

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

TheStar.com | Opinion | Feeling the pain of CBC cutbacks

Feeling the pain of CBC cutbacks

Mar 29, 2009 04:30 AM

Re: Reruns on tap as CBC cuts, March 26

A better and more permanent way of saving money for the CBC would be to change its focus and to concentrate on what it does best by "harmonizing" its two TV channels. Eliminate the Newsworld channel and fold it back into the regular CBC News. There is little need for two public news channels.

CBC does an outstanding job with its regional programming and the Canadian-produced content that might otherwise not see the light of day. However, I would rather see my tax dollars go to pay for Canadian news programming, Canadian stories and culture, and to service remote areas that might not be profitable for the private sector. Let private broadcasters chase mass-media shows and the advertising revenue they bring.

CBC Radio also, though it provides good service to Canadians, has many duplications and redundancies. Why, for example, do we need two CBC FM stations? One station, I am sure, will suffice.

Sigmund Roseth, Mississauga

Deja vu

“Liberals take axe to business taxes” –Star, Mar 27/09

It was just one year ago, March 25th, that the Star wrote about “Endless Ontario Bashing” in reference to Jim Flaherty’s criticism of Ontario’s business - unfriendly tax regime, and suggested we reduce corporate taxes and harmonize the sales tax. His suggestions were not well taken by McGuinty and his government, or by yours truly, who wrote a Letter to your Editor about the matter (March 26/08).

Yet, lo and behold, this budget does exactly what McGuinty rejected. What a difference a year makes! Flaherty must surely be gloating over this one, and McGuinty should be blushing.

As to harmonizing the PST with the GST, I can accept the arguments for this –except the way it has been done is convoluted, complex and confusing; with rebates etc., –typically a political rather than practical solution. A much better way would be to reduce the PST from 8% to, say, 6%. This would achieve the same goals, but in a simpler fashion, since by reducing the percentage of the tax, while still the government would be collecting new taxes (on goods & services not now taxed), the consumer would gain on other items now taxes at a lower rate.

ITEM:

Is this the end of the free market, as we know it? In testimony before Congress this morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will propose a sweeping expansion of government regulation over the financial system, ending the Bush era of decontrol. The Washington Post reports the Obama administration's plan would "extend federal regulation for the first time to all trading in financial derivatives and to companies including large hedge funds and major insurers such as American International Group." It also would impose uniform standards on all financial firms, including banks, to curb their risk-taking. Obama won't seek to reshape the government's structure at first, but instead will focus on setting standards, many of which will require legislation.

First, let me state that I am an Obama-fan; the man has an incredible intellect, self-control and poise. He plays the audiences like a fine violin.

If anything, he has been underestimated. I have this strange feeling that what we see is only the tip of the iceberg, and risking ridicule, I posit the following:

The Obama administration has long-term plans for a major overhaul, nay revolution, of the American society. Obama is an idealist, but he is also a realist. The recession has given him the opening and opportunity to make radical systemic changes in the economy, and to introduce difficult but overdue programs such as public medical insurance. The American private health insurance system is broken. In addition to being discriminatory and unfair to the many who cannot afford insurance; it is also major impediment to labour mobility, something even more important in a major recession like now.

The laissez faire approach to the economy and corporations is ending, especially as concerns the banking and investment community. Government involvement and control will become a permanent fixture.

To this end, I suspect that Obama’s anger and ire over the AIG bonus payments were carefully orchestrated to stoke the public ire; and gather support and to lay the grounds for greater government intrusion in the markets, and public welfare in general.

It takes great tribulations to shock public lethargy enough produce major structural changes in a society. War, of course, is some such trauma producing lasting effects and upheavals; severe economic distress, such as the Great Depression are others; and arguably, the present tribulations, can force major changes in the social fabric. Samuel Johnson once said “Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” Obama is all ready into his “fortnight”, and believe me, his mind is wonderfully concentrated.

The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page: Mortality Quotes

The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page: Mortality Quotes: "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.'"

CBC's QUANDRY

RERUNS ON TAP AS CBC CUTS… Star Mar.26/09

So now the CBC is going to do reruns –old “soap opera” shows and such; to save money. Isn’t that terrible! Most of those shows are rather Philistine anyhow, and readily available on private networks.

A better and more permanent way of saving money for the CBC would be to change their focus and to concentrate on what they do best, by collapsing, or “harmonizing” their two TV channels; eliminating the Newsworld channel by folding it back into the regular CBC News. There is little need for two public news channels, and this change can be easily managed by eliminating some of the other fluff they are broadcasting in competition with private broadcasters.

CBC does an outstanding job with their regional programming and the Canadian-produced content which might otherwise not see the light of day. I would rather see my tax dollars go to pay for Canadian news programming, Canadian stories and culture, and to service remote areas that might not be profitable for the private sector. Let private broadcasters chase mass-media shows and the advertising revenue it brings.

We do need a public broadcaster, considering the remote areas that must be serviced; but even in a large metropolis like Toronto, where choices are many, I’d much prefer to support the CBC with my taxes than having to listen to the endless supplications for funds that intersperse programming on the US Public Broadcasting System emanating from Buffalo.

CBC Radio also, though it provides good service to Canadians, has many duplications and redundancies. Why, for example, do we need two CBC FM stations? One station, I am sure, will suffice, especially if they cut down on some of the rather trite and obscure music emanating from both of their stations.

If the CBC ever got their act together and focused on what they do well, perhaps the perennial budget quandary will be history.

BUT NOT YET, LORD.

FROM THE ECONOMIST, Mar 19th 2009

Religious people seem curiously reluctant to meet their maker. How do a person's religious beliefs influence his attitude to terminal illness? The answer is surprising. You might expect the religious to accept death as God's will and, while not hurrying towards it, not to seek to prolong their lives using heroic and often traumatic medical procedures. Atheists, by contrast, have nothing to look forward to after death, so they might be expected to cling to life. In fact, it is the other way round--at least according to a study published in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION by Andrea Phelps and her colleagues at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Religious people seem to use their faith to cope with the pain and degradation that "aggressive" medical treatment entails, even though such treatment rarely makes much odds. Dr Phelps and her team followed the last months of 345 cancer patients. The participants were not asked directly how religious they were but, rather, about how they used any religious belief they had to cope with difficult situations by, for example, "seeking God's love and care". The score from this questionnaire was compared with their requests for such things as the use of mechanical ventilation to keep them alive and resuscitation to bring them back from the dead. The correlation was strong. More than 11% of those with the highest scores underwent mechanical ventilation; less than 4% of those with the lowest did so. For resuscitation the figures were 7% and 2% Explaining the unpleasantness and futility of the procedures does not seem to make much difference, either. Holly Prigerson, one of Dr Phelps's co-authors, was involved in another study at Dana-Farber which was published earlier this month in the ARCHIVES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE. This showed that when doctors had frank conversations about the end of life with terminally ill cancer patients, the patients typically chose not to request very intensive medical interventions. According to Dr Prigerson, though, such end-of-life chats had little impact on "religious copers", most of whom still wanted doctors to make every effort to keep them alive. Saint Augustine of Hippo, one of Christianity's most revered figures, famously asked God to help him achieve "chastity and continence, but not yet". When it comes to meeting their maker, many religious people seem to have a similar attitude.

See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13315834

POX NEWS

I see Fox News has apologized for the vulgar piece they passed off as “satire.” It was crude and ignorant, but one must consider where it came from: a TV version, Enquirer - like tabloid; watched mainly by Republican rednecks and reactionary fanatics (RRR as opposed to KKK). They are an embarrassment to intelligent Americans, and we should just take the high road and ignore them.