Beyond The Commons

Beyond The Commons

Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

This apparently actually happened

by Aaron Wherry on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 12:25pm - 44 Comments

Surely this calls for a debate. Do you suppose Ari Fleischer could get Ujjal Dosanjh or Jack Layton on The Factor?

Surely in the next breath, Mr. O’Reilly said “just kidding” or “not” or “psych” or something. Right?

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  • scf

    "Surely in the next breath, Mr. O’Reilly said “just kidding” or “not” or “psych” or something. Right?"

    How would we know? Clearly the viedo was cut before we were allowed to hear his full explanation, and in fact the video does not allow us to hear the end of the sentence. So, either he says something dumb, or he actually says something sensible that was taken out of context. I'm guessing the latter.

    • Blammo

      I agree, if he said more that on the topic (that actually made sense) after the cut, you really ought to put it up there. If not……..wow.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

      Nice try. But it is what it is.

      Maybe he's trying to up his "insane" factor to match Superstar Becky.

    • Hanging Out

      Sorry Billo apologists, but there is no subsequent sentence that would make what he said in the first sentence true. It's actually very funny.

    • Reg

      Are you daft? The man is a blathering moron, as well as a racist…and racist morons are not known for their mental acuity. O'Reilly's a vacuous loudmouth famous for spouting BS as fact. Had he been around back in pre-WW2 Germany, I have no doubt, he would have been a card-carrying Nazi.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Nich Nich

    Wow.

    Perhaps he needs some fact checkers (or an elitist high school graduate).

    Ohh right, it's Fox 'News'…

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/WDM WDM

    It's Billo. I'm guessing the former. Although who knows if the wingnut is actually serious, or whether he's made millions playing a character on tv.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/PolJunkie PolJunkie

    This is Fox News, people.

    • scf

      and this is Wherry's blog.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Wascally_Wabbit Wascally_Wabbit

    I remember him guesting on the Jon Stewart Daily show about 3 months ago..
    I figure – judging by the sparring that went on – the guy is smart as a whip – and while Republicans pay Fox for someone to spout this stuff – Billy Boy will keep saying it and stuffing his bank account – guy has absolutely no conscience…

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Wascally_Wabbit Wascally_Wabbit

    As for Dosanjh or Layton appearing – someone would have to pass them off as ex-boy friends of Rachel Marsden…

  • oppo guy

    Who needs facts?

    "F*ck it! We'll do it LIVE!!"

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

    40 years "private good – public bad" propaganda has done it's work …

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individ…

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

    And there's just no end of it ….

    http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_treatment/arch…

  • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

    Population density has an effect on life expectancy. So having ten times the people we do, in an area less than Canada's, would significantly decrease life expectancy. But I guess we can't expect sneering liberals to know what they are talking about before they start mocking others.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

      Because fortunately Canadians are spread out evenly across our landmass. Why did I have to get Snape Island?!?

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

      Oh, jwl. So much to sneer at. So little time.

      If you guys would only stop floating up those big ol' softballs …..

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

      "having ten times the people we do, in an area less than Canada's, would significantly decrease life expectancy"

      I'll bite. On what do you base this claim?

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

        http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Populationdynamics/hle/hl...

        No need to bite, you can just ask. :)

      • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

        <a href="http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Populationdynamics/hle/hl…” target=”_blank”>www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Populationdynamics/hle/hl…

        No need to bite, you can just ask. :)

        I should have also put that I am not a fan of O'Reilly, and this is probably not what he had in mind, but we don't know because of shoddy editing.

        • http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

          For some reason the whole url won't get posted on my link. Anyways, it goes to Scottish study that found people in urban areas live shorter lives than people in rural areas. The study is called "Healthy life expectancy: urban rural classification".

          • http://www.intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

            But . . . but . . . both we and our southern comrades have urbanisation rates of almost exactly 81% (we're actually slightly higher). Go figure!

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

            I was wondering about that. I know Canada is larger than US but barely anyone lives in 2/3 (???) of the country. The study I kinda link to also has 6 different classifications of urban areas but I am not sure if they are based on how many people per square km or what.

            I wonder if people are more tightly packed in, say Manhattan compared to North York, makes a difference or if it's just overall urban setting.

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

            Ah, good question. I bet it's just urban vs. rural, with both North York and Manhattan classified as urban. The number of people living in Manhattan is still only 1.6 million, though, which would be 160 000 here: not exactly enormous.

            Anyway, though, is one apt to live longer in rural areas because of the fresh air, big skies, etc., or in urban areas because of the proximity of hospitals?

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

            Lots of poverty in cities. Less in rural areas. Poor people live shorter lives.

        • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

          Thanks for the link.

          I think you need to read these sorts of studies a wee bit more closely. From the same study you reference:

          "•Residents of the most remote rural areas are expected to live longest, live longest in a healthy state and spend fewest years in ‘not good’ health. This may be party due to the fact that rural areas tend to have lower levels of deprivation than urban areas, and deprivation has been shown to be strongly associated with a lower LE and HLE "

          Simply put, there's more poverty in Scottish cities than the countryside, so the population density association is spurious. One could similarly find a correlation between tall buildings and lowered life expectancy.

    • thomasein

      This explains the high life expectancy of Russia?

      Your explanation is ridiculous. Of the G7, the USA has the lowest life expectancy.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

    http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Populationdynamics/hle/hl...

    No need to bite, you can just ask. :)

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon
  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

    Also, to claim "signigicant" changes in life expectancy as a result of density variance, as you do, one would have to demonstrate such a correlation with broader data than a single nation such as Scotland (the variances within one nation could have a lot to do with their own particular society, culture, politics, etc.).

    I did a quick 'back-of-envelope' look at the lists of countries by a) population density and b) life expectancy….

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

    The top five nations for life expectancy are:

    1. Macau (PRC)
    2. Andorra
    3. Japan
    4. Singapore
    5. San Marino

    Also, 10. Canada, 30. USA

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

    Macau also has the highest population density. The rankings for the other nations are as follows:

    Andorra is #73
    Japan is #74
    Singapore is #3
    San Marino is #23

    Canada is # 227
    USA is #177

    So, from all the countries I've listed with higher life expectancies than the USA, only Canada has a lower population density.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

      Interesting. Every day is a school day.

      I have heard of a few of those places but did not know they were countries or where they were. Who knew San Marino was officially known as Most Serene Republic of San Marino. That's a great name. Who wouldn't want to live in the most serene place?

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

        LOL! Agreed!

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

        "Who wouldn't want to live in the most serene place?"

        Quite! But my favourite moniker remains that of San Carlos, CA, "The City of Good Living" (it's on their coat of arms).

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

    Is the poverty level really lower in rural Canada? From driving around, I've seen some pretty desperate conditions, as bad as in the worst areas of Toronto.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

      There's probably more current data, but from 2005:

      "Canadians experiencing low income in 2005 were more likely to live in large urban areas than in rural communities or medium or small cities."

      http://www4.hrsdc.gc.ca/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid…

      The following United Way 2007 report gives an excellent snapshot of Toronto, as compared to the rest of the country.

      http://www.unitedwaytoronto.com/downloads/whatWeD…

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/jolyon jolyon

        I remember learning about poverty and urban/rural areas during '30s depression. It is better to be rural poor than urban poor because you have land, where you can grow your own food, and air/water is cleaner.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

        Ah, that's interesting, thanks!

  • J MOrris

    I assume jolyon is a sneering liberal, since he/she makes an illogical statement without any attempt to explain. Canada's lower population density should result in lower life expectancy, since more of the population will be remote from hi-tec medicine. This without even considering that the US medical expenditure per capita is roughly twice that of Canada, after considering that their GDP/capita is higher than ours.

    • reg

      I think anyone with an ethical grounding, would agree that one's life expectancy should NOT be tied to one's ability to pay for medical insurance and costly drugs. The US system is all about money and profit. When it comes to health, the profit motive, really ought to be taken out of the equation…and replaced by a more altruistic focus. EVERY life is precious…do you really need to be told this!? As it stands, the wealthy can afford the best health care and the high cost of drugs, whereas, the poor (which usually includes a high percentage of fixed-income elderly) just dont count in a profit-based system. Indeed, pharmaceutical companies' motive should be focussed on what's good for us all, not on making money for its investors. Find another way, other than money (and greed), to drive research. Everyone ought to have equal access to good healthcare, regardless of wealth. To the short-sighted ones out there, that will smack of socialism – a word only made dirty by hard-hearted capitalists. I'm not against Capitalism, I just think Socialism does some things better because it tends to be more ethical. I dont understand how so many, so-called, "Christians" can deny the fact that universal access to the best health care is just…and the right thing to do. I have no doubt what health system Jesus would support.

  • chris

    and if this density arguement jolyon proposed was true, the people of japan would not live the longest

  • Trevor Rabut

    J MOrris and chris have both added concise rebuttals to the nonsense uttered by jolyon. I myself have never really pigeonholed my thoughts to fit neatly into one ideological hole. So before he mocks everyone as " sneering liberals" he should take the time to analyse an issue from all sides. Another point I feel i have to make is that while their population is 10 times higher and their land mass is smaller one could assume they are more densely packed. That is not the case however. In Canada, most of the population is packed into densely populated areas, at least as dense, if not more densely populated than in the U.S. Chris also pointed out Japan. I have read in places, and from having lived in Japan, a stat that I am not sure about which, if it is wrong, is not far off from the truth. This fact being, that the Japanese live on only one percent of their land. This is a result of having so many mountains taking up so much space. In Canada, the cold keeps the mass hugging the border. So, the opportunity is the same here for passing on diseases, accidents, and all the other ailments that would come from a more a more densely packed population. If J MOrris statement wasn't also true that with more people come more opportunities for advanced medical care. Take care jolyon and next time think twice before uttering ignorance.

    • SneeringLiberal

      You are assuming that Jolyon thought once…….something that fans of O'Reilly rarely do since they have him and Hannity to do their thinking for them.

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