News, Events & Comments

A January 2025 reader's message to Nicole Macintyre, listed as "Editor in Chief" of the Toronto Star, thanked her for a "Toronto the Better" feature in the Star's"50 Ways to be happy in Toronto" column. How involved the "editor in chief" is with random Toronto Star features may remain moot here but any fact checker still employed at Canada's leading newspaper should have discovered that TorontotheBetter/Torontothebetter.net, a publication of Libra Knowledge and Information Services Co-operative [libraknowledgeinto.net] pre-dated the message cited "Toronto the Better" by more than a decade. For any new/uninformed readers,TorontotheBetter makes Toronto better by enabling socially purposed shopping through ourTorontotheBetter [torontothebetter.net] directory, where awake/woke site visitors can find hundreds of socially purposed Toronto enterprises.. Nothing personal Nicole, but, however challenged today's newspapers may be, simple research, whether AI or not, should not be beyond even the tightest of budgets.

# posted by Taodhg @ 1:44 am 0 comments

NOT SO                                                         Night after night on TV private insurer SureHealth tells untruths about how viewers can protect  themselves from costs "not covered by your government healthcare plan". Here's a better way, than SureHealth -if health costs aren't covered get them covered for all permanently. A rally to get government coverage extended and assured is needed. That's how public healthcare got started and that's how it must be extended. Healthcare is not a commodity and individuals, especially the poor, should not have to pay for it, like soap or sausage. Canadian Medicare founder Tommy Douglas knew this truth and Medicare extension is the way to honour him and help ALL Canadians. TorontotheBetter supports community directed enterprise but we know that state action is the best way to ensure the best care for all.   

# posted by Taodhg @ 7:48 am 0 comments

The recent shooting of a U.S. healthcare executive has prompted a rare moment of public attention to the horrific exploitation of the poor that goes on in the richest country in the world. The real problem is that nothing will change as a result. Could the murder trigger change? Some awareness reboot may occur but the chosen tool  of the perpetrator - a pistol - is distinctively American in its simultaneous triggering of sympathy for the shooter - morally outraged for good reason:injustice - but also, ironically, for the victim (shot in the back while walking to or from his work of denying access to care to non-subscribers). Real change requires coherent political action, a movement. A one-off assassination of an executive won't do it: in fact it may do the opposite. If something good is to some out of he murder it must be that more people see the futility of one-off murders and the need for the harder task of raising awareness of the need for moral and political change. Were it not that "woke" buzz has already trivialized moral awakening the woke metaphor could be hailed as socially progressive, but unfortunately it is as likely to "buzzify" a key social issue and awaken sympathy for the executives who are just "doing their job" by putting a punitive price .on a basic right. Thousands are killed and injured every day in he U.S, for lack of care but the real problem is not un-woke executives but the private insurance institutions that charge money for the privilege of staying healthy. What is needed is an adequately publicly funded system of the kind available in the vast majority of truly, nit nominally, developed nations. Want to be really woke? Awaken a movement for a public healthcare system and outlaw charging for healthcare.  

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# posted by Taodhg @ 12:32 am 0 comments

“Homeless Lives Matter”  Seen in a Toronto parking lot on Sunday June 16, 2024. That’s Toronto and 2024…

# posted by Taodhg @ 8:31 am 0 comments

The need for dental care starts from birth but it continues lifelong. Typically of certain Canadian governments important new social initiatives like 2024's proposed dental care support plan are big on PR but so limited as to further exclude majority demographics. Better a dentacare programme than none, yes, but make it available to all, without age restriction and make it mandatory not voluntary for care providers. Tell your dentist and elected officials that dental care is healthcare and dentists must be required to participate. If not Canada's current dental victimization will continue.

# posted by Taodhg @ 6:19 am 0 comments

 Brazil is huge and known worldwide for football/aka soccer. . It is also the world’s major coffee producer and one of the most unequal countries in the world with thousands working in poor conditions to.produce leisure consumables for the better-off. Want to do something about it? Contact corporate critic SOMO - info@sSOMO.nl. To learn more about Inequality in  Brazil visit Oxfam.org

# posted by Taodhg @ 10:24 am 0 comments

 From Power Nickel’s recent marketing campaign: “ we need 72 new nickel mines to meet projected 2040 EV demand. That’s great news for Power Nickel”. And for Canada’s fossil fuel targets? Maybe not so. No need to explain the dilemma that clearly does not exist for some companies…

# posted by Taodhg @ 9:15 am 0 comments