Ver el min.7:55 de esta película (Sicko) de M. Moore…. para entender mejor los motivos subyacentes de la privatización de nuestra salud por parte de la derecha amplia (Madrid y Valencia en el caso del PP, pero también los conciertos en otras comunidades gobernadas por el PSOE):
La derecha quiere un país de jóvenes enfermos, precarios y hipotecados hasta la muerte.
“Hay 2 modos de controlar la gente: ante todo, asustarles, y luego desmoralizarla. Un país sin miedo, educado, sano y confiado es más difícil de controlar, y la derecha no quiere perder su control.“… “La gente empobrecida, desmoralizada y enferma piensa que es mejor aceptar las órdenes y esperar hasta que las cosas mejoren“.

Por eso, es una excelente noticia el hecho de que gracias a Gaspar Llamazares (IU), se empieza a poner coto a la privatización de la sanidad pública desde el Congreso de los Diputados.
Explicación de Inés Sabanés… Más detalles: Mi salud no es un negocio.
Gaspar Llamazares afirma que con esta iniciativa busca “parar los pies al afán privatizador de la Sanidad” en algunas comunidades gobernadas por el PP como Madrid y el País Valencià

Okay, so you want to see Sarah Palin? You want to ask her a question without getting roughed (rouged?) up by security? The loading dock of your local book store seems the best bet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy0Nar34VII

So Ms. Palin and her Infinite Wisdom book tour got caught by the Canadian comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes. In a similar spirit to the Daily Show With Jon Stewart, they are a news spoof.

The results at this Going Rogue book signing are both hysterical and sad. No questions could be asked at the signing. The 22 Minutes reporter managed to grab her attention on the way to her bus. Nothing like a spontaneous comment!

So keep the spirit you Canadian Conservatives!! Keep working to dismantle our socialized medicine!! Why? Because profits need to be made! Ahhh, logic! Let’s ask our dear Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper if he agrees! Somewhere in the bowels of his mind, I can’t help but think that he does.

On the other side of the coin, a real Canadian news show called Provincewide interviews Michael Moore (director of Sicko) this week at a Health trade show. In the ad, the host, Daiene Vernile pulls out her Ontario Health Card to show him and says ‘I’ve had 3 babies and 2 back surgeries and haven’t paid a cent’. He jokes back to her ‘What are you some kind of slacker? Some kind of moocher’? Very funny.

Of course the best Palin joke gets told by Tina Fey this week:

“They made a porn movie about Sarah Palin, and the same actress, Lisa Ann, played me in the porn version of 30 Rock. Weirdly, of the three of us, Lisa Ann knows the most about foreign policy.”
– Tina Fey, speaking at Ad Council gala

Toegegeven. De documentaires van Michael Moore zetten mij aan het denken. Of het nu over 9/11 gaat, over de wapenindustrie in de USA of over de gezondheidszorg in datzelfde Amerika; hij weet mij altijd te verbazen.

Hoe doet hij dat toch?

Als journalist een uitermate interessante vraag, maar niet alleen voor journalisten. Veel mensen zijn na het zien van de documentaire Fahrenheit 9/11 gaan geloven in de complottheorieën over de aanslagen op het World Trade Centre.  Ook ik twijfel aan de rol van George W Bush in het hele gebeuren rond 11 september 2001, maar is er nog wel plaats voor enige nuance?

We geven wel kritiek op de voormalige president van Amerika, maar willen we ook kritisch kijken naar de manier waarop Moore de documentaire heeft gemaakt?
Ik in ieder geval wel. Niet omdat ik Bush hier wil verdedigen, maar omdat de werkwijze van Michael Moore juist zo interessant is om te beschrijven. 

De kracht van zijn werk. Wat definieert zijn werkwijze?

De lach
Ter illustratie een fragment uit Bowling for Columbine:

Moore gebruikt deze cartoon om op humoristische wijze de geschiedenis van Amerika te kak te zetten. De uitleg weerspiegelt Moore’s visie op de komst van wapens in de Verenigde Staten. Omdat de cartoon langzaam naar een climax toewerkt en aanzet tot lachen, raakt de kijker geboeid en blijft kijken tot het eind. Aan het einde stelt Moore een vraag. Deze vraag blijft hangen. Juist vanwege de cartoon.

De lach. Een machtig instrument.

De confrontatie en het geweten
Naast de lach heeft Moore diverse andere manieren om zijn verhaal neer te zetten. Wat mij in Bowling for Columbine  vooral opviel, was het einde waarin Michael Moore acteur Charlton Heston, de toenmalige president van de National Rifle Association (NRA) sprak en confronteerde met de dood van een zesjarig meisje.
Hier het fragment:

Confronteren. Dat is waar Michael Moore goed in is. Ook in dit fragment. Toch is het niet alleen de confrontatie die hier een belangrijke rol speelt. Hij speelt in op het geweten. Op geweten van de kijker én op het geweten van de inmiddels overleden Charlton Heston. Als kijker krijg je het gevoel dat Heston er indirect voor heeft gezorgd dat het meisje is gedood. 

Een onterecht gevoel. Toch laat dat gevoel je niet los.

Nare gevoelens bekruipen ook Charlton Heston. Hij gaat de discussie uit de weg. Als president van de NRA spreekt hij namens de organisatie en kan niet ontkennen dat geladen wapens thuis geliefd zijn bij leden. Ook hijzelf heeft immers geladen geweren staan. Twee belangrijke aspecten van Moore’s werk worden hier duidelijk; de confrontatie en het inspelen op het menselijk geweten.

Een fragment uit Fahrenheit 9/11  die zich ook kenmerkt door de confrontatie en het geweten:

Muziek
Een heel ander middel dat Michael Moore inzet, is muziek. Met de songteksten ondersteunt hij zijn filmfragmenten, waardoor het geheel een erg cynische toon krijgt. Het sarcasme druipt ervan af. Soms moet de kijker zelfs even slikken vanwege de tegenstelling van beeld en geluid.  Naast tegenstellingen gebruikt hij ook versterkingen. Van beiden hier wat voorbeelden:

Hier een gedeelte met Amerikaanse soldaten in Irak:

Sarcasme
Door de schrijnende tegenstellingen die Michael Moore verwerkt in zijn documentaires en de toon van zijn ‘eerlijke’ stem zit het boordevol saracasme. Op sommige momenten zelfs tegen het cynische aan. Hiermee krijgt hij de kijkers op zijn hand, omdat de tegenstellingen af en toe té absurd zijn. Gevolg is dat de kijker blijft kijken.

Benieuwd? Hier een fragment uit Sicko:

Goed werk?
Nu is de vraag of deze instrumenten horen bij een goede documentaire. Persoonlijk vind ik van wel. Als we naar het werk van Michael Moore kijken, zien we dat hij bepaalde methoden vaak en op een humoristische wijze gebruikt. Niets mis mee. Is zelfs vermakelijk.

Toch wil ik u als laatst nog wijzen op het volgende:

Blijf dus kritisch en neem eens een kijkje door de bril van een documentairemaker. Dan lijkt de wereld ineens een stuk sensationeler.

Neem ook dit laatste filmpje met een korreltje zout. Journalisten benaderen ook op hun eigen manier de film van Michael Moore!

Maar hoeveel kritiek Moore ook krijgt, hij blijft maatschappelijke misstanden aan de kaak stellen.

“Keep on doing that, Moore!”

I don’t know whether I am just a wee bit dim, or whether I am being ‘deceived’, as George Keeming says (see comment on Oct. 22 blog), but the more I talk to people the more I am less enlightened. I watched a wee video meant to explain to real estate professionals how this will all work. The gentleman was describing how this will affect our clients in terms of added costs, and the lady took the other side and explained that Canadians are used to paying taxes and that this will just be another adjustment to adapt to. I disagree! I don’t think we are used to it as much as we grudgingly tolerate it.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very, very, very grateful to live in Canada, and after a recent trip to an education conference in Atlantic City, NJ, I am even more grateful. I talked with so many people about the education and health care systems and couldn’t wait to come running back home. I wanted to know how bad the health care really was down there – just didn’t want to take Michael Moore’s ‘Sicko’ at face value – but it really is that bad! So yes, please, tax me for our wonderful health care! I know there are issues with wait times, especially in more remote areas, and there are other problems of course, but we are really so very lucky!

And I also don’t want to be biased in my blogs and not give fair explaination for the ‘pro’ side of this tax, but I personally need more explanation. In a course last week on commercial real estate and litigation, presented by 6 lawyers from a local firm, I learned some of the positive ideas for this tax:

• some of this tax will be used as relief for small businesses, promoting economic growth and prosperity (agreed! – but I still think it is the ‘little guy’ who will be hit hardest in this – not the rich, not the poor, but the majority of those in between who are just trying to make ends meet and are tired of being stretched)
• many countries have a VAT (value added tax) structure to help businesses already; Quebec has its own as well (true! – but again with the ‘little guy’ – I know several people in Europe who are far from impressed with the VAT)
• bottom line is new tax treatment of new capital investment by corporations would promote increased investment and productivity in Ontario (my main thought here is also the fact that so much of any government’s budget is wasted on the ridiculous. I am not going to even get into this because I could write volumes, but I challenge anyone to disagree with me that government spending is inefficient. I think we could reorganize instead of sucking more out of the citizens)

NDP leader Andrea Horwath had the following to say (disclaimer – I am neither NDP, nor Liberal):

So in conclusion, I humbly ask for your input and explanation!

Tiffany McGregor: Educator/REALTOR®

Email me! – tiffismyrealtor@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter! – twitter.com/tiffismyrealtor

Become a fan of my facebook page! – see blogroll to the right

Check out my website! – tiffismyrealtor.com (website currently under construction)

“Um filme surpreendente, empolgante e revelador. Um incrível documentário realizado pelo respeitado diretor Michael Moore na qual mostra a realizadade dos planos de saúde dos Estados Unidos da América, único país ocidental que não possui um programa de saúde público universal (O que seria o S.U.S. aqui no Brasil). Um documentário de sucesso tanto em público quanto em critica na qual compara os programas de saúde dos EUA com os de outros países como Inglaterra, Canadá e França onde os serviços de saúde são oferecidos de graça a população, e compara os EUA até com seu país “inimigo” chamado Cuba na qual os serviços também são gratuitos sem espectativa de lucratividade. Um filme que nos dá uma versão diferente do que conhecemos de “sonho americano” e que nos mostra que os EUA não são uma grande potência quando o assunto é saúde, chegando a estar na 37º posição no mundo neste quesito. Mostra que lá a  saúde é considerada um comércio e não uma essência de vida.”

Maikon Mendes Miranda

» Sinopse: As palavras “sistema de saúde” e “comédia” não são facilmente encontradas na mesma frase, mas no mais recente filme de Michael Moore elas podem ser vistas lado a lado. Para mostrar como as coisas funcionam na terra do Tio Sam, Moore ouve as histórias de vários americanos comuns cujas vidas foram despedaçadas, ou arruinadas pelo sistema de saúde americano. O filme mostra que a crise não somente afeta os milhões de cidadãos que não têm seguro de saúde – mas também milhões de outros que pagam religiosamente suas prestações e que estão freqüentemente lutando com a burocracia e com suas regras oficiais obscuras.

» Direção: Michael Moore
» Roteiro: Michael Moore
» Gênero: Documentário
» Origem: Estados Unidos
» Duração: 123 minutos
» Tipo: Longa-metragem

Veja o trailer do filme

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Assista a música tema do filme

Eu tenho o filme e garanto, vale muito a pena conferir, o filme é muito Foda!!

Ah, nice and quiet. Nico’s got the children’s library to himself this morning. And I don’t have to run toddler interference or be self conscious about playing on the computer with my kid around. Shame is a funny thing, isn’t it?

Dare I speculate on whether or not I have yet another cold? This would make #3 in the last 2 months. There is no denying the unusual state of my tonsils, and I suppose the 7pm bedtime last night should really be stomping out any doubt. But, REALLY? I just can’t believe it.

I should have brought my camera cord with me, I’ve got some cute pics to put up. OH!!!! That’s right, this new computer takes my memory card. I guess this might be a part one post.

If you are a lonely middle-aged man who is supposed to be in town spending time with your grown kids and grandchildren, please don’t  sneak away from them in a fit of horny rage to ask COMPLETE strangers where you can go rub one out!  I don’t know where there are gay bars with “back rooms” where you can pull a curtain and pleasure yourself you sick fuck!  How sad and horny are you to be asking numerous strangers about this?  The cab driver didn’t have the answer, so you thought I might?  YOU SICK FUCK!

Also, I have no interest in hearing about your friend who recommended our hotel to you and I also don’t care about how much of a man slut he is or how much he loves penis.  GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!

Do your kids (who you should be visiting) know where you are and what you are doing?  I hope they catch you whacking off in a bush somewhere and disown you.

Hopefully my expression, which looked something like this :/  was a big enough hint to you that discussing your erotic fantasies with me or anyone else you don’t know is completely unacceptable.

Now please take your tissue back to wherever you came from wrestle the one-eyed snake in private.  FUCKING SICKO.

“Le podrás amar u odiar, pero nunca ignorar” (E.Schulltz)

Tiene unos pequeños ojos que se esconden tras unas gafas de cristales redondeados, que acostumbran ver más allá que el resto. Padece de evidente sobrepeso. Suele llevar una gorra de beisbol, barba mal cuidada y americana oscura. Es periodista, cineasta, documentalista, escritor, guionista, productor, showman y sobretodo polémico. Pues bien, esta descripción corresponde a aquel que consigue quitar el sueño a G.W.Bush, así como a algunas importantes multinacionales y grupos conservadores estadounidenses. Su insaciable apetito de saber le ha llevado a desentrañar secretos que valen miles de dólares, sin embargo nada ni nadie consigue silenciarlo. Como bien resume la frase con la que inauguro esta entrada, Michael Moore podrá gustarte o disgustarte, pero jamás te dejará indiferente.

Moore nació en Flint, Míchigan. Por aquel tiempo, en esta ciudad se ubicaba una de las muchas fábricas de General Motors, donde sus padres y abuelos trabajaban. Fue educado en la religión católica romana y asistió a la escuela primaria St. John’s Elementary School, y a los 14 años estuvo en un seminario diocesano. Continuó sus estudios en Davison High School, donde participaba de forma activa tanto en las obras de teatro y en los concursos de debates.
Con veintidós años fundó “The Flint Voice”, un diario alternativo en el que trabajó como editor durante diez años. A mediados de los años ochenta fue productor, director, autor y presentador de la serie televisiva TV Nation, que sólo vio la luz hasta su segunda temporada.

En 1989 dirigió “Roger and me” un documental que narra lo ocurrido en su pueblo natal, cuando la General Motors cerró sus fábricas para abrir nuevas en México y así abaratar costes. Le siguió “The Big One” (1997), otro documental que desentraña las consecuencias del ansioso apetito de las grandes corporaciones por conseguir más beneficios. Posteriormente hizo “Bowling for Columbine” (2003), en el que condena el mal uso de las armas en su país como consecuencia de la cultura de miedo. “Sicko” (2007) muestra la cruenta realidad del sistema sanitario estadounidense, de gestión privada y regido por empresas aseguradoras. Estos son algunos de los trabajos de Moore como documentalista, un género que gracias a él cobra importancia por momentos. Tanto es así que ha sido galardonado en los premios Oscar al mejor largometraje por Bowling for Columbine y en el Festival de Cannes por Fahrenheit 9/11, entre otros.

Como escritor, Moore es autor de varios libros que han sido éxitos de ventas como Downize This! Random Tretas from an Unarmed American y Adventures in a TV Nation, escrito en colaboración con su mujer Kathleen Glynn. También escribió “¿Qué han hecho con mi país, tío?” y “Estúpidos hombres blancos” ambos traducidos al español.

En los años 1999 y 2000, Michael Moore ha producido dos temporadas de la serie televisiva The Awful Truth, definida por Los Angeles Times como “la más cómica y divertida sátira política”.

I am wise beyond measure, posting as early as I did yesterday. Since I didn’t have to worry about the blog, I went to bed with the boy at 7pm. SEVEN in the evening. Granted, it took a while to get to sleep, and I was up a few times in the night for various reasons. But all said and done, I was in bed for 10 hours at least. Unthinkable. And I might do it again tonight, though I’m not fevery anymore so who knows. I’m getting this out of the way early just the same.

Also, what is it about blogging that makes my teeth hurt? I hope it’s related to the cold and nothing more.

And finally. Sigh. After posting about our epic, if touch and go, relationship with the Lady Spider… I came home from work today and saw that the entire web had totally disappeared. And in place of our Lady friend, I found this:

A leaf had fallen into her web and blown around and around and around until the only small bit of her web that was left was the piece of thread that held it.

Speechless, I searched for our friend. She was curled up against the sill, in despair I am certain.

Considering I’d never seen her eat anything over the entire course of our relationship, perhaps the ruined web isn’t much of a loss for her. I’m sure glad I snapped those photos yesterday though.

Gratuitous baby spider shot:

I should have known that yesterdays intense grogginess had nothing do to with the grog I’d made the night before. But the coincidence was hard to dismiss. Turns out my annual November cold has already arrived. Maybe even a week early. I was a bit worried about it this year due to the escalating pattern of illness over the last few years coupled with Pandemic Flu being all pandemic and everything. Maybe I’ll get to squeeze in a few head colds before catching the pig virus.

This one is not so bad, but I get the distinct impression that it’s getting worse. So, I’m blogging early today in anticipation of crashing early tonight. And if I somehow manage to stay upright beyond the boys bedtime, I’ll write a pre-post for tomorrow. Or maybe just get it started.

Translation: Yet another craptastical post. About something you really don’t care about, and might even want nothing to do with with.

This lady:

This spider has been on our window for at least 2 months, probably more like three. When she first showed up she was pretty attached to her web. Chilled in the middle all day, all night. She’d do the spider shake when we’d tap on the inside of the window to get her blood going and Nico would laugh and laugh and laugh. After about a month I noticed her curled up on the window sill, not even touching her web. I thought for sure she was a goner. A month is a good life for a spider, isn’t it? We’d tap and tap and she just sat and sat. After days had past, we looked out the window and there she was back in the center of the web again. Nico was ecstatic, and happily resumed his tapping while she resumed her quaking. Again, a week later we found her curled up on the sill. And again, she was totally unresponsive. This time I noticed some splotches of white that I speculated might be eggs, but they seemed too flat. Too scattered. Maybe they were web anchors or something. Anyway, this went on for a couple of months. I thought maybe she was just getting old and tired and needed to take long breaks. More and more breaks, more and more anchors, and then nothing. She completely disappeared. I was surprised to realize that I was sad to see her go. I looked all over the window sill and there was no sign of her at all. Granted, I didn’t go outside to get a real good look, but from our perch inside the window she was as good as gone. Then, the day after halloween, she came back! And today, she put some finishing touches on the center of the web and crawled right back into it. WTF?

And that’s all I have for you. Now you know why I don’t blog much these days.

Voto: 8 (su 10)

Questo film contiene scene sconsigliate ai malati di cuore. Un giovanotto preso da qualche tv degli anni Sessanta ci avverte nella prima scena di Capitalism: A Love Story, il nuovo film di Michael Moore, presentato a Venezia in concorso. Subito dopo scorrono immagini di varie rapine. Ma le immagini forti non sono queste: sono quelle che mostrano tutte le persone che in seguito alla crisi sono costrette con la forza ad abbandonare le proprie case. Soli, sulla strada, senza più risorse. E senza un futuro. È Capitalism: A Love Story il vero film catastrofico della Mostra di Venezia, perché se The Road lavora sull’ipotetico e il metaforico, il film di Moore lavora sul reale. La catastrofe è già qui. E quello di Moore ancora una volta è il racconto di un’epoca.

Ma non si tratta di una fatalità. È una truffa studiata ad arte. È il Capitalismo, bellezza. Un sistema di prendere e dare. Prendere, soprattutto. Ognuno approfitta della sfortuna di qualcun altro. Homo homini lupus, come in The Road. Per raccontarci la crisi, Moore parte da lontano, dal boom economico del dopoguerra, quando l’industria americana volava dopo aver distrutto quella giapponese e quella tedesca, all’avvento di Ronald Reagan, il più grande portavoce delle aziende mai visto sulla scena politica. Con lui il paese diventa un’impresa, i ricchi si vedono diminuite le tasse e la gente viene incoraggiata a prendere denaro in prestito. Fino all’arrivo di Alan Greenspan, colui che convince gli americani ad attingere i soldi dalla propria casa, impegnandola per avere i prestiti. Basta distruggere ogni regolamentazione sui mutui ed ecco la frode perfetta orchestrata per far perdere la casa alla gente.

È riduttivo chiamare documentari i film di Michael Moore. Si tratta ormai di un genere a sé, che potremmo chiamare MMM, Michael Moore Movie. Un mix perfetto di satira e denuncia, con una lucidità di analisi rara. Diffidate dalle imitazioni: c’è stato chi ha provato a essere divertente come lui (Morgan Spurlock, Larry Charles), ma si è scordato l’obiettivo principale: quello di informare. Moore lo fa sempre benissimo. Così scopriamo di 6500 giovani condannati per le connivenze tra un giudice e i riformatori privati, dove più resti rinchiuso più frutti. O che molte aziende stipulano polizze vita sui loro dipendenti, per guadagnare anche sulla loro morte.  

Moore ancora una volta mette in scena un’umana commedia dove si ride e si piange. E si combatte il nemico facendosi beffe di lui. Il Robin Hood con cappello da baseball affila sempre più le armi del montaggio e del doppiaggio. Dalle immagini di un documentario sull’antica Roma usate in analogia alla caduta di un altro impero, agli inserti che ridicolizzano ogni apparizione di quello che è ormai il suo feticcio, George W. Bush (sono al terzo film insieme…). Per arrivare agli inserti del Gesù di Nazareth di Zeffirelli doppiati in modo che Gesù/Robert Powell elargisca insegnamenti pro capitalismo (Il denaro è il male, guai a voi ricchi, si legge invece nel Vangelo secondo Luca).

A proposito di attori protagonisti. A fine film entra in scena l’eroe: Barack Obama. Colui che sarà chiamato a raccogliere una delle sfide di Moore, quella riforma sanitaria invocata in Sicko. Come in ogni grande storia, l’arrivo dell’eroe cambia le cose. E comincia ad apparire qualche segnale positivo. Sarà curioso vedere come diventerà il cinema di Moore ora che il suo nemico giurato, Bush, è ormai sconfitto. Per ora ci piace rivederlo caricare a testa bassa seguito dalla camera a mano andando a sbattere contro le security mentre tenta di andare a parlare con qualcuno. Seguirlo ci dà quella sensazione di “arrivano i nostri” che ci dà coraggio. È fazioso, ma ci piace esserlo con lui. E siamo tutti con lui nella scena finale, quando circonda Wall Street e le banche con il tipico nastro giallo della polizia. Sopra c’è scritto: scena del crimine.

Da vedere perché: è il film di un’epoca. Un’umana commedia dove si ride e si piange. E si combatte il nemico facendosi beffe di lui.

Whether you like Michael Moore or not, the man has a penchant for creating conversation about important political topics that matter in America. He does that in Sicko in spades. Far less biased than his last documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, this takes a scathing look at the United States’ health care system, the only wealthy and industrialized nation that does not provide coverage for all of its citizens.

In this documentary we see a different Michael Moore. He has toned down a bit, and actually doesn’t appear until the end of the first hour. He lets the examples speak for themselves. We see numerous cases on how this current health care system is failing us. Nearly 50 million Americans have no coverage. 18,000 of us die each year because our health care plan does not cover what we need to stay alive.

Story after story, Moore shows us tragic examples of family members who have lost their lives because their HMO’s rejected their claim. Then there is the story of a man who accidentally cuts off the top of two of his fingers while operating a power saw. His HMO puts a price on each finger, 60 thousand for one, and 12 thousand for the other. What type of nation do we live in where stuff like this happens every day?

A former health insurance employee explains to us that companies actually look at it as a loss when they are forced to pay for citizens bills. Certain insurance companies actually rewarded its employees who had the highest rejection rate. What type of system is that?

Moore shows the recorded conversation that took place in 1971 between Richard Nixon and John Ehrlichman discussing health maintenance organizations, the birth of HMO’s, designed to make money and give less treatment to people. It is shocking that they actually say that. Then when Hillary Clinton tries to revamp the health care system after Clinton is elected president, 100 million dollars is spent in advertising to combat her ideals, which ultimately caused her defeat. She is now the second largest recipient in the Senate of health care industry contributions. In laymen’s terms, they bought her off. This is why there are 4 health care lobbyists for every 1 member of congress, an absolutely staggering number. These insurance companies make an ungodly amount of money at the expense of us. When our HMO won’t pay for treatment, some hospitals put people in cabs and drop them off in the middle of the street, and that disturbing video footage shown in Sicko.

But more importantly Moore never suggests a solution to the problem. Instead, he glaringly points out all its flaws. By going overseas to various countries, every health care system he visits has a far more effective system in giving coverage to its citizens’ than the United States.  This may be the reason why the U.S. is ranked #37th in health systems in the world. Various drugs in England only cost 10 dollars regardless of the amount. Moore takes a handful of 9/11 rescue workers who are not insured in America and sails to Cuba. One woman, who pays 240 dollars for her medication in the U.S., gets the same medicine for 5 cents. In Cuba, the access to their health care is universal. We also learn that the only free medical care you can get in the U.S is at Guantanamo Bay, where they hold some of the nation’s worst criminals, including al-Qaeda terrorists. We don’t take care of our own, yet we take care of terrorists? That doesn’t make much sense.

Michael Moore has created a humorous yet severely alarming documentary that really resonate with me. Something needs to be done about our current health system, which is not working. . Whether you love him or hate him, you definitely will take notice at what he shows us here.

What is happening?

I watched, just this morning, Michael Moore’s film, ‘Sicko’ (from 2007), while just earlier reading Brian Patrick Cork’s Saturday blog about the recent credit card travesty and diabolical ‘adjustment’ meant to further cripple and keep Americans hostage.

Having just reviewed the increase in healthcare costs for me and my employees and having in the same week received this year’s land taxes and increased costs from a variety of service providers, (while balancing internal work having part of my team out sick), all the while working tirelessly to build and grow my company, to make good decisions, spend my money well to increase revenue, quality and service, I am supremely and outrageously, disappointed. I work daily to balance my growing employer costs and to make good decisions which serve my business, my employees, my clients, my community and myself.

For the folks without a ‘fight’ gene, or an ability to strategize their own positive growth around this miasm of self serving change and dour conditions in America, (I’m talking culture and perspective), it all looks sadly hopeless, this coming from a Polly Anna of positivity. I’m pissed.

And wait til I soon share some incredulous happenings within my own community.

My risks are a part of who I am, my personality. I’m an artist and I’m an entrepreneur. Though, as I visit with all sorts of folks throughout my busy weeks, people wanting a quality of life, simple, reasonable, I am most saddened. They fall back into fear which is paralysing. How to take care of a sick child, pay their mortgage, afford a few days away from work. I find myself quietly fuming in my safe home, considering what action the government or my bank might pull as I diligently pay my monthly mortgage.

No matter what our differences, we ultimately rise or fall together. How do we take care of one another, despite our differences? Why can’t we learn from other cultures, France, England, Mexico, models of healthcare which actually CARE for people, promote wellness. How might we blend the ideals of democracy in a framework that allows us achievers and risk takers to rally while creating a system which supports those weaker to do their best, to guide, educate and enable others to thrive within what is possible for them. How do we enable others to do better for themselves. I want to be part of that trolley car initiative.

Why the greed, intolerance, judgment? What IS THE PROBLEM? How did our culture in particular become so self centered, greedy? Insurance companies, drug companies, how is it that daycare, banks and school systems have become so entirely ’schewed’….I can’t find the right word. I feel on the periphery of many of these issues as I focus my energies elsewhere, my ability to keep up with all the change limited as I endeavor to work toward my own passions. How much time do we have as Americans to multitask and seek out answers to all the issues impacting us as we raise families, build our businesses, contribute to causes which matter to us?

Just as our greatest wars are fought within ourselves, so too are the greatest wars for our country within our very own borders.

I am working on an initiative within my very own Carl House business to champion the cause of other service providers in my industry, including facilities like mine. There is enough business for us all. Their success is my success. I am not lessened by their good work or ideas but rather encouraged, inspired to do better.

How might we all become part of fearless solutions instead of limited reasoning on how things can’t or won’t work. I work on the same thinking with my team at Carl House. ‘Bring me a better idea. Share how we might help one another do better, serve our customers better.’ It’s a mindset and a choice.

I’m embarrassed by areas within our government, not just nationally, limited thinkers, greedy marauders within my own community, leading people by selfish means.

This diatribe issued forth on Halloween, a scarier day than I ever imagined. We need a new day in America.

BB Webb

]]> http://naimarei.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/candid-convo-chronicles-episode-1/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:44:39 +0000 naimarei http://naimarei.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/candid-convo-chronicles-episode-1/ http://rofashionboutique.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/jeans-pull-and-bear/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:33:29 +0000 Lavy http://rofashionboutique.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/jeans-pull-and-bear/

Jeansi Pull and Bear

marimea 24,

talie joasa aprox 78 cm

lungime 92cm

stare f buna

pret 49 lei

]]> http://michaelbayistheantichrist.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/capitalism-a-love-story-review/ Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:04:32 +0000 Anastasya http://michaelbayistheantichrist.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/capitalism-a-love-story-review/

I must say, Michael Moore is a master of propaganda. Now, I am pretty damn liberal and agree with a lot of the stuff he says, but at the same time it is quite obviously designed to make us feel a certain way. Everyone knows what he does, so I won’t get into any of that. I will say, though, that he did good job at making us empathize with the people that have been most affected by the current economic situation, and he was able to shed some light on some of the issues that I wasn’t quite clear on. It wasn’t nearly as good as Bowling for Columbine or Sicko, and the economic crisis doesn’t really lend itself to creating a visceral reaction like the one in Fahrenheit 9/11, but it was definitely worth seeing.

Of course, since it’s Michael Moore, you will either see it and agree with it, see it and hate it vehemently, or ignore it completely–I doubt it will really spur anyone into action. But that’s the way it goes.

Rating: 6.5/10

]]> http://unsilentgeneration.com/2009/10/20/another-hidden-bonus-for-insurance-industry/ Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:07:05 +0000 James Ridgeway http://unsilentgeneration.com/2009/10/20/another-hidden-bonus-for-insurance-industry/

While the insurance companies and Obama bitch at each other, another deal appears to have been made by the industry, Senate Finance chair Max Baucus, and the administration. This one will be just too much for people who have not been able to decide whether to be for or against the weak reforms shaping up in Congress.

It goes like this: For many people desperate for medical treatments previously denied by private insurers, the reform bills in Congress offer litttle hope. As it stands, policy holders have great difficulty in reversing an insurance company’s denial of treatment–for example, an MRI which the insurance company doesn’t think is necessary  or a new cancer treatment that costs a lot. Micahel Moore’s Sicko was full of stories about this, including some from survivors of patients who had died after their treatments were turned down by insurers. Apparently, none of that will change if the reform legislation is passed.

The Employee Retirement Income and Security Act (ERISA), reports Kaiser Health News, ”bars suits for damages over health benefit decisions” for the 132 million people who get insurance through employers. The health care bills currently making their way through Congress, which are at least supposed to address the worst excesses of the insurance industry, do nothing to remove the barrier.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

 … a patient’s ability to fight insurers’ coverage decisions could be more important than ever because Congress, in promoting cost containment and price competition, may actually add to the pressure on insurers to deny requests for treatment.” The bills would require insurers to “cover everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions,” making it “more difficult for insurers to control their costs, or ‘bend the cost curve,’ by avoiding sick people. That leaves insurers with the other big cost-containment tool: turning down requests to cover treatments.

Experts said the legislation under consideration does not significantly enhance patient protections against insurers refusing to cover requests for treatment. Most people currently have no right to challenge health insurers’ treatment decisions by suing them for damages.

]]> http://juliofromny.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/a-quick-plug-for-doug-stanhope/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:51:20 +0000 juliofromny http://juliofromny.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/a-quick-plug-for-doug-stanhope/

So last night was quite a night for me and I’ll get into it in a later blog post but I first want to promote the hell out an upcoming comedy show.  Thanks to comedian, Ray Devito, I recently got into comedian Doug Stanhope.  And within a month of listening and enjoying Doug’s albums, “Something To Take the Edge Off” and “Sicko” I came to find out with glee that he’s going to be performing in New York City at Comix Comedy Club in the first week of November.

Earlier this week, after seeing a great comedy show that commemorated Punchline Magazine’s 4 year anniversary, I was told that there was also a discount code people could use to get a great discount on a great show.  I figured the best way to promote this discount would be to put a page on my blog and here’s the link for it. Doug Stanhope is a great nitty gritty comic and I encourage anyone and everyone to take advantage of this promotion code to save some money as well as just enjoy a great show.

]]> http://2cob.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/hello-old-and-new-friends-and-alphainventions/ Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:19:13 +0000 beeha http://2cob.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/hello-old-and-new-friends-and-alphainventions/

It’s beeha, here – saying hello from the 2cRAzyoLdbiTCHes.  It’s been a while and b& b have been busy, but we’re back.  In our following posts we’ll tell you all about our activities and maybe get some of u to share yours with us.

In the meantime, we’ve received several comments on our many posts about www.alphainventions.com .  If you’d like to read more about what we’ve written about alfalfa-inventions :) just search our site for alpha or alphainventions.  We have oodles of material which is lot’s of fun because we love cheru and his site.  Be sure to search our post called “Alphatracks:” – it’s a fun one and if you click on the cheru link above,  it’ll take you right there! Oh, almost forgot – go down a little on the left side of our home page and use “Stuff from Before.”  You will surely  find lot’s of alpha posts - AND  some 2cob goodies, too.

In the meantime, to all living beings around the planet: good night, good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, whichever the case may be.  More soon from b&b – the 2cRAzyoLdBitCHes.

]]> http://dianamunteanu.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/stop-dreaming-of-the-american-dream/ Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:31:55 +0000 dianamunteanu http://dianamunteanu.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/stop-dreaming-of-the-american-dream/ http://greatlittlefortune.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/sick-things/ Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:59:17 +0000 Great little Fortune http://greatlittlefortune.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/sick-things/

Went bowling with the student council today, it was ever so much fun, even though not so many of us went, still, great time!
I played a very good game, with plenty of strikes and cool moves.
I named myself Jet Li on the scoreboard, after my hero Jet Li! ( duh)

Woah, can you believe that I actually scored this move!

On my ay home from school I noticed a very, VERY cute girl sitting opposite me.
Pretty young, maybe 19-20 or so…we went off at the same stop.
She was walking right behind me, could she live close to me?
Sure thing, she lives in the building next to mine :O
How come Ive never seen her before???

It is just like a movie where there’s a hot girl next door…Kinda like the movie Girl next door

Elisha Cuthbert is by Buddha, so extremely hot in this movie…
-Why cant she always look like that??

Stunner there, miss Cuthbert
TI HI!

I think I am getting ill…
I slept pretty bad, my whole body was aching and my back was itching
Headache, soar throat, nausea, extreme water thirst, slight fever and moaning… I might be coming down with something, but the flu..I think not.
Maybe I should stay home from school tomorrow though..

]]> http://dprogram.net/2009/10/12/the-real-sicko-movie/ Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:27:54 +0000 srsean1968 http://dprogram.net/2009/10/12/the-real-sicko-movie/