Sicko by Michael Moore
Friday, October 19, 2007

It was a funny, interesting, and thoughtful movie. I am ambivalent about the idea of single payer, universal, or national health care. Proponents of this system apparently have no trouble lambasting everything the US government does as wrong headed, evil and incompetent, yet somehow "free" health care is gonna be perfect.

Yeah, okay.

When I first read the reviews of this film, I thought he was going to discuss people without health insurance. Make no mistake, this movie is not about health care, it is about health insurance.

Moore focuses on people who do have health insurance, and all the creative (and rather wicked) ways health insurance companies deny people their benefits. You know the deal, you pay, and pay, and pay, and pay, and when you get cancer - they decide it is cheaper to let you die.

He figures that the solution to this quandary is for our government to institute a national single payer system. In order to buttress his argument, he heads off to the following Utopian industrial countries: Canada, the UK, France, and of all places Cuba.

Moore also rattles off statistics that some writers / bloggers have problems with. He says that 50 million Americans don't have health insurance. I don't know if this is true or not. Is he counting illegal aliens? the ultra wealthy? the homeless? college students? the chronically unemployed? It's hard to say what is an accurate count, since the government can never do a decent census of the entire population. Any number could be true.

His next stat is the longevity of Americans: the poorest Brit outlives our wealthiest. I mean, come on! Moore and the people he spoke with are so obese that it's like staring into a flashing red light. We can see with our own eyes why Americans don't live as long as other countries. But I have to say, a difference of 2-3 years is rather - I dunno - negligible.

He talked about the infant mortality rate, but that is based on so many variables. I think it can't be done on a straight country to country comparison. For one thing, these countries count their infant mortality rate differently from the USA. Looking at the technology here, I think extra effort is spent trying to keep those teeny-tiny babies alive. Plus, let's be honest, we have populations here that no matter what, don't look after themselves when pregnant (or not).

I wont cover the entire film, because it was meant to show a specific perspective: health care for all. I don't disagree with it. I don't think there will ever be that due to the pending boom / doom / bust of the current entitlements: Social Security / Medicaid / Medicare. Based on projections, there won't be much money in the US budget for anything except these programs.

I'm not an expert, that's all I read - maybe they're lying just to scare people.

I think it is feasible to cover the uninsured and those royally screwed by insurance companies. The government (as a last resort or first resort) could create a non-profit insurance company to cover catastrophic illnesses. I could go for that type of coverage, only if it's out of pocket (we purchase voluntarily), is not mandatory, and has some measure of tax payer funding. Like the Post Office, when you buy a stamp, 99% of service and delivery is guaranteed.

The only message I got from Sicko was that the insurance companies are untrustworthy and perhaps should be forced to pay for medical coverage they promised to cover. If not, we should have as a last resort guaranteed government coverage.

Labels: health insurance, Michael Moore, Sicko, single payer, universal health care

posted by GoldenAh
email this! | 0 comments | post a comment


Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex: The Laughing Man
Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Don't sleep on this Anime! I love Japanese Anime.

Image a society where the average person is enhanced with cybernetics. Yeah, the bionic man and the bionic woman is the everyday person. Think of Robocop, but esthetically pleasing. (And don't think we're not creeping towards it!)

The story revolves around an elite, secret task force, the Public Security Section 9. The group is sorta like an enhanced FBI, which the public and most government departments don't know about. It's headed by Chief Aramaki and the leader of the unit, Major Kusanagi.

I know there are a ton of Ghost in the Shell DVDs and story lines. I've also watched some of the videos.

What is fascinating about the Major is that she's entirely prosthetic, which means that only her soul is in the artificial body. She's able to jump about from machine to machine at will. She is the Ghost in the machine. Hmm, if that could be achieved, people could be immortal - to some extent.

The Laughing Man story lines connects cybernetic brains, Internet groups, viruses, American literature such as The Catcher in the Rye, and corruption in post-war world Japan's government (future world wars).

This series follows the methodical process of solving mysteries like CSI or Law and Order. This is one of the best animated series I've seen in a very long time. The creators of this Anime are able to pull the outlaying story lines together effortlessly into a cohesive unit.

Oh hell, I like stuff that makes me think, and these guys pull it all together very very well.

Labels: anime, bionic, cybernetic, cyborg, Ghost in the shell, Japanese anime, Major Kusanagi

posted by GoldenAh
email this! | 0 comments | post a comment