04:02:38 pm, Categories: Life Views, Current Events and News, Views and Reviews, Rant and Rave, 1114 wordsWARNING. Some spoiler information.
I have just finished watching the latest documentary by Michael Moore titled SicKo and I am sitting here completely stunned. The documentary shows how Nixon was able to take the American health system and turn it into one of the most disgusting capitalistic quagmires I have ever seen.
The documentary shows how people without HMO (American version of our Medical Aid) are treated like scum and sometimes turfed out onto the street without proper care or medication. However, that's not what this documentary is about. The documentary covers how the slime that run the American HMO system have perverted America`s health services so badly that America dropped from being first in health care... to 32nd (Just above Slovenia).
It never ceases to amaze me at the levels of greed and stupidity of some people around the world. Seriously I just sometimes sit back in awe at the stupendous levels of non-thinking it must take for a country's health service to end up like the American health service.
Such a powerful nation, yet it cant even look after the most vulnerable of its citizens correctly.
The bright spark American president who came up with the idea to privatise the American Health Services was a well known conman by the name of Nixon. Yup, your ol "Mr Trustworthy" of Watergate was the "genius" president who started the slide on the American health system, but he is not alone in the blame here. Regan with as much gusto as an actor *cough* president can come up with fully endorsed Nixon`s system which has left America as the only western democracy without free medical services for those who need it.
Luckily it is easy to brainwash the ignorant, especially in America during tough times with the Soviet Union. All you had to do was say the word "socialist", and people jumped into line. Years of propaganda and non-thinking have lead Americans (and some others) to believe that socialism is all out evil. Even though they don't have a clue about what it is really about. As Moore so correctly points out, the American police force, the American firemen and library's are already socialist systems.
The documentary then spends a bit of time with many many Americans who have had their health claims turned down for reasons that would disgust a human with a shred of morality in them. I remember clearly one female having her claim denied because she did not get "pre-approval" to be taken to Hospital. I am sure she will remember next to to schedule her accident to please the HMO thieves.
Michael Moore then goes and visits some 9/11 heroes who had helped rescue survivors from wreckage of the Trade Towers. These heroes were not fireman or police officers, they were normal people who were in the area who put their lives at risk to help complete strangers by joining in the rescue operations with the local emergency services.
Due to the massive amounts of dust and other foreign particles in the air, some of the people involved in the rescue operations developed crippling lung conditions. You would think that they would be looked after right? Wrong. Since they were not official fire fighters they were simply discarded and told they were on their own. Let's stop for a moment. Imagine that... you put your life at risk to save a complete stranger as you know it is the right thing to do, only to learn a little later that your own government is going to shaft you on medical services for ailments you acquired while assisting the government.
They say you can judge a people on how the treat the weak, the old and their animals. By these criteria America has fallen far and fast.
Michael Moore then finds out that the military base in Guantanamo Bay is offering really good (but free) medical services to all its inmates. Moore gets together a group of the Americans heroes from 9/11 and tries to take them to the military base for proper treatment. The one bit that sticks out in my mind here is Michael Moore shouting over a loud speaker system asking the US military to give the same treatment to the 911 heroes as they are giving to Al -Quade suspects. This was obviously not accepted.. there's no profit in it.
But where the American health care system fails, the Cuban health care system shines like a beacon. All the 911 patients where accepted by Cuba and given almost free medical services. I remember one American
woman crying because in America she was barely able to survive on her $1000 payout and her medical inhalers cost her $129 (each) back home.. at the local pharmacy in Cuba the same medication cost her 5c.
Needless to say, the Americans with Michael Moore in Cuba were treated with care that they would not have received in their own country. Medical exams, treatment and medication that the 911 heroes were not able to receive in the USA was gladly given out in a small 3rd world country with an iota of the resources America has.
The last bit just before the Americans left Cuba was one of the most moving points in the documentary. A local fire station close to where the Americans were getting treatment invited them around to visit. When the Americans arrived at the fire station all the Cuban firemen stood to attention and saluted the patients. When asked why they did this, they responded to Michael Moore that they have the utmost respect for the heroes of 911 and wanted to honour their bravery. The Cuban firemen also informed the patients that they were sorry that they were unable to assist America during that dark time.
Michael Moore in the documentary SicKo was able to take me through a kaleidoscope of emotions as he presented his information. There was anger at how Capitalistic greed could be allowed so negatively to effect the precious lives of those around it. There was sadness when learning how some of the people interviewed for this documentary would still be alive today if they had received a half way decent health care. There is hope when you see how a small country like Cuba which has been demonized by the American government... was able to put forward an olive branch and help those who needed help.
Kudos to the Cuban people!
I really hope the Americans can learn a thing or two from countries like France and Cuba and move forward into looking after the most important resource in America. Its people.
As Michael Moore points out. To many people think about "me", and not enough about "we".
06/20/07 @ 17:18
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wtf is wrong with all you people?
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Leetest form of linux there is. The primary OS I now use. Kubuntu, Dapper Drake, 6.06 LTS. I really think people should use this as their default OS
For those of you who dont know, I run Kubuntu OS as my desktop OS. With all the queerness of Microsofts Anti Piracy campaign, I have decided to completely leave the MicroSoft world. Sure, I loose windows media player and some gaming choices. However, you do get awsome games like warsow that are completely open source, and LOADS of fun to play. If you are in South Africa, there is a South African warsow server gracefully hosted by Web Africa. When in the game just type "connect warsow.webfafrica.co.za" And you will connect to the server to be able to jam with the rest of us.
I consider this a book that every South African should read to get perspective in their lives. Its honesty is most refreshing and Al Lovejoy`s ability to capture in words the essence of a culture and history of a generation of south Africans is amazing. Al Lovejoy has earned a lot of respect from a generation of youth who appretiate the truth. Thank you Al.
Other reviews:
‘Acid Alex is quite simply one of the most shocking autobiographies I have ever read. It is also well-written, addictive, excellent.’
– Sue Blaine, Business Day
‘Heartbreaking! Entertaining! Intelligent!’
– Erns Grundling, SL magazine
‘Nothing I have read has sketched the scorched social landscape of South Africa’s last half-century with such intensity and honesty. Read it.’
– Charles Thesen, Marie Claire
‘There are elements of Hunter S Thompson, Herman Charles Bosman, William Burroughs and William Wharton. But in the end it is an amazing story told in a unique voice. A voice moulded by pain, a voice honed by a government reformatory..., whetted by the SADF, and sharpened by Pretoria Central.
It is the story of a man who went to hell and came back, a morality tale, a Bildungsroman, the narrative of a f*ckup who found redemption, and the anthem of a lost generation.’– Caspar Greeff, Sunday Times
‘Truly, as Koos Kombuis says, this is “an astonishingly breathless story” … Besides being a great read, Acid Alex is an invaluable record of a type of mania that gripped a certain type of South African in the last quarter of the 20th century. It’s a book that’s going to appeal to many young South Africans who currently have to turn to the United States for their myths of pointless excess, and it’s going to inspire them. Not necessarily in a particularly savoury way.’
– Chris Roper, Mail & Guardian
This book is more than just a suggested read.
In what has to be a remarkable show of insight into the power of social networking, a British Indie band is offering their album free to download off their website. This is one band, that seems to have googled it. It looks like the older corporate models are failing and hopefully the world will not have to tolerate the insanity that is RIAA much longer.
I love artists with scope.
South Africa needs science and South Africa needs prominent scientific voices. Unfortunately, like the media in much of the rest of the world, South Africa's media is not nearly welcoming enough to the skeptical and scientific views of the world. Luckily, we have great examples from the United States and elsewhere of how self-publication through blogs can affect public discourse, promoting science and acting as a counterweight to indifference, ignorance, and gullibility. However, unlike our comrades elsewhere, South African science bloggers are unconnected and not organized. I propose to change that...Read More
Really funny flash video depicting the end of the world as the result of a nucleur fall out.
For those of you who dont know, I am South African. Im a born and bred white native african, and damb proud of it. However, I will often use words that you may not understand, local slag u wont pick up on. Click on this link to learn a little more about South African slang, aka, Safrikan!
The entire catalogue of information from 1,800 courses at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be available free online by the end of the year. Once uploaded, it will represent one of the internet’s most important resources.
MsDewey.com
I never have never used a search engine this cheeky before :) Its great fun for about 10 minutes.
Seaward.co.za for South Africa`s best coastal real estate.
In what has to be classed as bizare, a clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in Florida's swamps.
I came across this site by Anup Shah that has a detailed look into the causes of poverty. I found some of the statistics he shows to be very embarrassing and a shameful reflection on humanity today.
* Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
* The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined.
* Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
* Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
* 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).
Anup Shah shows us the institutions, policies and people behind many of today's causes of poverty.
http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty.asp
Haha, these poor lil bunnies. A bunch of pictures of bunnies trying to come up with imaginitive ways to kill themselves.
The Public Library of Science is a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. A most excellent link for those of you wanting access to some amazing science.
A really nice Travian signature generator
Ever wondered how many babies are being pushed out every day, or how many people are dying every minute? Well this is the place for you then! This meter currently records those tpes of things, and with a population of 6.5 billion, there are lots of interesting stats for you to check out.
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