Posts by Jourles

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

Americans talk about 'how exorbitant taxes will have to be' under Universal Health Care and how they "...aren't willing to pay taxes for others health care".

Hmmm. Could it be.......

MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY

Don't you know that we need lower taxes because we just put 23" spinner rims on our brand new Hummer2 which is costing us nearly $100 to fill up at the tank and it barely fits in our 4 car heated garage which is attached to our newer 5,000 sq ft home which happens to be in a very prime neighborhood where property taxes are through the roof and the homeowner's association dues are sky high because the illegal Mexicans we hired to do the landscaping we are too lazy to do ourselves are complaining that they could get paid $10 a day more in the next neighborhood across from the country club where our home happens to be located on the 18th hole and our one child cannot attend public schooling because it will look better on his records if he attended that $1500 a month private school which in turn will look even better when we tell him to go to Harvard Law to earn his JD degree which will end up costing us another $400k once he turns 18 and then after he graduates he can buy his own Porsche once he gets hired on at the most prestigious law firm in Boston which will also allow him to buy that little 27ft J class sailboat that he and his other preppy buddies can race around the harbor against other trust fund kiddies whose mommy and daddy own a "small" 10k sq ft "cottage" out on the Cape where they live for only two months out of the year and lock it up for the other 10?

Yeah. I think as Americans, we have some pretty f**ked up priorities. And to think that the previous paragraph is considered the ultimate "American Dream." Makes me want to hurl.

9

Please make comments to Tucson-Arizona Daily Star

by Gayle in

.

http://www.azstarnet.com:80/sn/faith/187907.

Jourles

It looks like that guy has on denim pants out in field service. That would never fly at any congregation I'm familiar with. Neither would his hat or sunglasses.

I guess you have never been to the Keam's Canyon congregation on the Hopi Indian reservation in NE Arizona. When we went out in service there(for a week), suits, ties, dress shoes or anything that appeared to cost more than $3 from a thrift store was highly discouraged. The indians are so poor in that area, the congo dresses waaaay down to appeal more to the native population. How would you react if a slick bible salesman rolled up in his Lexus on your dirt road wearing a pin-stripped suit while you're sitting outside of your mud hut? Exactly.

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

Then again if nobody got sick and died young, where would we put all those people??

We could just do what the University of Southern California's hospital does --- they send some uninsured patients on a one way taxi trip to skid row and drop them off in front of a homeless shelter without telling them what is going on. They do manage to remove the hospital name from the patient's wristband though before they drop them off on the street... Yes, security camera footage of this happening is also in the film.

27

Torn over presidential candidates

by Junction-Guy in

jw
friends

talk about my own crisis of conscience!!.

im a republican, and have always voted for republican candidates for president, this upcoming election leaves me very little choice.

this may be the first presidential election since 1996 that i wont vote, nor can i even get excited over.. .

Jourles

If a repub is your only choice, look at Ron Paul. Check out this video clipfrom the Colbert Report.

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

Ahem...for those who use Bit Torrent. Download the torrent here.

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

I hope Hillary Clinton gets in and does something about it. It's an absolute disgrace that the richest country in the world has a system where people are still dying because they can't afford treatment.

I wouldn't be so sure about Hillary. In one breath, MM commended her for trying to bring about universal health care back in the 90's. But in the very next scene, he lumped her right in with the other sellouts. By "sellout," I mean health care industry campaign contributees. Don't expect UHC to come to fruition if Hillary gets elected. She is the #2 recipient of donations from the health care industry. Guess who is number 1? MM told us that Weinstein(one of the main producers of the film, MM's good friend and a friend of the family to the Clintons) asked him to cut that part out about Hillary being the #2 recipient. MM refused.

If this is a huge issue for voters, find a candidate that isn't in the pockets of the health care/insurance industry.

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

Insurance companies are a totally unnecessary component of health care. Do.not.need.to.exist. Waste billions of dollars on profits, advertising to compete, avoidance of payout, wasteful record keeping/moving etc... for something that every one of us needs in a modern world almost as much as we need water or air: health care.

Wait until people hear from the whistleblowers in the film. Especially how some managers would get a better bonus for a higher "deny" percentage rate. Basically, if there were 5 managers in a group, the one with the most denials earned the highest bonus. There was one company which always maintained at least a flat 10% deny rate.

MM also interviewed a "hitman" whose sole job was to comb through claims trying to find pre-existing conditions or omitted information which he could deny after the fact. crazy

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

A friend of mine from UK was sick with cold......we were chatting one day and he said he was feeling better, so I asked him.....Will you go back to work tomorrow? He said NO. I was like, as soon as I can get my head off the pillow I am back at work. He said they are off work for periods......They call into work for a period of time. I thought how nice....to be able to get sick, get well and recover. It's just not that way from my prospective here in my world.

MM interviewed a group of American expats living in France. When he asked how many sick days do they get off of work, they all kind of laughed. Apparently in France, if you're sick, you're sick. You're not limited to 5 days off per year or whatever your employer gives you. Also, the standard work week is only 35 hours. Everyone gets 5 weeks of vacation a year. If you work more than a standard 35 hour workweek, you get extra vacation time as well. If you get married, you get something like 7 extra days off for your honeymoon. There was another man living in France who had cancer?tumor?(crap, I forgot what his ailment was), but his doctor prescribed 6 months off to recover and his salary was covered 100%. The gov't picked up 65% and his employer covered the other 35%. In another scene for France, they spoke about a gov't official who had an epiphany while needing a plumber after hours. He thought that if a plumber could come to his house 24/7, then why couldn't a doctor do the same thing? They now have a dispatch system just for this purpose. MM rode around with one of these doctors on several housecalls. Even new mothers get quite a few gov't provided perks - nannys that can clean and cook. Keep in mind, this is just for France!

Apparently the movie is available for Down Loading for free.
Don't know where, and MM had no problem with it although his producers did.

Yeah, MM said that this was happening already. He told us outside the theater that he didn't care if people downloaded the movie. He said he isn't "a big fan of our country's copyright laws and wouldn't press charges against anyone who did download it." He didn't mention anything about the producers though(of course, they are looking at if from a box office perspective $$$) I have a feeling that SiCKO will probably gross more than 9/11. I'd be willing to stake my left nut on it.

This film is heavily laced with humorous sarcasm. Myself, I have a very sarcastic type of humor so I really enjoyed the one-liners. It is balanced well with the other sad parts.

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

It wouldn't be fair to make healthy people who make proper choices pay for those who are careless or lazy with their lives. Perhaps a two tiered system. Heavy drinkers, smokers and obese people in one group and others who are height and weight proportionate and don't smoke, do drugs or drink heavy in another.

I'm curious to know how other countries deal with issues like these. Let's say in Great Britain you are a smoker. Does your health care differ from a non-smoker? In the film, MM interviewed an NHS? doctor in GB. The doctor said that he gets paid more(similar to a bonus) to prevent diseases, to get people to stop smoking, etc. In a nutshell, if he treats a patient right the first time, he gets paid more(I think that's how he worded it). Many people knock other countries health care systems by saying that gov't paid doctors do not make as much so that would mean their performance would be poorer. Granted, I don't know how many doctors may fit into this description, but this dr from GB was making around 100k pounds a year plus those bonuses for getting people to live healthier lives(I think they figured he made close to $200k US per year). His family lived in a 1 million dollar flat and he drove a new Audi. I'd say he was doing just fine.

In another scene(from GB), prescription drugs only cost around 6.45 pounds?(bad memory, might have been 8 pounds) And it didn't matter what type of drug it was for. And the only group of people that have to pay for it are regular working class folk. Children up to age 16-18?? and seniors over 60 do not have to pay.(someone can correct my ages if I'm wrong)

The government controls many of our utilities. We need gas, water, electricity, etc. I'm not against certain companies trying to make a profit to continue their R&D. The main problem we have in this country is when these companies have to report to its shareholders. A company goes public for one thing - to make money for itself and for those who invest in it. I'm sorry, but health care and pharma should not ever be about the money -- or making more of it.

Katie -- Yes, that is me next to MM.

82

Just finished seeing Michael Moore's SiCKO

by Jourles in

i just got home from bellaire, mi where the first us premiere screeing of sicko took place.

mm has shown the film to a few private groups, but he specifically said that we were the first "paying group" to see it.

there were two showings - i got to see the first showing at 1:00.. first let me say that this film is not political in any way.

Jourles

What I do know is Americans HATE taxes and to adobt a Canadian or other National health care system would require a massive increase in taxes. I personally would be willing to pay for it.

I forget who said it in the film, but someone said(paraphrasing): A country whose individuals that focus more on the 'we' rather than the 'me' is a great country. In the context of this quote, they were saying that it takes the nation as a whole to want to look after its citizens. In other words, if you care about other people's welfare, you would have no problem with a small increase in your taxes to help pay for medical costs. But, if you're a selfish person and only care about the 'me,' then you're one of those that could care less about universal health care.

Judging from this person's statement, I can see how this is true in America's case. Not everyone who lives in the USA has this attitude, but a vast majority do.