Moore, Math, & Mouth Foam




Worth Your While to Watch:
Sicko by Michael Moore


Fascinating film and even more fascinating Web site complete with a "rate your insurance company" database of peeved customers. Say what you will about Michael Moore, but he does have an ingenious plan for health care in the United States.

Our boy Kurt Loder over at MTV News, however, isn't as cuckoo for Sicko as many are. In his scathing critique of the film, he brings up some valid points in his assertion that the documentary is somewhat deceptive and rife with half-truths, though Loder's own article is riddled with inaccuracies about some of the stories and people profiled in Moore's film, which suggests that Loder either has a short attention span in regard to watching movies and has poor comprehension skills (odd for a journalist), or he simply can't remember all of the details of a film he's just seen and just fills in the blanks with what seems to be convenient . Nonetheless, he does rightfully point out that the film's presentation of Canadian and European healthcare systems as wonderlands of medicine is not entirely accurate--a fact to which many Canadians and Europeans themselves would attest, even if the majority of them would probably never in their life trade their imperfect systems for our even more imperfect one.

Many other reviews of the film echo Loder's words (and often cite him directly). One review from James Fuller of the Twin Cities Daily Planet, however, is a bit different. He points out that most reviews are rather formulaic and ignore some of the most eloquent and rational parts of the documentary.

What Moore succeeded in doing with Sicko was to put a much needed spotlight on the insanity of American health insurance companies and to villify them to the point that anyone with a conscience who sees this film could not possibly believe that the U.S. insurance industry should be allowed to continue its madness and mayhem, nor that healthcare in this country should stay the way it is, which is sickening. The only question now is....what do we do and where do we begin? If we can spend hundreds of billions of dollars fighting wars in far off lands, why couldn't we instead spend that money securing our own borders and airspace and making sure every person in this country has excellent health care when they need it?





Other Stuff!

• What You Should Be Reading If You're Not Already Reading It, And If You Have Already Read It, You Should Re-read It:
  Secrets of Mental Math by Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer
  A very practical book for anyone who wants to get good at math, or anyone who (strangely) just likes it. You don't have to be afraid of math anymore. Math can be fun! Did I just say that? Somebody smack me.
  
• Most Interesting Commentary of the Week:
  Keith Olbermann foams at the mouth over George Bush. Careful, he seems a little bit angry.
  

O.K., now stop thinking for a minute and let your mind have a funny...

• Sadly Funny Story of the Week:

We love how the BBC puts that ultra subtle dry British humor spin on all its silly stories about the ridiculous aspects of life in the U.S.