Just saw Michael Moore's Sicko

Truly an amazing piece of work. Seeing the 9-11 rescue workers in Cuba was heartbreaking, as they were finally getting decent medical care that they were denied at home. And for THAT, our ridiculous gov't., in all their "wisdom", is investigating Mr. Moore, and very likely may press charges.

Michael Moore has a way of making us laugh at this horrible stuff on the way to the truth, and for that part I think he may probably earn an Emmy. But this film is much more important than that, and the powers that be just don't want to talk about it, because in the end, we are getting SCREWED. Everyone has these horrible experiences with the insurance industry, either themselves or through friends, so it's really hard to refute this film in any way.

The one thing I wish he'd spent more time on is the tax issue, the difference between what we and countries with national health care, because that's what the opposition will most likely talk about. It's a myth, though -- the difference in tax structure often isn't that different, a few countries pay a bit more but mostly it's just that we choose to spend our money invading countries that aren't a threat to us as opposed to taking care of our own people. It's shameless. Michael Moore asks the question "Who are we, as a people?" And after this film you really do wonder. We need to start making some noise; things are really wrong.

I lost a friend to liver cancer a couple of months ago. He went down in about 4 months from diagnosis, all because he didn't have health insurance. He had had hepatitis C for years, untreated, then couldn't afford any kind of real treatment once they found the cancer. One of the big ironies is that 8 years before, this man had been the CEO of a big oil company, and had walked away from it all -- his family, his job -- because of mental illness and depression. He had spent that 8 years on the street, and just recently had fallen in love and been putting his life back together. He had made it his mission to educate every artist he knew about how to financially plan, how to be smart about their choices. Amazing, beautiful, smart man, who would still be alive if not for corporate greed.

This movie should be required viewing for us all.