Sunday, July 18, 2004
Movies I'll STOP to Watch
From Bark Bark Woof Woof :
NTodd mentioned that he's a huge fan of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I replied in a comment with my top ten list based on the the criteria that if I come across them on non-commercial TV (HBO or TCM) I will stop what I'm doing to watch:
And from there, Mustang Bobby gives his list.
To me, that's a tough question. In order to make my list, a movie has to have something going on ALL THE TIME that's either exciting, intriguing, or visually interesting. As a result, many of my favorite films DON'T make the list, but movies that are "medium favorites" go to the top.
My list:
1. Citizen Kane
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
3. Dr. Strangelove
4. Singin' In The Rain
5. A Clockwork Orange
6. Duck Soup
7. Patton
8. "Grave of the Fireflies" (Hotaru no haka)
9. A Streetcare Named Desire
10. Network.
posted by Green Voicemail 7/18/2004 10:16:00 AM
First Guest Blogging Job...EVER!
Yep, that's right. I'm also blogging over at The Gotham City 13 while its proprietor prepares for a real-life move.
I get to be a member of the Justice League!
posted by Green Voicemail 7/18/2004 09:58:00 AM
The Difference Between Bush and Kerry
From Jim Cavanaugh, of the South Central Federation of Labor
Bush's record and his campaign website (bushcheney2004.com) indicate no desire to seriously alter the present system. His "plan" is long on platitudes about choice and other health care buzz words, but short on details. His plan includes limiting physician malpractice liability, expanding medical savings accounts, and creating small employer pools. If his woefully inadequate Medicare prescription drug law is any guide, one can only assume that he intends to continue to protect the drug companies' exorbitant profits and to throw money at HMOs.
John Kerry's plans for addressing the health care crisis are much more concrete than Bush's, eleven pages worth on his website (johnkerry.com). While Kerry's proposals (and they are multiple) do not provide the simplicity of Canada's single-payer system, they do approach universality (95 percent coverage, he says) and they avoid creating a new government bureaucracy, which many saw as the downfall of the Clinton effort ten years ago.
Two aspects of the Kerry plan offer dramatic changes. First, he would allow private sector businesses and individuals to buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, thereby offering all Americans the same health care that members of Congress get. Second, the federal government would reimburse employers for 75 percent of employers' catastrophic (over $50,000) medical expenses. While this proposal does nothing to change our flawed, employer-based health insurance system, it does have several important pluses. By seriously addressing the less than one percent of health care claims that make up over 20 percent of health care costs, it eliminates one of the major reasons for drastic annual premium hikes. Another major positive is that he proposes to pay for this through a progressive tax, by repealing Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, those making over $200,000.
You can capsulate it like this:
1. Americans get same healthcare as Congressmen
2. Reimburses employers for catastrophic medical expenses
3. Eliminates Bush's tax cuts for the rich.
For such a difficult to understand issue as health care, these seem like good solutions. Ask Bush supporters what THEIR man ever did for health care.
posted by Green Voicemail 7/18/2004 09:42:00 AM
