sick transit gloria america

recovering from his suicide bomber role in Team America, Michael Moore has resumed his crusading duties and examines and skewers the American health system in his new docu, Sicko. and man, does it hurt (pun intended).

blowing the lid off the shenanigans of health care and insurance companies, Moore wants each and every American (whether they have insurance or not) to know that the US health care system is broken and must be fixed asap. these greedy fucks' sole enterprise is to make money, not make you better, so its scary to think that you are signing money away to them with no real assurance that you'll be getting the proper medical care you need. and if you don't have insurance, you're screwed too. damned if you do, damned if you don't.



and to twist the knife in further, countries that the US keep dissing - like France, their friendly neighbor Canada (who had absolutely no gun problems as per Bowling for Columbine, and - tada! - Cuba) - takes better care of their citizens. you'd be surprised at the cost and width and breadth of what the French, Canadians, Brits and Cubans get in terms of health care. and since docs work for the guvmint, they don't need to feel slave-driven and worry about their next meal. they should only be worried about personal relationships ala Grey's Anatomy (or maybe they don't have those hangups too).

sure, Moore manipulates things to his advantage and you get the feeling he dumbs things down ... but maybe that's what the (thick-headed) common man needs. the common folk that foreigners feel are too cowed by the powers that be, that they never muster effort to change things. seriously, they should take lessons from the French Revolution. heads must roll. this shit (IN$URANCE + LOBBYI$t$ + POLITICIAN$ = POWER) has been going on for way too long. if you're a patriotic American, i dare you not to be mad after watching this. i'm not an American and i'm enraged.

two final thoughts:
1) Moore needs to lose weight ... he was the poster kid for obesity in this movie (allegedly he already has ...)
2) i need to check immigration procedures for and a one-way ticket to France right now.

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yes, yes, after this, we'll read all the rebuttals and the takedowns. but then again, we know the American system is flawed. can we try another country's? is there any hope?

booo!

Manhunt 2 banned.

blanked

yes, we witnessed ... a superstar not yet ready for the big stage. wait, he needs a new team. REBUILD, Cavs!!!

and remind me not to prognosticate. or maybe i should veer towards teams i dislike so i can jinx them.

what we'd like to see ... (part 2)

so here we are, Game 1 of the 2007 NBA Finals. just was too busy to make another collage of sorts, just like the crappy one i made last year. plus writing one seems to have an adverse effect on the team i would be rooting for (Exhibit A: Dirk "Just Leave Me Alone" Nowitzki). sorry, Mark Cuban - the Mavericks cap i bought back in 2003 was when Steve Nash was still with the team. i officially (and sadly) am putting it in mothballs. and you're putting up a new football league, you say? good luck with that.

a few notes on the Playoffs: since most of the games are usually not on public cable TV, i missed out on some of the great moments of this season's run - like the Dallas meltdown. i managed to download the much raved-about Bron-Bron's East Finals Game 5 performance, but i can't watch it on my DVD player or PS2 because it was recorded off a DVR. this means i can only watch it on my PC. all the teams i pegged or wanted to reach the promised land (Phoenix, Chicago) went by the wayside. and even in the East Finals, i predicted Detroit would win. given my impeccable skills in prognostication, i will now go on record to say that the winner of the 2008 US Presidential Election will be ... Ru Paul. oh wait, his name is Ron Paul? sheeesh.

the other feel-good storylines, apart from the rise of the Cavaliers and the ascension of King James, are the resurrection of Bay Area basketball (but could be just a blip because Don Nelson might just leave the Warriors again) and the maturation (of sorts) of the Utah Jazz. i'm still disappointed Jerry Sloan hasn't won the ultimate coaching accolade, but i expect the Jazz to be contender for years to come with the Deron Williams-Carlos Boozer combo. Boozer in particular, seems to have refurbished his rep after that mess he left in Cleveland. even i soured on him and thought the Jazz should trade him, especially during his injury streak. if he never left Ohio, would he be playing with LeBron right now? that would have given the Cavs a greater chance against the Spurs.

so now in just 4 years, King James has brought the Cavs to the Promised Land, where they've never been before, even back in the Mark Price/Brad Daugherty days, thanks to someone named Michael Jordan. now they have someone cut from the Jordan mold (although more Magic than Michael), and i can only imagine the frustration and dejection and deja vu in Detroit, after their short reign/dynasty has been ended (again) by a player whose last name starts with a 'J' (note to Joe Dumars: time to reboot).

the one big thing going against the Cavs is the Spurs' experience (3-0 in three Finals, Tim Duncan, great supporting cast), and odds are they will be celebrating another championship down the Riverwalk this month (which means, ugh, more Eva Longoria sightings, and Bill Simmons picking up the razor blade for the umpteenth time). for all the Spurs (and Duncan's) contributions to the greatness of the game (fundamentals, teamwork, winning tradition), it may all be backfiring against them because audiences want sexy back. TD is not sexy, he's the Big Fundamental. people want insane point makers, alley oops, crafty passing and last-second game winners. the Spurs are easily the bad guy in this series (hello, Bruce Bowen). but do they care? hell, no. not when they have three championship rings and you don't.

it's no secret that the NBA's ratings have been steadily going down the drain, and LeBron's rise may be the only way to stem that tide. problem is, LeBron is not MJ, and if he ever wins the championship, it will be because he controlled the game, not dominating it a la-MJ. he's not going to score 48 points every night. but you have to admire his body of work, which has just begun. this is the only way he'll be gaining that experience that the Spurs have in heaps.

so prepare to be disappointed, but don't dismiss the thing altogether. after all, you never know what you might witness.



so what am i predicting ...? despite the crappiness of the Eastern Conference overall, they've won 2 out of the last 3 Finals. so let's see them make it 3 out of 4. Cavs in 7, blind faith.



by the way, Melo fans, its your guy's move.

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breaking news: Parasite Hilton just got out of jail. probably because she freakin' HAS to be in San Antonio tonight for Game 1. justice in this country is a sham (are you listening, Alberto Gonzales?).

what we'd like to see ...

... starting tomorrow night.