We have enough assholes and morons on gfy already. Please go find another home.

Ah yes, and now the Dems want to censor radio by the fairness doctrine or whatever they call it. You always say Bush limits your freedoms - what about the the fairness doctrine?

Why are their 2000 hrs per week (as you say) on radio? Because people want to listen to it, the shows have good ratings and advertisers pay to sustain the shows.

Why can't there be a self sufficient democrat on the radio? I guess no one wants to listen to it. If you are a dem and disagree with Rush or any of the others call them up. Tell them you are a democrat and they will more than likely put you right on the air. That is my understanding of fairness and not censorship.

Seconded.

I have no problem with the right wing radio ( or TV ).... or the quantuty of it.

On the beach, I prefer to listen to Rush then a boring liberal ... On TV, Bill and Sean make me laugh ... and I can't miss an Ann Coulter appereance ( tough Michelle Malkin is trying to pull the rug from under her feet )...

It is way more fun, shocking, absurd and stupid ... that sells ....

But it still all remains a bunch of crap and/or lies ... but FUN !!!!

Why not ask one and find out?

You don't think it would be more interesting if he presented both sides?

I saw the new Michael Moore Documentary on our health care system, it's been made widely available on the internet and I had heard a lot of buzz and decided to check it out.

The first thing to me was that this is an obvious ploy to make universal heathcare a factor in the next presidential election, Moore is pals with Hillary and Universal Healthcare was her pet project early in Clinton's first administration.

While Moore's movie is certainly less than objective you can't argue the mans talent for making documentaries and some of his points certainly hit their mark while others are a far cry from truthful.

The way Moore presents it Americans would be better off going to Cuba for healthcare, that is simply not true and it should be noted that Cubans go to different hospitals than do the visitors to Cuba and while the healthcare in Cuba is free there have been far more accurate documentaries made about the Cuban Healthcare System and the atrocities therein.

More accurately portrayed are the insurance companies, who we all know, do everything possible to keep from paying a claim, but one thing that he didn't get into is the discrepancy in pricing. Take me for example. I'm currently covered by a corporate policy that was obtained for me by a family member through her employer. The policy costs 210.00 per month and includes vision care and dental. When I called the same company asking for the same exact coverage my cost would have been 860.00 per month with no vision or dental care. Why is there such a huge discrepency in pricing? And don't give me that "group policy" bullshit why can't Americans be a group?

Thats where our government probably needs to look if we want to solve the healthcare crisis. I know I for one can think of precious few things that the government does well, why would I want to entrust them with the most important thing to me, my health?

I recently had major surgery and when I think about that and think that about our public school system, our postal service, the social security administration and the "war on drugs" it makes me cringe to think what kind of neurosurgeon I might have gotten. When I needed complicated neurosurgery I got the best of the best in Atlanta.

When I spoke with my Canadian friends, one of whom works in IT in Canadian hospitals I got a story that sounded very similar. He said one of the ongoing problems in Canada was people going to emergency rooms for problems that aren't emergencies. They do it there because it's convenient. We have the same problem here but for a different reason. Despite what Michael Moore would have you believe you cannot be turned away from a public hospital here in America, only a private one. Lot's o people know this and take advantage of it knowing they will never have to pay, so when little Leroy gets the croup, mom takes him to the emergency room of the nearest public hospital where he gets treated for free for a non emergency.

Most Canadians are perfectly happy with their healthcare until it's something that is life threatening and complicated, at that point most would prefer to see an American Doctor. But there's a reason for that, it seems that lots of American Hospitals,both public and private lure away the best of Canada's Doctors further diluting the quality of highly skilled specialists.

And maybe therein lies the solution to America's healthcare crisis (yes I admit there is one) maybe the day to day care and pharmacueticals can be handled by a federal or state system and catastrophic healthcare insurance can cover the medical catastrophies. Of course we obviously can't trust the insurance companies to play fair so I guess we again have to entrust the government to help us manage these beasts. Of course this would be the same government whom the insurance company lobbyists have in their pockets, bringing us managed health care and HMOs.

It would seem that it never ends, but it will end. When enough Americans get invloved and upset enough we eventually frighten our legislatures away from the money trees, look what we did with Bush's immigration reform. In only a couple of monthswe turned him into a lame duck president, his priority domestic agenda was killed by his own party.

Another thing that Mr Moore would have you belive is that life expectancy of a nation somehow relates to the quality of it's healthcare. Simply not true. The French live longer because they have better diets, ditto the Japanese, Canadians and most everyone else he mentioned. They don't feed their kids McDonalds for every meal and they don't keep them in the house playing video games. Yet.

Our problem is largely that as Americans we have become lazy, we have allowed our government to run rough shod over our liberties, we have allowed this petty wannabe dictator named George Bush Jr to strip away freedom that our forebearers paid for with their lives.

If we have a healthcare crisis in this country it is up to us to solve, and we will have to become active in that solution, simply waiting on our government to bestow it upon us is going to get us exactly what we would deserve.

And well, it just makes me sick.

Yet you never ever present FACTS to sway anyone in your opinion or thoughts. You just give vague cop out ill informed answers. Your ignorance reeks through your posts.

You say Brad doesn't know what he is talking about, ok let us know the facts why he doesn't know what he is talking about.

That's your opinion. I myself subscribe to the theory that we can learn from the past. When hundreds of thousands descended on SF during the 60's they were able to uproot a community and claim it as their own. This is proof that there are power in numbers. I'm not sure what aspect of this you are disagreeing with me on? Perhaps it was because I did not witness it first hand, or maybe it is not an example you identify with I'm not sure. I could easily draw examples from coups in South America or Africa, or strikes on this continent. You are quite wrong to assume that I don't know what I am talking about, you just fail to understand the connection I am making here.

How about the fact that I was there?

How about the fact that Haight-Ashbury lasted about three years before it became worse than it had ever been?

How about the fact that the tourists never got out of their fucking cars when they drove thru the Haight? The only money they spent there was the occasional quarter when they would buy a Haight-Ashbury Free Press or Berkley Barb from one of the hippies hawking them on every street corner.

Good enough?

I liked everything that you said but this. You should also be taking into consideration that both the Japanese and French smoke a lot more than we do in North America, so there is more to it than just diet.

Oh, and I'm not sure if you heard but Massachusetts is pushing for a form of universal health care by basically forcing residents to get insurance. They are planning on fining anyone who does not have insurance and also helping to lower the cost for insurance for individuals and getting companies to insure their full time employees. If memory serves they are planning to get this going by the end of the year. California and other states are watching in anticipation because if it is successful they are going to implement similar models.

Fitty Sickos:pimp

Or, how about the fact that only the tourists could afford to go to shows at the Fillmore or the Avalon or afford the expensive goods sold within the district. It quickly turned into a tourist haven where the tourists supported the culture to a large extent. The fact that hippie culture died doesn't have any bearing on my argument. The point remains that a large number of people can effect change. If you were there then you experienced this first hand.

Much better than your previous posts yes. At least you offer an explanation and your reasoning for disagreeing with Brad. Whether its right thats for you two to argue about. But if you're going to disagree with a view, its best to offer your counter reasoning to make yourself sound somewhat educated and not just an ignorant fool.

The Fillmore and Avalon were not on Haight or Ashbury, so not really relevant. They were not even close. Try the other side of the park. Several miles away. I don't know what you think was being sold on Haight-Ashbury, but the most expensive item was probably a hit of $5 acid.

If you think Haight-Ashbury made San Francisco, you have it backwards. The liberal attitude of San Francisco allowed Haight-Ashbury to exist.

When kids start suggesting that they have some idea of what was happening in MY youth, then I prefer to let them explain how it is they know more about it than I do.

I can take a big shit on your kitchen table and call it a cupcake, are you going to eat it? :1orglaugh

I had to laugh at this. I think you are misunderstanding me. First, I have no interest in arguing about Haight-Ashbury. If you think I think that SF is defined or put on the map because of the hippies then you are grossly underestimating my understanding of things. I could care less about the area, my point is that the are was affected by numbers, that's it. Obviously, having lived there you know more about it than I do, I'm not debating that...it served merely as an example.

By the way though, one of the main reasons that those two venues thrived was because of the emergence of psychedelic rock music. They are tied to the Haight-Ashbury area even though they do not exist in it. Much like the Buffalo Bills are still a part of Buffalo even though the stadium is not downtown.

Anyways, lets get back to the main debate...and forget about SF, hippies, acid, and psychedelic rock for a minute.

Hindsight is 20-20 my friend. We know more about Rome than the Romans did. :2 cents:

But...once again this is not a discussion about SF or hippies or anything of the sort. I was merely pointing out that there is power in numbers, which you laughed at me for.

I'd like to hear an example to the contrary...where numbers had no impact on the outcome of events.

Oh thats a great point, your intelligence and discussion skills are astounding.

I hope Massachusetts plans to unveil some amazing health insurance plan for people who work but who's jobs dont provide it, and who can't afford "just" a few hundred dollars a month.
I mean think about it. For those under like $20k per year, they can get medicaid or some other government "insurance".. so this new law there (or proposal) is going to hit the "working poor" right in the wallets. So I truly hope they plan to unveil some amazing new affordable health insurance mandates too!

Why, because I'm not going to waste my time arguing about whether Sicko is a documentary or not?

You claim to be a 'professional adult copywriter' so you must know the difference between an editorialized piece and documented fact, right?

What documentaries arent editorialized?

Just how many hippies do you think there were in SF anyway?


I believe you already mentioned one . . . China.

How about North Korea for another?


How about any communist country?

Refers to film or video that explores a subject in a way the public expects to be factual and accurate. Documentaries may be balanced by including various viewpoints, or they may be subjective, offering the viewpoint and impressions of one producer.

documentary

adjective
1. relating to or consisting of or derived from documents
2. emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings, insertion of fictional matter, or interpretation; "objective art" [syn: objective]

noun
1. a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event

I doubt there would be any good estimate of the number of people there, but there were enough people to influence and in fact define the culture of the area.

Sure China is an example, and many communist or fascist regimes have used the power of numbers to help their cause along. It happened in Germany as well. So then we agree now that there is power in numbers?

This does not apply to only communist countries, population numbers can effect change in a democracy as well. Take a look at the situation in Quebec (regarding separation) for one example of this. Or strikes across North America (such as the Winnipeg General Strike) for many others.

Communism, hippies, definitions.. All inspired by a health care film!!

Done and done!

lol. we do love our tangents don't we.

One proposal I came up with years ago was for a small user fee for non-emergency visits to the ER. Still gives people the service, but for say a $10 fee if their situation is deemed non-emergency. If they don't want to pay the fee they can go to their regular doctor or a walk-in clinic. That's what they're there for.

It would serve to curtail ER abuse, and would also bring extra revenue into the system.

Better that than going to a 2-tier system like some idiots are spouting in favor of.

at least enough to make you think so anyway

The power is in the guns, not the number of people

Guess I missed that . . . across North America or across Winnipeg?

Well, you are entitled to your opinion, but seeing as how that area of SF is still known as one of the birthplaces of hippie culture 30 or 40 years later I think there were enough people to have a lasting effect.

Power is and will always be in the numbers. Sure guns help, but you can't build an economy on guns but you sure as hell can destroy one with them. Call me in 10 years when China takes over and we'll discuss it then.

As far as the strikes are concerned, I am talking about all across North America. The Winnipeg General Strike was a huge strike that I used as an example because it was the first one that came to mind. With roughly 35,000 people involved, it involved the overwhelming majority of the working population in the city. Pretty impressive what a large group of people can accomplish.

I'm sorry I'm quite unique. :winkwink:

All news stories are tainted by the editors belief system and logic patterns... That fact in play... Moore is presenting a documentary based on his view of things... a simple truth is that people cloud the point by pointing out every little detail in things... The basic fact about a skunk is that it will spray you if you fuck with it. The fact that it is black and white and rather innocent looking is of no consequence.

I have noticed that people tend to get caught up in the details when it comes to everything... it's annoying to me... Most shit is very simple... why do people waste fucking time and effort to cloud the basics of a thing. I have noticed this about all kinds of different tasks that people undertake are doomed to the same fate because they overcomplicate it. It's like a virus.

Here are some basic facts about life in the US.

Alot of poor people are fucking lazy and don't make decisions for themselves... therefore they are stuck in their miserable fucking lives for a single reason... their own lack of character. Simple fucking fact.

Alot of people want handouts... fom the crackhead to the president.

We live in a culture of negativity. The majority of people are afraid to meet people from different cultures, backgrounds, interests (hobbies), industries... etc. When they do meet new people they are secretly suspicious of them and unwilling to be genuine. In my opinion... if you have a generally negative view of other people then you probably have a generally negative view of yourself and your decisions will reflect that negative outlook.

Television and religion have a choke hold on our society. From a young age the majority of americans are conditioned by television to mold a certain belief system and "fit in". Religion is the icing on the cake... I read a book once that was about sales techniques in a group environment. The first chapter of the book was about gaining the prospects trust through behavioral modeling. The "we are alike" con. Most people are followers... The media is the light and the way. This is the biggest threat to our society in my opinion... mixing religion and politics is poison.

Those who think a documentary should be 'objective' - which is an impossiblity - do not understand the nature of documentary filmmaking.

A bit more on documentary filmmaking:

Prepare yourself to be bashed by redneck republican trash and schmucks who try to look confident and fancy themselves elite professionals while really wanting no more out of life than to be Reagan era yuppies.