SiCKO

I just finished watching the movie and I wept.

I wept for Americans without health insurance. I wept for Americans with insurance but who have had claims rejected. I wept for Americans who understand the need for universal health care but can't convince their fellow Americans of it. I wept for Cubans who despite great challenges understand the value of pulling together as human beings to help one another, particularly when one of us is ill. But mostly I wept for Americans who "don't get it".

If you watch this movie and are unaffected...I'd rather not finish this sentence.

A thought came to mind shortly into the film...

Michael Moore is the Noam Chomsky of the lunch pail crowd.

By the way, the part about sending the cheque to his rival with the website dedicated to bashing Moore--what could be more poignant?

If you haven't seen it, I urge you to.

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Do Not Call or Do Not Care?

Unscrupulous telemarketers (mostly based outside North America) are actually using the list as a source of names to call. In Canada, the CRTC (government body) requires telemarketers to pay a fee (dependent on which area/how many names) to download a DNC list with a risk of a $15,000 fine if they call anyone on the list. Some of these low-lifes are paying, for example, $50 for 600,000 live names on the Toronto list--it's a telemarketer's wet dream!

And just now, I stumbled upon a website whose only business is to supply telemarketers with DNC lists at wholesale prices! They are registered with the national DNC, download a fresh list each day and then resell the names at a discount to anyone who wants the names. Kind of restores you faith in humanity, doesn't it? Now, you know why you're still gettting calls.

And unless these people are based in the country they are calling, there's nothing anyone can do about it--they are out of the jurisdiction of authorities.