Wikileaks: Cuba not Healthcare Utopia

Big surprise, according to wikileaks documents Michael Moore's Sicko movie was banned in Cuba for fear of stirring resentment since few Cubans can get care in the facility he filmed.

Only the overly optimistic ever believed that Cuba has the ideal system. Talk to people in Miami who still have family there, or recent immigrants. Other than making money and becoming a very fat rich white guy by villainizing very fat rich white guys, I have no idea what Moore's motives for most of his propaganda is. He has the kind of manner that would egg a peaceful guy on to punch him. I feel that way just seeing photos. I want to punch the guy.

I think it is hilarious that his flick would be banned in Cuba because the fantasy would make the citizens upset. His site claims it wasn't banned. Well, hell, if Mike says it, I know it must be so.

People I have talked to who have seen the system there first hand did not give a glowing report. Only a few idiots in our Congress who weren't there, and maybe a few of Castro's guests (useful idiots from Hollywood), are the main people who have spread the myth outside of Mike. Cubans in Miami certainly didn't. Then those who hate everything not controlled by central bureaucracy took up the cry.

The assertion that Cuba has a wonderful universal health care system which serves all is bullshit.

Here's the link to the story in some Limey newspaper. oooh it's British. Might as well be on PBS, NPR, etc. Why is it that our public broadcasting is mostly British news sources reporting about America? Must be that thing where Americans think everyone with a Brit accent is super intelligent.

Movie Review:Artois the Goat

Once in awhile you run across a low budget flick that you never heard of, and it turns out to be better and more poignant than 99% of those that get the hype and huge production budgets.

That does me good for a couple of reasons. One is that it proves a good movie can be made simply and relatively cheaply. I forgot the other reason. Maybe that I got my movie fix without contributing to what I think is a relatively closed shop.

Artois the goat is about the love. To know what that means, I suppose you have to have been there.

I won't tell the story. It is not actually about a goat. If it were Disney, I suppose Artois would be off on an adventure, possibly in the Yukon, befriending grizzly bears, narrowly escaping an avalanche, saving the dumb ass kid from the mean oil men, then leading him home to a ticker tape parade in Mayville. OK. You saw that one, too.

This is not that.

Some of it is almost surreal. And some of the more surreal parts are way too close to real life. It has great humor, especially if you are on the outside of the controversy about making it illegal to sell fresh dairy products and such. It has great humor otherwise as well. Never a dull moment and even I could follow the story without asking my imaginary friends what was going on.

In some respects this is almost up there with El Mariachi. Totally different, but both independent low cost flicks which were stellar.

For an uplifting film, and a little reinforcement if you wonder at your tendency to travel to the beat of a different drum, this is the mojo for you.

I watched it free on HULU. Of course they play ads but that's no big deal. Many were the world's most interesting man doling out sage advice. He always has marvelous senoritas hanging about. And he is always right, I suppose. However he did not mention the movie. Sponsoring it must have been enough.