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By now, I think everyone has heard about how Barney Frank slammed a woman during a health care town hall meeting: "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"
I think that woman definitely needs to get a clue. Arguing with a sharp tongued old gay man? What was she thinking? She needs to take classes to learn from gay men living in Castro to learn how to be bitchy! Plus, this shouting game doesn’t get the dialogue, I mean the shouting, to anywhere, except on the internet and on television.
I have not read Obama’s health plan, except some reports in the news. I have to say that I don’t have faith in this health care reform. If I were voting today, I would have to vote no. Not because it’s a bad intention, but it’s something doomed to fail.
Of course it would be nice to provide everybody with health care. But, when you have nothing to pay for it, you simply cannot do it. Plus, don’t we already have examples that government run health services that don’t work? For example, money is taken out from each my paycheck to pay for Medicare, as well as for Social security. Haven’t I been told for years that these programs are all broke and don’t even think about getting benefit from these government programs?
How in the world that when we face a living example of failed government run health care program, the politicians want to create a new one and they claim that this one will work?
How? Living in another country, if not another planet? If they can make this new one work, how come they cannot fix the old ones that are failing?
Every responsible person should not spend the money that he doesn’t have, well, except Americans. Even though the Unite States is broke, the government is spending like no tomorrow, and wants to achieve a utopia that everyone’s health is taken care of. I believe that it will remain a dream if we don’t fix the fundamental rotten roots of our health care problem.
To reform the health care, some drastic changes must take place. Here are a few things I can think of right off my head:
- Set a limit on how much lawyers can sue doctors, so the medical bills don’t have to include the expensive liability insurance.
- Let patients spend their own money for health care like they buy food. If I go to a restaurant, I don’t file paper work to let some insurance company to pay my food later, right? Then why should that be the case for health care?
- Buy health insurance like buying home owner insurance which only pays when the house gets burnt down. If it’s a small problem in the house, fix your house with your own money. Same should goes to the health care.
- Reform prescription medicines, they don’t have to be that outrageously expensive.
- Impose very very high tax on sugar and sweet soft drinks, so people will actually start to drink water, instead of taking in empty calories.
- Mandatory more vacation days to all Americans like those French, Dutch, or Danish. Americans will be much happier and less stressful, therefore, much healthier if we get to play more instead of working more.
- …. (I can go on and on forever) …
See, this is why I am not a politician, because the common sense (of course, nonsense to many others) won’t fly in our government.
Speaking of maintaining good health, I think to have a decent real breakfast must be good for me. So, I set up the timer on my rice cooker to cook some fresh porridge automatically when I wake up in the morning. Especially those salted eggs I made are about ready to eat.
Yesterday, when I woke up in the morning, I didn’t smell any porridge. When I looked at the rice cooker, it’s still counting the time. Oh no! I set the time to PM instead of AM! Don’t I hate these AM/PM stuff. Why can’t the rice cooker display 24 hours format?
I reset the rice cooker again correctly. This morning, I was woken up by the porridge aroma floating in the air. That’s what I am waiting for! It really brings me appetite in the morning when I wake up!
On Wednesday night, I went to the Castro Theater and watched "Inglourious Basterds" for the second time. But this time, I watched it with direcor Quentin Tarantino sitting in the audience with us! After the movie, he gave an Q&A session to the audience. He is really a down to earth guy with great talent. I wrote a review about this film last night, in my freshly customized Emacs!
After more than a decade in the making, Oscar winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino presents his highly anticipated World War II epic "Inglourious Basterds" (USA/Germany/France 2009 | 153 min.), a glorious masterpiece with an Oscar worthy performance by Christoph Waltz as a Nazi officer.
The film is divided into five chapters to tell a multithreaded interleaving story, but the plot is never confusing. Each chapter is jammed with witty and humorous dialogues, colorful characters, terrific performance, gore violence, and explosive climaxes. In the end, they come together gracefully.
In Chapter One, "Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied France," a charming yet terrifying Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), nicknamed "The Jew Hunter," comes to a farm searching for Jews in hiding. One of the girl in hiding is Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), who later runs a movie theater in Paris in Chapter Three "German Night in Paris." Shosanna survives Hans’s hunt and encounters Nazi Gefreiter Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl). Fredrick is a German hero for killing hundreds of enemies by himself in a battle. Fredrick shows interest in Shosanna and wants to premiere a propaganda film based on his own story and played by himself. Shosanna once again needs to escape from Hans, "The Jew Hunter," because Hans is in charge of the security of the movie’s premiere.
The British intelligent also learns about the movie’s premiere event, which appears to be a perfect target because the movie theater will be packed by the Nazis’ higher ranking officers. Therefore, in Chapter Four, "Operation Kino," the British intelligent sends in Lieutenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender), to blow up the Nazis with the help from the "Basterds." These "Basterds" are the protagonists introduced in Chapter Two, "Inglourious Basterds." Led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), whose name pays tribute to Aldo Ray, a group of American Jews infiltrate into France to kill the Nazis. They don’t just kill the Nazis, they also take Nazis’ scalps, as their signature (among other things) to terrify the Nazis.
Director Quentin Tarantino seamlessly brings all these characters together and proceeds to the grand finale: Chapter Five, "Revenge of the Giant Face." He tells his gripping story with great precision and ample almost flawless details, just like how Hans ("The Jew Hunter") opens his pen and paper pad, gets ink for the pen, and writes on a piece of paper at the beginning of the film.
Tarantino is not shy of showing his cinephile personality in this film. He uses soundtracks from 22 other films, and he plans to use cinema to end the World War II in his version of history. And, of course, only Tarantino can write those classic ingenious dialogues. When Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) wants to attend the movie premiere as a German, German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) asks: "Can you American speak any other language other than English?" Ouch! To prove she is wrong, Tarantino lets Aldo speak hilarious broken Italian, with a southern drawl.
On the other hand, both Christoph Waltz and his character Hans ("The Jew Hunter") are linguist geniuses who speaks at least four languages (German, French, Italian, and English) frequently. Christoph Waltz‘s exceptional performance already takes the Best Actor Award at 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It is very likely that he will win the upcoming Oscar as well.
As Aldo Raine’s last word in the film, it is not an over statement to say this film is a masterpiece from Tarantino. However, it should not surprise anyone if this brilliant director brings even a greater film to the cinema in the future.
"Inglourious Basterds" opens on Friday, August 21, 2009 at Bay Area theaters.
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Silky Tofu, 味道好极了! 