I hate Dalton McGinty. I hate him to an extent that it will probably keep me out of heaven if there is such a place. I hate the man for one reason and one reason only. The Ontario Health Care Premium.
I have come to hate socialized medicine. I want to see it abolished. Now don't get me wrong, I like health care. (Sort of anyway, I'm not a huge fan of "a pill for every ill" but I do like knowing some skilled individual will be available [eventually] to stich me up should I every get hit by a random bullet when in the Big Smoke.) I just think it should be an insurance system - this is odd as I normally think of insurance as legalized extortion.
My hatred of Dalton helps me explain this. Every year I have to pay a special Ontario Health Care Premium of an amount calculated based solely on my income. I think this is a HUGE injustice. An injustice worthy of stoning. In a country where the medical system is clogged with people who make poor lifestyle decisions in regards to their health I think any health care premium has to be based on those lifestyle decisions and not on income. I don't care if it's a private or public system, I don't care if it becomes "tiered" and I don't care if some people can't afford it. I don't even care if my insurance premiums would total more than my current Ontario Health Care Premium and the percentage of my taxes that already go into the health care system I just want to feel like it's at least pretending to be fair.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Good news for ugly folks
George must be happy that his buddy Steve is so good at what he does. I recently saw the Adventures of Tintin in 3D and I have to say I was impressed. For the second time in my life I also got a private viewing being the only person in the movie theater. (The first time was a midnight showing of 3000 miles to Graceland, which was also better than expected.)
The animation in Tintin was excellent to my untrained eye and while the characters were human the fact that they were also obviously cartoons was a lot less creepy that some recent attempts at animated tales of humans. The action was fun and the story good.
I'm already up for the sequel and that's a rare thing these days.
You might be wondering how the title fits this post? Well with animation this good it won't be long before good buy ugly actors will be able steal the leading roles from the no talent pretty people.
The animation in Tintin was excellent to my untrained eye and while the characters were human the fact that they were also obviously cartoons was a lot less creepy that some recent attempts at animated tales of humans. The action was fun and the story good.
I'm already up for the sequel and that's a rare thing these days.
You might be wondering how the title fits this post? Well with animation this good it won't be long before good buy ugly actors will be able steal the leading roles from the no talent pretty people.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Good TV
I just finished watch the TV series “Breaking Bad”. For those who don’t know about it, it was on AMC, lasted four seasons and was about a high school chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with cancer and turns to cooking crystal meth to pay his medical bills.
It was good. The first two seasons really good, seasons three and four were also good but I felt the story was being drawn out in comparison with the first two seasons. If the show had maintained the original pace seasons three and four would have been one season IMO.
Essentially the show looked at the values of America. In theory all of the shows charcaters are in pursuit of the American dream, or at least one of them. Walt wants to be independent, Jesse wants to be left alone to do his own thing, Skyler wants the white picket fence and most everyone else wants to be rich.
What the show examines is when these desires come into conflict with the real world, with law and order, and with what happens when you decide to abandon the rules. The spark is Walt's cancer. His insurance isn't what he thought it would be and he's too proud to accept charity so he rationalizes abandoning the system that he feels abandoned him. Then things get out of control.
Things’ spinning out of control when there are no rules is definitely the leitmotif of the series. In many ways it's about the need for rules even if they seem unfair.
In the end I think what I liked about it most is that the show wanted you to think about issues and ideas, about right and wrong, values. TV needs more shows like that.
It was good. The first two seasons really good, seasons three and four were also good but I felt the story was being drawn out in comparison with the first two seasons. If the show had maintained the original pace seasons three and four would have been one season IMO.
Essentially the show looked at the values of America. In theory all of the shows charcaters are in pursuit of the American dream, or at least one of them. Walt wants to be independent, Jesse wants to be left alone to do his own thing, Skyler wants the white picket fence and most everyone else wants to be rich.
What the show examines is when these desires come into conflict with the real world, with law and order, and with what happens when you decide to abandon the rules. The spark is Walt's cancer. His insurance isn't what he thought it would be and he's too proud to accept charity so he rationalizes abandoning the system that he feels abandoned him. Then things get out of control.
Things’ spinning out of control when there are no rules is definitely the leitmotif of the series. In many ways it's about the need for rules even if they seem unfair.
In the end I think what I liked about it most is that the show wanted you to think about issues and ideas, about right and wrong, values. TV needs more shows like that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)