Download Slacker Uprising, for free

Michael Moore's new film, Slacker Uprising, is now available for free download all over the Internet, including Here. I started watching it yesterday, but I got pretty busy and only had time for a few minutes.

The movie is about Moore's tour of colleges in battleground states during the 2004 election, with a goal to encourage 18-29-year old youths to vote, and the tour's response. It looks like a pretty cool film - I'm looking forward to having time to watching the whole thing.

Like Moore or dislike him, the man affects change, and not many people can say that. Plus, the man's got balls - who can forget his Emmy acceptance speech, when he called out President Bush. He took a lot of heat for that, but anyone want to call him out on it now? Yea, I didn't think so.

Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

This movie certainly appears to be a different way to criticize the Bush administration's hunt for indifference about Osama bin Laden. Regardless, Where in the World is Osama bin Laden looks like a must see, if for no other reason than because of who made it - Morgan Spurlock.

Spurlock isn't afraid to do the outlandish to prove a point; Super Size Me is a shining example of that.

I like his work - it's controversial in some ways, but his provocativeness stirs lots of debate, and that's never a bad thing. (I guess he's much like Michael Moore in that way.) This movie will no doubt inspire some, entertain many, and anger a few, too. But in the end, if people are talking about how this administration has failed miserably to catch the man responsible for 9-11, than the movie will have succeeded brilliantly.

Incidentally, according to WaPo, Spurlock is adapting Chris Mooney's book, The Republican War on Science, into a movie. I'm really looking forward to seeing that when it's released. I have the book, but too many others have gotten in the way and I haven't read it yet ~ I'll probably get to it this summer.

Print out your own SiCKO health care card

Check this out - you can print your own SiCKO health care card. There are already documented cases where mentioning the movie and threatening insurance companies have actually worked in patients' favor.

To download a PDF of the card and to find out more information, click Here.

Must-see movie this summer: SiCKO

I've been waiting to find the trailer, and Michael Moore must have been keeping a lid on the trailer until after SiCKO premiered at Cannes.

Anyway, I finally found it, and it looks like a fantastic movie. The film was, by every account I've read, very well received at the Cannes Film Festival. I'm not out on much of a limb by predicting that SiCKO looks to be another Michael Moore success.

However, he's received a great deal of negative publicity from (surprise) Republicans, including this administration.

I find it ridiculous, moronic and absurd that this administration would waste a single man-hour on going after Moore for his trip to Cuba. But, that's what happens in the America of today - if you have a political opinion that differs with this administration, it's attack! attack! attack! I've already blogged about the Bush administration's witch hunt against Moore, so I won't continue that here.

Moore's Website reports that the government is not only pursuing him for his trip to Cuba, but also the 9-11 survivors that he took with him to Cuba:

The New York Post reported Sunday that the Bush administration, in addition to going after me for filming scenes in or near Cuba, may now go after the 9/11 rescue workers I took with me to get the medical care they were denied by our own government. I couldn't make up irony like this if I wanted to, and I will do whatever is necessary to defend the human right of these true American heroes to receive the medical attention they deserve.

(More on that Cuba trip in a minute.) It's not surprising at all to hear that the pharmaceutical industry (and the politicians they fund) are gearing up for a rebuttal against SiCKO.

According to Moore, he received copious amounts of whistle blower documents from many pharm employees:

We've also received word that the HMO and pharmaceutical industries are gearing up to fight SiCKO. We received so many great whistle blower letters while we were making the movie from employees of these companies. We'd like to hear from you again! Send us the internal memos and any other plans you run across at the company copying machine or Internet server. It will help to stay ahead of whatever they are up to, and it will also give us a chance for a bit of fun at the industry's expense.

I don't know what I'm looking forward to more - the movie, or Sean Hannity's and Rush Limbaugh's attack on Moore. Of course, they won't attack the film nearly as much as they will Moore himself.

In an interview with Time last week, Moore responded to critics who have treated his trip to Cuba like he dropped in on Osama bin Laden for tea:

Time: You also speak rhapsodically about the French and Cuban systems and travel to Cuba, where you interview Che Guevara's daughter. France, Cuba, Che. Are you going out of your way to annoy the right?

Moore: I give people more credit than the media and the political machine running this country do. The story line is: France, bad; France, cowards. What crime did France commit? We wouldn't have had this country without their support in the Revolution. They gave us that statue that sits out in New York Harbor. They responded immediately after 9/11. And they remain eternally grateful for what we did during World War II. As for Cuba, yes, when I've got a film crew there, they're going to show us their best. But there's a reason the World Health Organization ranks their health-care system [among] the best in the Third World and that people from Latin America come there for their health care. There's also a reason Cubans live on average a month longer than we do. I'm not trumpeting Castro or his regime. I just want to say to fellow Americans, "C'mon, we're the United States! If they can do this, we can do it."

I found Moore's words about France particularly poignant. The right has made great sport out of poking fun of and castigating France, all because they DARED disagree with us about our ill-fated foray into Iraq. Hmmm. Over four years after it started, who was more correct - France or Bush and Bill O'Reilly?

Michael Moore dares to make people think. (And sometimes, recoil. Look at that publicity photo! I may not sleep tonight.) I can't believe the audacity of Moore to possibly bring up the things that France has done for the U.S., including helping us during the Revolutionary War, the Statue of Liberty, etc.

Who has more credibility here - Bill O'Reilly and his phony France boycott, or Moore putting our country's relationship with France into historical context? Again, Moore is putting up facts against O'Lielly's rhetoric, such as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" and another World War II joke that's about 50 years old.

Moore reasons that his film cuts across the political divide, and I believe he's right:

This film does cut across party lines. Everybody gets sick; everybody has had a problem with insurance or the prescription drugs they're supposed to be taking or an elderly parent who needs care. On the surface, it does seem that the only people who are going to be upset are the executives of insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

He couldn't be more right - the insurance and pharmaceutical industries will whine like babies, but that's because Moore is exposing them for the money grubbing, racketeering operations they are.

I'm counting the days until this film comes out.

Here's a small clip form the movie:

Bush's latest witch hunt - Michael Moore

This has misuse of government power written all over it.

Michael Moore, in what I considered a pretty lame publicity stunt, flew 10 World Trade Center works to Cuba, of all places, to make a point about the health care system in the Unites States, and how it's hopelessly broken. This was part of Moore's noble goal of calling attention to our health care problem, as well as to promote his latest film about the health care, SiCKO.

The Bush administration is now investigating Moore for violating the 45-year old trade embargo with Cuba. Really? Is this what the Treasury Department is spending its time on? What a total crock.

Never mind the fact that the trade embargo has long outlived its usefulness, in my humble opinion. Castro is about as much of a threat as a house fly. The only reason the embargo hasn't been lifted is because the president who lifts it will suffer terrible political consequences (and his or her party) because of the enormous Cuban-American population in southern Florida. However, even that is changing. A recent poll, according to a recent article in Time, states that for the first time, even Cuban-Americans believe the travel embargo should be lifted.

It's completely mindless that we haven't tried to change Cuba in other ways. The embargo is a joke. And the whole Communism argument is so 20 years ago. We talk and negotiate with North Korea, China and Vietnam, don't we? All three are communist, and the last two we have a vigorous trade relationship with.

Pretty interesting to hear first responders from 9-11 siding with Moore. It's only a matter of time before Ann Coulter and Co. attack these people (if they haven't already - I don't make it a habit to consistently watch Fersatz News).

There is still a lot to be told about the story of 9-11 rescue workers being allowed into the site so quickly after the twin towers collapsed. (This is something that Rudy Giuliani has yet to respond to - more on this after I read the book Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 this summer.

Anyway, it's totally outrageous and probably a violation of the law that the Treasury Department is investigating Moore. At best, it's the appearance of political impropriety, but that would never stop this administration. Bush stopped caring about political appearances and impressions on November 3, 2004 - the day after he won his second term.

Moore isn't taking this witch hunt sitting down. On Wednesday, he filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Treasury Department for copies of all relevant documents about its investigation on his trip to Cuba.

Megan O'Hara, the executive producer of SiCKO, also responded to the Treasury Department's investigation:

'SiCKO,' Michael Moore's new movie, will rip the band-aid off America's health care industry. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in just one week and opening across the U.S. on June 29th, 'SiCKO' will expose the corporations that place profit before care and the politicians who care only about money. Our health care system is broken and, all too often, deadly. The efforts of the Bush Administration to conduct a politically motivated investigation of Michael Moore and 'SiCKO' will not stop us from making sure the American people see this film.

On September 11, 2001 this country was attacked. Thousands of Americans responded with heroism and courage, toiling for days, weeks and months in the ruins at Ground Zero. These 9/11 first responders risked their lives searching for survivors, recovering bodies, and clearing away toxic rubble. Now, many of these heroes face serious health issues -- and far too many of them are not receiving the care they need and deserve. President Bush and the Bush Administration should be spending their time trying to help these heroes get health care instead of abusing the legal process to advance a political agenda.

-- Meghan O'Hara, Producer, SiCKO

A recent article in Time details how the Treasury Department has more personnel dedicated to enforcing travel restrictions with Cuba than people dedicated to finding former assets of the late Saddam Hussein. Absurd. Maybe if the Treasury Department could find some of his assets, it could defray the cost of this war in some way.

The Time article also reveals some statistics about violations of the travel restrictions to Cuba:

The government declined to comment, saying only that OFAC [the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control] issues hundreds of letters each year asking for additional information when possible violations have occurred. In a typical year, 20,000 to 30,000 Americans travel to Cuba illegally; only 1,000 are caught. The Center for Constitutional Rights has represented 425 such people over the last 10 years, and only four were fined.

How much do you want to bet that Moore with be the fifth fined?

This is total abuse of power, and it reminds me of how President Nixon used to misuse federal agencies (such as the IRS) to go after political opponents.

I couldn't resist an example of what the right is saying about Moore's trip to Cuba. Here's Glenn Beck on CNN, and I defy you to get through more than two minutes of this garbage. He's beyond contempt and totally unprofessional. I am writing a letter to CNN about this guy - he's a laughingstock.

Beck's fifth-grade name calling is more suited for the playground. What a churlish rube.

Here's Fersatz News Channel's take on Moore's trip. It's a knee slapper...

Moore's SiCKO is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this week, and is in theaters June 29. I haven't been able to find a trailer of it yet, but when I do, I'll bring it to you.

Moore documentary directors outfox Fox

The directors of the film Manufacturing Dissent, a documentary on filmmaker Michael Moore, recently appeared on Fox News. Talk about
your all-time backfires. The host continuously eggs Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk on with leading questions, trying in vain to get them to slam Michael Moore. No dice. A bit embarrassing, no doubt, especially toward the end, when the duo talk about news organizations not being truthful enough to viewers.

About the film - I will definitely be seeing it. I found Fahrenheit 9/11 to be very thought provoking and inflammatory (intentionally so). I'm quite sure that Moore left a whole lot out of that movie, too, but like I said to many of my Republican friends when it came out - "If only half of the film is true, the Bush Administration has a lot to answer for." Of course, this administration hasn't answered for anything.

But, I'm very curious to see about Moore's tactics, so this film is worth a look.

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A quick flashback - I found these two clips on YouTube tonight:



Here's Part I of a pretty good exchange between Michael Moore and Bill O'Reilly at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. I love a good political street fight, and this definitely qualifies.



Here's Part II - Billy is delivering some solid blows, until Moore asks O'Reilly if he would sacrifice his child to secure Fallujah and Billy tripped over his tongue.

I know, I know - it's just a stupid exchange between two blow hards. Yes, I said TWO. But, it's entertaining, too.

I'd award Moore the winner of this bout, but a split decision. O'Reilly is obviously a skilled debater, and Moore is not, but the latter still more than held his own.

Writer gives QEII Golden Globe beatdown

Finally, a reason to watch an awards show. Earlier tonight, I caught a little bit of the Golden Globes, and I got a chance to hear Peter Morgan's acceptance speech for his movie, The Queen. Here is part of what he said while he was up at the microphone:

"What do we have to do to get our leaders to listen to us? What do we have to do to get them to change tact?"

Morgan continued with his rant against Queen Elizabeth II, questioning her motives for not cutting short a holiday in Scotland to properly mourn the death of Princess Diana, which ended up being the basis for his screenplay.

He continued, "In 1997, 2.2 million people went on the streets of London, sleeping rough, bringing the biggest city in Europe to a standstill so that a stubborn 70-year-old lady would fly from Aberdeen to London. What are we gonna have to do when it's really important? You have to believe that public protest counts for something."

He was then cut off - right after he finished that last sentence, he said, "Oh, I have to wrap up? I just got up here," and he hurried off stage. I guess the Golden Globe people didn't want another Michael Moore moment.

Hmm, that sounds pretty familiar to me. In America, especially since the start of the War in Iraq, those of us with our eyes open have seen what can happen to some people if they dare speak out against the government.

I wonder if Morgan plans on joining the Dixie Chicks anytime soon?

I love the set of balls on this guy - not being afraid to take on an institution like the House of Windsor.

That sounds pretty Michael Moore-ish to me, and I mean that as a compliment.