NBC re-edited a Michael Moore TV show to in order to lie to the American public about Cuba

[ConsAreLiars]

Michael Moore spent the whole show with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! today. Watch the stream if you missed it - there's a lot to learn: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/18/1326235

Among other things, there is one good example of how the Corporate Media will deliberately deceive you and me about what is really happening in this world. A small example, even on a very late night show, the truth was not allowed to be told.

On "TV Nation," in the '90's, he did a health care comparison between the US, Canada and Cuba. Here is the transcript of what happened when Cuba won that contest:

AMY GOODMAN: ... I began by asking Michael Moore what inspired him to make the film.

MICHAEL MOORE: Well, I actually -- I had a TV show on back in the ’90s called TV Nation, and one day I just -- I thought it would be interesting to have like a race. So we sent a camera crew to an emergency room in Fort Lauderdale, a camera crew to an emergency room in Toronto, and then one to Havana. And they would each wait until someone came in with a broken arm or a broken leg. And then they were going to follow that person through and see how good the quality of the care was, how fast it was and how cheap it was. And I convinced Bob Costas and Ahmad Rashad, sportscasters, to do the play-by-play of what we called the Healthcare Olympics. And so, it was a race between the US, Canada and Cuba. And to make a long story short, Cuba won. They had the fastest care, the best care, and it cost nothing.

We turn the show in to NBC that week, and we get a call from the censor. They’re not called “the censor,” they’re called Standards & Practices. And so, this woman calls. She’s the head of Standards & Practices -- Dr. Somebody. I don’t know they -- she actually had a “Dr.” before her name, but I forget her last name now. But she calls, and she says, “Mike, Cuba can’t win.” I said, “What?” “Cuba can’t win.” “Well, they won. What do you mean they can’t win? They won.” “No, we can’t say that on NBC. We can’t say that Cuba won.” “Well, yeah, but they won! They provided the fastest care. They were the cheapest. And the patient was happy, and the bone got fixed.” “No, it’s against regulations here.” I said, “Oh, well, I’m not changing it.”

Well, they changed it. They changed it. Two days later, when it aired, they changed it so that Canada won. And Canada didn’t win. Canada almost won, but they charged the guy $15 for some crutches on the way out. So it’s bugged me to this day that anybody who saw that episode, you know, where it said, you know, “and Canada won the Healthcare Olympics,” and in fact it was Cuba, but that couldn’t be said on NBC, because God knows what would happen.

(edit out the reference to Bravo, an NBC property where I first saw it.)

[Canuckistanian]

1. Must be Dr. Roz Weinman

She's now a producer on Law & Order.

[welshTerrier2]

2. Salud

if you get a chance to see it, don't miss the movie at this link: http://www.saludthefilm.net/ns/reviews.html

the movie focuses on what Cuba has done with their health care system. it's pretty amazing. it goes well beyond just providing health care to the Cuban people. Cuba is training doctors from all over the world so that they can return to their communities to provide health care. it's very Peace Corps like ...

here's just one of many reviews:

“¡Salud! demonstrates how a poor small island state can impact health around the world. The Cuban medical brigades offer more than clinical skills to the developing countries. They bring health to the underserved who might otherwise not survive and more importantly, they bring hope for change in health care systems to make health accessible to all. Cuba has made the health of the people an indicator of the country’s performance for development. SALUD also presents a compelling example of south-south cooperation that has strengthened friendship and solidarity among peoples and countries.”
Mirta Roses, MD, Director, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

Moore's interview on DemocracyNow was great btw ...

[ConsAreLiars]

3. Cubans pay $229 anually, we pay $6,096 to get the same results.

They do it by assuring adequate living standards, sanitation, and such - not luxurious living on average, but not the Capitalist model of driving the least fortunate into absolute depredation with no access at all to the basic necessities while giving the most fortunate access to every imaginable form of self-indulgence.

Here's a cost-benefit chart from http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/spend.php





Note: the numbers I've seen on various sites vary a bit, but here are the WHO pages for the US and Cuba - Stats for 2005 except when otherwise noted.

CUBA http://www.who.int/countries/cub/en /
Life expectancy at birth m/f (years): 75/79
Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f (years, 2002): 67/70
Probability of dying under five (per 1 000 live births): 7
Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f (per 1 000 population): 128/83
Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2004): 229
Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2004): 6.3

US http://www.who.int/countries/usa/en /
Life expectancy at birth m/f (years): 75/80
Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f (years, 2002): 67/71
Probability of dying under five (per 1 000 live births): 8
Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f (per 1 000 population): 137/81
Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2004): 6,096
Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2004): 15.4

I think there's a message here that a lot of people don't want to hear.

(edit to fix link to the chart)

[TahitiNut]

5. It's clear that Elian is better off in Cuba, healthwise. Very clear.

:shrug:

[Selatius]

9. But as Dr. Somebody said, "You can't say that on television."

Because anything that even looks like communism is bad. :sarcasm:

[Richard Steele]

8. Lots of "us" pay more and get NOTHING. nm

[peacetalksforall]

4. Here are two perfect examples of hypocrisy and hostage taking in this country

1. You just heard about NBC changing reality - in the 1990's. They did it then and we know how fiercely they do it now. GE/NBC is a lying company with lying employees.

2. Cuban Americans have held this ocuntry hostage for 48 years. Why do you think NBC lied in the 1990's - because Democratic and Republican Senators and Representatives bow down to their every demand.

By the way, how is our Cuban-American protected terrorist doing lately? Still protected by Washington? I'm referring to Luis Posada Carilles, of course, though there are more.

[burrowowl]

6. K&R

and I love Amy Goodman!

[robinlynne]

7. That is an amazing story. Wish I could get it aired on NBC...

[ConsAreLiars]

10. The falsified version, as it was aired, is on youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y755IP5R8Hg