Grave of the Fireflies is based off of Japanese history. This film is a 1988 Japanese animated drama film. It is based on parts of the 1967 short story, Grave of the Fireflies. Set the city of Kobe, Japan, the film tells the story of two siblings and their desperate struggle to survive the final months of WWII. The film is commonly described as an anti-war film, but this translation has been…
Fire is one of the many symbols represented in Fahrenheit 451. Fire can be observed as both renewal and destruction. The biggest reference to fire is at the end of the novel when Granger explains to Montag the meaning and existence of the Phoenix. Granger explains that every few hundred years, a Phoenix will appear and burn himself to ashes. The Phoenix would then spring out from the ashes to be born again. Granger compares this reference to mankind and how it destroys himself, only to be rebuilt. The Phoenix is a symbol of renewal.…
America spends two and a half times more on healthcare per capita than any other developed nation, quickly approaching $3 trillion EVERY year. With this kind of expenditure, you would expect our citizens to be the healthiest in the world, but this is not the case.…
We’ve all seen a bad movie at least once in our life. When you’re watching it, it’s everything you can do to keep your eyes open. You’ve also probably seen a lot of really good movies. When you’ve seen an example of both, it is really easy to point out the odds and ends that make each movie good or bad. The movie, Smoke Signals, written by Sherman Alexie, is not a terrible movie, but it isn’t one I would recommend to all my friends if they were looking for a good movie. The acting was probably the best part of the film, closely followed by the script. The main thing that I noticed that ruined this film for me was the use of flashbacks. It was a little excessive and it made it harder for viewers to follow along.…
The documentary, Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare, criticizes the current healthcare system designed for profit maximization, a physician’s dilemma between financial incentives and professionalism, and quick fixes rather than prevention of illness. The U.S. government spends $2.7 trillion annually on healthcare, and pharmaceutical drugs account for $300 billion, almost as much as the rest of the world combined (Escape Fire). The mindset that drugs are the only appropriate way to treat disease is invalid. Physician salaries are driven by the number of treatments and drugs that are prescribed and administered. The U.S. healthcare system is a business model where economic…
The 1986 film "Sixteen Candles" tells a timeless tale of growing up in suburban America. The film's star, Sam, played by Molly Ringwald, wakes up with big expectations on her sweet sixteenth birthday only to be completely disappointed. Not only does she find that she looks exactly the same as when she was fifteen, but her family is so preoccupied with her older sister's wedding that they forget her birthday altogether.…
Our Healthcare system is clearly business based according to the article “Cost Conundrum” and on the movie “Escape Fire”. In the movie it had an impacting story of an older lady who had heart problems where she went to a doctor and they were going to charge her thousands of dollars were later she went to a different doctor and they charged her a couple hundred dollars for t he same procedure. I couldn’t believe that in a different office she would get the same procedure done for a lot cheaper than in the other doctor’s office. Also, it surprised me how the medical staff are giving all these medications to our soldiers were they are clearly abusing the medication and taking much more than they should. I was really happy to see that later the soldier who was overdosing on medications decided to stop and later tried a different form of medication of acupuncture. Although overdosing on medication is a problem in our country it is not the biggest one in our healthcare. Our healthcare system is the one that is collapsing. Our healthcare system is not like it was many years ago, our healthcare system is market based and doctors don’t focus on quality care on their patients and rather view them as dollar signs. In the article “Cost Conundrum” it states that McAllen is one of the most expensive healthcare markets in the country, many are unsure why it spends more per capita but it states that because the people there are obese and have cardiovascular diseases and fall under the poverty line. In the article it states “the way to practice medicine has changed completely before it was about how to do a good job, now it’s about how much will you benefit”. I clearly agree to this statement because I have gone through this experience with my father. He was diagnosed with diabetes at a late stage in which it caused a retina detachment on his left eye. When he was diagnosed I would…
1. The amount of money that the US spends on healthcare per capita and as a percent of GDP is far higher than any other country in the world. We spend 15% of GDP, with the next-highest countries, Germany and France, at 10% of GDP. This high level of spending has not brought higher life spans or quality of life years. Those who pay the bills are therefore asking if they are getting quality…
Finding the Money for Healthcare Reform, written by Mark Hyman, M.D. (Hyman, 2009), provides a realistic perspective that the current healthcare reform model only focuses on lowering the cost for healthcare services and not improving the quality of health for patients. Hyman (2009) argues that if quality of health and lifestyle intervention are key focal points of healthcare reform, the burden of healthcare expense would automatically be lowered due to less chronic illness and better health outcomes (Hyman, 2009). “By improving the quality of our health and focusing on health creation and improved health outcomes, the sinking ship of healthcare can be righted, and the behaviors of physicians and healthcare institutions will shift from doing more things (volume) to doing the right things (quality)” (Hyman, 2009, p. 20).…
"Lights! Camera! Action!" the dramatic yet traditional prompt associated with Hollywood and the pictures. Hollywood appears to be this extraordinary glamorous world; however, in reality is it? Many people dream of being in the limelight of Hollywood; where there is an endless amount of money, power, and fame. Society fails to examine what's behind fame; the dark, twisted, and the ugly truths hiding within those exact words. Billy Wilder explores and divulges the dark yet unknown, harsh realities of fame, following Hollywood's transition from silent pictures to talkies; with his film Sunset Boulevard.…
Today, the United States has what many consider to be the worst health care system in the world. The United States has the most expensive system as it accounts for nearly 17.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (The World Factbook, 2013). This amounts to a cost of $8608 per person (Health Expenditure per Capita, 2013). The extreme cost of health care make it the leading cause of bankruptcy throughout the United States, and the reason why there are over 48.6 million people who are uninsured with no access to health care at all (Howard, Access and Underserved). This high cost has not translated…
The United States should have Universal Health Care. Having mandatory Health Care is a step closer to Universal Health Care. I truly believe Universal Health Care is heading our direction in the United States. In 2014, U. S citizen will need to get Health Care insurance or else we will get penalized. Most middle class families cannot afford insurance premiums for Health Care, so that is when government will step in toward Universal Health Care. Universal Health Care will always be a government decisions as to where the funding would come from, but the end result would fairer than the system we currently have where only a few can afford health care. United States is the only developed nation that does not have a structured Universal Health Care system. Health Care should be available to everyone and I know that one day the United State will be Universal Health Care. Overall, if the U.S were to engage in the Universal Health Care system this may overall be less abuse that transpires in the Emergency rooms due to people who are uninsured and under uninsured. Secondly, if people are seeking regular physicals and treatments the overall costs should balance out. There are over 45 million people in the U.S who do not have health coverage. This will soon change in 2014 and I truly believe that we will have a Universal Health Care System. The first is finding ways to insure every American, which will soon happen in 2014 but at the same time foreclosures and job losses, the last worry anyone needs is whether they can get thoughtful care with appropriate follow-up and etc. Obama’s Affordable Act might solve our problems but I don’t think it will solve it right away. We have nearly more than 100 problems and to fix everything at once might not be possible.…
I say healthcare with quotations because it’s not really healthcare, it’s more sick care. Like a physician in the film said “We have a disease care system, it doesn’t want you to die and it doesn’t want you to get well” because the longer you stay sick and in need of treatment, Insurance companies continue making money. One of the issues with American healthcare is the prevention to problem solving ratio, people are treated, at least temporarily, for issues and illness that could have been easily prevented or even reversed with the right diet and activity level while saving billions. I visited http://www.commonwealthfund.org to find out how Americas health care compared to other countries and found “Data from the OECD show that the U.S. spent 17.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care in 2013. This was almost 50 percent more than the next-highest spender (France, 11.6% of GDP) and almost double what was spent in the U.K. (8.8%). U.S. spending per person was equivalent to $9,086”. If we as a people were to take better care of our bodies and overall being their wouldn’t be as much need for dangerous medication and these big insurance corporations who are making their rates as high as they want and getting away with it. One healthcare salesman from the movie actually stated that “You almost forget it’s real people and their health you’re dealing with, not just money and numbers”. Many…
“We do not have a health care crisis in this country - we have a health crisis with a health care system incapable of dealing with it.” ~ Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas “We have to move from illness to wellness. Businesses will have to invest in wellness. There is no choice. It’s not philanthropy. It’s enlightened self-interest.” ~ Shrinivas M. Shanbhag, Medical Adviser, Reliance Industries, India “Our vision should be to have the healthiest people, not just the best health care, in the world. With prevention and wellness as the cornerstone of our health policy, we can be number one in both.” ~ Newt Gingrich “…
Disease in the world is always on the rise. There is always a “new flu” out or another shot added on your list of what you don't want to get. Health care is, and always will be the number one focus in the world. People are always getting sick, and we are constantly on the search for cures. Although, one thing people forget to realize, is how much all this adds up to be. When you are diagnosed with a long-term disease, there is no easy way around medical bills, and hospital visits, or even prescription pick-ups. People lack the knowledge of how expensive sickness in the world really is. Health insurance is so important in the world but does insurance support us as much as they should?…