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NormChicken-gate: Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton's review.
April 9th 2009 14:26
The North Melbourne AFL club has been the focus of intense media attention over the past two days, all because of a certain video that has made its way on YouTube. The video has been criticised for its negative depiction of women.
A still from the low-budget flick "The adventures of little Boris"...
Here is what David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz said on their TV show, At the Movies:
At the Movies Transcript:
David: Directors Adam Simpson and Daniel Pratt have perfectly captured the insecurities of the modern rooster in their critically acclaimed Adventures of Little Boris, a gritty drama that takes peer pressure to a whole new level.
The protagonist, Boris, a mid-20s rooster living in North Melbourne, is consumed by nasty masochistic thoughts. Growing up within a certain male culture has taught him that chickens are dispensable objects only good for two things: sex and stir-fry.
Struggling with his own masculinity, Boris attempts to win the approval of his brethren by repeatedly raping the one chicken he truly loves. Unfortunately, Boris is a high-profile rooster incapable of articulating his feelings in words; he gives little thought to the harm he is inflicting on his chicken and too much thought to how his mates back at the rooster coop will react.
The lovely chicken, played exquisitely by newcomer Lily Dale, embodies a heart-wrenching and tragic figure consumed by her love for Boris. The chicken is unable to defend herself against Boris's increasingly violent behaviour. Her raw sexuality is undeniable, with Boris falling head over heals for the gorgeous femme fatale.
The violent ending will shock some viewers, but I won't give anymore away. Margaret? (waits expectantly)
Margaret: Oh, David. I think this is a masterpiece. So evocative, so moving - just another example of what small-budget Australian films are truly capable of. Such an absurd, postmodern look at society...
David: And I must add that the musical score was inspired: Ludacris's "Move, Bitch" certainly adds to the overall uneasiness that the viewer feels.
Margaret: Oh, yes. It's incredible that a film like this can't actually get government funding from the major bodies.
David: Well, yes. I mean, there was some corporate backing for the film in the way of club sponsors, but Film Victoria should hang its head for not signing up for what could have been an epic.
Margaret: Oh certainly David. The Boris character is brilliant. I think we've all known a Boris in our lifetime, have we not?! The narcissist who truly believes they are not bound by civilian laws, I mean, the film could be a social comment on some sections of society. God, the way in which the directors use animals to demonstrate the failings of societyis almost Orwellian,.
David: I just think the Boris character is fabulously flawed. His own cathexis for the object of his affections is what drives him to such libidinal extremes. He simply does not understand his own affective mental functions.
Margaret: Well I believe it takes Baudrillardian notions of simulacra to an unexplored level. The connection between the real and the simulacra hasn't been explored in such depth since The Matrix, and I'd argue that The adventures of little Boris does it better. Simpson and Pratt are making the argument that the victim of rape no longer exists, simply because we no longer understand what rape is. Rape, particularly that involving chickens and high-profile roosters, is but an image, one to which we have been exposed too many times.
David: Fabulous analysis Margaret, although I thought I was the one who got to indulge in pretentious, unqualified academic posturing. It sounded a little bit like you just threw together a few postmodern terms that you remembered from your days at university, but hell, I dropped out of school in year ten...
Margaret: ...I mean, the film itself is frighteningly anti-feminist. But by confronting the problem, that being the oppressive self-righteous behaviour of roosters in general, the film alerts us to a systemic problem within the animal kingdom.
David: Yes, it takes a lot of the issues seen in The Lion King and builds on the notion of class division vs primal sexuality.
Margaret: And let's face it, it is rather funny in parts as well. I mean, I guffawed all the way through the four minute flick. (guffaws)
David: Yes, yes. It's funny how we can find humour in the darkest of places. Black humour can make us feel a little uneasy, but this uneasiness is counterbalanced by the social message the film manages to convey. Gobsmackingly brilliant.
Margaret: Well, I'm giving it five stars.
David: It's fantastic, four-and a half.
-SportingMind
A still from the low-budget flick "The adventures of little Boris"...
Here is what David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz said on their TV show, At the Movies:
At the Movies Transcript:
David: Directors Adam Simpson and Daniel Pratt have perfectly captured the insecurities of the modern rooster in their critically acclaimed Adventures of Little Boris, a gritty drama that takes peer pressure to a whole new level.
The protagonist, Boris, a mid-20s rooster living in North Melbourne, is consumed by nasty masochistic thoughts. Growing up within a certain male culture has taught him that chickens are dispensable objects only good for two things: sex and stir-fry.
Struggling with his own masculinity, Boris attempts to win the approval of his brethren by repeatedly raping the one chicken he truly loves. Unfortunately, Boris is a high-profile rooster incapable of articulating his feelings in words; he gives little thought to the harm he is inflicting on his chicken and too much thought to how his mates back at the rooster coop will react.
The lovely chicken, played exquisitely by newcomer Lily Dale, embodies a heart-wrenching and tragic figure consumed by her love for Boris. The chicken is unable to defend herself against Boris's increasingly violent behaviour. Her raw sexuality is undeniable, with Boris falling head over heals for the gorgeous femme fatale.
The violent ending will shock some viewers, but I won't give anymore away. Margaret? (waits expectantly)
Margaret: Oh, David. I think this is a masterpiece. So evocative, so moving - just another example of what small-budget Australian films are truly capable of. Such an absurd, postmodern look at society...
David: And I must add that the musical score was inspired: Ludacris's "Move, Bitch" certainly adds to the overall uneasiness that the viewer feels.
Margaret: Oh, yes. It's incredible that a film like this can't actually get government funding from the major bodies.
David: Well, yes. I mean, there was some corporate backing for the film in the way of club sponsors, but Film Victoria should hang its head for not signing up for what could have been an epic.
Margaret: Oh certainly David. The Boris character is brilliant. I think we've all known a Boris in our lifetime, have we not?! The narcissist who truly believes they are not bound by civilian laws, I mean, the film could be a social comment on some sections of society. God, the way in which the directors use animals to demonstrate the failings of societyis almost Orwellian,.
David: I just think the Boris character is fabulously flawed. His own cathexis for the object of his affections is what drives him to such libidinal extremes. He simply does not understand his own affective mental functions.
Margaret: Well I believe it takes Baudrillardian notions of simulacra to an unexplored level. The connection between the real and the simulacra hasn't been explored in such depth since The Matrix, and I'd argue that The adventures of little Boris does it better. Simpson and Pratt are making the argument that the victim of rape no longer exists, simply because we no longer understand what rape is. Rape, particularly that involving chickens and high-profile roosters, is but an image, one to which we have been exposed too many times.
David: Fabulous analysis Margaret, although I thought I was the one who got to indulge in pretentious, unqualified academic posturing. It sounded a little bit like you just threw together a few postmodern terms that you remembered from your days at university, but hell, I dropped out of school in year ten...
Margaret: ...I mean, the film itself is frighteningly anti-feminist. But by confronting the problem, that being the oppressive self-righteous behaviour of roosters in general, the film alerts us to a systemic problem within the animal kingdom.
David: Yes, it takes a lot of the issues seen in The Lion King and builds on the notion of class division vs primal sexuality.
Margaret: And let's face it, it is rather funny in parts as well. I mean, I guffawed all the way through the four minute flick. (guffaws)
David: Yes, yes. It's funny how we can find humour in the darkest of places. Black humour can make us feel a little uneasy, but this uneasiness is counterbalanced by the social message the film manages to convey. Gobsmackingly brilliant.
Margaret: Well, I'm giving it five stars.
David: It's fantastic, four-and a half.
-SportingMind
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Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
I knew something could be done with this raw material.
You're simply the best, to paraphrase Tina Turner.
Comment by David Edwards
I actually think the film should be given more credit for what it is: A brilliant insight into the mindset of the footballer. In all honesty, this film is a real breakthrough. I think the film needed to be that confronting so as to get an appropriate response.
The first person perspective used is a real cinematic breakthrough. It is shot just like a violent videogame, where a character goes around doing as it feels, shooting whomever it wants. Compelling viewing.
Comment by Chicken Gate Returns
In September, insurance company AmeriChoice brings trucks to blighted neighborhoods in New York City and gives away coupons for "free chickens" as an incentive for the underprivileged to switch their Medicare coverage. New York state senator Carl Kruger files a complaint with the state attorney general. The 101 Dumbest Moments In Business 2003 EDITION - April 1, 2003 Apr 1, 2003 ... Just don't tell him about the "Chinese health balls." ..... In September, insurance company AmeriChoice brings trucks to blighted ... New York state senator Carl Kruger files a complaint with the state attorney general..... Falling on his sword, Welch announces he'll give up most of the perks,...2009 and 2010 $120,000 from your tax dollars.
Philadelphia PA Mayor Nutter received two years in a row $60,000 checks to help keep open and operate the city swimming pools. These checks came from AmeriChoice Health and on the surface seems like fine gifts. Yet, they are Bribes non the less, these checks come from a company who receives all its money from the Federal Government as a vendor for Medicare Medicaid services is not allowed to offer bribes kickbacks and money gifts of any kind in order to promote its share or induce its share of the market place. This is not allowed as a use of your taxpayers dollars, yet it happens.What does it really cost the City of Philadelphia to receive this money? Americhoice Health has a long history of corruption over the years yet seems to be protected by those who are responsible to over see their actions why is that? PS... Did the Mayor send for Chicken Man or was he approched by Chicken Man? The Mystery Widens! Can Chicken Man save the Liabraries?
CEO of AmeriChoice Health Bolts.. Was that Chicken Man? John J. Kirchner - Director, Operations John Kirchner joined Healthfirst in May 2010 with over 25 years experience in health care management. Mr. Kirchner’s background includes responsibility for health plan P&L, strategic planning and operations, and government and regulatory affairs. Mr. Kirchner will be responsible for supporting all aspects of NJ health plan operations. Prior to joining Healthfirst, Mr. Kirchner held a variety of positions at AmeriChoice of New Jersey serving as President from 2007 through 2009.
Will this mystery man or woman or chicken ever be caught? Will the "secret eggs" given out to housing authority officers Clinics, Doctors and whoever, make it into through that crispy crust prepared by their Home Office Line Chefs?. Will the Doctors who collected all those extra eggs for sharing thier patients recipes with the Home Office Line Chefs ever really be rewarded? Will the Great Head Chef Chicken Man or whomever that directed and approved all to avoid, overlook the rules, laws and regulations Menu, ever be really compensated for their true worth or will Salmonella remain the dish served for Medicare and Mediciad Industry.
PS Is the Chicken Man a Blues Brothers Wanna B??? HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY PROFITS IN 2007:A Whole lot Of Chicken
UnitedHealth Group — $ 4.654 BILLION. UnitedHealth Group owns Oxford, PacifiCare, IBA, AmeriChoice, Evercare, Ovations, MAMSI and Ingenix, a healthcare data company ans a lot of others.
Comment by Chicken Gate The Begining
Confronting Health Care 'Demons' Anthony Welters Took an Unlikely Route to Head AmeriChoice, an HMO for the Poor
PRINT PAGE
EN ESPAÑOL
The Washington Post
May 27, 2002
By Bill Brubaker
Anthony Welters grew up in a one-room tenement in Harlem, sleeping behind a curtain with his three brothers, he says.
Today, he lives in a five-bedroom, seven-bathroom house on five acres in McLean. He has a 75-acre farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains. For a change of pace, there is a 5,000-square-foot house in Aspen, Colo., recently assessed at $3 million.
Welters, 47, made his fortune in health insurance, serving a specialized market.
The market is the poor.
Federal and state audits concluded in the early and mid-1990s that ineffective oversight by Pennsylvania officials had enabled Welters and his partners to make too much money from their taxpayer-supported business.
The audits said the Welters group had paid itself millions of dollars in management fees -- paid to other companies they controlled -- and millions more in bonuses.
Welters's health-insurance business expanded to New York in 1994 and New Jersey in 1996. In both states, the HMO was known as Managed Healthcare Systems (MHS).
In New York, state investigators discovered something was not right about two clinics that MHS retained to serve patients in the borough of Brooklyn.
They determined that from 1995 to 1997 the clinics were being staffed largely by "unsupervised physician assistants or nurse practitioners," New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced in May 2000.
The investigation also found that patients were "consistently complaining that they were having difficulty getting services or being seen by a doctor."
MHS "failed to take any corrective action or properly oversee" the clinics.
Spitzer announced a settlement in which MHS repaid more than $2 million to the Medicaid program for services the clinics never provided.
In October 2000 MHS changed its name to AmeriChoice of New York.
Anthony Welters, Chairman of AmeriChoice Corp.:
"What [should] a person who takes a $200,000 investment and turns it into a billion-dollar company . . . receive? I don't know. But I know this: I'm not going to apologize for it."
Really Long Link
Comment: Medicaid's chronic under-funding threatens access to care for the low-income individuals covered by this program primarily because many providers will not participate at rates that frequently do not even pay overhead expenses. Several state governments have turned over their Medicaid funds to private corporations to administer these programs. Mr. Welters exemplifies how well these plans fulfill their corporate responsibility to their shareholders and executives.
In 2002 we are already spending over $5500 per capita for health care in the United States. Pool that into a single fund, eliminate the middleman thieves, establish a program of public administration, and we would have affordable, comprehensive care for everyone.
Until we do that, those of us that sit back and do nothing must concede the wisdom of the words that William Shakespeare assigned to Puck: "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"
Felix Schwarz, MA, MPH, Executive Director of the Health Care Council of Orange County, comments on Dr. Munoz's article on mental health carve outs:
For years we have been fighting for "parity" for mental health coverage. I am now telling my mental health advocate friends, as forcefully as I can, that we should no longer seek parity in a broken health care system. We should try to fix the system as a whole -- to include mental health coverage in a universal, single payer, fair and rational system that does not try to "carve out" mental health, or carve up the patient population to leave out those whose needs for health care are greatest!
Comment by Chicken Gate The Begining
Confronting Health Care 'Demons' Anthony Welters Took an Unlikely Route to Head AmeriChoice, an HMO for the Poor
PRINT PAGE
EN ESPAÑOL
The Washington Post
May 27, 2002
By Bill Brubaker
Anthony Welters grew up in a one-room tenement in Harlem, sleeping behind a curtain with his three brothers, he says.
Today, he lives in a five-bedroom, seven-bathroom house on five acres in McLean. He has a 75-acre farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains. For a change of pace, there is a 5,000-square-foot house in Aspen, Colo., recently assessed at $3 million.
Welters, 47, made his fortune in health insurance, serving a specialized market.
The market is the poor.
Federal and state audits concluded in the early and mid-1990s that ineffective oversight by Pennsylvania officials had enabled Welters and his partners to make too much money from their taxpayer-supported business.
The audits said the Welters group had paid itself millions of dollars in management fees -- paid to other companies they controlled -- and millions more in bonuses.
Welters's health-insurance business expanded to New York in 1994 and New Jersey in 1996. In both states, the HMO was known as Managed Healthcare Systems (MHS).
In New York, state investigators discovered something was not right about two clinics that MHS retained to serve patients in the borough of Brooklyn.
They determined that from 1995 to 1997 the clinics were being staffed largely by "unsupervised physician assistants or nurse practitioners," New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced in May 2000.
The investigation also found that patients were "consistently complaining that they were having difficulty getting services or being seen by a doctor."
MHS "failed to take any corrective action or properly oversee" the clinics.
Spitzer announced a settlement in which MHS repaid more than $2 million to the Medicaid program for services the clinics never provided.
In October 2000 MHS changed its name to AmeriChoice of New York.
Anthony Welters, Chairman of AmeriChoice Corp.:
"What [should] a person who takes a $200,000 investment and turns it into a billion-dollar company . . . receive? I don't know. But I know this: I'm not going to apologize for it."
Really Long Link
Comment: Medicaid's chronic under-funding threatens access to care for the low-income individuals covered by this program primarily because many providers will not participate at rates that frequently do not even pay overhead expenses. Several state governments have turned over their Medicaid funds to private corporations to administer these programs. Mr. Welters exemplifies how well these plans fulfill their corporate responsibility to their shareholders and executives.
In 2002 we are already spending over $5500 per capita for health care in the United States. Pool that into a single fund, eliminate the middleman thieves, establish a program of public administration, and we would have affordable, comprehensive care for everyone.
Until we do that, those of us that sit back and do nothing must concede the wisdom of the words that William Shakespeare assigned to Puck: "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"
Felix Schwarz, MA, MPH, Executive Director of the Health Care Council of Orange County, comments on Dr. Munoz's article on mental health carve outs:
For years we have been fighting for "parity" for mental health coverage. I am now telling my mental health advocate friends, as forcefully as I can, that we should no longer seek parity in a broken health care system. We should try to fix the system as a whole -- to include mental health coverage in a universal, single payer, fair and rational system that does not try to "carve out" mental health, or carve up the patient population to leave out those whose needs for health care are greatest!
Comment by Chicken Little
By Wayne Barrett Tuesday, Jul 3 2001
Most of Bill Thompson's "financial consulting" clients are not revealed on his Board of Ed disclosure forms. The most disturbing one that Thompson did list, however, was Managed Healthcare Systems Inc., where he earned a total of $65,000 in 1997 and 1998, according to his tax returns. A black-owned HMO whose principals worked at the highest levels of the Reagan administration, the company is shrouded in scandal.
Last year, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer forced the MHS, which specializes in recruiting Medicaid recipients for its HMO, to repay the state $2 million for Medicaid services that patients never received. Spitzer also put Jean Moise Millien, the director of an MHS clinic, in jail for up to three years after he pled guilty to stealing $275,000 from Medicaid. Spitzer's press release revealed that MHS knew for years that Millien's clinic, Stuyvesant Heights Medical Group, was largely run by "unsupervised physician's assistants and nurse practitioners" and that patients "were consistently complaining that they were having difficulty getting services."
Yet, said Spitzer, the company "failed to take corrective action or properly oversee its subcontractor." MHS portrayed itself as "a victim" of the clinic when they settled with Spitzer.
The State Health Department also revoked Millien's physician's assistant license in November 2000, finding that he'd run the clinic since 1991—four years before the MHS contract began—without on-site supervision by a licensed M.D. The Department also found that the clinic corporation had been dissolved by state officials for tax delinquency reasons in 1994 and that Millien had a prior criminal record. Spitzer said a doctor from Pennsylvania came to the clinic once a week "to sign charts" for a while, but "eventually stopped coming altogether."
An MHS affiliate left a similar trail of complaints in Pennsylvania—where it became the subject of Philadelphia Inquirerexposés in 1996 and 1997, before and during Thompson's employment. According to one study, it was three times as likely to refuse to pay for days of hospital care as the state's next most stingy HMO. The "focus of six special state and federal audits" and a onetime target of a Pennsylvania grand jury, according to the Inquirer,the company took a reported "$119 million in profits and executive bonuses" from its Pennsylvania Medicaid work alone in the early '90s, making it the "most profitable HMO" in the state. Anthony Welters, the principal owner of AmeriChoice, the Virginia-based parent of MHS, was a top Reagan transportation official, gave $20,000 to Pennsylvania GOP governor Tom Ridge, and has given over $56,000 in recent years to Republican candidates and committees across the country. Clarence Thomas is the godfather of one of his children. Thelma Duggin, another top executive, worked in the Reagan White House and at the Republican National Committee under Lee Atwater, the engineer of the Willie Horton campaign. Thompson said he'd known Welters and Duggin since 1992, when they started trying to do business in Brooklyn, and that he "bumped into Tony" in 1997 and Welters offered him a consulting job that started that June. Charged with "reaching out and helping them obtain business," Thompson said he "spoke to community organizations." Though he says he "never visited an MHS clinic"—including the Stuyvesant Heights one near his home—he insists that MHS is "a good company." While Thompson's tax returns indicate that AmeriChoice paid him $35,000 in 1998, his disclosure forms report no income from the company.