Cayblogger - THE Cayman Islands' Blog Man

Reverend sykes And Communist Ministers Associtation Think We're Idiots

Whilst traveling all over the Caribbean and Europe I made the fatal mistake of checking my Cayblogger email, and an even bigger mistake actually searching archives and reading the latest rantings by Reverend Nikolai Syko and the Communist Ministers Association. It is appalling.

Apparently Rev Syko is an expert on Phillip Pullman’s trilogy and he’s an expert on what we should and should not see. It’s “Passion frenzy” all over again.

Never mind this religious zealot and social sycophant is the same moron who tried to convince us that Burger King’s “best darn burger” was an attempt by the burger magnate to impose damnation on those of us who enjoy eating the delicious flame-broiled burgers (by the way, the best damn burger is the Jack Rackam’s Burger at Rackam’s – tell Linda I sent you); but now he is – again – playing a fanatic religious censor of a movie that is by its own admission FICTION.

There is a literary term that most educated people understand when dealing with works of fiction either printed or presented cinematically. It’s called “suspending disbelief.”

The producer of the work is asking you to, temporarily, suspend your beliefs of what is and isn’t possible, practical or in this case real. Just as producers of movies like “The Fantastics,” “Toy Story” and “Babe” hope you suspend disbelief long enough to think that humans can perform super-human feats of strength or that toys and pigs can talk (and fly), Pullman’s production asks you to suspend your disbelief just long enough to enjoy a movie about a girl trying to rescue her friend from the forces of evil.

Check me if I’m wrong, but don’t Christians believe that this is what Jesus did?

Maybe Reverend Syko and his merry band of crusading morons can stand before movie audiences like they did during the overblown hoopla of “The Passion of The Christ” and remind us that their way of thinking is the only right way. Maybe Syko can help us to understand that movies with talking animals dressed in coats of armour aren’t real… Who knew?

As for me, not only do I not believe that pigs can talk (all evidence to the contrary Arden and McKeeva), I don't believe Tom Cruise can fly an F-14, I don't believe Sigourney Weaver can fly a spaceship and battle aliens, and I don't believe Julia Roberts can act.

Enough is enough, I say. Screw Reverend Syko and the rest of his hyper-sensitive advocates of censorship. If he doesn’t understand the basic tenet of religion and faith then he doesn’t deserve to stand in the pulpit and proclaim he is a messenger of God. You can't superimpose God's plan on human creativity and have the results make sense. So we can either do away with creativity and the arts or we can chose to be enlightened and educated children of God capable of understanding concepts like reality, fiction, and faith.

God gave the vast majority of us a brain. With these brains we are given the task of making decisions. We can decide to be good or bad. We can decide to be Christian or Atheist, Muslim or Jewish, Catholic or Buddhist or Agnostic, etc…

We can also decide to exercise our faith in whatever religion that may be.

And we should be able to exercise our faith without being made to feel guilty by close-minded idiots like Rev Syko who tell us that a movie is being produced to corrupt young kids and to encourage them to become atheists. If you believe this you are an even bigger idiot than Sykes.

I would venture a guess that most kids will see the movie and either like it or hate it – but maybe the message of dedicating yourself to caring for a friend will sink in in spite of the talking animals in costume.

I grew up on Disney. I saw movies like “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” “Escape to Witch Mountain,” “Return to Witch Mountain,” “The Wizard of Oz” and many others – all of which contained elements of witchcraft, sorcery and impossible things that do nothing more than create a sense of awe in children. Much like Harry Potter does today.

When I was a kid I was allowed to be a kid. I went swimming with gum in my mouth, I skinned my knee and somehow managed to not be rushed to the emergency room shortly before my parents sued someone, I watched movies and I even read books on assignment in high school English with decidedly agnostic or godless themes. And I somehow managed to remain a Christian.

Freaks like Sykes have the best of intentions and as they pave the road to hell they count on mindless minions to follow behind them all the while marching to the beat of their little tin drum.

Here’s a message: In spite of all evidence to the contrary, God gave all of us fully-functioning brains and we should use them. In this case we should use them to understand that Syko’s agenda isn’t necessarily God’s agenda and any person who claims to know what God thinks or feels about a movie should be avoided at all effort.

What Syko and the CMA are trying to do is tantamount to book burning and anti-socialist McCarthyism of the 1950s. They’re barking at the wind and what's worse is some of the people in Cayman will listen.

God loves us and he trusts us. He gave us life and dominion over the earth and He gave us brains to make decisions. We are flawed and imperfect in so many ways – why do we need the Communist Ministers Association to make us feel worse about a harmless activity created to entertain us? We don’t.

Go see the movie or don’t go see it; but don’t do so because of or in spite of what the CMA says. Use your God-given brain to make your own decision. And afterward, head over to Rackam’s and have the best DAMN burger in Cayman – or head to your local bookstore and buy all three of Pullman’s books.

If anyone needs me I’ll be outfitting my cat in chainmail and a battle axe while worshiping Baal.

Regardless, if you see Rev Syko ask him how he knows so much about Pullman’s trilogy without himself converting to atheism – he must have a strong faith in God and none in us.

Immigration Department: Migration Gatekeepers; Entertainment Nazis

Say what you want about Cayman’s tourism product, but the slumping product is merely a symptom of a deeper seated problem – stupidity.

This week’s ruling party of Stupidville? The immigration department.

Now I couldn’t possibly care less about a woman’s concert at the Lions Centre, but the fact that several performers were not allowed to perform because their permits were not issued is an utterly ridiculous notion.

How can Cayman possibly be expected to expand and broaden its reach in the regional tourism industry if it can’t even take care of business here at home? Is a one-time performer that much of a threat to Caymanian society that we have to burden promoters with the added annoyance and expense of a work permit for a performer visiting Cayman for a show that will last, at best, no more than a few hours?

The answer to both questions is “no.”

Cayman has big aspirations and small minds. We want to be the biggest and the best for the entire world, but we’re too ignorant to do that which is necessary to provide a little bit of entertainment to our own residents without bringing down the wrath of God in order to prove a point – which is precisely what the immigration department did at the Lions Centre.

It’s ridiculous. Sending officers to make sure performers don’t perform. You guys are idiots.

Let’s look at another scenario with a much greater potential impact on residents.

If you’re a tourist, show up at Andy’s Car Rental and rent a car. You’ll fill the forms out, pay for a temporary driver license and be out the door in ten minutes. You’ll have the car for your entire stay. You’ll drive in a land you may or may not be familiar with on the side of the road you may or may not be familiar with. You’ll be a much higher physical and emotional risk to more people on the Island than any performer will ever be, yet obtaining a license to drive a car for a week is easier, cheaper, and less cumbersome than obtaining a permit to sing on a stage for one night.

This has got to be the dumbest thing I’ve heard. It’s okay to rent a car, buy gas, possibly endanger others and add to congestion on the Island – but for God’s sake DON’T PERFORM for our residents even if part of the proceeds from the performance go toward supporting local charities or - heaven forbid - entertaining residents who don't have enough disposable income to leave the Island for holiday.

How about another scenario.

A doctor arrives on the Island as a tourist. He or she goes to the beach. Another beachgoer has a heart attack and the doctor performs CPR, while other beachgoers help get the man to the hospital. The doctor does not have a license to practice here in Cayman… do we arrest and fine the doctor for doing work for which he is trained while in Cayman?

“C’mon Rufus,” you say. “We’re not talking about saving lives here, we’re talking about entertainment.”

You’re right.

We’re talking about someone showing up to perform; a task that, dare I say, doesn’t even compare to any sort of “work” done by our make-believe doctor and more than likely won’t result in anyone dying.

The government and the boards, departments, individuals, etc… in charge of issuing permits to visiting performers are nothing more than a bunch of idiots dedicated to the process and not the result. A process that could be – and should be – no more or less difficult than obtaining a temporary driver license, but isn’t.

News flash to the immigration department: People arrive on this Island every day to “work” and they do not have work permits. Attorneys, accountants, fund mangers, home office consultants, etc… arrive daily and attend to business in George Town without work rights – where is the immigration department then?

Franz, my friend… you and the immigration department have got to pull your heads out of your arses. Fight the battles worth fighting. More important - fight the battles that need to be fought such as streamlining internal procedures, finding over-stayers and working with other departments to ensure we all have health insurance and pensions.

I mean for Pete’s sake Franz – it’s a freaking concert. These people aren’t coming here to launder money, or set-up shell corporations for some dubious off-shore financial scheme, or steal jobs from Caymanians… they’re coming here to sing a song.

Other jurisdictions are about to blow Cayman away as far as ease of access, variety of tourism product, environmental diversity, and price; and here we are worried that a few singers that no one has ever heard of are posing a threat to the cherished “Caymanian way of life.” Bravo Franz…bravo.

Until Cayman can see its own hand in front of its own face any vision it has for the future will remain cloaked in the shadow of its own myopic stupidity.

Gordon Barlow Does For Journalism What The Government Does For Healthcare

Every so often I come across something so profoundly ridiculous and fundamentally flawed that I feel it is my duty to share it with my readers.

This time, surprisingly, it doesn’t come from the likes of Carol Hay but from another cerebral dwarf: Gordon Barlow.

While Barfblow is tickling himself pink with his mediocre attempt at disguising clever discourse and veiled satire with cynical wisdom, what he fails to do is offer anything more than more whinging. What Gordon fails to provide us with is any sort of solution – proving yet again that someone with an editorial position completely devoid of merit is nothing more than a two-bit hack shouting at the wind.

But he does work with Dismal… monkey see monkey do.

Apart from the fact that Gordo’s commenterrible suggests a number of options that would in fact infringe on numerous human rights, her arguments are weak and they really take no position and offer no new thoughts or perspectives on an old problem; which is for the most part the exact opposite of what this blog has done.

So for Gordie’s sake let’s re-set the argument of what is wrong with the health care scheme in Cayman.

Ready? Go.

The government isn’t aware that they are slowly moving back toward an entitlement system of health care and they are trying to involve capital markets (insurance companies) in their failing endeavour and the insurance companies aren’t allowed to compete so it doesn’t work and the patients suffer as a result.

Further – the HSA is unaccountable and the entire system stinks.

Fact: without the insurance companies health care would be unaffordable to 95% of the Caymanian population. Fact: the insurance companies and the government know this. Fact: The HSA is underfunded, over-burdened, staffed with under-motivated fools at all levels of the system including the board, and is wholly incapable of self-sustaining activity that would afford them even the slightest chance of maintaining financial viability and social credibility. Fact: the government knows this and ignores it.

Gordster, you and everyone else must grasp the notion that the most fundamental concept that is being overlooked here is that the wrong people are in the wrong positions and therefore are categorically incapable of doing the right job. THAT is what is killing the health care scheme/scam here.

Irresponsible (or in this case non-existent) government oversight is pervasive throughout the system which leads to a tacit acceptance of fiscal mismanagement by all parties to the system – including the end-user/patient. In this instance, health insurance companies aren’t willing participants but rather victim’s to the government’s idiocy.

Health care is not unaffordable because health insurance companies are in the mix and it’s not unaffordable because of migrant workers, rogue employers or ladies having babies on airplanes.

Health insurance is unaffordable because the low quality of care in Cayman leads to forced over-utilization by the demographic who can least afford it; there is poor care on the primary, secondary and tertiary levels; there is no accountability for providers to produce results and; there is an over-emphasis on the financial aspect of health care as opposed to the concept of treating the patient first and billing second.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: results-based provision of care will result in a higher level of care for the patient, a higher level of trust in the provider, a lower occurrence of missed diagnoses or over-utlization and; ultimately a reduction in the hard-dollar costs to providers and insurance companies that drive up the cost of health insurance at double and triple the rate of inflation.

Regardless, all parties to the health care system can survive and thrive if they all agreed that a healthy population was better for the bottom line than simply trying to develop the perfect plan of benefits or make some fiscally mis-managed quack shack profitable.

We don’t need higher benefits – we need results.

How do we do that? (Okay Gordon, pay attention. When you ask a question – answer it.)

We do it by holding doctors accountable for their performance and for their results.

Presently the notion of requiring doctors and health care professionals to behave responsibly and to commit to results-based delivery of care is nonexistent – even at the government hospital.

Here’s the irony in that.

The government has in place for all civil servants a performance-based system of accountability. Put simply: you don’t perform up to standards, you don’t get money.

The HSA must be held to this practice and must be staffed with individuals who will abide the concept of doing a GREAT job ALL of the time, not simply doing a “good job most of the time” as Gordie suggests.

Much like an airline pilot. He or she has to be perfect everyday or hundreds of people die. Doctor’s should approach every patient in the same manner and the government should demand no less from its employees at the hospital.

Therein lies the paradox with the HSA because, you see, the government is expertly experienced in pretending to oversee an industry about which they know nothing, blaming insurance companies for rising costs, blaming employers for not effecting insurance cover for their employees, and then not holding doctors responsible for quality of care… all the while pointing the finger at everyone but themselves when quality of patient care goes down and costs go up.

So basically, the government is letting us get on a plane with a drunk pilot.

I mean honestly Gordo – if you were in need of medical attention and you went to the HSA and a doctor told you to get on a plane and go somewhere else, what would you do? What could you do? Not much.

People whom we trust to – at the very least – keep us alive are turning patients away.

Why? Who knows? Maybe it’s because they don’t have the skills. Maybe it’s because they don’t have the tools.

You give us very lame arguments/ solutions in your crappentary which show you have no grasp of the situation.

Your commenterrible asks, “Can anybody think of a fourth option?”

No – I can think of an ONLY option and I’ll wrap it up here: 1) Have a hospital management company take over the HSA; 2) Allow domestic insurers to add products to their baskets without government approval which will allow them to compete; 3) Allow ex-pats to satisfy Cayman’s compulsory insurance law by having and maintaining health insurance at least equal to the government’s minimum levels (although such a crappy product probably does not exist) from a foreign jurisdiction.

Your idea of reduced import duties as a result of higher benefits levels doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. The dollars, whether spent by insurance companies in the form of reimbursements or by patients in the form of premiums and cost-shares or the government in subsidy or annual budget items have to come from somewhere so the net result of cash flow within the system is arbitrary.

Higher benefits are more expensive to the employer and the employee and you suggest that employers should bear the cost. That will in turn either force the employer to raise prices or force the employer to close his doors.

Higher benefit levels can lead to over-utilization, over-billing or “churning” by providers, higher reimbursements and lower margins for insurers which leads to premium hikes, etc…

Miss Airplane Baby didn’t need a higher level of benefits – she needed a higher level of professionalism from her doctor at the HSA.

Furthermore, reducing costs does not reduce the need for the government to generate revenue to continue to subsidize the HSA or any department for that matter – I don’t follow your logic, but leave import duty out of this equation because it is a variable with no value.

At the end of the day Gordon’s commenterrible is dangerous. Dangerous because he comes off as a credible source on the topic but at the end of the day he couldn’t make a credible argument on this topic if he read someone’s blog, stole a concept and printed it as his own.