Congratulations Two-Headed Blog

Congratulations to Two Headed Blog for winning the Best Commentary Award at the Okie Blog Awards. The runner-up was Bounded Rationality.

Congratulations to all the other winners and nominees.

Blognetnews.com Ranks Satellite Sky Among Most Influential Political Blogs

You can see the ranking here.

Okay, I'm only #16, but at least I'm on the list!

2007 Okie Blogger Award Nomination

Thank you to whoever it was that nominated me for Best Commentary in the 2007 Okie Blogger Awards. I am humbled by your kindness. I have been visiting some of the other nominees blogs, and I am quite impressed with the quality of the commentary I am finding.

Whoever wins the award will be quite deserving, I'm sure.

Murder Mystery Tour

I went to the Stone Lion Inn last night. I had been intending to do it for some time. The dinner costs just over $55 and you play a character in the mystery. If you register early enough, you can also stay in the "haunted" bed & breakfast.

When you first arrive (it is important that you get there early to get your character assignment and read the plot and characters), you get your own little booklet that tells you one the clues that you will read later as part of the "play" that will reveal some of the clues necessary to solve the crime. I arrived at 7:00pm, and even that was a little late with all of the information that needed to be taken in.

You start the night seated in the living room eating finger food and getting introduced to some of the other characters (others who, like yourself, play one of the characters in the mystery).

The host then takes you to a graveyard in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where a true-to-life bungling outlaw was buried. She will go through the true story of Elmer McCurdy. At first I thought it was just a joke and part of the play. But no, this part of the story was really true. He even has his own Urban Legends page.

From there, true Oklahoma yarn takes over. The play that you participate in revolves around the fictitious descendants of Elmer McCurdy meeting to try to claim their share of the inheritance of $1.2 million in mysterious loot buried at the Stone Lion Inn. One of the potential descendants is "murdered" during the evening. Your job is to interact with the other characters during the dinner that follows to try to figure out who the murderer is. But beware, one of you is the "murderer." In order to solve the murder, you must piece together all of the clues given during the evening from the time you arrive back from the gravesite to late in the evening.

It was a fun time to spend a weekend evening in Oklahoma. After the mystery is solved, the host will go around the room and have each guest introduce themselves. Be ready for a late night though; the show, combined with the follow-up introductions and discussions, lasted until almost 1am. It is no wonder many choose to stay overnight at the Stone Lion Inn. Even if it is "haunted."

Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down Retroactive Mandatory Arbitration Clause

In BILBREY v. CINGULAR WIRELESS, L.L.C., 2007 OK 54:

The issue before this Court is whether a named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit must be dismissed when that plaintiff subsequently signs a consumer form-contract containing a mandatory arbitration clause that includes a class action waiver. We find the clause unenforceable.

...

¶14 Consumers signing such adhesion contracts are susceptible to unpleasant surprises prepared for the protection of the corporation, not the consumer. The law has begun to take a more active role in the protection of the consumer against abuses. That consumers have not read or do not understand the implications of contract provisions has been implicitly recognized in our insurance case law by the use of the phrase "hidden in policy provisions." Max True Plastering Co., 1996 OK 28, ¶ 2, 912 P.2d at 863. As a result, new rules in such adhesion contracts have been applied to protect the "reasonable expectations" of the parties. Max True Plastering Co., 1996 OK 28, ¶ 6, 912 P.2d at 864.

¶15 The question we must answer is whether the clause in the May 23, 2001, contract that asserts the parties "agree" to arbitrate any disputes arising from any prior agreement including those from predecessors in interest, is enforceable. The question is not whether the arbitration clause in the May 23, 2001, contract is valid as it relates to that specific contract, but whether it controls the previous Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems contract, which is the contract at the center of this class action.

...

¶20 Cingular cites Barnes v. Helfenbein, 1976 OK 33, 548 P.2d 1014, which provides the test for unconscionability.

"The basic test of unconscionability of a contract is whether under the circumstances existing at the time of making of the contract, and in light of the general commercial background and commercial need of a particular case, clauses are so one-sided as to oppress or unfairly surprise one of the parties. Unconscionability has generally been recognized to include an absence of meaningful choice on the part of one of the parties, together with contractual terms which are unreasonably favorable to the other party."

Barnes, 1976 OK 33, at ¶ 23, 548 P.2d at 1020.

...

¶22 Despite Cingular's argument, it defies reason to conclude that Bilbrey intended to halt a class action suit filed February 15, 2001, in exchange for a free cell phone on May 23, 2001. He even continued to pursue the case for another ten months at which time Cingular finally discovered the arbitration clause. Clearly, Bilbrey did not know the implications of the May 23, 2001, contract, and Cingular's agents, the attorneys in this lawsuit, did not realize he had signed it. It is equally clear that both Bilbrey and Cingular's agents were surprised by Bilbrey's signing a contract that could potentially result in the dismissal of a class action lawsuit that was currently being actively prosecuted by Bilbrey and vigorously defended by Cingular.

¶23 Such an effect is one-sided and unreasonably favorable to Cingular. The cases cited by Cingular that give effect to retrospective clauses in arbitration agreements are not on point.7 We accordingly find the retroactive clause in the arbitration agreement unconscionable as it relates to a presently active lawsuit that would be dismissed if this clause were given effect.

Hat Tip: Elaine Dowling at Consumer Law Updates

Mortgage Delinquencies Rising in Oklahoma

I got this from The Big Picture. I can't read the stories behind it (Barry gives the links) because they are behind subscription firewalls. Hey, I can't afford everything.


I can tell from the maps, however, that the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas are both getting hard hit. The area near Ft. Smith, Arkansas is getting even harder hit. I don't know what is causing that.

What is interesting is that this is happening at a time when the oil industry is starting to make a comeback in Woodward, Oklahoma (near the Oklahoma panhandle). But while there are several large oil companies in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa area (Devon, Chesapeake, Anadarko, Phillips, Williams), it is surprising that we have not seen the rush to hire new people.

The delinquencies are probably due to the closing of Firestone, Dayton and other industrial manufacturing plants locally. I reported on that earlier here and here.

Sunday Music: Gap Band

Here is another trio of brothers from Tulsa, Oklahoma who made it big in their respective music genre. In this case it was Rhythm & Blues music. The Brothers Wilson (Ronnie, Robert and Charlie) formed in 1967 and had a string of party hits.

Party Train


Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Want To Hurt Me)


You Dropped A Bomb On Me

Defending Lawyers ...

In a somewhat surprising turn, CNN Money and Business 2.0 magazine are defending lawyers (no joke). From the article:

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Decades after Tylenol bottles were tampered with and Ford Pintos exploded, you'd think that product-safety panics would be nearing extinction.

No such luck. Consider just the past few months: Pet food laced with poison killed more than a dozen dogs and cats. Toothpaste shipped from China to Latin America turned out to be tainted with a potentially fatal thickening agent. And the FDA issued yet another recall for defective defibrillators, bringing the total number of heart devices that need to be replaced to nearly 200,000.

Here's another frighteningly persistent trend: The drumbeat for weakening the ability of people to seek redress in court by curtailing product-liability suits continues unabated.

A recent study by the nonprofit Pacific Research Institute estimated that the cost of tort law in the United States had reached $865 billion, equivalent to an 8 percent tax on consumption or a 13 percent tax on wages. But much of that analysis leans on faulty logic, and while most of my friends in business consider lawyers at best a necessary nuisance, for the most part, they're dead wrong.

...

Tort-reform advocates love to rail against the skyrocketing costs of litigation and multimillion-dollar damage awards, yet one definitive study from Rand showed no increase in the percentage of tort cases won by plaintiffs and no statistically significant increase in the median award paid by businesses. Comparisons with other countries can also be misleading because they have more stringent regulatory regimes.

True, regulatory agencies cost billions, and so does our legal system. But I would argue it's a pretty good deal -- simply a necessary cost of running an economy in which people rely on the promises and products of strangers.

The alternative is precisely what we see in the case of the pet-food mess: agencies and companies sending people to inspect factories and raw materials more carefully, and increased testing of products coming into the country.

The next time you want to complain about "frivolous" lawsuits, picture doing business in a world where promises can't be relied on and you can only deal with people and organizations you already know well. There are undoubtedly abuses and problems in our current system, but the cost of punishing malfeasance is a necessary and small price to pay for running a modern economy.

***Update***

Check out this link on "Tort Reform" in Oklahoma:

Tort terminators, not ‘reformers’. From a Letter to the Editor of the Edmond Sun:

EDMOND — As professors of torts and civil procedure, we disagree with the views of our colleague, Andrew Spiropoulos. We applaud the governor and the attorney general for the veto of the so-called “tort reform” bill.

We say “so-called” because this bill was neither confined to torts nor did it envision “reform.” It sought the curtailment or outright elimination of remedies for injured and wronged people and businesses. We prefer to call advocates of this bill tort “terminators,” not tort “reformers.”

...

[T]he bill itself — provides no evidence that Oklahoma’s civil justice system is in a state of crisis that would justify the draconian measures proposed. As one example, the bill would have all but eliminated class actions in Oklahoma. Is there a problem with class actions here? Not at all.

In Oklahoma County, about six cases a year — out of thousands — are filed as class actions. Only one class action filed in Oklahoma County in the past five years has awarded fees to plaintiffs’ counsel.

Most of the remaining cases were dismissed.

Our courts are well-equipped to weed out unmeritorious lawsuits with the tools they already have. Yet the “tort terminators” continue to try to “fix” a system that is not broken — slandering the plaintiffs’ bar in the process.

We eschew [Professor] Spiropoulos’ use of the term “bottom feeders” to refer to members of the plaintiffs’ bar. We take pride in plaintiffs’ attorneys’ efforts to provide access to courts and to obtain compensation for ordinary residents for harms caused by negligent doctors, shady businesses and other wrongdoers. Space limitations prevent a detailed response to the bill’s many other questionable provisions.

The bill’s elimination of joint and several liability could leave an innocent injured person without full compensation, while shielding a wrongdoing defendant from paying for an injury he helped to cause.

The bill also would have restricted prejudgment interest, which Spiropoulos claims violates the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” Besides misapplying a criminal, not civil, law principle, the claim is false. Prejudgment interest is never paid unless and until the defendant is found liable by a judge or a jury.

Spiropolous talks about “doing justice.” We believe justice lies in a legal system that compensates people for the wrongs done to them. Where is the “justice” in a “reform” that leaves those people with nothing?

Professors Patricia Hatamyar and Carla Spivack are on the faculty at Oklahoma City University School of Law.


In fairness, here is a link to the article the two law professors were responding to: Lawyers not ready for reform.

Sunday Music: Woody Guthrie

Sorry about the late posting, but I have not been able to sign into Blogger all day. I don't what it is, but it gets like that sometimes.

This week starting Wednesday there will be a Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma, which is Woody Guthrie's birthplace. Okemah is one hour due east of Oklahoma City on I-40. Saturday, July 14 is Woody's birthday. So in honor of his birthday, Arlo Guthrie will be performing at the folk festival (at about 11pm according to the website). Here is a video from YouTube where Arlo, who is Woody Guthrie's son, sings This Land Is Your Land:



And for good measure, here is a link to Arlo's most famous song, Alice's Restaurant, that they play every Thanksgiving here in Oklahoma around noon on one of the rock stations (I think it is 107.7).

I found a video on YouTube where a teacher took video clips from his summer vacation and put them to the song This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie in his original voice. It's a nice application of the song as you see some of America's most famous sites.

This Land Is Your Land


Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 2pm at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the movie The Grapes of Wrath will be shown. Guthrie's song Tom Joad was based on the Steinbeck's novel. A movie based on the life of Woody Guthrie, Bound For Glory, will be shown at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art on August 5, 2007 at 2pm.

Flood

I was just getting ready to mow my lawn finally after what seemed like a break from the rain. As I was heading out the door it started raining hard again.

My life is a flood.

Jars of Clay - Flood (MTV version)

Oklahoma!

The Broadway musical of the Rogers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! is currently playing at the Civic Center Music Hall (now known as the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre) in downtown Oklahoma City. The play is produced in conjunction with Oklahoma City's Lyric Theatre. They have added an extra show on July 1st at 6pm due to its popularity. Tickets range from $20 (plus the $7.50 sellers fee) to $50. I bought one of the $20 tickets. I hope I will be able to see the stage.

The original film version will be showing at Oklahoma Museum of Art on Sunday, July 22 at 2pm.

***Update***

Here is a medley of songs from Oklahoma! I found on YouTube sung by John Schneider and Pam Dawber many years ago:

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Part 2)

It's raining again today. The local news reported that the farmers -- who had all thought we were going to have a bumper crop in May -- have said all of their wheat fields are a total loss. Why you ask? Yep, you guessed it: too much rain. Because the ground is too soggy, their combines cannot harvest the wheat. And because it would take ten days for the ground to dry out, by that time the crops would be destroyed due to rot.

This is so Oklahoma. Hope turns to despair, from the Dust Bowl of the Depression-era 1930s to now. In the 1930s, many Oklahoma farmers -- ruined by weather then -- moved to California to try to rebuild their lives. John Steinbeck wrote about this in The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck's novel is where the term "Okie" became well-known. It became a pejorative slang for a poor immigrant worker in California during this time (not necessarily limited to just Oklahomans).

While I am on the subject of The Grapes of Wrath, I should mention that the film adaptation of the book will be showing at the Oklahoma Museum of Art on Sunday, July 15th at 2pm as part of their Oklahoma Film series celebrating Oklahoma's Centennial.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

From Oklahoma City's KOCO TV (Channel 5, ABC)

POSTED: 9:16 am CDT June 26, 2007
UPDATED: 5:11 pm CDT June 28, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Rain fell in Oklahoma City Wednesday for the 16th consecutive day with storms forecast into the weekend, and a flash flood warning blanketing southwestern Oklahoma and areas north of Ponca City.

Make that the 17th consecutive day. It's raining cats and dogs right now.

So, here is a song from a guy born in Hugo, Oklahoma. You might have heard of him. His name is B.J. Thomas. Normally, I would post this on Sunday for my Sunday Music post, but the situation here just seems to make it more apt given the situation outside.

B.J. Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

Sunday Music: Hanson

In my continuing series of Oklahoma music artists to celebrate Oklahoma's Centennial, this week I bring you Oklahoma's pop sensation from a decade ago.

I saw the brothers Hanson at the Cleveland County fair before they were famous. Back then, their show consisted almost exclusively of old 1950's, 1960's and Elvis Presley songs. I remember I was about to leave when they announced that they were going to sing a song that they had written themselves. I decided to stay and see how good they were doing their own material. It was the song that eventually became their breakthrough smash hit MMM Bop.

They Tulsa trio have continued to make music (even releasing a new CD entitled The Walk just recently) and have had some minor hits since then, but nothing really to rival the success they had as pop idol sensations when they were teenagers.

Here is their big smash hit from their glory days:

MMM Bop

Sunday Music: Flaming Lips

You might get the impression that all of the artists from Oklahoma are Country and Western (many of them are), but certainly not all of them. The Flaming Lips are an alternative rock band from Oklahoma City who have achieved Top 40 success.

I got this information from Answers.com:

The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, when founder and guitarist Wayne Coyne allegedly stole a collection of musical instruments from an area church hall and enlisted his vocalist brother Mark and bassist Michael Ivins to start a band. Giving themselves the nonsensical name the Flaming Lips (its origin variously attributed to a porn film, an obscure drug reference, or a dream in which a fiery Virgin Mary plants a kiss on Wayne in the backseat of his car), the band made its live debut at a local transvestite club. After progressing through an endless string of drummers, they recruited percussionist Richard English prior to recording their self-titled debut, issued on green vinyl on their own Lovely Sorts of Death label in 1985.

...

With new guitarist Ronald Jones and drummer Steven Drozd, they cut 1993's sublime Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, which they supported by playing the second stage at Lollapalooza and touring the nation in a Ryder truck. Initially, the album stiffed; however, nearly a year after its initial release, the single "She Don't Use Jelly" became a grassroots hit, and against all odds the Flaming Lips found themselves on the Top 40 charts. They took full advantage of their requisite 15 minutes of fame, appearing everywhere from MTV's annual Spring Break broadcast to an arena tour in support of Candlebox to a memorably surreal lip-synched performance on the teen soap opera Beverly Hills 90210, where supporting character Steve Sanders (portrayed by actor Ian Ziering) uttered the immortal words, "You know, I've never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house!"

Here are a few videos of some of their most popular songs I found on YouTube. The first song was their breakout hit.

Do You Realize??


The next song was a hit on Top 40 radio and is a video of their live performance at the Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City.

She Don't Use Jelly (Live From Oklahoma)


The last song is their song which has received the most views for the band on YouTube. Where they ask: "What would you do with power if you had it?"

The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song


Here is their most recent release at Amazon.com.

Sunday Music: Toby Keith

In my second installment of Oklahoma artists as part of my series based on Oklahoma's Centennial, Toby Keith, who grew up in Moore, Oklahoma (a southern suburb of Oklahoma City), has become a legend for his crossover country hits.

He played football for the University of Oklahoma for one game. He got hurt on his first play on the field and had to be helped off. Maybe he was thinking about that experience when he wrote this first song; or maybe he was just singing for all of us aging Baby Boomers.

As Good As I Once Was


The song that really vaulted him to the top of the charts was his song Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American). The song got him into a little bit of a conflict with the Dixie Chicks. You might get the impression from this song that he is some sort of right-wing Republican. Many Republican candidates for public office have the same impression and ask him for support in their campaigns. But you would be wrong. From CBSnews.com:

"It's amazing how many Republicans call me for support. And then they go, 'You're a Republican right?' And you go, 'Well I'm actually a lifetime Democrat,'" he said. "And then they go, 'Oh, sorry.' And the Democrats want so bad — the real liberals really want to hate me. And then they go, 'I still hate you, but I can't believe you're a Democrat.' So I'm not a real political guy. I'm a very patriotic guy."

And you might get the impression for the song that he is rabidly pro-war, but again you would be wrong:

"When the Iraq war started, I was a little mad because we didn't finish what we started in Afghanistan," he said. "Our troops had to move on into Iraq. Our government asked them to go do it for whatever reason. We won't know for probably 20 or 30 years whether it was the right thing to do or not."

Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)


A real man's ode to our relationship with women:

I Wanna Talk About Me


Mr. Keith also owns a restaurant right in the most prime location on the canal in Oklahoma City's Bricktown. The restaurant is called I Love This Bar & Grill. It obviously was inspired somewhere by his hit I Love This Bar . I've eaten there a couple of times. The food is good and the atmosphere is too. When the restaurant opened, they featured local country artists several nights a week. I don't know if they still do (I'd go, but I'm honestly not much of a country music fan), but if you are ever in Bricktown in Oklahoma City, Toby Keith's restaurant is one you should seriously consider visiting. Toby Keith and his attitudes he sings about in his songs are consummately representative of attitudes you will find in Oklahoma.

You would think that his success would help him garner at least a little respect...but apparently not. In the CBS news interview linked above, he reiterated an experience his daughter had trying to join a sorority at the University of Oklahoma:

"Some sorority chick called my daughter a — said she shouldn't be in the sorority cause she's just white trash with money," Keith said. "And she laughed. And my wife was all upset. But I thought it was a great album title."

I know just what he is talking about; and the legal profession isn't completely immune from such prejudice. There are some within the legal profession (albeit rare) that feel that someone from my part of town (the other side of the railroad tracks) shouldn't get the same chance as those who went to the "right" schools. They think of me as "white trash with a law degree."

The funny thing is that I have never been part of that "beer-drinking" cowboy culture, but I identify with his daughter's experience. There are snobbish rich people everywhere who feel they are entitled due to their pedigree. Paris Hilton is starting to learn her lesson the hard way.

If only they could learn from my experiences. It's hard enough to work your way up from the bottom; you shouldn't have to worry about someone impeding you because they were born into money. It's not like they earned it. Maybe that's the problem. They have never bothered to walk a mile in our moccasins (or shoes, or boots as the case may be).

Sunday Music: Garth Brooks

Starting today, I will be featuring an Oklahoma musician each Sunday. The first artist is probably Oklahoma's most famous and successful musician. Garth Brooks almost didn't even start in the music business. He went to Nashville with big dreams of getting a record contract very early in his career and returned to Oklahoma in less than a day.

Bur his persistence paid off, and now he is a legend.

We Shall Be Free


Standing Outside the Fire


The Dance

Congratulations Alex Shabalov

Alex Shabalov, just after Sergey Kudrin resigned and congratulated Shabalov on his tournament victory. Photo courtesy of the USCF site.

Alex Shabalov won his last game yesterday while Alex Onischuk drew to win the 2007 Frank K. Berry U.S. Chess Championship outright. You can read a full article about the last round at the USCF site.

Alex Shabalov is a true gentleman and was easily one of the most approachable players in the tournament. After the awards ceremony yesterday, a throng of the players, organizers and myself went out to Red Lobster (a restaurant managed by a chess master) to eat and celebrate the tournament's end. Frank Berry, for whom this year's tournament was eponymously named, paid for everyone's meal (although he did recommend -- hint, hint -- that everyone leave a $5 tip for the waitresses). Alex Shabalov left a $100 tip. He was feeling generous after winning the big prize, I guess.

On another note, there is some talk of making Stillwater, Oklahoma, the new Lone Pine of chess tournaments. For the uninitiated, Lone Pine, California, is "a small, friendly town half-way between America's lowest point at Death Valley and its highest at Mt. Whitney," according to Jerry Hanken as he wrote it back in 1976. Lone Pine hosted the annual Louis B. Statham International Tournament, commonly referred to simply as the Lone Pine chess tournaments. It was a place where the top players of the world used to always come and play in some of the strongest Swiss-system competitions every year.

2007 US Chess Championship Update

I didn't post yesterday because after a court appearance I went to pick up a spectator at the Oklahoma City airport and took them up to the US Championship in Stillwater. The tournament will continue through Wednesday. Here is a group of photos of the players and organizers of the event.

After the first round, I took some of the players out to dinner at Stillwater's famous restaurant Eskimo Joe's. Billed as "Stillwater's Jumpin' Little Juke Joint," Eskimo Joe's is one of Stillwater's famous eating attractions. The players that accompanied me that night were IM Irina Krush (who "Krushed" me in table tennis last night 21-18), IM Joshua Friedel, FM Robert Hess, Irina Zenyuk and IM Alan Stein who is acting as second to Friedel and IM David Pruess.

Last night the players wanted to go back to Eskimo Joe's (again?!). Tagging along were Krush, Zenyuk, Stein, Hess, Friedel, Pruess and Pruess' high-school teammate -- who is a professional poker player in Las Vegas -- although I can't remember his name (but he lost a lot of money playing poker in Tulsa, as we say in Oklahoma "That'll learn ya, darn ya."*), GM Eugene Perelshteyn and IM Bryan Smith. I think I am missing someone, but I can't remember who it is. I will have to ask the players and update it later.

*In Oklahoma, when saying this phrase, you say "darn" to rhyme with "learn."

***Update*** That semi-famous poker pro was Richard Grijalva.

Oklahoma Resident First Responder of 9/11 Praises Sicko Movie

From the AP:

NEW YORK -- It could have been a college reunion: hugs, tears, laughter, photos, and a big friendly guy in shorts and sneakers organizing it all. But the guy in shorts was Michael Moore, whose new documentary, "Sicko," takes aim at the U.S. health care industry with the same fury - laced with humor, of course, and plenty of statistics - that he directed at the Bush administration in his hit "Fahrenheit 9/11."

And the people who'd flown in for this intimate first screening, a day after the film had been shipped to the Cannes Film Festival, included grateful Sept. 11 "first responders," suffering lung problems or other ailments from their days at ground zero. In the film, Moore takes them to Cuba and tries to get them treated at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay - where, he contends, terror suspects were getting better medical care than the heroes of 9/11.

...

At his screening Tuesday evening at a Manhattan hotel, however, Moore was focused on the reaction of his invited guests.

"Three years ago tonight, we had the first screening of 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' with victims' families," he told them. "It was a very powerful experience, and now we're honored to have all of you here. We're very proud of this film. We're confident it will have a significant impact."

When the lights came up, Reggie Cervantes, a former 9/11 "first responder" who now lives in Oklahoma, spoke first.

"It was funny. It was real," said Cervantes, 46, who says she suffers from pulmonary ailments, esophageal reflex, post-traumatic stress disorder, ear and eye infections and other problems stemming from time at ground zero. Of the trip, she said: "It feels surreal. Were we really there?"

...

The patients he brought had all struggled at home with health care costs. Some, like Cervantes, had lost their health insurance because they could no longer work, and were navigating the workmen's compensation system.

John Graham, a disabled carpenter and EMT from Paramus, N.J., came to the screening with his daughters. On 9/11 he was at his job at the carpenter's union offices, near the World Trade Center. He rushed over before the second plane hit, spending 31 hours at first, then helping out for months after that. He says he was later diagnosed with lung problems, burns on his esophagus, chronic sinusitis and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other things: "I need a notebook to remember everything."

Graham, who stopped working in 2004, now lives on $400 per week in workmen's comp payments. He split from his wife and says he is unable to keep up with childcare payments.

In Cuba, Graham had five full days of medical tests and received medication for his reflux problems. Cervantes was treated for eye and nose infections, among other things, and in a drugstore found pills for only pennies that cost her more than $100 at home. Maher had the longest treatment, to correct dental problems - he said ground zero-related stress and dreams about "people falling from the sky" made him grind his teeth at night.

Moore hopes his latest film will make people stop and think about what he sees as the tragic ills of the health care industry.

"We are the richest country in the world," the director said. "We spend more on health care than any other country. Yet we have the worst health care in the Western world. Come on. We can do better than this."