End Insurance Discrimination: “Although bipartisan support for the Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act (S. 486) is strong and growing, Senate leaders have reneged on their commitment and are blocking the bill from a vote on the floor of the Senate. We must speak louder, and with greater determination, than the insurance industry! Tell our representatives to honor the promises made last year.

The Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act would close loopholes in federal law by requiring group health plans to stop using arbitrary limits on mental health parity benefits different from those used with medical and surgical benefits. With 69 co-sponsors, this legislation is sure to pass if brought to a vote.

It’s up to us to keep the pressure on those key senators that have the power to allow a vote. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist (R-TN) need to hear from us, and they need to hear from their fellow senators.” —ActForChange

In some ways, Kill Bill is the apotheosis of cross-fertilization between Eastern and Western popular cinema culture. New York Times reviewer Dave Kehr dissects his references and influences, some obscure and others (like his homages to Sergio Leone and John Ford) obvious. The deeper you look, the more impressed you are with Tarantino as an iconographer (much as Lucas’ Star Wars series did for a previous generation) but there is something smirking, sarcastic and arch about his references. As a longtime devotee of the samurai and spaghetti western genres (moreso than kung fu films), I would rather see the originals. Those generes have gotten stale, true, but if Tarantino is their heir, I am uncomfortable with the direction in which he is taking it. Off to rent some Sonny Chiba films…

‘The drug industry lobbying group PhRMA published a new Web site aimed at helping poor people get discounted or free drugs offered by the drug companies.

The drug companies have been under fire in the U.S. Congress and the media for fighting efforts to import low-cost prescription drugs from other countries, notably Canada.

The Internet site, at http://www.helpingpatients.org, promises “one-stop-shopping” for various patient assistance programs, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said.’