April 25, 2012

My Nap With Marilyn

The other night I was forced to watch the thoroughly dreadful film ‘My Week With Marilyn’ by my sister. I knew within minutes what I was in for when the filmmakers doled out their obvious glaringly intended character introductions.  The main character, an inspiring filmmaker walks into the office of his father, a celebrated academic, to tell him he is going to work on a film set for the summer.  Upon walking into the room his father says something so comically literal like “hi son, have you met my brilliant pupils? Why can’t you be more like them?”. His mother’s reaction similarly smacks with the blandness of cardboard and blatantness just short of the screenwriter and the director sitting on either side of you and yelling their intentions into your ears; something to the effect of “I do worry about you but I know you’ll be a great filmmaker one day just like you’ve always wanted”. Actually. That’s what she said. I imagine there are Mary-Kate & Ashley novelizations with better dialogue than that.  

By some miracle I fell asleep about a quarter of the way through the film.  Not that I needed to be awake, for the incredibly intricate (to borrow from the style of filmmakers: I am being SARCASTIC right now! ARE YOU ABLE TO TELL?) plot twists allowed one to experience the many complications and triumphs that account for a movie-going experience hours before they occur in this particular work. Spoiler Alert: the kid and Marilyn fall in love.  Don’t waste five minutes of your life watching the first five minutes of this film to find that out.  This kind of predictability seems a lot like every other hollywood film I’ve seen in the past two years (‘Avatar’ and ‘X-Men’).  An unstartling, yet terrifying trend in filmmaking.

I did happen to wake up at a couple points to these absolute gems of screenwriting:

“I don’t know what you did on your date with Marilyn, but she’s acting better than she ever has”

“she’s been in her room taking pills for days.  We can’t get her to stop”.

Riveting stuff. Zzz.

January 6, 2011
I finally wrote an essay about ‘Bennie and The Jets’, a song that is a fascinating road map for Elton John’s then imminent stardom and sexual androgyny, painted with biblical, antiChrist-like imagery.  Please don’t be turned off by the fact that it’s an academic essay.  I think it’s one of the best things I’ve written - particularly the second half. Elton John is one of the most iconic musicians and entertainers of the 20th century.  His popularity is testament not only to his ability to make hits that have stood the test of time, but it also owes itself to the larger-than-life persona he has developed over the years.  What many don’t know is that before his turn as an ultra-glam pop star, Sir Elton was a straight up rock musician.  When Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released in 1973, many of the more ardent fans of his earlier sound were discontented by what they saw as the nail in the coffin of the more ‘authentic’ progressive-rock sound that he broke ground with on critically acclaimed yet hitless albums such as Tumbleweed Connection.  However GYBR is also seen as a kind of high period in Sir Elton’s career; the point where the rock and pop sounds he shifted between on prior albums found their perfect symbiosis on the hugely popular, yet deeply personal album.  It was the perceived autobiographical overtones of the album (particularly in its title track), and the heavy glam-rock aesthetic on songs such as ‘Bennie and the Jets’ that led to the public’s initial suspicions of John’s homosexuality.  The latter can be seen as a song that is as much about John’s personal transformation into an androgynous pop star, as it is an account of a fictional music phenomenon.  In the creation of ‘Bennie and the Jets’ John sets himself as a fan of the group, and projects his latent feminine desires on them simultaneously as a member of their fictional fandom and as their creative brain father.  This fandom’s devotion to the group resembles a kind of Old Testament false-idol worship, and in return for their allegiance the fans are offered the eternal spoils of youth. The classic song was meant to be a satire of the superficiality of the music industry, however the tremendous success of the album and song launched John into the very sort of superstardom he was attempting to parody, yet perhaps truly desired.  It is through this ironic relationship between creator and character that we can make inferences into John’s desires and motivations. ‘Bennie and the Jets’ is Elton John’s projection of his ideal self onto a fictional creation. Although Bernie Taupin wrote all John’s lyrics, they would not have become songs without Elton’s arrangement, and Elton wouldn’t have been able to make them into music had he not felt an intrinsic connection to their themes and meanings.  Therefore for the sake of this essay the songs lyrics will be discussed in relation to the singer. As the speaker of the ‘Bennie and the Jets’, Elton John is one among many zealous fans of the fictitious super group.  The fact that he chose to make the group female centered is evidence of John’s (at this point) closeted homosexuality.  As Simon Frith and Angela McRobbie point out in their article “Rock and Sexuality”, we are impelled by our gender to identify with opposing types of music.  During the teenage years, males are more inclined to “cock rock,”, that exhibits a style where “mikes (sic) and guitars are phallic symbols; the music is loud, rhythmically insistent, built around techniques of arousal and climax; the lyrics are assertive and arrogant, though the exact words are less important than the vocals style involved” (374). The uncertainty of adolescent  sexuality, leads us to identify with musical icons that reinforce our sexual ideals and thereby reassure our personal sense of sexuality.  In this way, John’s choice to make the band female centered is significant.  Even the speaker’s fellow fans are identified by the female names “Candy and Ronnie,”, which could lead to the conjecture that the band is female oriented.  When he relates to the group on a personal level during the song’s chorus, it is in regard Bennie’s clothing (“She’s got electric boots, a mohair suit”) and emotional impact (“they’re weird and they’re wonderful”).  Steward and Garratt would argue that this approach to the cultivation of fan knowledge is typical of female fandom. While “boys talk about the music, swap information and show off their knowledge (or pretend knowledge) […] girls, on the other hand tend to talk about the stars, looks, fashions, and the ‘feel’ ” (110-111).  Equally significant to John’s choice of making the idolized artist female is the construction of his appreciation for the band with gender-typified femininity.  Not only does he idolize a female performer, he does so the way a female would. However all things being said, Bennie is a heavily androgynous, albeit female, artist.  So the associative projection Elton makes on her isn’t altogether homosexual. The more open association with her androgyny tempers John’s sexual identification with Bennie.  Everything about Bennie eludes gender classification, including her name, which is typically masculine, were it not for the “ie” spelling. This androgyny is the point where the reflection of John within his creation is clearest.  Through this song he creates a musical group that he as the speaker is a fan of and thereby finds ideological reinforcement in, but in the act of creation he makes the band and its ideology ideal to the self.  Ultimately, Elton is more than just a fan of Bennie - he is Bennie.  This dynamic can be seen on the album artwork that depicts him stepping into a poster of a yellow brick road.  He is placing himself in his own creation by stepping into the world of his album, and his outstretched hand and half turned head seem to say, “join me”.           This theme of allegiance to the star is visible throughout both verses of the song, with the fandom going so far as to resemble a cardinal sin. The opening lines “Hey kids, shake it loose together/spotlight’s hitting something that’s been known to change the weather” implies an invitation to dance at a performance by a band that has godly powers.  The next line, “We’ll kill the fatted Calf tonight so stick around,”, employs more literal biblical imagery in the depiction of an invitation to a ritualistic sacrifice to the group, after which they will be rewarded with hearing “electric music/Solid walls of sound”.  The conditions of the cult worship are stated in the next verse.  Fans “plug into the faithless/maybe they’re blinded/But Benny makes them ageless”, which can be interpreted as joining the false idol, becoming brainwashed, but gaining eternal youth in return.  “We shall survive, let us take ourselves along/Where we fight our parents out in the streets to find who’s right and who’s wrong” illustrates the generational conflict that arose from fears regarding ‘sex, drugs, and rock and roll’ that were circulating at the time, and echoes the prior theme of selling ones soul for service to the star, which now entails a physical battle to convert their parents.  The hypnotic effect that Bennie and the Jets have on their fans is echoed by the metronomic intro of John oscillating up and down the bass clef while making a light melody in the treble, as if to bring his listeners under a trance by swinging a pocket watch.  This scathing satire of the popular music industry seems strange given its hypocritical, or perhaps self-critical nature.  However, one could argue that the biblical condemnation of Bennie, John’s ideal self, is a manifestation of the guilt associated with his repressed homosexuality.  ‘Bennie and the Jets’ is an intricately layered and deeply personal self-portrait of an artist coming to terms with his sexuality. As an androgynous woman, Bennie represents Elton John’s ideals of style, sexuality and stardom.  ‘Bennie and the Jets’ can be viewed as a sort of blue print for the type of pop star Elton would soon become.  Elton John is in turn a persona whose creation began when he first changed his name from Reg Dwight at the onset of his career.

I finally wrote an essay about ‘Bennie and The Jets’, a song that is a fascinating road map for Elton John’s then imminent stardom and sexual androgyny, painted with biblical, antiChrist-like imagery.  Please don’t be turned off by the fact that it’s an academic essay.  I think it’s one of the best things I’ve written - particularly the second half.


Elton John is one of the most iconic musicians and entertainers of the 20th century.  His popularity is testament not only to his ability to make hits that have stood the test of time, but it also owes itself to the larger-than-life persona he has developed over the years.  What many don’t know is that before his turn as an ultra-glam pop star, Sir Elton was a straight up rock musician.  When Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released in 1973, many of the more ardent fans of his earlier sound were discontented by what they saw as the nail in the coffin of the more ‘authentic’ progressive-rock sound that he broke ground with on critically acclaimed yet hitless albums such as Tumbleweed Connection.  However GYBR is also seen as a kind of high period in Sir Elton’s career; the point where the rock and pop sounds he shifted between on prior albums found their perfect symbiosis on the hugely popular, yet deeply personal album.  It was the perceived autobiographical overtones of the album (particularly in its title track), and the heavy glam-rock aesthetic on songs such as ‘Bennie and the Jets’ that led to the public’s initial suspicions of John’s homosexuality.  The latter can be seen as a song that is as much about John’s personal transformation into an androgynous pop star, as it is an account of a fictional music phenomenon.  In the creation of ‘Bennie and the Jets’ John sets himself as a fan of the group, and projects his latent feminine desires on them simultaneously as a member of their fictional fandom and as their creative brain father.  This fandom’s devotion to the group resembles a kind of Old Testament false-idol worship, and in return for their allegiance the fans are offered the eternal spoils of youth. The classic song was meant to be a satire of the superficiality of the music industry, however the tremendous success of the album and song launched John into the very sort of superstardom he was attempting to parody, yet perhaps truly desired.  It is through this ironic relationship between creator and character that we can make inferences into John’s desires and motivations. ‘Bennie and the Jets’ is Elton John’s projection of his ideal self onto a fictional creation.

Although Bernie Taupin wrote all John’s lyrics, they would not have become songs without Elton’s arrangement, and Elton wouldn’t have been able to make them into music had he not felt an intrinsic connection to their themes and meanings.  Therefore for the sake of this essay the songs lyrics will be discussed in relation to the singer.

As the speaker of the ‘Bennie and the Jets’, Elton John is one among many zealous fans of the fictitious super group.  The fact that he chose to make the group female centered is evidence of John’s (at this point) closeted homosexuality.  As Simon Frith and Angela McRobbie point out in their article “Rock and Sexuality”, we are impelled by our gender to identify with opposing types of music.  During the teenage years, males are more inclined to “cock rock,”, that exhibits a style where “mikes (sic) and guitars are phallic symbols; the music is loud, rhythmically insistent, built around techniques of arousal and climax; the lyrics are assertive and arrogant, though the exact words are less important than the vocals style involved” (374). The uncertainty of adolescent  sexuality, leads us to identify with musical icons that reinforce our sexual ideals and thereby reassure our personal sense of sexuality.  In this way, John’s choice to make the band female centered is significant.  Even the speaker’s fellow fans are identified by the female names “Candy and Ronnie,”, which could lead to the conjecture that the band is female oriented.  When he relates to the group on a personal level during the song’s chorus, it is in regard Bennie’s clothing (“She’s got electric boots, a mohair suit”) and emotional impact (“they’re weird and they’re wonderful”).  Steward and Garratt would argue that this approach to the cultivation of fan knowledge is typical of female fandom. While “boys talk about the music, swap information and show off their knowledge (or pretend knowledge) […] girls, on the other hand tend to talk about the stars, looks, fashions, and the ‘feel’ ” (110-111).  Equally significant to John’s choice of making the idolized artist female is the construction of his appreciation for the band with gender-typified femininity.  Not only does he idolize a female performer, he does so the way a female would.

However all things being said, Bennie is a heavily androgynous, albeit female, artist.  So the associative projection Elton makes on her isn’t altogether homosexual. The more open association with her androgyny tempers John’s sexual identification with Bennie.  Everything about Bennie eludes gender classification, including her name, which is typically masculine, were it not for the “ie” spelling. This androgyny is the point where the reflection of John within his creation is clearest.  Through this song he creates a musical group that he as the speaker is a fan of and thereby finds ideological reinforcement in, but in the act of creation he makes the band and its ideology ideal to the self.  Ultimately, Elton is more than just a fan of Bennie - he is Bennie.  This dynamic can be seen on the album artwork that depicts him stepping into a poster of a yellow brick road.  He is placing himself in his own creation by stepping into the world of his album, and his outstretched hand and half turned head seem to say, “join me”.          

This theme of allegiance to the star is visible throughout both verses of the song, with the fandom going so far as to resemble a cardinal sin. The opening lines “Hey kids, shake it loose together/spotlight’s hitting something that’s been known to change the weather” implies an invitation to dance at a performance by a band that has godly powers.  The next line, “We’ll kill the fatted Calf tonight so stick around,”, employs more literal biblical imagery in the depiction of an invitation to a ritualistic sacrifice to the group, after which they will be rewarded with hearing “electric music/Solid walls of sound”.  The conditions of the cult worship are stated in the next verse.  Fans “plug into the faithless/maybe they’re blinded/But Benny makes them ageless”, which can be interpreted as joining the false idol, becoming brainwashed, but gaining eternal youth in return.  “We shall survive, let us take ourselves along/Where we fight our parents out in the streets to find who’s right and who’s wrong” illustrates the generational conflict that arose from fears regarding ‘sex, drugs, and rock and roll’ that were circulating at the time, and echoes the prior theme of selling ones soul for service to the star, which now entails a physical battle to convert their parents.  The hypnotic effect that Bennie and the Jets have on their fans is echoed by the metronomic intro of John oscillating up and down the bass clef while making a light melody in the treble, as if to bring his listeners under a trance by swinging a pocket watch.  This scathing satire of the popular music industry seems strange given its hypocritical, or perhaps self-critical nature.  However, one could argue that the biblical condemnation of Bennie, John’s ideal self, is a manifestation of the guilt associated with his repressed homosexuality. 

‘Bennie and the Jets’ is an intricately layered and deeply personal self-portrait of an artist coming to terms with his sexuality. As an androgynous woman, Bennie represents Elton John’s ideals of style, sexuality and stardom.  ‘Bennie and the Jets’ can be viewed as a sort of blue print for the type of pop star Elton would soon become.  Elton John is in turn a persona whose creation began when he first changed his name from Reg Dwight at the onset of his career.

December 17, 2010 • 1 note

Some photo’s from “Love Pirates”

Some behind the scene’s photo’s from Love Pirates, a music video for alt-rapper Gescha, dropping in mid January.

From left: Douglas Guenther, Kwasi Adisi, Gescha, Chad Reynolds

Ryan and I doin’ work.

Moose holding it down.

August 19, 2010 • 1 note
I Saw Her Standing There
The Beatles
Please Please Me
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Sweet Rips Tuesday

We were at Dublin’s (we’ve had to tap into the westside scene), the only Sweet Rip establishment that hasn’t lost its soul or become so popular you can’t get a song in, and I absolutely destroyed ‘i saw her standing there’ by the Beatles.  If you love singing as much as I do (and Kuin does, since he is the other cornerstone of the weekly karaoke scene in our circle of friends), then there is really no greater feeling than singing a song you love for the first time (pioneer rip) and completely shredding it and rocking out the room in the process. There was this pretty hot but really (really) young girl there that we (kuin, ronan and I) all felt pretty creepy and hesitant about being attracted to, so when the open lines of the song (“well she was just seventeen/yeah you know what I mean”) came on the screen they resonated with me big time and absolutely tore it apart.  I’ve always been able to relate vocally with the way Paul belts it out in reserved sort of way, so I was rolling all over those early sixties pop grooves! I was cutting up some twists and grooves that fit the era as well and It felt like everyone was into it too. At the end the crowd went wild.  It felt great.  My purest joy is singing. 

Other all time personal best sweet rip performances include:  ‘Kodachrome’ wireless mic rock out while dancing and screaming across all the tables of old people at the now closed, deep westside bar Uncle Barleys (the name says it all).  The old people were going nuts cheering because the weekly karaoke night had just exploded (Mamma gonna take my Kodachrome, mamma gonna take my Kodachrome, mamma gonna take my Kodachrome away!” It’s amazing how many legendary musicians have tangible mother issues).  That was actually the sweet rip that made me fall in love with the whole scene initially. Another proud rip was ‘Border Song’ at Colonial with a “Holy Moses” power slide after the instrumental (as the instrumental break was ending I screamed at them to “Sing it with me! Sing it with me!!” and then power slid into the “holy moses”.  The crowd went off.  You just don’t get those every day), Levon rock out after seeing Sir Elton (see “The new york times said God is dead”.  Yes, I devoted a whole ‘nother post to reliving that glory.), bohemian raps with Weck to the full house at whiskey jacks with full 360s off speakers and bar dancing with mic (It was of course this type of behavior that caused me to be banned for life from whiskey jacks on several occasions - more or less every new round of bouncer hires) after which everyone was buying us drinks (always caesars) and these people from Norway asked the waitress to ask us for our autograph because they thought we were famous (Like, get real. How dope.  Another time I sang backstreet boys everyone in the entire [hillbilly] bar was booing and calling me a fag, but it was all good because after this sexy girl asked me for my autograph on the back of a beer-bottle label.  I thought she was asking me for my number but she corrected me and said she just wanted my autograph for when I was famous.  It made up for the fact that the waitress had just told me some guy at one of her tables said someone should “beat the shit out of him with his dildo”.  Pretty nice chirp actually. Haters gotta hate.), intergalactic on Canada day with Mike Garnett when he was busting head spins and I was on the speakers throwing it in everyone’s face behind him.

Some guy actually came up to me and tried starting a fight with me after this because we had been so deadly and this chick he was with was feeling it so hard and was probably going to go home with me. He came up to her and I and told me to get away from his cousin. I tried to tell him to relax but he kept cutting me off saying my breath was awful (it smelt like del’ ceasar). I knew he was just trying to antagonize me because my breath tasted like mo caesars so I asked him “seriously though, what’s the problem, don’t you have lots of hot cousins you can try to sleep with?” Years later I would have a similar altercation while standing in the exact same spot of that bar (however at this later time I was no longer a drunk so I was in a much better state to navigate the confrontation). This random dude walked up to me out of nowhere after I sang ‘Eye of the tiger’ (the way some people seem to resent a quality rip will forever baffle me) and looked me over and asked me “how long does it take you to get ready with all that shit”. “all what?”. “The tight pants and headband and makeup?”  he asked with further antagonism. And I said “I dunno how long did it take you to drive in from Dalmany tonight?” and walked away.  I feel like it worked because it was a burn that played on the fact that he was only ripping on my style because he felt insecure about his hard townie style.  I’ve had it happen before when girls ask me if I’m wearing eye makeup but never a dude so he must have been looking me really deeply in the eyes so maybe his antagonism over my style was a manifestation of some deeper guilt. At any rate he didn’t push it any further than that. But the guy with the cousin got really rattled and started picking a fight with me.  She thought the joke was funny. Or maybe she was just laughing because she felt awkward about the tension. I can’t remember exactly what happened after but I remember him  giving the finger as he sat at some tables across the bar from me much later on in the night so a fight must nothave transpired from the joke, but after he gave me the finger I went after him for some reason even though fighting and being a hot head hadn’t been my style for years but I was drunk as fuck so I guess it happened and so the bouncers came up to me and threw me out.  This was the first instance in a long and coloured history of being kicked out of the bar for being too awesome. It usually revolved around hucking 360s off the speakers or dancing along the ledge of the dance floor rocking out to the people sitting sideline and just generally trying to make the karaoke community a better place. But I think it also had something to do with the fact that I was sleeping with one of the waitresses that the bouncers were into, but those are all just irrelevant footnotes.  The important thing is remembering the karaoke battles you’re proud of.

August 11, 2010

Here’s a trailer for my latest short film, blowing up at a film festival near you!

‘Sins of the Father’ is a short drama that examines the psychological causes and hereditary nature of domestic abuse. Aaron Hursh and Heather Morrison give gripping, nuanced performances as a couple brought together by insecurities stemming from abusive upbringings.

Their relationship becomes volatile as it develops from youth into their adult lives where they pass it on to their children. ‘Sins’ weaves together multiple time lines from the past, present, and future to show a gritty reality of how the cycle of violence functions in personal relationships and through generations.

April 13, 2010 • 1 note

Minage?

There was this sort of country-folk-lesbian-bluegrass trio playing at lydias which drew a similar sort of crowd with some girls making out so Shae (my girlfriend) and I started scoping minages. I went up to a girl and asked her ‘would you like to have a threesome with my girlfriend and I?’. She said she had just had a divorce but any other time she would have been down. I sort of implied that that was probably the perfect time to get tag’d by a younger couple but she couldn’t dig it. 

March 31, 2010
Some days, the bubbles just don’t blow for ya.  (Spring in Saskatoon).

Some days, the bubbles just don’t blow for ya.  (Spring in Saskatoon).

March 28, 2010

Back in the 19th century, people like Chuck used to talk that jive about slavery

The other day my buddy Dale, who is really into politics, made his facebook status a shout out to the Health Care Reform bill that was passed in the United States. A huge internet battle ensued (it starts getting really intense towards the end).

Dale William Richardson: What a day! Huskie men’s basketball win the national championship, and the health care reform bill is passed in the US!!

Me: Wooooo!!!!

Caty Tsu: YAY for the first part…not so much for the second! quite possibly the worst thing to ever happen to our country…

Dale William Richardson: Don’t you worry about a thing, Caty!! You crazy Yanks will learn soon about the beauty of universal health care!! It will be great!! HOORAY FOR CHANGE AND OBAMA!!

Caty Tsu: don’t you worry about US Dale! If I really wanted the govt univeralizing everything and taking away my freedoms, I’d bring my family back to China :)

[Normally I steer clear of political and religious debates because it’s my belief that peoples opinions on these subjects are the cullmination of a lifetime of experience, and nothing said in an argument will persuade any one against these beliefs, but this girl’s ignorance infuriated me because it was the salt on the wound of the inequality that is American health care]

Me: Freedom is having your basic needs met, and that includes health care. Having to pay 75 dollars for an STD test is an infringement on personal freedom. So is being denied health insurance because you suffer from asthma.

Caty Tsu: Yes, for the 15% of the population, including illegal aliens, their basic needs will now be met. For the rest of us freedom is not being controlled by the government. Freedom is achieving the American Dream, which is to have the motivation to better yourself. When there is one standard that everyone must follow, what will motivate us to be the best if we are no longer able to earn it..?

Me: Yes it really is a tragedy that those millions of people now have access to basic medical care. But no sweat, there’s always senseless wars to be fought to line the pockets of the self-interested brain-washing Republican think tanks that propagate this kind of ignorance, so there will always be something to strive towards in that sense. America is one of the coolest country’s in the world, with a rich and amazing culture, and it’s a shame it’s being held back by this kind of shallow thinking.

Caty Tsu: This will go on forever, but nice tactics…I suppose this is why they call this politics

[Here’s where the reinforcements came in and shit got real]

Chuck Coolidge: LOL ok, so its really sad that someone obviously as smart as you hasn’t realized that “basic medical care” was actually covered along with lots of additional coverage and prescription coverage by two programs that we now currently pay(are taxed) for… You might have heard of them. Medicare and Medicaid? I don’t mean to “brain-wash” you with … See MoreFACTS, but you might want to look into something before you arrogantly go and speak on something you clearly know nothing about. Just as a quick note, in January of 2009 there were 59 MILLION people enrolled in Medicaid alone.

Then you talk about how Republicans are making money on this while your beloved Democrats are striking back ally deals and earmarks all over this bil (some which don’t even have anything to do with healthcare)l just so that they can effectively buy the votes that they needed for this bill. But yeah, your totally right, we should extend this healthcare bill to help anyone. Like illegal immigrants and hopefully even the occasional terrorist that jumps the border and gets cut by the fence. Or maybe you just really wanted the partial birth abortions to be covered for free, wait, even your smart/non-brainwashed/pride of the nation Democrats wouldn’t vote for that option. Hopefully they can try to sneak that in on a later bill. I know I want to be taxed even more for options like that… Hopefully this is the first step to the government taking over lots of our other programs.

I am sorry, but who is brain-washed here?

[For a while after I read this I was too ashamed to go on the internet. This guy Chuck Coolige had absolutely handled me]

Me: Let’s be clear about one thing right off the top: when it comes to US politics, I’m down with Nadar exclusively.

The type of brain-washing I’m refering to is the republican tendency to bring everything back to an irrational fear of terrorists and immigrants. The reality of the situation is that if an illegal immigrant is critically injured in America, they’re going to get medical treatment regardless. No hospital is going to turn away a dying man and ship them across the country and back to Mexico while they’re bleeding to death, regardless of what kind of health care system youre running. If you have terrorists living in your country that are using your health care system than that is an entirely different issue than medical ethics. You can’t deny a service to all because some may wrongly take advantage. The brain-washed republican in you has brought that to attention to divert you from the real issue (which I’ll come to later). As far as abortion goes, that is grey territory that will be fought for by politicians until the end of human kind, so any concessions made to either side are purely political rather than morally appropriate.

If i were you, I wouldn’t feel too banged up about that 50 or so million you spent on Medicare and medicade. Those numbers are pretty meager next to the tax dollars that go into killing innocent American and (insert foreign interest country of the decade) citizens every year in senseless wars. And if you want to talk about strains of the health care system you should take a walk through the tenderloin in san fransisco and talk to some of the hundreds of PTSD war vetrens from veitnam and the golf that are living on the streets because their VA coverage isn’t quite cutting it.

Other than that you’ve pulled some valid examples that I’m sure make sense to you, but to me up here in Canada where medical treatment is egalitarian, you are missing the big picture: medical care is a basic human right that should be distributed equally.

Perhaps the best way to express my point is from an empirical perspective. I recently read an article written by a candian doctor who was working in a hospital in detroit. He said that it disturbed him deeply to see patients given priority based on the quality of their insurance rather than the severity of their ailment. 50 years ago there were people in your country who had to persuade their fellow countymen that all races deserve equal treatment and racial innequality is morally wrong. In Canada we were fortunate enough to have that understanding already and although we suffer from our own brand of racism up here, we luckily didn’t have to see anyone die so that their respective grandchildren could one day drink out of the same water fountain. So you can imagine our frusteration at seeing people argue so ardently against medical equality.

Don’t get me wrong, I think America is dope. I’ve hitchhiked across half of the country and I can honestly say that I love America. Yours is the country that gave birth to jazz, rock and roll, soul, funk and hiphop. I could name you countless reasons I’d rather live there than here (better weather, better television, better soul food, Texas, New York, New Orleans, Stevie Wonder. The list goes on), but the completely unbiased truth is that your health care system is frightfully (literally, it would scare me to move there for merely this reason) bad. I once got a ride from a guy from san Antonio who told me he payed 600 dollars a month in insurance premiums and STILL had to pay 75 dollars to visit the doctor! And he was stoked about it! I told him I don’t pay jack shit and asked him why he puts up with that deal and he diverted me into a talk about how much i pay for gas (he was a republican, go figure).

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that getting caught up in the semantics is pointless and is only exacerbating the difficult task of making health care free and equal to everyone. I realize this seems like it will - to speak figuritively- unwravel the thread on your flag, and it perhaps it will alter your infrastructure in a huge way, but so did the abolition of slavery.

Chuck Coolidge: All i read was that your down with Nadar and I knew you were full of shit. Keep up with the CNN propaganda. Blindly following is a great idea. Keep it up

[I figured I should probably let Chuck Coolidge have the last word on this one]