There is one underlying question in the debate over health insurance reform that is being forgotten as we all scream at each other, make demands of our politicians, and collectively whine when they don’t react exactly the way we think they should to the rancor in this debate.

That question is, “What kind of society do we as Americans want?”

Let me start with a few stories to think about. These are all absolutely true; they either happened to me, or people I know, or they were related to me by friends whose word I trust. For privacy’s sake, I’m not using names or identifying them in any way. But as you read these, ask yourself; is this what America is all about? Is this what we mean when we tell anyone who wants to hear it that we live in a FREE country? Is this really the society the Founders were looking to build when they fought a revolution against a tyrannical regime and then crafted the Constitution?

A 60-year-old woman is diagnosed with gallstones by her HMO plan doctor. That doctor asks the insurance company to approve a specialist, and the insurance company does so. The specialist wants to use shock-wave therapy to break up the gallstones, because it’s far less invasive and dangerous than surgery. The insurance company refuses to cover the procedure, calling it “experimental,” despite the fact that it’s been in use for almost 20 years, and has become a standard procedure when treating kidney stones.  She appeals the decision by the insurance company, but during the appeal, she has a gall bladder attack. She lives nowhere near a hospital, so her husband drives her 40 miles and she undergoes emergency surgery to remove the stones and repair her gall bladder. The surgeon who performed the surgery made a mistake, however, which led to a second surgery to repair the damage from the first surgery.

 

Two years later, the same woman was diagnosed with cancer. Her physician proceeded to scare the hell out of her, and he told her things about the cancer that were patently untrue. She requested a change of physicians, to someone who actually knew about her cancer, and her insurance company refused. They advised her that she could change her primary care physician during open enrollment, but most of them were full, and that once they assigned a specialist to her case, she was pretty much stuck with that specialist.

Do we want a system in which doctors and patients can’t make the right decisions because someone at an insurance company overrides that decision, based on the false assumption that they’re using THEIR money to pay the medical bills? Here’s a clue, folks; the money they use to pay those bills is YOURS, not THEIRS. So, if you have that many restrictions on the use of YOUR money, how free are you, really?

A 46-year-old man is diagnosed with diabetes, and told that he’d probably had the disease for several years by then. After working at his employer and paying for insurance for nearly 20 years, when it came time to renew his insurance during open enrollment, he was denied coverage by the insurance company he had been paying all of that money to for all those years. And because of the little catch-22 that private insurance has developed, he couldn’t get insurance with any other company, either. You see, if you disclose your diabetes, they won’t cover you. if you don’t disclose it, they won’t cover anything, based on the fact that you didn’t disclose. If that wasn’t bad enough, his family lost their coverage when he lost his. 

Do we want a system in which someone can pay upwards of $1,000 per month for 20 years, (which comes to almost a quarter million dollars, by the way, even without interest), and then suddenly be denied treatment, because he might actually have to use it?

A pregnant woman in her late 20s has no insurance because her husband’s job doesn’t offer it, and she’s had health problems in the past that disqualify her from coverage, anyway. While he doesn’t make enough money to afford a private insurance premium, he makes too much  to qualify for Medicaid or CHIP. She goes into labor and is taken to the hospital, where the baby develops complications, and she has a gall bladder attack. Approximately two months later, she gets the bill, which comes to more than $40,000. She calls the hospital to make payment arrangements, and tells them she can afford to pay $300 or so per month, but the hospital says it’s not enough, and they pretty much demand that she take out a loan to pay the bill. But the payments on a loan would have been a lot more than she could pay, as well, so she and her husband go into bankruptcy.

Do we want a system in which someone — someone who chooses to have her baby no less — can be forced into bankruptcy for  simply having a baby?

How about the 27 year old guy who was not insured because his congenital heart defect made him uninsurable in the private insurance market, and he makes too much money in his job to qualify for Medicaid. He’s also not “disabled enough” for Medicare coverage. He’s riding his motorcycle through a major city, when a pickup truck runs a red light and smashes him under the front bumper. He actually survives the accident, but requires almost four months of intense pain management and physical therapy, and is presented with a six-figure bill by the hospital. The pick up truck owner’s car insurance covered less than half the bill, and he didn’t have enough income to pay the judgment when the motorcycle rider sued. Essentially, two families were ruined, and because so much of the bill wasn’t paid, the hospital had to raise its prices to recover it.

Do want a system in which the people who need health care coverage most are denied it, and the healthy are forced to pick up the tab when something tragic happens?

Now, after looking at these stories, and the hundreds of others you’ve heard throughout the course of this debate, if you have a heart and a brain, you’re left with one simple question:

What do we want the United States of America to be, exactly?

Do we want an advanced society that takes care of its people, or one built on a Social Darwinist  framework, in which the poor and infirmed are cordoned off into their own little areas and left to fend for themselves? I know that seems like a false choice, but listen to the rhetoric of the opponents of health insurance reform, and the latter choice seems to be the one they favor. They say they want health care reform, but they never actually propose anything, and they seem to like the system the way it is, which is the Social Darwinist model described above. They are dead set against a pubic insurance option, but the only other way to fix the health care financing system in this country would be to force private insurance companies to cover everyone, including high-risk patients at a pre-set cost they can afford, and to force them to pay every non-fraudulent health care bill. Sorry folks, but even neocons would agree; forcing private companies to do the things necessary to make society work, regardless of their ability to pay for it is not capitalism, anyway.

Is the neocon vision of the country really where we want to live?

I was just 10 years old when Senator Robert F Kennedy was murdered. But even at the age of 10, his life and spirit had a profound impact on me; more than makes sense, even to me.  How does someone like that have such an incredible impact on someone so young? I actually took a break from a family crab feast that Saturday, to go down to the railroad tracks in Halethorpe, Maryland to watch his funeral train pass.

What it is, I think, is a spirit that seems to be largely missing from politics these days, and it’s one we need back. It’s encapsulated in a quote that I memorized many years ago, and always remember whenever I hear a cynic tell me why this nation can’t do something:

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?  – Robert F. Kennedy

That’s a really good question to ask about health insurance reform. Why not?

This debate isn’t about the bills that are before Congress. It’s not about which members of Congress are for or against the public option, or for or against co-ops. It isn’t about the statistics that confirm that 62% of bankruptcies have medical bills as a major component of their economic peril.  In fact, this isn’t even about money, because as a nation, we have plenty of that.  It’s not about taxes; the amount we pay in health insurance premiums is a tax, and it’s crippling those who are forced to pay it. It isn’t even about debt.  This country has plenty of money, if we’d stop treating the richest in this country like royalty. Come on, folks; we’ve borrowed $1 trillion to fund an absolutely moral war in Iraq over the last seven years; anyone who says we can’t find $1 trillion over the next ten years to make sure that everyone who needs to can go to a doctor is just plain lying to you.

This debate is about lives. Not money;lives. It’s about individual freedom. Do we want a society in which it’s okay to walk by a man dying in the street because we have our own lives to live and he should have made better decisions when he was younger, as the cynics on the right seem to think, or are we better than that? Don’t we have a responsibility as a society to make sure that man sees a doctor and at least has a shot at continuing to live?

I  find it difficult to believe that a society in which a significant proportion of its citizens have been trained in first aid and CPR simply wants its people to die.  I find it difficult to believe that a society in which more than four-fifths of the population claims a belief in a single God that preaches mercy would simply look the other way as tens of thousands of people are allowed to die simply because they don’t have enough money in the bank. According to the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran, followers have a moral OBLIGATION to help the afflicted, regardless of how much money they have.

So why has this issue become all about money? Why does there seem to be no moral component to this debate? We obviously have the ability to pay for health care for everyone, because we do it now. So, if there is a flaw in the system that sentences tens of thousands of people to death and suffering, why is there even a controversy over finding a way to fix it? Have we become so enamored with our warped view of “capitalism” to even realize that it is, in fact, killing us? (And yes, I put “capitalism” in quotes, because nothing about our health insurance system resembles true capitalism in any way.)

This issue shouldn’t even be controversial. Our current health care financing system is an embarrassment, and it is not worthy of a society that sees itself as “freedom-loving.”

How free is a society, when an ever-increasing segment of its people can be ruined, financially and otherwise, by illness or injury? How free is a society when health care is seen as a privilege, reserved for those with the cash on hand to pay a doctor? How free is a society in which those who want to start businesses can’t do so, because they can’t afford to pay for its workers’ health insurance, and therefore can’t afford to hire the best workers? How free is a society in which a worker is forced to stay at his current job to keep his current health plan in force, because a change of jobs puts his coverage at risk? And how free is a society in which a person can pay hundreds of thousands of dollars into the health insurance system over the course of 30 years,  lose a job, get sick or injured a month later, and be forced into bankruptcy court? How free is a society in which that same worker can continue working, but be denied coverage, should the insurance company decide they don’t wish to continue coverage?

The current reform bills now being seriously considered by Congress will fix all or most of these problems, and go a long way toward making our country free again. Health care reform will pass; mark my words on this. And every single politician who votes against this thing will be in political peril if he or she votes against it. This country is about to become free again, and anyone who tries to stop it will be run over in the attempt. Here’s another Bobby Kennedy quote to consider:

People say I am ruthless. I am not ruthless. And if I find the man who is calling me ruthless, I shall destroy him.

This is only the beginning of the reform movement that’s happening, my friends. Enjoy it. But feel free to run over anyone who tries to stop it. We’re right, they’re wrong. That’s all there is to it. 

Lux
Killmore Entertainment (Terror of Titty Town, Buxotic Beauty Murders,
Lost Weenders) with Keptone Filmz (Interstate, The Other End Of The
Line) to develop their short film, Cannibal Love Lust into a feature
film, now called FEED. All monies raised at these events will feed
FEED. Production begins this fall, so we need to get cooking on raising
some much needed dough! So attend one of these exciting events or
donate or invest here on this website (Email us for details and
Investor Kits).

FEED is a savory, sensual, slasher, love story
about Chef Ronnie, a charming celebrity chef who thrives and shines in
her everyday life as owner and proprietor of , La Pica Diabla, a trendy
Spanish tapas restaurant and bar in San Francisco. Chef Ronnie cooks
internationally award-winning meals by day and her nights are spent in
ways too gruesome to fathom. In her secret life, Ronnie, is a cannibal
serial killer who murders a variety of people, from her disposable
array of amorous and clueless lovers, former employees and the
occasional diners. As Chef Ronnie and La Pica Diabla’s reputation get
hot in all of San Francisco’s social and top food circles; so does San
Francisco’s murder count. Being haunted by her past, in the form a
vengeful lover, and being caught in the seductive cross fire of a
increasingly serious relationship; Chef Ronnie has bit off more than
she can chew.

“FEED” is a fully LGBT film. All the characters
are homo or trans and our killer…A LESBIAN. Name one SLASHER movie
(besides vampire flicks) where the killer is a lesbian. Still can’t
think of one? That’s because it’s an entirely untapped market. Lux
Killmore wants to bring you the first and the best. Let’s pave the way
together! Come for the fantastic fun evening that will leave you plump
and juicy, full of warm, savory goodness. We need to raise $10,000 for
camera rental alone, so come with an appetite (and a full wallet).

NEW YORK DETAILS:

When: Tuesday August 25th 8pm doors event goes All Night
Where: The Slipper Room, http://slipperroom.com/ 167 Orchard @ Stanton, NYC
How much: $10, doors @ 7:30, 8-10pm Bikini Martini Open Bar provided by Sagatiba, party til 4
Why: to raise funds to help LuxKillmore Entertainment make the feature-length film, FEED
21+ Only
Raffle Prizes, Live Music, Burlesque, Films, DJ Ness Dance Party, Tarot Card Reading

Some
of the performers include: Glenn Marla “an obese transvestite in
tights.” New York Times, World Famous *BOB* (Sex Workers Art Show),
Bunny Love (This or That. TV), Bambi The Mermaid (Burlesque at The
Beach), Insectavora (Pretty Things Peep Show, Coney Island Circus
Sideshow), Nik Sin (Mini Marilyn Manson), Deity (Curious Burlesque
& Dance Party), Reina Terror (Freakshow Burlesque), Legs Malone
(Legs Malone Show, Sugar Shack), Kit Cat (The Lovely Mistresses of
George W. Bush! 2008 Pin-Up Calendar), Velocity Chyaldd (Badass
Burlesque, Vulgaras), Rev Jen Miller (Troll Museum, Diary of an Art
Star) And More More More!

Raffle Donations include:
Signed
Copy of “Live Nude Elf” by Rev. Jen Miller, Jo Boobs’ School of
Burlesque package, dangerDAME merchandise, Coney Island USA Art work
by: Gothic Hangman, Linus Gelber and Fred Harper.

Live Musical Performances by Vulgaras and Bazooka Falcon
Tarot Reading by Madame Courtney

For more information please contact Dottie & Val at: feedthefundraiser@gmail.com

SAN FRANCISCO DETAILS:

When: Thursday August 27th 7pm - Midnight
Where: The Climate Theater, http://www.climatetheater.com/ , 285 Ninth Street @ Folsom, SF
How much: $10 regular entry.
Why: to raise funds to help LuxKillmore Entertainment make the feature-length film, FEED
Raffle Prizes, Art Auction, Bake Sale, Burlesque, Films, DJ Ace Reality Check TV and Sergio Iglesias dance party

Some
of the performers include: Jukie Sunshne (Big Burlesque), Miss Honey
Penny (Orange Appeal), Dottie Lux (Red Hots Burlesque, School of
Shimmy), Chan Dynasty (National Queer Arts Festival), Kentucky Fried
Woman (The Kentucky Fried Woman Show), The Can Cannibals (Pyrate Punx),
Cherry Galette (queer latina burlesque performer), Precious Moments
(Bulb, Trannyshack), Ruby Vixen (Debauchery), Isis Starr (Living Legend
of Burlesque), Lady Satan (Sugar Shack), Citty Rich (Hubba Hubba Revue)
and Recent School of Shimmy Graduates! And More More More!

Raffle Donations include:
Magie
Serpica, AJ Menin, Last Gasp Books, Sweet Petite Baking, Hot Pink
Feathers, MyPleasure.com, Barbary Coast Burlesque and more!

Photo Booth by Jeff Spirer
DJ Sergio Iglesias(Teenage Dance Craze, “Best Underground Dance Party”- SF Bay Guardian, Girl Groups) and Ace Reality Check TV (http://www.realitychecktv.com/)

For more information please contact Dottie & Val at: feedthefundraiser@gmail.com

Here’s a review/overview of ‘Anomaly’:

The record started off with  a standard Ace track, “Foxy and Free”, then launched into “Outer Space”, the very first single released from the record. It’s the perfect intro to fans both old and new; full of “spacey” lyrics and monster riffage complete with backwards guitar solo. Track 3, “Pain in the Neck”, is another standard Frehley rocker, again with a really cool solo. The next tune is a cover of SWEET’s “Fox on the Run”, a cool but fairly straight cover of a classic track. “Gengis Khan” follows, with some mega riffs and a really trippy Zeppelin-like feel. Track 6 is one of my faves, “Too Many Faces”.  Great song, catchy chorus with a really cool riff that stays with the listener. That’s followed by an even better song, called “Change The World”. The song and its lyrics may surprise both Ace Fans and non-fans alike; it’s surprisingly introspective and very powerful. Next up is “Space Bear”, an instrumental track with the usual killer Ace riffage and lead guitar. Number 9 is perhaps the biggest surprise on this record; “A Little Below The Angels” is probably the closest Frehley has come to a ‘ballad’-like song with some of his most mature and poignant lyrics ever. Without a doubt the best tune on the record! “Sister”, an older track that has been heard in various forms before, is next, and is a great counter-point to the previous song. “It’s a Great Life” follows, and needs no introduction. Wrapping up the CD version of the record is “Fractured Quantum”, the 4th in the “Fractured” Series, and it is a worthy sequel to the previous three, echoing the same basic figure that has been woven through all of the others. Hopefully all 4 of the “Fractured” tracks will be strung together in one long instrumental at some point! Lastly, the itunes “Bonus” track is “Return of Space Bear”, which has Ace re-enacting the dialog between him and the late Tom Snyder, of ‘Tomorrow Show’ fame, who passed away recently. This is Legendary among Ace Freaks, who revel in Ace’s unbridled personality and madcap antics, which, at the time, really irritated Gene Simmons, Ace’s bandmate in KISS.

All in all, this is Ace’s strongest post-KISS solo album, the best since his 1978 disc, and easily besting the recent solo records of his former mates Gene, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss–with all due respect to each.

For more info, go to http://acefrehley.com

Many thanx to Ace Frehley and Frank Munoz (Ace’s Assistant and the record’s Associate Producer), as well as the Buckshot staff and the entire AF Team for making this possible!!!

By “Ace” Annese, Producer/host of RCTV.

Much thanx to Holly English for writing an excellent overview of our history and capturing the essence of the show!

July 15, 2009: San Francisco, CA –

On July 30th Dottie Lux, Val Killmore, Keptone Filmz and friends present FEED – a FUN-draiser. The good time is going down at The Climate Theater, which regularly has performances, art showings and parties. And for a good cause too! Read on…

Lux Killmore Entertainment (Terror of Titty Town, Buxotic Beauty Murders, Lost Weekenders) team up with Keptone Filmz (Interstate, The Other End Of The Line) to develop their short film, Cannibal Love Lust into a feature film, now called FEED. All monies raised at this event will feed FEED. Production begins this fall, so we need to get cooking on raising some much needed dough!

FEED is a savory, sensual, slasher, love story about Chef Ronnie, a charming celebrity chef who thrives and shines in her everyday life as owner and proprietor of , La Pica Diabla, a trendy Spanish tapas restaurant and bar in San Francisco. Chef Ronnie cooks internationally award-winning meals by day and her nights are spent in ways too gruesome to fathom. In her secret life, Ronnie, is a cannibal serial killer who murders a variety of people, from her disposable array of amorous and clueless lovers, former employees and the occasional diners. As Chef Ronnie and La Pica Diabla’s reputation get hot in all of San Francisco’s social and top food circles; so does San Francisco’s murder count. Being haunted by her past, in the form a vengeful lover, and being caught in the seductive cross fire of a increasingly serious relationship; Chef Ronnie has bit off more than she can chew.

“FEED” is a fully LGBT film. All the characters are homo or trans and our killer…A LESBIAN. Name one movie (besides vampire flicks) where the killer is a lesbian. Still can’t think of one? That’s because it’s an entirely untapped market. Lux Killmore wants to bring you the first and the best. Let’s pave the way together! Come for the fantastic fun evening that will leave you plump and juicy, full of warm, savory goodness: DJs, dancing, burlesque performances, a silent art auction, delicious baked goods sale and a FULL BAR! We need to raise $10,000 for tape stock and camera rental, so come with an appetite (and a full wallet).

When: Thursday, July 30th. 7pm - Midnight.
Where: The Climate Theater, http://www.climatetheater.com/ , 285 Ninth Street @ Folsom, SF
How much: $10 regular entry. $25 VIP entry. Please inquire about the VIP ticket package.
Why: to raise funds to help LuxKillmore Entertainment make the feature-length film, FEED
FULL BAR
21+ Only
Raffle Prizes, Art Auction, Bake Sale, Burlesque, Films, DJ’s ACE of REALITY CHECK TV & Ruby White for a special 60’s dance party

Some of the performers include:
Kellita (Hot Pink Feathers), Dottie Lux (Red Hots Burlesque, School of Shimmy), Lady Monster (Satan’s Angel’s protégé, Leonard Nimoy’s model), Kentucky Fried Woman (The Kentucky Fried Woman Show), Steven Satyricon (Pearls Over Shanghai), Delilah (world-wide burlesque performer), Kitty Von Quimm (Rubenesque Burlesque), Bunny Pistol (Barbary Coast Burlesque), Honey Lawless (Alonzo Lines Ballet), Lady Satan (Sugar Shack), Citty Rich (Hubba Hubba Revue) and Recent School of Shimmy Graduates: Bunny Bardot, Trixie La Tourneau, Bitter Waitress And More More More!

Raffle Donations include:
Dollhouse Bettie gift basket, Good Vibrations gift basket, Cut & Color by Rosa Sifuentes, Tattoo by Angelique, Last Gasp Books package, Guitar Lesson, Sound Therapy session from Sound Music, Signed Larry Utley Book “Women in Control”, Kitten on The Keys Merchandise, and donation from Hubba Hubba Revue

Original Art For Auction:
Joshua Ellingson painting, Leland Bobbe’s photo of The Ramones playing live at CBGB’s in 1975 Larry Utley print, Jessica Whiteside painting, Personalized Comic Book cover as you as one of Ronnie’s victims by Eric Siry and more from artists coast to coast!

For more information please contact Dottie & Val at: feedthefundraiser@gmail.com

Flyer art by Mister Reusch Boston, MA : http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3703876110_f4f47aa629_o.jpg

Lady Monster
www.ladymonster.com
http://ladymonsterlair.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/Lady_Monster
www.facebook.com/ladymonster
www.twitter.com/Lady_Monster

LIVE Bands and DJ ACE of REALITY CHECK TV in the back room.

DJ DAMON’s *Rock ‘n’ Roll*Alternative*Industrial* DANCEFLOOR  up front.

9:00 pm - 4:00 am* 21+ only w/ ID!

$8 b4 11. $10 after. $2 beers $3 well drinks till 11!

Live Bands: THE BUTLERS (members of Jetboy, Exodus, Ruffians and American Heartbreak doing classic 1970’s Rock ‘n’ Roll), ANVIL CHORUS, & THE GHOST NEXT DOOR.

RCTV will be filming for a future episode TBA.

Info at the TERMINATOR: RESURRECTION Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108057386494&ref=ts

RCTV has now contributed to several E! THS programs, including E! THS: PINK; E!THS: ROCK WIVES and E! THS: BRET MICHAELS, in addition to the new CRISS ANGEL special.

RCTV’s resident DJ ACE will be running the page, which will primarily be airing whenever time permits! We ahave other Radio outlets in the works, so get ready to be sonically assaulted as well as visually!

Don’t forget to visit us online at http://realitychecktv.blip.tv for new and classic complete RCTV shows!

REALITY CHECK TV has long been associated with JETBOY; we co-produced and shot the DVD Extras on their latest DVD release JETBOY: THE GLAM YEARS MOVIE & CD for CLEOPATRA/DEADLINE Records. Find out more at jetboyrocks.com and cleorecs.com

RCTV co-host/producer ACE will be calling in to give the latest on the show, as well as filling in where we’ve been, and where we intend to go. Tune in by clicking http://www.myspace.com/snrevolution (or copy/paste into your browser) to hear the show, and then drop by each week to hear the wide scope of cool music and great guests on the program!  Also rumored to be on this particular program is former GUNS ‘N’ ROSES drummer STEVEN ADLER, late of CELEBRITY REHAB and SOBER HOUSE on VH1.

Depeding on scheduling and other concerns, we may make a regular contribution to this program, so keep checking back for details on realitychecktv.com!