Letters 11/10/05

Nov. 9, 2005

Pay fair share for health
When I hear of the rising cost of health care it makes me wonder if what we do in health care is really needed or is this a scare tactic by politicians and business leaders to avoid their responsibilities to pay their fair share.
Has health care really gone up by a bigger percentage than say a movie star’s yearly take, a basketball star’s salary, or CEO’s multi-million dollar payout? If there is such a shortage of money why do major corporations still have sky boxes in every sports venue and have meetings in the Carribean?
When is my ‘conservative’ president going to act conservative and lead his ultra wealthy friends in more humanitarian spending? Health care costs get real benefits for people and aren’t the problem; spending huge amounts of money for our own entertainment and gratification is.

David Friedlander • TC

Can‘t stop the music
There’s a much larger local music scene than just SMYT (Show Me Your Tata’s) and those bands that you’ve listed (re: Letters 11/3).
At TCcellardoor, formerly TClocal, we book concerts pretty much every Friday or Saturday in the month. We encourage the kids to come through flyering, promotion through local businesses, and word-of-mouth, either via myspace.com or actual talk.
Most of the time the turnout is around 150-200 kids, sometimes more. I believe we got around 300 or so for the Planes Mistaken for stars show. The shows are great because they allow the fans to converse with the band after their set and connect with them on some human level. ARI is great proof of this since the kids spent at least an hour talking with the lead singer in the parking lot while she fielded questions from numerous people.
The environment at the shows is extremely friendly and outgoing and other than a whole lot of smoking, it’s quite a healthy enviroment. We discourage violent moshing but instead focus on having a good time and moshing in a non violent manner, ie. hands clasped together, elbows out, no punching and no tripping while circle pitting.
There’s a wide variety of music represented at shows as well, anywhere from post-punk to indie, to metal to blues. Notable local bands that have performed with us include: Tanooki Suit, Escanaba Firing Line, Lift That Cannon, Victor! Fix the Sun, Treees, and Karen. These shows allow people to come together and act like a family, it also helps that we have a no drugs or drinking policy and it’s open to all ages.
The bottom line is that we’ve got a local scene that’s growing steadily every show. Our last show turnout was around 200 people or more, and most of the bands have said they’ve enjoyed playing for the kids here and would love to come back at any time. I’ve had friends that have come to these shows and described them as life-changing experiences. For example, I never used to go to these things until around June of this year and ever since then, I’ve had a steady group of friends that enjoy the same things I do and we hang out at the concerts and talk and I feel like I’m part of a very tight-knit community.

Jacob Anderson • TC

Puzzled & outraged
I am writing because I am both puzzled and outraged as to how the recent article “Bird Flu and Intelligent Design” by Harley Sachs (Oct, 27) made it into the Northern Express.
Just as I would be astonished if a purported factual article descended into a rant proclaiming everyone should turn to Christianity, or Catholicism is the one true religion, so am I amazed that Sachs was able to turn a piece about the avian flu into one that included statements like, “Did the ‘intelligent designer‘ create the Black Death (Bubonic plague) of the 12th century, the Spanish flu of 1918, and AIDS? Surely a God of love wouldn’t do that indiscriminately,” and “Even a God of vengeance and punishment would not destroy the innocent as in the tsunami and recent hurricanes,” and “Would Jesus give us the bird flu?”
Is this an article on science, or did I somehow wander into a late night drunken dorm debate? Here was an opportunity to publish an informative article about the avian flu, a subject that many are both fearful and ignorant of, and instead readers had to wade through Sachs’ murky theology rants. Could you imagine such a piece being published in the Associated Press? As no research or facts were presented, this would have been better suited with an “Opinion” label slapped on it, rather than being published under -- of all things -- ”Technology.”
Perhaps a more intelligent approach to the “evolution versus creationism” debate would be to cite John McCain’s recent speech on the subject. McCain eloquently defended Darwin’s outstanding scientific achievements, and applauded his “steadfast and honest pursuit of knowledge.” McCain went on to say that those who “protect his theory of evolution” needn’t deny a religious person’s “perception of divine purpose.” The two sides can find common ground, he said, by “letting the facts of evolution speak for themselves, and letting the faithful see the hand of God in nature.” The two need not always be at war.
But if you believe otherwise, as Sachs does, and you want religion left out of science, I’d suggest beginning with Sach’s articles, and going from there.

Beth Milligan • TC
Tell Libby to Scoot
With the indictment of White House Chief of Staff “Scooter” Libby, it shines a bright light on the true moral fiber of our nation. The line of distinction of support for the Iraq War has only intensified as a result.
There will be many who see the injustice and potential criminal activities by the White House leading our nation to war and there will be those who balk at this new revelation and will continue to blindly fall into a lock-step in support of it. Unfortunately, true justice will probably be the primary victim with “Scooter” Libby possibly reaching a plea bargain, making null-and-void any indepth inquiry into any other players that might be held responsible for this crime.
If this matter doesn’t reach the courtroom the American people will have been dealt a grave injustice. Morality? There are two moral standards in our country. As we all need to ask ourselves, I’ve come to the conclusion that an “unholy war” will only make our nation and
the world more unstable than it already is.

Wayne Erreca • TC