"If we lived in Cuba" -- Hilarious.

yeah, things would be better if we were cuban...fucking retards.

that said, a richard buckner and dean wareham show is a richard buckner and dean wareham show.

frank is one awesome gentleman - please come out and support the good cause.

well people in cuba do get free healthcare and pretty good free health care since Cuba has excellent medical schools. so i don't get the internet scoffing.

i hear cuba is nice this time of year.

if we lived in cuba we'd be in jail for receiving american dollars in the mail.

News flash: Things are tough all over. All over the U.S., all over the world.

those cubans sure make a good sandwich!

'Stem Cellebration' omg that's so precious. such nice people to do that for their friend.

then move to france or cuba or canada you ungrateful bitch!

I don't receive no American dollars in the mail...

Seriously, I'm sure the hundreds of politcal prisoners & dissidents beaten, locked up in prison in Cuba would agree with the moronic promo.

3:11, you're kidding me right?
Please, try holding a benefit like this in Cuba. That is if they actually let you keep the money or if you can avoid being forced into exile to avoid prison time. It's apparent some education on Cuban politics might be of value for some of us.

who is frank bruno? never heard of him.

uh...
how does pointing out how another country does something better than us = thinking it's better in all respects and you want to live there?

are y'all really defending our health care system? it's true, they shouldn't have to hold a benefit concert so their friend can be treated! it's absurd

great music, and appears to be for a great cause, though I'd be buying tix anyway. I'm sure the sick guy had nothing to do with the stupid cuba comment, and I'm also sure the loyalty of his friends speaks volumes for the kind of stand-up guy he must be.

for those of you who don't know, Frank Bango has been involved in the NYC music scene for probably 15+ years... the man is very ill... show some respect!

hmm, yeah, the U.S. are torturing people at Guantanamo Bay....they are political prisoners who are given no rights and any 'free' country should condemn the government that tortures even prisoners of war....but not the U.S. government....so yeah cuba has got it's issues, but the states has a lot of issues as well and free health care is one policy that is a great policy, no matter what the countries other policies are.

Free health care isn't really free. If you think only the rich would have to pay for it, look around your place and think of what you'd have to give up if taxes in the U.S. were at the same level as taxes in nations that offer universal health care.

Anon 9:25 argument on behalf of the rich:

"But what about all the luxuries and privileges I'd have to give up if I had to pay more taxes to fund public health care?!"

How is this different from the slave owner's argument:

"But what about all the privileges and luxuries I'd have to give up if I weren't allowed to own slaves and have them work for me?! You can't seriously expect me to give that up!"

Anon 9:25, not only are you selfish, you're also an Idiot.

I guess having a real job and paying for health insurance is pointless if you have musically accomplished friends to bail you out when you lose the health lottery.

Are we really supposed to feel sorry for a self-indulgent artist/asswad who chooses to live in the most expensive city in America when he can't swing the basics? I always laugh at people who want to live an alternative lifestyle free from the taint of the mainstream and then prattle on about horseshit like healthcare in Cuba. Helping the poor is a moral imperative for the government. Bailing out douchebags who rolled the dice is not. Move to Cuba and let Fidel be your artistic patron, or shut the hell up.

Jose, do you even know anything about this ill person to say that shit about him? I mean, are you just trying to be an asshole?

(and for the record, the US is the only wealthy industrialized nation that doesn't have universal health care. it's not some crazy demand)

I almost can't believe someone just wrote that. There are some pretty low comments on this site, but that has to be the worst I've ever read. I know Frank. He has a job and most definitely isn't any of the things Jose thinks he is. Jose, I feel sad for you. You clearly have some very large misconceptions about the way the world works and what it means to be a human.

i met this guy once at a show and every single time since (at bowery, etc) he has been so kind and friendly. i'm so sorry to hear of his health problems. i'm also sad to see you ridiculous people commenting so inanely in a thread dedicated to a health insurance-less musician amongst us. best of luck frank.

"I almost can't believe someone just wrote that. There are some pretty low comments on this site, but that has to be the worst I've ever read. I know Frank. He has a job and most definitely isn't any of the things Jose thinks he is. Jose, I feel sad for you. You clearly have some very large misconceptions about the way the world works and what it means to be a human."

Hear hear.

frank is an amazing man. i hope he gets better very soon.

Hey. I wrote that original announcement that brooklynvegan copied and pasted into the post. With all these comments I feel like I have to speak up.

I apologize for trying to be funny and make jokes regarding the American healthcare system and talk about the benefit at the same time. What frank and his family and friends are going through is very serious. I didn't mean to pull the Michael Moore card.

the benefit is extremely important to us and to frank and I didn't mean to trivialize it.

Its going to be an extemely special night. I hope you can all make it. More details and acts will be announced very soon.

Noah

"Are we really supposed to feel sorry for a self-indulgent artist/asswad who chooses to live in the most expensive city in America when he can't swing the basics?"
I'm assuming from the post that Frank is having a bone marrow transplant which nowadays is done using stem cells. My husband had to have 2 this year. In total, not counting all the other chemo treatments that led up to that, each transplant costs $500,000 - $750,000. I guess we are assholes for not having tucked that money away for "basics" such as a bone marrow transplant.
Best of luck to Frank - with friends you can make it through anything.

If Karma has it's way... "Jose" has got some cancer cells forming in his balls right now.

hey noah -- nothing to be apologetic about... the benefit is extremely important to the people involved and should be respected as such... AND the american healthcare system is deeply unjust. noting how fucked-up american healthcare is doesn't trivialize your event in any way.

Anon. 7/16 10:22 PM:

What part of "If you think only the rich would have to pay for it" didn't you understand? Looks like the U.S. needs to spend more on educating imbeciles like you before it spends money on universal healthcare.

You incorrectly paraphrased my comment as, "But what about all the luxuries and privileges I'd have to give up if I had to pay more taxes to fund public health care?!" when I actually meant "But what about all the luxuries and privileges YOU (plural) would have to give up if YOU (plural) had to pay more taxes to fund public health care?!"

Take a look at the GST/VAT in countries that offer universal healthcare. It's roughly double the sales tax rate in NYC, which itself is among the highest in the U.S. That kind of tax affects everyone, not just the rich, and it's regressive, to boot. If these countries with universal healthcare are so progressive, why do they rely on a regressive tax to fund it?

Its amazing to me how vicious people can get when they post their views anonymously or otherwise on this blog's comment page. Blah blahdy blah blah blah Cuba universal health care entitled artists etc. The subject of this post is the benefit we are putting together to help ease some of Frank's current medical costs, but more importantly to draw some more attention to his music, and pay tribute to him with an awesome show and support from a lot of great friends. Period. So please come down to the Bowery on August 26th. Hope to see you there!

anon 9:25 -

Can you explain exactly how replacing 'I' with 'you' (plural) makes a difference here?

I understand that your point is that not only the very rich would have to pay for decent public healthcare. Sure, middle-class people would have to contribute something as well.

But the moral point remains the same: if you're sufficiently well-off to be able to make a certain contribution to public healthcare, then you should make it. Middle-class people would have to contribute something (and therefore, possibly, give up on some luxuries, like maybe not buy that new 60" HDTV, or wait till it becomes cheaper, etc.). And those who are really wealthy would have to contribute more.

In either case, what's your moral argument in favor of not having a decent public healthcare system and letting people keep their privileges instead? So far, it looks like your 'argument' boils down to no more than an acknowledgement that you -- I'm sorry: 'YOU in the plural', meaning you and others who thinks like you -- are selfish shits.

P.S. Regarding your idiotic VAT/regressive tax comment:

European countries, Canada, etc. don't rely on the regressive VAT to fund their healthcare systems. What they rely on is their overall taxation policies, which include both progressive and regressive elements, with the former being far more central than the latter. Most European countries may have higher VAT rates than the US, but they also have *much* higher progressive taxation rates which more than make up for that.

Noah... don't apologize. BV brings out the fucking psychos... we shuld all just ignore.

"Can you explain exactly how replacing 'I' with 'you' (plural) makes a difference here?"

I have doubts that everyone who advocates universal healthcare is himself or herself willing to sacrifice to help pay for it.

"like maybe not buy that new 60" HDTV"

You're scapegoating. Have you seen the prices of flat-panel HDTV's? I say anyone who can afford a flat-panel HDTV of ANY size is well-off. Why do I point this out? Because this group includes a lot of people, and it includes the people you have to win over to make universal healthcare in the U.S. a reality. And you can stop assuming I want to protect my own "privileges": I have an analog tube TV and I don't intend to replace it when the plug is pulled on analog broadcasts. (That's right, I don't even have cable or satellite service.)

I mentioned the regressiveness of VAT, etc. to illustrate that everyone gets whacked to pay for universal healthcare. (In hindsight, though, I'll concede that if VAT is collected only on non-essential goods, then its regressiveness is acceptable.)

My motive in arguing with supporters of universal healthcare (note that I'm not arguing against universal healthcare, per se) is my cynical observation that people of all economic classes tend to want something for nothing, even when they claim to be willing to pay for it.

well, why make these cynical assumptions? (or, at any rate, why focus on them as if that were the significant thing here?)

why not assume that most people understand how it's supposed to go: if you're in the lowest ranges of income, you'll pay nothing or close to it; if you're lower-middle class, you will have to pay some not-too-burdensome amount; if you're middle class, you'll pay some significant amount (but -- unless you're upper-middle class and able to pay more -- not more, very possibly less, than the crazy amounts some middle class people have to pay nowadays); and if you're really wealthy, you'll have to pay A WHOLE FUCKING LOT.

i think that most middle class people -- the ones who stand to gain from public healthcare but would still have to pay -- understand that, the same way they understand that garbage collecting is not 'free,' even if you don't have to pay the garbage collectors straight out-of-pocket.

Jose is a troll. Don't fall for it. If you respond to him you lose. There are lots of them on BV now.
An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the intention of provoking other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

The new dark age.