That seems to be the claim made by pundits and journalists who either
don't want to raise the ire of Tea Party activists and their Republican
supporters in the media, or they really do want to convince the public
that the Tea Party is "real America" and the rest of us are somehow
not-so-real. Meet Salim, and Arab American who politely takes
exception to the narrative the media is currently selling.
Recently on Facebook, my partner Annabel Park touched off what is
becoming a national groundswell of anger toward "Tea Party" activists
called "The Coffee Party Movement."
Among
other things, we are
meeting at coffee shops around the country, mapping out netroots and
grassroots strategies, and offering Americans an alternative to the
"Tea Party" that takes a positive, reality-based, and
solutions-oriented approach to civic participation. We hope to have
rallies around the country on July 4th, and emerge in the mainstream
media narrative as strong counter to the "Tea Party" movement. After
all, coffee is the American drink, and has been ever since we rejected
taxation without representation via the Stamp Act. Did frontiersmen
and cowboys drink tea? Nope, coffee!
Recently retired U.S. State Department official William Brooks
explains what former Administrative Defense Vice Minister Moriya
recently revealed about the current agreement between the United States
and Japan to relocate the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to Henoko
Bay. Local construction companies in Okinawa wanted to build the
elaborate air base in the bay to maximize profit on the relocation.
It cost me only $15 because I had great health insurance through the LA
Times, and because California has strong health care regulations. The
surgery cured me of a sports-induced arrhythmia that had haunted me
since I was a boy. It freed me of a tremendous physical and
psychological burden. It may have saved my life.
A few months later, I left the LA Times and decided to let my health insurance lapse because
I didn't want to make the COBRA payments. In
my early 30's, I was covered thanks to the Directors Guild, but I let
my insurance lapse when I moved to Virginia and stopped making
DGA films. Again, I didn't want to pay for COBRA.
When young healthy people do as I did -- stay out of the system unless
and until we need it -- we drive up costs for everyone else. I paid $15
for heart surgery. The rest of the tab was picked up by people who
didn't have the option of gambling with their health, and were forced
to pay rising premiums. By
spending most of the last 12 years uninsured, I have saved money, but
it has cost me in other ways. For instance, I fractured my wrist
playing baseball
and didn't see a doctor. It never quite healed correctly. I've also
had to worry about the consequences for me and my family if I was in an
accident, or if learned I had cancer but
it was too late to treat it.
When I buy health insurance in 2010, I will be paying into a system that has already greatly
improved my life. If a few years pass before I need to go to the
hospital again, my monthly payments will not have been wasted. I will have
had a sense of security knowing I don't actually have cancer, and I have coverage if I'm in an accident. And, I will have
paid my share toward the collective good, making health coverage more
affordable for others.
I hope the emerging paradigm shift in Washington will spread to all
Americans, in
particular to young people who think they don't need insurance, and may
resent the choice between getting insurance and paying a fine. To them
I would say the gamble isn't worth it: buying
into the new health insurance exchanges will be in the interest of your
individual security, your family's security, and the nation's.
This was my first feature film as writer/director. I shot it in 2001 and finished it in 2002. In 2003 it came out in theaters and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syesvh_jUVQ
www.CharlotteSometimesTheMovie.com
"...UNCANNILY REALISTIC, MYSTERIOUS and EROTIC! This is a relationship picture that plays like an emotional thriller." --Roger Ebert, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"...GORGEOUS!...A smartly made, hedonistic spectacle of alluring, nubile characters, sun-warmed narcissism and breathtaking color that approaches the exoticism of Vietnamese filmmaker Anh Hung Tran ("The Scent of Green Papaya" and "Cyclo")." --Desson Thomson, THE WASHINGTON POST
"A WORK OF THE UTMOST SUBTLETY AND PERCEPTION! The outstanding feature debut of writer-director Eric Byler, who understands the power of the implicit and the virtues of simplicity and economy. ...Every image is charged with wit, significance and emotion. Would that all love stories were as sophisticated and amusing as the satisfying "Charlotte Sometimes." --Kevin Thomas, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
"...NOTABLY
CINEMATIC STORYTELLING! The deft shading Byler elicits from his thesps
is of a piece with his dramatics and his understated, artful approach
to compositions and movement.." --Robert Koehler, VARIETY
"...Writer-director
Eric Byler demonstrates a refreshing trust in his material and his
audience, crafting a compact, intriguing drama from understated
performances and a subtle visual sensibility." --Sheri Linden, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
" A SEXY, SURPRISING ROMANCE! Idemoto and Kim make a gorgeous pair... their scenes brim with sexual possibility and emotional danger." --Carla Meyer, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Eric Byler (born January 15, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter and political activist. He identifies as hapa biracial, born to a Chinese American mother and a white American father...
Eric Byler (born January 15, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter and political activist. He identifies as hapa biracial, born to a Chinese American mother and a white American father. He grew up in Virginia, Hawaii (where he attended Moanalua High School), and California. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1994, majoring in film. He currently resides in Gainesville, Virginia.
_________________________________
Charlotte Sometimes theatrical trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syesvh_jUVQ
9500 Liberty theatrical trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL-kbeZenaE
Roger Ebert's review of Americanese (IFC Films release 2008)
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060330/REVIEWS/6
03300302
Roger's review of Charlotte Sometimes (Visionbox Pictures 2003 Release)
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030502/REVIEWS/3
05020301/1023
Variety Review of my latest film TRE (Cinema Libre Studio release Nov. 2007)
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933164.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
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