Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this
postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to
mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.
Dear Editor,
I've been your loyal reader, defender, and crusader since the day you were born. Little did I anticipate that the May 1, 2015, edition would become the day I became irrevocably disheartened and disillusioned with
The Austin Chronicle. After reading Michael King's response to the letter to the editor written by Carol Jackson [“
Chronicle Needs Health Writers,” Feedback] my jaw dropped so hard it popped. I looked back to the Staff Listing to see if his name was followed by Ph.D. or M.D. or any notation of medical studies and found none. There are so many upsetting aspects of Mr. King's response to Ms. Jackson's comments that it is hard to believe at least one thing he wrote didn't stop him short of publishing those comments ("unreasoning and unreasonable fears"?!) and lead him to reconsider his qualifications for making blanket medical statements. Does Mr. King know what
does cause autism? No one does, so nothing can be ruled out. I'm wondering why we wouldn't question the safety of vaccines to the same degree as, say, the safety of car ignition switches or dog food or fluoride in our water.
The Austin Chronicle was revered by many because it reliably and refreshingly took the liberal, left-wing, defend-the-underdog approach to keeping the belly of Austin exposed for consternation. In this case,
The Austin Chronicle's readers were treated to a derision of mass proportions by Michael King's comments.
After endorsing unspecified medical evidence, Mr. King continued the comment with chastisement, condescension, and dismissiveness. The crux here is that there are some very real and frightening results from vaccinations – children who literally die within an hour of receiving the "proven safe" shots. How can that be dismissed without scrutiny?
Parents have a right to get information, not propaganda. Why are newborns required to receive a hepatitis B vaccine within minutes of birth when their only means of contracting the virus are sexual contact, sharing of needles for intravenous drugs, childbirth, tattoos/piercings, or blood transfusions?
My two college-age children are current on all vaccinations and have traveled overseas, requiring some extra shots, so I have no axe to grind other than my disappointment with Mr. King and
The Austin Chronicle for using your readers as doormats.
Dear Editor,
Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs) were created by Rick Perry's amendment to the Texas constitution in 2002. Their reason for existence is to broker, promote, and create toll roads. This is CTRMA's essence ["
The Highway to 2040," News, May 15].
Therefore, any public input they get from their phony "dog and pony show" meetings and studies will only be stored in boxes somewhere to make sure they've covered all their legal bases as the agency pursues its agenda. Whether any other solutions to transportation challenges exist, or what the public really wants, is not relevant to CTRMA.
As CAMPO and CTRMA prove, it is certainly possible to follow the letter of the law and still do wicked things contrary to the public's wishes and values, such as building a flyover above Town Lake.
Dear Editor,
I testified in support of appointment of Antonio Buehler to the Public Safety Commission, along with a former Austin police officer and a defense lawyer, and am highly disappointed in our new 10-1 City Council ["
Council Says 'No' to Buehler," News, May 8]. While one might disagree about the fitness of one nominee to the commission, it does not appear that any other nominee would represent our concerns about police misconduct. Mayor Adler, in delivering his obviously prepared argument (which as chair is forbidden by
Robert's Rules of Order) against waiving the policy that appointees be residents of Austin, made a critical revelation, that it does not matter that Buehler was driven outside city limits by police harassment, and thus condoned that misconduct. None of the Council except for Zimmerman stepped forward to try to do something about that harassment, which is a Class A misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 39.03, and a federal felony under 18 USC 241 & 242. That is aiding and abetting a crime, which is itself a crime.
No one should be appointed to the Public Safety Commission who is a past or present police officer, and every appointee should have had the experience, at least once in his life, of having been arrested and held in a cell. Our 10-1 Council seems blithely unaware of the seriousness of the problem of official misconduct. Let us hope what happened in Ferguson and Baltimore does not has to happen here before they wake up. It could happen here.
Dear Editor,
The pompous attitudes of Mr. Borel [“
Quality Care for All,” Feedback, May 15] and other self-anointed advocates are precisely why people with disabilities lack an adequate safety net in Texas. Where were their voices when the State refused to upgrade the living centers? Or hire and train the personnel to staff them? The lives of people with disabilities should be measured in more than dollars.