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,
    Good article on composting [“The Dirt on Composting,” News, Jan. 18], but you forgot the most important kind. Would everyone just get a composting toilet, and get over it? I have been using an Envirolet brand toilet for the past year or so, and along with getting the free potting soil every three months that smells nothing at all like what goes in the top side, the main advantage that could save our planet is the fact that I have been living on fewer than 30 gallons of water a week. Just doing my part.

Dear Editor,
    Re: “Postmarks,” Jan. 25: Here’s what we know:
    1) The U.S. trade debt is up to $6 trillion, which means we’re buying imports and not enough people are buying our exports. Wal-Mart is a major contributor to this problem. (By the way, we don’t have a lot of exports to sell, since corporate America has sent all our manufacturing jobs away.)
    2) A big recession or depression is at our doorstep, in part due to the trade deficit. When the recession hits full-force, the poor and middle class will get hurt. The corporate execs will probably get another bonus.
    3) Every time you buy foreign goods from Wal-Mart, you support slave labor overseas, low pay in the U.S., export of American jobs, landfill overload, and the enrichment of already obscenely rich corporate execs.
    So, Leslie, in the small amount of time we have left before we’re standing in bread lines, think about your addiction to cheap foreign crap while you shop at Wal-Mart. Then look at your kids, and tell them you’re sorry you fried their future.

Dear Editor,
    It's disappointing that the Georgetown City Council did not follow through on their proposal not to hire contractors for city work who employ illegal immigrants. It was a smart proposal (more cities should consider) that was naturally tagged with the discrimination label. It is disconcerting to have the Spanish language so prevalent in our culture. Beyond that, it is negligent for our government to enforce heavy taxation on the income and spending of legal citizens then provide that money to illegal immigrants. People who remain here illegally and refuse to assimilate into our culture should not have access to free health care, free food, discounted housing, utility assistance, and so on, which is government assistance kindly provided with taxpayer dollars. The latest decision in Georgetown is another example of big business running the show and not having any accountability. Legal, working citizens are clearly held to a higher standard of accountability than elitists and illegals. Being disgruntled at the inability to understand billboards, public notices, public television, and advertisements in your city because they are in a foreign language (Spanish) is undeniable. When consumers cannot communicate in English with employees at the local big-box store, that is unacceptable [“Postmarks” online, Jan. 13]. Our country doesn't need a wall to curtail illegal immigration. Stop the enabling by not providing the American way of life in a foreign language. And save the taxpayers' dollars for the taxpayer.

   [Editor's note: For more, see "Beyond City Limits," News, Jan. 25]

Dear Editor,
    So I heard this guy Brian Thompson (running for Dawnna Dukes' job) supports a bigger property-tax exemption. That's all you gotta tell me.
    For the past two years, I've made about $7,000 and paid $3,500 in tax on my homestead. That doesn't even include my "housing expenses" (mortgage/interest and insurance, utilities and their separate taxes). My income is below poverty level, and I pay half my income for tax on my homestead.
    Oh, but they say all the property-tax money goes to public schools. But then they say the public schools are starving.
    Can anyone tell me how this isn't complete insanity?

Dear Editor,
    Thank you for your articles on recycling and composting [“Can Austin Waste Not?,” News, Jan. 18]. I started composting a few weeks ago using something called the Sun-Mar 200 that we bought at Eco-Wise. It makes composting very easy. We stuffed a bunch of dry leaves in there, and now we just throw our food scraps on top, and it all mixes together. The door slides shut and keeps out any pests. Doing that, we have cut our curbside garbage by nearly half. We also started separating paper-board, and we take that down to Ecology Action when we fill a large box. The last thing we did was start bringing reusable bags for all our shopping. That cut down on the tons of plastic bags we normally collect. It is really exciting to see the difference a couple of changes can make. We hope to expand our efforts as the year goes on. Just wanted to encourage the environmental journalism you are doing. It helps bring about more attention to a really important issue. Also loved the energy challenge last summer [Kill-a-Watt Challenge]. Keep up the great work.

Dear Editor,
    In response to Mr. Lee Nichols' Jan. 18 [News] article "RG4N Vows to Fight On," I write to make clear why I have chosen to work on Jennifer Kim's re-election campaign.
    I have known Jennifer for a while, and I support her because of her integrity, support for small business, dedication to the environment, and willingness to listen to the community.
    Jennifer worked closely and continuously with us during our efforts to prevent redevelopment of Northcross Mall that will be in contrast with the values and characteristics of the surrounding neighborhoods. She continues to support and fight for the neighborhoods.
    I am proud to stand with Jennifer Kim as she seeks a second term as Austin City Councilwoman for Place 3, so she can continue to take a stand for us.

Dear Editor,
    What if they renamed it Nazi-Mart? Would that help you wean yourself [“Postmarks” online, Jan. 21]? Because that name reflects their business model better than Wal-Mart.
    There's no lack of information out there about the Walton family and their little business. It is just one example of outrageous corporate assault on humanity, but it is a most egregious one.
    In my area, there are thrift shops where you can buy great clothes, much better than Wal-Mart clothes, for pennies. You recycle at the same time you withhold a tiny bit of the lifeblood from a bloodsucking monster. Take the money you save and buy good local food. That's a win-win.
    Or, you can continue to feed the monster until it eats your children.

Dear Editor,
    The Austin Independent School District's Citizens' Bond Advisory Committee is reviewing and discussing its recommendations for a proposed bond program in 2008. Current, future, and prospective Mueller residents (Pioneers) and members of the city-appointed Mueller Commission have been working to get the elementary school named on the bond [“Postmarks” online, Jan. 20].
    Families with children are moving in, and we want to be a part of a positive boundary discussion that benefits not just our new neighborhood but the surrounding area, as well. Too many parents in the area are sending their kids to private schools. We want to work to change that. We believe in public schools. An elementary school has always been in the Mueller master plan. It has been mentioned in past AISD bond program recommendations. Catellus has donated the land, which would save $2,574,880.
    Enrollment projections from the district suggest that neighboring campuses can accommodate the influx of Mueller students until the 2012-13 school year. A school put on the 2008 bond probably wouldn’t be built until 2012. Not waiting until neighborhood schools are at 125% capacity makes sense. Planning for growth makes sense.
    There is a chance that the AISD Performing Arts Center is going to be plunked down next to that needed elementary school. This was never presented as a possibility to the Mueller Commission or the Mueller Pioneers. The judgment on whether AISD needs a PAC is not the question. The effect on the Mueller master plan and its principles has not yet been discussed.
    Mr. Dick Rathgeber’s generosity is appreciated; however, Mueller is not the best place for the PAC. Participants from the entire district traveling to more than 200 events a year are going to impact this community that is striving to be a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. Whether AISD needs a PAC is not in question. We wish McCallum could be the location, as our kids will be students there eventually. AISD already owns land at 183 and Loyola. To say that two miles east of the Mueller location isn’t central is just not acceptable when the Delco Center is nearby.
    The careful planning that the city has put into Mueller should be respected and continued.

Dear Editor,
    President Bush is working on another tax rebate scam … I mean plan. I believe this time he is proposing to fix the economy by giving all single taxpayers approximately $800 and married families around $1,600. There are a couple of problems with this. First, if you are already among the poor people, then you don't get a check (because you don't pay any taxes). I believe to get the full amount of the rebates you will have to have an income well in excess of $24,000. In other words, if you don't really need the money, you will get the full amount.
    The second problem with this plan is that the median credit card debt per household in America is between $6,000 and $10,000 (depending on the source). So, the rebate checks will at best pay 7.5% of the average credit card debt? However, this is not what the president wants you to do with the "free" money. The money is meant to be spent on stuff to stimulate the economy. How much sense does this make? Most people stop buying things when one of two things happen. One, they run out of money. Two, they are out of credit.
    In summary, our leader's plan is this: The people of the country are not buying enough stuff, due to being out of money/credit. So, even though our federal government is out of money and running out of credit, they will give the people some money to spend on more stuff.

Dear Editor,
    I’m almost afraid to say that I like Wal-Mart. Since I make so much money as an elementary school teacher, Wal-Mart works for my budget. I can actually afford to feed and clothe my family with goods from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart might even provide jobs for some of my neighbors and convenience for my elderly neighbors who don’t own a car. I will still patronize Zingers, Sun Harvest, and the other stores close by because they offer something unique that Wal-Mart does not. The amount of whining by RG4N is sickening, and they waste both the time and money of the city and the courts [“RG4N Vows to Fight On,” News, Jan. 18]. RG4N does not speak for all the residents in this area. Some of us are actually looking forward to Wal-Mart. Please don't hate me.

Dear Editor,
    “Surely the essential and unarguable core of [Martin Luther] King’s campaign was the insistence that pigmentation was a false measure: a false measure of mankind (yes, mankind) and an inheritance from a time of great ignorance and stupidity and cruelty, when one drop of blood could make you ‘black.'” – Christopher Hitchens in the Jan. 18, 2008, Wall Street Journal.
    In order for liberty to perpetuate itself and therefore benefit humanity, all superficial criteria for evaluating the worth of oneself and others must be condemned. And there is no more trivial physical human characteristic than the color of one’s skin.
    Using race to judge anything of real value displaces moral and intellectual honesty as the only accurate criteria in establishing a truthful appraisal of a person (or ideology). Indeed, if skin color plays any part, objective, rational evaluation is virtually impossible – avoiding the much more truthful and precise method of using the mind and its true compass of wisdom. Moreover, it sets the stage for the monsters of the i.d. to run wild. In such a state freedom descends into anarchy. History has shown this countless times.
    It is imperative that all Americans grasp these fundamental truths. If we do not totally reject all references to skin color (and gender) in the evaluation of human character, conduct, and political ideology, we will not evolve. Our culture of freedom will literally die.
    But with the Democratic Party overtly using race and gender in their bid for the presidency, it is obvious that this beast is still loose. This is yet another profound and cogent reason why they cannot be trusted. This lack of rational clarity exemplifies why their final candidate must be rejected. Dr. King would insist.

Dear Editor,
    Let me assure you there are much uglier things in Austin than political signs [“Postmarks,” Jan. 18]. At least when the election is over, those signs are taken down. In the part of town where I live, I have a cocaine dealer who recruits the neighborhood kids to work as lookouts, and if they "prove themselves," he eventually starts giving them dope to sell. He has built a 2,400-square-foot house with his dope money. It took me nine months to get the crack house around the corner shut down. It had been in business for more than 12 years now, and on Friday and Saturday night the street it was on looked like a McDonald's parking lot at lunch. The area around Burton and Oltorf is riddled with prostitutes, drug dealers, and various other shady characters. Montopolis and East Austin is covered in gang graffiti. It is everywhere, and the people that did it never take it down. It doesn't help anyone and usually spreads gang messages. About a month ago, an Austin Police Department officer was shot by a 70-year-old man in a drug raid.
    The part of Austin you live in may be beautiful, and I'm happy for you, but the part I live in needs a lot of work, and many of those candidates that you have said you would never vote for because of a simple little thing like their signs, those same politicians have all been very instrumental in helping me to bring about change in a part of Austin that very much needs that change. I have and will keep their large signs posted on my front fence. I guess life is a matter of priorities, and I can only wish that campaign signs were the biggest problem in my neighborhood. Must be nice to live in ivory towers.

Dear Editor,
    As the Mueller Airport redevelopment project is a high-profile, urban, public/private collaboration that has served as a national model of community planning, the Austin Independent School District should contribute to the project by building the Mueller Elementary School. While the Mueller ES was on the list of original school-building projects for the 2008 bond, the school has been removed by the Citizens' Bond Advisory Committee for failure to qualify as a present, critical need.
    The Mueller neighborhood is finally taking shape after a decade of collaborative planning. Mueller is projected to add 100 elementary-age students per year for the next 10 years. That would require that the existing Mueller-area elementary schools receive critical overcrowding assistance during 2011-12, precisely when schools from the 2008 bond would be completed.
    Why can’t the district allocate for well-planned civic growth when it is forced to consistently react to sprawl-oriented growth? It’s time to reward good planning.

Dear Editor,
    Thanks for the review of Gypzee Soul [“Texas Platters,” Music, Jan. 18], but we changed our name to Gypzee Heart in September to avoid legal hassles. Sorry I didn't send a new CD yet, as it has a few new songs and the correct name. Did you know that even if your band name is spelled differently, you can't use the name if there is another artist that has been using the name longer? We didn't know that. We learned a lot and even trademarked our new band name.
    I think it is a really good review, almost offset by my inability to get out a press release and new CD. Please come hear us live at the Full Moon Barn Dance, or check our MySpace listing and come groove with us, musical capital of the world!

Lee Nichols,
    Our first trip to BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse [Restaurant Review, Food, Jan. 18] was two days ago, and my wife and I had our son with us, so we were unable to sample any adult beverages. That part of the menu would probably bring us back without our son. The food, on the other hand, left us wishing we were somewhere else. The fish tacos (which we both ordered) were served with a stale wheat tortilla with a piece of fish that resembled something that came out of a Mrs. Paul's box. Just a friendly warning if you go back.

Dear Editor,
    In response to Jordan Smith's Jan. 11 [News] article "Child Sexual Assault and the Death Penalty": It is a slippery slope we endeavor upon when the states begin to expand the use of the death penalty. The line will inevitably become very, very gray. Yesterday, it was the death penalty for committing homicide. Today, it's the death penalty for a child molester. What crime will warrant the death penalty tomorrow? Will this open the door for a slew of other inhumane punishments such as chopping the hands off of thieves?
    The tendency to make examples of others for one’s own political advancement is too great in this world for me to ever feel comfortable about expanding the use of capital punishment. Why would a state consider expanding the use of capital punishment when it is evident that innocent people have already been wrongfully convicted for crimes they did not commit and were sentenced and put to death?
    The Louisiana Supreme Court reasoned that "since children cannot protect themselves, the state is given the responsibility to protect them." Protecting a child can be done through less barbaric means than killing an already incarcerated person. Capital punishment has nothing to do with protecting children and more to do with a society’s desire for vengeance. In fact, it will only place children at greater risk for the very reasons that the National Association of Social Workers cites. It gives a perpetrator little motivation to spare a victim’s life, and it also discourages children from speaking up by imposing too much pressure on them. If a child realizes that his or her coming forth could potentially contribute to the death of someone who might possibly even be a family member, then a child will be more inclined to keep the silence and endure the abuse.