[Re: Shoulder-fired missiles]
    I wonder what the readership thinks they should do with the three dudes who brought the thing into the U.S. (even though it was a dud)?
    Let's just see how understanding y'all are as you contemplate your next takeoff.

Dear Zilker Hillside Theater:
    I attended the closing night of your musical Crazy for You, and was astounded at the sheer quality and hard work that went into this production. Everything was top-notch: the musicians, actors, the dancing (it can't be easy getting 50 or so people to tap-dance the same rhythm). Bravo, ladies and gentlemen!
    However, I was a little saddened to see that one of your sponsors was the Altria corporation. In the future, if at all possible, could you find it in your heart to decline any future sponsorship by the Altria corporation? Altria is the recently renamed Phillip Morris company. (Those wacky jokesters who bring you such kid-friendly products like Marlboro and Winston cigarettes, ya know?)
    Perhaps you were unaware that they had changed their name. I'm not faulting you for innocently taking whatever sponsorship you can get, but if it's possible to forego their money this year, I'm sure you could find another sponsor that doesn't reek of sulfur and brimstone. I look forward to next year's production!

Item one: Hurray to Kittleson, Pendley, and Honish ["Postmarks," July 31 and Aug. 8].
    Item two: Automobile Addiction.
    Okay, Mr Librik ["Postmarks," Aug. 8], you win. Let's say that Monday (any future Monday) we ban motor vehicles inside the city limits and switch to bicycles. A decent bicycle can be had for around $500.
    This means everybody commuting in from outside must pay to park their vehicles in enormous new lots built all around town at the edges. These will be found either at every entry to the city limits, or at specific gated entries to Austin, the others being walled off.
    All places of business will truly need locker rooms for sweaty cyclists to clean up and change for work.
    Drivers of semis must also check their vehicles at the door, and cycle their deliveries into Austin. Or maybe jobs will be created here – we'll have horse-drawn intra-city delivery services that the truckers will have to pay.
    Perhaps EMS, too, will be allowed a horse-drawn wagon. Will Starflight be exempt because it flies?
    Will the city assume responsibility for horse poop, or will delivery and emergency personnel have to carry poop-scoopers and hop off the wagon every now and then?
    I like my bicycle and I like to ride it, but Austin is not laid out for anything but cars. How much would it cost to rebuild and compact the city? How would this operation be enforced?

I'm very happy that I can purchase classical music CDs again. Thanks to the original article, "Life After the Classical Section" [June 27], and the following letters, Russell McCulloh has been "snapped up" by Tower Records.
   This store doesn't need any free advertising – they're well advertised in the Chronicle. I just thought other classical music collectors would be interested. Russell telephoned me yesterday, telling me of his new location, and that he could now address the list of classical CDs I left with him at his old place last March. He said he had some in stock, and would order the others, or if unavailable, would suggest substitutes. That's dedication!

David Honish said in his letter of Aug. 8 ("Guns Prevent Violence") that the UK's ban on the ownership of handguns was followed by a rise in violent crime. Despite the implication, this is not cause and effect. Gun ownership in the UK was controlled before the ban, and handgun owners were members of target-shooting clubs and had to store their guns in secure conditions, usually at the club. Unlike Texas, they were not permitted to carry their guns with them, and home or personal defense was not a valid reason to be granted a gun license.
    Handguns were banned because of public revulsion after two incidents at Hungerford and Dunblane when members of shooting clubs used legally registered guns to go on murderous shooting sprees. The notorious 1996 incident in Dunblane was the final straw. Sixteen 5- and 6-year-old children and their teacher were shot multiple times to death in their school, and another 10 children and three teachers were wounded.
    Although handgun target shooting was a fast-growing sport, only a tiny fraction of the UK population owned guns. The desire to own a gun is viewed with suspicion by the majority, so there was almost no opposition, other than from shooting-club members, to the banning of handguns.
    While regrettably there has been an increase in violent crime in the UK, much of it related to illegal drugs, death by gun is nowhere near the U.S. level. In 1999 there were 4.08 gun homicides per 10,000 U.S. population and 0.12 gun homicides per 10,000 population in England/Wales.
    There are greatly different cultural attitudes to guns between the UK and U.S., which makes drawing comparisons of limited use. While the widespread ownership of guns might prevent or increase violence, citing the UK ban on handguns is not relevant to the discussion.

The tyranny of the majority is alive and well. The Republicans currently running this country want nothing more than to establish a one-party nation, without ever having to deal with or even acknowledge a loyal opposition. Those that do speak out against them are labeled as unpatriotic and cowards.
    It began when they tried to impeach and remove a popularly elected president over a sex scandal that came to light during a bogus investigation of a real estate deal. (Apparently it's impeachable to lie about sex, but perfectly fine to lie about the reasons for sending our troops into war.) Unable to legitimately win the next presidential election, they resort to rigging the vote in Florida (thanks, Jeb and Katherine), ultimately relying on a legally flawed decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to get their candidate installed.
    Not satisfied with the decisions made by the voters in Texas and Colorado, this corrupt regime then pushes for the redistricting of those states, thus thwarting the will of the voters. The redistricting is neither timely nor in demand by the voters.
    Next, they turn their eyes to the state that bears the most electoral votes: California. Unhappy with the twice-elected Democratic governor of that state, they instigate a recall and attempt to install one of their own in the Governor's Mansion just in time for election 2004, which brings us to their most cynical act.
    These scumbags are going to politicize the tragedy of 9/11 by staging the Republican National Convention in New York City and moving the date as close to the anniversary of the tragedy as possible. Watch as they attempt to make martyrs for the Republican agenda out of the 3,000 dead at Ground Zero. Have they no shame?
    It is time to connect the dots, people! Karl Rove and all those that serve under him – Bush, DeLay, Perry, Dewhurst – are systematically eroding the very foundations of democracy on which this great country was built.

To the Editor:
    The 2000 general election outcome upset the Democrats. George W. Bush became our president not because he got the most votes but because of a technicality: a rule that says states have a voice greater than the number of their voters. This is as James Madison intended. It protects the least of us from the tyranny of a simple majority.
    Now, the Republicans are upset because Texas state Legislature rules and traditions give a minority the right to stall the legislative process.
    Fact is, if you were satisfied with the outcome of the last general election, then you would be an ignorant hypocrite to complain about our 11 state senators breaking a quorum. Following the lead of our Founding Fathers may not always be easy, but it is fair.

"Of course Gore ran an inept campaign. ... And of course Gore was a corporate compromiser," (Michael Ventura, "Letters @ 3AM," Aug. 8).
    Ventura then launches a lengthy assault on Nader's "refusal to admit" and his "doctrine," climaxed by the pathetic "George W. Bush and Ralph Nader are twins separated at birth."
    Ventura won't think outside the little box that has been constructed to contain us. "No Green Party candidate can win the presidency in 2004; but for the Democratic candidate to prevail a substantial number of Greens must vote Democratic." How simplistically partisan!
    We don't vote for candidates; we vote against them. When the majority does not vote, as is typical, they're voting against all the "choices."
    The problem has very little to do with the individuals who run for office – it's systemic. Ventura should know this, since he points to Arkansas and Tennessee as evidence for his rant against Nader and Green voters. The electoral college is an anti-democratic process that is used by politicians within our one-party system to nullify the votes of many while pacifying people like Ventura and directing their attention to blaming scapegoats.
    Bush and Gore are far more similar than Bush and Nader. To argue otherwise is laughable. But getting Bush out of the Oval Office won't change the direction in which we are headed. There are plenty more like him to plug into that powerful position. Our electoral process enables them. They learn to play the blue-and-red electoral college game we get to watch on TV.
    Democratizing the electoral process is not a quick fix solution, but choosing between the lesser of two evils is no solution at all. To learn about alternative voting methods that have the potential to democratize the electoral process, a good start is the excellent research at www.electionmethods.org.

After catching the Texas premiere of Jesus Hopped the "A" Train, I am reminded of another "intense work of realism" regarding prison life: the play Short Eyes, by Miguel Pinero. Pinero wrote Short Eyes in 1977, while serving time. It was turned into a film that same year. The play was performed in New York City by ex-convicts who had gotten into acting while behind bars.
    Both the play and the film are worth one's time, in my humble opinion. The film should be available in any independent video store (God bless 'em). In a rather tragic/ironic twist, one of the leading actors in the film who starred in the original stage production, Tito Goya, was executed for murder in 1985.

Mr. Black,
    Taking a shot at Gov. Rick's hair ["Page Two," Aug. 8]?!?
    Please – I bet Sen. Gonzalo spends as much time in front of the mirror every morning getting pretty as Rick does.
    Excuse me, "Democrat" does translate to "liberal."

Dear Mr. Black:
    God, I love your paper.
    Your Aug. 1 "Page Two" column deconstructing the misadventures of Tom DeLay and his attempts to "Perrymander" the district lines was nothing short of genius. When I opened the Chronicle from that week and saw you'd used so many column inches to express yourself I wondered what had gotten you so hot and bothered. After reading your commentary I understood, and realized all over again why, although I read the Houston Press locally, I love The Austin Chronicle so much more. Because its commentary is insightful. It speaks to readers who aren't into privilege or making a quick buck and getting out. And it's unapologetically progressive.
    Even your letters to the editor section is a sheer joy to read. A read through the Press' letters makes you wonder if anyone here has any passion or style anymore. Austin Chronicle readers write with zest, irony; all the things that make for interesting reading, even if you don't agree with them.
    As for those readers who think Michael Ventura is a whiny, navel-gazing dimwit, I wouldn't pay them too much mind. Ventura, unlike them, is awake. He's far more aware of the big picture than others who want to be deluded into complacency with no spiritual base whatsoever.
    By the way, the "Too Much Coffee Man" comic for that issue (Satan: "What's funny?" New arrival to Hell: "You are so behind the times") made me laugh out loud, even as it gave me the creeps a bit. It's sad that so much is currently being done, supposedly for our own good, to such detrimental effect. Will the madness never end?
    Keep it up, Austin Chronicle – with your snappy mix of news, comics, and commentary you're my and numerous other readers' favorite source for information, amusement, and wit.
    God, I love your paper.

You in the 14th District of Texas are the luckiest people anywhere to have Ron Paul as your representative. Many of us in Alaska have followed and supported his tireless defense of liberty, freedom, the Constitution, and smaller, limited government for years. Many of us are also supporters of the Liberty Committee and circulate all his weekly newsletters and newspaper interviews. In a time when most congressional representatives spend their time in office rushing around the country garnering support for their next campaign, Ron Paul is working hard to make sure legislative bills are constitutional, government spending is reduced, and alerting us to all noxious, unconstitutional government shenanigans. Our hat is off to you folks for electing Ron Paul. If we could persuade him to come to Alaska we would. Do all you can to support this treasure of Texas.

Dear Editor:
    In less than a year and a half, peace officers in Travis County have shot and killed three people in separate incidents. (Two were killed by APD, one by a county officer.) Since all three of the dead were black, the question has arisen: What are the odds that mere chance was the reason three blacks were killed, but no one else?
    According to the U.S. Census, about 12% of Austin's population is African-American. Basic statistical calculation shows that the probability of all three victims being black by mere chance is less than one quarter of a percent. (Interested parties may reach me for details.) Though no one intends to be racist in their work, an obvious racial disparity is emerging at the level of life and death.
    What actions will Travis County and APD take to stop this pattern from continuing? Will officers' associations and individual officers take an increased responsibility for preventing this pattern?

As always, Michael Ventura has it in perspective and "A Friendly Letter to the Greens" ["Letters @ 3AM," Aug. 8] is no exception.
    Even more terrifying than the Neocons' march to fascism is that so many voters actually want this for America; enough to probably elect (not re-elect) Bush in 2004.
    In November 2000, polls showed that 40-plus percent of Americans weren't interested in a fair election. They just wanted to go on with their soap operas and football games. Having their government hijacked was OK with them as long as their side did the hijacking.
    As for me, I'm not quite ready to start practicing my goose step.

I have to object to the editor's negativity in entitling my last letter "Don't Worry About a Job, We're Doomed" ["Postmarks," Aug. 8]. Are we Tall Texans or Feckless Wimps? I think it's time to sound the Oliphant and gird our loins for battle with the beast. Just because our social institutions are designed to encourage, even demand, perpetual population growth doesn't mean we can't create better ones. Just because the horrible nuclear family is a bust, doesn't mean we can't come up with a family that actually works. Just because our economy is designed like a giant chain-letter Ponzi scheme demanding a constantly increasing population lest it collapse, doesn't mean we can't create a better one which can stand and thrive on its merit, rather than by sucking an ever-increasing amount of blood from future generations, like the vampire of Transylvania cast large. The only thing standing in the way is our own ignorance, sloth, and a few self-serving moneybags.

Dear Editor:
    Thank you for printing the hateful letter from Betty Benton that proved my point about stereotyping and racism ["Postmarks," Aug. 8]. Even though my letters and articles are about justice, fairness, and equality, there is always a reactionary response from a reader who obviously does not possess the needed qualities to understand and appreciate the meaning of my social commentary.
    I have been in the "real world" for more than 50 years; I don't need advice from a young, white woman! Only when she has walked a million miles in my moccasins will she be in the position to possibly criticize and judge me!

I just wanted to thank Michael Ventura for saying what I've been thinking about the Green Party ever since the 2000 election ["Letters @ 3AM," Aug. 8]. I don't know if Ralph Nader has gone completely bonkers or if he's signed on as a quisling for the conservatives or if he thinks that by letting Bush and his friends do their worst, the American people will see their evil ways and rise up against them, but I do know this: As poor a choice as Al Gore might have been, he was a hell of a lot better than "W" has proven to be. George Bush could not have won the race for president without the help, intended or not, of the Green Party. Nader can rationalize until the cows come home, but it won't change the fact that we are a lot closer to a dictatorship in this country than we have ever been, and he could have prevented it.

I was delighted to be included in the area with the families of the Texas 11 senators at the Saturday rally. I was particularly honored to hold the picture of Sen. Royce West of Dallas, and only because I had responded to an e-mail for volunteers. I was so impressed with Sen. West during the hearings, I felt doubly honored to hold his picture and be with his family.
    I was so proud to be a Texan and to see those who really make the heart of Texas beat. It is a tribute to our multiculturalism to gather together in unity with all races and fellow Texans from everywhere, under a hot sun, holding tight to the tenets instilled by the Constitution and Bill of Rights that make us all equal under the laws of our country and our state: of the people, for the people, and by the people.
    It was an honor to hear the inspired words of the senators' family members suffering the absence of a spouse or a parent and yet full of pride for their actions. To hear the words of the absent senators holed up at their own expense to keep all from falling under the Republican Right gave me courage to keep speaking up.
    Ya Basta!!
    This issue must not die until it is resolved that this whole Delay-inspired, Perry-executed legislative atrocity is eradicated and the dragon slain through the democratic process.
    Ya Basta!!

Dear Chronicle:
    I'm a Texas certified biology teacher, and I testified against the addition of intelligent design to Texas textbooks at the July 9 SBOE hearing. I'm shocked that board member Terri Leo, in her letter in your Aug. 1 edition, would accuse the 27 people who spoke against religion in science textbooks of "ranting." I can see no indication of the pro-evolution speakers "ranting" in the hearing transcript. Ms. Leo seems to think that adding religion-based theories to textbooks wasn't an issue at the hearing and that the 27 "ranting" evolutionists (many of whom teach at Texas schools) were delusional about the issues on July 9. But in response to the hearing, Holt-Rhinehart-Winston publishers have proposed a change in their biology textbook that would send students to resources on unscientific, religion-based theories. It seems we weren't delusional after all.
    Ms. Leo shouldn't be accusing anyone of misquoting, when she misquoted David Hillis during the hearing, saying that he testified that the human genome project supports evolutionary theory. Although Dr. Hillis never mentioned the human genome project, Ms. Leo and Raymond Bohlin (an Intelligent Design advocate) discussed this at length. Probably this was not intentional misquoting on Ms. Leo's part, but rather an indication that she didn't listen to, or didn't understand, Dr. Hillis' testimony.
    For a Texas SBOE member to speak so ill of the heartfelt testimony of Texas teachers, scientists, and concerned citizens, and to accuse others of misquoting without addressing her own errors, shakes my faith in our school board. I hope that in the future, Ms. Leo will listen more carefully, and will refrain from using such negative language against Texans who care about providing a strong science curriculum for our children, even if she doesn't agree with what they say.

I think judging how "low" the city of Austin's tax rate is compared to other cities requires a little more analysis than Mike Clark-Madison used in his recent article ["Austin Taxes: Too High, Too Low, Just Right – or All of the Above?" Aug. 8]. For example, my electric bill includes fees of $11.18 per month for solid waste/drainage/street service that were added a few years ago to increase services without increasing the property-tax rate. Also, traditionally a utility transfer to the general fund provides some property-tax rate relief and helps to offset the large portion of tax-exempt property in the city.
    If you add these items, we already have a pretty expensive city government, and makes me wonder why we can't make do at the 2002-2003 level of expenditure for a couple of years.

Dear Editor,
    Thank you for the "before" photo of the cottonwoods at Deep Eddy ["Naked City," Aug. 1].
    Those native trees, with their massive root system, filtered the water that feeds the underground spring that fills the pool. Now the toxic runoff from the parking lot and street will more rapidly contaminate the spring and pool, just like upstream from Barton Springs.
    Their roots held the soil: Now erosion will eventually compromise the pool foundation. It will be more than 80 years before the new saplings have comparable filtering roots, oxygen-generating photosynthesis, and shade, and never again "summer's snow" and "tinkling leaves."
    There are nontoxic, effective, exoskeleton irritants (diatomaceous earth, cayenne) that are as effective as pesticides in removing borers, the first reason that city officials gave for killing the trees. Four officials ignored this alternative.
    Then the reason became "falling limbs." A posted waiver absolving the city of Austin of any liability in the event of a wayward limb injuring a patron would have been legally binding. Ever heard of "Swim at your own risk"? Ever known anyone harmed by a wayward cottonwood limb on city property? Are all city parks' cottonwoods on death row because they age messily?
    No, just Deep Eddy's trees because they blocked the screen, and thus limited the seating at the SPLASH! Party, a moneymaking venue on summer Saturday nights. Why wasn't the aging, "diseased" cottonwood just feet away from the felled ones also removed? Doesn't block viewing.
    "Friends of Deep Eddy," indeed. Austin, plant a tree at home, in the cottonwoods' memory.

Editors,
    Michael Ventura fails to address the central point of why so many folks voted for Nader and the Green Party in 2000 ["Letters @ 3AM," Aug. 8] and why the Green Party has continued to grow and grow and grow, winning the loyalties of more and more activists and voters, obtaining more votes and more endorsements than ever before, despite the relentless drumbeat of articles like his own that blame the Greens for all the troubles of the world, and don't bother to question why in God's name the Democrats have failed to muster even the most pitiful amount of resistance imaginable in response to the Bush regime.
    Simply put: Al Gore did not earn our votes, and the Democratic Party did not earn our votes, and they still have yet to do so. Like Gray Davis in California, they have relentlessly pursued the negative politics of fear and offered no compelling vision of why we should vote for them. The continuing growth of the Green Party is solid evidence of the abysmal failure of this strategy.
    As Greens, we vote for our candidates, because they express the values we hold and pursue policies we feel will make a fundamental difference in whether or not we (and the plants and animals who live and die at our whim) survive another century. The Four Pillars and 10 Key Values of the Greens offer a compelling vision of a world that operates on a fundamentally different set of priorities. We are not simply pissed off liberal Democrats, we are Greens.
    And we are willing to vote for a Democrat when they offer a compelling vision that is largely compatible with our values – Kucinich's popularity among the Greens is evidence enough of that, as is our local party's willingness to endorse a quality Democrat with a long track record in the community for the state Legislature.
    In all likelihood, I will be casting my vote for the Green nominee for president in the fall of 2004 – why? Because avoiding four more years of Bush is not worth putting up with 40 more years of Bushism. We need real change, not the faux alternative offered by the corporate-dominated Democratic Party. The survival of the planet, humanity, and all that lives on it depends on this, nothing less is at stake.

Chron,
    It's 108 degrees in Austin. Thousands of people have evacuated as wildfires sweep through western Canada and threaten the American Northwest. Oil corporations can't even get into the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to drill because melting permafrost swallows their equipment. The death toll mounts as all of Europe suffers from record heat waves, while Spain and Portugal are in flames.
    Are there no depths Those Damn Liberals won't stoop to in order to perpetrate the pseudo-scientific myth of "Global Warming"? They have to be stopped, before they melt the polar ice caps!

I don't have to inform you about the environmental impact of building the proposed Wal-Mart within a recharge zone. Austinites already know this. Nor do I have to go into detail about the impact of a 24-hour Supercenter, when it is built within the boundaries of a small neighborhood.
    Rather, I'm writing to address the impact Endeavor and Wal-Mart have when they act without a conscience. Can they do what they want, absent of conscience and without regard to the will of the people?
    The other day I read the profound statement, "If good people stand around and do nothing then evil will triumph." Unfortunately in this case and many cases, the good people are not standing around doing nothing. We've created lives so full of to-dos that we just do not have the extensive amount of time and energy it takes to fight these huge companies. Rather, we lie down and take it and say, "That's just the way that it is." Wal-Mart, Endeavor, and other companies are taking full advantage of this, raping us of our "American Dream" lives that we are working so very hard to create and to maintain. Are these companies becoming so huge that they don't have to listen to the pleas of citizens?
    It makes no sense for Endeavor to build a Wal-Mart one block from my neighborhood pool, just like it makes no sense for someone to build a pool one block from any already existent Wal-Mart. The members of Southwest Austin should not have to accept that this is just the way that it is. Nor should they have to move from their homes, rearrange their lives, to accommodate for a bully with no conscience.
    Endeavor, Wal-Mart, listen to your conscience and to the will of the people. Build your 24-hour Supercenter, but build on a main street, not on Sendera Mesa Drive. Build it outside the boundaries of a community and outside of a recharge zone.

Hello all,
    I just wanted to let you know that if you haven't planned an article on Gail Chovan's couture fashion at Blackmail, you should. Although I am definitely not a "fashionista type" (more of a "fashion voyeur"), I have always been curious about clothing design. Her most recent fashion show on July 26 was really a performance of wearable art as much as anything.
    The most interesting aspect of Gail's work is that it is not as fickle as fashion driven by seasons and color trends. Her work is sophisticated, thoughtful, and timeless construction art. She carefully uses materials like feathers and fur (without looking like Las Vegas), camouflage (without hyperpatriotism), and a variety of vintage fragments and pieces of antique garments.
    Austin is not a fashion center to be sure, but I hope you will support the homegrown talent that we do have!

One of my U.S. senators from Texas believes that "we can win the war on drugs, but we will not do so by legalizing marijuana or encouraging its use for any purpose." That means, essentially, that she is against a medicine that has been shown to help ease the pain of asthma, cancer chemotherapy, epilepsy, glaucoma, and multiple sclerosis. That is compassionate conservatism at its best. The Libertarians have a plan to abolish penalties against marijuana users, "for any purpose." Libertarianism seems like an ideal in a country that continues to turn the blind eye of justice toward a beneficial therapy like cannabis.

Dear Folks,
    I was stunned at the Chron's omission of any coverage of the fashion show that Gail Chovan of Blackmail held Saturday, July 26. How could something so groundbreaking as this be ignored? As a cutting-edge retail venue with national press, as a designer of remarkable talent, as a supporter and role model for the UT fashion group, as a founder of the successful and current club/fashion show/fundraising events, Ms. Chovan will continue to make news. Why isn't the Chronicle there to report it? That said, I would also like to add that "After a Fashion," as a vehicle to actually report on Austin's vibrant fashion scene, is woefully underutilized. (Mr. Moser is obviously very educated in the history and art of fashion but has somehow gotten stuck in the often imitated genre of "A Queen Reports on His Social Life.")

The city of Austin is confronting a multimillion-dollar budget deficit in the upcoming fiscal year. Many Austinites are wondering if the services they rely on will be reduced or eliminated due to the city's fiscal problems. City employees may be pondering if their jobs are safe considering the shape of the local and national economy. I believe that the current problems confronting the city can be overcome with patience and an entrepreneurial approach.
    The city of Austin should follow the examples of other municipalities and create a comprehensive public-private partnership program. For example, the city of San Diego created a Municipal Marketing Partnership Program in 1999 that has generated multiple new sources of revenues. According to city officials, the purpose of the MMPP is to "seek opportunities for the city to generate revenue from partnerships with the corporate community in order to enhance municipal services and facilities in the city."
    A variety of existing partnerships provide San Diego with impressive revenues, thereby saving local taxpayers money. The following list summarizes some of the city's current public-private partnerships:
   Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.: San Diego has entered into a 12-year agreement with Pepsi to serve as the official provider of cold-drink vending machines in the city. The partnership is valued at $6.9 million to $23 million dollars. The lucrative commission structure of the partnership supports parks, recreation centers, and general city purposes. The partnership provides benefits in a variety of others ways, including Pepsi providing two new vehicles for San Diego's Park Rangers program.
   General Motors: GM has a partnership with the city whereby GM provides 34 Chevrolet vehicles for use by the city's emergency personnel. The agreement is renewable but currently lasts through Sept. 30, 2004, and can be extended through September 2006.
   Global Safety Products: GSP provides thousands of "pooper gloves" for people that visit city parks with their dogs.
    San Diego has proved that the public and private sector can collaborate to improve their community. Austin should consider following San Diego's lead and begin to develop public-private partnership programs that will diversify the city's revenue streams.

B.W. Kovacevich, in a recent letter titled "Gun Debate" ["Postmarks," Aug. 1], merely demonstrated a serious lack of knowledge about the facts concerning violent crimes against persons in Great Britain. As the firearms-ownership rights of individuals have been gradually stolen from British citizens, violent crimes have gradually increased. "Sporting purposes" have almost nothing to do with the reasons the creators of our nation were adamant about protecting the citizens' right to keep and bear arms – and some were far more adamant than others about protecting this right. They knew that political tyrants prefer unarmed peasants. If you want to address the issue of responsible firearms ownership, that is a different matter. Everyone who prefers to live in a totalitarian society with no rights, much less the right of self-protection, should just move to one of the wonderful places where such a society is truly appreciated. Most Americans would rather be held accountable for being responsible citizens than give up their freedoms.

I am responding to the letter from Betty Benton ["Postmarks," Aug. 8], who is apparently the guru of reality when she responded to Anita Quintanilla's letter about ageism in the Austin workforce. Ms. Benton, do you really think that every Hispanic female over 30 who (sob) can't get a job at Hooters should then become a friggin' nanny? Great! Anita can go push a double-buggy around affluent neighborhoods, as I grit my teeth about how people think racism/ageism/sexism doesn't exist anymore, but wait, those blond kids certainly aren't hers! Would Anita then be in her rightful place to you? Were you offering her a job, or what? Did you completely overlook the fact that she was applying for administrative work, which she is well trained for? Your response, Ms. Benton, was only an affirmation of her view that Austin is an uncaring city – what a shallow, callous response on your part! Anita was expressing agreement with the article about Austin's social ills – I suggest that you read it over and respond to that!

The recent spate of letters to the editor decrying the fact that evolution is the leading scientific theory have all seriously missed the point.
    There is simply no serious debate as to the fact of biological evolution in the scientific community. None at all. And the reason is very simple: The word "theory," as used in the term "Theory of Evolution" does not mean what they think it means.
    In order for a scientific hypothesis to reach the status of theory, it must endure the harshest scrutiny and account for (if not predict) all the available evidence. Famous hypotheses that have reached this level are Atomic Theory, the Theory of Gravity, and the Theory of Evolution.
    The Theory of Gravity states that masses exert force upon each other. The Theory of Evolution states that genetic populations change over time in response to environmental conditions. The details behind these theories may be open to debate, but the overwhelming evidence grants these hypotheses the status of theories, if not scientific facts.
    An incomplete fossil record does not disprove evolutionary biology, any more than the lack of a Grand Unified Field Theorem disproves gravity. Semantic hand-waving, misquoting of scientific papers, and appeals to theology are all entirely irrelevant to these theories as well.
    In fact, the term "evolutionary biology" is a misnomer, because, to quote Theodosius Dobzhansky, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." Without the Theory of Evolution, there would be no modern science of biology, just as without Atomic Theory, there would be no modern physics.
    I suggest than anyone unfamiliar with these subjects start with the essay by Dobzhansky at www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/10/2/text_pop/l_102_01.html and follow up with the archive and FAQs at www.talkorigins.org.

Are you kidding, Michael Ventura ["Letters @ 3AM," Aug. 8]? Have you been living on Mars? Sixty-eight percent of the American people that didn't vote, along with Jeb Bush & Co., allowed Georgie to win Florida. Most well-read people know this. Thousands of Democratic votes were not counted because of Florida fraud.
    Nader has done more in the last 35 years for the American people and possibly the world than most others. Yes he's inflexible – he's a lawyer. That inflexibility has saved American consumers' lives. And by the way, having been at his rally in Long Beach, Calif., in 2000; I heard him warn everybody about everything. Everything he said about the Republicrats came true. The Dems laid down while George rode right over them. Nader was locked out of the pre-election media, so no one listened.
    Also hearing various interviews afterward, I've never heard him being evasive. His intelligence and vocabulary sometimes alienate those who need simpler language. That is who he is. An intelligent, honest man with the American people's best interests at heart. Less of a man never would've accomplished so much good.
    Nader still has my trust and belief that he was the only honest man in the election in 2000 worth voting for.

How dare The Austin Chronicle publish that blasphemous cartoon by Doug Potter in the July 18 issue ["Ignorant Design at the SBOE," July 18] questioning the existence of an intelligent designer! Everyone knows that there is intelligent design. Why just look at the AIDS virus – that was clearly intelligently designed. QED: AIDS shows that an intelligent designer exists. (Now whether or not he/she/it is benevolent is another question!)

[Re: "Second Helpings," July 25, Aug. 1, and Aug. 8]
    This may sound somewhat sacrilegious, but you missed some of the best pizza around and at the best price. It's at Costco.

Dear editors:
    Last week's letters by Erick Kittelson and Shawn Pendley ["Postmarks," Aug. 8] demonstrate how easily the lay public can be confused by the creation/evolution debate. Both men give reasonable-sounding objections, but both seem unclear how science works.
    Evolution is only scientific "dogma" in the same way that geometry is mathematical "dogma." It works. It's the solution the best evidence supports. In science, there's nothing invalid about challenging the prevailing theory and presenting an alternative theory. However, your alternative theory, to be accepted, must do a better job of explaining the problem – biodiversity, in this case – than the current one. Simply pointing out shortcomings in the current theory isn't enough; yes, there'll be shortcomings, gaps in knowledge to be filled in. However, the mistake that creationists/I.D.-ers make is in thinking all they have to do is discredit evolution and, presto, their beliefs are proved by default. It isn't that easy. If evolution were overthrown tomorrow, they would still have to establish a testable theory of creation that successfully resists falsification. However, creationists prefer to discuss evolution's "scientific flaws" without presenting anything better. Behe, Wells, and Dembski have all been rebutted.
    I find it arrogant and hypocritical of creationists to claim science practices "dogma" in the same way religion does, whenever prevailing theories contravene their beliefs. I've presented, for example, massive documentation supporting macroevolution (www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc) to creationists who state categorically there is none. Typically, they refuse to read it, stubbornly insisting all such evidence is a hoax and a lie. Who's being dogmatic?
    It's also ironic Mr. Pendley accused science of "creatively exploiting linguistic ambiguities," then went on to dress creationism up in hifalutin terms like "process structuralism" and "design inference." A rose is a rose, sir.
    Like it or not, the push for I.D. in school curricula is coming from the Christian Right, and it is part of a broader theocratic agenda. Visit www.antievolution.org/features/wedge.html to read the "conspiracy" in their own words.

If the number of Republican U.S. House members should reflect the voting population of Texas as Gov. Perry and Tom DeLay maintain, then shouldn't there be a proportionate number of women, blacks, seniors, and Hispanics in the Republican congressional delegation?
    In 1990 the racial/ethnic population in Texas was reported as being: 62.8% white, 25.5% Hispanic, and 11.7% black. The figure for Texans who are 60-plus years of age was around 13%. All these minority groups should have grown considerably since then. It has been reported that U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has recently lobbied that hurricanes should be named more in accordance with racial distribution to reflect our multicultural makeup and not just white names.
    So, how about it? If there are too many congressmen over 60 years old, some of them will definitely have to be reproportioned out of office. Some will have to go to make room for the Hispanic representatives and the blacks and women as well. We can then start to have our U.S. congressional delegation really reflect the voters of Texas. Hey, that Gov. Perry is a genius.

Texas executes scores of people each year, yet we rarely hear about it. International media flock to Huntsville to see us kill again, but we're used to it. I'd like to see coverage of every single execution in your paper; and on weeks when there haven't been any executions, an informative article on capital punishment. Please help out, as the progressive newspaper for the death penalty capital of America.

To the Editor:
    Under the heading "News" in your Aug. 1 edition was the sweetest little bio piece one could ever read anywhere. Who is this guy, Lucius Lomax? His "Calling Mom" read like a prize-winning short story. Gems like this are what keep The Austin Chronicle the delightful treasure hunt it has been since its inception. Thanks for staying fresh and alive.

Dear Austin Chronicle:
    Has another Nixon been caught with his hand in the cookie jar?
    I watched in disbelief during this past [regular] session of the Texas Legislature as Joe Nixon conducted committee hearings on his "Tort Reform" legislation. I could not believe what I was seeing as I watched the way he dismissed out of hand anyone that had anything to say in opposition, while publicly embracing anyone in favor, especially anyone from the insurance industry. I commented several times during that shameful process that it appeared that Nixon was "bought and paid for" and "owned by" the insurance industry. Little did I know then how on-point and apparently accurate those words were. It now appears Nixon is opposed to recovery from the insurance industry for everyone but himself ["Did Farmers Buy Off Nixon?" Aug. 8]. As George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm, "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." After these latest revelations, I am more ashamed than ever to have Joe Nixon represent this part of Houston and Harris County.
    I trust you will stay on this shocking, but in retrospect, not surprising, story.