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.
RECEIVED Wed., April 5, 2006
Dear Editor,
There is a critical decision currently on the plate of the Lakeway City Council that affects everyone who lives in or visits the Lake Travis area. The attraction of the area to visitors and the quality of life for its residents are being diminished by giving profiteering developers the permission to bulldoze, bulldoze, bulldoze and build, build, build. The dramatic natural beauty we enjoy is gradually fading to a picture that portrays "Anywhere, USA.”
The mission statement of the Lakeway City Council says "all new development will complement our desired quality of life." This mission seems to be under attack. The snarling traffic that continues to worsen has residents resorting to dark humor, describing the turning lane on RR 620 as the "suicide lane.” Highway officials seem perplexed about any possible solutions to the problem, so we will undoubtedly see the number of accidents and fatalities increase. Noise and air pollution are additional unhealthy side effects of too many cars in not enough space.
This area is also home to a number of endangered species, the most well-known being the golden-cheeked warbler and the black-capped vireo. These species lose members with each new construction project. Their homeland can be legally "mitigated.” ( A developer can buy them land somewhere else.) Not that the birds would move their nests and prosper accordingly, but it looks good on paper.
The trend toward excessive development of the Lake Travis area suggests that the developers are getting more, while the citizens of Austin are getting less. If the growth of the Lake Travis area doesn't come under closer scrutiny and better management, its unique character will be lost forever. Urge the Lakeway City Council to take a stand to stop careless overdevelopment now! Go to www.seedlakeway.com.
Camilla Bolch
RECEIVED Wed., April 5, 2006
Dear Editor,
This will be short, as I have grown so out of the habit of writing that I know I can't do Michael Ventura justice with words. He so beautifully describes and makes poetic the world in which I live. I am a 60-year-old female baby boomer who has not been able to make sense of anything in years. Thank you Michael, for making me feel again and for giving me hope, even as you describe my existence in terms that are so accurate they scare me. Thank you for who you are and how you interact with me and others when you share your vision of things. You wrote in your last column about what a wonder is was to be enthralled again [“Letters @ 3am,” March 31]. Yes, and thank you.
Luise Parsley
RECEIVED Wed., April 5, 2006
Dear Editor,
I know this is a little belated, but I just have to say thanks to anyone and everyone who had anything to do with this year's SXSW. I can't recall having spent a more enjoyable weekend anywhere, anytime. I couldn't in good conscience not say thank you to someone. I'll never miss another one!
Jim Spencer
RECEIVED Wed., April 5, 2006
Dear Editor,
I want to thank y'all sooo much for the story about the waiters of Austin [“Restaurant Service: A Discussion,” Food, March 31]. I am 24 and have been waiting tables for about eight years. This is the first time I have seen a story that discusses every aspect of what we have to go through and what we are about. My favorite part of the story is when the waiter states that there are some of us that are serving with a master's degree under our belts, so don't assume that we are dumb because it isn't the case, and that we spend just as much time working on our feet as people do sitting in their cubicles. I have wanted to say something like that for so long. I have felt in the past that some people out there that have never been in the service industry take us for granted and don't know what all we do, and now with this story they can appreciate us a little more. Once again, thank you, and go waiters!
Vanessa Powers
RECEIVED Wed., April 5, 2006
Dear Editor,
The Chronicle reported this week that the Travis County Hospital District has allocated $500,000 toward the buying of hospital beds at Seton Shoal Creek Hospital [“Naked City,” News, March 31].
As a local psychologist, I understand TCHD's desire to help address the inadequacy of emergency mental health services in the community. However, as spokesperson for the Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas (Web site is www.endofshock.com), I am deeply concerned about current services at Seton Shoal Creek. CAEST considers their use of psychiatric electroshock, also known as ECT, to be a grave public-safety issue in Travis County. The research clearly shows that electroshock causes brain damage and memory loss, and is not effective in helping people.
My concern is with expanding Shoal Creek services without addressing the dangerous condition of psychiatric electroshock. I know the mission of TCHD is to promote the health and wellness of Travis County residents. Therefore, it is extremely important for TCHD, and for all of us to consider the harm done to members of our community by electroshock.
CAEST is currently in dialogue with Seton Shoal Creek Hospital and the Seton Board of Directors in an effort to educate them about the dangers and lack of efficacy of psychiatric electroshock, which is regularly used on patients there. Our request is that they discontinue using electroshock. We have scheduled our first public event for the 24th of this month.
Sincerely,
John Breeding, Ph.D.
RECEIVED Tue., April 4, 2006
Dear Editor,
Today [April 2] on Sunday Morning they showed clips of President Bush speaking about jobs "Americans won't do.” Let's get real. My friend Richard tried to get hired on as a construction worker on the parking structure being built behind the co-op. When he inquired rather than being asked about his level of experience, they wanted to know if he spoke Spanish. When he told them he did not, he was advised if he wanted to work construction he needed to learn. Seems to me there is at least one job Americans would do but aren't allowed to because they only speak the official language of the country they were born in. I guess I missed the vote that made Texas a Spanish-speaking state.
Mona Prater
RECEIVED Tue., April 4, 2006
Dear Editor,
Just makes you shake your head and chuckle. Another pantywaist Republican chicken hawk, with no military service, shooting his mouth off like a howitzer. This time, it's Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston. He thought he was a big enough man to take on a woman, so he called Cindy Sheehan a nutcase and a beatnik, among other things. A beatnik, Jack?
This is so typical of these guys, like Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush. (Yeah, I know Bush technically has military service. Doesn't count if no one can testify that he served it, though.) With none of their own skin or kin in the war, they talk real big, especially to women. They're overcompensating, no doubt, for physical inadequacies. What a bunch of pussies.
Ben Hogue
RECEIVED Tue., April 4, 2006
Dear Editor,
First, I'd like to thank the Chronicle for printing my actual name in reference to the Place 5 council race [“What's at Stake at City Hall?,” News, March 13]. But, I'd also like to clear up what I believe may be a misleading portrait of me by quoting the following text from my Web site (www.kedrontouvell.com):
"Economically, I believe that government should not be 'pro-business' or 'pro-worker,' but 'pro-market' and should concern itself with setting up efficient markets that offer appropriate incentives and capture all existing externalities (In plain English this means that competition should be fierce, compensation should be performance-based, and polluters should pay the 'hidden cost' of their pollution). Of course, many of the services we as citizens desire will never be produced effectively if left to the market alone. In these cases, government can and should step up to deliver these services in an efficient and innovative manner."
Services that I believe should be delivered by the city include subsidies for affordable housing and the protection of our environment. I'm not sure what a "market solution" for gay rights is, but I am strongly in favor of gay rights in general.
Regards,
Kedron Jerome Touvell
RECEIVED Mon., April 3, 2006
Dear Editor,
The furor over illegal immigration brings to mind the wisdom of W.C. Fields reflected in the title Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. Never has there been a better example of overt political subterfuge as the illegal-immigration fiasco. Contrary to the keystone cop blame game of U.S. and Latin American politicians, this entire problem originates in the cultural cesspool that is Mexico and Latin America in general facilitated by decades of neo-leftist social and political utopianism emanating from America. If this continues, in the near future America will become a Third World entity.
This problem now gravely exposes America and humanity to the horror of tyranny and destitution because America will no longer be capable of defending civilization. And of course this is in addition to the mortal threat posed by al Qaeda, Iranian Mullahs, et al. having open access to America to further their genocidal goals of annihilating the center of Western culture. Neo-leftist Democrats will be primarily responsible and moderate Republicans a close second.
We must condemn the current Latin American leaders who encourage their citizens to invade the U.S., support those who emulate American liberty, keep neo-leftist Democrats away from American political power, and elect conservative Republicans to national office who will vigorously defend our sovereign borders.
The sad truth is that Washington and Latin American politicians are attempting to blame others for this problem – from denying the disastrous economic conditions of Latin America to the poor souls escaping their wretched countries to the American business owners and people who naïvely hire them. To the contrary, political leaders in Washington, Mexico, and Latin America are totally responsible for causing and solving this nightmarish social problem. Unfortunately, they are deceptively playing their citizens as suckers by attempting to shift responsibility away from them. If we allow it to continue, we truly do not deserve an even break.
Vance McDonald
[Editor's response: Gosh and we thought this was a mostly made-up problem because all the ranter right wingers who need some enemy suddenly don't want to talk about Iraq. When the Irish and Italians immigrated to the U.S., many wise xenophobes such as yourself issued almost exactly the same warnings about the end of American civilization. Keep up the good work!]
RECEIVED Mon., April 3, 2006
Hello,
In "Letters @ 3am,” Bodies Made of Snow [March 31], how'd y'all let this one get by: "catch a set by a young unknown at the Saxon Pub on South Congress"? If y'all need a proofreader, please let me know.
Regards,
Paul Bartlett
RECEIVED Mon., April 3, 2006
Dear Editor,
Re: “Weed Watch” [News, March 31]: Gary Silva and his family deserve our compassion and respect! Our government harassment of the sick and dying is despicable, totally against American ideals. Prohibition triggers more violence, suffering, and death than the drugs themselves.
Alcohol prohibition was called the noble experiment, while drug prohibition has a more sinister quality. The lessons of history continue to be ignored, and truth has been suppressed concerning marijuana being a miracle medicine, even curing cancer. Obviously our policies are more about profit than the well-being of the individual.
Tobacco, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals account for almost a full quarter of all those who die each year in the U.S. Illicit drugs account for fewer than 1% of total deaths! No deaths attributed to marijuana. Meth is the latest drug war hysteria created to take our eyes off the real killers we tolerate!
Prohibition is the problem; regulation and treatment is the answer if we want a compassionate policy that reduces harm. War is a tool governments use to make us more accepting of their waste of our precious lives and resources.
People are going to self-medicate, smoke, drink, and party no matter what the law says. The best we can hope for from our drug policies is to reduce the harm. The war on drugs has made us "the land of the used-to-be-free"! America now has the dubious honor of being the most incarcerated nation in history!
Leaders responsible for the current quagmire will have to answer to a higher power for their crimes against humanity. It's time to end the terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary costs are crippling and the human suffering unconscionable.
Follow the money, expose the root of all evil to overcome cynicism with hope for our vision of a free nation! Support for the federal war on drugs is inconsistent with support for individual freedom, constitutional government, and the teachings of Jesus.
Colleen Minter aka
Bonnie Colleen McCool
Stephenville
RECEIVED Mon., April 3, 2006
Dear Editor,
I wonder when the U.S. is going to pull its head out of its collective ass and end the reign of terror narco-terrorists are using to murder cops, judges, and politicians? All I keep hearing from these assholes is "We need more cops on the border!" Well, bullshit. We need to legalize drugs, take the money out of the illegal drug trade, and put the drug gangs out of business. If alcohol is legal, why is pot illegal? I got a challenge for the city of Austin: Decriminalize drugs. If you can sign some bullshit petition against the war in Iraq, why not grow the balls to do something about the war against U.S. citizens? Wonder if the Chronicle might stand up and do something other than carp and complain? Maybe sponsor a public forum on the subject? Who knows? Baby steps.
Carl Swanson
RECEIVED Mon., April 3, 2006
Dear Editor,
The conservative regime has so far managed to lie, torture, steal, and begin a regional conflict that will last generations without so much as a heated debate from anyone on or off Capitol Hill. The few voices raised have been silenced with coercion and blackmail; the people of this country have been left on their own.
Both parties have been bought and delivered to the corporate interests; to the gods of greed and self interest. We are wage slaves given the illusion of freedom by voting for the same treatment under different names.
Independent candidates are the only hope for this country, those who are not afraid to speak their minds and stand for what is right for human beings.
Kinky Friedman may not be the prettiest (although he might argue that point), but at least he is willing to cut through the garbage and speak his mind.
A little revolution is good for the soul, and short of the unthinkable, this may be as close as we can get. Vote third parties, independent, even the lunatic fringe if you are of a mind. It is not a wasted vote. It is a vote against the fall of people and the rise of corporate feudalism.
I love this country and have seen too many changes for the worse. The fate of the world is in the hands of people like you and me to save our environment, our country, our freedoms, perhaps our humanity.
Think free, live free.
Michael D. Comeaux
RECEIVED Mon., April 3, 2006
For Michael Ventura,
Amazing how it takes an outsider to get a whole new perspective on an area. Good job [“Letters @ 3am,” March 17].
Bobby Zimmer is not the only one who hasn't been able to see the forest for the trees around Hibbing, Minn.
We took a friend from Austin visiting us in Ely a few years back to visit Zimmerman's and Greyhound's birthplace.
While at the Greyhound Bus Museum we swung around the corner to the Haul Rust Mine overlook.
A dark back corner of the gift shop held a small group of faded newspaper articles about Dylan.
At the time that was about the only acknowledgment of the prodigal son in all of Hibbing.
Younger folks of Hibbing are beginning to realize that someone rather famous and influential came out of their town, but resentment is there to this day.
Hibbing seems to be just coming out of a decades-long love-hate relationship with Dylan but I think both have had a gross misunderstanding about each other over the years and maybe even themselves.
Believe it or not, the area is not such a culturally dead place as Dylan would lead us to believe. Albeit things have probably changed since Mr. Zimmerman left town, but we have been to some great concerts in the auditorium of his alma mater.
Grand Rapids is a very active cultural community, hosting artists from all over the world. Ladysmith Black Mambazo only a few weeks ago at the Rief Center in Grand Rapids. We will be going to a Ricky Scaggs concert at Coleraine High School next month. You missed that in your trip down 169, between Grand Rapids and Bovey.
The Rief Center concerts at the Coleraine High School auditorium have even hosted such Texas notables as Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel.
Fun reading your piece on Hibbing.
Thanks,
Joe Nicol
Ely, Minnesota
RECEIVED Thu., March 30, 2006
Dear Editor,
I understand McCracken and Maxey's plan to inject, through Proposition 6, a measure of fairness ["A Question of Fairness,” News, March 24] into the city of Austin's current insurance coverage of its employees. The unwitting patient to be injected is no less than the voting public who made its voice heard in Proposition 2, which is affecting the coverage issue. These are the voters, patronized and chided at once, by McCracken, Maxey, and Sheffield as, “more tolerant,” “light-years ahead,” and “ridiculous,” respectively.
Whether Proposition 2 voters' decisions were based on cost impact, moral grounds, or fairness, as tossed in the mix by these elected officials, it would seem cost impact and/or moral grounds held sway over fairness. Would it be fair to say Proposition 2 voters sought to be unfair? McCracken, Maxey, and others are free to launch and champion their cause to make fair the unfair. It is their prerogative, because, as says Maxey of the opposition, holds true of McCracken and company also: “Somebody's gonna do something.” Should Proposition 2 be rendered powerless by voters, so be it. Better a ballot in the box than the politician's injection of fairness.
Gilbert Torres
RECEIVED Thu., March 30, 2006
Dear Editor,
The proposed campaign-finance charter amendment is poorly written and had little public input [“Point Austin,” News, March 24]. It likely will make matters much worse, which is a shame because we do need to increase the contribution limits and make other changes. But this proposal is much worse than current law.
The charter proposal has no limits on how much individuals can give to PACs, creating a giant loophole that undermines the proposed $300 individual limits on candidate contributions. This loophole simply will further empower the police PAC and other special-interest PACs. The city bureaucracy contends that the loophole is necessary because limits on individual contributions to PACs are unconstitutional, but they can't explain why federal law has had such limits since 1974, and the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld their constitutionality three times. The truth is that the Austin Police Association threatened to sue the city if it limited donations to the police PAC. The council caved and then used purported constitutional problems as cover.
The charter proposal also lacks an enforcement provision – an omission of monumental proportions. When I and other reformers pointed this out at the last minute to the city, they agreed that they would add a provision that the city “shall” pass ordinances to enforce the charter. That was fine, but the final charter language says the council “may” pass enforcement provisions, rendering the provision into nothing more than a promise. Promises don't cut it at the city.
We need to raise reasonably the limits and make other modernizing changes to our campaign-finance law. But the charter amendment is poorly thought out and will result in the collapse of the entire campaign finance system – which I am starting to think is its purpose.
Fred Lewis
RECEIVED Thu., March 30, 2006
Dear Editor,
The livestock ID bill is a stupid, ridiculous waste of money and time and would be completely unenforceable. The bill would penalize small farmers and homesteads and benefit only megacorporations trying to build an illegal food-monopoly.
I am thoroughly against such a measure and the media should inform the public of this atrocity.
Dawn Bellemare
RECEIVED Thu., March 30, 2006
Editors,
Bill Bunch and the SOSAnistas' rationale for their latest mishmash of “reforms” is that the elected representatives of Austin, their staffs, and the higher administrators of the city are co-conspirators on tracts covered by the state's 245 law. A secret City Council committee “makes every single call about what deal development is grandfathered.”
Proof offered:
The mayor sent Bill Bunch a 99% blacked-out calendar, after Save Our Springs Alliance's latest phishing barrage (sorry, RFI).
The Champion tract, 2222, the Gables Project, and AMD “deal,” all “proof” because the city didn't detail information out to Bill Bunch, so SOSA could timely bitch about it.
Since the mediators didn't decide in SOSA's favor, that's conspiracy too.
Conspiracy to what? Obey state law, as required? 245 is lousy development law, but only SOSA counsels defiance. And since hard, scientific evidence of conspiracy is lacking, Big Brother will be installed on all devices any high officeholders of the city government might use in any formal or informal conversation relating to city government.
Similarly, SOSA instructs:
That the city isn't subject to state law, and isn't vulnerable to retribution from a hard right-wing Republican state Legislature/senate/governor.
Austin doesn't have a political/legal/fiduciary responsibility to tell citizens, that city staff/departments fear that the city can't comply in “real time” and probably can't afford the equipment necessary to comply with the “open government” charter amendment.
That it's a betrayal of the people, for the council to tell them that explicit prevention of extending infrastructural/social/environmental services over the aquifer could legally preclude remediation to damaged/overdeveloped areas, which is what the Save Our Springs charter amendment demands.
Sincerely,
Ricky Bird
RECEIVED Thu., March 30, 2006
Dear Editor,
I understand that there are police officers that abuse their power and position. However, why do we label them all the same? Why are criminals allowed to abuse the law, and then play the victim? Drug addicts, robbers, and even murderers are allowed to walk free, but when an officer protects himself, his partner, or a civilian, he's the bad guy? The guy that sold your 15-year-old meth and then tried to take an officer's gun doesn't deserve to have the daylights beaten out of him? What about the guy that broke into your car or your house? When he fights an officer, they're not supposed to fight back just because he's hopped-up on coke? I think we forget that regardless of how much we hate speeding tickets and whatnot, these people are here to protect us. To keep the drug dealers away from our children, the thieves out of our homes, prostitutes off our streets, and murderers behind bars. So, before you judge an officer for using a type of force, get all the facts first. Put yourself in their position. They have just as much right to go home to their families at the end of the night as anyone else.
Shannon Hawkins
RECEIVED Thu., March 30, 2006
Dear Editor,
Mario Rodriguez is right about Austin's sad attitude toward wheelchair accessibility [“Postmarks,” March 24]. Not only do Austin's government and motorized citizens disrespect and fail to accommodate people in wheelchairs; they also treat pedestrians with contempt.
Austin's Department of Public Works and Transportation does not consider walking a real means of transportation. The right of the public to walk in the public right-of-way, they say, is outweighed by the need of private citizens to plant cactuses there. Austin's mayor, Will Wynn, declines to defend the right of the public to walk in the public right-of-way.
There are no sidewalks on Barton Springs Road from Robert E. Lee to MoPac and Rollingwood. Public Works was ready to build them, but the good citizens of the Parks Board voted against sidewalks, on grounds that they would increase impervious cover. Two Parks Board members admitted to me that, in their view, impervious cover considerations outweigh pedestrian access and mobility, but motorcar access outweighs impervious cover considerations. For the same reason, Riverside from South First to Lamar is still open to cars, but part of the wide sidewalk on the north side of Riverside has been removed. That's just great for people in wheelchairs.
Some of Austin's motorized citizens seem to think that all wheelchair users have SUVs to transport their wheelchairs. This is untrue. Many people in wheelchairs ride the bus, and are dumped unceremoniously at the sides of busy roads without sidewalks. Motorized citizens park their cars and trucks on sidewalks and dump trash there.
Maybe they're not trying to be mean. Maybe Austin's motorized citizens just don't notice people on foot, with or without crutches or walkers, or people negotiating the streets in wheelchairs. Please, people of Austin, wake up! Life exists outside your cars!
Yours truly,
Amy Babich