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,
    What happened to "Weed Watch"?

   [Editor's reply: It has been rechristened "Reefer Madness." You can see the archived print versions at austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Archive/column?oid=oid%3A415631. You can also see it in blog form (usually all the print columns but also some extra items that are Web-only) at austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/News/?blog=oid%3A415598. Thanks for reading.]

Dear sirs,
    As a member of the peace vigil in front of the state Capitol every Friday, we dedicated last week's vigil (Feb. 2) to Molly Ivins.
    We considered her one of the last true investigative journalists left who was also a peace activist. We honored her in the way we thought she would respect the most.
    My name is Julian Ward. I'm the one who holds the "Bush Is Insane" sign at the vigils. I'm disabled and walk with a walking stick. I just had a heart attack at Christmas but still marched in the peace march on the 27th and will still go to peace demonstrations and vigils because I think it's important enough to die for. When will the rest of you wake up and start standing up for peace and freedoms and the environment we once had? We will miss brave people like Molly Ivins!

Dear Chronicle,
    I found your article "Developments We Love" to be seriously flawed and egregiously nearsighted ["Developing Stories,” News, Feb. 2]. How you are able to call the construction of luxury condos on the current site of the Shady Grove RV Park a "Fresh Development" completely escapes me. I find it shocking that you chose to include the prepared and insipid quote of co-developer Rick Engel ("as casual as your favorite jeans, as cool as Barton Springs") instead of a quote from one of the hundreds of Austin residents his development will displace. His version paints this redevelopment as some Disneyland-esque version of Austin instead of the form of gentrification it truly is. It is exactly this type of "synergy" that is rapidly changing the face of the Austin we know and love. While some change is good, we should know by now that just because a business or development claims to be "Austin-centric" doesn't make it so.

   [Michael King responds: While we partly share Marilynn Piper's nostalgia for simpler times and a simpler Austin – maybe even an affordable Travis Heights – we don't see that replacing the couple of dozen RV sites (not remotely "hundreds of Austin residents") at Shady Grove with 250 new residences is necessarily evil "gentrification" or "egregiously nearsighted." No doubt we'd all like to live on the cheap forever, right on Town Lake, but it seems rather more nearsighted to pretend that a million local residents can persist in using the land as though it's still 1965.]

Dear Editor,
    Mr. Perry is not a physician and is therefore not qualified to make the decision for me, my daughter, or even eventually my sons to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus. (HPV is also associated with 1% of penile and anal cancer.) To call it a cancer vaccine is a misnomer as it does not protect against cancer but an STD. That being said, "Gardasil has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity or genotoxicity.” “It is not known whether Gardasil can affect reproductive capacity" (p.8 and 9 of the Gardasil package insert). In other words, it is unknown if the vaccine itself would cause cancer. No one knows what the long-term effects of this vaccine will be, and he wants to use my little girl as a guinea pig. I have a huge problem with that. If you want this vaccine it should be made available at little to no cost. I encourage all parents to educate themselves. Don’t let someone who is in no way qualified make this decision for your little girl.

Dear Editor,
    Thanks for the great story on developers preserving or incorporating existing on-site businesses into their developments [“Developing Stories,” News, Feb. 2]. This is an emerging trend that we encourage as a way to preserve our local businesses and our town's uniqueness even as we grow.
    It is good to see developers recognizing the value that a local business can bring to their developments and making a commitment to preserve those businesses rather than displace them. Kudos to these developers for doing the right thing and for demonstrating that White Lodging and Marriott’s shameful treatment of Las Manitas, Escuelita, and Tesoros is the exception rather than the rule.

Dear Editor,
    The development proposal being rammed down the throats of East Riverside neighbors is startlingly similar to a proposal in the Dawson neighborhood: There is no money for the project yet, no developer for the project yet, no commitment to really move the project farther from the neighborhood – just the proverbial "concept site plan," which means absolutely nothing. Just something attractive to look at that cannot be built in compliance with city code. But the city can just throw the code out the window to give favored property owners/agents what they want at the expense of the surrounding single-family property owners.
    The main difference between the two proposals is that Dawson has a neighborhood plan and the East Riverside/Oltorf Neighborhood Planning Area doesn’t. It will be interesting to see if the city really will abide by the neighborhood-plan process that they have so tediously put neighbors through.

Dear Editor,
    Jim Hightower's excoriation of Chief Justice John Roberts' complaint about low salaries for federal judges betrays either Hightower's utter contempt for or misunderstanding of capitalism [“The Hightower Report,” Feb. 2]. Federal judges are paid less now (adjusted for inflation) than at any time in history. Indeed, first-year associates at large law firms are now paid more than federal judges. Consequently, it's become harder and harder to attract the brightest, most-qualified people to deal with oftentimes Byzantine cases. And that hurts everyone, including the normal folks who are affected (and everyone's affected) by federal court decisions in all areas of the law. No one's saying federal judges are "paupers," but you don't stock an NFL team with cheap high school also-rans. I normally like Jim Hightower, but he's off the mark here.

Louis,
    You'll probably hear this more than once, but Jimmy Carl Black and Arthur Brown's company was called Gentlemen of Colour [“Page Two,” Feb. 2]. Ed Austin and I had a construction company called Austin/Porter at the time, and they were our painting contractors. I remember trimming out a kitchen or some such while Arthur was in there painting, and "Fire" came on the radio. Lots of good memories associated with that song – it was quite a kick to hear him sing along. And I got to see his boy (the son of the God of Hellfire!) perform it once with his dad. Cute. I'm also a huge fan of Zappa, and I'm a drummer, so hanging with Jimmy Carl was cool. By the way, that "Indian" line popped out when Zappa had each member of the Mothers say something/anything into a mic at one session. He liked it, and the rest is history. Thanks for reviving those memories.

Dear Editor,
    I like that Michael King says he "dutifully joined" the Jan. 27 anti-war protest (“Point Austin,” News, Feb. 2). Like serving on a jury, voting, or visiting your parents at Thanksgiving, at this point attending those things does seem merely like a duty, a content-free, apolitical gesture that resembles work more than it expresses any sort of collective political will.
    I understand that the hectoring calls of Trotskyist sects (www.internationalsocialist.org) and professional activists (www.thirdcoastactivist.org) can be quite seductive, but it seems like it might be worth considering, at least for a few seconds, both the efficacy and desirability of these (always-reactive) actions before hitting the streets. Besides allowing the police to refine their crowd-control techniques, they give the Bush administration occasion to trumpet how great our political system is that such vigorous opposition can have a voice, to point out that they merely want to spread this to Iraq, to indicate that they are listening to "their critics," etc. But of course they could care less how much hell is raised or how many pots and pans are banged. Instead, their response to worldwide opposition and even domestic electoral defeat is not to end the war but to escalate it; indeed, while protesters were in the streets, they made earnest noises about expanding the war. Clearly, something is not working.
    A left and anti-war movement that had an imagination and relied on autocritique rather than habit would realize this, cease its co-opted and utterly ineffectual strategies, and set to work creating new techniques and devising new ideas that might evade the traps set by the war machine rather than walking into them.

   [Michael King responds: I'm truly sorry Eric Beck finds jury duty, voting, visiting his family, and joining public demonstrations all equally onerous, but I reject his conclusion that large public protests against the war are therefore counterproductive. Certainly street protesting is not all we should do, by a long shot, and my immediate point was that organizers should do less ideologizing and more outreach to a broad public that is clearly looking for many ways to engage the war-makers. Beck's own "imagination and autocritique" are more than welcome – if they are more, that is, than an excuse for doing nothing.]

Dear Editor,
    As a music fan, I am offended by Brent Grulke's comments in the Feb. 2 issue [“TCB,” Music, Feb. 2]. I can't imagine that the music industry would be very happy to hear that fans don't really matter. Without music fans there would be no bands; without bands there is no product to sell, and no "industry" events would exist. I believe hardcore fans are a part of the industry. If SXSW is purely for the business people associated with music, why are any bands playing at all? Shouldn't you just have a convention like any other business. I am sure the artists don't dismiss their fans as not being a part of the whole music world. Without artists and their fans there would be no music industry at all. Maybe SXSW should try to put this all in perspective and realize one hand washes the other. Being married to a great musician who has struggled in Austin to even be paid a fair amount to play and entertain music fans, I know how important live shows are for artists to connect with an audience. Please be a little more appreciative of all the people who support and love music, without whom you would have no reason to have a music conference at all.

Dear Editor,
    Michael Ventura’s Baghdad Alamo [“Letters @ 3am,” Feb. 2] sheds a lot of light: the Sunni predicament, the impotency of the Iraqi parliament, and the Iraqi security force “contributions” thus far. Quoted from The Week, surge plan co-author and American Enterprise Institute frontman Frederick Kagan believes 30,000-80,000 additional troops will be enough to quell the violence and restore order in and around Baghdad. The Kagan-Keane estimates are among the lowest available.
    Gen. Anthony Zinni (Rolling Stone, November 2004): “We had a plan for an invasion of Iraq, and it had specific numbers in it. We wanted to go in there with 350,000 to 380,000 troops. … We knew that we would find ourselves in a situation where we had completely uprooted an authoritarian government and would need to freeze the situation: retain control, retain order, provide security, and seal the borders to keep terrorists from coming in.”
    We have 140,000 troops in Iraq now. The Bush administration is proposing a 21,000 increase.
    Imagine being a part of an understaffed unit with orders to actively engage and contain the entropic center of a Third World religious and civil conflict. Imagine the new Iraqi parliament can’t agree on anything (no quorum since November). Imagine the violence is escalating. Imagine you’ve already been there off-on, mostly on, for just under four years now.

Dear Editor,
    Reading “Page Two” [Feb. 2] sparked a very vivid memory that debunks the apocryphal version which Mr. Black shared. I understand that "if you can remember the Sixties, you weren't there"; however, the Sixties didn't get under way in earnest for me until 1967, so I managed to be "there" for this.
    I graduated high school in 1967. My dad arranged for me and a friend to go to New York for a week that June as a graduation present. Small town East Texas meets the Big Apple. At the time, I was more interested in the Greenwich Village scene than the usual attractions and spent a fair amount of time down there. That weekend, there were two shows a few doors apart: the Mothers of Invention at (not sure) and the Grateful Dead at the Cafe au Go Go. The Dead’s first album had just come out, and I’d at least seen it and heard of them by then. It was a tough choice, but somehow we decided to go see the Dead (it may have been cheaper or had a shorter line to get in).
    Here’s where my memory is a little hazy, but I don’t think that there could have been more than about 300 people in that club – maybe far fewer. At any rate my memory is that it was fairly intimate. I know we sat at a table and were reasonably close to the stage. What an experience! I saw the Dead a couple of times after that but always in a large crowd and from afar.
    I appreciate “Page Two” (as usual) and enjoyed recalling this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Dear Editor,
    Imagine, as a rock & roll fan, if METV aired bluegrass music all day, every day, and spliced in the occasional Beatles, Julian Lennon, and Whitesnake as their only rock selections. Imagine, going to see Wilco at the Red Eyed Fly to a half-full room, while droves of people pushed by you, on their way to Emo's to see Joe ToneDeaf & the Drunkshitz. Imagine, if every time Whitesnake came to town, they filled huge venues, while the Stones paced out on Sixth Street to offer guest-list spots to frat boys so they wouldn't play an empty room.
    That's my world! Bob Marley, Damian Marley, and goddamned Matisyahu are the only reggae they play on METV. The latter two are the only reggae acts that will fill a room in the "live music capital." Matisyahu relying on the dirtiest and most unforgivable trick: Fakin' Jamaican (anyone remember "Informer"?). King without a crown, indeed. Just a Phish-head, hip-hop wannabe with a glimpse of a niche as the reggae rabbi.
    Time and time again, I'm shocked to see the tiny listing for the Flamingo Cantina contain names of veritable legends in the reggae world. Men and women whose lives have been dedicated to this beautifully heavy, African/island hybrid. Clinton Fearon, Dean Fraser, Doreen Shaffer, Capleton, Luciano, Itals – all the heavy hitters, playing to a half-filled room of people who are evenly divided between fans of the music and people hoping the word "ganja" might be chanted. "420, bra! Pass the J, Travis! Let's Hacky Sack and do a bizarre hippy dance! Irie!"
    Can METV, KGSR, and the Chronicle look beyond Marley and Matisyahu? Check out Art Baker's Jamaican Gold on KOOP radio for some show tips as well as some swell, real-deal tunes on Sundays. See a reggae show or two at the Flamingo if you like Bob Marley. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Dear Editor,
    Re: The Jennifer Kim story [“Point Austin,” News, Feb. 2]: Everyone wants to feel special. Our politicians are no different. One would hope that those running for office would be able to get beyond the need for approval and privilege. The focus should be on job performance. When I was running for City Council, I kinda felt a little rock-starish, too. That can't be allowed to tarnish one's judgment, behavior, and perspective. God bless those who are capable of solely representing the concerns of the general populace in an effective manner. These are the people we need in office.

Dear Editor,
    Not a good day for supporters of human rights everywhere. The news of Molly Ivins passing hit hard this morning. We all knew she was fighting a terrible cancer, but we hoped and believed that if anyone could beat it, Molly Ivins could. We were wrong.
    She was our freedom fighter and our voice for minorities and the dispossessed. Her ability to mix humor while reporting on political matters of major consequence was unmatched. Reading the editorial page will never be the same.
    I had the privilege of hearing and meeting Molly at a human-rights fundraiser in Kansas City more than a decade ago. She autographed her book Nothin' but Good Times Ahead for me that evening and said, "For Gary, a Texan in exile ... Come Home.” Last month I took her advice and moved back to Austin. I'll sure miss her. Rest in peace, sweet Molly ... and keep Ann Richards laughing.

Dear Editor,
    So George Bush is the lame duck. Well in my opinion, George Bush is a cooked duck, charred. I might add, we need to get rid of the carcass. Impeach him.

Dear Editor,
    I would like to respond to the review of my FronteraFest Short Fringe Best of Week performance of "Dating Big Poppa E" [Arts, Feb. 2]. The review was written by someone with the initials of P.H., and I'm pretty sure the P stands for Patti.
    Anyway, I had picked P.H. to be in my show, and I was kinda surprised when she declined the coffee date offered when the audience overwhelmingly chose her as the person I should ask. But I understand: She was on assignment, and she was concerned about my cats messing with her allergies.
    Well ... um ... now that she is no longer on assignment ... do you think she would like to meet for coffee anyway?
    I promise I'll leave the cats at home. And I promise I won't write a poem about it.

Dear Editor,
    Re: Run Out of Darkness, “Texas Platters,” [Music], Jan. 26: I don't want to say too much more about this, but the main thrust of your reviewer's venom was that my album is "self-produced," therefore I don't know what I'm doing. That part may be true, but as clearly stated in the liner notes, the album was a team production, with the excellent contributions of John Harvey and Mary Podio – as well as the great musicians who played on it. John and Mary work out of Top Hat Recording, and their joint and several credits include work with as diverse and significant artists and bands as Honky, Jon Dee Graham, Scrappy Jud Newcomb's new album, Talking Heads, and many others. A lot of good people were slagged along with me in this slipshod attack, by someone who apparently can't even be bothered to get his facts straight. Thanks for the opportunity to correct these specific oversights.

Dear Editor,
    The Austin Parks Foundation board of directors approved the following position at their January board meeting: Austin Parks Foundation Position on the Waterfront Overlay Ordinance: The Town Lake Trail and its surrounding parkland is one of the key reasons that development along Town Lake is attractive and profitable [“On the Waterfront,” News, Jan. 19].
    Austin Parks Foundation considers the Waterfront Overlay Ordinance important protection for the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail. We support rigorous enforcement of that ordinance as it pertains to the primary and secondary setbacks governing development near the trail.
    In some cases, extremely limited variances to the current setback provisions may be advisable. Any such variances should be granted only in redevelopment cases or in development cases where there is no trail access and only if such variances are directly mitigated with substantial, long-term Town Lake Trail improvements and Town Lake watershed protection enhancements.