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 [email protected]. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    Dare I mention again some reasons besides the Electoral College for using your vote more creatively [“Postmarks” online, Jan. 4]? It's too precious to be just a gift to the preselected Democrat/Republican.
    The primary system. It allows candidates to ignore 99% of the country until they've gotten the bandwagon going in Iowa and New Hampshire. Voters in the early states decide who the rest of us will get to choose from, as many of the better candidates are forced to drop out.
    The campaign finance system. Molly Ivins said that nothing will change in politics until we get control of campaign finance. Currently, it is the starting place for the corruption of politicians.
    Voting machines. They give insiders an untraceable avenue for fixing elections. As we've seen in 2000 and 2004, you only have to shift a few votes here and there to swing the presidential election, thanks to the Electoral College, and electronic voting machines make that very likely.

Dear Editor,
    Re: David Letterman's beard: I am kinda saddened to see the beard go. Not because I have facial hair, as well. My reasoning is he started growing it during the Writers Guild of America strike. Being that he backs the writers, maybe he should have kept it until the strike was over, as a show of solidarity. I was surprised when he stepped out on his first broadcast back lookin' all scruffy. Cracking jokes about how he looks like that Saudi/Afghani/Pakistani cave dweller. David and I go back to the Johnny Carson era. I would be sitting on the couch in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Eating peanut butter ice cream, straight out of the cardboard half-gallon container with my dad. I think it was 11pm on NBC back then. The ice cream tasted great in those hot, dry, Sacramento summer nights. Even with the cardboard aftertaste. I would love to stay up and watch Carson's monologue with his signature golf swing after. A kid fighting the night for the Top 10 list on Letterman afterward. Anyway, I was surprised to see the beard when he came back but even more surprised he let it go. On the other hand, he would probably be tripping over it by time this strike has officially ended. Some people, such as these two late-night heroes, have always cared. Shame on the corporate producers, unwilling to back all those people behind the scenes who keep it flowing. And damn you for airing for all these unscripted so-called reality shows! Ironic how Hillary Clinton did a cameo on The Late Show that night. Then comes to tears over how much she cares. I'm glad she won that primary. She can honestly say after being jeered, "I ironed their shirts in New Hampshire!" Anyway, hang in there, writers.

   [Editor's note: It should be clarified that this strike is really not against producers, not even "corporate producers" really, but rather the strike is the writers against corporations.]

Dear Editor,
    I believe Cmdr. Michael Jung of the Austin Police Department is incorrect with his statement that “Most of the drivers are avid cyclists and comply with traffic regulations” [“Fun, Healthy, and Green,” News, Dec. 28]. I have been in the Warehouse District on many evenings and seen the pedicab drivers regularly pedal through stop signs (sometimes directly in front of APD officers at Fourth and Colorado). They also block the ramp to some sidewalks, ride through alleys, and sometimes ride the wrong way down one-way streets.
    While they are not as blatant in how frequently they disobey the law as bike messengers are, they should follow the law or give up their job as drivers.

Dear Editor,
    Mr. Black seems to attribute depression to laziness [“Page Two,” Jan. 4]. Gee, all those Prozac pills, and all they needed was to stop being trendy (I'm sure millions don't even know they are experiencing "candy-bar-wrapped" existentialism). They need a lecture by a man so rude and self-centered as to read while riding while hitchhiking. When I used to hitch on I-89, I used to do my damnedest to suss out how much conversation someone wanted. I guess that requires thinking about someone else's needs. Just like acknowledging that depression and despair are not always a fashion statement might require more empathy than you, Mr. Black, have ever shown in writing.

   [Louis Black responds: Not that I think it will make any difference, and I certainly didn't make it clear, but I was not talking about personal (clinical/emotional) depression but rather abstract ideological depression over the current and future state of the world.]

Dear Editor,
    Thank you for recognizing the city’s move of the proposed $500 million Water Treatment Plant No. 4 out of the Bull Creek Preserve as a top local story for 2007 [“Top 10 Local Stories,” News, Jan. 4]. The move was critical to protecting Bull Creek headwater springs and endangered-species habitat.
    In 2008 the City Council will hopefully come to see in water what they have finally understood in energy: that the only affordable, sustainable, and environmentally responsible route is to avoid building expensive new plants by investing in conservation. As a community, we waste a lot of water. It makes no sense to spend half a billion rate-payer dollars when we can spend one-tenth that much on conservation and not need a new water plant for 20 years or more.
    Treating and pushing water around also consumes enormous amounts of energy. If Austin Energy is going to achieve its goal of avoiding building a new power plant, we must adopt the same goal for the water utility. Consuming less water also means we protect Lake Travis as a recreational resource and protect fish and wildlife and communities downstream. Let’s stop this water boondoggle in 2008.

Dear Editor,
    Re: “KUT – Once a Commercial-Free Station” [“Postmarks,” Jan. 4]: Bryce Welch is correct in his comment on KUT. I complained to the management some months ago about their relentless commercial announcements, with no effect other than being told that their Federal Communications Commission license-renewal as a "public" station wasn't for several more years. I guess that doesn't prevent listeners from contacting the FCC to mention KUT's violation of the spirit, if not the letter of the rule. Of course the station is a creature of the University of Texas, which makes it more or less invulnerable to any criticism.

Dear Editor,
    Right on, Bryce Welch ["Postmarks,” Jan. 4]. It’s about time that KUT is called to task for changing from National Public Radio to local private (free advertising) radio. Who is getting the advertisers' funds?

Dear Editor,
    In Michael Ventura’s latest editorial ["Letters @ 3AM," Jan. 4], the author laments that presidential candidates’ experience appears inconsequential to the voting public at large, who primarily seems preoccupied with “change” in politics. While I would agree that political experience is important on a candidate’s résumé and that talk of change often serves as euphemistic window-dressing to obscure inexperience, I disagree that job experience is itself the most important factor in picking a candidate. Mr. Ventura is correct in asserting that Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, and Chris Dodd are the most experienced. What he fails to point out, however, is that they are experienced stalwarts of the status quo.
    The most prominent factor that points to what kind of president any candidate might be is his or her ideology. It is ideology that reveals motivation. And motivation shapes the alliances in Congress and the private sector that form U.S. policy. Unfortunately, ideology can’t easily be ascertained by stump speeches or debates. Candidates spend millions on PR campaigns that, as Noam Chomsky puts it, sell candidates like they’re selling toothpaste. Every election cycle, the same amorphous promises of “change” are uttered by every candidate of both parties. Our elections are popularity contests, and the candidates know this, which makes it easier for them all to sound the same in the absence of real scrutiny of their policy proposals and voting histories. That’s the only real way to find out where a candidate is coming from: to research. Who funds them? How have they voted?
    Sadly, not many people are going to spend the time to find these things out.
    Every leading Democratic candidate has a proposal for an “Iraq-lite,” a more palatable occupation of the Middle East. Our naivete and lack of inquisitiveness come at our own peril. And unfortunately, enlightenment doesn’t look likely to occur absent more peril.

Dear Editor,
    Notwithstanding Louis’ naive plea for a Rodney King “can’t we all just get along?” 2008 ["Page Two,” Jan. 4], there are decisions that Americans will make this year that will decide the future of a free humanity.
    And the most significant will be the choice of president. So let’s quickly review our options. In one corner we will have a Republican candidate who will favor keeping the nation engaged militarily in the war against Islamist fascism. And make no mistake; the enemy is committed to our annihilation and will attack us again if we allow it, potentially much worse than 9/11. Additionally, a Republican president will champion economic stimulus legislation including tax cuts, reduction in government waste and much needed energy, entitlement and tort-policy overhaul. Our prosperity will benefit greatly from the resulting legislation.
    Conversely, a Democrat choice will seriously reduce or eliminate our military involvement against the Islamists. This will exponentially increase the possibility of attack on the homeland. Sorry, but that is the reality folks! As far as national economic security is concerned, a Democrat president will press for class-envy tax legislation and grow the size and cost of government regulation to unsustainable levels. These actions will massively inhibit risk-taking and entrepreneurial opportunity, while dangerously increasing inflationary pressure and unemployment. And given the global competition that we now face, the results will be devastating.
    So Louis, you and your neo-leftist utopians can go ahead and whistle past these 800-pound gorillas in the corner. That is, after all, your nature. But mature people can’t be so credulous. The bottom line is that a liberty-espousing Republican must be elected as president, not a MoveOn.org, neo-leftist Democrat. Indeed, because America is the only able defender of liberty on the planet, the free world counts on it.

Dear Editor,
    As a college graduate, I am blessed. Many people are not enjoying the benefits that I enjoy having that privilege. Having said that, there is one nagging truth that I see around the economic scene in Austin. While everyone seems to want a college graduate (specifically with a bachelor's degree) to work in his or her office, no one wants to pay for it.
    "What do you mean by that?" Simply this: If you know that someone graduated from college, you know that someone has debt. College isn't cheap (no, not even state school), and someone who is still paying for college is going to have college loans to pay, in addition to the increased cost of living. I'm not even getting into the fact that employers sometimes do credit checks, which I think should be illegal since they discriminate against the elderly (who might have debt because of medical expenses), minorities, young people (who usually don't have significant financial assets), and poor people.
    Employers, use what you know about your employees to choose the salaries you choose: 1) Most people have cars and have to pay for the maintenance of them. 2) Austin is more expensive, and gone are the days when everyone could find loads of cheap living everywhere. Last but certainly not least: 3) If you have a former college student (recent or not), acknowledge that it costs something to graduate, and pay your staff accordingly.

Dear Editor,
    The Green Party of Texas registered with the secretary of state on Dec. 7 its required filing for political parties making nominations under Chapter 181 of the Texas Election Code [NewsDesk, News blog, Jan. 4]. The secretary’s office confirmed proper receipt of this document. On Dec. 15, the Green Party of Texas Executive Committee unanimously decided to pursue ballot access. We are going for ballot access in 2008 and expect to have a complete listing of candidates for the general election in the middle of next week, as many applications were filed on Jan. 2. Please rescind your article, because it is not true, and please do not hesitate to contact me or the state executive committee if you would like correct, official statements regarding the party.

   [Richard Whittaker responds: The blog entry was written based on information that we believed to be correct, provided by Travis County Green Party Chair Bill Holloway and independent candidate David Griffin, who had intended to run as a Green.]

Dear Editor,
    Richard Whittaker’s article “Does Harry Potter Cause Sexual Violence? Only in Texas.” [News, Dec. 28] failed to note key points in my testimony, including several years of law enforcement when I worked in Travis Co. as a deputy sheriff and a police officer for several cities. In the districts that I worked in Travis Co., there were several topless bars. I responded to numerous assault calls at these “gentlemen's clubs” and spoke to dozens of topless dancers who relayed histories of sexual abuse, usually beginning with incest during their childhood. This “thread” of sexual abuse and women who work in these sex-trade establishments is statistically “significant.” Your reporter inaccurately portrayed my testimony by stating only my law-enforcement experience in Bastrop County, where I served as chief of police for the city of Smithville, where there were no topless bars. What is even more interesting is that Mr. Whittaker did not even get the correct name of the judge who heard this case. There is no Judge Scott Trevin in Travis County. The judge who heard this case was Judge Scott Jenkins. I am an avid reader of the Chronicle and enjoy many fine articles including some excellent investigative reports that far surpass any written by the Statesman. However, I believe if you are going to report news, your reporters have an ethical duty to report the facts correctly in an unbiased form. I will agree with the article in one aspect, though: The tax should also be imposed on all sexually oriented businesses that use and abuse women in the sex industry. Adult lingerie shops and adult bookstores should be taxed, too.

   [Richard Whittaker responds: While Kevin Madison argues that the thread of sexual abuse is statistically significant, there was no statistical evidence offered to the court either by himself or the lawyers for the state comptroller on the connection between sexually oriented businesses and sexual assault. His evidence was anecdotal and, as was pointed out in court, based on his experiences in law enforcement more than two decades ago. As for the error on Judge Scott H. Jenkins' name, that is wholly my fault, and I apologize to the judge.]

Dear Editor,
    Having lived in East Austin for the past eight years, I must say that “Hollywood” Henderson and I share concern about importing the McMansion ordinance east of the highway ["Hollywood vs. Ocean: Be There!” News, Jan. 4]. While the ordinance might prevent supersizing old-growth, upper-crust suburbs, I worry that the ordinance may inadvertently discourage denser development on the Eastside, which will result in fewer affordable-housing units being built in our neighborhoods.
    Many lots in my neighborhood (Rosewood) have been zoned to accommodate two homes or a home with a garage apartment. For example, my house is currently 1,500 square feet and houses three people. In lieu of building a garage, behind my home is a 900-square-foot residence that houses three people. The back house sold for 26% less than my home, creating additional housing for a lower-income household, and it doubled the density for my lot. By limiting construction to 40% of a lot, many developers will simply build the one larger home (e.g., 2,000 square feet) for a high-end buyer and will not build a second structure or garage apartment suitable for students, middle-class families, or home studio/offices.
    If our neighborhood (and city) is serious about promoting density and prohibiting obscene houses, we should focus on how tall the structures are and how much clearance there must be from the curb and in between houses and establish higher density thresholds for multistructure projects. Focusing on lot percentages alone will do nothing more than ensure that additional density is squashed.

Dear Editor,
    Can someone please tell me why anyone even cares about voting, and why all the candidates play to the people? Our vote really doesn't count, as it is the Electoral College that gets the vote. Why don't the candidates just campaign to the Electoral College and save us all a bunch of money and energy?

Dear Editor,
    I loved "Girl From the North Country" on the Nashville Skyline album (bought the LP years ago when first published) but never knew there were more songs recorded during the session [“Page Two,” Dec. 28].
    I've been looking for these tracks off and on for a couple of days now with no luck, only found a couple of the songs on YouTube. Where do you buy bootlegs these days?

Dear Editor,
    Are you kidding me? 3:10 to Yuma one of the Top 10 movies of the year [“There Will Be Film,” Screens, Jan. 4]? Yeah, I'm starved for a decent Western, too, but try watching that clunker with one-quarter or more of your brain turned on. The only reason anything at all happens in it is because the "good guys" are too dumb/inept to tie up the "bad guy" well enough to make him stop killing them and getting away. Heck, I Am Legend is a much better written and crafted film, and I've certainly never been starved for zombie movies.