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,
    In "This Euphoria" [Music, Jan. 23] Doug Freeman captured what the many admirers of David (Dahveed) Garza know and appreciate in him: a passionate, rugged individualism, whose notion of how a musician reaches his audience is through expressions, both literal and figurative, interwoven with the jungle-drum beat flowing from the heart, through the mind, and down to "the asses" and feet of his listeners. Freeman's chronicle of Garza's life brought us up to the moment on where he finds himself in his 20-plus years' journey. It was insightful, reflective, and awe-inspiring.
    Garza is extremely generous with his time and talent. He is always responsive to his fans and, as Freeman notes, opens his show up to the groove and flow of the crowd. He brings new artists to the attention of music enthusiasts by participating in myriad events such as South by Southwest "day" venues such as La Peña gallery, where he exposes faithful listeners to other great entertainers such as Maneja Beto (Austin), La Underground (L.A.), and Ceci Bastida (Mexico). He quietly and unassumingly brings us to experience more than his singular – but prolific – talent. His pleasure in such moments is subtle yet palpable, unveiled only by his Cheshire-cat grin.
    I'd like to bring to Freeman's attention Garza's untitled, 10-song release by Thousand Roses LTD in 2005. I highly recommend it to you and will be happy to send you a copy for your consideration. Garza wrote all the music and performs with only a piano and acoustic guitar, weaving his torchy tunes. The melody of "Rattle" has been picked up by Scott & White Hospital on its television commercials. (Nothing could be more calming than hearing this melody in recovery from what ills you.) My favorite song is "For Keeps." I challenge you to find a more tender love song. Anywhere!
    Thank you, Doug Freeman and The Austin Chronicle, for bringing this contemporary commentary to those who love his music and admire his heart and soul. I hope it will entice other fortunate souls to catch him at the Continental Club or another local venue.
    By the way, in Hebrew, "David" means "beloved." In David's case, to me it means "beloved of Austin." Speaking on behalf of countless others, I hope we have David "for keeps."

Dear Editor,
    I've been keeping up with the thread following my letter the Chronicle published two issues back, "Why Isn't Bubble Puppy in the Music Hall of Fame" [Postmarks, Jan. 16].
    By my count, all of the comments have been positive and in support of my letter with the one exception being Wayne Nagel [Postmarks, Jan. 23] who misread my letter to have said no Austin artist on the list of inductees had charted or had success. He should have read more carefully, and I recommend he go back and have another go at it.
    There have been a couple of responses that got completely off the subject when people started defending Bubble Puppy against Nagel's backhanded "One Hit Wonder" crack, and I regret that for all involved.
    All is forgiven here as I'm sure Nagel's true sentiment was as he stated in his preamble, "No argument that Bubble Puppy should be in the Hall of Fame,” and that he was actually lauding us for having the honor of being included in that exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
    It wasn't that we had not recorded any more "hits,” only that the label International Artists would not play ball when given the chance, and dark record industry forces mounted against us. Remember, this was another time, and things were done quite differently.
    So really it's all good, and to have had the opportunity and success we did was an amazing experience for four teenage musicians from Texas.
    So to all who replied in support, thank you, and as I said before, "We will ride in to the sunset … knowing."

Dear Editor,
    Love the Chronicle. Love the comics, especially This Modern World. Just wanted you to know! Thanks for a terrific local newspaper.

Dear Chronicle,
    I read with great interest the cover article on Brandon Darby [“The Informant,” News, Jan. 23]. One thing that became clear to me about Darby is that he is a phony and an egomaniac. His actions and reasoning are not internally consistent.
    If Darby cared about his nonviolent style of activism, then he would have mentored those accused anti-Republican National Convention activists in that way instead of reporting on them. If Darby cared about bringing violent people to government justice, he wouldn't undermine his own credibility as a witness by writing open letters and participating in alt-weekly cover articles before the accused anti-RNC activist has even gone to trial.
    Darby's evolution only makes sense if viewed from an egotist's perspective.
    Only someone so self-involved could rationalize his behavior in the way that he has. So congratulations Brandon Darby on your 15 minutes of fame. I for one will be glad when your time is up.

Dear Editor,
    Regarding your Jan. 16 editorial [“Page Two”], which described the people who may be opposed to Obama and what their reasons may be, you suggested that some of these folks either believe there is no difference between the parties, dislike all elected officials, or oversimplify opposing views in order to make them appear dumb or outright evil. Wow. Talk about oversimplifying opposing views. As someone who voted for Obama yet has in the past supported third-party choices, let me offer some explanation of why some folks might have such opinions. After all, you did state in your piece something about listening to people explain their beliefs, right?
    The Democrats, in taking a majority in the Senate and the House, were supposed to at least begin reversing the course Bush (and Cheney) has dragged our country down. Along comes the financial crisis of '08, and Bush's crony Henry Paulson delivers a three-page letter basically demanding more than $750 billion from we the people to do with as he pleases, and this Democratic majority signed off on it with barely a blink. And we all know how well that is going. (Kudos to Democrat Lloyd Doggett, who voted against this whole-scale theft in both House votes.)
    Now we have Obama, the guy who campaigned on change, nominating as the person who will run the IRS a guy who didn't pay more than $35,000 in taxes and as attorney general a guy who OK'd the pardon of one of Bill Clinton's financial supporters charged with tax evasion. Isn't this just more cronyism?
    Of course, next to the moronic W. and the power-mad Cheney, anyone will be an improvement. But when the Dems have been just as complicit as the Republicans in this latest transfer of wealth, can you blame anyone who is a bit cynical?

   [Louis Black responds: The relevant quote is: "Some of the latter really just don't like any elected official, and some don't like his politics (or at least what they perceive his politics to be). Others think he was put in by the secret powers that be; this includes the crowd that will argue forever that there are no real differences between the two parties, despite all evidence to the contrary. A cross section of all of those who are angry and/or pessimistic about his presidency feel he is unknown and untested, so any optimism is either naive or stupid." This was intended to be an incomplete, noncomprehensive list of some of the views of some of the people who have issues with Obama. I'm sorry if it wasn't clear that this was at best just a sampling.]

Dear Editor,
    Thank you for last week's cover story about Brandon Darby ["The Informant," News, Jan. 23]. It was well-written and compelling, and I read it with great interest from start to finish. However, after finishing the article, I was nagged by the feeling of an unsettling bias.
    What Darby did was unforgivably wrong. It accomplished nothing but hurting the people he knew. The article asks an important question: If Darby did not like the direction of his organization and the anarchist movement, why didn't he leave? Why did he choose to stay and inform on his friends for the FBI? The attempt to answer that question is thoughtful, interesting, and well-informed. But the question left unasked is: What's wrong with being an informant?
    The article assumes from the very beginning that local activists equal good and FBI/government equals bad. A large part of the Chronicle's audience is likely sympathetic to that viewpoint, but I regret that morals are being painted so broadly over a huge part of the issue. Beyond betrayal (a clear moral wrong), the story has to decide whether government is good or bad. And that is not so black and white. If the situation had been different (and Darby had greater judgment), his information could have saved lives. Say instead of an activist involved in largely nonviolent action, Darby had been a drug dealer involved in violent turf wars. The feelings of betrayal would be the same, but the story would have to address whether turning to the government was justified.
    I'm playing devil's advocate here, but I want to illuminate this difficult bias in what is otherwise an excellent article. I've noticed this same anti-government bias in other Chronicle articles (for example, “Campfire Horror Story”) [News, Nov. 21, 2008]. Perhaps the editors of the Chronicle do not feel that it is the Chronicle's duty to avoid this bias. But my opinion is that the Chronicle's investigative articles could be more penetrating, more incisive, and more useful to a larger audience if it discarded this bias and began with a more balanced perspective.

Dear Editor,
    Charlie Sexton rocks. Nuff said.

Dear Editor,
    It occurs to me that having a first family of color paints a more realistic picture of the people which make up these United States.
    My husband, who is black and in his late 50s, works in our local grocery store as the loss-prevention manager. He stands all day at the door with his "happy yellow shirt" while on lookout for shoplifters. People generally look past and around him, even when he says, "Have a nice day," or "Good morning." But the day after President Obama's inauguration, the same people actually looked him in the eye, as if noticing him for the first time.
    Remember putting on your first pair of prescription glasses and actually being able to see the veins on the tree leaves and read all of the road signs? You noticed things that were there all along, but you just couldn't get them into focus. That is the effect I believe this historical moment has had.
    If nothing else, having a black family in our White House has made us more aware of our Technicolor of diversity right here in our very own country. We are very fortunate to be surrounded by and learn from people of all races, religions, and creeds. This is the very quality that makes us American.
    As Barack said in one of his speeches, "There is no white America or black America; there is the United States of America." It leads to the question: Why do we waste energy on racism? Why feed it? What good does it do?
    It's far easier to point a finger at the 60% of young black males in our country who dropped out of high school and have served time in jail. This startling statistic makes it too easy to forget that we have a nation full of "good" black people out here living amongst us. They may live in the ghetto, next door to you, or in a Hollywood Hills mansion; they may be your kid's teacher, a co-worker, or married to your sister. They have a good spirit inside them, waiting to be noticed, waiting to share it with you. We all bleed red. We all cry tears. We are all emotional human beings. Let's extend an open hand and an open heart, for once, instead of a clenched fist.

Dear Editor,
    I saw on the news yesterday that Baylor (that college in Waco) has just unveiled a new $34 million athletic complex. Something like 93,000 square feet of space just for athletic students … oh, I mean student-athletes. OK, am I wrong, or was there just a report about the rising cost of college tuition? I believe it said that during a recession, the cost of tuition goes up more, and the money spent on educating our students has gone down. Why are we building this sports complex now? Actually, why are we building it at all. Baylor is not exactly the pinnacle of college football. It is one of the schools that probably would have faired better in I-AA the last 10 years. They went 33-93 in their current division. The report on the new complex said that it will attract new, more talented athletes. Baylor, the only way you will attract better football players in this area is if the University of Texas, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M start having lots of losing seasons. Please don't tell me that Baylor has an excellent … men's water polo team … or whatever. Football brings in some money; none of the other sports are filling 80,000-seat stadiums.
    I said it about the White House china [Postmarks, Jan. 16], and I'll say it again: I don't care where the money for the sports complex came from. Our schools from kindergarten through college are wasting money on things that won't prepare the students for getting a job!
    Don't think I am just solely picking on Baylor. The amount of money spent on college sports stadiums and coaches is just sad. We have teachers making $40,000 and coaches making $2.5 million. Yes, I know, those coaches and teams bring money into the schools. That's great, but let's spend the money on education. In the old days, students that could play football could play as long as they kept their grades up … in real classes. Now we have developed classes that allow them to pass as long as they keep playing ball. At UT, it appears they are considered to be good students if they are able to make it through the season without getting arrested.
    Bottom line, we are falling behind as a country. You know how when money is short, you have to cut out some fun activities? It's that time for our colleges.

Dear Editor,
    OK, now I get it. To solve our problems, we free terrorists, give money to the people, and kill more unborn babies. The rule of Emperor Barack Obama I has begun. Rejoice, and start building the pyramid. Where's my check?

Dear Editor,
    I was initially skeptical that last year’s Republican National Convention bombers' story warranted front-page coverage. Diana Welch’s report in your Jan. 23 issue [“The Informant,” News] proved thoroughly engrossing; however, infighting to the point of betrayal is destructive of a movement when that movement is advancing but potentially creative when it has stagnated. Hopes aroused by the Seattle protests in 1999 have failed to materialize in the decade since – a gap that leaves political dialogue in the world today and not just in Austin considerably poorer. Seattle's impressive coalition of labor and environmental groups seems to have largely dissipated, while only the window-busting spirit of street mischief that marred the perimeter of those demonstrations has lingered like a nasty hangover. A radical critique of the corporate casino capitalism that continues to ravage the global economy has never been more urgent. Unfortunately, the left in America is pathetically incapable of seizing this moment, because for decades it has languished in tactical and ideological inanities, limiting its appeal primarily to souls afflicted with terminal arrested development. Insofar as it fills in an eloquent case study in the tragic dead ends to which misguided-but-still-popular notions on the left can lead, the article quickened my hopes that the progressive dialogue in Austin need no longer be so monopolized by morons with monkey wrenches in hand. Brandon Darby should be honored as a hero for what he did. And the thinly veiled attempts elsewhere in the piece to slander this young man as some kind of half-crazed, gun-toting philanderer will surely backfire and add to his mystique. More importantly, the revival of the left in America, so egregiously overdue, will only occur in the context of reverence for American freedoms and respect for the rule of law. Perhaps the thorough airing of this sad episode to which you contribute will encourage at least a few young activists to wake up and smell the coffee.

Dear Editor,
    As a non-native to the punk rock scene (when everyone was rocking, I was dancing at raves), I have received quite an education the last three years through the enthusiasm and love of punk that my partner holds. I have been blessed to meet and hear live bands such as Gerry's Kids, Dr. Know, Gang Green, etc., as well as meet members of the Offenders and other great Texas punk bands. These guys, many of whom work the daily grind, are still playing their hearts out in current bands and kicking some major ass. That said, I have witnessed a beautiful community uprising and made many new friends. The coverage in the Chronicle has been piss-poor at best. I wonder where these writers are that make subtle references to the Broken Neck but have no idea, based on the lack of coverage, that there are a great many more amazing new and/or reconfigured punk bands right now playing for our pleasure. The point of this rambling letter being, I hope with my whole fervent being that the Chronicle ignores me, too, when I start making music. Obviously, if you are doing something fantastic and talented and great, there will be no recognition in this town. So please, ignore me, too; it will be a compliment!

Dear Editor,
    Expectations of Obama: Is it wrong to even have expectations, since during the time of W., no one really allowed themselves to have them? Bush never had Americans in mind … I believe Obama does. How's that for expectation?