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 Chronicle and readers,
    There's been a call for increased volunteerism across our nation, and I challenge the theatre artists of Austin to answer that call.
    There are perhaps a handful of individuals in Austin who can make their living from the live-theatre scene – most of us receive either no financial compensation or a minimal stipend that (might) cover gasoline costs to rehearsals on the other end of town. We certainly do enjoy the emotional rewards of being part of one of the most vibrant, sophisticated, and entertaining theatre scenes in America – or likely we wouldn't participate at all.
    Now it seems to me that we need to put our (albeit limited) resources where our hearts and mouths are – I submit that every producer, actor, director, designer, and technician involved in Austin theatre choose one project this year to which you will donate your services: Give the stipend back, do the design for free, waive your cut of the take, etc. Royalties will not be waived, and sets must still be built of raw materials, furniture acquired, props purchased – but our talents can surely be given freely in the spirit of volunteerism for the good of our nation. I don't think anyone working in the theatre in Austin will go hungry if they give one show to Austin theatre in 2009.
    Along these same lines, I ask that business owners and individuals who enjoy live theatre on all levels in Austin find ways to give as well, so as to keep the level of art in our theatre high and mighty. Donate or lend furniture or materials, buy extra tickets and give them to employees as perks or rewards, write a small check to your favorite company (you would be pleasantly surprised to learn how much Austin theatres can do with $25), or even just buy a little ad in the program – I speak from experience that every cent is used wisely (no spa junkets for actors!) and will enhance your theatregoing experience.
    To my fellow theatre artists: it's not that our talents aren't worth money – it's precisely because they are that these donations/sacrifices/contributions are so worthwhile and so important.
    Just one show this year.

Dear Editor,
    Re: The Cactus Cafe and Griff Luneburg [“Blood on the Tracks,” Music, Feb. 6]: I want to take this opportunity to thank Griff Luneburg for his outstanding contributions to our thriving, dynamic, and diverse music scene here in Austin. I have been playing his open stage regularly since 1994, and I appreciate the opportunity to play in the exceptional environment that Griff has created.
    I will never be famous. So what? Big deal! I can proudly tell folks that I have played at the Cactus Cafe (chicks dig it).

Dear Editor,
    "The concern is that the sky-high approval ratings and unprecedented, across-the-board national support for President Obama indicate unrealistic expectations" [“Page Two,” Jan. 23]. Gee, Louis, ya think? If the 2 million lemmings flocking to D.C., many with no thought of even how to provide for their own lodging, travel, or tickets, didn't clue you in, maybe the hysterical "tears of joy" broadcast in HD from viewing parties at movie theatres and bars all over America would. I saw a 62-year-old white man who had little clue of how to keep America safe or help the economy give way to a 47-year-old biracial man who has little clue of how to keep America safe or help the economy. I'm not ageist or racist enough to think this makes any difference. Apparently a few million of my fellow Americans are … or else they're just so giddy (ding, dong, the Bushmonster is dead) that they are blinded by a pretty face.
    This degree of adulation is more seemly when directed at a pop star, but when directed at someone who wields the power of the law, things can get a little dicier. If you can't imagine how Hitler came to power, look around at Obama's rallies. Hitler's scapegoats were Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals; Obama's are oil and coal companies, doctors and hospitals, and the wealthy, and the 21st century civilized citizens of America cheer, just like the 20th century civilized citizens of Germany – with their unrealistic expectations – did 70 years ago.

Dear Editor,
    Just read the editorial … sorry, I meant the movie review of Taken by Josh Rosenblatt [Film Listings, Feb. 6]. Wow! This guy had something bad to say about everybody and everything except the sex traffickers. Tying it to the Bush administration? I am embarrassed for The Austin Chronicle.

Dear Editor,
    I have not been paying any attention to the woman that gave birth to octuplets. Mainly because it doesn't really interest me. However, today I heard a snippet of an interview with Nadya Suleman, and she is planning on going back to school to get her master's degree in counseling. Um … counseling? As in, you want to help other people with their problems?
    OK, Nadya, let's discuss you for a moment. You had six kids already? OK. Well then, do you have a good job to support all these kids? Oh, unemployed? Hmm, that is not good. Well then, I suppose you are independently wealthy? No again? You still live at home with your parents.
    I can tell you, Nadya, if I were looking for a counselor to help me with any problem, I would at least look for one that wasn't more screwed up than me.

Dear Editor,
    I woke up this morning with blood on my hands. Gun-control proponents like me are always waking up with blood on their hands – smeared there by the gun guys, oddly enough.
    Gun guys like to lay guilt trips on gun-control proponents and say there is blood on their hands. This is quite remarkable from people who are responsible for the death of hundreds of children a year from gunfire. I wonder how they sleep at night, hearing the cries of the slain children.
    Recently, a gun proponent on channelAustin said something gun guys like to repeat to death: "An armed society is a polite society." The presence of lots of guns lowers the crime rate, causes the sun to shine constantly, and creates a virtual nirvana on earth, etc.
    He then went on to smear that blood on my hands. But his assertion is so incredibly easy to disprove, it makes me wonder about gun guys. If more guns really made for a better society, the people in places with lots of guns would be happy about it. But they're not a bit happy about it. In our famously gun-laden country, a majority of Americans want more gun control. A staggering 91% of Americans want mandatory handgun registration.
    The second most gun-littered country in the world is India, despite its strong gun-control laws. Apparently India has an enforcement problem. In any case, the people of India feel the same way as Americans. They don't like all those guns, and they want the government to do something. You see? If guns made for a better society, the people who live in those societies would know it. Quod erat demonstrandum.

Mr. Hackett,
    I have just read your article "Playing Through" in the February 5 issue of the Chronicle. I am unsure of your purpose and intent regarding the slant of your story. Perhaps I am simply experiencing poor journalism.
    It is truly sad that I learned more about you than the Austin parkour scene. As evidence of your self-absorption, there are more references to you (just count your use of the words "I,” "me,” and "my") than all other named individuals in your article combined. My exposure to parkour is limited to what I have seen in a few movies, the occasional TV show, and YouTube. I am happy to learn that Austin has a parkour movement, and I am driven to learn more. I find it graceful and beautiful to watch – much like any other sport of skill that becomes artful and agile at once. With my small scope of knowledge about parkour, I feel confident in stating that you, in your article, make parkour appear to be something which it is not. It makes one wonder what an article on skateboarding would look like if written by you.
    Although my knowledge of parkour is not extensive, my experience with good journalism is wide and deep. It is clear from your writing style that you are more interested in inserting yourself, and your bias, into the story rather than letting the topic and subjects speak for themselves. I really wonder what you are trying to say – I find it confounding.
    Mr. Hackett, I do hope that great masses of UT students take up parkour, and soon. Knowing that someone has deemed you capable of teaching at such a respected university will make it all the more necessary for the unknowing to escape your classes … by quickly fleeing over walls and whatnot. I am happy to know that you are also taking classes at UT – you need them in a major way. I deeply hope those classes are in journalism. If your writing skills were even remotely comparable to the skill level of what I have seen in YouTube videos of Mr. Setzler's parkour abilities, I would not find it necessary to craft my response to your article. I truly hope you strive for such a high level of competence in your chosen field – I really do.