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,
    Re: “Letters at 3AM: Of Tiers and Tears” [May 7]: Michael Ventura emerges from this series as a writer of deep insight into our culture and as having a surprising grasp of the world of high finance and an understanding of the ruling powers of his time not seen since Machiavelli penned The Prince. The Chronicle and its readers are fortunate that one among us can see through illusion of what passes for democracy and is able to marshal the facts until it becomes self-evident that things are far from being what they seem.

Dear Editor,
    Michael Ventura's “Letters at 3AM: Of Tiers and Tears” [May 7] appears to be another rant against those who have (or want to have) succeeded in bettering themselves. The article comes across as an intent to berate all individuals that have attained a level of wealth through hard work and incomes that reward the efforts of their labor and performance. I am proud to be one of the Professional Tier. An individual brought up in extremely poor living conditions; by wonderful, uneducated parents; taught strict accountability, personal responsibility, and initiative; and married an immigrant who recently became an American citizen. I am one of those 5% of taxpayers that carries the burden of 95% of the federal government tax bill. One of the Professional Tier that created more than 2,800 jobs for individuals from all tiers. I am a Professional Tier member who donates considerable time and financial resources to worthy charitable and social causes. I am a Professional Tier member who has made a positive difference in the lives of so many, yet Ventura calls this being isolated "socially from the lower tiers.” I sent my child to a private school, and as a Professional Tier person never reneged on my obligation to fund public schools. However, according to Ventura, the mere existence of the Professional Tier is cause for the complete failure of the public school system, and everyone in that tier is directly responsible for every child that drops out of school. I am looking forward to next week's continuation, to see what blame will be hurled upon the Professional Tier. By the way, when I was a poor kid, I served in Vietnam, alongside a very rich kid. Wow, how many times I wished for a Professional Tier dad to buy me a way out of that hellhole.

Dear Editor
    Whatever one writes about Rudolf Israel Kasztner, all I can say is "Thank you" [“Killing Kasztner,” Film Listings, May 7]! Because of him, my mother (92), my brother (67), and I (69) are still alive and living (again) in Switzerland. All the rest of our immediate family (of blessed memory) were deported to Auschwitz.
    I lived 15 years in Austin, the friendliest town in the world with the most polite police persons (I was professionally involved with police internationally, so I do know).
    Greetings to the Austinites, i.e. AustinKnights!

Dear Editor,
    Recent letters to the editor have asked for a third party that would represent the needs of people, not corporations.
    It has been painfully clear that any of the "reforms" (campaign finance, election, Wall Street, climate change, health care, education, energy) will all be decided with corporations in mind, with real people functioning only as profit centers.
    Right now, the Green Party is working to get on the ballot in Texas so that citizens can have a choice other than the one-party system – you can go to our website and sign the online petition.
    Roger Baker is running for Travis County Clerk, to go back to the future to eliminate the use of electronic voting booths which are not verifiable and cannot be used to recount an election – hand-counted paper ballots are verifiable, transparent, and recountable. He also wants to minimize the number of elections and lobby for instant run-off (preferential) voting, just like how the all-star baseball teams are selected, which would save millions of dollars in costly and underattended run-off elections.
    Take back your elections, make sure your vote is counted the way you cast your ballot – vote for Roger Baker and sign the petition!

Dear Editor,
    Re: “Knit Scarves, Not Art” [“Postmarks,” May 7]: I'm guessing your grandmother didn't crochet anything nice for you as a child. By your own admission you state, “Each time I give a sly smile and answered, 'Oh, it's art.'” If you have to explain that it was art in the first place, doesn't that mean the art misses delivering a point? That's like having to explain a joke. Wasn't the Texas Department of Transportation recreational signage serving a different purpose? We assumed the blue signs were for high-water markings under the train trestle. Yarn bombing is not utilitarian if surplus TXDoT signage and water barriers qualify as acceptable displays of art. Yarn bombing is the Banksy way of saying, “You may not have noticed this before, so I think I would like to warm this up." I, for one, smile every time I see Magda Sayeg's yarn bomb. I also smile every time I snuggle up in the crocheted cover my Nana made for me when I was young.

Margaret,
    Thanks for the mention of the Grascals playing at Scholz Wednesday night [“Grascals' Garten Party,” Earache! Music blog, May 11]. Craig Calvert and I have been friends for many years, and it is very cool that he is recognized for his hard work at booking bands for us. Craig and I had been plotting for years to bring music back to Scholz. It is Craig's guidance, tenacity, and patience with us (me) that have enabled us to pull it off. Musicians and fans both have thanked us, which is just icing on the cake. We really did this because we just like it. It almost pays for itself, too.

Dear Editor,
    It was interesting reading last week's stream-of-consciousness column by Louis Black [“Page Two,” May 7] – partly about the markers that indicate the start of summer – and Harry Knowles' letter to the editor about Black (“Knowing Black”) [“Postmarks,” May 7]. When I lived in New Orleans, we used to mark the start of summer as those minutes right after the Neville Brothers finished their set on the last Sunday of Jazz Fest. Months of intolerably humid, hot, monsoonlike weather followed. As great as Jazz Fest was, though, it was very much a tourist event, quite unlike South by Southwest, which for me has become a defining part of our film community here in Austin.
    Which gets me to Harry's letter about Louis. It sounded like the kind of defense you'd write after the usual yearly spate of Louis Black-is-the-devil post-SXSW letters to the editor. While I haven't known Louis for the 33 years that Harry has, I've worked with him ever since I came to town 14 years ago. He's a guy who makes things happen. He's someone who genuinely loves – loves – film. He's taken that love and encyclopedic knowledge to help build Austin's unique film culture and community, almost always as the guy behind the scenes. His work with SXSW and the Austin Film Society have been more public, but few people know the number of young filmmakers he's helped, usually without credit. Whenever I've had a film-related problem I couldn't solve, Louis has always been the guy I've called. And he almost always has the answer.
    You can talk about the people who actually make a difference in the places they live. If Louis hadn't somehow made his way from the suburbs of Northern New Jersey to Austin years ago, this town would have been a very different place. We should be glad he did.

Dear Editor
    Re: “Cops Walk in Round Rock Shooting” [News, June 20, 2008]: Shame on you all. Bobby Williams was my cousin and my best friend. He was a good guy, not a thug or a gangster or any one of those things, but an honest, trusting friend who I could always talk to and was always there to help me.
    You guys really think it was right what those officers did? Four armed men shooting a naked man in the street! He was walking away from the cops (obviously confused), and they shot him in the back!
    I really hope those cops see that they killed a 22-year-old man, and let's see how well they sleep at night.
    I have the video of the shooting, and I'm posting it on YouTube so everyone can see it and see what those cops did. It seems a lot of news articles surrounding this have disappeared, but I'm not letting this go away. Those cops will have to face what they did.
    Shame on you guys for actually thinking about taxpayer dollars over a human being's life. What kind of humanity do you have? Do you even have a heart? What if that was your family or friend that that happened too? Would you still agree with it? I would really like to know.

Dear Austin Chronicle,
    In the current controversy surrounding the Cactus Cafe, the Chronicle has been an excellent source of information for me. Thank you so much. There is one thing I would like to see more of in your coverage of this matter: reporting on what will actually happen if the so-called KUT plan is implemented.
    A lot of people seem to be unaware that the longtime management team will be ousted from their jobs if this plan is implemented.
    Many people think that the KUT model is a good plan that will help preserve the fundamental character of the Cactus. What they don't know is that the very people who created the tradition and cultural icon, which means so much to so many people, will be replaced by people with no experience of running a music venue (most likely a combination of three different entities that will diminish the integrity of the legendary club).
    UT administrators will make a final decision very soon, so I believe that it is very important for people to be aware of what this model really means and express their objections to KUT (now that UT is no longer officially taking comments on the two remaining options).
    I can see that you are committed to helping save this true Austin tradition that is respected in the global music community. It would be wonderful to see a little more coverage of what the KUT plan really means, which seems to be UT's preferred option, so people can take immediate action to put pressure on KUT not to be part of the plan that will destroy the Cactus.
    Thank you for your consideration.

Dear Editor,
    Re: “Point Austin: Feet on the Ground” [News, May 7]: If the United States is the cause of the underdeveloped conditions in Mexico and points south, then Latin America would have had to have been a workers' paradise, or perhaps at least a civil place to live for the majority of its citizens before the British set foot in North America in 1604, or perhaps the capitalist economic system we understand today emerged following the American Revolution. This assertion seems no more defensible than “The United States, particularly in its economic policies and the international behavior of its corporate businesses, has mightily helped to create the underdeveloped conditions south of the border that inevitably feed illegal immigration.” Mexico could create a legal infrastructure that would give its citizens no reason to leave. The cultural and political norms of the country are just now evolving in that direction, often based on the experiences of Mexicans in the United States.

Dear Editor,
    Re: Bart Whatley [“Postmarks” online, May 6] and Cory Walton's [“Postmarks” online, May 5] letters regarding the April 30 News article "Showdown at David Street: City Regs Broken at Will": It's just as valid an interpretation to say that the efforts by the Austin Neighborhoods Council to force nothing but single-family housing even in central neighborhoods has led to weird loophole-seeking unintended consequences like this one.
    That is, if we just grew up and said, "Look, this is one of several parts of town where apartments would seem to make a lot of sense these days,” you might see saner and even more compatible multifamily infill than this apartment complex masquerading as a single-family home. Or maybe the ANC thinks it will always have enough fingers to keep sticking them in new holes in the dike. Doesn't seem to be working that great right now, though, does it?

Dear Editor,
    Many thanks to the Chronicle and Katherine Gregor for the most excellent "Showdown at David Street: City Regs Broken at Will" [News, April 30] article. In it, you brought a complicated matter into the sunshine in a way that it never has before.
    This issue is larger than just the David Street case – it has troubling implications for all of Austin's core neighborhoods. And just as it is important, it has also been elusive, because the source of the problem is not so obvious. Thanks to your in-depth reporting, the contours of this matter can be clearly and easily followed by all who are interested. I believe that your article will be a crucial touchstone for the long-overdue public conversation on this matter.

Dear Editor,
    As a Brit I'd like to thank Richard Whittaker for his lively article [“What's a Hungry Brit to Eat in Austin?,” Food, May 7] – but he forgot to mention that some of us Brits are serious vegetarians who remember when the first Cranks opened on London's famous Carnaby Street! For veggie curries, I recommend the Madras Pavilion vegetarian Indian restaurant on 183 North at Burnet Road. I welcome the arrival of Full English Cafe and look forward to a blistering hot cuppa there. (Why do so many American cafes serve lukewarm tea?) As my mother was a Cornishwoman who raised my brothers and I on delicious Cornish pasties, could I ask the Smiths to add Celtic Cornwall each time they refer to England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales?

Dear Editor,
    I have been cycling in Austin for the last 15 years and have heard many repeats of Paul Scott's sentiments [“Postmarks” online, April 22], but I don't believe there is anything cyclists can do to get respect from motorists. I think what it comes down to is simple: They hate our freedom. And while I see his point and respect his opinion, I must disagree. I don't believe cyclists should hope to be accepted as equals on the road "someday,” I believe we should demand to be acknowledged as superior to motorists. Just look at the facts: we don't pollute Austin's air or water, cause congestion, or write whiny letters to the editor about not being able to find parking Downtown.

Dear Editor,
    To help business in Austin means to make Austin a more livable and convenient city.
    I think the main question when it comes to making Austin a livable city is whether mothers, 12-year-olds, and seniors can easily go to school, the park, the pool, the grocery store, the library, the mall, and the movie theatre by bicycle, without having to worry about traffic or major thoroughfares.
    This is the key to making Austin a livable city. To do this, we need bicycle bridges and tunnels over and under major streets and highways. It will also be necessary to turn all creeks into greenbelts with bikeways. This will be a major solution to Austin's traffic problems. Europe has some excellent examples of good bike solutions, as well as the Twin Cities in Minnesota. It will require acquiring land and expense for bridges, but it will be a healthy alternative that will relieve congestion and allow us to have a more convenient, compact city.
    This will be an opportunity for construction firms and allow consumers to have more spending money for businesses.

Dear Editor,
    The recent article "Showdown at David Street: City Regs Broken at Will" [News, April 30] about lax city regulations, forgiven errors, and forgiven violations captures a sad situation very well. Remodel permits have been abused to game code grandfathering. The development/density crowd is often quick to call citizens NIMBY, but you've got to admit that an invested homeowner has reason to be suspicious of infill development with shenanigans like this going on. This isn't an isolated case – let's see better infill. The city has many good staff, but there is a failing in the system when lobbyists and fixers can create confusion in staff, exploit loopholes, and abuse the system while sometimes threatening the city with lawsuits if they don't get their way. It is time for the city manager and the law department to create a framework in which staff can do their best and citizens can be protected. Only then can Austin successfully evolve with denser corridors and more livable communities.