Letters From OC Weekly Readers

'Balls Haven't Dropped?'

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, or mail to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
It was so sad to read about the boy being sent to prison who did not do it ["Testing the Waters" by R. Scott Moxley, March 21]. Shame on our legal system. Something must be done about the eagerness to prosecute. There has to be a better way.

I read somewhere that one out of 100 people in this country are in jail. Is our state or county so broke that they are this overeager to prosecute? Moxley, you are doing a good job. Keep it up.

Joyce Beasley, via e-mail

Why should the trophy money bother anyone, when the $600,000 that the taxpayers paid for the John Chamberlain jail murder doesn't seem to raise any eyebrows? At least no one is losing their life over some trophies.

Anonymous, via e-mail

Seven hundred sixty dollars per day plus free gas for a little city bureaucrat at Placentia ["OC's Most Annoying Neighbor" by R. Scott Moxley, March 28]?! That is disgusting. Thousands of recently let-go OC teachers are making nothing per day.

Brian Young, via e-mail

CLOWNS INDEED
Perhaps someone can explain to me why the building-code inspectors for the city of Tustin have harassed and chased after Arther Masaoka with the degree of fervor described in your article ["House of Pain" by Derek Olson, March 21], yet I'd bet my bottom dollar that the city has at least half a dozen "clown houses" (as KFI-AM's John and Ken refer to them).

For the uninitiated, a "clown house" is a dwelling in a nice neighborhood that has been filled to the brim with dozens of illegal aliens while they await further transport and/or extortion by their coyote smugglers. These houses are popping up all over the Southland on a regular basis. Unfortunately, we have both city building-code inspectors and a news media confused by bleeding-heart liberalism that is sympathetic to the plight of these poor, harassed masses without looking at the "big picture." As Mr. Masaoka can attest to, only too well, selective enforcement of laws is pretty ugly, and we seem to be witnessing more of it with each passing day.

David Arthur, Colton

ADIOS, AMIGO . . . NOT!
There was something oddly oxymoronic about Gustavo Arellano's last column [¡Ask a Mexican!, March 28—which, as revealed on our Navel Gazing blog this week, was actually not his last column but a desperate cry for atten—er, a very, very clever April Fools' joke.]. Freedom of speech in Orange County is now gone. Muy triste. Adios, Mexicano. Adios, amigo.

Diego Gales, Westminster

BALLS OF FURY
So what's up with the asinine article on BTP ["Burning Tree Project" by Dave Segal, March 21]? Twelve years old? Please. Balls haven't dropped? Maybe yours haven't since you hide behind a keyboard and geek out on trashing bands that make a difference. Do you know what they're about? Do you even know what they stand for? Likely not, as evidenced by your pathetic, childish critique. BTP has worked hard, and the band members have been through tremendous adversity in their lives. They are in a league so far above "spasmodic electro with elongated male/female sighs and groans elicits a bizarre erotic aura" that when those bands go away and you have nothing left to write about and you're sucking your thumb in the fetal position, BTP will be there opining words of wisdom to the masses.

Mark and Holly Corgan, via e-mail

I'D RATHER BE YOUR N-WORD
The following is in response to reading the article "N-Word, Please" [by Ben Westhoff, March 14]. The "double standard" (if you will) where it's okay for African-Americans to call one another "nigger" (and its variants)—but not for "non-African-" Americans to do so (without being accused of racism)—is NOT just limited to African-Americans.

When I was growing up in West LA—where there's a significant Jewish presence—I recall times when I saw Jews meet for social gatherings and called one another "kikes" and "hymies," thus using those epithets as terms of endearment. Yaweh forbid a "Goyim" would call them any of those things, lest they wanted to be accused of being anti-Semitic and possibly suffer legal consequences.

Later on, when I substitute-taught in East LA, I remember many Latino students (mostly Mexicans) called one another "beaner," "spick," "wetback" and other racial slurs in Spanish (e.g. "mojado") with impunity. However, "Gabachos" and other non-"raza" students, got the crap beaten out of them if they dared use such terms toward the Latinos.

Likewise, when I substitute-taught in the San Gabriel area, Asian students (mostly Chinese and some Japanese) called one another "chink," "coolie" and "gook" without qualms. However, if a "gweilo" or any other "gaijin" used these epithets, they'd suffer negative consequences (a fight and/or getting reported to the administration for racism).

As one can (hopefully) see, for each of the ethnicities discussed, I included a racist slur that they employ to describe either whites and/or non-members of their respective ethnicities (and what a coincidence, these words start with the letter "G").

Unfortunately, not only does this racist hypocrisy exist in other cultures, but it also goes both ways.

Bob Squalonero, via e-mail