Letters

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to 20*******@oc******.com">le*****@oc******.com, or send to Letters to the Editor, c/oOC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

MEXPLOITATION

I bet all your gringo friends had a real laugh when they saw the April 30 cover of OC Weekly[“Mexcellente!”]: a Mejicano with a gold tooth all dressed up to go to war in Iraq? We have Mexicans fighting and dying in Iraq for you gringos, and this is the way you show your damn respect? You should have put a picture of your mama naked, then you would have had more laughs by us Mejicanos. We sometimes see naked gringas in the Playboy, but they don't excite us Mejicanos. We know they have fake tits, and besides, they don't know how to cook. This is a racist picture, and maybe someday, Mejicanos will not go fight your dirty wars for you. You forgot to picture a rifle; we're not fools to go to war without one.

Enrique “Kiko” Salazar
via e-mail

I found the cover of your magazine extremely offensive. It characterized Mexicans in a very negative, stereotypical manner that I find racist. Perhaps it was not your intention that it be racist, but I am offended, and I know a lot of my friends are offended. Sometimes while the intent may not be racist, the action still is. I urge you in the future to please think twice before printing something so vulgar to my sense of racial equality.

Tan-nee Ng
via e-mail

Your cover relating to all things negative about being Mexican in California should take the top prize in the Liberal Media Bleeding Hearts awards. How about a follow-up article that shows what the reality is for unfettered illegal-immigration policy concerning taxpayers, county services and the negative impact these have in a state unable to budget for it's own American citizens. Isn't it about time we tell our elected reps we are tired of them selling us out to the business lobbies just so they can pay less to illegals, make more profit and let the taxpayer pick up the tab? Recent polls confirm that 70 percent of Americans want tighter immigration controls and an end to baby-drop citizenship.

Bill S.
via e-mail

The editor responds:Kiko, if that is your real name, the stereotype in question was not meant to conjure up images of a soldier going off to war, but rather of the Frito Bandito preparing to steal our corn chips. Tan-nee, you failed to include your phone number so that we could call to see how every story/illustration/theater listing affects your sensibilities. Please call. Bill, please don't.

POETS KNOW IT

As Gertrude Stein once wrote, “A rose is a rose is a rose. . . .” As a poetry therapist might write, “Poetry therapy is poetry therapy is poetry therapy. . . . ” [Theo Douglas' “Take Two Stanzas and Call Me in the Morning,” April 16]. People don't need academic degrees or state licenses to become poetry therapists. All they need is to learn enough BASIC to write print statements embedded in infinite loops. Personally, I prefer sex therapy. Good sex therapists don't need college degrees or state licenses either.

Harleigh Kyson Jr.
Long Beach

OLDIES

I was wondering what Buddy Seigal has against Brian Eno [“When He Was a Young Dude,” April 23]. In two casual asides, Seigal not only describes Eno's contribution to David Bowie's career as an embarrassment, but also incorrectly awards Bowie responsibility for Eno's music career. Yes, Bowie's and Eno's careers intersect, but by that point—1976—Eno had already played in a series of experimental groups, was a founding member of Roxy Music and released four solo albums. To hold Bowie “personally responsible” for Eno's career is ludicrous, and this is without considering his future work, including Music for Airports, which established Eno as the godfather of ambient music.

Patrick Kwun
via e-mail

Seigal's claim that David Bowie hasn't released anything “important or influential” in the past 30 years is absurd. Take just a glance at highlights from the '90s on: “The Heart's Filthy Lesson” and “We Prick You” off Outside, one of the weirdest albums ever; the sheer rush of “Little Wonder” from Earthling; the ethereal electronic ballad “Untitled No. 1” from the underrated Buddha of Suburbia. Then there's the epic, goose-bump-inducing “Slip Away” and “The Loneliest Guy” off his last two albums, Heathen and Reality. No one has the right to expect music this masterful from Bowie this late in the game.

Keith Fox
Laguna Beach

I'm really sorry to disappoint Theo Douglas by living to be 49, not being an asshole to him or OD'ing during our phone interview [“Dead Boy To Man,” April 23]. Maybe if he had not asked the SAME FIVE QUESTIONS I'VE BEEN ANSWERING FOR A YEAR, he might have gotten the rise out of me he seems to have been looking for. It goes both ways, kid: you bore me; I'll bore ya right back. Also, it helps if you get your facts straight. Peter Laughner didn't die of cancer; he died of liver failure from drinking too much. Which is why ya didn't “rile” me.

I kinda feel sorry for dumbass kids that don't know enough to do a fact check before bugging me at home with their dumbass questions. Don't worry, Theo, I'm still plenty punk. Come up and introduce yerself in person some time you'll find out!

Cheetah Chrome
Nashville

Theo Douglas responds: Writing a letter to the editor? That doesn't sound very punk.

INDIAN GIVERS

I agree: leave the Indians alone [Steve Lowery's Diary of a Mad County, April 30]. We'll never be able to pay them back for all we've done to them. I read somewhere that the Indians offered to pay 8 percent the corporate tax rate even though they don't have to pay anything. I say, take the money, shake their hands, and may God bless them.

Lew Stedman
Laguna Niguel

DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS

The photos of South Coast Repertory's production of Mr. Marmalade [Commie Girl and “Piss 'n' Vinegar,” May 7]were taken by Henry DiRocco for SCR.

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