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.
WE LIKE JEANNE
Hey, Rebecca [Schoenkopf], regarding “Orange County's Sexiest People” [Feb. 6]: (1) Jeanne Carmen is a bad woman. Do NOT listen to her. (2) No Commie Girl column this week? I must have missed it somehow. I was so looking forward to reading about your Super Bowl Sunday. (3) Can I interview you for your Fan Blog? Please? Of course I'm not a professional interviewer or anything, but I do promise not to ask any questions that will make you feel uncomfortable. Mostly it will just be “What's your favorite color?” and “What's your favorite number?” I won't be asking questions like “What's the most men you've had sex with in a 24-hour period?” [Me? Eight, but that was before I found Jesus.] (4) Jeanne Carmen = evil. (5) How come you didn't ask Tawny Kitaen about O.J.? (6) How old is Jeanne Carmen?
Nicholas Vance
via e-mail
AND JIM
My thanks to Jim Washburn on the great article on the Wal-Mart mentality sweeping the world [“Faded Glory,” Jan. 30]. These are concerns that have troubled me for a good number of years. From early in the grocery strike, I thought that if Ralphs, Vons, et. al, really had any marketing savvy and were worried about Wal-Mart creeping in, they would retain their unions and their employees' benefits and use it to their advantage with huge signs on the fronts of their stores: “Unlike some of our competitors, our employees receive sufficient wages and benefits so they can afford to take a sick day and see a doctor before they start hocking typhoid all over your produce.” This slogan appeals both to the waning, bleeding-heart altruism and to the perennial (and mushrooming) American value “What's in it for ME?” Granted, it's not as pithy as Wal-Mart's “Low Prices! Über Alles!” But less is not always more.
Steve Kopczak
Orange
Bravo, Washburn! My favorite snide remark is: “You know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.” We do get what we deserve. Our dollars, spent carefully, can keep merchants responsible.
My first real job was in the Customer Service department for then Sears “and Roebuck,” where “The customer is always right.” Retailers almost everywhere now put customer service in the hands of poorly trained, poorly paid clerks. So why go where you are charged for customer service, but it ain't available at any price? Might as well go to Wal-Mart, where the slogan is “Take the money and run.”
Rex Styzens
Long Beach
What a strong, well-written piece! I used to be a conservative Republican until aerospace downsizing left me with no medical and 10 years' of multiple part-time jobs. Now I belong to two unions and support organized labor whenever I can afford to do so. By the way, anyone can send money to the workers' strike fund. I don't have the address at my fingertips, but they are easily found on the web.
Lew Stedman
Laguna Niguel
Editor responds: You're a good kid, Lew. Thanks for mentioning the relief fund for striking families. Anyone who'd like to donate can send checks to: UFCW Strike Hardship Fund, Attn.: Secretary-Treasurer Joe Hansen, 1775 K St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20006. Or you can donate online at AFLCIO.com.
DORNAN? NON
As a left-winger suffering behind the Orange Curtain, I was greatly consoled when R. Scott Moxley trashed gasbags Dana Rohrabacher and Bob Dornan back in the day. But I am only half consoled these days because I don't understand why Moxley has suddenly become a shill for Dornan [“Terrorist Blackout,” Jan. 30]. I also get the feeling that if Moxley weren't taking his cues from Dornan, he'd be empty-handed. Scott, c'mon, I doubt your usual reading habits include obscure right-wing blog sites. Knock it off, man. Kick 'em both around.
Charles Vance
via e-mail
Editor responds: Your math is wrong, Charles. Moxley wrote his first two pieces on Rohrabacher's relationship to the Taliban more than a year before Dornan announced he would run for the seat. In any case, Moxley says the Dornan-Rohrabacher race is all over; see page 16.
SHAMELESS
I really enjoyed Steve Lowery's mountain lion piece [“The Lion Speaks Tonight,” Jan. 16]. You and Jim Washburn are starting to turn the Weekly into a first-class humor magazine.
Harleigh Kyson
Long Beach
SHAMEFUL
So Steve Lowery got his feelings hurt on television because Jerry Nachman dared disagree with him [“Fat Man Talking,” Jan. 30]. Apparently, this makes it okay to call into question Nachman's intelligence and make fun of his appearance even though the man had just died. Have you no shame? Let the man rest. If you want to be on television so bad, go work in television instead of writing sour-grapes columns that are supposed to be funny but aren't.
Celia Edelman
Fountain Valley
Hey, asshole, I don't know who you are, but I know what you are: an asshole. I knew Jerry Nachman, which is why somebody e-mailed me your piece-of-shit story. It's hard for me to fathom someone like you who takes advantage of the passing of another human being so they can make a few lame jokes and whine about the TV career they never had. Hey, asshole, the reason you didn't have a TV career is because you're a little prick whom nobody would want to listen to. Jerry, on the other hand, people wanted to listen to because he had guts and something to say. He was a man. You are a piece of shit.
FOJ (Friend of Jerry)
via e-mail
Steve Lowery responds: I can assure you, FOJ, my piece was not meant as any disrespect to Mr. Nachman. His passing only rekindled a memory that I thought said something about the state of TV news. Still, I understand your sensitivity and therefore would like to offer you this comment from another reader that I think proves your concerns are unwarranted: “Hey, I loved your story on that fat fuck who died.” Hope that clears things up.
