Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to le*****@oc******.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.
MOVED TO WRITE A LETTER
The following letters are in response to Gustavo Arellano's Sept. 28 feature story, “Bad Moves,” about the sex-abuse scandal involving the Diocese of Orange.
BRAVO!
Lbmanning
via e-mail
Well, once again, you have been able to shed some light on the truth of some of what happened in Bishop [Tod D.] Brown's diocese. I feel some sympathy for [Monsignor John] Urell. He had a direct hand in some of the sexual crimes committed against young people in the diocese, and although it seems he tried to put an end to some of it, the desire to protect his position in the hierarchy of the church won out over his conscience. That is unfortunate and sad, but he, too, has to be held accountable for his part.
In spite of the fact that he pushed for some of the priestly predators to be kept away from children and young people, he did not push hard enough. Would it have meant consequences for him? Certainly. However, if Urell really were a shepherd for his flock, they—and not himself—would have been his main concern. It seems very obvious that both he and Brown are ultimately interested in protecting their privileged positions and their own reputations. If I knew that about myself, and I had a part in ruining the lives of so many innocent people, I guess I would break, too. In spite of the sympathy I feel for him, as a survivor, I also feel repugnance and disgust that both he and Brown knowingly allowed this to continue.
I would also ask Bishop Brown if he thinks his “embarrassment” is worse than the lives of deep depression, panic attacks, addictions, and suicidal thoughts and/or actions that each of us survivors has to live with.
Gabrielle Azzaro
via e-mail
Your work is deserving of an award. You are one of the best investigative reporters.
Richard Rosenbaum
via email
TALE OF THE TAPE
This letter responds to “Faster Format,” Hobey Echlin's profile of the band VHS or Beta from the Sept. 14 issue.
These guys might as well be a Cure tribute band. There is nothing original about them or their music. Their claim to be forerunners of the “disco punk dance” movement is a laugh. They put out their first EP in 2000; the Rapture had put out an LP in 1999. Credit is given where credit is due: That's why they don't get any. And telling people that you deserve it in an interview is pathetic. It's quite audacious they would even think of comparing themselves to The Rapture or !!!
Lori
via e-mail
MORE BEST LETTERS
The hits keep on coming in response to our 2007 Best of OC issue, published Sept. 21.
BEST PRUDISH FIREFIGHTER/AMATEUR PARK RANGER
I originally pulled up your website to make a comment on your naming Wiliam R. Mason Regional Park as Best Park in Orange County and stumbled onto the Fire Hunk Bachelor Auction dated Sept. 27.
I will get back to the park in a moment. First, let me say I was embarrassed for the fire service, as I am a full-time firefighter/paramedic for a city in this county. I was appalled to see one individual so-called Fire Hunk stating that his hobby was “jackhammering.” This reflects poorly on the fire service in general, and I feel that it is in poor taste to have placed that factoid on your webpage.
Back to my original reason for sending you feedback, and that is the topic of Best Park according to your weekly publication. I agree that William R. Mason is a fine park, but I wonder if whoever wrote the piece actually went out and looked at it. The part about the gorgeous shimmering lake could not be further from the truth. The lake has been in such a sad state of disrepair for years. It is virtually a mini Salton Sea in the middle of Irvine. Nothing lives in it, and it emits a horrid odor. It is a disgusting lime green with no filtration of any kind. It wasn't always that way—in fact, they used to stock it some years back with DFG catfish—but these critters have also perished from the dismal conditions. Just thought you ought to know.
BEST PHONETIC RENDERING OF VERNACULAR
Knucka, please! OC Weekly, you trippin'. Why half yo list in the LBC? Last I checked, the county line was the 605. Stop frontin' on me, or I'ma bust a drive-by from Seal Beach to Mission Viejo, recognize! You ain't a real place, and you never will be. You can't front culture, or, in yo case, just jack it. To quote the homey, Leche: “You want the coolness of a real city but not its trappings (crime, gangs, graffiti, black people, etc.).” THAT IS CALLED FRONTIN' IN MY HOOD, HOMEY! Watch yo back.
Editor's Note: Perhaps, at this very moment, the gentle reader is perusing a copy of this paper obtained from one of our numerous Long Beach distribution locations . . .
BEST WRONG URL
Thank you guys very much for the write-up as the best Dance Club. We've worked hard for it, and we appreciate your kindness. Only one thing: You are showing our website as ClubVegas.com, but it isn't .com. It should be changed to www.clubvegas.us (like in United States!). Thanks very much for correcting this.
THE ASIA-FILES REDUX
Vickie Chang's critique of that long-ago Details article [Trendzilla, Sept. 21] is spot-on, but she should have gone further. That magazine's “Gay or (some other group)” feature is the worst column in American print today. Asian-American advocacy groups should've taken a stand for everyone and demanded that Details scrap the entire concept. Instead, we got an apology and the continuation of that gay-or-not bullshit.
EL MEXICANO EN SU LABERINTO
Let's see what's been hanging around in Gustavo's mailbag. This first letter is in regard to a comment made in the Sept. 14 edition of Letters, in which a reader rants about negative letters about ¡Ask a Mexican!
On Miguel's comment, I'm actually surprised that OC Weekly would print such a racist, hateful diatribe! If this were reversed and a white guy were so disturbed as to wish death to ANY other race, you never would have printed it! The entire letter was written by a very disturbed individual regarding a letter written six months ago to ¡Ask a Mexican! I felt physically ill after reading 'Miguel's' rantings—it's sad to know that hateful, creepily-disturbed people like him actually exist in the world, much less in this country! We can only hope he commits a crime (hopefully not a violent one—yeah, right!) and gets deported SOON!
The following letter is in response to Pocha's e-mail about the Aug. 16edición of ¡Ask a Mexican!
About the so-called study in which they sent Americans who were collecting unemployment to pick strawberries, and they all quit within a week. I don't recall a study to that effect. However, when I was a senior in high school back in 1981, I remember watching a news item on a local TV channel similar to what Pocha was describing. In the news segment, “la migra” had just rounded up a group of illegal immigrants from a field, and Americans drawing unemployment were put in their place working the field. As I recall, by the end of the day, ALL of the Americans had quit! What made this ironic is that during the 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan promised to do something about both illegal immigration and unemployment, and this “program” of having unemployed Americans taking jobs that were being done in the agricultural fields by illegals was going to be Reagan's way of keeping those two promises.
We just got this one regarding an olllld ¡Ask a Mexican!—May 5, 2006—in which a light-skinned Mexican lamented the “racism” he experienced from darker-skinned Mexicans.
I, too, am a light-skinned Mexican, pale with light eyes, and I have noticed that we are the minority in the USA. But not on Mexican television. So many ignorant people think all Mexicans look the same, but if they had any education, they would know of our mixed race! Yes, a lot of dark-skinned Mexicans don't like light-skinned Mexicans because they've always been portrayed as more beautiful, and that's what you see on Mexican television. Don't hate on us. We are all Mexican. We just all have different mixtures. Mine and others just happen to be more Spanish. But we are all Mexican and loving it!
CORRECTIONS
In the article “Bad Moves” in the Sept. 28 issue, the name of Monsignor John Urell's lawyer was given incorrectly. His name is Patrick Hennessey. The Weekly regrets the error.
In the article “Recall Madness!” in the Aug. 24 issue, the year of Orange Unified School District Trustee Steve Rocco's arrest was incorrect. He was arrested in 1980. The Weekly regrets the error.
