Letters | Behave yourselves

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CORRECTION: A July 22 article, “Astroland offers Boulder a DIY space,” incorrectly listed the author’s name. His full name is Jonathan Thomas Romeo.

Behave yourselves

(Re: “City Council’s bad decorum,” Uncensored, July 22.) Imagine you are standing in a courtroom (a parking ticket, armed robbery — your choice). As you rise, you take off your clothes — except for your panties — and start yelling at the judge for keeping his front door open. Contempt. You’re in jail for 24 hours.

What is the difference between the courtroom and a City Council meeting or a classroom? Civil rights are a cornerstone of the American way of life, but so is civility, in a civilized society. Freedom of speech, yes. Along with the freedom for all branches of government to conduct their business — our business — in a way that moves our democracy forward.

Sam Kent/Longmont

Getting anal

(Re: “The prostate pleasure principle,” Sophisticated Sex, July 15.)

Thank you, Jenni, for your informative article. I never knew my anus was an “erogenous zone.” Well, as they say, different strokes… and in your case, you sadly are spending your writing energies and “Board Certified Sexologist” knowledge in dabbling in other people’s assholes. Surely, your space on this earth is better justified than in educating your readers on the ABCs of prostate pleasure.

This could be laughable, except I feel sure you take yourself seriously. The anus is an exit, not an entrance, and if you are a real doctor, you would not be advising folks to ram their toys, penises or any other type of instrument in their delicate anal cavity.

I think it only takes a novice in the sexual play area to resort to your subscribed methods. Shame on you, morally and medically. Your article serves no purpose, other then to demoralize and pervert God’s natural gift. SEX. Quit your day job, and quietly sit and look at “fecal matter” and

judge the level of desire that it arouses in you. That’s what your article represents!

Diana Valencia/via Internet

Ramblings on race

(Re: “White guilt,” Uncensored, July 1.) I thought your article “White Guilt” was
interesting, and certainly acknowledged some points overlooked by many
people (excluding myself ), but that it also did some overlooking of its
own. I’ve thought long hard about this “phenomenon known as ‘white
guilt’” as you put it, more so than most other people probably have,
which is ironic since I’m not even white. Not 100 percent, anyway. I’m
50 percent Mexican, although I must admit I’ve always considered myself
socially white except for when I was applying for college.

I’ll word my thesis frankly.

Having white guilt is retarded and illogical. It does matter that I didn’t set up this system of privileges. It does matter
that I didn’t own slaves. Being grateful that you live a certain way or
enjoy a certain lifestyle does not mean that you need to feel guilty
for things you have no control over. Guilt requires fault. Since there
is no fault here, there is no guilt to be had. Simple as that.

What’s the case for white guilt? “I feel guilty for something my ancestors did well over a century and a half ago.”

“I feel guilty that my ancestors did not own slaves well over a century and a half ago.”

“I feel guilty that my ancestors assisted in the emancipation and freedom of slaves over a century and a half ago.”

Or
the scenario that most people never considered: “I feel guilty that I’m
white even though my family migrated to the United States after the
Civil War and after the emancipation of slaves.”

All of which make no sense, and most of which are hard to verify anyway.

You
brought up the white guilt topic as a tangent to the issue of race in
America, which, of course, lands on the issue of racism, racism being a
term poorly understood and commonly over/misused. Does making a
race-based joke make you a racist? The impulse answer to this question
is yes. However I have to disagree and say no, because if that were the
case then I suppose most black people I’ve met are racist against black
people and that all of my Mexican cousins are racist against themselves.
If you’ve never heard a Mexican tell a Mexican joke then I suspect it’s
because you don’t know any Mexicans. You’ll just have to take my word
for it on that one.

There
is a big, fat, wide, unmistakable line between acknowledging the
differences between races/cultures and being a card-carrying member of
the KKK. The point I’ve been (very slowly) working towards in this
e-mail is that journalists (such as yourself ), news anchors,
politicians and even our own president are always talking about how
Americans need to sit down and have a discussion about race. Truth be
told, white people discuss race all the time among themselves, but
they’d be burned at the stake if they had an open dialogue with
non-whites.

You did
bring up a very interesting point that race is not a whitenon-white
issue so much as it is a white-black issue. Why is that? I think most
white people have buried that hatchet, but every so it gets dug right
back up again by Sharpton, Jackson and the rest. I’ll paint a picture.
CNN prime-time, a 20-second video clip put on constant repeat of a white
cop hitting a black person, Sharpton and Jackson calling for a firing
squad, and 170 million white Americans watching TV while shaking their
heads. Sound eerily familiar? That’s because if you’re white, you’re one
of those head shakers like I am.

But
it’s OK. We don’t need video clips of police brutality to dig up the
race hatchet because should cops be on their very best behavior. We can
always count on trusty February to stir the bucket. Yup, Black History
Month. It’s finally dawned on me. All of my rambling has led me to an
epiphany. The reason there is such huge divide between blacks and every
other race, is because certain black people, black organizations, and
the almighty media continue to propagate the whole “black in America”
theme.

“You don’t
know what it’s like to be black in America!” I sure as hell don’t. But I
also don’t know what it’s like to be Chinese, Italian, Mormon,
homosexual or handicapped in this country, but at least those groups
don’t throw it up in my face one month out of the year, every year. It
hasn’t been easy — those groups all faced discrimination in the United
States at some point or another (or now) but still manage to live their
lives without acting like a bunch of victims.

White guilt doesn’t perpetuate black sentiment; certain black people do.

Writing
this long e-mail has made me very hungry, so I’m going to make myself a
carne asada burrito because that’s what Mexican people do. Gasp! Racism!

Andrew Hernandez/San Diego, CA

Vote for Romanoff

The people deserve
better than the choice of corporate powerbrokers and party bosses.
Michael Bennet is among the six largest senate recipients of Wall Street
money, at the same time he sits on the Senate Banking Committee that
regulates Wall Street, a clear conflict of interest (though he is by no
means the only legislator to do so). He has also voted against rewriting
primary home mortgages, against taxing oil companies, against breaking
up toobig banks, and for permitting guns in national parks while
relaxing restrictions. Congress now operates as a wholly owned
subsidiary of big corporations. It is no surprise when corporate media
favor the corporatebacked candidate.

Andrew Romanoff has
always remained in touch with the people, whether opening his Capitol
office to all weekly as Speaker, or walking and talking to constituents
around the state, or moving legislation to protect people’s health care
access and the environment. He is the best person at this time to
articulate and speak to the needs of working people, instead of the
corporate elite.

M. R. Swenson/via Internet

Uphold immigration laws

The federal government, working with the border states, should provide the personnel and resources to secure our borders.

Over the years, tens
of millions of immigrants from Europe and other continents entered the
U.S legally through Ellis Island and other locations. They learned
English, studied U.S. history and took a citizenship examination to
qualify to become citizens.

Currently
we have approximately 11 million illegal immigrants in this country who
do not qualify for citizenship. They committed an illegal act when
entering this country. We are a country of laws, and the 11 million
illegal immigrants broke our laws and should be deported over an
extended period of time to their native countries.

These
potential immigrants can then go through the established application
process, become proficient in English and obtain knowledge of U.S.
history and our government, and then qualify for citizenship.

By
following our current immigration laws, the immigrants will find it
easier to be assimilated, and our country will be stronger.

Donald A. Moskowitz/Londonderry, NH

Romanoff for Senate

There is an old
saying, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” By not taking any
corporate or special interest money, Andrew Romanoff is demonstrating
his focus will be the citizens he represents. What a great message
Colorado can send to the country! It’s not that corporations and special
interest groups are bad. In fact, they are often very good, but they
should not have undue influence on politicians. However, politicians can
feel they need to favor where

they can fund their
campaigns, since their opponent will already be playing that game and
will have tremendous amounts of money. Perhaps this is why “politician”
has gotten a bad reputation.

Beyond
this, Speaker Romanoff is a highly skilled, intelligent, knowledgeable
and passionate candidate for the office of the U.S. Senate. You can read
more of his background at andrewromanoff.com.

Beth Williamson/Boulder

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