Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to le*****@oc******.com, or send 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.
SAVING AMERICA, ONE ALL-CAPITAL-LETTERS SENTENCE AT A TIME
I just want you to notice how you use the words “anti-immigrant” when you SHOULD BE using the correct words of “anti-ILLEGAL-immigrant”—that is the problem with the “mainstream media”; you are not telling the truth, and exactly what part of “illegal” don't you understand??? That is the whole point! The Minutemen, Barbara Coe, Lupe Moreno, KFI, KABC, all the talk-radio staff, and many more, including myself, are all advocates of legal immigration, which built this fine country of ours. Since newspapers like yours print the wrong words and don't print the truth and what this invasion is costing us—the facts, just the facts—in education, financial, criminal, financial, medical emergency facilities closing—and did I mention financial?
The severe impact the invasion of illegal immigrants have had on California alone is eliminating the entire middle class of citizens! “Cheap Labor” is not what it appears to be! You just keep working and paying your taxes because 12 million to 50 million illegals (the U.S. government doesn't even know who is in our country or how many are hear [sic] illegally) are depending on YOU personally to pay for their medical care, welfare, social security they are getting, and they keep having kids. About $1,800 per person in California goes to support the illegal people here sucking us dry. You do know that 65 emergency medical facilities have closed from bankruptcy, from serving illegals who cannot and will not pay. You are helping to undermine our entire country!
Why can't the mainstream media get it that if that “Amnesty Bill,” a.k.a. “no illegal left behind,” passes in Washington, we might as well all move to France or Mexico because the USA will cease to exist as we know it. Why can't you get this part? It's beyond me. I am a citizen of European descent. My great-grandparents came here from Russia and Poland, and they insisted my grandmother and her siblings learn English and get educated and assimilated into American culture, and they BECAME AMERICANS through the LEGAL PROCESS. My grandfather, on the other hand, was an American Indian, and you know the outcome of that story. . . . We need to stand FOR OUR COUNTRY . . . A COUNTRY OF LAWS THAT CREATED A WESTERN CIVILIZATION THAT ENJOYS ALL THE BENEFITS OF A SUCCESSFUL, FREE SOCIETY. THAT IS BEING THREATENED, AND IT'S A RED ALERT: WE ARE IN MORTAL DANGER!
I appreciate your time and consideration in printing the correct information for your readers. Maybe if you print the statistical facts about the impact of illegal immigration, you could make a POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN OUR STATE AND SAVE OUR COUNTRY . . . maybe, if it's not too late. Thank you.
Julie Fox
via e-mail
WE THINK SHE'S PRETTY COOL OURSELVES
This letter is in regard to Vickie Chang's June 14 Trendzilla, about guys who wear black graphic tees.
Thanks for the sarcasm. You must be one cool chick. I live in HB and have to live around these guys every day. I'm a 30-year-old guy who wears Levi's and does not have dragons and skulls on my tight shirt. On the occasion that I do wear a ballcap, I do have the bill slightly bent and not flat. And let me guess: You guys drink Corona. It's nice to hear of a lady that does not get off on these lame guys. Oh, yeah, and by the way, it's not cool to “trick out” a 1998 Ford Ranger. . . .
Chris
via e-mail
TALKING SMACK ABOUT VANG PAO
The following letters are in response to Nick Schou's June 14 article, “Hero or Heroin?” The article outlines alleged Laotian coup-plotter Vang Pao's involvement in the Hmong community and questions about his past involvement in the Southeast Asian heroin trade raised by author Alfred W. McCoy's 1972 book,The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade.
While people often cite McCoy as evidence for the general's alleged role as a drug lord, no one ever seems to acknowledge the fact that Vang Pao was only a secondary character to the larger accusation made by McCoy. McCoy's accusation that the CIA, [not] the very federal government, was producing and trafficking drugs was heard in federal hearings and found to be without evidence, based completely on rumor or hearsay.
Lee Xiong
via e-mail
I just want to say that an American like you will never understand how much the Hmong contributed and how our General Vang Pao sacrificed for you guys in the past. We've wasted hundreds of thousands of our men to save one downed American pilot. General Vang Pao is a man of honor and peace. Let me ask you a question: If your wife, son, daughter and /or a close family member were killed right in front of you, what would you do? In our culture, we have learned to love one another unlike you Americans. . . . We don't commit incest and try to hurt our close ones. The Americans have been known throughout the world to be traitors and always go back against their word. Our people were never known to be terrorists, except here. Alfred W. McCoy is a bastard who just likes to talk shit and crap about the Hmong people. He knows nothing about the Hmong history. The reason he's always against the Hmong people was probably because when he toured Laos back in the '60s and '70s, he never tried to understand cultural differences. If you want to be a good reporter, please do complete research on the Hmong people before stating your opinion and views.
Cher Vue
via e-mail
[
McCoy didn't spend years in Laos—he spent less than a year there, and I highly doubt he got to stay in Long Tieng during the war years. The CIA made sure of that. The French, in their desperation, did use the sale of opium to aid their war chest in an attempt to hold on to Indochina after World War II. The biggest CIA operation ever did happen in Laos. The largest bomb dropped ever happened in Laos. What makes people think that the Hmong have time to cultivate enough opium to poison American GIs when clearly the enemies they are up against leave them no room for other activities. The CIA have satellite photography of Laos in detail during the second Indochina War. It is not hard to prove or disprove McCoy's theories that Vang Pao plays a big role in heroin production and trafficking. All Vang Pao ever asked is that Laos be democratic. So the people of Laos can enjoy the freedom others take for granted.
Daniel Boon
via e-mail
WHITE ON!
I thought that it was a DAMN good article [R. Scott Moxley's “White Power With a Lisp,” June 14]. Very informative and descriptive in describing the gangs as well as their origins. Two thumbs up!
Nardare J. Rivers
via e-mail
GOING CRACKERS
The following letter is in regard to R. Scott Moxley's Feb. 1 article, “Phu Fighter,” about gangsters assaulting a defenseless girl in a parking lot.
The information stated by R. Scott Moxley in the article is pure ignorance, and not to mention a stereotypical article name. He needs to get his facts straight about Vboyz. Saying it consists of mainly teens and they only have 15 to 20 members is the stupidest thing ever. Have you ever heard of an Asian gang with those numbers? Someone needs to review his articles before they are made public and review his facts. I'd like him to e-mail me back telling me where he got his information from. Stupid-ass crackers talk about gangs like they know something.
Viet Nguyen
via e-mail
CLARIFICATION
In Luke Y. Thompson's June 15 story “Mary, Queen of Tats,” about the Ink N Iron Festival in Long Beach, a report of a stabbing given to Thompson by a bartender at the event turned out to be greatly exaggerated. According to producer Trace Edwards, someone thought he had been stabbed in the heat of the moment. He was back partying at the show the next day.
GOOD PRESS
Three OC Weekly writers received LA Press Club Awards on June 16. Gustavo Arellano won the extremely prestigious President's Award for Ask a Mexican! Humbled, he offered all of the judges a free pool cleaning. R. Scott Moxley took first place for investigative/series writing in our circulation category for his piece “The New Crips” [Oct. 27, 2006]. The judges said, “We liked how Moxley laid out the case against this disabled 'activist' while treating him fairly and pointing out that the law is actually on his side. The story serves as much as an expos of the law as it does of the ex-drug dealer at the center of the story.” Luke Y. Thompson scored an honorable mention (which is to say “third place”) in the Entertainment Reviews/Criticism category for his review of the film Monster House [“Unreal Estate,” July 21, 2006].
IT'S ALL ABOUT M.E.
The Weekly has an immediate opening for a managing editor. The position requires finely honed writing, editing and management skills. The managing editor must be able to guide both experienced and beginning staff writers in producing superior magazine-style stories as well as supervise the day-to-day operations of the editorial department. The most promising applicants will be asked to take an extensive editing test. Interested applicants should contact Ted B. Kissell, editor, at OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. E-mail tk******@oc******.com. No phone calls, please.
