Race v. Rally

Ahoy, Reader. In your Neighborhood News you made a serious error in terming the Baja Ha Ha a race. I think they call it a rally. The participants can use motors and there are two designated anchorages, where all the fleet stops en route to Cabo San Lucas. But I sure like your paper.

Marcus Platypus
via voicemail

Raising Hell in Escondido

Regarding Neighborhood News, the Union-Tribune bought the T-A in Escondido, and Ken Harrison wrote the story of how they fired 80 of the staffmembers. Everybody’s mad as hell. They write letters in. It’s like we have a second San Diego paper in the Times-Advocate. The bus drivers had been talking about it in Escondido. Kids are talking about it. People are taking them out of the machines and throwing them away. People have raised hell about how they’ve ruined the Escondido paper, the Times-Advocate.

You did a story about how they bought it. Why don’t you do a follow-up? The other side of the story: what happened after they bought it. They bought it October 15. Ask what happened after they bought it. Put it on the front page. They charge $2 for the Sunday paper and a $1 for the daily paper now. Bastards! Just like when San Diego Gas & Electric started the fires — help us pay for what we did. Now they want us to help them pay for the paper they bought.

Your San Diego paper is fine. You’ve got your own paper. Valley Center has the Roadrunner. The coast has their own paper. Everybody has their own paper. Don’t come here. It makes me us so mad we could wring their necks. What happens when you buy a newspaper from another newspaper and change it to the way you want it, not the way the readers had enjoyed it for 25 years.

It’s like when Coca-Cola changed their drink and everybody raised hell and they had to change it back.

Come on, Ken Harrison! Do it! Put it on the front page of the Reader. Everybody would love it!

Name Withheld
via voicemail

Profanity Spurs Vomiting

I was reading “Retro Rumble” (November 1 cover story), and I was very offended by the language that was in there. The “F” word is used; the “S” word is used; the “A” word is used. Please edit these ugly words out. I would appreciate it, and I’m sure others would. I want to vomit when I read it.

Monica Mangold
College Area

Do a Background Check

I am highly offended that you printed the item about the Deported Veterans Support House in Rosarito without any fact checking. I don’t know how accurate Fox News Latino is, but did anyone actually determine if these people served in the U.S. military?

Becoming a citizen after being in the service is a complicated process and is not just handed out because you joined up. There are several reasons they could have been denied citizenship and deported. Did they have any criminal background? Did they lie on the application? A basic web search would show the requirements to become a citizen. To put out this article without investigating the resident’s background does a disservice to the many men and women who served their adopted country honorably and went on to become citizens.

I am so sick of people who want privileges handed to them without actually earning or deserving them, yet whine afterward they didn’t get what they thought they should get. Look at your own actions before you blame someone else or the system.

Name Withheld
via email

Wonderful Romney

That was a beautiful picture on the cover of the October 25 Reader, and it was an interesting article (“Come to Romney Country”). I happen to be Mormon, and I thought it was fair, and balanced, and told the whole story. Thank you for printing that wonderful picture and that very good article about Mitt Romney’s family.

Harriet Steel
Carlsbad

A Nation Divided

The editor of the magazine chooses to use the Reader in a propaganda manner. The article on Mitt Romney (“Come to Romney Country,” October 25) detailed his lifestyle. Will the Reader issue a publication detailing President Obama in a positive manner?

The Tea Party and Republican candidate, former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, never served in Vietnam. Romney went to France to serve his Mormon Church on a faith mission. Romney was never prosecuted for not serving in Vietnam. Mrs. Romney stated on The View, “He was serving his mission. My five sons have also served their mission. None served in the military.”

Muhammad Ali, 1960 Rome Olympics gold-medal champion, heavyweight champion, and other boxing accolades did not go to Vietnam due to his Islamic faith. Ali was arrested, stripped of his boxing accolades, and barred from boxing for many years.

The bias in this country needs to cease! Imbrue: The cancer of racism stains our national fabric, taints our moral character and common core. The Republicans refuse to work in a bipartisan manner; instead they choose to ignore the greater good of the American people and choose their own agenda. A nation divided against itself will not stand!

Former Reader reader and disabled American veteran
via snail mail

Risking Retribution

I really need to be kept anonymous as I work for the City of San Diego and retaliation is normal there. I have wanted to comment on the article “Favor for Favor(s)” (News Ticker, October 25). I have been hesitant to do so as I was worried that Carl DeMaio might be voted in as the next mayor. The election is now over, and I still cannot state publicly my true feelings without worry of retribution.

I was at the voter forum in Del Cerro that was mentioned in the article. Mr. DeMaio started off his presentation exclaiming himself to be LGBT. I couldn’t tell if he was bragging or complaining. Immediately thereafter he proceeded to shoot barbs at Congressman Filner. Filner’s response was very emotional as DeMaio’s barbs obviously struck a chord with Filner. DeMaio stood there rolling his eyes and smiling during Filner’s return diatribe.

Two weeks later on a televised debate, Filner flipped the script on DeMaio. DeMaio’s response was, “Why is he attacking me?”

Mr. DeMaio has proven himself to be a brash bully who can give it but not take it. Mr. DeMaio is a ladder climber who has never been re-elected to a single office. I don’t think with all the toes he has stepped on that it could happen.

Mr. DeMaio, in my opinion, is very ill-suited for San Diego politics. I am surprised that he got as far as he did. His brand of Orange County conservatism really will not work here. Proposition B, no matter what he says, is bad for the people, the taxpayers, and the city workers who will be stuck with it unless it is overturned by the labor unions taking it to court.

In the later days of the campaign, Mr. DeMaio made public Mr. Filner’s combined pensions, which are public record. Mr. Filner is 70 years old and deserves the pensions he earned in public service. Mr. DeMaio is a millionaire who put a large chunk of his own money into his political war chest, while turning down the pension afforded to him in his current position. He should have saved that in his own 401(k) so he could watch it remain stationary, as there is no good interest to be made without taking high risks. That is what Proposition B forced upon the new city workers.

Keep in mind that the way the city works is that the mayor and city council put out to bid the contract to manage the 401(k) plans to the lowest bidder. That company will probably be a campaign contributor as that is how San Diego politics works. That company has no real interest in making the 401(k) accounts grow, as they will be paid anyway it works out. The future city workers will not have social security or any other source of funds to fall back on.

That is why we love the Reader, Don Bauder, and the other reporters for keeping us abreast of who, what, why, where, and when.

Name Withheld
via email

The Tax Man Will Find You

Although I thoroughly enjoy the San Diego Reader each week, it is rare that I find myself compelled to comment. That said, I wanted to write to say how much I enjoyed “Will Work for Food,” October 25. Ken Harrison is to be commended for a very well-written, entertaining, and informative piece that offered a glimpse into a world most of us do not understand.

I must say that I am quite intrigued by Jack Raymond Foster, one of the subjects of the article and a candidate for the office of President of the United States. If only this article had been published a week earlier, I could have cast my vote for Mr. Foster instead of wasting it on the other buffoons! His platform of legalizing all drugs is nothing short of brilliant and will simultaneously solve a myriad of issues that we face today. I wish him all the best.

I also find Mr. Foster’s refusal to accept welfare from social services agencies extremely refreshing. Of course, with an income of well over $100,000 a year (based on his own statement that, for him, panhandling only $400 is a “slow day”), he certainly does not need help from the government.

Of course, the $100,000-plus Mr. Foster earns is a pre-tax figure. I am certain that, after he sends in his check to the feds and the state, that he doesn’t clear nearly that much. You do pay taxes on your income, do you not, Mr. Foster? Of course you must. After all, you certainly understand that, as a candidate for our nation’s highest elected office, the press would have a field day if it was discovered that you did not pay your fair share. Not to mention the fact that, now that you have allowed your six-figure income to be published, the all-cash nature of your livelihood will certainly not prevent the tax man from knocking at your door. Or off-ramp, as the case may be.

Daniel Hecht
via email

Misplaced Tact

Dear Diva,

You write in your article, “Sweet People” (Diary of a Diva, October 25) that the word “tact” wouldn’t be among ten adjectives you would use to describe yourself. I suppose not — it’s a noun.

J. Dupree
via email

Mocktails

Reading thru Eve Kelly’s Best Buys column (October 25), I thought it quite entertaining to see the red and blue cocktails and then the policy differences, i.e. 47 Percent, etc.

But the jovial mood ended when it turned from policy differences to outright racism. Calling Obama’s cocktail the Kenyan, and Patrick’s turn of the phrase Hail to the Chief to Hail to the Chimp was unacceptable, racist, and an apology is due to your readers. I am shocked that in 2012, the Reader thinks this is entertaining. You are better than this.

Lee Hazer
via email