Imagine you went to a town where everybody always wore cloth covering their ears, even in hot weather. You never saw anyone with bare ears in public. It was forbidden by law. You could get fined, thrown in jail, laughed at, cursed, beaten up and branded as a pervert if you showed your naked ears in public. Insane! Why are these people ashamed and afraid of seeing bare ears in public? Why are they so hung up about that part of the body? Why this weird taboo?The same is true in this society about naked penises, testicles, vaginas, asses and female breasts. Why the crazy, sick hang-ups about these precious, pleasurable parts of our bodies? Why is it legal to show rifles, shotguns, revolvers and missiles in public but it is not legal to show naked penises, testicles, vaginas, asses and female breasts in public?Our genitals are not obscene! Naked bodies making love are not obscene! War, racism, war tax, rape, revenge, greed, boxing, grudges … are obscene!But because of the sexually uptight society we live in, I aim to be wise—to be totally naked and to make love where I do not risk getting arrested or freaking people out. In a private home, I am glad to make love with certain men in the presence of any adult man or woman who treasures watching affectionate, passionate sex.When my mother and father were alive, I was often naked in their presence. Soon after I first had sex with any male in my life, at age 31, I told my mother. Months later, she told me she wished she could be a mouse in the corner to watch me have sex with a man. I wish now many years after her death that she had seen me have sex with a man, but sadly it never happened …
Letters Crime And Punishment
This is my situation. In 1993, I learned that I possess a gene for familial colonic polyps, a serious precursor to colon cancer. For one fleeting year, I enjoyed the benefits of a group policy at the gallery where I worked … that is, until I had a colonoscopy, a necessary procedure in colon cancer screening. This was number three of six for me. I was dropped by the company and made to sign with a separate carrier at my own expense. While the owner of the gallery paid half of the premiums of my fellow employees, I was forced to pay the entirety of my monthly premium myself, more than twice what others were paying. Not surprisingly, I could not afford the coverage, so I canceled the policy. Because of this newly discovered gene, and because I was foolish enough to be honest about my genetic history (I’m being sarcastic), at least two other health care providers turned me down. It’s fair to say that I was summarily punished for a pre-existing condition over which I had no control. In fact, I was punished twice over for doing the responsible thing by having periodic colon cancer screenings to detect and prevent the big “C,” the same cancer that claimed the lives of several of my mother’s aunts. My boss at one time even suggested that I lie on my application so that I would not be denied by yet another insurance company. Is this what health care in America has come to? Am I forced to bear false witness in order to receive the affordable health care to which I am entitled? Denmark looks better to me all the time.
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[Re: Letters, “Police State,” Nov. 6-12] I was amazed upon reading this individual’s letter complaining about New Mexico being “a police state” because of the Downtown barricades, etc. during the weekend evenings. Well, guess what; most of us “non-bar” business owners are fed up enough as it is. Funny he didn’t mention the filth, vomit, urine, gang tags etched with glass cutters or liquid etching fluid on our own windows, or the beer bottles and bar glasses strewn throughout the Downtown area. So you’ll forgive me when I say, “Then go spend your money and party in Denver, Santa Fe or Phoenix,” and take all the gangbangers, drug addicts, cruisers, bikers, panhandlers and the like with you. You idiots are a major part of why the Downtown businesses are struggling and why Downtown is decaying and falling apart at the seams. I know what I’m talking about. After 26 years down here, I’ve seen it all. The glut of Downtown condos and lofts that aren’t selling, let alone leasing, is a typical example. Who in their right minds would want to live in this cesspool of crap? Cruisers and motorcycles revving up their engines, setting off all the parked car alarms along the way. Now, Alibi , let’s see if you have the balls to print this. Oh, I forgot, you make the majority of your advertising revenue from the Downtown bars and clubs and their venues. So I’ll just be amazed if this would even make it past that trash can at your desks. There hasn’t been any major retail expansion Downtown because of all the disrespect and crap that goes on in your glorious nightlife venues.
Letters Thanks Heaps, Mate!
I’m from Melbourne, Australia, and love reading your mag when I’m here in New Mexico. I like the "¡Ask a Mexican!" column, but I think you need an "Ask an Aussie!" column, and I’ll happily be the man for that job. Keep up the good work!
Letters I've Been Meaning To Weigh In On This ...
[Re: Thin Line, “Is the Journal Drunk? (I Certainly Am.)” Oct. 30-Nov. 5] The whole "public shaming" approach seems to be concocted by and for people who read The Scarlet Letter less as a warning against hypocrisy and mob-think and more as a "how-to" manual. Thinking that the Journal’s tactics are tacky and inappropriate doesn’t make you pro-drunk driver, it just makes you anti-moral superiority. Nyah, nyah.
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