I would like to object to the recent [Aug. 4-10] "El Machete" cartoon depicting four countries that use "blood money" from the U.S. In the cartoon, Israel is labeled as the "apartheid state" along with Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq. To call Israel an apartheid state is an insult to all those who suffered human rights abuses in South Africa. Unlike the latter, Israel has ALWAYS had equal rights for all regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. All Israeli citizens—Jews and Arabs—are allowed to serve in the Knesset (Israeli parliament). One other point: If this cartoon were published in Libya, Afghanistan or Iraq, the author would be subject to jail time and/or torture. In Israel this cartoon would stir democratic debate.
Letters: Tiny Toons Tiny Toons
This week, I was able to read "Life in Hell" without a magnifying glass. Why am I reading comics with a magnifying glass? I guess the real question is: Why do you even bother printing comics in your rag if they are so miniature as to be illegible? What a waste of space and ink! Make them larger, please, please, please!
As our state and our people struggle with the already oppressive society brought on by television, media and capitalism, we found it extremely disturbing to see the Alibi supporting and glorifying shows like "Breaking Bad" [Feature, “Breaking Burque,” Aug. 4-10] that wrongfully depict our customs, traditions, family values and ways of life to the millions of the world’s captured audience. New Mexico is rich in beautiful cultures that are based around family, love, honor, tierra, liberty, justice, the home, work and independence, and go back for thousands of years. We believe that this show is giving thousands of New Mexicans a falsified identity and is showing the world a wrong depiction that is really created and misconstrued by Hollywood. Yes we struggle with substance addiction and we need to work together as community to get to the roots of the problem: poverty, lack of education, unemployment all exacerbated by corruption of the state. A program that glorifies the production and consumption of methamphetamines—that kills many, many Nuevo Mexicanos a year and breaks up our familias and communities—is not what we choose to represent to the world and is certainly nothing to be proud of! “Breaking Bad” is filmed on sacred lands that have thousands of years of history, and it is wrong for them to attempt to wrongly portray our identities! Albuquerque is not only a part of Turtle Island but is also part of the Center of Aztlan; we need to recognize and respect it as such. We support the LOCAL N.M. Film industry; however we do not believe that using our language, land and people in the way that “Breaking Bad” does will benefit us in the long run! “Breaking Bad” should be badly broken. Thumbs down!
Letters: Fat Kids Are Your Fault Fat Kids Are Your Fault
In " Crap Food & Childhood Obesity” [Letters, Aug. 4-10], the writer has it all wrong. It is true that our "representatives" in Washington are guilty of causing a lot of problems, but child obesity is definitely not one of them.Childhood obesity is caused by poor choices made by parents, not our government leaders who subsidize corporations.American children are getting fat because their parents choose to drive them everywhere, allow them to watch screens all day and continually purchase junk food for them, which is not cheaper, or even faster, than healthy food.In the time it takes to order and pick up a fast food meal, a healthy dish of whole wheat pasta, tofu, cheese and vegetables can be prepared at less than half the cost. And all those pre-made, packaged, fatty foods at the grocery stores? Last I checked they were all more expensive than basic nutritious items like beans, potatoes, skinless chicken or produce.Think of how much money, time and gas parents could save if they walked or rode a bike with their child to school. Instead of burning noxious gasoline in the 30-minute school car line, they could be burning calories instead.And what about all that money parents waste each month paying for junk cable TV, mind-destroying video games and cell phone plans for texting nonsense? This is money that could be saved or used for running shoes, bicycles, swim passes or some other activity item.Childhood obesity is definitely a problem in our country and could be easily fixed if parents started making better choices in the way they rear their children and spend their money.
Letters: Game Of Thrones Game Of Thrones
After suffering through the debate concerning the debt ceiling, I have re-examined the viability of our Constitution and the (in)adequacy of our institutions of government.I found the debate akin to watching a bad horror movie where one really does not care if everyone dies in the end or not. After careful consideration, I wish to propose that we install an absolute monarchy where we would have a king and/or a queen making all the decisions. Occasionally decisions would be made that we would not like, but the upside is we would not have to suffer through a debate. It would be settled, end of discussion. We would not have to listen to people in government who have ascended to positions far beyond their level of competence and intelligence talk about things of which they know very little. I know what you may be thinking. How do we choose who will be our royalty? Well, I certainly do not think we should vote on it, seeing that the recent batch of players were installed as a result of our votes. I would like to see a comedian become king or queen so that if we did receive bad news from them we could at least laugh about it. I think this would be good for us to laugh more, and enjoy it even when we know we are getting screwed.
Letters: A Tax On The Economy A Tax On The Economy
The United States just got downgraded from a AAA rating to AA+ by the S & P organization. The reason they did this is because last April they "made it very clear that they were looking for at least a $4 trillion reduction in the projected deficit over the next 10 years." If I am not mistaken, President Obama WAS looking for over $4 trillion in debt reduction but had to settle for about half of that. Why? Obama wanted a "balanced" approach, which included spending cuts AND revenue increases. However, the Republicans dug their heels in the sand and would not allow any revenue increases whatsoever. They would not allow any tax increases on the rich and fat cat corporations that Obama wanted. It seems like our Republican politicians report only to these entitled entities and no one else, and now we are going to pay the price. The cost of borrowing money will now be going up, and our recovery will now be even more in jeopardy. The Bush tax cuts were one of the worse things to happen to the economic well-being of this country. And thanks to the selfish self-serving Republican politicians they once again are helping to bring our country down even further.
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