Glib and Hard-Edged

I'M ALWAYS amused at how judgmental self-professed "sex-radicals" can be--on her blog Midori has branded the author as "sex-negative" for daring to express discomfort at being singled out for an extra helping of sexual aggression during anal sex class ("Mistress Midori," Cover Story, Feb. 11). As a thoroughly kinky and highly sexed gal myself, I must protest: glib and hard-edged is not the only face of uninhibited sexuality. 

 Miriel Andrez,
East Haven, Conn.

A Pre-emptive Strike

THE NEW bike/pedestrian bridge next to Highway 1 is in need of a name, quickly, before the mucky-mucks name it after someone rich and/or dead.

I didn't come up with it, but "Paradise Bridge" has been put forth by one prominent local and sounds like an excellent moniker to me. Paradise Bridge it shall be. (Presumably in memory of the nearby encampment that washed away in 2005 or so, if memory serves.)

Please make a note of it for your records!

Pureheart Steinbruner,
Aptos

Healthy, Wealthy and Self-Obsessed

HAVE YOU considered the overabundance of Metro Santa Cruz issues focusing on health this past year? Good Times is stuck on the subject as well. So, in combination with the Connection rag, we are aflood with health news. Are we Santa Cruzans so narcissistic that we can't focus on other issues/ideas?

Kathy Cheer,
Santa Cruz

Get Over Yourselves

I AM saddened to see DeCinzo go; his satire was one of two reasons I pick up your paper. I am unconcerned with arts and music coverage, but like to keep up on local news. Your "Nu_z" section often has some interesting tidbits and is worth a read. That and DeCinzo's biting humor was great, but with him gone? Your paper's value is reduced by half.

People who criticize his work as mean-spirited are simply oversensitive and can't laugh at themselves. Humor begins with a grain of truth and then blows it out of proportion, that's what makes it funny.

To his detractors I say "get over yourselves" and to Metro Santa Cruz I say "please bring back DeCinzo."

If DeCinzo can't return, then something other than Tom Tomorrow's monotonous anti-Bush tirades would be nice. After all, Bush is finally gone (Hallelujah), and Mr. Tomorrow has nothing more to say.

Paul Sosbee,
Ben Lomond

$ave The Art$

THE ARTS and culture sector must be included in the federal government's economic recovery plan. The arts are essential to the health and vitality of our communities. They enhance community development, spur urban renewal, attract new businesses, draw tourism dollars, and create an environment that attracts skilled, educated workers and builds a robust 21st-century workforce.

The Senate recently passed an amendment to the stimulus plan that specified that no money would be given to museums, theaters, and art centers. This was proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn. Please let the public know the future of art in our society. According to Americans for the Arts, a $50 million investment to the National Endowment for the Arts will provide critical funding to save 14,422 jobs from being lost in the U.S. economy. This is based on the ability of the NEA to leverage $7 in additional support through local, state and private donations, for every $1 in NEA support.

There are approximately 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations, which spend $63.1 billion annually. Without an economic stimulus for the nonprofit arts industry, experts expect about 10 percent of these organizations (ranging from large arts institutions like museums and orchestras to small community-based organizations in suburban, urban and rural areas) to shut their doors in 2009--a loss of 260,000 jobs.

In a report released in mid-January, the National Governor's Association stated, "Arts and culture are important to state economies. Arts and culture-related industries, also known as 'creative industries,' provide direct economic benefits to states and communities: They create jobs, attract investments, generate tax revenues, and stimulate local economies through tourism and consumer purchases."

David Gerhard,
Petaluma

Send letters to the editor here.