Final Solution Forthcoming

LATINO City Councilman Tony Madrigal implies Latinos should be exempt from fines on Halloween in downtown Santa Cruz and should be exempt from being frisked by the police. There are all kinds of racism in the world today, including Latino racism—a phrase which local progressives do not dare to utter.The success of Latino racism in Santa Cruz can be measured by the tens of thousands of dollars in municipal subsidies for Latinos, often in the form of what are euphemistically called community organizations. These subsidies have gone on for decades, while various other social programs are periodically cut.

Subsidies to Latinos imply Latinos are somehow "inferior" and therefore need or deserve subsidization by gringos. So this is a symbiotic relationship between gringo racism and Latino racism. And neither side is willing to address the real underlying problem: overpopulation in Mexico.

Jerry Simpson, Aptos

What About Rudolph?

SORRY TO BREAK THIS to all you Burn Heads out there, but it's time to get the hell off the Playa. It is first and foremost a wilderness area. If you want to experience the warm feeling of space cadet glow, then do it somewhere else. Do we have to fill up every empty space just because we can? And don't give me that sorry-ass excuse that it's all about the community feeling. If you want that, help out at your local homeless shelter. And for those of you that say they clean up the Playa better than it was, that's a crock of manure and bad PR to boot. Just go and look at the graveyard of dead art cars; see the truth. Sorry, kiddies, there is no Santa Claus. Time to wake up and smell the manure that Burning Man is!

Allen Ray Aston, Monterey

It Rolls Downhill

AS A PRACTICING family law specialist, I see the harm done to families when a country engages in aggressive war. The administration's aggression and violence do trickle down—right into the courtroom and into the family. We need immediately to begin to show that violence is not the way to solve problems. Not internationally, not in the family, not at all.

Robin Yeamans, Campbell

Write A Letter

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS is the latest of Bush's frontmen to step up and defend the illegal and unjust war in Iraq. He is offering us a rosy-sounding picture of Iraq that, if true, would conveniently justify continuing the war. Does his argument sound familiar? To me, it sounds just like the claims that the Iraqi people would welcome the U.S. occupation with kisses and flowers. Those claims were all lies, just like the claims about Iraq having chemical and biological weapons, and the claims that Iraq was linked to the Sept. 11 attacks.There have been so many lies told by the Bush administration that it would be tragic if Congress bought this latest bunch. Call your senators and let them know that we won't stand for any more lies and deceit. They should do the honorable thing and bring all our troops home no w.

Peter Stone, Palo Alto

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