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NO SYMPATHY
I'm writing this letter in response to the June 27 SFR Talk with David Iglesias ["Breaking Ranks"]. I wish Mr. Iglesias would stop his whining and crying about being fired by his supervisor, Mr. Alberto Gonzales.
First of all, as US attorney of New Mexico working under Mr. John Ashcroft and the Bush-Cheney administration, he aided and abetted in this immoral and illegal war in Iraq, which has killed more than 3,000 American soldiers and God knows how many Iraqi citizens.
As US attorney of New Mexico, Mr. Iglesias also supported the illegal wiretapping of Americans, the snooping on our computers at work and at home, not to mention his support of the unconstitutional Patriot Act. (All coming from someone who was not even born in this country!) It's interesting to note that a provision in the Patriot Act (which he claims he didn't know) got him fired. Karma? As a Christian, I prefer to call it Divine Intervention.
Mr. Iglesias, didn't you even read the Patriot Act? It's so sad that many of our leaders signed this Act, which has taken away so many of our cherished constitutional rights. So please Mr. Iglesias, stop crying around and just admit the truth. You were fired for (among other things):
1. Poor job performance
2. Being out of New Mexico much too long and
3. Not pursuing voter fraud in this state
And Mr. Iglesias, may God forgive you for your involvement with these treasons and this immoral administration.
REFUSE THE BOTTLE
In regard to your article about the serving of bottled water in restaurants [Total Pig, June 27: "Water Wars"], I was recently pleasantly surprised to read on the menu at Harry's Roadhouse that they filter the water they serve. Here is the main point, I believe: If filtered water is offered, people will drink it. This reduces one's environmental footprint big time by avoiding the energy used to bottle water, the fossil fuel used to transport it and the bottle waste. Even when the bottles are recycled, again there is an energy cost.
We often observe in restaurants that tap water is served with a lemon wedge, to mask its chlorinated flavor. Figuring that it "cost" a lemon for every six to eight glasses, my guess is that filtering would be cheaper.
Indeed, there is a health issue in that tap water is chlorinated, and in this neck of the woods contains more arsenic than many of us care to imbibe. On the other hand, it has been recently revealed that plastic used to bottle water imparts its own toxins.
So let's say hurray for Harry's, and request filtered water at all our favorite eateries. Can we consider that the issue of what we ingest goes well beyond our personal health, and realize the true cost of our toxic load?
CONTEXT NEEDED
We've all heard that "One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter," and "What is called assertive in a man is called 'bitchy' in a woman."
Asenath Kepler's "Tips for the Council" [First Person, June 20] was a perfect example of this variable view, and offered no illumination whatsoever. I have no idea about the specific people and situations she was referring to-and she didn't provide any specifics-but what she's calling "micromanagement" could be referred to by others as "oversight," and what she's lauding as "macromanagement" could be called "laissez-faire" by those opposed.
And her list of attributes could likewise be easily reversed by any able rhetorician.
Kepler may be absolutely correct for all I know, but without providing any specifics she just sounds like an ex-city manager, scorned.
SANTA FE
SHAME ON SFR
The Reporter's June 13 issue had an ad placed by Hutton broadcasting. I was expecting to not see it this week of June 20, but it was still there! This is alarming.
MANY OF US DO NOT WELCOME YOU, HUTTON BROADCASTING!
Hutton Broadcasting is buying out these three local Santa Fe stations before the people who actually built them can:
KWRP 101.5, "INDIE 101-5"
KLBU 102.9, "BLUE 102"
KBAC 98.1, "RADIO FREE SANTA FE"
These airwaves, by the way, air great musicians, such as local Santa Fe bands and other international talents-who aren't played on the mainstream-approved radio. These local Santa Fe airwaves also air commercials sponsored by local businesses.
Also, look at these radio stations: The music is progressive and expansive and the talk covers a lot of different thinking and news, i.e. not the same old stuff that is usually fed to us.
Shame on you, Reporter, for being bought by Hutton Broadcasting-it is now necessary to group you with all of the other media that can be swayed with money. I guess The Sun News and Sun Monthly are the papers in town that are the people's voices.
You have a lot to live up to, Hutton Broadcasting. I'm not sure, even with a good faith effort on your part to live up to your promises, that you could ever replace the fine programming that many thoughtful people have come up with and sent out on these airwaves. Your airwaves will be missed Indie, Radio Free and Blue.
SKEWED REALITY
In regard to John Agresto's book, Mugged by Reality: The Liberation of Iraq and the Failure of Good Intentions [Cover story, March 7: "Facing Reality"], I felt that it read more like a college essay, albeit it was interesting. It seemed more like an attempt to display Mr. Agresto's self-importance, rather than the situation in Iraq. Of course he would capitalize on his experience, which seemed rather commonplace compared to what the American combat troops are facing on a daily basis. He seemed to trivialize the situation, when in fact, the American people see the realization of the war.
I did not appreciate the comment he made in his interview with the Santa Fe Reporter regarding Socorro. His quote was "Our soldiers are not just the children of the poor, but the rural poor. These kids are from Socorro, not from Santa Fe." His pretentious attitude insinuated that children who are from Socorro are all low income, destined to become poverty stricken; their only option being the armed services to survive; unemployed males, or unwed mothers with multiple children.
I take offense to that quote personally, due to the fact that I am a product of the Socorro public school system and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and seem to have survived the "Socorro Curse."
Mr. Agresto needs to realize that nothing is sacred if he puts himself in the public eye, with his uninformed, pompous comments.
So Mr. Agresto, I feel that as a child of Socorro, I seem to have fared far better than you would imply.
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Santa Fe Reporter