BACK BURGESS

EDITOR: David Della is the biggest piece of crap on the city council. He's running for reelection and Tim Burgess is a decent enough candidate to serve all of our interests. I believe Tim's position on gay issues to have evolved in earnest ["Challenged Challenger," Erica C. Barnett, Sept 6]. If you do, too, then you really have got to stop beating him up on this issue and start saying dump Della.

I completely share your sentiments about Tim's earlier statements; I found them personally offensive—I am a former PFLAG board member and sat on the ERW lobby task force for the last two years. These are my issues even more than urban and sustainable ones. However, Tim seems good enough and David doesn't.

You've run Tim through the ringer enough to make a point to him and anyone else attempting to run for the council; but whatever you do, don't help David get reelected. Get back on the pro-Tim bandwagon before Della starts picking up the progressive votes. We've got a terrible city council and need Burgess. He'll do well.

Sean Howell

CROCKING OUT

MR. SANDERS: I'm 29 years old and I'm from Brazil. Chris Crocker is all over the place here, too, and your article was one of the first links I found in Google when I decided to look for more info on him ["Escape from Real Bitch Island," Eli Sanders, May 31]. I've just read your article and it's amazing. At a first glance, Chris looked a bit "strange" to me, crying about that whole Britney thing. I didn't know what to think of his attitude, but I definitely couldn't help but feel that his reaction is symptomatic of a kind of diseased society, seeing the resultant obsession that a fan can develop over the object of his adoration. To me it's sad when someone's sense of well-being is so severely affected by the problems of another person. Compassion is one thing; losing control over it is another. But in another view, reading your article made me see beyond one of the most interesting cases of "15 minutes of fame." We all know what's going on with him; he's in a place where he doesn't belong. I can only imagine all the pressure and stress he lives with, and now I think he's a brave person for having the guts to be himself in such a hypocritical society. I wish all the best for him.

Juliano Mendes da Hora

WHATEVER YOU SAY

EDITOR: Shmootzi the Clod of Circus Contraption/Tentacled Sawfish here. Congratulations. You guys r on my poo-poo list for the two recent articles (by whose names I shan't mention) re: the Yard Dogs Traveling Road Show, that were derogatory [Up & Coming, Amy Kate Horn, Aug 9; "Keep It On," Paul Constant, Aug 16].

1. I know what's good!

2. The two writers wouldn't know what was good if it snuck up behind of 'em and bit 'em in the ass!

3. The Yard Dogs are my friends and they are AMAZING and tighter than a duck's butt, the Black and Blue Burlesque girls are HOTTER THAN HELL and total pros, and they're a TRAVELING road show, which means they are DESTITUTE and NEED HELP, not harm.

For shame. For shame. The Stranger used ta be such a nice girl. What the HELL happened?

Hand grenades 'n' razor blades,

Shmootzi the Clod

FUTURE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE

As a father of three, I was appalled at the submission to the I, Anonymous column ["Welcome to the Family," Sept 13]. I think the writer has an obvious moral obligation to her soon-to-be sister-in-law: Tell her what she is getting involved in, and that her soon-to-be in-laws are no bueno. As the publishers of that submission, I hope that you will see the logic in this, and please do everything in your power to contact the writer and convince her of this. You owe it to the sister-in-law's future children.

Muneer Desai

DUMB AND DUMBER

In the letters section [Sept 13], Steve R. reiterates a common argument: Bush and company couldn't have pulled off or prevented 9/11 because they are incapable of handling anything well, as evidenced by Iraq and Katrina. He overlooks the fact that Bush and company successfully pulled off the biggest heist of all: becoming the leaders of the United States of America. Perhaps their "failures" are anything but—first, their globalist ambitions aren't concerned with the USA and its welfare; and second, just because Bush sounds and acts like an idiot doesn't mean the people who are behind his words and deeds are stupid.

Matt Day

LITRAGS

EDITOR: It is swell for local lit mags to get occasional notice in The Stranger, even if that only happens when personality conflicts are the underlying subtext, but I do want to rectify several inaccuracies [Nightstand, Christopher Frizzelle, Sept 13]. Firstly, bulk-mail postal rates for small-press journals and magazines increased dramatically on May 14, but each journal is affected differently, based on the weight and size of the journal. Raven Chronicles' bulk-mail rate increased over 200 percent because of the larger-size format we publish. Secondly, Hugo House executive director Lyall Bush never used (and would never use) the phrase in a phone call to me "we're kicking you out at the end of the year." He merely said our lease would end by the end of the year. That is my own blunt paraphrasing of what he said. Thirdly, Bush never said we have to leave Hugo House by November 15 if we can't pay commercial rates for a newly refurbished space. He said we might have the option to stay, but we'd have to leave by November 15, instead of the end of the year, if we can't afford to pay the new rates. Fourthly, Raven has always had a written contract/lease with Hugo House, and the rent has increased modestly in 10 years; we've paid $135 a month for the last several years, indeed an incredibly cheap rate for rent. As for change being "so good to the revolutionary spirit," as Bush is quoted as saying, I guess we should say the same thing to all the folks who have become homeless due to the predatory developer/real estate practices in this country!

Phoebe Bosché

Editor, Raven Chronicles