Cheap Shot To the Editor, As a loyal reader of the Tucson Weekly and one who is beginning to agree more and more with your opinions of the Citizen and the Star, I was really appalled and shocked by Rand Carlson's disgusting "Dealing With It" (Tucson Weekly, May 8). Are you trying to copy the nauseating headlines published by the Citizen regarding Capt. Button's homosexuality, when it has never been proven and so far denied by the military and his family? Come on--let's only print known facts and not innuendoes. Are you aware the Citizen made headlines as far away as Minneapolis and was mentioned on a national TV program? Maybe that is what you are aiming for. A joke is a joke, but not at the expense of someone who cannot respond. --Priscilla V.H. Walker Valley Woe To The Editor, "What's The Major Sport In Oro Valley--Uh, After Golf?" (The Skinny, Tucson Weekly, May 1) was another bit in support of Mayor Cheryl Skalsky and Vice Mayor Paul Parisi. It supports the dynamic duo not by finding anything positive in what they've done, but by attacking any citizen, or group of citizens, who would dare confront The Skinny's favorite people. These citizens, it whines, display juvenile politics. Focus on the incompetence of any group insisting on good government, it bellows. Forget the issues, real or imagined. Obviously this little acerbic iconoclast of conscientious citizens simply doesn't know what's going on in Oro Valley. If The Skinny had the slightest idea of what it was writing about, it would recognize there are real issues. Ignoring a commitment to have citizens vote on the purchase of the water companies is a real issue. Paying millions of dollars over value for water companies is a real issue. Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars over book value for questionable park lands is a real issue. Spending taxpayer money on extravagant parties, expensive condominiums, liquor bills, out-of-town retreats, in-town meals and that notorious helicopter ride for the Mayor's pleasure are real issues. Incomplete, unsigned and incorrect expense reports are real issues. Credit card charges to the town without receipts for what was purchased is a real issue. And finally, when you talk about "Mickey Mouse displays" of juvenile politics, look to the dynamic duo's handling of annexation. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on economic development and are totally outflanked by those people in Marana whom they derisively refer to as "Cotton Pickers." --John Clarke Alpha Mail To the Editor, Regarding Stuart Hoenig's letter to the editor ("Atom Bomb," Tucson Weekly, May 15): I don't know Hoenig's profession, but if it's anything to do with science, this man should not be trusted with a slide ruler. To claim that Uranium-238 (DU) ammunition "is not radioactive" is ignorance. While it has a low activity, its activity is mostly alpha radiation--the kind most hazardous when microscopic particles are injected or inhaled and lodge in tissue. This happened a lot on the Iraqi battlefield, because DU burns on impact, spreading into the atmosphere and creating a small-scale fallout of aerosolized uranium particles. These are available for ingestion and inhalation by people even much later, handling dusty wreckage and debris. To compare DU toxicity to the relatively light metals "iron, nickel or cobalt" is further ignorance. DU's chemical toxicity is more like other heavy metals: lead, mercury and cadmium. As an anti-nuclear activist of nearly 20 years, I am disturbed by the hysteria some of my colleagues foment with their hyperbole on worst-case scenarios. I find no need to embellish my own discussions about the nuclear enterprise, because the fact of mere mortals making a global industry out of a technology they scarcely understand is illustrative enough of the folly of the endeavor. Besides, the predictions of catastrophe have borne more fruit (Chernobyl, Rio Puerco, Windscale, etc.) than the nuclear industry's blithe assurances of safe, economical technology ever could or will at this point. By the way, when will the Tucson Weekly take on the Air Force as it does the cementheads and the UA? What's happening with DU in Arizona? --Jack Cohen-Joppa Three Cheers To The Editor, Regarding "Range War" (Tucson Weekly, April 24): Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the gun nuts are crying like babies because they can't blow their toys anymore in everybody's faces and laugh about it. So what? I walk the canyon quite a bit, and it is really a lot quieter there now that they're gone. I was raised around guns and hunting and believe in moderation as far as gun control (and most other laws) is concerned. First thing I ever learned about guns from my dad was to shoot them as far away from people as possible. It still sounds pretty sensible to me. So three cheers for our heroic forest rangers! --C. Encinas Fisted To The Editor, Regarding "Uppity Radio" (Tucson Weekly, May 1): I am guessing that Jeff Smith can boast "John, Adam and Joseph," as part of his family tree. Of course, a person like him and others of the dominant White (pink) culture can practice such an exclusive Amendment called "Free Speech," since the media practically belong to them. Hence, he is able to print a full-length article based on bullshit. I am not surprised that he failed to mention what sparked the controversy regarding the KXCI radio show Our Chicano Fist. This supposed well-spoken man was offended by a song protesting something we original inhabitants find offensive. This, of course, being the use of a highly respectable Indian brother named "Crazy Horse" to push alcohol. Crazy Horse was completely against the use of alcohol, realizing the devastating effect it would have on Native peoples. What disrespect to a righteous man who refused to accept what is aptly referred to as "Gringo colonization." A three-minute song on an hour-long weekly program is a drop in the bucket in terms of reparation and accountability. Also, I am curious to know why Smith considers himself "blood-brothers" with Sal Baldenegro? Did he possibly save him from some kind of locker-room scenario? You know, from getting the snot beat out of him and say? --Jessica Jaramillo We Want Letters! Thrilled by our brilliant insights? Sick of our mean-spirited attacks? Need to make something perfectly clear? Write: tucsonweekly@tucsonweekly.com

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