Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Letters

Funny, Cool, Short

Re “Nothing Normal About It” (Cover Story, May 13).

It’s a good story. Pit bulls will be always brave and strong, and I love pit bulls. They’re really nice dogs. The story’s kind of funny, you know, it has a little sense of humor. It’s one of the shortest stories I’ve read in the Reader. I was expecting a little bit more, but it just ended with mariachi singers, which I thought was kind of funny and cool. Happy birthday, ­Grandma!

Dr. Greenthumb
San Diego

Hearts Warmed

Laura McNeal’s story about Mr. Benjamin’s Cotillion was terrific — humorous, sensitive, and so well written (“Don’t Look Down,” Cover Story, May 6). I read it aloud to my husband and he agreed. We hope to see more articles written by this talented writer. How could any San Diego parent not relate to this heartwarming ­story?

Sue Streeper
via email

Dinos In Perris

Sponsored
Sponsored

Re “Ricardo Loves Dinosaurs…” (Feature Story, May 6). The lady who did it, Jeannette De Wyze, wrote a really good article. It’s very nice. I don’t know if you’ve ever done an article on the Perris Jurassic Park, but it’s a pretty nice place to go to. I would encourage everybody to take the children ­there.

Kimberly Howard
South Encanto

She’s No Group

Kudos to Naomi Wise for actually making it past the second straight review without hurling racist bile at a Mexican cook preparing food she deemed inappropriate given his heritage. Then again, this La Jolla high-society princess wannabe never lets facts get in the way of her faux hipness. In “Sensual Spa” (May 12), the song she quotes is from Little Peggy March (“I Will Follow Him,” circa 1964). She was an individual singer, not a girl group! What a wonderful world it would be if we could place Wise under house arrest and confine her to a trailer park in Lakeside for life. ­Jeez…

Tony Cooper
Downtown

Naomi Wise responds: Wow, somebody’s got a great memory! I’d totally forgotten Little Peggy March. I assumed she was a “girl group” because I remembered the heavy vocal backup (definitely more pretty girls than one on this record). A recent compilation includes her version in a CD of Girl Group Greats, so I guess I’m not the only one to conflate Miss March with a ­multitude.

From The Legal Side

I completely agree with Todd Gilbert’s response (Letters, April 22) to Maribel’s depiction of the Minutemen and her characterization of the illegal immigration problem in general (Letters, April 8).

Contrary to what Maribel and perhaps many people who support illegal immigration may think, not everyone who opposes illegal immigration is racist or ­white.

My family legally immigrated to this country from Asia back in the 1980s. A few years ago, my parents and I finally obtained our ­citizenship.

One facet of the illegal immigration debate that I think people tend to forget is the perspective of actual legal immigrants. I know I do not speak for all legal immigrants, not by a long shot. I do know, however, that many other legal immigrants I have met and know share my sentiments when I say that amnesty for illegal immigrants is ­wrong.

There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of people all around the world who would like to come to America, many of whom are trying to do so the legal way. To grant amnesty to illegal immigrants would be a smack in the face to those would-be legal immigrants by allowing illegal immigrants, who broke our immigration laws, to cut in line in front of everyone ­else.

It would be akin to the loud, obnoxious family who shows up at a busy restaurant and demands seating only to have the management cave in and seat the family ahead of other people who are patiently waiting in line for their ­table.

I firmly believe not only that illegal immigrants should be deported but that the employers who knowingly hire them should be prosecuted as well. Under criminal laws related to illegal drugs, the government can seize a house, car, or other items used in connection with the manufacture or distribution of illegal ­drugs.

Similarly, I would go so far as to say the government should apply similar forfeiture laws to businesses who are caught knowingly employing illegal immigrants. I think if a business is found to be knowingly employing illegal immigrants, the government should be able to seize the property and building upon which that business does ­business.

Lastly, I will end with a famous saying that says if you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you. The Mexican government may like to point its finger at Arizona and anyone who dares speak out against illegal immigration, but the Mexican government should look at its own laws as well before it points its finger at ­anyone.

For example, did you know that Article 27, Section I of the current Mexican constitution states that only “Mexicans by birth or by naturalization as well as Mexican corporations shall have a right to acquire legal domain over lands, waters, and their ­accessories”?

Furthermore, illegal immigrants in Mexico may not even be afforded due process under Article 33 of the Mexican constitution, which states that “the Executive Branch [of the Mexican federal government] shall have power to expel from national territory, without a trial and in an immediate way, any foreigner whose presence is considered to be inconvenient. The foreigners shall not participate in the country’s political ­affairs.”

Those two articles are only the tip of the iceberg of Mexico’s hostility towards illegal immigrants within its own borders, so I find it incredible that the Mexican government has the audacity to accuse anyone of racism or discrimination simply for seeking to enforce immigration laws and deport illegal immigrants. In fact, there is not a single country in the world to my knowledge that does not have immigration laws. I know of no country that allows people to come and go as they please, completely ­unchecked.

Name Withheld
via email

Good Job!

It was nice and refreshing to read an article on Jehovah’s Witnesses that was factual and without bias (“Sheep and Goats,” April 8). Mr. Lickona did a very nice job on his article. Thank ­you.

M.S.L.
via email

Flat’s Where It’s At

I know this may be an old debate, but here we go again. I am more a fan of the old stapled binding for the Reader because it can lie flat. I know the high quality of your literature and service to the community hasn’t changed, even though a binding is supposed to project some pretense, but consider these advantages of flatness. It is easier to read whether held in the hands or on a table, since no text gets tucked in close to a binding that needs wrestling and taming and training to be flat. It can double as a placemat and consequently is always in front of you on the kitchen table (all right, I’m single— what about it?). And finally, after the week is done, or longer, the flat Reader can be kept in one’s shop or garage, and the appropriate number of pages easily removed and used for all sorts of things when you need newspaper, and they’ll still end up in the recycling bin. And isn’t flat less expensive to produce? Flat keeps you around longer. Flat is greener. Flat is where it’s at. People of San Diego, Rally around ­Flat!

Rob Gworek
via email

I Flip You Off

I have not picked up a copy of the Reader for many, many months. Actually, since the “Classic Reader Format” has been reduced. Nowadays, the Reader is worthless. That’s actually a compliment. More like worth nothing, as my, and anyone’s, slow-speed thumb-flipping of the pages proves to show that the majority of the Reader is display ­advertisements.

Why not just stop completely the Reader and advertise— your ­market?

Name Withheld by Request
via email

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief

Funny, Cool, Short

Re “Nothing Normal About It” (Cover Story, May 13).

It’s a good story. Pit bulls will be always brave and strong, and I love pit bulls. They’re really nice dogs. The story’s kind of funny, you know, it has a little sense of humor. It’s one of the shortest stories I’ve read in the Reader. I was expecting a little bit more, but it just ended with mariachi singers, which I thought was kind of funny and cool. Happy birthday, ­Grandma!

Dr. Greenthumb
San Diego

Hearts Warmed

Laura McNeal’s story about Mr. Benjamin’s Cotillion was terrific — humorous, sensitive, and so well written (“Don’t Look Down,” Cover Story, May 6). I read it aloud to my husband and he agreed. We hope to see more articles written by this talented writer. How could any San Diego parent not relate to this heartwarming ­story?

Sue Streeper
via email

Dinos In Perris

Sponsored
Sponsored

Re “Ricardo Loves Dinosaurs…” (Feature Story, May 6). The lady who did it, Jeannette De Wyze, wrote a really good article. It’s very nice. I don’t know if you’ve ever done an article on the Perris Jurassic Park, but it’s a pretty nice place to go to. I would encourage everybody to take the children ­there.

Kimberly Howard
South Encanto

She’s No Group

Kudos to Naomi Wise for actually making it past the second straight review without hurling racist bile at a Mexican cook preparing food she deemed inappropriate given his heritage. Then again, this La Jolla high-society princess wannabe never lets facts get in the way of her faux hipness. In “Sensual Spa” (May 12), the song she quotes is from Little Peggy March (“I Will Follow Him,” circa 1964). She was an individual singer, not a girl group! What a wonderful world it would be if we could place Wise under house arrest and confine her to a trailer park in Lakeside for life. ­Jeez…

Tony Cooper
Downtown

Naomi Wise responds: Wow, somebody’s got a great memory! I’d totally forgotten Little Peggy March. I assumed she was a “girl group” because I remembered the heavy vocal backup (definitely more pretty girls than one on this record). A recent compilation includes her version in a CD of Girl Group Greats, so I guess I’m not the only one to conflate Miss March with a ­multitude.

From The Legal Side

I completely agree with Todd Gilbert’s response (Letters, April 22) to Maribel’s depiction of the Minutemen and her characterization of the illegal immigration problem in general (Letters, April 8).

Contrary to what Maribel and perhaps many people who support illegal immigration may think, not everyone who opposes illegal immigration is racist or ­white.

My family legally immigrated to this country from Asia back in the 1980s. A few years ago, my parents and I finally obtained our ­citizenship.

One facet of the illegal immigration debate that I think people tend to forget is the perspective of actual legal immigrants. I know I do not speak for all legal immigrants, not by a long shot. I do know, however, that many other legal immigrants I have met and know share my sentiments when I say that amnesty for illegal immigrants is ­wrong.

There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of people all around the world who would like to come to America, many of whom are trying to do so the legal way. To grant amnesty to illegal immigrants would be a smack in the face to those would-be legal immigrants by allowing illegal immigrants, who broke our immigration laws, to cut in line in front of everyone ­else.

It would be akin to the loud, obnoxious family who shows up at a busy restaurant and demands seating only to have the management cave in and seat the family ahead of other people who are patiently waiting in line for their ­table.

I firmly believe not only that illegal immigrants should be deported but that the employers who knowingly hire them should be prosecuted as well. Under criminal laws related to illegal drugs, the government can seize a house, car, or other items used in connection with the manufacture or distribution of illegal ­drugs.

Similarly, I would go so far as to say the government should apply similar forfeiture laws to businesses who are caught knowingly employing illegal immigrants. I think if a business is found to be knowingly employing illegal immigrants, the government should be able to seize the property and building upon which that business does ­business.

Lastly, I will end with a famous saying that says if you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you. The Mexican government may like to point its finger at Arizona and anyone who dares speak out against illegal immigration, but the Mexican government should look at its own laws as well before it points its finger at ­anyone.

For example, did you know that Article 27, Section I of the current Mexican constitution states that only “Mexicans by birth or by naturalization as well as Mexican corporations shall have a right to acquire legal domain over lands, waters, and their ­accessories”?

Furthermore, illegal immigrants in Mexico may not even be afforded due process under Article 33 of the Mexican constitution, which states that “the Executive Branch [of the Mexican federal government] shall have power to expel from national territory, without a trial and in an immediate way, any foreigner whose presence is considered to be inconvenient. The foreigners shall not participate in the country’s political ­affairs.”

Those two articles are only the tip of the iceberg of Mexico’s hostility towards illegal immigrants within its own borders, so I find it incredible that the Mexican government has the audacity to accuse anyone of racism or discrimination simply for seeking to enforce immigration laws and deport illegal immigrants. In fact, there is not a single country in the world to my knowledge that does not have immigration laws. I know of no country that allows people to come and go as they please, completely ­unchecked.

Name Withheld
via email

Good Job!

It was nice and refreshing to read an article on Jehovah’s Witnesses that was factual and without bias (“Sheep and Goats,” April 8). Mr. Lickona did a very nice job on his article. Thank ­you.

M.S.L.
via email

Flat’s Where It’s At

I know this may be an old debate, but here we go again. I am more a fan of the old stapled binding for the Reader because it can lie flat. I know the high quality of your literature and service to the community hasn’t changed, even though a binding is supposed to project some pretense, but consider these advantages of flatness. It is easier to read whether held in the hands or on a table, since no text gets tucked in close to a binding that needs wrestling and taming and training to be flat. It can double as a placemat and consequently is always in front of you on the kitchen table (all right, I’m single— what about it?). And finally, after the week is done, or longer, the flat Reader can be kept in one’s shop or garage, and the appropriate number of pages easily removed and used for all sorts of things when you need newspaper, and they’ll still end up in the recycling bin. And isn’t flat less expensive to produce? Flat keeps you around longer. Flat is greener. Flat is where it’s at. People of San Diego, Rally around ­Flat!

Rob Gworek
via email

I Flip You Off

I have not picked up a copy of the Reader for many, many months. Actually, since the “Classic Reader Format” has been reduced. Nowadays, the Reader is worthless. That’s actually a compliment. More like worth nothing, as my, and anyone’s, slow-speed thumb-flipping of the pages proves to show that the majority of the Reader is display ­advertisements.

Why not just stop completely the Reader and advertise— your ­market?

Name Withheld by Request
via email

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Why did Harrah's VP commit suicide last summer?

Did the fight the Rincon casino had with San Diego County over Covid play a part?
Next Article

Jazz guitarist Alex Ciavarelli pays tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson

“I had to extract the elements that spoke to me and realize them on my instrument”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader