Mailbag

Prisoners Are Reaching Out Into the Community With Charity Fundraisers

The No More Homeless Animals Day benefit concert truly was for a great cause ("Great Music, Good Cause," City Week, and "Animals Rock!" Soundbites, Aug. 28). There are so many great causes that deserve attention in Tucson.

I am a prisoner in the Arizona State Prison complex in Tucson doing 11 1/4 years for residential burglary. Recently, the Arizona Department of Corrections has encouraged its inmates to make contributions to charities.

In cooperation with the warden, deputy warden and correctional office, state prisoners in Tucson have a monthly fundraiser. In August, the ADOC signed a check to the Community Food Bank in Tucson for nearly $600, donated by the inmates in my assigned prison unit. This doesn't include other charities inmates personally chose to support. Stuff the Bus, Homicide Survivors and various other just causes have gotten inmates' support. By giving back to the community, convicted felons are contributing.

Any charities in need of support and local businesses/individuals willing to work with the ADOC on fundraisers are encouraged to contact me at the address on my prison blog, at www.shannoninprison.blogspot.com . Contact information for Tucson's prison charity events is also available.

Shannon M. Clark

An Inhumane, Horrible, Batshit-Crazy Proposal to Cut Down on Drug Smugglers

A simple solution to the problem you discuss ("The Chiricahua Corridor," Sept. 11), which would never be allowed by the pussies (Democrats) that run the newspapers, TV and politics, would be to offer $25 for wounding a drug smuggler, and $50 if you kill him, with an extra bonus if you get more than one.

You could even have low-cost rentals of AK-47s, free bullets and big dogs that are trained to bite you-know-who. There would be many takers; we could even have public displays of dead drug smugglers.

Stuart A. Hoenig

And Here's Another Border Proposal That's ... Interesting

I have been reading stories of the border and the problems with illegals and the Chiricahua Corridor.

I thought of an idea for the border, and so far, I've gotten a good response from it. Please read what I have to say, and give it some thought; it wouldn't cost us nearly as much money as the border fence, and it will work.

We have so many cars and trucks in Arizona alone that can be brought to the border. They just lay around, making the country unsightly. People will give them away at no cost to anyone. There are probably many truckers who would be willing to haul them to be placed along the border, three deep and three high; it would give the truckers a job, and hauling them away would probably be considerably cheaper than building a fence. Have barbed wire to secure them. Then weld them so that they cannot be moved independently, or dig a trench so they can't be moved at all.

The cars and trucks are old and rusty and would be a breeding area for snakes and other creatures that would live inside of these vehicles. Each state could donate vehicles in their area, so you wouldn't be hauling from northern areas to get supplies. These vehicles can't be any worse than the garbage that the illegals are leaving around; you might even find volunteers to help, knowing it will save us tax dollars.

Dawn Odya

A Letter From a Skeptic Regarding the Delicate Nature of Mountain Switchbacks

"The Chiricahua Corridor" was very convincing and a real eye-opener, but your accuracy gets called into question with one small paragraph:

"The heavy traffic has created an erosion problem, too, and this is a serious and long-lasting issue for the health of the forest. In steep terrain, instead of walking switchbacks, the illegals slide on their butts from one switchback down to the next, and when it rains, the water washes out the hillside. The smuggling trail that emerges at South Fork bears the scars from hundreds of butt-sliders. The same occurs on the aliens' hillside trails. When the water comes, the trail becomes a flowing gully."

C'mon now, butt-sliding is a significant cause of erosion in the Arizona mountains? Maybe all-terrain-vehicle use, but illegals butt-sliding?! I'm afraid that lone statement stands out as laughable. You're going a wee bit too far trying to convince me of the problem with that one!

Bill Love

Actually, Palin Reminds Us More of Christina, but Thanks for Sharing

I tried to call, but got voicemail. I just wanted you to know that I read the Tucson Weekly weekly, first to get my "Ask a Mexican!" fix. Anyway, I was reading all about Sarah Palin, John McCain's running-mate choice ("Meet Sarah Palin," Currents, and "Parsing Palin," Editor's Note, Sept. 4).

As I read, I wondered ... where can I get a John and Britney bumper sticker? I can't imagine how that popped into my head.

Karen MacLeish

A Prime Example of How Satire, Humor and Basic Reading Comprehension Are Lost on Some People

I am a member of AUDIT AZ, and I resent the use of violent terminology that you used in The Skinny to represent our views ("Off With Brad Nelson's Head!" Sept. 18). Where and why would you come up with an analogy of having a person's "head on a platter" and "lynching"? We are hard-working volunteers who have persistently uncovered, at the very least, incompetence, and more probably, malfeasance, in the way that Brad Nelson, John Moffatt and Chuck Huckelberry have been handling public elections in Pima County.

Why don't you just report what these people have done time and time again: They've counted ballots despite the security seals being either missing or not matching the number of ballots inside a supposedly secure bag. They've opened these bags, and then been caught counting them with no party (of any kind) present. They took a court-ordered-sealed box that we fought in court to get so that we could see what (the county officials) were doing. We have numerous witnesses and sworn testimony to back up our claims.

Why is it so difficult for you to write an accurate piece that does not include character assassination, and why do you make excuses for the powers who are controlling our elections? Writing, "Huckelberry does not have an MRI machine behind his desk, despite what some activists may believe" (very cute ... NOT) is totally irrelevant when he could have just opened the bags without one.

I guess that the accurate counting of our votes the way we intended them to be counted isn't important enough for the Tucson Weekly to write about seriously. It's better to be able to write a cute little piece that accuses AUDIT AZ of being violent people who are just complaining about nothing. (Note: We encourage the letter-writer to re-read the piece in question, as it does not say this, and, in fact, says just the opposite. ) Oh, yes, let the people who benefit from winning the election say it's fair--and then they'll order a little investigation with their lackeys, and blame the problem on poorly trained, overworked poll workers. Sounds like passing the buck to me.

Good job, Tucson Weekly.

Lianda Ludwig