Sunday, June 29, 2008
Quick

Sunday Mail

An evaluation of the paper

I moved to Atlanta in August of last year. I read both Creative Loafing and The Sunday Paper regularly. The two alternative weekly publications have helped me to get a handle on what’s going on in Atlanta. I think you Sunday Paper folks do a very nice job, and I wanted to let you know that.
It’s a little hard for me to list specifics, as the roster of columnists has changed so much since I’ve been reading. There have been columnists that I’ve liked and disliked whose work no longer appears in SP.  Here are some thoughts, though, on things as they stand now:

1) I don't see Arianna Huffington’s column in this week’s paper. If this means it is being discontinued, that’s no great loss. She seems obsessed with criticizing John McCain.  Hasn’t she done so pretty much every other week for months now?  I would much prefer a columnist interested in a wider variety of topics.

2) I always read Jonah Goldberg’s column. Of course, I almost always violently disagree with it. I was very interested, though, in this week’s piece on Canada.

3) I really, really enjoy Stephanie Ramage’s column. In fact, I’d read The Sunday Paper just for that. The majority of her articles are a pleasure as well.

4) The Blane Bachelor column is awesome! Please don't stop carrying it.

Okay, that’s it.  Keep up the good work.

—Brent Hiatt, Atlanta

The end of white guilt

Thank you for “Obama and the End of White Guilt” (News & Views, June 22). Stephanie Ramage has gone public with something that whites discuss in private with only their closest friends. The small minority of African-Americans, like Ramage’s “masher,” who like to play games with white guilt have probably set race relations back by quite a few years, and not talking about it doesn't help.

To make matters worse, white people sometimes manipulate other whites with white guilt, and the results can be disastrous. Remember how Clarence Thomas, the right wing’s favorite Oreo cookie, got on the Supreme Court? If the moderate and liberal members of the Senate had stood up on their hind legs and fought his nomination as they would have done if he had been a mediocre, poorly qualified, ultra right-wing, white sexual harasser, how would things be different now? Al Gore probably would have been president for the past eight years. Maybe we wouldn’t be in Iraq. Maybe we would have made some progress in stopping climate change. Maybe we would have made some major medical advances based on stem cell research. Maybe our economy wouldn’t be on the verge of collapse. Who has suffered most at the hands of Clarence Thomas and his white friends? Not rich white people.

If anyone can make some progress with the racial mess, it’s Obama. He made a great start with his speech about the controversy over the Reverend Wright. After most people got over being horrified about it, they seem to have decided that what Obama said made more sense than anything they’ve heard in a long time. Like Jon Stewart, I’m ready for a President who is smarter than I am.

—Mary Dabbs (a white veteran of the ’60s  civil rights movement), Druid Hills

For …

James Burns’ comic strip this week made me laugh out loud. Especially the frame where the Klansman says “I’m interested in seriously discussing the candidate’s policy positions.”

—Bill Thomas, Marietta

… and against

I’ve been reading your paper for over a year now on a semi-religious basis, and I can honestly say that The Sunday Paper is unique. It’s the only alt-weekly I’ve seen that attempts to balance between the left and the right. My only complaint is with the comics. Most of them are OK, except for that one by James Burns. I suggest you chop it out completely and instead run a strip like “The Boondocks” or “Maintaining.” There isn’t a single black comic strip in The Sunday Paper and that is a travesty. “Maintaining” would be an especially good fit because it’s about a biracial boy and, like The Sunday Paper, it presents a balanced view of things. And, unlike James Burns’ strip, the artwork is loose yet professional. Thank you. I hope to see a black comic strip soon.
 
—Jackson Harris

We forgot walking

Regarding “Getting There,” News & Views, June 22: I’m really surprised that walking isn't mentioned as an option here. It might not be feasible for a lot of Atlantans, but if you live and work in the same neighborhood or general area, it's a great option—it might take a little longer and it can be a pain in bad weather, but it costs absolutely nothing and is good exercise, too.

—as posted by Rachael Maddux on www.sundaypaper.com

The scandalous U.K.

Regarding “What’s Up With the Gas Crisis?” News & Views, June 8: It brings a tear just reading this. Here in the U.K. it is scandalous what the government is doing to us. “Carbon footprint” my ass. We will be back in the dark ages before we know it. “Horse and cart 2 miles per hour, only one owner, only £999.99.”
Think yourselves lucky (for now).

—as posted by John Reaper on www.sundaypaper.com

How do I have it better?

Regarding “What’s Up With the Gas Crisis?” News & Views, June 8: Regular gas at my corner station is $4 a gallon; 34 cents of that is federal and state taxes, so I’m paying $3.66 per gallon. In the U.K., gas is about $8.50 per gallon U.S., of which $6 U.S. is taxes, so the price, compared to mine, is about $2.50 per gallon U.S.

Explain to me again, please, how I have it so much better in the real price of gasoline? And someone, please, explain why this ridiculous comparison of apples and oranges is supposed to make me feel better about being gouged by the oil industry?

—as posted by Elisabeth Kauffman on www.sundaypaper.com

Editor’s Note: OPEC, thanks to dwindling oil reserves and increased demand caused by the rapid development of nations with huge populations (like China and India), has raised its prices—as any vendor would when faced with rising demand and dwindling supply. The U.S. and Europe would pay roughly the same amount for fuel from the United Arab Emirates, but it costs a bit more to transport oil from the Middle East to the United States because the Mediterranean ports are closer than the American ports. (The U.S. imports 60 percent of the oil it consumes, more than 95 percent of which is shipped by sea.) So that accounts for at least part of the slightly higher base price.

But our biggest supplier right now isn’t in the Middle East—it’s Canada! Nonetheless, at the end of the day, none of us is paying wholesale. As Ms. Kauffman correctly points out, Europeans pay much more in taxes and regulatory fees than Americans. But in recent years, fees have increased long before your oil is anywhere near the pump. Americans tend to think of markets as things that can be swayed, but the oil market is less of a market than it is a cartel. According to a 2003 report by Energy Intelligence Research, about 85 percent of the world's oil reserves are held by state-controlled companies—like the ones in Venezuela, America’s No. 5 oil supplier. Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez decided in 2006 to increase royalties charged to foreign oil companies doing business there by 75 percent. Ouch. (Citgo, by the way, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Venezuelan government.) Right now, though, Canada is our largest supplier.

The Mansion Madam’s husband speaks out

I am the estranged soon to be ex-husband that you indicated provided “much of the evidence against Lisa Taylor” (“The Mansion Revisited,” June 8). Based on my painfully ingrained recollection of events, I am compelled to respond to your article. You or your sources have made some errors in the facts.

I was approached by the [Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office] and was informed that I might be charged with producing pornography in Georgia; guilty by association, you might say. At that time, I responded by saying, “I thought I couldn't be asked to testify against my wife [Lisa Ann Taylor].” They then responded that, as we were separated, that may not be the case. Yes, I decided to speak to them several weeks later, once I was aware that they already had several other testimonies of complicit witnesses, and I would not be a factor in building their case. Yes, I did tell them that “DCT” meant “Dream Come True.” Lisa (aka “Melissa Wolf”) used that reference for innocent paid dinner dates ending with a private lap dance with her many fans for years. Yes, I admitted to leaving the house during her private DCTs.

I did ask for a reference for a divorce lawyer; it made sense to me at the time. Who better to ask then the DA’s office? Contrary to popular belief, I am being billed monthly for his service. Although most of your readers may think my corrections to your report are just semantics, they are not for me. I have been subjected to a great deal of slanderous and prejudicial comments in my defunct sphere of influence and in the public domain—gossip that has resulted in hate e-mail, threats, and job loss. I provided much of nothing. Too bad you missed out on the sordid details of those who did!

—as posted by Ian Martin on www.sundaypaper.com

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