Dear Pulse
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Letters to the Editor - 11.13.08 |
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Written by Pulse Staff
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Tuesday, 11 November 2008 22:38 |
Third Party Problems
After reading the letter from Ralph Nader and the piece about third parties [Between The Bridges, 11/6] I feel that both you and Mr. Nader are ignoring the 800-pound elephant sitting in the middle of the room. Third parties have very little notice and coverage in this country not because they lack organization or money, it’s because they are far out on the fringe, and many of their candidates are completely loopy!
Ralph Nader has been running on outmoded ’60s consumer ideology with no success. The Libertarians nominated a Republican who was famous for trying to kick President Clinton out of the White House for lying about receiving oral sex, not exactly in tune with traditional libertarian philosophies. The Greens nominated an anti-Semitic black woman who made national news for assaulting a Capitol police officer who stopped her for not wearing her congressional pin. And that’s not even mentioning the Prohibition Party (because that worked so well the first time), the Socialist Workers Party (because that worked so well for Russia, Cuba, North Korea, etc), the tattered remnants of the Reform Party and even the only party to use the non-political meaning of the word, the Boston Tea Party.
What all these parties and their candidates have in common is that none of them are even remotely close to mainstream America. They represent the fringe and demand that middle come to them. That’s not America. They also only want to run for the big offices and whine when they don’t get the recognition they arrogantly feel they deserve. Where are the Green candidates for City Council? How about Libertarian running for Mayor? Maybe even a Socialist Workers Party candidate for the Red Bank Commission? No, the third parties seem to have no interest in building up from the grass roots, which is akin to a kid wanting to be a concert pianist but never wanting to learn or practice.
Stephen Anderson
Chattanooga
Noise And More Noise
After reading about AIDS Wolf [“What The Heck Is An AIDS Wolf?”] I decided to head down to JJ’s and check them out. Your review was right on the mark. They were loud, they didn’t seem to care all that much about how songs were constructed or how they were supposed to play their instruments, and they were very odd. It was a great show!
Eileen Tanner
Red Bank |
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Letters to the Editor - 11.6.08 |
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Written by Pulse Staff
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Wednesday, 05 November 2008 14:28 |
Where Was The Coverage?
Having spoken to numerous reporters and some editors with the national media (as distinguished from the local media) about the blackout or near blackout of the Nader/Gonzalez presidential campaign, striving to challenge the two-party, exclusionary duopoly, (debates, ballot obstacles, etc.). I must ask a general question: What journalistic criteria have you been employing in this presidential year that guides your pronounced non-coverage of the number three campaign that advances majoritarian agendas based on long experience, involvement, and accomplishment? These agendas are either opposed or ignored by McCain and Obama and are often rooted in the very investigative reports by your reporters?
It is puzzling how editors and publishers who oversee these prize-winning stories seem to lose interest in covering Americans who are trying to do something with that information for a better country.
There has been a witting or unwitting political bigotry against third parties and independent candidates, as there was years ago against minority voters.
Against the status of such candidates obstructed through ballot access laws by the two parties that dislike competition they present other rigged ways to secure their domination over the electoral landscape, including gerrymandering each other in the majority of Congressional Districts, for example. For now, please verify for yourselves your own non-coverage or coverage and inform us what your journalistic criteria standards or policies led you to this definition of your readers, listeners, and viewers rights to know.
Ralph Nader
Independent Presidential Candidate
Editor’s Response: We would like to point out that this is the first contact we have had from the Nader campaign in more than three months. Contrast that with near daily e-mails from not only the Democratic and Republican parties, but the Libertarians, the Greens, and even the Boston Tea Party.
So, we would like to ask Mr. Nader a counter-question: Where was your interest in Tennessee? Why did you expect to get the same amount of coverage as the major candidates when you did nothing to reach out the very same media you disparage? We would have been happy to cover any and all of your campaign events or activities that took place in Chattanooga, but alas, there were none.
Thank You For The Fine Article
We just read your article about the farm [“Living Sustainably Off The Land”, 10/30]. Thanks so much for your perceptive coverage. You never know what someone takes away from a visit, a tour. You’ve captured our intention, which we sure appreciate.
Cielo
Broadened Horizons Organic
Teaching Farm |
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Written by Pulse Staff
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Wednesday, 29 October 2008 19:19 |
Spirit In Chattanooga
One of the more bizarre ghost stories I’ve heard [“The Haunted History of Chattaspooka”, 10/23] that happened in Chattanooga is one a friend of mine told me, whom we will call Sara. It happened at a now-condemned rock quarry, near Red Bank High School and the Quarry Golf Course. You had to be very careful driving up to it, because if you weren’t careful you might drive off the edge where there was a three-hundred-foot drop off. According to Sara, “I was with my friend and her husband. We got out of the car and went and sat on the edge of the cliff. It was about midnight and we were talking and relaxing after work, when we happened to see this green light about a mile away. My friend’s husband noticed it, and we couldn’t figure out what it was. We kept watching it and it kept getting closer and closer, and we were still trying to figure out what it was. All of a sudden it disappeared, and we glanced back at my friend’s husband. It was right behind him! It was really big, bigger than my friend’s husband. My friend and I were really scared, and my friend almost jumped off the cliff. My friend’s husband was pretty much frozen with fear. We jumped in the car, and then looked back at it. It was moving away, and was about half a mile up the range. My friend’s husband ran and jumped in the car and we sped out of there. A few minutes later my friend said he saw a woman’s face in it.” Really strange, neither my friend nor I know of any legends in this area that would account for this.
John Norris Brown
Chattanooga
Greatest Job In The World?
It IS the greatest job in the world [“The Healing Power Of Whiskey & Ceiling Fans”, 10/23]. It also IS the worst job in the world. No wonder this guy reconciles with whiskey and a
word processor. Lucky for him.
Cecil Beauregard
Chattanooga
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Written by Pulse Staff
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Wednesday, 22 October 2008 19:37 |
Hey Moron!
“I think we are the only city in the country that enforces meters seven days a week.” Meters are only enforced 8-4:30 M-F. Why write something [Life In The Noog, 10/16] that is so blatantly wrong?
“However, you can get an extra 20 minutes on the dollar if you are geeky enough to walk around with a pocket full of those new dollar coins.” Huh?? “extra 20 minutes” how? My math tells me $1 is the same as 4 quarters which gets 80 minutes. There is no extra 20 minutes, idiot. You probably think a pound is 12 ounces. And “new dollar coins”? What “new dollar coins”? The ones Coke machines have been accepting for 10 years?
CARTA does not write tickets nor do they get revenue from them. I don’t know how you can [sic] up with that. Did you see a bus driver get out and write yours? And who did you send your fine too [sic]? I seem to remember the city, not CARTA writes the tickets and the fines are sent to City Court.
And the passenger loading zone? Did you notice the “curb cut”? The cut that allows wheelchairs to get to and from vehicles mid-block?
Fred A.
Chattanooga
Editor’s note: While Mr. Crowder was engaging in a bit of hyperbole in his column, many parking meters, including ones in Coolidge Park, are active on Saturday, and a number of the new downtown meters have been extended to 6 p.m. from the old end time of 4:30 p.m., even though the City of Chattanooga website has not been updated with this information. And CARTA does indeed receive the revenue from parking meters in the downtown area as well as having the regulatory authority to set parking rates. Fines are paid to the city, then the money is transferred to CARTA.
When To Pay, When Not To Pay
I don’t go downtown. Partly, because I’m so totally flabbergasted over when to and when NOT to pay for parking. I normally end up parking in the Republic parking lots (as much as I hate them) and paying for parking no matter what time of the day or night I park.
Honestly, the last time I tried to park downtown during the day was when I had to go to court, I parked where the attendant told me to park and within 45 minutes my car was towed. But that’s another story.
Susan Stringer
Red Bank
Dayton, Not Dalton
He’s originally from Dayton, TN, not Dalton, GA. [“Taxicab Racers Are Ready to Hit the Road”, 10/16]. Congrats, Roddy.
Robby
Chattanooga
Author’s response “My apologies to Michael for mis-reading the name of his hometown in my interview notes. Perhaps it’s time for me to revisit those first-grade handwriting lessons.” |
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Written by Pulse Staff
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Wednesday, 15 October 2008 19:51 |
To Truly Serve And Protect
This is the kind of cop we need on the streets [“On The Beat”, 10/9]. Someone who will talk to and not down to the average civilian. Someone who’s willing to tell these young men the truth. That there’s nothing heroic or brave in what they’re doing to one another and their families. The way they are needlessly dying is an embarrassing way to go. An embarrassing and humiliating way for them to be remembered. This is the type of cop I remember growing up. The ones who were always willing to give stern, adult and even fatherly advice. Not the some of the ones now who are anxious to crack heads.
Charles Crawford
Chattanooga
How To Feel The Love
Such a great article, and such a great series [“Shrink Rap”, 10/9]. Thanks, Dr. Rick, for helping me open my mind and heart, and helping me to think differently. You’ve been a big influence on me and I send all your columns to my family and co-workers. (They love you, too!) You’re performing a tremendous service for many of us in this town! Keep it up!
Bill B.
Chattanooga
Where Is The Obama Campaign Headquarters?
I was happy to see your article about the US presidential candidates in the current issue of The Pulse [“Hometown Politics”, 10/9] and chagrined at not finding the address of the Obama campaign office on Patton Parkway. Where is it? I am in serious need of at least one yard sign!
Diane McCluskey
Chattanooga
Editor’s response: The Obama campaign does not have a local campaign headquarters, but volunteers are working out of the Hamilton County Demcratic Party offices at 23 Patten Parkway. (423) 266-4125. |
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