Letters for February 12, 2004

Savage breast
I’m totally amazed at the “conservative” movement in this country. They are morally offended when a pop diva flashes her breast at the Super Bowl but think it’s morally OK to spend $100 billion to invade a country based on bogus intelligence and then slaughter the locals by the thousands. Is there some lesson I missed in Sunday school?

Geoff Bartels
Chico

Savage beast
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell’s feigned outrage over Janet Jackson’s titillating display at the Super Bowl is pathetic. Powell was one of the majority of FCC members, all Republicans, who pushed for rule changes to allow corporate media giants like Viacom (CBS and MTV) and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Network to control upwards of 45 percent of media in a given market.

Congress voted to limit ownership to 35 percent, so a back-room compromise allowing 39 percent ownership was crafted between the White House and [House Speaker] Dennis Hastert custom-made for Murdoch and Viacom without even the benefit of another vote from Congress.

Meanwhile MoveOn.org, a liberal Internet group, put together and financed a 30-second ad drawing attention to President Bush’s record-breaking budget deficits and wanted to air the ad during the Super Bowl. Not wishing to offend President Bush and their congressional benefactors, CBS refused to air the MoveOn.org spot, saying it was “too controversial.” After all this we get the breast baring incident during the MTV-produced halftime show.

It is not unlike the decline of the Roman Empire, where Janet’s breast could be compared to the Christians being fed to the lions. The empire’s leaders create a spectacle to draw the masses’ attention away from the blatant mismanagement and corruption at the top. In the end it truly is about the Jacksons. Not Janet’s breast nor even Michael’s antics, but the Andrew Jacksons printed on stacks of $20 bills that are handed over to FCC commissioners, congressional leaders and even the president’s re-election committee.

Don’t forget the truckloads of Jacksons being hauled in by the likes of Viacom that will continue to dictate the national agenda by increasing their grip on the media.

Steve O’Bryan
Chico

Boob tube
According to numerous news sources, including MSNBC, the “head of the FCC says he’s outraged and calls for [an] immediate investigation into Janet Jackson’s” wardrobe mishap during the Super Bowl. This just really baffles me!

Hardly any outrage was expressed when CBS chose not to run an ad produced by MoveOn.org questioning President Bush’s trillion-dollar deficit. They were willing to pay full price to run the ad, yet CBS called it too “controversial.” Interestingly enough, they did run an ad put out by the White House which subtly linked drinking alcohol to marijuana use.

Why is the head of the FCC outraged because a woman’s breast was shown on television? Why is this country so ashamed of the bodies our creator makes for us?

When this country should be very concerned about national issues, like our deficit, no one seems to care. But when a beautiful organ that gives infants complete nourishment, a breast, is shown, there is national uproar! What kind of twisted state of affairs are we in?

Frank Brockerman
Chico

Let it grow
The Chico City Council has been busy in the past month making amendments to the general plan. They decided to ban housing on the brownlands of the burn dump and the scablands of Bidwell Ranch in favor breaking the Greenline to put housing on ag lands in the Bell-Muir area. The burn dump and Bidwell Ranch are both closer to the urban center of Chico, while the Bell-Muir property extends Chico’s sprawl to the north. Well, at least the urban forest will grow better in Bell-Muir’s soils.

Michael Jones
Chico

You pedal, girl
Did Alan Hiatt [“Car dependence,” CN&R Letters, Jan. 29] read the comments or just react to the title of Devon Daniel’s Guest comment, “The Importance of being car-less” [Jan. 22]? The article was about her personal experience of going “car-less” and did not suggest that society (or Mr. Hiatt) should give up using motorized vehicles.

I must disagree, however, with Mr. Hiatt’s statement “doing without a car in Chico is impractical.” Has he tried it? This town is three to four miles across, as flat as a pancake and has the mildest climate imaginable (try northern England, where I’m from)! With a basket and a backpack, plus a trailer if you have young kids or lots of shopping, you can easily and painlessly run your errands, meantime avoiding the frustration and time spent in traffic queues and searching for parking spots. There also happens to be an extensive bus service called CATS that will get the car-less and bike-less around very nicely too.

Personally, I love the thought of Ms. Daniel riding her bike to her teaching job and the potential influence she may have on her future students. Almost one-quarter of American children are now overweight or obese and headed for a slew of health problems thanks in part to the sedentary lifestyle to which they’ve become accustomed.

And, speaking of common sense, let us not forget that oil is a non-renewable and finite resource. We can deny that fact, of course, until the gas pumps run dry. Has Mr. Hiatt considered how he will propel himself from A to B when petroleum-powered vehicles are not even an option?

Lea McCleary
Chico

Common ground
As someone who is decidedly not liberal, I wanted to put forth some ideas to some of those who decidedly are. As yours is a publication open-minded to the unconventional, I think you make the perfect venue.

Now that Kerry looks to be the Dems’ front man, I was hoping some of us from both sides could convince him to take up the issue of bringing home our troops. Dean certainly would have done this, but alas he’s mentally unstable and not even Democrats will vote for him. I think even they realize that where Clinton molested interns, Dean would probably beat the snot out of them in angry tirades. So Kerry it is.

Unfortunately Kerry’s not all that liberal when it comes to taking corporate bucks. I’m afraid he won’t take up the message that really needs to be heard. Our troops have done their job in Iraq, whether you agreed with the job or not, and they need to be brought home. I can’t take anymore of them being killed. This is one issue that I will agree with liberals on, and one that Kerry could gain a lot of support from.

Let’s get our kids home now and celebrate their return no matter who makes the decision.

Dane Langston
Chico