ustxtxb_obs_2007_11_16_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

TIEBREAKER spelled Peter Zavalleta’s last name two ways, both wrong. With this correction, we think we’ve nailed it. DEAR SUBSCRIBERS Due to a mail snafu some of you may not have received your October 19 & November 2 issues. They were mailed in white envelopes along with our reader survey. Please let us know if you did not receive either, and we will mail them to you. Deepest apologies for the inconvenience. We value our subscribers and want to give you the best possible service. The Staff of The Texas Observer ialo ue GO TO THE TOP Some observations regarding the editorialist’s suggestion about contacting sundry U. S. senators \(“Molly’s Last as-yet-unsolved mysterious anthrax letter to the Capitol some years back, snail-mail letters take pretty much forever to reach congressional offices. Of several I bothered to write before learning this, none have ever even been acknowledged after a time lapse of over six months. It is probably a waste of time to attempt a regular letter. As to e-mailing representatives and senators, almost every one of them restricts their incoming e-mail in the case of representatives to residents of the specific district, and in the case of senators, to residents of the appropriate state. Good luck finding alternative avenues of access. It is occasionally possible to get e-mails through to members who are chairs of a particular committee; and one can send unobstructed e-mails to the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate. I urge Observer readers to e-mail the leaders of the two chambers, calling upon both to embrace impeachment proceedings against Cheney and Bush. This appears to be the only course of action likely to have any significant effect leading toward halting the Iraq madness before next year’s elections and the subsequent inaugurations of a new administration and Congress and Senate. Tom Camfield San Angelo, Texas CONSIDER THE SOURCE I guess I would have expected better from the Observer. The definitive biography this isn’t. \(“The Conundrum by a husband/wife team of longtime Venezuelan opposition leaders, and the introduction is by Moises Naim, the man whose economic plans sparked Venezuela’s worst human rights disaster in history and who currently sits on the board of the National Endowment for Democracy. That tells you all you need to know. Jesus Reyes Via e-mail MEMORY LANE What a terrific article. \(“Dia de los for taking me back to parts of that collective memory that I had forgotten: el caldito de res and the inevitable tequilita. I teach Dia de los Muertos at the university and I make it right. This article will confirm to all my students que no estoy loca. Mil gracias. Yo tambien soy del Chuco…de la Bowie! Maria Eugenia Trillo Via e-mail NOVEMBER 16, 2007 TheTexas Observer FEATURES LETTERS FROM PRISON 8 GIVE ME SHELTER 9 by Andrew “Hank” Papke LIFE AND DEATH IN A COLD, LONELY CELL 12 by Sid Hawk Byrd DEPARTMENTS DIALOGUE 2 EDITORIAL 3 POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE 4 JIM HIGHTOWER 18 Constitutional Backbone BOOKS & CULTURE POETRY 19 by Monty Jones HOW SWEET THE SOUND 20 by Michael Hoinski A SIMPLE MIND RUN AMOK 23 by Thomas Palaima THE CUBAN ENIGMA 26 by Paul Christensen AFTERWORD 29 by Emily DePrang Cover photo by Alan Pogue 2 THE TEXAS OBSERVER NOVEMBER 16, 2007