Letters to the Editor

I am a Hmong who came here from Laos 26 years ago as a refugee. I would like to give my support to Mr. Vang’s family ("Out of options," Metro Times, Oct. 9-15). I would like the United States government to stop the INS from deporting the Vang family back to France. We know the U.S. government still owes the Hmong people what they were promised when the United States came to Laos and used Hmong people to fight a war with North Vietnam. I would like the government to step in and get the Vang family’s problem solved as soon as possible. We Hmongs suffered enough during a long war under CIA rule. This is not right for our people. —Nhia Lee, Cher.Vang2@verizon.net, Long Beach, Calif.

Bad priorities

We have too many people in this country who are here to hurt America. But we Hmong protected American soldiers in South Vietnam. We fought for more than 15 years to help the United States government and Americans. In this case, it's still the fault of the INS, not the Vangs, so why is it that we have to deport them? Why do we have to waste our tax dollars to deal with this case, especially when we have a sniper who is killing our people? If we make the law, we can change the law. Thank for your time and thank for what you have been writing about our problems and our history. —Wameng Yang, willy1925@aol.com, Icard, N.C,

Reese piece

I really should be getting agitated over meatier material, but I just had to ditto Anita Schmaltz’ disappointment over the direction Reese Witherspoon’s career seems headed with her most recent offering (Sweet Home Alabama, Metro Times, Oct. 2-8). Witherspoon’s post-Legally Blonde bankability virtually assured that the guys with dollar signs for eyeballs would grab her. And now they’re doing what they do: Turning her into a syrup-smiling, cardboard nothing slated to rot inside one cookie-cutter script after another. In other words, Julia Roberts. Yuck. Hollywood is the place where anything even hinting at authentic femaleness goes to die. —Todd Steven Kindred, Garden City

All you need is cash

If Beatles collector Michael Anderson "just want[s] the world to hear this stuff" as he claims, then why does he not give away free tapes ("Suckerpunch," Metro Times, Oct. 2-8)? He had nothing to do with the production of the music; what gives him the right to profit from it? Perhaps it’s that philanthropy is all very well, but philanthropy plus 10 percent is a good deal better.

I also wonder how much of a fan he really could be when, in joining the Michigan National Guard, he has rejected one of the Beatles’ key messages — that of pacifism. Does he recall how the Beatles saved Pepperland from the Blue Meanies in Yellow Submarine? In case he never got it, "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was intended as irony, while "Give Peace a Chance" was not. —Donald S. Handy, Mount Clemens

A sister’s thanks

I am John George's sister. I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful article you wrote about my brother "Back words," Metro Times, Oct. 9-15). No one knows better than I do how much of his heart, soul and life blood he has poured into his beloved Motor City Blight Busters. Your article accurately captured not only essential information about the organization, but the essence of my brother. I have read nearly every article ever written about John, and I can say without a doubt that yours is the best one I've ever read. Thank you for telling his story so eloquently. —Diana Jacokes, diana@jacokes.com, Farmington Hills