Feedback

CLARIFICATION:  In her April 2 story about loosened training standards for Border Patrol agents, Megan Burks implied that Chris Bauder, president of the local agents union, supports the imprisonment of agents Ignacio Ramos and José Compean. Bauder’s union believes both men were wrongfully convicted. He also does not blame the corruption of agents hired in the 1990s on poor training, but on rushed hiring. We regret any confusion.

Nice tips

Thanks for the review on Yoshi [“City Eat,” March 19]. I love sushi, but the price usually deters me, so I’m looking forward to trying this place. Another great place in that area is Kabul West. I think their chicken salad is incredible. Tons of chicken and always fresh greens. The chicken has an orange color because of some exotic seasonings that I can’t name.

It’s such a relief to get tips on good, cheap food (instead of Naomi Wise’s snob-du-jour). I look forward to your adventures every week—except baby octopus heads. Ha ha!

Greg Sheets,
Mission Hills

Get ready for The Muslims

I am proud to say I am a fan of The Muslims [“Music,” March 26]. I have been for the last several years and I know they are shakers and movers in the music scene today.

Collectively, they are a wonderful group of young musicians and fun-loving, and we will all watch them grow as they branch out across America, and we’ll know they came from our hometown. I know them and have seen them create and play in many local venues, and they have an energy that is hard to put into words. Matt Lampkin lives life and knows that, as his group starts to get recognized, he came from simple roots. He was raised near Del Mar, and he loved to surf the beaches of North County. He knows that when he needs to be grounded, he gets out his wetsuit, and he knows that the surfers off of Del Mar will always welcome him back, open arms. He is also comfortable in growing the band slowly, not letting their success take over, which I think will be part of their future musical success. CityBeat is wise to showcase their tour in Texas; they are young up-and-comers, and they pack the house when they play locally, especially at The Casbah.

Get ready world and step aside—let the musical group The Muslims come through. They have a great spirit, they have a great sound and they send a great message. Rock on.
 
Suzi Finkelstein,
Hillcrest

Mix it up

Your writers’ obvious bias toward the bands who play for the tight-pants-wearing hipster scene is providing a great disservice to San Diego’s music lovers. While I am a fan of many of the artists whom you praise, you either ignore or dismiss those who primarily play shows north of the 8 or west of the 5. By reserving coverage for a small percentage of musicians who play relatively similar types of music, you are giving a false representation of the San Diego music scene.

Like most people, I appreciate a wide variety of musical styles, and I know that on any given night I can find a good show of most types of music somewhere in San Diego County. But if I were new in town and had to rely on CityBeat for information, I’d probably assume that the good local bands only perform within a couple miles of Downtown. I realize that we all have musical preferences and prejudices. However, it is the editor’s job to make sure that there is a balance within his or her pool of writers so that overall, all sides are represented.

Is balance and/or objectivity a priority at CityBeat?
 
Justin Quiring,
Pacific Beach

Swept aside

Thank you for another illuminating article [“The Front Lines,” March 26] on how the homeless are truly being treated while there is supposed to be a settlement in conformity with a recent federal case in Los Angeles.

The very human people who stayed in the Civic Center Concourse during the cold and rainy winter were booted out in the early morning one day before Mayor Jerry Sanders’ “State of the City” address in January. They have not been permitted to lay their heads down there since then.

There have been very windy, very cold and rainy days in February and March. It is so good of you to bring to the attention of the public how the city and its agents are really treating (or mistreating) the large number of people who are unfortunately without a home.

Pauline Salmon,
Downtown

Brava, Kinsee!

To Kinsee Morlan: Fantastic article [“Cover Story,” March 19] on Big Beautiful Women! A million thanks for writing it. Bravo to San Diego CityBeat for publishing it.

I just wanted to write to let you know how much I appreciated your writing it; it contains truth that rarely gets out, especially in our area where thin and conventionally beautiful is the demanded norm.

I’m sure you’ll get lots of flak about the story, lots of people throwing out their hate, masquerading in terms of “fat kills” and “you can’t be fat and happy.” But that is a huge crock, so eloquently outed by Paul Campos in his book. I was so happy that you quoted him!

I hope you’ll pay scant attention to whatever hate mail you receive. You’ve written the truth. It may sound absurd, but writing truth about fat people is an incredibly brave thing to do, considering the “war on obesity” environment with which we are all surrounded.

Again, a huge brava to you for writing this article, and a huge bravo to CityBeat, as well.

Cathy Miller,
Carlsbad