POISON PIPES

DEAR MERCURY—"Since when is cutting in line not a prick move"? When it's a health hazard ["Pricking a Nerve," Letters, Sept 30]. You are enclosed in your car, hardly moving. I'm actually exercising, pulling air deep into my lungs. I'd much rather not be directly behind you, breathing in your poison.

-Justin Burton

BAD EDUCATION

The Round-Up isn't about education ["Cowboys & Indians," Letters, Sept 30]. There's some white people, and some red people, and some other colors of people, and they DON'T. FREAKING. CARE. They're there to get drunk, and watch someone get thrown off of an angry animal and stomped around in some mud, and then get more drunk. If you're the one seeing color boundaries, then you're the one who's a racist. The Indians aren't there for some sort of apology, or for anyone to feel sorry for them. Their ancestors are dead, and so are ours; if you're still dwelling on what dead people did to other dead people, it's your problem.

-posted by mollymaverick on portlandmercury.com

NIGHT AT THE WEIRD OPERA

HI NED [LANNAMANN]—I just thought I'd write to let you know that I disagreed with your review of the opera ["Two Kinds of Opera," Theater, Sept 30]. Especially this line, "Still, it's hard to become engaged by any of this; it feels like an intellectual exercise rather than an emotional one." With the exception of the part with the snake dancing and slow walking that went on for about 35 years, I really feel that Carmina [Burana] was the part of the production that had the most emotional weight. Even if the dancing was weird.

-Graham Baas

OVERSPENDING UNDER THE SEA

I ate at FIN last week and agree that the food and service here are really amazing ["Under the Sea," Last Supper, Sept 30]. However, I disagree about it being expensive. I think for the quality of seafood you are getting a really good deal. Even fish and chips at Burgerville will cost you $11.

-posted by Extra Tasty on portlandmercury.com

IT GETS BETTER

And stand up to bullies ["Give 'em Hope," Savage Love, Sept 30]. You owe it to yourself, you owe it to everybody else, and finally: It's what the bully actually needs too. Because bullies are cowards, and need to be told that in front of as many of their friends as possible.

-posted by rich bachelor on portlandmercury.com

THE DUD

What's that smell, you say ["Taking Your Supper to Bed," News, Sept 30]? "Banding together to lobby for more higher education funding, or business-friendly tax policies, could be seen as a tradeoff for also attacking the minimum wage." OH, it's BULLSHIT. There can be no justifiable "trade off" for taking away the small bit of livelihood that people are already struggling to live off of, many of whom have to take several of these jobs to make ends meet. [Chris] Dud[ley] wants poor people to be more poor, to line his pockets. Higher education funding and "business-friendly" anything isn't going to help these people put food on the table, and probably won't actually do anything for education, either. People who vote for evil leaches like this don't know what they're doing to people.

-posted by mollymaverick on portlandmercury.com

DANG, MOLLY, you're on a roll! (We're glad someone else has reclaimed "maverick," by the way.) For your prolific efforts in the comment section, you get two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater and lunch at No Fish! Go Fish!, where everyone gets satisfied, even mavericky mavericks.