ON ‘MERICA
RE: The dignity of our country… a proud country whose name is AMERICA, get it right.
DEAR MERCURY—I have seen it becoming a more and more popular thing to do, calling America “‘merica,” a degrading slang term used by her own people, that suggests we lost something we once had, or are less than we once were. We have our problems right now, but being a country full of pride in every corner has never been one! The times may have us confused, but let’s not confuse where we came from and who we are: Americans. Don’t accept second place to last week’s first. We are Americans in America, and we don’t settle for anything but first. I understand we all love this country, let’s just keep a good example going for future generations.
Robert Miller
UNJUST REWARDS
RE: “Ladies of Pens and Pop” [Letters, May 20], last week’s Mercury letter of the week.
TO THE EDITOR—It’s equal parts hilarious and sad that the Mercury would not only publish but reward this letter in response to a piece about Jessica Hopper’s The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic. As surely as the sun rises each day, every city has at least one man who sees the title of Hopper’s book and feels compelled to spout a public “Well, actually…” to “correct” it. Hopper acknowledges Ellen Willis and her other female muso-literary progenitors in the foreword to the book. Perhaps if these guys spent less time mansplaining and more time reading, they’d notice?
Eric Evans
TOO SOON?
RE: “Our ‘How to Do Summer’ Guide, Part Two!” [Feature, May 20], an interesting and instructional guide on how to engage correctly, and sometimes strangely, with the best season of the year.
You do not tell people to burn a witch in effigy as a party game. Millions of people were slaughtered by Christian invaders, and that is neither fun nor funny. Retract and apologize or I will curse [this] rag—or maybe you simply misspoke.
posted by Ted Ooghe
THE LATEST THURSDAY
RE: “Letting Go Is the Hardest Part” [News, May 20], regarding the effort of Michael O’Connor to gain custodianship of Last Thursday.
There are so many things wrong with this guy. (1) He’s from Beaverton—really, what’s his business having anything to do with Last Thursday? (2) There are nearly 200 businesses on NE Alberta, so getting 56 signatures is hardly a ringing endorsement. (3) As an employee at one of said businesses that signed, I personally know we and many of our neighbors signed the petition to just make him go away. He interrupted business and was irritatingly pushy. Reading the headline of this article made me hopeful that Michael O’Connor was letting go. So no, we’re definitely not giving this guy any money.
posted by Samuel
The businesses on NE Alberta, including bars and restaurants, which see much, much higher sales [on] Last Thursday have been extremely resistant to pay for anything. We have had at least one organizer who thought they could make a living herding Last Thursday, who quickly quit. Personally, I believe the city should shut it down. In a way, they are doing it by small cuts—reducing hours and months. Or they could do it cold turkey. Then if the businesses believe it is in their interest to revive it, they will come up with the funds.
posted by R
THE WORST
RE: “Are You Portland’s Worst Person? Enter Our Essay Contest… Win $300!” [New Column! May 20], which is not a joke.
Why is this a contest? I don’t understand why people want to promote awful-behaving people. This is ridiculous.
posted by FoodRadical
UM, BECAUSE IT’S ridiculous, FoodRadical. It’s ridiculous how the rapid changes in this city have pitted people against each other, and we could all use a little catharsis. Let’s have it out, confess, compete, and reward someone for an honest mea culpa instead of the usual high-horsing. Plus you’re so cute when you’re angry. Here, have this week’s Mercury letter of the week! It comes with two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, which only rewards movie-going behavior.
“As an employee at one of said businesses that signed, I personally know we and many of our neighbors signed the petition to just make him go away.” Seriously. This guy was just a jerk about approaching our business and basically refused to have reasonable patience or listen to any requests about when we were available and I’m sure he browbeat a number of people into signing it to make him go away.
“The businesses on NE Alberta, including bars and restaurants, which see much, much higher sales [on] Last Thursday have been extremely resistant to pay for anything.”
NOPE. The business I work at consistently does less in sales on Last Thursday than on regular Thursdays. My guess from talking to other people who work on the street is that any extra money they make is outweighed by the many further expenses and risks of being open that day. As exemplified by a few bars deciding to close on last Thursday. Most of the workers on the street hate it and want it to go away. I’ve been working on Alberta for 12years now and it’s always been awful but now there’s this dumb romanticism of it. It sucks. End Last Thursday.
The illegitimate 14th Amendment which was never legally ratified by a proper quorum, is the first instance of the use of the name, the “United States.” Prior to that, the acknowledged country here used to be called, “The United States of America”. It’s also the first instance of the terms, Privileges and Persons, rather than Rights and Men. Anyone who claims citizenship thereunder, becomes equal as corporate legal fiction, owned by the State.