David S. Bernstein is very well-informed about the Allston-Brighton race for the Ninth District City Council seat.
It should be noted, however, that Tim Schofield has serious competition in the “most progressive” category. While Mr. Schofield’s sexual orientation is arguably “progressive,” there is a notable absence of an environmental policy, an equality policy, or a green-space policy in his platform. He is also very cautious when addressing the topics of institutional expansion and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which are the most serious issues confronting our neighborhood.
However, my platform is extremely progressive. It has the courage to speak up for the people (in several languages) on community issues and has won the hearts of families and long-term residents who are sick and tired of politics as usual and the usual politicians.
Please consider a straight, multilingual, environmentalist candidate as a “progressive.”
Alex Selvig
Candidate, Boston City Council
Allston-Brighton, District 9
Waiting in the wings
I was quite surprised to see Steven Stark label Dennis Kucinich as a “jackass” in his August 31 column on presidential hopefuls. It is strangely disturbing to me that the media covers two or three candidates from each party and tells us that everyone else is a long shot or a loser. We choose the president, not you!
As for your comment that if Kucinich were serious, he would throw support behind a similar candidate: there is no one similar. No other candidate (other than Mike Gravel, to whom Stark objectively referred as a “glue factory”) wants a full withdrawal from Iraq, a position that is supported by 70 percent of Americans, or a single-payer health-care system.
David Lindenbach
Salem, Oregon
Making love into war
Regarding “The Kids Are Not All Right," I was a student at Milton in the early ’80s and was busted twice for smoking in a dorm room. Alcohol from liberal “packies” and hallucinogenic drug use were how most of the rebellious types would get their ticket to “the scene.”
While at Milton, there was a crackdown on behavior associated with counterculture, including a ban on public displays of affection. The military mentality caused natural teen behavior to go underground and to incubate into a monstrous form. It is the administration that is fostering hand-over-fist corporate, mercenary mindsets, ones that don’t know how to express love in natural forms. Blame them.
Gordon Marshall
Boston
Ducking for coverage
I have a question for the reviewer of Duck: how familiar are you with the genre of social satire within the realm of speculative fiction? Have you read Being There, All the Names, Zanesville, Ferdydurke, Hrabal’s books, etc? Have you seen films within this genre? Some of your comments made me wonder whether you understood its structure.
The character is a classic archetype of a simpleton/Everyman who observes, in wide-eyed wonder; the episodic structure of the film is intentional to drive the point; and the exaggerated characters and themes are presented to poke fun at the current political situation. Also, the film is not all that odd in using the “duck cam.” The French film Baxter uses this technique to show the point of view of a demented bulldog.
Felisa Weiss
Cambridge
Correction
A previous “Sports Blotter” article mistakenly reported that University of Colorado player Taj Kaynor had been suspended for involvement in a fight with fellow players Michael Sipili and Chris Perri. In fact, Kaynor was involved in a different incident with Perri three weeks later and was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing. In addition, the fight did not actually occur in August, as had been originally reported, but rather back in June. Lastly, the incident did not occur on campus, but on a Boulder street. Apologies for the errors.
