No kidding: My favorite part of "Spanks for the Memories," Jared Jacang Maher's May 19 cover story, was when Michael "Masterson" said, "My kids do not even know what spanking is. Spanking sucks as a way to raise your child." I'm sure that when those kids get older and "know what spanking is," they'll be so very proud of how Mommy and Daddy make a living.
Ray Bell
via the Internet
Paddle-pushers: Thank you for Jared Jacang Maher's "Spanks for the Memories." As a member of Michael Masterson's sites for four years now, I am happy to see him and his team getting the credit they deserve! They are indeed leaders in the online spanking community, and have helped me enormously in not only understanding my desires, but have educated me on how to explore them safely. Articles such as this help to reduce the stigma of alternative sexual desires. I am sure there are people who will read this article who never realized that there is an online community available to help them understand and explore their needs in a safe, sane and consensual way!
Name withheld on request
Butt out: Your last cover story was disgusting. With all the important news in the world, you could not find anything better to write about than this perversion? I will never read your publication again.
Harriet Fox
Denver
Lash but not least: I very much enjoyed Jared Jacang Maher's article on Michael Masterson and his Denver-based spanking video company. Jared did a nice job of fairly presenting what some might consider to be shocking subject matter. My one disappointment was that the article contained some incorrect information about my website, Colorado Spankers. The website is not a commercial venture; it's a free informational site for Denver-area adults interested in erotic spanking play. Adventurous souls can visit Colorado Spankers at http://spankers.protgp.com (no www necessary).
Other than that, well done. This was probably the best spanking-fetish article I've ever read in the mainstream press.
Cody
Denver
Stream of consciousness: After reading about the lineups for the various Father's Day concerts in Michael Roberts's "Unhappy Together," in the May 19 issue, I have a better idea. Let's set up a big stage in Boulder Canyon and invite the Starship, the Doors, Terry Reed and the Doobie Brothers. Make sure there are lots of pipes and a stream where the young girls can frolic naked. That's where I would like my kids to take me for Father's Day.
Johnny Rhino
Englewood
Rock pile: Jason Heller, what kind of a hack writer are you? "The Simple Life," your May 12 article attacking Glenn Sacks for his campaign to ban Todd Goldman's T-shirts, is so bereft of facts it would be laughable if it wasn't such a serious subject.
1. You say Glenn is Canadian; he's American.
2. You claim it was an online campaign; it was a radio campaign that made over 300 media and newspaper outlets across the world.
3. You wrote that his slogan was "Throw Rock's (sic) at Todd Goldman." Considering that was never said and that the statement sounds like Glenn is calling for violence against Todd, it sounds fairly libelous.
4. Glenn never said the T-shirts incite "violence toward men"; he merely stated, quite correctly, that the T-shirts come at a time when boys are in more and more danger of falling behind in schools. Negative imagery such as this can be very detrimental to young children.
Get your facts straight before you try to come across as a "hip" journalist. You attempted to target a genre of people in order promote a showing by Goldman. The sad part is that you lied and took shortcuts in order to do that.
Imagine the fallout of a "Journalists Are Liars" T-shirt.
Scott Javoroski
via the Internet
Smoking crackpots: Jason Heller, where exactly are your ethics? Have you misplaced them? Apparently you have slandered a man, Glenn Sacks, based on his protest against a T-shirt line that attacked young boys. Reverse genders for a moment: Would you enjoy seeing a young man wearing a shirt that said "Girls are stupid, throw rocks at them"?
Mr. Sacks led a campaign that helped to remove these ignorant products from 95 percent of retail stores that carried them. As a member of this campaign, I can tell you that Mr. Sacks never advocated throwing rocks at anyone.
Your journalist integrity must be non-existent to make such inane and unresearched comments. Looks like you are the "crackpot."
Eric Grantham
via the Internet
Boy, oh, boy: I work with media as part of my job, and know and respect many journalists. It's challenging to be tasked to fill blank space with new and original ideas every day. But please check your facts before belittling a cause as important as the safeguarding of our children.
While I'm sure Mr. Goldman's shirts are not meant to be taken literally, recent studies and facts indicate that our boys are in trouble. We need to be supportive rather than dismissive of their unique challenges.
Dave Erskine
Toronto, Ontario
You've got male: Well, nice article, Jason. Too bad you didn't do any real research on it. You made a number of factual mistakes, but the general tone shows that they were secondary to whatever point you were trying to make. On the subject of Glenn Sacks being a crackpot, well, he said it was debatable, depending on who you were talking to. As for me, I have been listening for over a year and have found Sacks to be passionate, scrupulously factual and very fair to his guests. He just goes against the grain of so-called accepted wisdom.
Next time you are dumped on simply for being male, lose custody of your kids or are arrested for something you didn't do, you will know where we all come from.
Kelly M. Bray
Long Beach, California
Jason Heller responds: My apologies for the factual errors, which came from my mis-reading of a "fathers' rights" forum in Canada; based on that group's championing of his cause, I called Sacks a "crackpot." Now, having gone directly to Sacks's own site at www.glennsacks.com -- which I should have done in the first place -- and read his articulate columns, I've changed my opinion. He's not a crackpot -- but I wish he were. It might make his openly anti-feminist tirades and affiliation with the "men's rights movement" a little less terrifying. Special rights for men in a country that's run almost exclusively by and for men? Makes about as much sense as white power.
Own your mistake: I felt the need to write after reading John Munoz's letter about the Rockies in the April 14 Westword. He was obviously sleepwalking through last fall, winter, and now spring! The Colorado Rockies will finish leading the league -- in losses!
I also was at this year's unbelievable opening day (as I have been at the last seven opening days), and this young team showed promise, that's for sure! But it will only begin to sniff fourth place or higher before 2006 or 2007 if "Dealin'" O'Dowd decides to let it ride and lets these promising young ballplayers grow within the Rockies' system! Three problems remain.
1. Obviously, the current owners got flush with the sellouts and three-million-plus fans a year, thinking it would continue indefinitely. Wrong! Where is all the money that fans continue to fork over to these baseball-ignorant owners? And why can't they stop crying about revenue losses? It's their own damned fault for putting a shoddy product on the field!
2. Clint Hurdle. Good guy, mediocre (at best) manager. Look what happened with the Nugs when Bzdelik/Cooper were replaced with a coach who saw the mistakes being made and corrected them: playoff time!
3. If things don't change for the better, Denver will lose our first homegrown baseball superstar: Todd Helton. Poor guy. Yes, he makes tons of money, but he is a throwback to the days when guys played for the love of baseball. And part of that love includes trusting the management to show that, one day, they hope to make a run at the pennant.
But all you crestfallen Rockies fans, take heart! Look at the SF Giants: terrible in the '80s, picked up Barry and Dusty Baker (along with an excellent front office) in the '90s, and just exploded in the win column! Oh, yeah, that also coincided with new owners, didn't it?
Matt Klanjac
Boulder
CU's monkey business: I am very impressed with Laura Bond's "Primate Directive," in the May 5 issue, about Rita Anderson's efforts on behalf of research monkeys. Thank you for having the courage to bring this topic to light, and for Laura's witty and informative writing style.
Veronica Proksch
Denver
