Apropos of nothing

In speaking of American heroes, do you know which hero was born in my home country of New Zealand? If you guessed Russell Crowe, that would be right. He is a man of dashing looks, stylish smiles and untouched greatness. The man rose from being one of the most respected persons of the tiny island nation and made his way through to the top of the world. He was born with a passion for animals, mainly goats and horses. A man of principle and a sense of being. He is what we call in my native land "tu meke," meaning great.

I love his presence. I once had the privilege of meeting him in person, and the only thing he told me after I said hello was, "Aoh, you will go to far places, I can see it." If you didn't know yet, some of those words are of Maori dialect, which are the native people of New Zealand, and Russell Crowe is directly related through his great-great-great grandmother. My father's side has also lived there as far back as we can trace.

So in a way, I would like to say, thank you, Russell Crowe for being a part of me, New Zealand and the rest of the world. As we might say in New Zealand you are my "whanau," or family. You have changed so many lives, so greatly.

May the light of your passage be my words,

Rex Harigon

Santa Rosa

Mr. Harigon, your sweet letter, arriving out of the blue for no good reason we can fathom other than an irrepressible love for Russell Crowe, tickles us immensely. Thanks for the smiles.

Gold Worthy

I just read the Redacted review and commentary ("See No Evil," Peter Byrne, Dec. 12). Brilliant! Byrne's courage shines bright, a lonely light in Sonoma County, for sure. This journalist is worth gold, as are the courageous Bohemian and the Rialto Cinemas Lakeside in Santa Rosa.

Byrne's hard look at what is going on on the ground south of Baghdad regarding the rape and murder of a 14-year-old and the butchering of her family should disgust the pro-Bush ostriches. Byrne really makes the point that war atrocities go hand in hand with the misguided right-wing war package, whose rules includes undying loyalty to the leader, George W. Bush, and the notion that bombing, raping and butchering the enemy are all OK.

Hooray! Someone lives who has the guts to put into words the real costs of war: slaughtering the enemy while creating brutal, twisted soldiers who will return and apply the neatly packaged rules of war here at home.

Johanna Lynch

Cazadero

Ms. Lynch, your letter was forwarded to Peter Byrne, prompting him to underscore the 'gold' aspect of your praise in ongoing professional correspondence with his editor. (We forgive you for this.)

More by Peter can be found in the December issue of 'Scientific American' and his eight-page spread on the late physicist Hugh Everett. We hear tell that 'Sci Am' is more ready with the gold. Perhaps it's alchemy . . .

Mail-Order Husband

Richard Coshnear is a traitor to the United States of America ("ICE Raids," Aug. 29). With 15,000 illegal aliens in Sonoma County, he is doing all he can to confuse the issue for those too dense or too corrupt to see the truth: illegal aliens don't belong here. The Constitution was written to protect Americans from the government, not illegal aliens from being sent home. With your lies and made-up stories about "bigotry," you help make us become the victims of illegal alien criminals.

You will always have your commie friends to believe your lies about racism, but it's so sad that you suck the American sheeple into believing your lies as well. I am the husband and sponsor of a legal immigrant, a real immigrant. You phonies run from the truth so quickly because you are commies and because you exploit the very people you claim to want to help. If there is a hell for liars and hypocrites, you will be there.

Jeff Wilson

Via e-mail

Mr. Wilson, you lowly cur, we do direct your attention to this week's news story (p9) on the continuing ICE raids and their effect on small children. Those little ones really ought to toughen up!

We also condemn you for stealing our photo of Richard Coshnear and for posting our personal correspondence with you on the Internet. Have a lousy holiday.

Send a letter to the editor about this story.