Letters for August 8, 2013

Stop the bulldozers

I am very concerned with the Regional Transportation Commission’s (RTC) proposed Southeast Connector (SEC) through the Rosewood Lakes Golf course.

1. Why has construction stopped on the widening of South McCarran from Mira Loma to Greg Street and not been completed in a timely manner? The widening up to that point has alleviated much of the prior traffic congestion.

2. Why have so many resources been devoted to the beginning and end of this SEC project while the “middle” has not yet been permitted or approved? The project is proposed through protected wetlands in a flood zone with much pollution of arsenic and mercury in Steamboat Creek.

We need to express our demand that a full Environmental Impact Study (EIS) be completed by RTC before any further construction begins. We citizens cannot sit by quietly as this project proceeds without accountability regarding realistic future ramifications.

Joan Boetcher

Reno

Actually, it’s the mind-control that makes you think that

I just thought I’d ask and see if you guys had any info on what’s been happening with our weather lately. Hail and flash floods. Two mudslides in July. This is obviously a product of geoengineering, and we have had the chem trails lately to prove it. Non-classified info on HAARP is available online and would be a great story for your paper. It has affected us a lot locally.

Jon Mccann

Reno

Throw oil on the wildfires

Re “The West is burning” (News, July 25):

The sad fact is that as long as the majority of American news media are financially beholden to corporate interests allied with fossil-fuel producers, the grim and compelling evidence of climate change will never be presented on prime-time TV without a protective dose of false equivalence. Here’s how that works: A petroleum company provides generous funding to a “think tank,” which hires a videogenic person with a degree in a tangentially-related field (statistics, engineering, meteorology), gives them grand-sounding but semantically meaningless title, and equips them with a full array of obfuscatory talking points (“the science isn’t settled,” “action on climate change will damage the economy,” etc.). When a climatologist is scheduled to appear, TV programs call the think tank, which sends a “Senior Policy Analyst” to provide “the other side of the argument,” thereby creating the impression that there is a legitimate dispute. If this mechanism were in place elsewhere in our national discourse, we’d be hearing from flat-Earthers, lizard-people theorists, faked-moon-landing believers, and adherents of the medieval medical theory of “humors.” Could this be related the fact that responsible action on climate change will reduce oil-industry profits by a small but significant margin? I wonder.

Warren Senders

Medford, Mass.

Gun running cops

This letter is addressed to people with jobs in the private sector. Public sector employees won’t understand. Try this when you go to work tomorrow: Tell your boss you are going to take a half hour or so to go conduct some personal business while on the clock. Tell your boss that this personal business could be conducted on your own time, but it is just more convenient to do it on company time. Make sure your boss understands that this personal business is in no way related to the job you are being paid to perform, it is only to personally enrich yourself by selling some personal property. Tell your boss you are going to use a company vehicle so you don’t have to spend any of your own gas money. Tell your boss your are also going to take along a co-worker who will also be on company time and who will also be using a company vehicle to assist you in your personal business. If you work for any of the companies I have worked for, and you pulled this stunt you would, at the very minimum, receive a very stern reprimand with a note in your personnel file. You may even be terminated. If you work for RPD all you get is a statement from your superiors saying they have no problem with it and have no policy against it. Doesn’t really matter to me what you are selling out of the trunk of your patrol car. If you are on the clock, you should be performing the duties you are being paid tax dollars to perform, serving the people of Reno, not enriching yourself by selling personal property.

Keith Deutscher

Reno

Plan ahead for breaks

Re “Plan ahead for new breaks” (Editorial, Aug. 1):

I am the director of Ginny’s Child Garden. I understand the point of your editorial is to discuss the new break schedule. However, after reading this article, one paragraph did cause me concern. I found the statements about child care centers not being prepared or able to accept the extra enrollment a generalization.

Ginny’s Child Garden wants to let your readers know that we have planned for this new change. We are offering several camps, Fabulous Fall, Wonderful Winter and Spectacular Spring for each of the new calendar breaks. We have plenty of space and have planned for proper staff at these times. I am personally aware of other centers in the area planning for this change as well.

While the new calendar will create challenges for the parents of young children, due to the present economy, many centers are looking for creative ways to fill spaces that may have occurred. I would not like to see any parents in the Washoe County School District feel that their options are so limited when in reality they are not. A special section for any child care centers that will be offering care or camps during these breaks would be a great service to provide to the community and your readers.

Jennifer Hunt

Director, Ginny’s Child Garden

Reno

The lawyers are the problem

The USA’s government is in a coup d’etat status. How? First, lawyers shouldn’t write laws, as this is a conflict-of-interest. It’s as unethical as a lawyer can get, as they are human, and will write prohibitions only for themselves to make money. This is why they never should be allowed to serve in legislatures. Members of the bar writing laws? See how the president can obstruct justice in “Fast and Furious,” and how guns supplied to drug cartels from his administration were used to kill Border Patrol agents and Mexican police. Now, the US Congress has a quorum majority of lawyers, who serve the bar, which serves only them, and leads to authoritarian laws, which are enforced by brute force by police who get killed only for the lawyer’s “legal guild.” Where’s the consent of the people? Oh, that’s why they keep us out, maybe? I hereby propose a constitutional amendment banning lawyers from Congress. They can “counsel” like they do here in Nevada’s houses, and make sure law is codified correctly, but no more than that. End the conflict-of-interest, try the president, and give this nation back to its real owners, we the people.

AL Engleman

Fallon

Correction

Re “Picture this” (Editor’s Note, Aug. 1):

We incorrectly identified Anthony Weiner as a Republican. Anthony Weiner is and was a Democrat. Our apologizes for any confusion our error caused.