Letters for September 4, 2014

Missed a couple

Re “Note for note” (Arts & Culture, Aug. 21):

This was a great article! Thank you for all the mentions, but you missed a couple great luthiers who also live in the area who have wonderful shops and instruments. Firstly, Craig Dill is a well-trained and artistic luthier who has been open at least 10 years. He has hand made instruments as well as commercial instruments and bows. He can be reached at 673-3111. Secondly, I am also a luthier, Bruce McBeth; I just opened a classy, new violin shop in the Sparks area featuring hand made instruments of professional quality. Most importantly, I have conservatory level rental instruments of the violin family, accessories, sales and repairs. I also offer lessons for violin and viola and an extensive list of local, qualified teachers. You can reach me at McBeth Violins, 610 South 18th St., Sparks. Facebook/McBeth violins 657-1874 A follow-up story on our local, luthier artists would be great.

Bruce McBeth

Sparks

Rest in peace

Re “Goodbye, Ramsey” (Guest comment, Aug. 21):

Dear Mr. Farley, thank you for sharing such a touching, personal story about your son’s short life on this Earth. I’m sure that what you shared will help a parent who has or will go through a similar parting with a loved child. My belief in God convinces me that his return to be with God will be a blessing, and that despite the pain that your family feels at his loss, the memory of his brief time on Earth and the blessings that you have experienced from his brief presence in your lives will allow you to remember him through the rest of your lives. Never having known your son Ramsey, through your words, I too will remember him and so will the thousands of readers that have read your words.

Fred Speckmann

Reno

Land of the lost

Why the feds own up to 85 percent of Nevada’s land has long been a head scratcher. They own more land in Nevada than in any other state in the Union. And not just a little more. The fed-owned 57 million acres in Nevada is nearly 10 percent of all federal land. And it’s nearly six times more than the feds own in all of the original 13 states combined.

In 2013 our Legislature established a Land Management Task Force to examine the land ownership issue. The Task Force concluded that Nevada would benefit from a transfer of land from the feds to the state. However Assemblyman Paul Aizley (AD 41), who chairs the Legislative Committee on Public Lands, arbitrarily decided that the idea would not be discussed at a meeting of lawmakers. (Las Vegas Review Journal, Aug 28). The objections to his decision were immediate and bi-partisan.

Call me skeptical, but this sounds like a page right out of the Harry Reid playbook. Are we looking at a high speed rail system? If you, like me, think Assemblyman Aizley’s actions don’t pass the sniff test, maybe a phone call to the Assemblyman is in order.

Robert R. Kessler

Las Vegas

Take gov money, you might be a socialist

If you use the coercive force of the IRS to reach into my paycheck and take money for your retirement and health care, even if you have a half-million in the bank, even if you gave yourself that expensive lung cancer through heavy smoking, even if you devoted your life to railing against taxation and social programs, even if you personally invented the word “statist” … you might be a statist! You also might be Ayn Rand, who accepted Medicare and Social Security benefits from 1976 to 1982. She pilfered a little bit each week from my MGM Grand paycheck, from that little box marked FICA. You see, Medicare and Social Security are direct transfer entitlements, meaning current contributors give to current beneficiaries. So “We the Working” all suffered while Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum aka Ayn Rand lined her New York City apartment with welfare loot. What a taker. Actually I’m glad those Medicare benefits gave her a firewall against medical bankruptcy. That’s just one of many decent things we can do for each other via government, a.k.a. the “state.”

C.G. Green

Reno

You’re welcome

Re “Fatal Encounters” (Feature stories, 2014):

Thank you for the work you are doing on the number of people killed by police. By exposing these numbers, the justification for these actions will have to be addressed.

The underlying issues of power, control and racism are key. All police officers should be subject to a psychological exam. Why is someone killed when they could have been tazed, or shot in the leg? The overreach of police, and police brutality is not adequately addressed. None of these folks go to prison! Like the Boston FBI agent who killed the young man in Florida in the Boston marathon case. This man initially a police officer in California was dismissed? He has not been held accountable as far as I know, but they lied over and over about the manner of death. Keep up the good work!

Nancy Epstein

Arlington, Massachusetts

Another story

I just heard you on CNN regarding the rate of homicides by police.

The Michael Brown shooting has deja vu for me as the parent of Brandon Ray Brown, shot and killed in his mother’s home in Bothell, Washington, on July 10, 2011, by a Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputy.

Brandon was physically disabled and suffered from mental illness. The District Attorney, Mark Roe, found the killing to be justified. There was nothing done, and the officer was not prosecuted or reprimanded for his action.

The Herald Republic in Everett published the story of my son’s death with another local shooting of a young man making it sound as if there was an outstanding warrant for Brandon. I personally called the newspaper, and they refused to retract their story.

Brandon was in the home not committing a crime and was unarmed yet was killed by a macho, overzealous officer. The officers were on site for less than 20 minutes. They did not ask for assistance from a mental health team, SWAT team for show of force, nor a canine unit. Their attempted extraction of Brandon from the home was incompetent and negligent.

I would be happy to assist you in any way to slow down this epidemic of unjustified shootings by local law enforcement.

I am retired and live in Tucson, Arizona, where police policy seems to be shoot first and ask questions later. Welcome to the Wild West.

Dane Brown

Tucson, Arizona