Letters for April 10, 2003

Last weekend, I was dining at one of the more garish casino coffee shops when, to my surprise, I ran into an old friend from high school who was vacationing here. We attended school in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, a place with a strong arts community. We are avid photographers and artists. Upon sizing up his magenta and bright pink surroundings replete with plastic plants and trees, my friend asked me, “How do you create art in a place like this?”

After reading about the run-in with the city of Reno about a simple expressionist painting of a nude woman, I think I have an answer for my friend. I guess you don’t create art in a place like Reno. If the neon lights, franchise restaurants and strip malls aren’t enough to distract you from making art, I guess the city can stifle that need for you. In a place so driven by the dollar-, dime- and nickel-slot, we need every piece of real art we can muster. We must cherish every brush stroke, bronze and nipple. It pains me to see such a trifle of a painting get squashed under the bureaucratic heel of the city. Bless those who persevere with their artistic expression.

Crystal Jewett
Reno

Tyranny of the majority?
Re “Restricting speech, resisting violence” [RN&R, News, March 27]:

I wish to commend the behavior demonstrated by the pro-peace activists during the March 22 melee at the [Bruce Thompson Federal Courthouse]. As a participant in the peace vigil, I am proud of [those] who kept the peace and followed the non-violent guidelines that we’ve practiced and discussed.

I am saddened that the pro-war rogues who broke away from the legitimate “Rally for America” site felt compelled to interfere with the legally sanctioned vigil organized by the Reno Anti-War Coalition and to prevent us from exercising our constitutional right to free speech and lawful assembly. I wondered why members of the pro-war faction were so angry. They resented how patriots can support the well-being of the troops and disagree with the policies that put them in harm’s way.

Regarding Reno Police Department’s decision not to intervene, things might’ve looked “peaceful” from their perches across Virginia Street, but I saw belligerence and mean-spirited taunting coming from the pro-war demonstrators. They got in the middle of our vigil while we prayed for the troops. They screamed in our faces and frustrated our peaceful vigil. If we had stormed their legal demonstration and blocked one lane of an alternate U.S. highway, I suspect we’d have been tear-gassed and arrested while making national headlines. So much for equal protection.

Mary Anne Galperin
via email

New world disorder
Yesterday, I spoke with my grandmother in Greece. She has suffered through war and bombing campaigns and knows the horrors of war. She said everyone [in Greece] is against this war [in Iraq]. She asked me how it was possible that America is choosing war over diplomacy. Last week, my brother-in-law from Canada called and asked me why the American people support an illegal and unjustified war.

This started me thinking about how it is possible that the majority of Americans are for the war, while the majority of the rest of the world is against this attack. I realized how crucial it is for Americans to gather information from sources other than our own corporate media. Understanding how we are viewed by the world is in our self-interest. America needs our allies for economic and international stability and to fight terrorism.

Nations worldwide are threatened by our aggression. We have set a dangerous precedent: Any nation may now attack another nation based on the possibility of future threats. America has given up its moral high ground. We can no longer ask that other nations abide by international law.

Nobody in the anti-war movement is against the troops. We believed in working multi-laterally with the world community to continue putting pressure upon the evil regime of Saddam Hussein. This was the sustainable solution to containing this regime. Now we are involved in a war which is causing arms build-up worldwide, loss of Allied trust, destabilization in the Middle East and which violates the Iraqis’ basic freedom to live without war.

Danae Anderson
Via e-mail

Fill ‘er up with biofuel
There are people who say that this new war has nothing to do with oil. I fully realize there are other concerns, however, I can’t help but notice that just days after we go to war, the steadily increasing gas prices are now beginning to decline. It’s difficult not to notice a connection. What if there was another option to importing foreign fuel that’s not receiving a fair shake? I’m talking about biodiesel. Biodiesel is any plant material that is converted to a useable form of fuel by a process known as pyrolysis. There are local businesses that carry a 20/80 blend—the larger portion being regular diesel—of biodiesel. I’ve also heard about a place in San Francisco that carries a 100 percent bio-fuel. By the way, you can run an unconverted diesel engine on this fuel. Biodiesel sold on a large-scale would allow farmers to grow food profitably, instead of being subsidized. Imagine our economy if we were more involved in providing the fuel we consume.

Steven Buck
via e-mail