Letters for April 16, 2009
Cracked us up
Having recently returned to the Truckee Meadows after several years of living in Prague, Czech Republic, I was delighted to discover that your restaurant reviewer’s surname is “Nejedlo.” Since Czech is a very difficult language, I wrote to a Czech friend of mine for a precise translation, and this is what he said:
“Nejedlo,” in Czech, means “nothing eaten.” Closely related, “Nejidlo” means “no food.” Another common surname is “Nejedly,” which means “not edible.”
Is that a great name for restaurant reviewer, or what!
Karen Inda
Sparks
He said, ‘teabag.’ Heh heh.
Re “The taxpayers are revolting” (Know You’re Right, April 9):
Although I have generally refrained from commenting on the none-too-sharp political diatribes of your newest right wing columnist and allowed others to point out her logical fallacies, thin grasp on political and historical reality, etc., I simply have to comment on her most recent rant. All this hand-wringing by the party of “me-now-gimmegimme” (more recently described as the party of “no”) definitely borders on hysterical.
Just as “Joe the tax-evading plumber” needed a lesson in the history of American tax structure, I thought I might remind Amanda Williams that the proposed Obama tax increases really only affect families making more than $250,000 a year, and only revert the tax on that rarified group to what it was during the Reagan administration (39.5 percent). I currently pay out about 30 percent myself, and do so in recognition that taxes are the entrance fee to civilization. If that’s called “socialism,” as she suggests, then ol’ Ronnie Reagan must have been a dirty commie, too.
As always, the Republican Party, funded largely by small numbers of über-wealthy and designed to represent the class interests of the rich, recognize that there are not enough über-wealthy among them to vote themselves into office.
Consequently, they must come up with fear-based propaganda messages designed to incite their somewhat gullible, less-than-wealthy followers to parrot the party agenda. Thus, the great “teabag revolt” of 2009. The Republicans, having been soundly relegated in the last election to the status of the Whig party, have decided to stamp their feet, hold their breath till they turn blue, and shriek to the world that they hate taxes. All I have to say to that bit of infantile theater is this; would Amanda tell us in which low-tax nation would she like to live: Kyrgyzstan? Romania? Slovakia? Russia? All of these countries have income taxes below 20 percent. And all are basically living hells for their average citizens. Your young and easily influenced person [should realize that] simply having very low taxes and low per capita government spending doth not a utopia make. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Perhaps I can persuade her to remember, while she’s down at the “teabag revolt” doing the political bidding of those in a tax bracket far higher than any she can ever hope to enjoy, to invoke the memory of Leona Helmsley, the wealthy heiress who infamously stated; “We don’t pay taxes. … Only little people pay taxes.” It is for her ilk that Williams has been duped into this “tax revolt” mentality. Taxpayers revolting? Yes, some of them truly are.
C. Rosamond
Reno
Gallows music
Re “Tangled up in blue” (MusicBeat, April 9):
Thank you for featuring an article on Buster Blue. They are bringing the Reno music scene back from the gallows! These musicians are immensely talented and belong to a small group of few who truly make the music of Reno, right alongside the Reno Jazz Syndicate. I am so pleased to see these young artists featured in your paper, please keep up the good work!
Autumn Knight
Reno
No comment
Re “Is it me, or is the world on Nyquil?” (Left in the Lurch, April 9):
So radio commentator Cory Farley can no longer find subjects in the newspapers upon which to comment? Whose fault is that, really?
Newspaper reporters do the drudge work—making countless phone calls, attending meetings, chasing sources, burning shoe leather—until they get a story.
Then the talking heads on TV and radio come along and crow that hard-won news like it was their own catch. People say print is dead because they read the news online. But few websites employ reporters to go out and gather that info. It also is copycat news. Bloggers are the exception; and happily, we have some barefoot bloggers in Reno who have utterly worn away their shoe leather.
Pat Patera
Washoe Valley
More gun laws
Re “Mental health/gun control” (Editorial, April 2):
The gun issue seems to be a topic of great debate recently. I have a few suggestions that I think may appease both sides on this issue. Since the vast majority of murders are committed with “stolen handguns,” how about we enact fines and punishments if a weapon is stolen? If you leave a gun on the dashboard of your car, and someone steals it, how about a $1,000 fine? If you don’t report it stolen, how about six months in jail? I am a gun owner, and I believe that keeping your weapons in a secure location is a gun owner’s duty. I also am sensible enough to understand that .50 caliber rifles that can puncture the armor on armored vehicles should be illegal! I also understand that fully automatic low caliber machine guns should be legal. Let me make this clear, you will not kill more people using a fully auto gun! In all actuality you would lose most of your accuracy and be lucky if you hit anything well.
I am also an advocate of barrel registrations that some European countries use. This means that the gun barrels that you own would be registered to you. This is equivalent to your fingerprints being on every bullet that you fire from that weapon. Your recent editorial, “Mental Health Control,” argues that the Second Amendment’s purpose of protecting citizens from a government run amuck has become null and void in this modern era in which we live. The editorial states, “Let’s be pragmatic about this. In this country, there is no imaginable scenario by which an armed rebellion could overcome a despotic government.” I am not sure if an armed rebellion would be able to overcome a corrupt government, but everyday citizens of this nation would make it almost impossible for any foreign or domestic force to occupy the United States. I think an army would have a little trouble occupying streets filled with hunters firing shots at them from every rooftop!
Eric Brown
Reno