Letters for April 29, 2010

Poop

Re “The story of poop” (Feature story, April 22):

Ha, the dog poop problem is “not the dogs, it’s the owners”? The dogs are the ones pooping on sidewalks and grass, the owners aren’t (well at least not most of them). If dogs are so smart, as dog lovers like to claim, perhaps man’s best friend can be trained to dispose of their own turds.

April Pedersen
Reno

Poop, poop

Re “The story of poop” (Feature story, April 22):

The solution to the year-round dog poop problem? Simple, don’t own a dog.

Larry Taylor
Sparks

Poop, poop, pee

Re “The story of poop” (Feature story, April 22):

Poop. It’s not just dog poop that’s a problem, dog urine is too. I’ve seen countless urine-burned circles of dead yellow grass around town. Unlike poop, urine can’t be picked up.

Dogs (and most of their owners) have no respect for property.

Gavin Reynolds
Reno

Editor’s note: I grow vegetables in my front yard. Last year, I stood in the picture window and watched as an owner waited for her dog to urinate on my peppers. I guess she expects my child to eat her dog’s pee. Maybe she’s unaware that plants uptake fluids.

Three of a kind

On April 19, 2010, a new Axis of Evil emerged in Reno. Dean Heller, Jim Gibbons, and George Pataki appeared at a “Revere America” rally to encourage we citizens to demolish the desperately needed healthcare legislation, created by the courageous efforts of our Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid, and our distinguished President Barack Obama. This new Axis of Evil is not welcome after the eight years that our formerly almost great Democratic Republic was virtually destroyed by the Cheney-Bush Axis of Evil. Now, this Fascist political party wants to “take our government back again,” presumably to ravage our nation again. These people, after a year’s discussion of healthcare, could only suggest to our millions of sick and poor that have no health care that they die quickly, we suppose to save the cost of emergency room care. Also, thank you Nevada Attorney General Masto and President Obama for your admirable defense of our Constitution and Democratic Republic.

Walden and Betty Joura
Reno

Shower with a friend

Re “Shower saver” (Greenspace, April 22):

Excellent idea for reducing water use! Here’s another that may not “save” quite as much water but avoids sloshing around with a bucket. Whenever I need to charge our hot water pipes, for a shower, dishwasher, fill the tub, wash up some dishes, etc, I first make time to go to the laundry room, put the washing machine water temperature on hot and begin the fill cycle till the water runs hot. While I wait, the water I run stays in the washer tub for the next wash cycle (cold wash, of course , and whatever task I needed hot water for is good to go in just a moment or two. By the way, you’ll notice I put “save” in parentheses. Just like energy, we really don’t “save” anything. (Anyone have an electric piggy bank at home? And batteries don’t count!) More accurately, we avoid unnecessary use by consuming only what we need for the job at hand. But let’s just say “save.” Makes life a lot easier.

Steve Waclo
Carson City

Chickens for quacks

Re “Trading places” (News, April 22):

You can certainly fault Mrs. Lowden for using the wrong word to describe her plan, but let’s analyze the reasoning instead of being silly. It’s not like other politicians of both parties misspeak all the time. Does the name Joe Biden ring a bell? Many individuals and organized groups, and yes, the Amish community nationwide, engage in negotiated health care. Some doctors in the Reno area even advertise discount health care if they don’t use insurance as their payment method. There are a growing number of doctors nationwide who no longer accept Medicare, Medicaid and insurance programs from their patients. Let’s not derisively dismiss an idea just because you don’t like the messenger.

Fred Speckmann
Sparks

Our bad

Re “Walking tall” (Feature story, April 8):

I’m writing to agree with Bob Rzewnicki‘s letter about Adam and Scott’s record Pacific Crest Trail hike. Just what is the RN&R doing writing a story about a couple local men setting a record on a local trail? I mean it just makes so much more sense to write an article about some yahoo from a tiny town in New Hampshire. The nerve of these “professional hikers.” I’m so tired of them flashing their bling around me. Why, just the other day Adam mentioned he was given a few pairs of shoes. I’m sure the 40 hours a week Adam puts in answering phones at Patagonia is just a way to pass the time. After all, he’s a professional athlete. Maybe he’s just hiding from all the groupies. Poor Scott spends his days faking work by trimming trees in Truckee, obviously a failed ploy to deceive a certain East Coast “triple crown” hiker.

To put into perspective just what Adam and Scott accomplished, go hike Mt Rose. When you get back to your car, turn around and hike it three more times. Repeat this for 65 days in a row. Remember though, if you do this, you’ll be called a professional hiker, and if you’re lucky you’ll be given a few pairs of shoes. Wear them wisely, and don’t be late for work on Monday.

Ken La Russa
Reno

Jesus is all right with us

Re “Wake up call” (Letters to the editor, April 22):

I too have seen the face of Jesus, and it did not look like the Shroud of Turin to me, either. However, the shrouding process could have changed the image. Actually, many people in our day and time have seen Jesus. Phillip H. Wiebe did a rather academic study of these sightings in a book called Visions of Jesus: Direct Encounters from the New Testament to Today in 1998. The most common places where Jesus appears are in the bedroom or in church.

My encounter happened when I was praying at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church in California in June 1997. My physical eyes were closed, but the eyes of my soul or whatever you want to call it were wide open. I saw only his face—so huge that it filled the entire large sanctuary.

The Jesus I saw looked Jewish with dark hair and dark eyes. However, Wiebe states that some have had visions of Jesus with blond hair. The exact appearance isn’t important because you see with the eyes of your heart. I know that John 20:29 states, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed,” but I also feel very blessed to have had this encounter. I am happy to report that Jesus is alive and well and (to me anyway) still Jewish.

By the way, I am a Presbyterian minister’s daughter and have a B.A. in psychology and an M.S. in information systems.

Lizbeth Trotti
Reno