Letters for December 15, 2011

A better world

Re “John DeTar 1925-2011” (Upfront, Dec. 8):

The John Birch Society’s motto is, “Less government, more responsibility, and with God’s help, a better world.” God bless you, John, for all of your hard work. It did not go unnoticed.

Robert Mellott
Reno

Share the wealth

Dear Mr. Romney,

I read in the newspaper that you recently made a $10,000 wager with one of your competitors. I live in Reno and I understand the allure of gambling. I won’t judge you for it.

But you should know that $10,000 is a life-changing amount of money for many of your fellow Americans. I am disabled and have to get by on $10,800 a year. Medical bills wiped out my savings several years ago. I have $900 each month to pay rent and buy food. That’s almost all that I can afford. I couldn’t even afford to buy the newspaper wherein I read about your wager. I was reading a discarded newspaper at the Laundromat.

Perhaps you were being glib when you made your $10,000 wager. Perhaps you were trying to be funny. But for we Americans who struggle daily with hunger and cold, your “bet” was horribly, horribly insensitive. If you’ve got an extra $10,000 to throw around, you could have given 100 needy American families $100 each, and you would have made their holidays special.

Will you share the wealth if you win your wager?

Will you share the wealth if you win the election?

Todd Thornton
Reno

Make the case

Re “Votes and vetoes”(News, Dec. 1):

The governor was right to veto this bill [A.B. 301, which would have provided for restoration of civil rights to felons who have served their sentences]. If you aren’t willing to follow the law yourself, then you can’t demand a role in making the law for everyone else, which is what you do when you vote. The right to vote can be restored to felons, but it should be done carefully, on a case-by-case basis, not automatically.

Fire on the mountain

Re “Fire map” (15 Minutes, Nov. 24):

This was ingenious! Bryce Leinan deserves much recognition and thanks. I have a home in Reno where I lived for 10 years, although I now live in the Sacramento area. Waking up to news of the fire was, of course, shocking. A friend posted the link to the map on Facebook where I could see real-time updates. I’d never seen anything like this so was not surprised to read that this was a first. It was the best use of social media. Thanks to Leinan for conceiving of it and to RN&R for running this article recognizing his huge contribution. P.S. I like the terminology “terrestrial media!”

Nancy Pearl
Sacramento, Calif.

Power from the people

Re “Happy birthday” (News, Dec. 8):

There are some glaring omissions in this brief recounting of Washoe County history: The theft of our beloved county hospital, Washoe County Hospital, and the public utility are worthy of mention. Both crimes against all of the citizens were facilitated by soulless politicians and the worthless rag that serves as our local newspaper.

Rich Meier
Sparks

Justice unserved

Steven Gale’s mother said it best: There are no winners in this case. My sincere sympathy goes out to the family of this very special, talented, thriving, and giving young man. The magnitude of Steven Gale’s senseless murder must not be diminished.

Justice is not achieved by District Court Judge Patrick Flanagan pronouncing the 13-year-old perpetrator as a “pathological, antisocial, miscreant, with no redeeming value,” words that a 13-year-old may not even understand. By incarcerating this boy, Judge Flanagan leaves little or no chance for the misguided minor to ever find a right path to bettering our world.

Nothing will bring Steven Gale back. This child should pay consequences fitting for “his part” in this crime, but he did not pull the trigger. The “adult” who did should pay for this horrible murder and for corruption and endangerment of a child. Justice begins in correcting first the cause of this crime.

I suggest that Judge Flanagan consider “productive” options for another victim here, the 13-year-old boy who to date has had no meaningful guidance, and forget pandering to the majority voters position.

A. Durney
via email

No butts about it

Re “‘This is Amageddon’” (Feature story, Dec. 1):

Your coverage of the Caughlin Fire was excellent, though I couldn’t find any cause listed. My reason for writing is that after finishing that article—literally minutes afterword—on my way home from errands, I witnessed some idiot in a full-sized late-model Ford truck with Oregon plates flip a cigarette out the passenger side window. The glowing cherry on this thing was massive. It might even have been a cigar. Point is, this comes right on the heels of a very destructive blaze, the third one (and the worst) in a little over a week, by my count.

The day before yesterday I was at a gas station fueling up my vehicle, and some redneck was filling his tank with the engine running, lights on, and with a lit cigarette in his mouth, no less.

Two days prior to that, on the way home from work, another clown flipping his brightly glowing butt out the wing vent of his car. What the hell is wrong with these people? Just because someone is a tobacco junkie doesn’t give that person free rein to endanger others and turn the world into his or her personal ashtray. Back when I smoked, I was careful about these things.

Speaking of ashtrays, use yours. It’s usually located somewhere to the middle of the dashboard. The manufacturer put it there for a reason. If you don’t have one, buy one at your local parts store. Keep your nasty damned junkie behavior to yourself. Before fueling your vehicle, squish it out in the ashtray, kill the lights, ignition, stereo, cell, and anything else electrical. When off-roading, be certain your exhaust is properly spark-arrested, and follow procedure for extinguishing campfires. Have a little goddamn sense!

Bob Franklin
via email

Tin ear

Re “In the Mix” (In Rotation, Dec. 8):

My most recent CD release What Is Hip? had not received a negative review until this one printed in RN&R. One bad review will certainly not burn my house down. However, what I can’t dig is a lazy music reviewer like Brad Bynum, who doesn’t do his job and research the artist he is reviewing. Someone who doesn’t bother to get the facts right should not be taken as a serious music reviewer.

Brad writes music reviews for RN&R. His off-base and incorrect comments about my cover of the Beatles tune, “Eleanor Rigby” are my motivation for writing this commentary. He states, “Adamo reinvents the verses as adlibbed spoken word beatnik poetry complete with bongos,” which tells me he doesn’t have a musical ear to know the difference between bongos and congas. To set the record straight, there are no bongos on “Eleanor Rigby.” Master percussionist Bill Summers of the Headhunters plays congas. If Brad had done his research he would have also noted the legendary drummer Mike Clark (Headhunters) on drums and Blackbyrd McKnight, (Headhunter alumni, Funkadelics, Parliament) has been reviewed as playing the baddest guitar solo ever on a Beatles regrooved cover.

Tony Adamo
via email