Letters for January 24, 2013
Back at ya
Re “10 Things I Hate About Burning Man” (Feature story, Sept. 6, 2007):
I love your “10 worst” and see the silver lining in your writings. I have been to Burning Man 11 straight—figure of speech that is—years and may just go for number 12 ’cause I still love everything about it, except the law enforcement people—they suck, and not in a good way most of the time. (Sometimes they are better than others. Love the Black Rock Rangers for the most part; you can make lifetime friends with some of them.) I agree if you want a good spanking you may as well go to “camp spank your ass.” There is good and some truth in everything you wrote about. Better luck with your flashlight, at least it wasn’t your camera, as you were getting a good shot of your proud drug-laden dump that you were going to share with your camp mates. Thanks for the love, and I send it all back to you.
P.S. Yes, taking a bike that is not yours is not cool, that is why there are “yellow” bikes. Can’t these people see colors?
William Whipple
Reno
License to kill
Re “Guns and clubs” (Editor’s Note, Jan. 3):
Some folks are touting that their guns are oiled and loaded, and ready. For what I don’t quite know yet.
However, to those looking for bloodlust, when you finally turn off your TV/internet and stealthily venture out with your weapon(s), please be sure to only shoot those folks who are packing guns also?
If y’all did that, it would certainly solve this knotty problem for the rest of us. And we thank you kindly, too. No, seriously.
Guns are not “tools.” That’s bull scatter. They are weapons designed to kill—defend, if you’d rather. That’s what they do. Like the Terminator, that’s all they do. My apologies to all you ‘responsible’ gun owners who are not in a foaming feeding frenzy. Please put your sane voices into this foray, as I understand more folks die from guns than car wrecks.
Me, I want a back-pack nuke. If you’re close enough and crazy enough to shoot at me, you go out too.
A more matriarchal society might fix this. We need more women in government.
Craig Bergland
Reno
Fred’s take
Re “What Sandoval should say” (Left Foot Forward, Jan. 10):
I welcome Sheila Leslie to the RN&R while being in almost complete disagreement with her point of view. She, like so many of the previous liberal columnists at this newspaper, has little understanding of economics and the source of income by the “rich.” The primary reason for the different rates of taxes paid by the “very rich and the rest of us,” is because the “very rich” pay taxes on capital gains from their investments. What that means is that they risk their already fully taxed money in investments that may show a profit or a loss, sometimes a total loss. Furthermore, without these investors, there would be no jobs for “the rest of us.”
She also attacks the mining industry and the low taxes she claims they pay as well as the out-of-state businesses who take profits out of Nevada. Another ridiculous claim. Any local business is free to start up a business in Nevada and keep the profits here. Local investors may also invest in these out-of-state companies and receive their dividends here in Nevada. As to the mining companies that are owned by out-of-state or foreign investors, the same is true. Furthermore, Nevadans are perfectly free to float a Nevada company that can engage in mining wherever they wish. The fact so often forgotten is that mining is a very expensive business to engage in and requires investors nation- and worldwide. I would suggest that instead of continuing in these absurd charges against business she and the Legislatures welcome investment by companies in Nevada so that they can employ Nevadans so that the state can benefit from a stronger business tax base.
As to the low standing of school investment, please show us where throwing more money at school systems has ever shown a positive result. Better graduate rates and higher scores are a result of better dedicated teachers and better parenting. Religious and charter schools more often than not show better results with lower budgets nationwide.
Fred Speckmann
Reno
Take 2
Re “‘Battle Born’ beginnings led to libertarian enlightenment” (The Liberty Belle, Jan. 10):
Chanelle Bessette is a welcome addition to the Reno News & Review. As a self-proclaimed Libertarian, her views are not exactly what I would call a conservative voice as described by Brian Burghart in his introduction of the column, but a welcome new voice nevertheless. I can only hope that her somewhat liberal social views will not interfere with her otherwise conservative views. As a 21-year-old soon to graduate from UNR, we can’t expect perfection but welcome her willingness to learn about and recognize the liberal foolishness that seems to be the general opinion of the RN&R.
Fred Speckmann
Reno
Forgot us
Re “Homeless in Reno” (Feature story, Jan. 3):
Your article “Homeless in Reno” had a big gaping hole in it: the office next to Project Restart. It’s called the Tom Vetica Resource Center, and in there we provide resources for homeless people to use in their job searches, like computer access and telephones. Plus, we also have outreach from several organizations, including the Veteran’s Hospital and Food Stamps. And it is run almost exclusively by volunteers. There is only one person, my very kind-hearted supervisor Karen Wilcox, who is paid to be there. I know this because I have volunteered there nearly two years running now. So just to let you people know you should have all your facts in a row before you print an article.
Jon Bradbury
Reno
True tax facts
Re “Low down dirty shame” (Ask a Mexican, Jan. 3):
TV commentators ought to get their facts straight before going before the camera blabbing. Having said that, what has happened is that the closed hospitals have or will transfer the load to private clinics, which should work. The clinics can work leaner and more efficiently is the hope. I don’t attribute all closings of hospitals and clinics to the undocumented. Many of them were poorly run and organized to start with. By law no one can be turned away for care. However, it isn’t just the undocumented who don’t pay. Many others give phony addresses and/or phone numbers to the hospital when they are registered. This means that when the hospital sends the bill, the hospital will never collect and absorbs/passes on the cost. Many legal American citizens use this ruse as well. A sick poor person shouldn’t be afraid to seek medical care—many would be coughing raging tuberculosis in your face because they were afraid to go to the hospital.
Yes, we do need better enforcement of our immigration laws; we can’t have criminals, drug dealers, perverts, terrorists etc., coming into our country … but let’s not blame all our troubles on those immigrants who are here from necessity to earn a living.
It should be pointed out too, for the privilege of having cheap clothes, food, and the products of any other Mexican-immigrant-driven cheap labor, we pay vis-a-vis our government and private insurance for immigrant health care. It’s certainly not the kind of care the rest of us get because those clinics have way more sick people than they have paid help. And too, one thing you can keep in mind is that unless these people are not spending any money at all for anything, they’re still paying sales tax and likely property tax (that landlords pay but pass on to renters), so it’s not like it’s “free.” Most undocumented immigrants don’t even earn enough to have income tax liability.
Reta Tallman
Reno