Letters for January 31, 2008

Boogie nights
Re “Size doesn’t matter” (Arts&Culture, Jan. 24):

Thank you for the article on Club Plus Life, Reno’s first size-acceptance nightclub. As a long-time advocate of this “radical” concept—that one can be happy, fit and empowered regardless of body size—I was thrilled to discover that Renoites now have a place to experience this philosophy in action.

I challenge anyone who has ever hesitated to go out on the dance floor because their butt’s “too big,” they don’t look like they did in high school, or they’re afraid something (or a lot of things) might jiggle, to check out this new club. Experience the power of moving without shame, laughing without self-consciousness, socializing without fear.

Whether you’re a “compact” or a “luxury” model … let’s all go boogie!

Kristen Davis-Coelho
Reno

Big fun
Re “Size doesn’t matter” (Arts&Culture, Jan. 24):

I just wanted to say that this club is a fantastic club, and we try hard to make everyone feel welcome, and in the end, it’s all worth it! Everyone has a great time, and we all go home with big smiles on our faces. If you came, you would have the time of your life!

Mandy Northrop
Reno

Up in smoke
Re “Friendly fire” (Green, Jan. 24):

This was a well-written article that presented the hard facts about wood smoke. I concurred with everything the writer said, until she began to extol the virtue of wood pellets as a “greener” alternative to burning wood. Pellets are compressed wood and often have fillers that contain many toxics. The smell of a burning pellet stove is equally odiferous and irritating to the respiratory tract—especially to people with asthma. I wouldn’t want my children around a pellet stove, or to be outdoors where they vent and pollute outdoor air. “Green” should mean non-toxic—period. Our children are suffering from skyrocketing rates of asthma, and asthma is life threatening. All forms of wood or pellet burning should be banned! For what could be more important than the right to breathe?

Julie Mellum
President, Take Back the Air, www.burningissues.org
Minneapolis, Minn.

Mike a rolling stone
Re “Wait a minute, I’m not gone yet” (Right Hook, Jan. 24):

Why are you getting rid of Mike Lafferty? He is the only reason I pick up the RN&R. I would even pay for your paper if he was in it.

Please tell me you don’t think Cory Farley can take his place. He was okay in the RG-J when he wrote about trying to lose weight, defensive driving, his family—anything but his political rants. I can already tell from his last two articles it’s going to be more of the same forgettable crap that makes him hardly more readable than a quick scan of his first paragraph.

That’s all that’s in your paper already. Mike Lafferty is refreshing—you can’t spare him the little space you give him? Are you afraid he might sway someone to vote Republican during this election year?

I guess as long as you keep making an income from the smut ads in the back of your paper, it will continue to flourish. How pathetic.

Thursday afternoons will not be the same once Lafferty is gone. I don’t think the Advice Goddess alone will be reason enough to compel me to pick up your sad little rag on my way out of work, even at its current price.

Stephanie Wilson
via email

I’ll miss Mike
Re “Wait a minute, I’m not gone yet” (Right Hook, Jan. 24):

I read today that Mike Lafferty is not going to be writing “Right Hook” anymore. Are you just getting rid of Mr. Lafferty or the column itself? Although I don’t often agree with the opinions expressed in your paper (I’m a Reagan Republican), I’ve always respected it for the fact you were willing to publish a column with the “opposing viewpoint.” Besides, it was a lot of fun reading the letters from readers complaining about Mr. Lafferty. I hope that even though Mr. Lafferty is leaving, you will continue to have a “Right Hook” column.

Also, congratulations on picking up Cory Farley. Although I almost never agree with his politics, he writes very well. I’ll enjoy reading his column. Hope it’s not just temporary.

Ken Deboy
Reno

Spike Mike
Re “Wait a minute, I’m not gone yet” (Right Hook, Jan. 24):

Please add my name to the list of disappointed readers of “Right Hook.” Mike Lafferty is long on buzzwords and cheap rhetoric ("peanut gallery,” “party of the spineless,” “liberally challenged,” etc.), but short on substance or intellect. I am often stumped on exactly what Lafferty’s actual point is. As a part-time listener to conservative talk radio, I can safely say that Lafferty takes his cutesy cues from Rush Limbaugh. In a city as diverse as Reno, we can find a coherent conservative columnist, a thoughtful intellectual rather than an ignorant, ranting, name-calling buffoon.

John Ton
Reno