Letters for March 22, 2012

We’re already doing it

Re “Will we do it again?” (Feature story, March 15):

We are doing it again. We have been in a proxy war in Iran since the Bush/Cheney crime family was in power. Obama as a president is no different. He has continued all of the same policies while pandering to his base that Iraq is over and nothing to see there. Meanwhile there are close to 50,000 troops still in Iraq, yet we are told they are non-combat troops, troops that still seem to die. This is at a time when Iraqi people and leaders have called for no U.S. presence in the region. Under Obama we have expanded our wars into Afghanistan and Pakistan while neither country wants us there, we have attacked a sovereign nation and assassinated its leader in Libya, but that’s OK because it was Qaddafi, and he was killing his own people. (The real reason is he was switching his currency to the gold standard and nationalizing his oil.) Also rebel forces—Al Qaeda, armed, funded and run by the U.S./United Nations—wanted to liberate the country. The American people will fall for anything, including a war that is not called a war but a kinetic action. If the president is truly anti-war and pro-peace, we wouldn’t be arming Israel to the teeth while preparing for the U.S. with the U.N.—no congressional approval, completely illegal, by the way—to attack Iran. Our own problems are much closer to home, the war on terror is and always was a fraud. You have a much better chance of dying from a bee sting or being killed by a champagne cork. We are lied into these wars, yet anyone who truly stands for peace and freedom like Ron Paul is demonized by the banker-owned, -operated and -funded media. The same media that will tell you Obama is a peace president while he takes Americans rights (Patriot Act extension, NDAA, etc.) and expands wars into nations that have attacked nobody.

Travis Wayne

Reno

The lone fireman

Re “Sign post” (Letters to the Editor, Mach 15):

Anthony Matulich states, “I don’t want to hear that this was the work of a single individual and not that of a ‘communal belief of radical conservatives.’” What facts do you offer that it wasn’t just a rude individual? I don’t remember you voicing complaints when a bullet was fired through the window of a Republican campaign office some years ago or when vehicles were vandalized by individuals who deserved to prosecuted. Not to mention the threats made against elderly voters in Philadelphia during the 2010 elections by members of the New Black Panther Party. We could go on and on giving examples of this type of unacceptable behavior. However, to claim that these are organized acts by either conservatives, Republicans or for that matter liberal progressives or members of the Democratic Party is slanderous at best. I would happily join you in finding and prosecuting these people who commit these kinds of acts. Let’s voice our political disagreements in a public forum or in private debate, but let’s do it politely and without the need to use the vulgar term you used to describe a vandal, not a person with legitimate political opinions.

Fred Speckmann

Reno

Just one liberal

Re “Top 10 Worst Supreme Court Decisions” (Feature story, March 8):

I was impressed with your article. As a retired professor of business and government for 35 years, I taught this material and I was always there to remind my MBA students how important the courts were in shaping policies that affected our lives. Especially since the Citizens United decision, it should be apparent that we cannot afford the appointment of any more so-called conservative judges to the Court. We can only pray that if Obama is reelected that one of these so-called conservative judges will retire and a more moderate judge can fill his place! Thank you for this very important reminder of why this election matters so much to all reasonable people.

Sam Doctors

via email

French the judges

Re “Top 10 Worst Supreme Court Decisions” (Feature story, March 8):

I want to comment that the Supreme Court’s current composition is six Catholics and three Jews—when the population of this country is 51 percent Protestant! They are all older and wealthier, too. At least it has some females nowadays. And the predominant occupation of legislators at all levels is lawyer. If some people are unaware that the French have the best health-care system, the best-behaved children, the oldest contemporary democracy, the fondest former colonials, and even the best food, fashion and art—even the prettiest language—consider yourselves informed now. The French are ruled by professional politicians who go to a special school to become politicians and spend their entire careers as politicians. Maybe we should consider adopting their ways?

Sheryll Wright

via email

My view on Yen Ching

Re “Dated night” (Foodfinds, March 8):

I was disappointed to read the negative review your writer K. J. Sullivan gave to Yen Ching Restaurant based on only one visit there.

Now may I take my turn telling you about my experience at Yen Ching. My husband and I are long-time customers of that restaurant having celebrated birthdays, family gatherings and quiet dinners there over many years. More recently, we have enjoyed many happy lunches there with our school-age granddaughters.

The girls love it. Every time we go there, they are personally greeted by the owner, Marsha. They are seated at a table where they can wonder at the paintings of fierce dragons overhead, ponder the meaning of the gilded Chinese characters they see, and comment on the exotic fish swimming in the sparkling tanks along one wall. Among their favorite lunch choices are the savory egg flower soup, which arrives in gleaming little cups, the delicious handmade pot stickers, and the surefire-seconds fried rice. Always they look forward to finishing lunch with fresh orange wedges and at least two fortune cookies each. No wonder it’s one of their favorite restaurants!

Close by, my husband can be found dipping into his own rich dish of Yen Ching noodles. I am usually torn between the spicy chicken curry and the garlic-rich shrimp and broccoli.

We go there because of the excellent meals, the great value we receive for our dollar and for the very personal service we receive from the owner, Marsha. We appreciate being greeted with her warm smile and welcoming manner.

For us going out to Yen Ching has always been and continues to be a very happy occasion and a “standing date.”

Mary Fox

Reno

Correction

Re “The initiative to know the initiatives” (Right to Your Head, March 8):

In the Right to Your Head column, we reported “Nevada currently has a law that requires a three-quarter supermajority in the state legislator to enact a tax increase.” This is incorrect. It actually takes a two-thirds supermajority. We regret our error and apologize for any confusion it caused. The online version of the story has been corrected to reflect this.