Letters for November 11, 2010

And remember to chew

Re “Tooth and snail” (Foodfinds, Nov. 4):

Many thanks for this enlightening piece. The mission of the Slow Food Reno chapter is to help create a culture where the Great Basin community will promote and advocate wholesome, clean and flavorful food. We believe that food has the power to improve personal wellness, unite friends and family, celebrate cultural traditions and maintain environmental health. We support and encourage agricultural biodiversity, sustainable practices, and humane animal treatment. We hope that interested individuals will join our chapter and help us to promote these values.

Bob Blesse
Chair, Slow Food Reno

Threats precede violence

Re “Reid threat” (Upfront, Nov. 4):

Stories linking Tea Party supporters and violent behavior at political events are worrisome, especially since revolutionary violence has been a theme in Tea Party rhetoric from the beginning of that movement. One does not have to be a criminologist—I am a retired criminologist, 30-plus years in federal service—to understand that violent speech almost always precedes assaultive behavior. Sen. Harry Reid’s security staff and local law enforcement authorities acted quite appropriately in taking seriously threats to the senator. Obviously, violence of any kind has no place in political discourse. Americans have a proud, patriotic tradition of settling political differences at the ballot box.

Hal Holzman

Columbia, Maryland

Nu Yalk, Nu Yalk

Re “Mushroom cloud” (Foodfinds, Oct. 28):

As an East Coast transplant, I have spent the last 30 years extolling the virtues of Nu Yalk Pizza to Reno locals. Needless to say, your recent review of this unique eating establishment is more than disappointing. Rick and his crew make a traditional East Coast thin crust pie that cannot be beat in this town. This is not chain store pizza bread, but pizza made with real cheese and olive oil. From the sounds of the review, the reviewer has only been to Nu Yalk once. How can you review a restaurant based on one visit, particularly when you are trashing someone’s reputation? That’s not fair to the restaurant or your readers.

Graham Galloway
Reno

Hear! Hear!

A small note to all candidates.

The elections are over.

To the winners, congratulations.

To the losers, sucks to be you.

Now come and take down all of your goddamn signs and stay off the fucking airwaves for a while.

Warren Mouser
Reno

Readers’ choices

Re “Biggest Little Best of Northern Nevada” (Feature story, Oct. 14):

I wonder if you actually test your readers’ choice winners. As a result of reading your Best of Northern Nevada, I took my daughter and her best friend last night to Pie-Face Pizza, the first-place winner in the pizza category. The place is hard to find in a less-than-desirable section of Reno. You walk inside weaving your way through a group of young adults who are all collected around the living room setting they have at the front door. When you get to the counter, you are greeted by a very pleasant young lady who is covered in tattoos and piercings. My eyes were fixed on the pricing of the pizza—$15 for a medium 12-inch cheese and $20 for a large 16-inch cheese, each topping is an additional .50 cents. We ordered two pizzas, one with sausage and mushrooms and one with pepperoni only. They came out quite quickly. At first glance, neither pizza had a crust to speak of and the sausage and mushroom had plenty of each topping. The pepperoni slices were quite large but not many pieces were on the pizza, maybe one per slice. The pizza was quite hot but not very cheesy. The crust was burnt not just on the edges but in the middle on both pizzas. The sausage used was quite a surprise because I was not told it would be spicy hot. I asked the girls, both 16, what they thought. They both said on a scale of 1 to 10 that they would give it a 5. Using the same scale, I asked them to rate the facility they said it was a 3. I guess I just need to know as an avid reader of your newspaper and a person that follows your “Best of,” where did this one come from?

Bob Nolan
Sparks

Editor’s note: We have no litmus test for our readers’ choices. The person or business that gets the most votes wins. It’s the popular vote in action.

Up with incumbents!

The economic and quality of life degradation in this county is a result primarily of a drug-type binging of new density increases and subsidized sprawl-type growth that did not pay its own way. It’s been engaged in for well over a decade by all three political subdivisions in this county. Elected officials have been engaged in an economic and social rape, pillaging and pilfering of this county and its citizens for years—all to feed their temporary euphoric false sense of accomplishment and to maintain and stroke their own egos and for the windfall benefit of a few special interest groups, but in total defiance of the will and wisdom of the people that they forced to subsidize this unwanted irrational destructive sprawl growth through increased taxes and diminished services.

Elected and appointed officials’ actions have been an outrage to social justice, fairness and any sense of ethical, moral or rational behavior. Their unrelenting accommodations for developers and special interests to provide high profits on subsidized cheap housing and developments to draw new residents to an already over-extended community created growth way beyond what any normal or natural market forces would have provided.

They set up one of the greatest housing market and value collapses in the nation. We have the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the nation. We have an embarrassing refugee camp know as tent city plaguing our downtown community. Many other unemployed are now sleeping in doorways or on the river.

I and many others warned them of their and our fate brought about by their hands. Now we all sit in a social and economic cesspool. Their legacies are cast; they will be forever tossed on the ash heap of history. They tried. They failed. Miserably.

The elections are over for another two years and “we the people” failed to replace even one incumbent elected official in the county or the two cities. Maybe the results were intended to punish them for their sins. Maybe there is some justice in that those that caused all these problems have to continue to sit in the stockades of public display while they squirm and squiggle and try to deal with the unthinkable social and economic disasters they created. Most will be leaving soon because of term limits kicking in in two and four years. Maybe by then this community will have hit the bottom and be ready for a long climb out, and we will have new leadership that will work with the people in a sane and rational manner to restore our quality of life and economic stability. Next time you vote, follow the money.

When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

Gary Schmidt
Reno