Letters for October 21, 2004

While local Republicans rail against Michael Moore’s appearance at the University of Nevada, Reno, Sinclair Broadcasting has announced it will air a hit piece by the Swift Boat Veterans on 60 channels next week. The difference between Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and the Swift Boat liars is that Moore actually uses footage of George W. Bush, while the GOP film will be a “re-creation” of some old war stories. The truth is, the record doesn’t support the Swift Boat Veterans’ claims, and the Sinclair Broadcasting folks know it.

We have a general idea of where Kerry was during Vietnam. Bush seems to have been missing in action. Hey, I have an idea: Show some videos available on the Internet of George Bush staggering around drunk at a wedding reception? Oh, I forgot. Bush got religion. Isn’t that a flip-flop?

Linda Meilink
Sparks

Freedom is not without cost
Re “Moore money, less speech,” (RN&R, News, Oct. 7):

Thank you for listing the businesses owned by these people. I now know who will never, ever get my business dollars. I will not patronize businesses of those people who would resort to threats, harassment, intimidation, blackmail and extortion in order to alter and censor another citizen’s First Amendment right to free speech.

Melanie Young
via e-mail

Fox’s agenda
Re “Liberal lies in the media,” (RN&R, Right hook, Oct. 7):

Mike Lafferty stated that Fox News is “honest about their conservative agenda.” How can they be honest with “Fair and Balanced” as their slogan? I encourage anyone who has questions about Fox News and their veracity to watch the documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism. It’s available at most video rental stores.

Aaron Sousa
via e-mail

Bush-bashing overtones?
Michael Moore, while speaking at the University of Nevada, Reno, was heckled by an audience member. His response was, “The person must be from Carson City or even worse, Virginia City.” He then started singing the Bonanza theme with Bush-bashing overtones. I lived in Virginia City for years and love the place, I really take offense to his stereotypical comments. I feel the folks in Storey County deserve a written apology.

Mike Arp
Reno

Finally, a letter about Bob
Re “Shark bites,” (RN&R, Film review, Sept. 30):

As with all movie critics, I sometimes agree with yours and sometimes I don’t. There seems to be a lot of inconsistency with Bob Grimm’s likes and dislikes. But I have to take exception to his review of the recent movie Shark Tale. Mr. Grimm panned the movie as being poorly done and as contributing to “negative stereotypes” of Italian Americans. I watched the movie with my 10-year-old son and walked away delighted with both the technical aspects and the content of the movie. There were references to Italian Mafia families, but I didn’t see the negative associations Grimm did, certainly not any more than in any movie, such as the Godfather series, Goodfellas, Casino, and others that are regarded as classic films. I thought it was really fun that Robert De Niro was cast as the Don of the shark family. I was also really pleased with the theme that the “oddball” of the shark family, who was a vegetarian, was presented as a central character. There is an easy parallel to be made with members of any family who feel different from their parents or siblings.

My suggestion would be for Grimm to open up a bit and try to take in more general themes in the movies that he reviews, and possibly to decrease his obviously regular dosage of Preparation H. Loosen up, Bob!

Dave Lockhart
via e-mail

Corrections
In “The Best of Northern Nevada,” (RN&R, Cover story, Oct. 14) the third-place winner of “Best hotel for a romantic getaway” was incorrect. It read, “Hotel Spa Casino,” and it should have read, “Siena Hotel Spa Casino.

In “The Best of Northern Nevada,” (RN&R, Cover story, Oct. 14) the address of the winner of the “Best beauty salon” category was incorrect. The correct address of Metro Salon and Day Spa is 121 California Ave., 786-7720.

In “The Best of Northern Nevada,” (RN&R, Cover story, Oct. 14) the address of the third place of the “Best independent computer store” category was incorrect. The correct address of Computer Guy is 953 W. Moana Lane, 829-2341.

We’re sorry for the errors, and we apologize for any distress caused by our mistakes. These have been corrected on the web site.