Letters for October 25, 2012

Biggest little Vegas

Re “Recovery?” (News, Oct. 18):

This is hysterical! I give you Jon Ralston’s latest: “New poll shows Obama leads in Nevada by 7, Oct. 17, 2012” http://tinyurl.com/95dmj6b. I think we sometimes forget that Reno is not Las Vegas. Cheers!

Ursula Powers
Reno

Don’t trust parents

We’re told we can depend on our parents until we’re 25. Maybe no one’s saying it outright, but FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Loan] requires information about your parents’ income if you’re under 25, health insurance companies are mandated by law to cover children up to age 25 on their parents’ health plans, and parents of full-time students can claim their children on their tax returns up to age 24. But what about those who can’t even depend on their parents up to age 18? At a 2012 youth-targeted homeless count in Reno, 56 homeless youth under 24 were counted. These included some who had recently aged out of foster care and some who were exiting the juvenile justice system with no family support. It didn’t include youth who don’t even recognize that they’re homeless; who sleep on friends’ couches or live with another family on a temporary basis. Washoe County’s annual spending on the homeless exceeds $14 million. We need to educate youth to be independent and prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place. We need required life skills classes in high schools, teen mentoring programs, and youth-centered supportive housing. These youth cannot do it for themselves. It is up to us.

Jeanine Moreland
Reno

God bless you, Brad Bynum

Re “Mr. Rotten” (Musicbeat, Oct. 11):

Hats off to Brad Bynum and his interview with John Lydon of Public Image Limited! It was the most soulful interview with a musician I’ve read in a long time. Cut it out and put it on the refrigerator door type of stuff. John Lydon is an incredibly insightful human being. I find it awesome that he has gone from frontman and iconic vocalist of a punk rock band that helped ignite a whole generation of musical change and spawn countless genres of musical territory, to an “elder statesman” of sorts, with that same fire and attitude—just listen to the latest PIL album—as his younger years, but now tempered with wisdom and maturity…I didn’t want the interview to end. (I read the whole interview on line!). So, thanks Brad … nice job.

Rob Pelikan
Reno

Don’t trust politicians

Re “Separation of powers battle” (Election, Oct. 11):

Thank you to RN&R for your recent article about the different items on the upcoming ballot. I recently moved back to Nevada and was not aware of Question 1. Reading the article, I was thinking it sounded like a good idea. That is until I came to the quote by Sen. Moises Denis where he states, “I think it’s an opportunity for us to do things that we didn’t do at the Legislature that are important.” Really? If these things are important, please explain to the people of Nevada why you didn’t address them at the Legislature while you were in session. You didn’t have time because you spent too much time on things that weren’t important? This is a power grab by the Legislature so that they can unilaterally extend their session (and therefore their pay) without any say by their constituents. This bill should be defeated in its present form and only passed when it allows the Legislature to call itself into special session only for the impeachment or removal from office of State Officers as allowed under the State Constitution.

Keith E. Deutscher
Reno

Don’t trust HSUS

Re “For the pets” (Letters to the Editor, Oct. 18):

“We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.”—Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States

The above is a direct quote. Sound familiar? What exactly does it mean? It means my Chihuahuas and my pit/lab mix, none of whom have done harm to anyone—ever. It means everyone’s dogs and cats. It means Farmer Joe’s cows, chickens, hogs and sheep. It means all pets and all livestock, including exotic birds. Snake and lizard fanciers are also not exempt from this HSUS madness. Laws against keeping reptiles will also proliferate and become more draconian. The HSUS is all about laws, going state by state, making trouble for honest ranchers and animal breeders who treat their animals well. All this harassment carries a hefty price tag, however; not all lawyers work pro bono. In 2008, for example, HSUS paid out less than one-half of 1 percent of their $100 million budget towards actual care of sheltered animals. The rest went to pension plans, lobbying efforts for laws to put ranchers and breeders out of business, reimbursement of their huge legal team, and God knows what other facets of their warped anti-human/anti-pet agenda. Logic tends to suggest that the numbers haven’t improved in the animals favor in the years leading to current. There is also the matter of approx $500 million which may have been under reported income for HSUS (IRS tax fraud case #29-92012).

People, do not support the HSUS! Donate to local shelters only. Otherwise, you merely feed the monster.

Robert Orlin Franklin Johnson
Sun Valley

Don’t trust doctors

Suppose you needed surgery. You then find out the surgeon injured a previous patient due to serious neglect. This was a preventable injury that any surgeon of similar training would have recognized. This surgeon ignored complaints of the patient and requests that would decrease pain and injury. Due to the failure to perform further evaluation and preventive measures this resulted in permanent pain and disability, medication dependence, further medical testing-procedures-surgeries. At conclusion, to prevent embarrassment and a lawsuit, the hospital surgeons did their best to hide the whole incident. They even had an attorney threaten the patient. Are these medical professionals you would entrust your life or that of a loved one to? This is exactly what happened in Reno. Nevada Medical Board and Health Quality Assurance do a very poor job of protecting patients’ interests.

Connie Mckamy
Eureka, Calif.

Trust good stuff

Re “Recovery?” (News, Oct. 12):

I get a lot of my “news” from the internet. I am often startled by the number of unpaid amateurs out there posing as journalists. I once was forced by a lawyer to define what a reporter does. I haltingly told him: “They go out and find out stuff and tell it to people.” Dennis Myers did a pretty sterling job of “reporting” this story. He actually “went out.” He visited the Obama headquarters, actually witnessed the conditions he found there. He “found out stuff.” And he “told us” about it. While he filtered those facts through a journalist’s mind, his conclusions were pretty well confined. By the time this information is aggregated by the bloggers on the internet, the information will be diluted and twisted beyond recognition. Fox News: Lazy staffers blow election for Liberal Obama. Rush Limbaugh: Feminazis demonstrate Obama’s four years of a failed policies. Ann Coulter: Even Obama campaigners hate their candidate. Mitt Romney: If I had a campaign headquarters it would be better managed. Just like I saved the Olympics. Oh, well.

Larry L. Wissbeck
Paonia, Colo.