Letters for October 11, 2001

Old spirits
It was wise and prudent of the Chico Planning Commission to deny approval of a use permit to those who’ve proposed a video arcade at the currently vacant 201 Main St. storefront. If this enterprise were to be permitted, minors would soon be congregating within the friendly confines of a place of business formerly operated, in the 1930s, by the then-future police chief, Charles V. Tovee—although when Tovee did business at that address, he was dispensing spirits under the auspices of the Deerhorn Saloon liquor license.

Chico’s youth should not be exposed to the risk of intoxication by “spirits” of the present and future, let alone those from the past!

Timothy John Muir
Chico

Presidential protection
Ted Rall has one thing right in his cartoon in the Sept. 27th issue of the CN&R. Everything has changed; readers and advertisers are no longer willing to silently tolerate the insensitive, inaccurate and pointless name-calling of our president.

Mike Webster
Chico

Information highway
It seems ironic to me that the most common place flags are being displayed are on cars, trucks and SUVs, when our involvement in the Middle East is inextricably tied to our reliance on foreign oil and partially to our reluctance to use alternative forms of transportation.

The automobile has become a moving billboard. If we have a message to send we slap a bumper sticker on a car or strap a flag to a truck. It is because the most common interaction we have with other people is either waiting behind them at stoplights or passing them on the freeway. The car, which was once the symbol of an affluent country, has now become our biggest weakness.

I believe the most patriotic thing we can do today is choose not to turn the key to drive two blocks to the corner store. Instead make a difference and choose to walk or ride your bike. I’m hesitant to label these types of choices as “sacrifices,” because perhaps you’ll find they actually improve your quality of life and the life of those around you.

Jim Greenlee
Chico

Terrorism nothing new
Many express their outrage that terrorists target innocent civilians. There is ample precedent for terrorist tactics. During WWII the U.S. Air Force killed hundreds of thousands of civilians by dropping incendiary bombs on the cities of Dresden and Tokyo and nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Israel is seeking lebensraum ["living space"] by planting colonies of settlers in Arab territory, then carrying out ethnic cleansing by bulldozing the nearby Arab villages. This has been going on for more than 50 years, with bloody hands on both sides.

A similar conflict has been going on in Northern Ireland for 300 years, since the British Crown planted Scottish and English Protestants as tenant farmers on the lands of disloyal Irish Catholics. British soldiers burned the thatched huts of the Irish farmers to ensure they abandoned their land.

I have no illusions that Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or the United Nations can settle the conflicts in Ulster or Palestine. As the world population doubles within the next 50 years, the wars over land will intensify.

Terrorism is a cost-effective weapon. Not more than 50 men, organized and financed by Osama bin Laden, won a major victory, both in body count and symbolically, in their “holy war” against Israel, which is financed and armed by the U.S. As long as we are the de facto ally of Israel, we will be considered a legitimate target by Arab terrorists.

Bill McCord
Chico

Guard your words
[Re “Tin soldiers and Davis coming,” Briefly, Oct.4:] Was your reference to tin soldiers intentionally denigrating to the National Guard, or are you just ignorant of the connotation? The Chico airport is almost certainly not at high risk for a terrorist attack, but disdainful references to the Guard, who across the country stand willing risk their lives in our defense, are in grossly poor taste.

Tony St. Amant
Chico

Little piggies?
Our ignorance, bureaucracy and greed have finally caught up with us. Like millions of Americans, I was shocked by the events of Sept. 11 but not surprised. Our geo-economic and -political policies have been short-term and weak to say the least.

For too many years our government has done little to break from our dependence on OPEC and the Middle East. For years we have backed dictators and illegitimate regimes for monetary gains. It wasn’t until recently that we tried to help people for moral reasons. The deregulating of our air transportation industry was probably a big mistake. Now those same morons want to bail out the industry with billions.

Americans are going to have to swallow a bitter pill in the very near future or choke. If we as a nation are going to survive, we are going to have to give up a few of our civil liberties for the good of our security. If we are not willing as a nation to fight this war on terrorism with strong and hard rules, then we will be doomed to see more Sept. 11ths.

Mark R. Wilson
received via email

Welcome to Chico
I just moved here from L.A. and recently had the experience of reading “Inside view” for the first time. What do you think we would accomplish by “leaving room for some political discourse” at this time [“Reverse PC,” Sept 27]? Do you really think we can reason with men who would shoot a woman in the back of her head for showing her face in public? Do we reason with people who killed 7,000 innocent civilians and rejoiced?

Do you agree with the “professor,” George Wright, that we should try to understand why so many people in the world hate America? Understand that millions of people all over the world have risked their lives to immigrate into this great nation.

Unlike the citizens of Afghanistan, we are blessed with the opportunity to pursue our dreams. If your dream is to live in a country that isn’t like America, you have the right to pursue that dream as well. If you and your flag-burning friends don’t like it here, leave!!!

In regard to your ridiculous accusation that SUV drivers also OPEC cartel supporters, I’d like to ask you one question: Do you own a car? Unless you plan on walking to work for the rest of your life, you are a hypocrite! Not only are you a hypocrite, you’re one of the most ignorant people I have ever come across in print. Your typical liberal rhetoric has become tiresome. And that is why, my friend, you will always be just a second-rate editor for a third-rate, small-town paper! You are pathetic!

Allie Carey
Chico

Heavily patriotic
Fat warmongers are doing a lot of flab-waving.

Stephen T. Davis
Chico