More of ‘the year in letters’

Free of the constraints of print space, here are thought-provoking comments from other letters published in 2008:

Winter

• Hitler was Hitler. Those who trivialize his destructive achievements with casual comparisons to the villain du jour are the moral and intellectual equivalents of those who trivialize him by denying the horrors of his Holocaust.—Kevin Quinn, Jan. 3

• You had better believe that there are a lot of Hitlers around. Who could be more of a carbon copy of Hitler than an Ahmedinejad threatening to kill almost as many Jews as Hitler did? It would seem that the surest way to “trivialize” the Holocaust is to ignore its lessons and do nothing to prevent a repetition of it.—Chad Wozniak, Jan. 10

• Sadly, too many people don’t realize that the doctor and the patient are both victims of the current system [for health care]. There is a better way, but the politicians won’t bring it to us until physicians and patients together demand it in sufficient numbers.—David Welch, Jan. 24

• I am most offended by your attack on my free thought with your editorial suggesting a “clear” choice in November [Obama over McCain]. In order for a set of options to represent a choice, each option must result in a different outcome. All I see is a continued waste of resources, regardless of the figurative leader.—Daniel Haren, Jan. 31

• Apparently it is forbidden to question what we were taught about evolution in high school and college. Shouldn’t we follow scientific facts wherever they lead, or is there really a door we are not to open?—Gary Rayome, Feb. 14

• Believers in the pseudo-science of intelligent design reject evolution because they think that if they cannot imagine how evolution can produce something, then it must not be possible. This fails because evolution is much more powerful than their imagination.—Jeffrey Bell, Feb. 21

• What kind of society do we live in where we lock up a hormonal teenager for more than 20 years over a stupid mistake he made while mourning the loss of his girlfriend? [Greg Wright] belongs in a mental institution, not in prison!—Joshua Stewart, Feb. 21

• It seems obvious to me that the best way to get out of this recession is to end the war in Iraq so some of that money can be spent on people here at home for things like health care and job revitalization to help prevent foreclosures.—Anna M. Deroski, Feb. 28

Spring

• I don’t know who or what my creator is. I have no idea how he did it or how long it took. I’m simply grateful that I have had this time on Earth.—Robert Grignon, March 20

• I urge everyone to get educated and to do everything in their power to stop the destruction of our greatest resource: fresh, breathable air.—Meagan Fischer, April 3

• Look up pictures of venereal diseases on the Internet. You’ll never have sex again.—Michael M. Peters, April 17

• My mother told me that when she was a child, in the 1920s, the news reports and the scientists said the cause of pollution was “pine trees.” They didn’t have it right then and don’t have it right now.—Tiffany Montaño

• If we can bomb recalcitrant countries with explosives at will, why not carpet bomb Burma with food and supplies?—Anita Bouredo, May 22

• Our narcissism, which is fed by our affluence, has made us both miserable—relative to many in less affluent societies—and blind to our own emotionally painful condition.— Patrick Newman, May 29

• Patriotism is like rooting for the Lakers: It’s fun to have a competitive spirit, but is one group of people of higher value than another?—Emily Alma, June 12

Summer

• If you do not understand how the Earth cares for you, you are doomed to extinction.—Lynn Haskell, June 26

• I do not understand all this concern about gay marriages. Isn’t every marriage ceremony a happy and gay event?—Denny Bruce, July 17

• There are still philistines in Chico who believe that art should be something “appealing” to the general public. Artists don’t work that way. If they did, we wouldn’t have the great art of Michelangelo …— Jerry Harris, July 31

• A place as unique, historic, and fragile as Bidwell Park deserves the stewardship of those who pay attention to the science of natural-resource conservation and the needs of the ecosystem, not just the desires of vocal special-interest groups.—Randy Abbott, Aug. 7

• Keep on biking, Chico!—Anita Ingrao, Aug. 14

• We have heard from the editors of two out of three newspapers recently, both favoring disc golf in Upper Bidwell Park. Does this mean we environmental folks should turn tail on this issue and wave the white flag?—Robert Woods, Sept. 4

• Interesting press, this story of Mr. Logsdon is receiving. The message to the newbies of Chico this semester is, apparently, “ingest LSD, trip out on school grounds, approach and threaten to kill a woman after being denied water from her, resist commands and engage officers of the law, and you, too, can be made out to be an innocent, nice, easygoing, poor, poor, poor victim who was done wrong by everyone involved!”—Traci Williams, Sept. 11

Fall

• Question: What is the difference between a qualified vice-presidential candidate and Sarah Palin? Answer: If the difference isn’t obvious to you, then either educate yourself or do the world a service and don’t vote in November.—John Burge, Sept. 25

• As for John Burge asking me not to vote if I’m not voting Obama], I must ask him to do us all a favor and stop double-sending the same boring letter to both papers on the same day.—Juanita Sumner, Oct. 9

• The government was designed to protect the people. Now it is protecting itself from the people. Cheers to CN&R for having the balls to print truth.—Darren Johnson, Oct. 16

• Your story about [Chico Cannabis Club’s] Joel Castle I found to be very interesting. What can we expect next, an Oxycontin pusher of the week story or possibly drug dealer of the year article? I know this type of juvenile minutia moves your papers in a college town with a quasi-high-school drug mentality, but please, no more pothead interviews.—Jim Bettencourt, Nov. 20

• Those who might have participated in torture and indefinite detention without charge or trial could go unpunished. The American people have a right to know what abusive, unjust actions were taken in their name. An independent commission of inquiry should be established to tell this sad chapter of U.S. history, and then close it for good.—Diane Kielpinski Johnson, Dec. 18