Letters for June 3, 2010

Letter of the week

What about Naked baristas?

Re “Sacramento’s best baristas” by Nick Miller (SN&R Arts&Culture, May 27):

I am the general manager of The Naked Lounge Downtown on 11th and H [streets]. Today, my coffeehouse received its weekly installment of SN&R, and I quickly noticed the cover story.

Shortly after looking over the cover picture, I realized that even though The Naked Lounge Midtown was Sacramento’s first “third-wave coffeehouse,” that we had been left out of the article. Initially, I thought that maybe you had visited The Naked Lounge Midtown and that was why I didn’t know about it. Sadly, I was mistaken.

I would just like to take a moment of your time to point out a few things:

Temple [Fine Coffee and Tea], Old Soul and (indirectly) Bloom [Coffee and Tea] all originated from Naked Coffee. We have had staff members that trained with us, worked for Chocolate Fish and subsequently left Chocolate Fish to come back to work for us.

While we may not send our baristas to competitions, we do focus our energy on serving high-quality coffee and strive to be the best at what we do.

Our staff is well-trained, knowledgeable and some of the best that Sacramento has to offer.

Perhaps the fact that nobody from Naked Coffee was included in your piece was just an oversight, and I sincerely hope that it was, but I would love to invite you to come pay my coffeehouse (or any of our locations) a visit and give us a try. You won’t be disappointed.

Mike Drake
Sacramento

That salary buys mucho kibble

Re “Save our shelter” by Amy Yannello (SN&R Frontlines, May 27):

I find it to be a real shame that the facility is facing closure due to budget issues. It brings to mind a couple of questions.

First, why wasn’t the fiscal dilemma addressed prior to investing into the (albeit needed) new facility? These types of budget deficits do not happen overnight. Second, it was shocking to see just how much the director was making. An annual salary of $120,000 is excessive. Perhaps taking a closer look at the enormous salaries is in order if needing to streamline; $120,000 buys a whole lot of kibble!

Patricia McBrien
Sacramento

Same ol’ ‘more money’ story

Re “The political junkie’s down & dirty guide to the local primary” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Feature, May 20):

Wow, I’m glad no one reads this junk reporting. No mention of whether the three other [Sacramento County Board of Supervisors] candidates were competent to do the job, just the same ol’ “more money” story.

I watched the League of Women Voters forum on Sac Metro Cable. All I can say is, I was impressed with the young man challenging Jimmie Yee and the gentleman challenging Phil Serna. After reading this trash reporting from someone who sat on the panel in this forum, makes me wonder about these local political races.

I guess this is why many local newspapers are going under. People want unbiased news and not someone’s opinion of the news.

Judy Stintson
Sacramento

Unhappy candidate

Re “The political junkie’s down & dirty guide to the local primary” by Cosmo Garvin (SN&R Feature, May 20):

Your May 20th presentation of the primary guide to 9th District state Assembly is badly in error. Your organization ignored Adam Sartain’s campaign.

Mr. Sartain runs substantial radio advertising, frequent precinct walks and major social-media presence. Even refusing special-interest funding, he impacted this race through those activities. Our own polling/response data indicates Adam receives a competitive percentage.

SN&R should enjoy covering a candidate like Adam Sartain, who vigorously campaigns on limited resources.

A heavily restricted 125-word appearance of this letter does not make whole what your paper has done. Reporting that “several” Democrats are running as to bypass the actual number and permitting his opponents to quote incorrect math without your correction is not factual. Give him an article and his deserved coverage.

Adam Sartain
Sacramento

What’s wrong with Buffett?

Re “Buffett’s tentacles” by Greg Lucas (SN&R Frontlines, May 20):

What’s the problem? Does it not fit your social-justice world-community Utopian ideal? Somehow, the author sounds very bitter about something without actually pointing out anything negative. What is it?

I’ll bet there’s thousands of people who read this article and said, “That’s right! How wrong!” all the while not even knowing what was being said. The author said nothing. He just tried to create a feeling about something that offends him. What that is, I can only guess.

I know, let’s have [Warren] Buffett sell his companies to the county for a “fair” sum (whatever that is), and the all of the profits can be distributed to all of the needy people (Who decides who these are?).

Come on, people! Wake up! This attitude this author takes has been the real problem for decades now. People have forgotten what America and its unique freedoms are all about. Its time to remember and forge ahead. Make your own way. You can do it, and be proud that you did. Let yourself determine how far you can go, not how far society thinks you should. God bless America!

Mike Baker
Elk Grove

He eats Buffett’s cheese

Re “Buffett’s tentacles” by Greg Lucas (SN&R Frontlines, May 20):

The article on what Warren [Buffett] owns was enlightening and, as I read through the first third of the list, I was happy knowing that Mr. Buffett made little or no money off my consumption behavior. By the end of the article, I became sad, knowing that my family did in fact contribute to his personal wealth.

However, I could take solace from the fact that, with all he owns, we fell victim only to his cheese, wafer and bank, too!

Ron Schmidt
North Sacramento

Don’t pick on pot

Re “Political or pot ads” by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Greenlight, May 20):

If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be-entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

Marijuana prohibition has failed miserably as a deterrent. The United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults over 18. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who’ve built careers confusing the drug war’s collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant.