Letters for May 31, 2007

Smokin’ summer guide?

Re “Choose your ultimate summer adventure” (SN&R Summer Guide, May 24):

Congratulations on producing the most thoroughly unreadable, impossible to navigate, convoluted piece of trash disguised as a Summer Guide that I have ever attempted to read. And that says plenty, because I am not simply a consumer, but have been a managing editor in print and entertainment tabs for decades. It’s freaking useless.

If I were one of your advertisers, I’d take your layout artist out back and shoot, burn and bury him/her. What the hell are you smoking over there?

Gabby Hyman
via e-mail

Update your shoes

Re “The trouble with Jerry” by Kel Munger (SN&R Essay, May 24):

Note to Kel Munger: Jerry Falwell is dead and he hasn’t been a major force in politics for years (probably decades). So bury your hatred of the man, already, along with your hatred of Christians. Consider the fact that while fundamentalist Christians may condemn gays, extremist Muslims consider homosexuality punishable by death. And if you’re going to go out dancing, replace your disco platform shoes from the early 1980s with something more current: Prada has a new collection of women’s heels that are fab!

David Jones
via e-mail

Falwell fanned hatred’s flames

Re “The trouble with Jerry” by Kel Munger (SN&R Essay, May 24):

Even though Jerry Falwell had a lighter side, one tends to remember the other side: the public persona of the preacher we came to know so well.

Falwell spotlighted everything that is wrong with Christian conservatives and the fundamentalist right. The preacher spent years fanning the flames of hate. Falwell led the charge of those trying to tear down the wall between church and state. He was a major player on the frontline of the anti-abortion crazies and had a serious case of homophobia. If the right reverend had had his way we would have prayer in school.

Let’s not mince words and try to glorify Jerry Falwell.

Ron Lowe
Grass Valley

Save the whales!

Re “Cartoon” by John Kloss (SN&R Opinion, May 17):

Kloss’ cartoon of the whales in our polluted Delta water hit the mark.

Even with whaling banned, these endangered sea mammals face many dangers that likely made these whales sick and end up off-course. For example, even the baby humpback whale showed signs of being harmed by ships. Environmental groups criticize public agencies and the military for doing little (or nothing at all) to reduce ship strikes, a leading cause of death for whales.

Also this past year, a federal judge issued a ruling that the Navy should stop using sonar off the Hawaiian coast. The Navy has acknowledged that sonar can cause whales to get hurt or killed. Autopsies on other kinds of beached whales have shown brain damage done by military sonar.

Michelle Kunert
Sacramento

Good works, good humor, good games

Re “Games people play” by Sena Christian (SN&R News, May 17):

I sympathize with Rebecca Canales, who escaped violence in Central America and immigrated to the United States, just as I sympathize with immigrants in general. So, I’m not one of those Republicans, nor did I witness the game. I read about it in SN&R.

It did sound funny to me, and I appreciate good guerrilla theater even if I don’t agree with the message.

Thanks for reporting on this interesting controversy. I salute Ms. Canales’ good works and suggest to Ms. Lopez that maybe it was funny.

Rob Allen
Fair Oaks

Too endangered to jump

Re “Mr. Twain’s wild ride” by Scott Thomas Anderson (SN&R Arts&Culture, May 17):

In the article about Mark Twain and his story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” bullfrogs were mentioned three times.

Although bullfrogs (rana catesbeiana) are currently used as competitors in the Calaveras County Frog Jump, the frog that Mark Twain wrote about in his story was the red-legged frog (rana aurora draytonii).

Bullfrogs are not native to the West, and their voracious eating habits, as well as habitat loss, have put the red-legged frog on the endangered species list. Red-legged frogs are California’s largest frog and were once found throughout California. This loss is yet another example of how California’s native landscape has been transformed in the past 150 years.

Tanya Meyer
Davis

Lovin’ those figures!

Re “Action unpacked” by Russell Nichols (SN&R 15 Minutes, May 17):

Thank you so much for the article on Daniel Bowen. It’s good to know that there’s someone else out these who feels the same way I do about action figures!

Felix Vasquez
via e-mail

Correction

Due to a production error, publisher Scott Hassenflu’s name was missing from the May 24 staff box. That’s a shame, because that issue was our 2007 Summer Guide, which, thanks largely to Scott’s leadership, was the most successful Summer Guide in SN&R history. It also marked Scott’s swan song as publisher after an illustrious career here (he’s left to pursue other interests). That makes our error doubly regrettable, and we sincerely apologize.