Mailbox

Editor: Regarding James Kennedy’s letter about Barry Evans’ March 24 column (“Truth vs. truth,” Mailbox, April 7): These days, there are those capital “E” errors resulting from too much time on the lowercase “e” technologies. It has never been easier to find any number of sources to prove whatever one wants desperately to believe. Google […]

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Editor: Mr. Hardin stated that “X-rays, like radio waves and visible light … do not involve neutrons at all, and are therefore called non-ionizing radiation” (“A Scream,” Mailbox, March 31). While it is true that X-rays, (like radio waves and visible light), are different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, X-rays and gamma rays will pass through […]

Editor: While I’m confident that Barry Evans’ recent Field Notes essay on malaria doesn’t reflect his personal opinion of wetlands, it could have been interpreted as a diatribe against swamps and other “inadequately-drained” habitats (“The Vicious Circle of Malaria,” March 31). As he pointed out, malaria was essentially eliminated from the U.S. and the Canal […]

Editor: It seems to me that there are several errors, both as to putative “facts” and as to lines of reasoning, in the “Global Warming?” piece by Barry Evans (Field Notes, March 24). These errors are all of what I call a “Truth-for-truth” nature. That is to say, Mr Evans presents capital “C”, capital “T” […]

Editor: So let me see if I have this correctly: Ms. Hodgson was forced to leave the safety and comfort of the little wine cottage in the valley and venture out in the “pouring rain” to “report” on a speech to a group of people who didn’t look like her, didn’t think like her, and […]

Editor: I tender my sincere apologies to last week’s letter writer Robin Hashem for irritating what seems to be a sore spot (“Shades of Sunshine,” March 24). I mean no insult either to ordinances or uprisings by suggesting that they don’t always bring out the best in each other. In my view, holding public hearings […]

Editor: While Tom Abate didn’t actually quote Dr. Richard Stepp about the risks of radiation from the Japanese nuke plant disaster, the comparison of radiation from a nuclear power plant to a medical X-ray, in any dose, is highly misleading (“The FUD Factor,” March 17). No one ever needs to be decontaminated after an X-ray. […]

Editor:  How amusing it was to read the “history lesson in unreliable journalism” provided by a professional in the public relations field! (Mailbox, “Perils Of We,” March 24).  PR has become the primary media source of misinformation, reckless optimism, fake sincerity and irrational exuberance, funded and disseminated far beyond the imaginations of 16th and 18th […]

Editor:  I find it odd and a bit irritating that under a heading of “Stereotypes Wrong,” Charles Custer said that Arcata’s medical cannabis ordinance was “motivated by a community uprising called ‘Nip It in the Bud,’ … aimed to drive indoor growers out of town.” (“Truce,” March 17) My, my, what a simplistic bit of […]

Editor: In “The FUD Factor” about Japan’s post-tsunami nuclear reactor problems (“From the Editor,” March 17), you quote Professor Stepp of HSU about the media in such situations. He says, “They basically yell ‘Fire’ in a crowded theater and then interview the people they frightened to see if they are afraid.” Kudos to him for […]

Editor: Before Mr. Crlenjak goes correcting others’ corrections, he should put his own house in order. I found no fewer than six errors in his pompous and irrelevant letter (“Mailbox, March 17). First, he used the word “loathe” (a verb) where he meant ‘loath’ (an adjective). This is a common mistake but a mistake nonetheless. […]