Mailbox

Editor: “Beer Me, Jesus” came across as poorly conceived and poorly written, from the juvenile title and lousy cover photo to what I assume must be unintentional humor (Aug. 26). As an acquaintance of mine said with regards to the article: “It must have been a slow news week.” The articles doesn’t reveal much about […]

Editor: Gotta hand it to Andrew Goff — equating the aliens of BridgeFest with the reputation of a candidate for governor, throwing in a voting recommendation, then proceeding to dissuade attendance was a shrewd bit of satire and marketing savvy (“Alien Invasion,” Aug. 19). With the free promotion we were generously given by all the […]

Editor: I was pleased to read about the “ambiguously Christian” pastors of Catalyst Church (“Beer Me, Jesus,” Aug. 19). The contrast between Dan Davis and Baptist pastor Larry McCain is the worldwide religious problem in microcosm. People seek certainty in the kind of fundamentalism that McCain (and Islamic fundamentalists and Jewish fundamentalists and Hindu fundamentalists) […]

Editor: Your article on Spam reminded me of an observation made by Paul Theroux in The Happy Isles Of Oceania (“Table Talk,” Aug. 19). He noted a correspondence between islands where Spam was popular and those with a history of cannibalism. Bon appétit. Stephen Sottong, Eureka    

Editor: I didn’t think you would be one of those slaves to provincial conventions. Your challenge to Kathryn Corbett advises “punctuation inside the quotation marks!” (“Mailbox,” Aug. 19.) The American standard is actually to place periods and commas inside, semicolons and colons outside, and exclamation and question marks inside only if part of the quotation. […]

Editor: I just finished reading, with some disbelief, Hank Sims starry-eyed visit to Orleans in the Aug. 12 issue (“The Town Dandy”). It was akin to writing about Eureka based on a visit to Old Town, and it goes to show that even in utopia there’s myopia. Mr. Sims must have had his rose-colored granny […]

Editor: Congratulations and thank you for the objective information provided in “Mega-Village” (Aug. 5). Within the complex draft of the environmental impact report, Ryan Burns ably exposed the heart of this 3,000-plus page document, a quote by the project manager and confirmed by a senior county planner: “the County (Planning Dept.) was responsible for guiding […]

Editor: In a letter last issue, Timothy Crlenjak asks the rhetorical question of the Tea Party Movement, “And you wonder why you are riduculed?” (“Mailbox,” Aug. 12.) I would dare answer that the reason people like Timothy ridicule the Tea Party is because that is what liberals do, as a substitute for actual dialogue. Demonization […]

Editor: Hank, baby — I know that you know which pronouns follow a preposition. So I nearly fell on the floor upon reading “even for we city dwellers” in your column in today’s paper. To avoid talking country hick-style, many of our fellow citizens overcorrect and use the nominative case in all circumstances to avoid […]

Editor: The mission of the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights is to preserve the Humboldt County rural lifestyle. As such, we have grave concerns regarding the present form of the Forster-Gill development project (“Mega-Village,” Aug. 5). The Ridgewood Village plan is a hastily promoted project that is deficient of adequate citizen input. It is the […]

Editor: In response to Terence Roberts’ complaint (“Mailbox,” July 29), let me first offer this olive branch: It is nice to see a communication from a self-described Tea Party Patriot (or whatever splinter group) that is somewhat reasonable and rational. Democratic pundit Donna Brazile recently wrote that the Tea Party(s) are not racist, but she […]

Editor: Even though he follows perfectly the haiku syllable pattern, Joel Mielke’s well drawn and cleverly worded cartoon, “Humboldt County Haiku #2” should be titled more accurately “Humboldt County Senryu” (“Mielke,” Aug. 5).  Japanese haiku poems are spiritual and idyllic, referring to seasons of nature. Senryu poems follow the same syllable pattern but are more […]