Exclamation points and question marks

Doesn’t Take a Genius

I think I can solve two issues raised in the last Reader. First, Mr. Rynearson of La Jolla is upset that he can’t obtain a liquor permit for their annual block party in his neighborhood. Seeing how it sounds like a rather small event and brings so much joy to the families with the squirt guns and the bounce houses, how ‘bout just simply not drinking liquor? Is it that difficult for you to enjoy yourself that one family event without alcohol, instead you cancel the event? Now, that is scary.

Second, regarding the rampant theft at certain SeaWorld facilities, why would anyone bring a $700 iPhone or other valuable items into a situation where they're forced to leave their possessions while they partake of the various water slides and so on? Is it no longer possible to even attend an amusement park without an iPhone? Or, perhaps most are brain surgeons who are expecting an important text or call.

Hard to believe, but I’m not a genius. It’s common sense.

• Name withheld
• via voicemail

Guttermind

Re: August 18, cover story: “Ode to a Mouse”

When I first saw the picture on the cover of the Reader, I thought, How did she get into that position? Then, after I got my mind out of the gutter, I figured she was probably sitting on his shoulders. I like my way better!

• Allen Stanko
• Alpine

Gold in Them Hills

Re: Roam-O-Rama: “Walker Preserve Segment Opens on the San Diego River Trail”

So, this is how environmentalists take private property and call it a “preserve.” They say it extends another 30 miles up into the Julian area.... Well, this “preserve” will end at Coleman Creek in Julian — a privately owned gold claim known as the “Warrior” claim, which is federally protected.

The Mining Act of 1872 protects the claim from radical environmentalists. The 1872 Mining Act put California on the map, and it is just as important as the First Amendment. Your radical environmentalist whacko plans and “preserve” will never trump our God-given American rights.

• Adam Andrews
• The “Warrior” Gold claim in Julian

Invitation to Explain

In response to “From Plane to Powder” (Letters, August 18 ), I would like to invite the author to an event commemorating the 15th anniversary of 9/11 to share his knowledge of aviation with other American patriots in our San Diego area. I would especially like to hear a scientific explanation of how a large commercial 757 airplane can be “vaporized into aluminum powder.”

The event is at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday evening, September 11, at the Joyce Beers Community Center in Hillcrest on Vermont Street. sd911truth.org

• Ted Muga
• Ocean Beach

Neighbor-Raping Tax Profiteer

So, the “Pork” Authority wants to increase bayside parking rates and install new parking meters at presently free publicly owned shoreline areas.

The “Pork” Authority is an example of government run amok. On their website they boast, “The District is an Economic Engine.” In my opinion, the district has mutated into a neighbor-raping, government tax profiteer.

The recent meter hike along Tuna Harbor has made me boycott parking there for the USS Midway, the Fish Market, Anthony’s, and the Maritime Museum. The parking meter tax is $1.75 per hour! I will not pay this Buddha belly fat fee.

In comparison, the City of Coronado charges a reasonable meter rate of 25 cents an hour, and all parking is free at Christmastime.

The public is pissed off. We, the community, do not want the Port to install new meters or parking permit machines at the now free bayside areas. The public does not want to pay jacked-up and unreasonable metered parking taxes! The district continues to violate its mandated directive to manage our harbor “consistent with the Public Trust Doctrine” (SD 1039). Just ask Anthony’s Seafood Restaurant about the Public Trust Doctrine. The Port kicked Anthony’s out after 50 years in business despite the fact that Anthony’s has been voted “San Diego’s Best” 14 years in row. The Port says, “Show me the money!”

The Port’s weak justification for parking fee increases is that their staff claims that there are parking abuses and overfilled lots. How is there a cause-and-effect correlation between abuse and overuse and increased parking rates? I don’t see overflowing and abused parking at the present, free bayside lots at Spanish Landing or the metered Shelter Island areas.

The district is speaking in bureaucratic tongues to try and generate more money and frack the public trust. Oh, by the way, the Port’s CEO’s reported yearly salary is $268,000, rounded off for parking fees.

• Bill Owen
• Mission Hills

Stuck in the Middle

I don’t see an answer in this article (“Gripes over Clairemont’s New Bike-Lane Barriers,” regarding how the city plans to address the concerns about not having a shoulder on the side of the road so cars can pull over to the side in case of car trouble or emergency vehicles.

If a driver has car trouble in the middle of Balboa in the middle of the night, or at any time, it is not safe to be stuck in the middle of the road. Especially if the city puts in cement and metal bike barriers. I wish someone would get an answer to how this issue is being addressed.

• Name withheld
• Clairemont

Our Latest Resident Boogeyman

As a member of San Diegans for 9/11 Truth, I was aware there were Saudi connections to 9/11 from here in San Diego, but I wasn’t aware of the extent of this, or of some of the specific players mentioned in your article.

We’re coming up on the 15th anniversary of 9/11 in just a few weeks. Fifteen years later our latest resident boogeyman is now Daesh (ISIL). We have (as a nation) not really learned anything regarding the relevant trans-U.S. politics, nor how we are still being used here, by these foreign groups for fundraising (why they don’t attack us directly, more often?). They have plenty of help here (still some “black elements” of the U.S. government).

What’s now happening with Daesh directly mimics what was going on with Al Q’aeda, just before 9/11 occurred! The core of Daesh is remnant officers of the old Iraqi Army and Air Force who had served under Saddam Hussein. When he was executed he was martyred, and ISIL (a Sunni group) was formed. Al Q’aeda was being handled by the Pakistani ISI Group and funded by the Saudi Wahhabi. The Saudi Al A’amah intel group (their version of the ISI, and our CIA!) is now funding and handling Daesh!

Iraq and Afghanistan are irrelevant. The Saudi Arabian and Pakistani governments are whom we should be at war with!

• Michael R. Moran
• East Village

What the Sky Shows Us

I’m calling about the Waterfront section. I’m specifically calling about the moon calendar [print version only]. This has happened a number of times; that is, in the current issue, it shows a partial moon on Thursday, and two other articles in the Reader say it’s a full moon on Thursday. And last night [Wednesday], it did look like it was going to be a full moon.

I’ve come across this same circumstance on a number of occasions. I really like that section — the moon calendar, and the surf, and waves, and tides, and all that stuff. I’m just wondering why you guys can’t get what you put in the newspaper to jive with what the sky shows us.

Somebody is apparently missing the boat because, as I say, this has happened a number of times before, where you’ll say it’s a new moon when it’s really a partial moon. It’s all over the board. I’d appreciate some commentary as to what’s going on, and what can or will be done as I use it quite a bit.

• Ted
• via voicemail

The moons were initially added to show a sampler transition of the week — they were never meant to be read as exact. Starting this week, the graphics will relay the actual information. We regret any confusion. — Editor

Just Venting

Last week I “won” tickets to see the premier of Sausage Party in one of your Reader contests. Even though I arrived early, the movie was already overbooked, and I received a rain check pass I was unable to use, for a movie I didn’t want to see.

The only reason I’m writing a letter to the editor is because the person in charge of the promotional contests never responded to my email when I wrote to express my disappointment, and there was no other clear method of contact for me on this matter.

It just seems to me that If the Reader is going to hold contests, that the prizes should be something the winner can actually use, such as a pass to see a movie when I want, and to choose which movie I want to see.

I feel like I didn’t really win anything — I only won a chance to see a movie with a very small time frame for redemption. I’m disappointed and I just wanted someone to know that.

• Name withheld
• via email