Letters about stories and letters

North Should Be on Top

Re: “Big Beer Invades East Village”

Sprawled across pages 18 and 19 is a good picture that shows all sorts of detail, but the way you have it shown is very confusing. I had to get out my Thomas atlas to make sense of it. You should've shown it upside down.

In the lower right corner of the picture you show a building labeled “10 Corner Proposed Location.” The long side of that building runs from south to north, and the short side of it runs from east to west. However, north is at the bottom of the building, and east to west runs from left to right.

In other words, you have the damn picture upside down. North should be on top and south on the bottom. East should be on the left and west on the right. You’ve got it backwards. If you’d just have turned that picture upside down it would have made a lot more sense.

I know you have to have it catty-corner to show everything, but you could've at least had north at the top.

• Name withheld
• via voicemail

I’ve Seen the Dead Bodies

Re: “Out of the Depths”

First of all, “OG” stands for Original Gangster. At least that’s what people in law enforcement who classify validated gang members tell me. Mr. Howard appears to be less than truthful, but no surprise there.

Admitting to assaulting a skater is pretty funny, but I find it hard to believe that he couldn't recognize the sound of a fast-approaching skateboard after a life on the streets.

My main problem with this article is the glorification of Crips. Perhaps a follow-up article on the devastation their criminal activities have wreaked on their own neighborhoods would be appropriate. I’ve seen the dead bodies they’ve littered the streets with. I’ve seen the underage prostitutes they sell being forced to “work” against their will. I’ve seen the legions of toothless, dying drug addicts who support the financial enterprise that Mr. Howard has benefitted from. Crips are cowardly, back-shooting killers who sell little girls and spray bullets into family dwellings while driving off in stolen cars. I’ve seen them racking rounds into their illegal weapons while talking about killing me.

There is no good reason to waste paper on these examples of negative racial stereotypes. Crip stands for Cowards Run In Packs. I know this to be true because they have never followed through on their efforts to kill me when faced with a fair fight.

I'm not a gang member. I despise gangs and their pathetic attempts at self-justification.

Good job on retiring, Mr. Howard. It’s a shame the victims you've profited from don't get to enjoy that luxury. In the interest of loving my enemies, God bless all you Crips out there, I hope you all retire and learn how to work for a living like Mr. Howard.

On a slightly less infuriating note, please don’t repeat News of the Weird stories. I look forward to that mindless drivel and I feel betrayed by this week’s old news.

P.S. If you do happen to publish my name out of spite, allow me to invite JB and Shaggy (West Coast Crips) to a fair fight for once.

• Name withheld
• Pacific Beach

Cars Take up Space

I'm writing in response to Richard Robertson of Navajo and his letter to the editor regarding bike lanes downtown. Interesting how outside parties like to dictate what should be done in areas they don't reside in. Where is Navajo?

His statement on Faulconer is false, as the mayor does only bare minimums — not solutions to fix problems. For example, he simply installed wrong-way signs after that wrong-way meth driver ran over a bunch of cyclists last year on Fiesta Island, rather than build a dedicated paved bike lane next to the road. Faulconer really has no part in any of the bike plan infrastructure, he’s too busy playing football politics.

As for Gloria, he sold out that the uptown bike plan will be chopped up rather than fully connected.

Now, onto the cars downtown. If you buy a dishwasher, should the city be required to build you a kitchen? This applies the same with parking.

In reality, a car is a thing of luxury. American society wants to deceive us that a car is a necessity, the real American Dream, which is to have one at all costs, even if it puts you into great debt. This car would prioritize you over someone else using alternate transport to go to the front of a store.

There's not enough space for all of the cars. As the population grows, the amount of space stays the same. Who should get priority for that parking spot in front of the store? If vehicular mobility will prioritize alternative transport, the city should be able to monetize those deep pockets. Downtown mobility is bigger than bikes.

A car takes up space. Four bicycles, motorcycles, or Segways can occupy the same area, with 100% occupancy.

Here are a few ideas to benefit San Diego’s budget, even if the money is used to help clean up the homeless issue downtown:

1) Implement an Uber-like, demand-driven cost system where parking rates are higher during times of great demand

2) Many cars commuting downtown are used by one person, the driver. Perhaps a per-seat tax for those who come downtown with unoccupied seats. In other major cities of the world, the infestation of cars is so bad that they need to implement a ban to control the number of cars on certain days and certain hours, such as in San Paulo, Brazil. (It's done by the beginning letter of your license plate for certain days.)

To truly understand the situation of infrastructure here in San Diego, I suggest everyone read the book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), available for free at the library.

• Roger Leszczynski
• Logan Heights

Droughts Come and Go

This is regarding my letter you titled “Maybe You Should Read the Original Article.” I still haven’t read the original article about the toilet-to-tap danger. They have back issues at the public library, but public libraries kind of smell. And when they have Wi-Fi, there are more interesting websites than SDReader.com. It’s kind of white and spammy, mainly targeted towards homeless women.

I still think the city’s toilet-to-tap program is unacceptable. I do care about conserving water, but droughts come and go, and this has been the rainiest year since 2008 or 2009.

I did call the city’s drinking water department and a water-quality laboratory, but I couldn’t get a straight answer as to when the recycled water started coming out of my sink and if it will ever stop.

Also, egregious is the word I was looking for in my last letter. I think this program is criminal egregious. It’s basically assault with sewage water, and it’s when I stopped being an environmentalist.

• Name withheld
• via voicemail