God, Guts & Guns
Thank you, Ari Levaux, for clearing up a misconception (“American Psychos,” Dec. 26). Not knowing any hunters, I’ve always assumed that they walked hand in hand with the NRA. I hope this inspires other non-NRA hunters to speak out.
Via online
Q: How many NRA members does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 4,300,000. One to start changing the bulb until shot dead by a psychotic relative using a weapon bought for the NRA member’s personal protection, and 4,299,999 to claim that the only problem the U.S. has with guns is that there are not enough of them.
Via online
Ari Levaux does not speak for hunters. Every statistic that he quotes is cooked and misleading at best. The kid told the school he brought the gun for safety, but no one at the school believed him, not the other students, not the administration. His bragging actions with the gun and intimidation of other students with it betrayed the real reason. Ari’s claim that armed citizens do not prevent or limit the scale of mass killings is ridiculous. They just cannot completely eliminate the behavior. If any of the six women killed in Sandy Hook had a concealed carry gun, there would have likely been fewer killed. Armed mass killers in Israel don’t kill 30; they kill three to six before the armed populace brings them down.
Via online
Let Them Eat Grapes
Just finished the article “Following Her Own Star” (Dec. 19) by Daedalus Howell. It is good to hear that Eleanor Coppola is “too earnest to be susceptible to such platitudes” after it’s suggested that she is the de facto grand dame of Sonoma County’s wine scene.
I just can’t escape the idea that the artistic lifestyle she has pursued has been aided by her access to unlimited funds. For example, has she ever had to worry about obtaining healthcare or the balance of her checkbook? I doubt it. And that’s OK, it’s just the idea of her being very close to the 1% of wealth has me wondering whether she would be a working artist Nowhere in the article did it mention giving back to the community or the 99%, unless you count the fact that she would like to share the blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon as a wine. This interview would be the opposite side of last week’s article about the Occupy movement. I found last week’s article more important.
Napa
I am no longer a working artist in this now more and more gentrified mecca of North Bay. In fairness, I must say it has been a long time. I no longer buy Ramen noodles by the case or attend rent parties or compare publishers’ rejection letters over bad coffee. I must say, though, I was sorely tempted to add a speech bubble to the photo of Mrs. Coppola enjoying her latest vintage in the gardens with her youthful foil stating, “If the peasants are starving, let them eat grapes.”
Santa Rosa
Disarming the World
Gun control . . . what a great idea, Mr. President. Why does it take a tragedy in Connecticut to instigate this action? Why did nothing happen after Columbine? Surely it was just as tragic! And will you extend this gun control to our military-industrial complex? I mean, we are by far the biggest supplier of arms to the world as a whole, especially favoring certain countries with despot leaders bent on conquering anything that stands in the way of getting whatever it is they want.
I’m quite certain that there are more than 20 children murdered daily around the world by guns which came from the good ol’ U.S. of A.—children who were just trying to live their lives as normally as they possibly could, given their circumstances. Just trying to learn how to read and write, like the kids in Connecticut.
Please tell me, Mr. President, why are our children’s lives worth more than those from another country?
Healdsburg
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