We Get Letters
I was in Kinko’s by Peet’s on Fourth Street and I had my big black leather purse on the engineer draftsman table right to the front street window and I took only a few feet to the cash register and back again and my African Colombian medical marijuana was stolen out of my purse of front flap window residue.
Humboldt County—JFK.
Humble of the Bible.
Still yet and all.
Santa Rosa
Striker’s Vision Exploited
I am one of those old folks who remembers The Lone Ranger (“Masked Man(ure),” July 3). I was hoping that, based on the interest in mythology apparent in movies like Avatar, The Matrix and others in recent years, much would be made of the death of John Reid and his resurrection as the Lone Ranger, his silver (magical) bullets, his spirit horse (named Silver, just in case we didn’t notice that the horse was white) and his companion, Tonto.
Tonto (“fool”) was not an insult by the way. The wise fool has a very long history in mythologies around the world. The fool has a difficult time functioning socially due to a lack of cultural understanding. But his lack of investment in cultural assumptions allows him to see things that more culturally invested individuals can’t see. The classic example is the child in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The fool is usually seen as being closer to nature than the average person—a child, a country bumpkin or, in this case, a Native American.
It is very clear from the old radio and television programs that creator Fran Striker knew exactly what he was doing when he put all this together. Seeing the trailers for this latest movie was very disappointing. Reading the reviews, including yours, is even worse. I’m afraid to go see a movie that appears to have been made by someone who has no clue about his subject. What a shame.
Via online
They Can’t All Be ‘Benny & Joon’
Good review (“Masked Man(ure),” July 3). Sad to see Depp condemned to repeat his early brilliance as a blockbuster-enabling sleepwalker.
Via online
Solomon on Snowden
It’s hard for me to understand the thinking of Americans like Edward Snowden and Norman Solomon (“Surveillance State,” June 12). Every open society on earth must secure its existence in the face of continuous attacks from those that favor closed societies and reject civil rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom to vote—all the rights that make us a parliamentary democracy. Autocratic regimes of left and right—Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Castro, and the current crop of radical Islamist regimes—hate democracy. By shooting reporters and beheading young girls who seek education, the Taliban displays the hatred that enemies of open societies feel for democracy.
How does the leader of a democracy judge just how much surveillance is necessary to secure our existence? We chose Obama to make that judgment.
If he errs, I hope it’s on the side of caution. I don’t want to see us successfully overthrown by those who would like to see all the world’s countries become closed societies.
Ironically, the places Snowden seeks for asylum have little use for freedom of speech. If they do not shoot or imprison him, it will be for his propaganda value. He and Solomon expect a purity of behavior from our government that they will never find in such closed societies as Ecuador or Russia or China.
Friday Harbor, Wash.
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