Put An End To It

The Reader’s choice of cover article in the August 12 issue is disgusting (“I Have a Habit of Having Things in My Hand”). If your intent was to draw attention to the dangers of drug use, you could have done so in a more responsible way. It is time to put an end to all violence against women, as well as to end all forms of discrimination against women. Please print stories that celebrate respect for all life.

Helen Bourne
Hillcrest

Stories For Kids

I got to tell you, I picked up the August 12 edition. It is the sickest thing I’ve ever read. I couldn’t even read it all. You people ought to be ashamed publishing that kind of stuff for children to read, and I’m a 56-year-old man. I wouldn’t pick up this piece of trash ever again after reading that. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Name Withheld
via voice mail

Lapse Of Reason

I am an epileptic, and on the occasions I have required the response of paramedics, I found them all to be professional and skillful (“Stringers,” August 12). One time I was attending a summer barbecue, had slowly consumed one beer, and had a seizure. Although the ambulance staff treated me nicely, the emergency department staff quickly labeled me a “drunk having withdrawals” due to the alcohol on my breath (my BAC was 0.01!).

When Gail Powell asked the firefighter what had happened, she should have received no personal information. Instead the firefighter broke numerous department (SDFD), county, state, and federal laws, not to mention rules of common sense, in divulging her diagnosis of the citizen’s seizure.

Hopefully this firefighter will have no more momentary lapses of reason and sense and can be retrained in the multitude of policies that protected that person’s health information.

Name Withheld
via email

The Three Fs

Kudos to “Anonymous” who sent the letter “Our Mongoloid City” (August 12). If ever a letter summed up this sad burg, this was it. If by “mongoloid” the writer meant abysmal stupidity, he or she was right on the money. But rejoice, fellow primitives, because we got football, fish tacos, and fire pits in America’s Dumbest City.

Rico Gardiner
Mission Hills

The Scoop On Total Depravity

In reference to the anonymous diatribe, fifth column on page 64 of the August 12 edition (Letters). Total depravity did not start with John Calvin. Total depravity started in the Garden of Eden when Adam sinned and is perpetuated through Adam’s progeny, the human race. The fact of total depravity is explained in detail by Paul the Apostle in Romans, chapters five through seven.

Most people misunderstand the doctrine of total depravity because it is rarely taught with accuracy. Total depravity means that when Adam sinned, he corrupted his nature, and consequently his corrupt nature passed to all his descendents. As a result, we are all born spiritually dead with a total inability to have a relationship with God on the basis of our own merits. Self-righteous do-gooders are just as much depraved as licentious hedonists. Total depravity is not an inability to adhere to a code of morality. Total depravity is the universality of the old sin nature that we all inherited from our original biological father.

As for Pastor Tiffany’s belief regarding hell (“Sheep and Goats,” August 5), he is overemphasizing God’s omnipotence at the expense of God’s veracity, immutability, righteousness, and justice. The Word of God asserts that there is presently a place called Sheol and Hades, where the souls of the physically dead, spiritually dead await the final judgment in a state of torment.

Additionally, the Bible also asserts that following the final judgment, the resurrected spiritually dead will be thrown into a lake of fire, where they will be tormented eternally. If Pastor Tiffany teaches that there is no hell, he is misrepresenting the Bible, insulting the veracity of God, and leading his flock astray.

Thanks to God, there is not only a solution to total depravity but also an escape from the lake of fire because God loves the human race so much that He gave His son, the one and only Jesus Christ, with the result that everyone who believes in Him will not suffer eternal punishment but shall possess life eternal. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.

John Pertle
Santee

Past Her Sell-By Date

Why should anyone take Naomi Wise’s review of Barrio Star (“Food Girl’s Mexican Soul,” August 5) seriously when she begins the review by stating that she is already prejudiced against it? She’s so busy bad-mouthing owner Isabel Cruz and the premise of the restaurant that she doesn’t even get to the food until the seventh [sic] paragraph. It’s beyond time for her to be replaced. She is a SNOB. The fact that she constantly compares the food in San Diego to food she had in San Francisco and New York is idiotic. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. And her obsession with all things pork is nauseating. I haven’t read a review of hers in at least a year in which she hasn’t swooned about every piece of pork she has eaten. The same is true of Jidori chicken. Please do all of San Diego a favor and find someone who is less of a snob and who can be objective in his/her restaurant reviews. With this review, she has lost all credibility as a capable critic.

Name Withheld
via email

Not On The Menu

“Southwestern College’s Proper Snack Bar” (“Stringers,” July 29) left out some crucial facts.

I began working at Southwestern College as chief of communications, community and government relations in March 2010. Between my predecessor’s departure and my arrival, the college had no in-house staff devoted to communications with the community, media, or elected officials.

In the winter of 2010, there was understandable public interest in the college’s accreditation status. Although the college was, and remains, fully accredited, insufficient communication led to some misapprehension. During this time, the college needed help sorting fact from fiction. In fact, the college is ahead of schedule in completing recommendations it received.

Out of necessity, the college hired an expert — for only a month — who explained how it was fully accredited, was not closing, and that classes could transfer and current students could graduate. In fact, while other colleges are cutting classes and staff, Southwestern College is offering new programs, not cutting staff, and increasing the funds allotted to cover employee health care. Getting the word out seems like a good idea.

Chris Bender
Chief of Communications
Community and Government Relations

The Falls Behind The Ugly Store

So what do San Diego developers and planners have against waterfalls (“City Lights,” “College Housing Will Ruin the Gorge,” July 29)? There are so few here for them to destroy. In addition to the Adobe Falls mentioned in the “City Lights” article, we have a similar situation with El Saito Falls along Buena Vista Creek in Oceanside. Existing development to the south created a monumental visual blight. To view this stunning waterfall you must drive to the rear of a Kohl’s department store, park next to the massive monument sign (had to be visible from the 78 freeway, you know), and look down into the arroyo below.

Now imagine if there was a fashionable restaurant with outside dining at this spot or some other relaxing outdoor-type use such as a bookstore, coffeehouse, etc., with a promenade along the edge for visitors to look at the falls. Something similar to what Vista did near the water park off Vista Village Drive (yes, Vista!), but better as this has a real waterfall. Alas, no. The truckers delivering to the big box stores get to enjoy it while they unload. Were the planners asleep during the environmental portion of their education? And obviously the developers have no clue. They would prefer this was in a box culvert with parking on top.

While the Oceanside Planning Commission recently approved safeguards to protect the falls, it’s ultimately up to the city council when this area, presently known as Quarry Creek, finally comes up for final development approval. And that could be a long way off. And it’s what surrounds the falls that impacts it the most. Whatever is allowed should provide public use (as mentioned above) and minimal noise so visitors can hear the falls, and so wildlife attracted to the falls won’t be disturbed.

In regard to Adobe Falls, I would have thought that an institution of higher education such as San Diego State would have come up with a stunning plan to preserve such an amenity. Seems to me that of the three creek projects mentioned, the only one that shows any class at all came out of the City of Vista. Maybe they should protect these two waterfalls.

R. Anthony Foster
Oceanside

Enough With Flim And The Flam

Thanks to you and Don Bauder for this column on redevelopment (“City Lights,” “Raking in Redevelopment Riches,” July 29). It should be required reading for every registered voter in the City of San Diego and prior to any new football stadium proposal on a ballot. City taxpayers have already been flimflammed enough with the downtown ballpark and convention center expansions while ignoring critical municipal improvements like water supply, sewage treatment, solid waste disposal, and street and road repairs.

Tim
via email

Licorice, Cohosh, Blessed Thistle

I read with interest your “Best Buys” article (July 29) as it was about using herbs to help relieve PMS. I couldn’t help but notice all the advice your writer wrote about was given by people who worked at health food stores. She didn’t mention if they were herbalists or not. It is not a good idea to take advice from someone who just works at a health food store when it comes to using plants as medicine.

For example, several of the medicines mentioned included black cohosh, and one of the medicines containing this herb required long-term use.

Black cohosh shouldn’t be used for longer than three months, nor should one take more than five grams as it can cause toxic symptoms. Licorice, another in one of the medicines recommended, is probably included only for taste, but large doses over a four-week time period can promote hypertonia.

And blessed thistle is an appetite stimulant so I’m not sure why that would be recommended to regulate the digestive system!

Plant medicine has a place in our medicine cabinets, but just because it is “all natural” doesn’t mean there aren’t cautions associated with ingesting them. Most medicinal herbs are toxic in high doses or when taken over long periods of time. Some plant medicines can have ill effects when taken with Western medicines.

If you are interested in using herbal remedies, I highly recommend you consult with a trained herbal practitioner and not an employee of a health food store.

Rajam Roosevia
via email

Hey, Shepherd! Wrong Shepard

This is with regards to Duncan Shepherd’s review of the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. Shepherd writes, “Shepard Fairey, a/k/a Space Invader.” Shepard Fairey is NOT Invader; they are two separate individuals. In fact, if you were to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art downtown, you would find “Viva la Revolución: A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape,” which features prints done by Banksy along with a variety of other works by various artists. Shepard Fairey, who may or may not be best known for the “Hope” poster of Obama, has two commissioned works done in Hillcrest, both are painted on buildings. Invader’s works can be seen throughout the city; the pixeled Space Invaders are in 21 different locations, one on a building on the corner near the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Samantha
via email

Wilk Panned

Mr. Wilk is usually infallible, so I was surprised to see “pan in” as the answer to “Start a closeup shot” (Crossword, July 29). “Pan” refers only to swiveling a camera to the left or right. You can “truck” or “dolly” a camera toward the subject, or you can “zoom” in for a tighter framing, but you do not “pan in.”

Ted Leib
via email

Seven Car Crisis

Thank you for the article on South Park versus North Park (Cover Story, “Showdown in the Parks,” July 22).

I enjoyed 25 years of business in South Park and the attention of the Reader several times. I have been involved in that part of town since I was 3 years old and lived there 28 years. I’m happy that my daughter and her husband run the oldest business in the area, Thomas Bike Shop, and they work very hard to keep it going and they have many faithful customers.

I would like to correct a quote by my daughter, Jinna Albright. You reported that she said I moved out of the area because I “thought people were just getting more snooty.” As you may know, my business was Fern St. Florist and Alexander’s Weddings on Fern Street at Cedar. Although for all the years I was there I did not get much attention from other businesses, I did have fantastic customers. They came to us because we were unique and always gave more than was asked. I was the first business to advertise on a national level and brought the name Golden Hill/South Park to a customer base from coast to coast. It was great, although no local businesses even noticed.

To make it clear, I still have my big house in South Park with interesting tenants, and I’m there all the time. We closed the shop because of these economic times, but we’re still in business, and I moved out of my house because we have 7 cars. Moving all those cars every few days was a pain, so we found a house close by where I can park 12 cars. Simple as that.

Thank you for your attention, and continued luck with your publication.

Desiree and Pat Taylor
Fern St. Florist, aka Vanessa’s House of Flowers
South Park

Page Proof

Rating yourself by page count? How many of those pages are devoted to the 541 coupons? Why don’t you just rate yourself by the number of coupons? Considering you put that on your cover and the page count bit of stupidity on page 16, the number of coupons is clearly a more significant indicator of your worth than the overall number of pages. Hope the folks who broke their arms patting themselves on the back on that one heal quickly and can get back to real, more important spin-doctoring.

Carl Hancock
via email

Weird Request

Please bring back “News of the Weird” every time. It’s one of our favorite sections, and we really miss it.

Randy Gaidon
University City

No Waves

The Reader is the best source for finding out what’s going on in our city. “City Lights” keeps us informed of the latest shenanigans. Thanks for that and many other great features. I must say that the first thing I look for IS “Slow Wave,” and I feel disappointed every time it is missing. Why not every week? The main features are generally informative and entertaining. Also read the Diva and “T.G.I.F.” and, of course, the crossword. MORE “Slow Wave,” please.

Denise Sellers
via email