In response to winning the puzzle page quiz
Great Prize! I love Alibi.
I forgot to mention that after living here 30 years (really), and winning a Moonshine Ink prize, I feel like a local.
~ Dave Mouat, Truckee, via letter
In response to May issue
COVID Won’t Slow Down
All that’s in the 13 April to 13 May edition of Moonshine Ink is very amusing to read! That “new normal” that Mayumi Elegado spoke of is something we all should realize. This novel virus will never slow down, and will keep growing as much as we let it.
… COVID-19 has been called “insidious,” but it’s actually a disease of the lungs. Oxygen absorption goes way down, as low as 50%, before most patients feel any symptoms. By then, coughing is injurious, as some lung cells are flooded or collapsed.
Oxygen absorption can be measured easily with a $35 Pulse Oximeter finger-tip clip. It’s usually the first telltale symptom that one has this virus. Yet, Pulse Oximeters are not easy to get; they’re just not widely available though most drug stores carry one or two.
Please read the [attached] article, The Infection That’s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients in The New York Times. The doctor who wrote it — tells it like it is. He’s been an emergency room physician and intubologist for 30 years total, and now runs his own world-class institute on intubology.
~ Stephen Smythe, Reno, via letter
Say Their Names Committee Expresses Thanks
We thank the people of Truckee for turning out in such extraordinary numbers for the Say Their Names Vigil Tuesday [June 2] evening. More than 1,500 people observed a moving silent vigil on bended knees from downtown to Gateway Center to remember the people of color who have been victims of police violence and to reflect on recent events and how we can make our country better.
Many community volunteers, young and old, worked on short notice to organize and monitor the Say Their Names Vigil, and we thank them for their good natured help and dedication.
Our gratitude and appreciation go to the Truckee Police Department for its professionalism and its respect for the right of citizens to peaceably assemble to express their views. Their sensitive policing helped ensure the peaceful event we intended.
We especially recognize the young people of Truckee, who came in large numbers and inspired us with their passion and commitment. We urge them to carry that energy to November and vote.
~ The Ad Hoc Say Their Names Citizens Group: Janet Atkinson, Annie Ballard, Anne-Flore Dwyer, Christa Finn, Savannah Golden, Courtney Henderson, Deirdre Henderson, Silke Pflueger, Christina Temple, Suzie Tarnay, Tahoe/Truckee, via letter
Virus Hysteria, Climate Hysteria
So during this virus hysteria, my girlfriend and I have been the teachers for my girlfriend’s 9-year-old granddaughter. As with so many people, a lot of grandparents have had to step up and take in their grandkids so the parents can work and keep their jobs.
It’s fortunate that I have a degree in geology and one in engineering because the math and science for elementary school curriculum is elementary for someone like me. So far I’ve caught many mistakes in the science assignments these kids are getting online.
As an educated skeptic of anthropogenic global warming, I caught yet another mistake in our girl’s science assignment this morning. The teacher narrating the assignment said, “Everything always changes; plants, animals, landscapes, and even the climate.” Game, set, match, checkmate!! Kids are being constantly brainwashed today that “climate change” is something bad, and yet here is an online teacher admitting that climate always changes. Climate always changes; always has, always will, period, end of debate!!
In another example, our little girl said that the granite boulder under the gazebo up at the veterans building that overlooks Truckee got there due to an earthquake. I was like, “Huh, where do you get that idea from?” She said from school. Well, I corrected that nonsensical notion by giving the girl a lesson in glaciation and glacial erratics (boulders carried by glaciers and dropped in situ when a glacier retreats).
I can go on and on citing one example after another about the mistakes I keep catching in the science assignments these kids are getting online, but these two I’ve provided should suffice to make the point.
If we are to have an enlightened electorate, the underpinning of an enlightened democracy, it has to begin in grade school. Pseudo-science inculcates the masses with errant notions that lead to bad choices in the ballot box.
~ Jeffrey Middlebrook, Truckee, via letter
In response to May issue, You Asked, They Answered, and Another Calamity in Kings Beach
Thank You and Feedback
To “all y’all,” Thank you for putting out such a relevant and packed issue, full of (relevant!) articles that are grounded in good reporting. Thank you, thank you!
I especially wanted to thank Megan Chillemi for her well-written and data-backed article, which opened my eyes to something I had been unaware of. Kings Beach is such a special spot; it would truly be a shame to glitz it up and limit beach access! Thank you Megan, for bringing this to readers’ attention.
I also wanted to thank Liz Bowling for her really well-done article on businesses, and for seeking business owners’ outlook on how things are, and their perspectives. I found Sahra Otero’s outlook especially positive and uplifting. Thank you Sahra and Liz!
A couple of things worth mentioning from my perspective. It does seem to me that the article on whether or not second home owners are staying home takes a leap in logic. Wouldn’t it be just as likely that because we have NO visitors, that our septic would reflect no visitors? And surely, the number of visitors is down by more than 50%.
The other thing: We moved up here a year ago to work on a property. We love some of the businesses up here and support them (Alpine Market, now closed, was one of them. New Moon is another one we love.) … We support businesses that are not based on tourist dollars:restaurants who make their meals affordable, grocery stores like [New] Moon that offer very high quality groceries, but we in good conscience, and good budget, are not interested in supporting the price gouging that happens. Yes, I save $60 going down the hill for my gas. Yes, I am on a budget. Yes, I work here. I pay less and get more for great produce at New Moon than I would dream of getting at Safeway. So yes, I go to Costco, and I have no problem doing so. Supporting businesses that are reasonable, to me, is reasonable and rational. Just because things are overpriced in an area, based on tourists’ dollars, does not mean it is reasonable for the rest of us. And just because prices are based on tourism doesn’t mean the locals should be paying for that!
Thanks for listening! Keep up the great work, and again thank you for a great publication!
~ Joan Dunn, Truckee, via letter
