›› LETTERS High ho the derry-o While we ought to be grateful the discussion has finally reached the “How can marijuana be legalized?” stage, it concerns me that no one appears to be addressing the reality that the law enforcement emphasis will shift from cops and narcs to an agency akin to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Who will determine who shall grow the marijuana the government will now be selling with an excise tax affixed to each lot? And there’d be the cost of guarding those fields, which certainly would become a lucrative target for ne’er-do-wells. Even given that, why wouldn’t every farmer want to shift over to such an easy cash crop? Yet the truth is the plant is a weed, and any dunderhead could grow a crop. Why would someone fuss with government stores and taxed-up prices when they can grow their own, and not be illegal. Brewing beer and distilling spirits and fermenting wine are far more complicated processes and easily monitored and regulated. What to do with the “weed” is far more problematic. Which is why it’s always been the people’s high. What a dilemma. Hobart Bartshire, Fairfax
Tamper tantrum As Peter Seidman’s excellent story [“Runaway Grand Jury,” Dec. 18] illustrates, Marin’s civil grand jury tribunals have proven themselves a poor vehicle for rationally analyzing controversial public-policy concerns. The pool of prospective jurors is limited to those who can afford to spend numerous months away from their jobs
or other responsibilities; and they are not screened for preexisting biases. The secret process of taking testimony, which excludes witness cross-examination, makes the wellintentioned jurors too subject to manipulation by powerful commercial and political interests. As Seidman mentions, for decades PG&E has successfully utilized every dirty trick, and spent untold millions, to prevent any breach in its monopoly as our only electricity provider. PG&E’s latest scare tactic—leaking the grand jury report bearing the corporation’s fingerprints—is aimed at preventing Marin Clean Energy from providing Marin with substantial quantities of affordable, renewable electric power. As recently as May, an equally-flawed grand jury “hatchet job” cast doubt on Marin General Hospital’s ability to operate as an independent public facility rather than being run by money-hungry Sutter Corporation. Clearly, regarding matters of public policy, Marin’s secret grand jury process is out-ofcontrol and lacks credibility. Our democracy would benefit instead by our relying on open public discussion and debate. Alexander Binik, Fairfax
No choice is not an option To the honorable Mayor Jeanne MacLeamy and the Novato City Council members: We are longtime residents and registered voters in Novato and are writing to you today With Novato’s best to ask you to change interests at heart. course and vote to join the Marin Energy Authority!
›› TOWNSQUARE
Let’s hear from the Grinches I for one am not much of a holiday reveler and the closer we get to Christmas the more annoyed I become at all this holiday hypocrisy. So, I’d like to hear from everyone else... Holidays: Give for the greater good How deep is need for some Marin families and individuals, old and young alike, in this holiday season—a season mired in a deep recession? Read the full story here... Upfront: Runaway grand jury? The title of the recent grand jury report about Marin Clean Energy leaves little doubt as to the intentions of the grand jurors. The title: “Pull the Plug.” Read the full sto...
Your soapbox is waiting at ›› pacificsun.com If you vote to allow Novato to join, each resident will still have the ability to opt out if that is their choice. By voting not to join, you take away our freedom to even consider the matter of whether we stay with PG&E or opt to join the MEA. That is very upsetting. Currently, with PG&E as our lone provider, we have no choice but to accept electricity that is 85 percent “brown.” We also are subject to the costs of a monopoly where energy rates are set at the state level and fees are added to cover private-sector salaries, expensive overhead and shareholder returns. While PG&E is moving in the right direction with renewables, it won’t meet the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standards. The MEA, on the other hand, will exceed the RPS on day one, and expects to deliver 100 percent renewable energy by 2016. PG&E will stop at nothing to persuade you that joining the MEA is not the right choice, but they are only worried about their bottom line and their stockholders, not the citizens of Novato. Yes, you have the responsibility for being “fiscally prudent.” But you also have a larger responsibility—to look at ways we can all help address global warming for our citizens, their children and our planet’s future. Please look toward our future and give each resident of Novato the choice to be part of the MEA. Please vote to join the MEA! Ralph, Patrice and Daniel Stancato, Novato
Marin youth suckered by peace and forgiveness propaganda I’m writing in regard to your recent feature on Hiroshima ground-zero survivor Takashi Tanemori’s visit to Marin Academy [“How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” Dec. 11]. Tanemori immigrated to the United States in 1956 to annihilate Aerial view of Hiroshima, Americans? I never population 381,000, Aug. 6, 1945.
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realized that our immigration laws were so broken for so long. Zero in the story about Tojo and the raging killing machine of Japanese society. What does he say about the Rape of Nanking? Brainwashing the little teenagers at marvy Marin Academy. John L. Fallat, San Rafael
Stepford lives Nine out of 10 smiling depressive, super-busy soccer moms on Prozac know without question that Salvia divinorum causes suicide in National Honor Society members. Imagine that...a Central American native sage species used for thousands of years by indigenous shamans for its healing properties—causing suicide. These Stepford experts also know with absolute certainty that a shotgun caused the suicide of my friend in high school—coincidentally upset because she couldn’t please her parents by being a top-performing Stanford scholarship winner, like her valedictorian brother. We might also consider their absolute certainty that mere access to the Golden Gate Bridge and “inexplicable psychological circumstances” caused the suicides of Marin honor students over the last three decades. Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. PTA—hyperbusy “victims” of high places and the inexplicable—you might consider that the depressions of your daughters and sons may be caused by the education system and Prozaced life it produces— the one that you shove down their throats as a tacit requirement for your love and approval. Why not read a little “red pill” tonight and feel the discomfort. From John Taylor Gatto, New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1991 http://johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/ index.htm. Stephen Brooks , Mill Valley
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