Letters

I don’t mind

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

I’m writing from my dad’s living room in Falls City, Nebr. Needless to say, with the Gator Bowl victory on New Year’s Day, all is well in the Cornhusker State. I didn’t actually watch the game, as I was taking a nap, recovering from a late New Year’s Eve celebration at the Would Eye.

I’ve thought a lot about the nature of memory while I’ve been here. It’s kind of strange, but totally normal, I suppose. There are so many things that I know exist in my mind, but I don’t really know how to access them. For example, I remember my house at 1204 Dundy St., which was the primary house we lived in until I was in third grade, but it wasn’t til I drove by it that the cascade of memories began. For example, I could name every family that lived within blocks.

It’ll take brains far better equipped than mine to explain, but I’d sure like to understand where those memories exist. I mean, at their most basic, memories are things, right? They’re made of chemicals and tissue. But the brain is like 78 percent water. How are those connections maintained without accessing them occasionally? Maybe it’s all there, somewhere, all the time. It must be.

I’ve often said that it won’t be long until technology allows us to move our memories, maybe even our consciousnesses, to some kind of external drive, which may make the whole question of artificial intelligence moot. I guess it’s a race. As long as the procedure isn’t destructive, I’ll be among the first in line. I might have to think pretty hard if the process is destructive.

To push it a step further, if scientists eventually allow us to move our minds to some kind of external storage—to exist within the storage—I wonder if those memories that require a stimulating memory will be suddenly completely accessible. That would be a whole new idea of hell, wouldn’t it? All those memories that we suppress for lots of different reasons, suddenly at the forefront of our thinking, and as important as that memory of first love or a great song. —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com

People dance better with marijuana

Re “Taking their time” (News, Jan. 2):

Appalling and depressing. In 2000, the people of Nevada voted in favor of allowing medical marijuana, and it took the state legislature 13 years to get off their behinds and finally enact legislation. Now that a law is in place and a deadline is set, local officials ... do nothing? Instead, they let prejudices based on lies, fairy tales and propaganda from the 1930s cloud their judgments and invoke the name of the big, bad Feds to excuse their inaction and, in the meantime, leave millions of dollars for Nevada on the table (not to mention denying patients access to medicine that is far less harmful than the synthetic opiates that are ravaging this state).

No wonder Nevada continues to struggle economically and pathetically chase and fail to land industries that have deep roots in other regions. It’s a stubborn unwillingness to be cutting edge. Meanwhile, Western states Colorado, Washington and soon California have gone the full legalize, regulate and tax route and will reap the benefits of reducing law enforcement costs, generating tax revenue, and attracting flocks of tourists. (You know, those people who used to come to Nevada.)

The good ol’ boys who run this state need to realize that prohibition is over, and Nevada needs to get in on the ground floor of the new wave. Medical marijuana in 2014, legalize and tax in 2016. If not they will continue to beg companies like Apple to set up shop here with massive tax breaks and continue to be the lonely, desperate guy at the dance. Hopefully, they wake up now instead of scrambling to do something in 10 years when Nevadans take the short drive over the border to have some fun and spend their hard-earned cash funding California’s education and infrastructure instead of keeping the money in state. Nevada: The Decade Behind State.

Roger Emery Reno

Bruce!

Re “Unhappy advice” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Jan. 2):

Every time I read Bruce Van Dyke’s column, I think to myself I should really send him an email to tell him what a good writer he is and how interesting his “Notes From The Neon Babylon” is. So this is for Bruce: Keep writing those good words.

Robin Parker Truckee, Calif.

Our pleasure

Re “Poetry, a notion” (Feature story, Dec. 26):

I am writing, as a long time reader of poetry, to thank you for the article “Poetry, A Notion” that appeared in the Dec. 26 edition of Reno News & Review.

I was especially taken by Jake Highton’s granddaughter, Kamryn Moloney, choosing to memorize and recite Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” because “I enjoyed the words that Poe used and the story they describe.”

To me, I have never read a better description of what a poem should do.

Many thanks, again, for publishing the article.

Gary Jackson Reno

Evil cats

Re “Pet peeves” (Editorial, Jan. 2):

Huh? Keeping cats indoors to protect birds? What about to protect the cats? Coyotes, cars, dogs, catfights, and other hazards befall outdoor cats.

No way do cats kill billions of birds each year. That figure was fabricated by environmental whackos. Why don’t these same whackos slander dogs? Dog poop is a pollution problem, as is barking dogs.

Dogs sometimes kill people. Has a domestic house cat ever killed someone?

Don Maning Reno

Losing the battle

Re “Pet peeves” (Editorial, Jan. 2):

Pets? A trivial topic, don’t you think? The same old pet care advice, repeated over and over from so many media sources, year after year after year. I guess pet owners aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed, if this basic information has to be drummed into their heads so often. April Pederson Reno

The ancient art

Re “Poetry, a notion” (Feature story, Dec. 26):

Thanks so much for publishing the article on poetry by Jake Highton which brought back memories of much loved poems. Many of us care about the ancient art of poetry but see little mention of it in the current media.

Marjorie Sill Reno Editor’s note: Yeah, we did it—we started a poetry contest. Read the rules, http://media.newsreview.com/ Tearsheets/files/R/2014-01-02/0018. pdf, especially the submission guidelines, and send in your verses. We’re only accepting one entry per person, no nom de plumes, and if your poem starts, “There once was a man from Nantucket,” well, just remember— you can only submit one.

Bummer Bob

Re “Bob stay home” (Letters to the Editor, Jan. 2):

I agree with Neal, Bob Grimm is a joyless critic. Hire some new blood, guys. His reviews are alienating an increased number of your readers. When people that I know talk about his reviews, they usually convey that if Grimm hates a film, chances are they will like the film. It’s like when Grimm was a li’l tyke, someone tied him up and pelted him in the head with home recorded VHS tapes. I among many question whether or not he even likes to watch movies. He seems to have lost the purpose of film, escapism. A world doesn’t need to feel real—but it does help—in order to provide an escape from reality. And even the worst films have that. Grimm it seems has forgotten that simplicity of watching films. Please hire someone new. His time is over. Let someone who enjoys film review it for you.

Chris Vargas Reno

Appealing argument

Re “Help” (Feature story, Jan 2):

The case Dennis Myers presents for creation of an appellate court sounds quite reasonable. I always enjoy how he puts such political issues into historical context—his decades of experience as an observer of the political scene make his perspective invaluable.

Dennis mentions that over the years the Legislature has expanded the Supreme Court from 3 to 5 to 7 members, so I guess they could grow it to 9 or 12 or 15 if the voters turned down the measure on the November ballot. That would be less than ideal, but this state has outgrown the current judicial setup and something has to give.

To put things in context, I put together this list of the 10 states without an intermediate appellate court in order of population:

Nevada (pop. 2,759,000)

West Virginia (pop. 1,855,000)

Maine (pop. 1,329,000)

New Hampshire (pop. 1,321,000)

Rhode Island (pop. 1,050,000)

Montana (pop. 1,005,000)

Delaware (pop. 917,000)

South Dakota (pop. 833,000)

Vermont (pop. 626,000)

Wyoming (pop. 576,000)

Notice something? There are now almost 3 million Nevadans, but the average population of the other nine states in this judicial bush league is a little more than 1 million. So, do Wyoming or Vermont need a new court of appeals? Clearly not. But does Nevada need one? Absolutely it does. It’s time for us to move up in the world.eft out on the left coast. Rich Dunn Carson City

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ThIS Modern World by tom tomorrow

Raise the quality of discourse

As 2013 fades into the history books, and optimism about 2014 eases into putting one foot in front of the other for another year, we should probably take a look back at some of the media lessons of the year just finished.

We don’t want to crack anyone’s rose-colored glasses, but in many ways, 2013 was a nadir for journalism. An incredibly large percentage of our national conversation was devoted to things that just didn’t matter to the American democracy or culture: Miley Sirus’ twerking, Anthony Weiner’s wiener, Rob Ford’s crack—the list is almost endless. And while those of us in media and our consumers were dining on a high-fructose corn syrup-flavored buffet of empty-calorie stories, the nutrition rich stories were reported superficially and as black or white: NSA spying, the Obama administration’s attacks on whistleblowers, Congress’ dysfunction—again, can’t begin to mention them all.

Fundamentally, both sides of this issue have a single source: Commercialism of news. While many conspiracy theorists blame political bias for the failings in media, it’s market forces that drive coverage. And those forces are not going to change in 2014, particularly since it’s an election year. There’s one particular “force” that seems to be growing, and we’ll see more of it in 2014: We’ll call it the outrage-for-profit model. It’s a true reflection of how behavior in Congress affects culture.

Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty was a recent example of this with his comments in support of pedophilia and against homosexuality. However, it’s easy to recall other examples like the attacks on women last election, Megyn Kelly’s attacks on minorities, or even the way some politicians refer to members of the loyal opposition.

It’s a simple grift, and it works like this: Someone with some kind of celebrity or credentials says something outlandish about a minority group, which is intended to be controversial. The online commentariat attack—predictably and correctly—and the opposing side—also predictably and correctly—respond.

But after the heat-of-the-moment battles, look back at the results. The offensive person or politician is almost inevitably rewarded for their behavior. Those misogynistic electeds got millions for their hate campaigns in 2012. Phil Robertson’s brand is now on guns, and millions upon millions of people who had never heard of his show have received the marketing message.

The luminaries here at the RN&R haven’t come up with a solution to this quandary. Not responding to the haters allows the hate to pass as legitimate discourse, but responding heightens the profile of those who engage in the troll-baiting. One thing we can say with certainty is it can’t be fought with escalation or by fighting hateful speech with similar rhetoric.

Perhaps a simple recognition of the scam is enough to deflate it. Probably, though, the best way to discourage it is not to reward the individuals or media outlets on either side of the political spectrum who use this tactic to create controversy and increase website clicks. We can only hope that some consumers of media in 2014—ours anyway—will stop responding as though hateful speech is legitimate opinion. Ω

Your favorite 2013 movie?

Asked at the UNR student union

Robbie Campbell

Middle school teacher Wolf on Wall Street. First, because Leonardo is in it. I thought the plot was really good, and I think it was realistic about what really goes on in Wall Street and what went on in Wall Street in those days. I didn’t care for the raunchy parts.

Gina Bradley

Student Dallas Buyers Club. I liked seeing Matthew McConaughey in a different kind of role. It was quite a transformation, his getting down to 131 pounds. I also though Jered Leto was good in his role.

Bridget Walsh

Assistant professor Frozen. It was cute. I thought that the animation was really impressive. I went to see it with my friend’s kids, and I liked that, too.

Jessica Carling

Student The Hobbit, because it had Orlando Bloom and because I really liked the expansion of the story with items not originally in the book, so it was kind of like seeing a whole new story.

Robert Michael

IT technician Elysium, because it was different. From beginning to the end, it was action packed. It was just interesting from beginning to the end.