.Letters for August 13

Readers sound off on anarchists, theater reviews, and, uh, shit.

“Military of Ideas,” Your Words Here, 7/16

Anar-cheeeee!

What an intelligent and mature example Greg Kim displayed for his young child in engaging with LaRouche supporters in a radical lefty dick-measuring contest. If Kim was so nonplussed by the activists’ use of aggressive and condescending attitudes, why did he think he would accomplish anything with an equally aggressive, self-important confrontation? So he acted like a jerk in front of his family and boosted his little ego by owning some teenaged trustafarian. Anar-cheeeee. I’m inclined to agree with the “ATM lady” in Kim’s little boast: Fuck them both.

Erika Larson, Oakland

“Kill Your Plumbing,” Feature, 7/16

Knock Mr. Crapper Off His High Chair

In this time of decentralization, how come we have a big, superhighway of shit under every street? Right next to the fresh water pipes and cable TV. In post-industrial America, when we have closed down shoe factories, plants for making steel and iron, and even lots of our airplanes get built in France, do we need the biggest factory in every town to turn out processed poop, just to remind us that the US was once the industrial giant of the world?

It is time to move beyond centralized, industrial-sized solutions. We have cell phones, not central switchboards; we have laptops, not IBM 360s; we have iPods, not radio stations. Life in the US is small and spread out, like the suburbs, and our shit needs to be spread out too. Yes, kill your plumbing but don’t stop with the gray stuff. We need to knock Mr. Crapper off his high seat and rethink his century-old toilet invention.

We need a new way to deal with all this shit. Not pipes coming out of the house. We want to just pull the handle and BAM: everything gets processed, clean water flows out to the tomatoes and a pile of clean, sweet-smelling, org-dirt comes out ready for the garden. OK you said to compost. But who wants to wait a long, smelly year to make backyard brownies from the processed poop. And turning it with the shovel is worse than following your dog without plastic baggies.

We have a prize to send someone up to outer space. That encourages rocket development. I say let’s develop the solar poopster. Offer a new prize, a million bucks, to you, Mr. or Ms. hot-shot inventor, to think about poop for a few minutes and design us a poopster. That’s what I call the invention now, but remember, it will be named after you when you succeed. Mr. Crapper’s big days are over. When you win, you will be remembered once or twice a day by everyone on earth (if you have good marketing).

Charles Kerns, Alameda

“Suffering Shakespeare,” Theater, 7/16

Critique, Don’t Attack

Had I picked up your review of The Merry Wives of Windsor earlier I would have spent my Friday night quite differently. As it stands I am happy that I waited to open my copy of the East Bay Express, otherwise I would have missed out on a hilarious and clever staging of one of the Bard’s lesser loved plays.

Beyond the actors’ performance, Merry Wives’ two-man band and the array of extravagant costumes alone made the show worth seeing for me. The costumer for this show deserves a lot more praise than I have yet to see him or her get, with everything from fleur-de-lis shorts for the stereotyped Dr. Caius to clown couture for the two titular wives.

Having said that, I shall openly admit that I felt that the play still felt somewhat rough and unfinished as I was watching it. But I believe that the actors’ performances and the artistic direction merited a good review. The group that I went with to see Merry Wives greatly enjoyed the director’s use of clowning throughout the play. The physical comedy and slapstick humor helped to translate the play’s language to a modern audience, and certainly not did not have the negative effect of mangling the words. By the time that I saw the play the intermission had already been moved up a few scenes, which may have made a small contribution to my greater enjoyment of the play. Even so, the play still flowed very well and no member of my viewing audience left before applauding at the end of the show.

While writing this letter I started to ask myself what I was hoping to receive by writing it. A retraction of your criticisms? Certainly not, for while I did feel as though they were somewhat rudely phrased I did agree with some of your critiques and I doubt that you might change them. I believe then that what I am hoping for (and what prompted me to write this letter) is that you will be more gentle in writing future reviews. There is a difference between critiquing and attacking the performers, and after reading your review I strongly believe that you crossed a line of civility. I don’t know if any of the cast members of Merry Wives have written to you with this sentiment in mind, but if they do I feel like some of them would be deserving of a small apology.

Hannah Hodel, San Francisco

More Letters Online

Our July 2 Full Disclosure column “The Water Wars,” misidentified one of the two AC Transit board members who voted to purchase nineteen new Van Hool buses. It was Jeff Davis, not Rocky Fernandez. The latter board member voted against the proposed bus buy.

Miscellaneous Letters

There but for the grace of the universe …

Today in the US, millions of people suffer from homelessness and poverty, often due to circumstances beyond their control. It is easy for affluent people to say homelessness is a choice. However, who in their right mind would choose to be without a roof over their head? Homelessness and poverty aren’t comfortable and easy situations to deal with — it is no “easy way out.” It’s just too simple and convenient for upper-middle-class and wealthy people to blame the victims of homelessness for their lot. 

If the wealthy were forced to acknowledge that people are destitute through no fault of their own, it could put them in a position of guilt, acknowledgment that they are very fortunate, a feeling of responsibility toward their fellow human, and their perception of entitlement (that helped them get rich) being put in jeopardy. 

Homeless, poor, and mentally ill people have a bad rap among the mainstream people in the US partly because of how they are perceived in person, and partly due to the influence of people’s collective condemnation. In recent history, people who were not of the white race were similarly identified “bad” because that was the common belief among whites. (Not to say that this racism doesn’t still exist.)

People commonly believe that the homeless are “creeps” or “antisocial” or “psychotic people.” When you see them, they are sometimes unwashed, unshaven, dressed in rags, and carrying their belongings with them. It is easy for more fortunate people to perceive them as some kind of monster. However, this non-groomed and leathery exterior is caused by lack of access to basic amenities.

When a desperate person comes up to you asking for some spare change, maybe you should give a couple dollars, or the change in your pocket, to that person. It’s a judgment call that you have to make. Each situation is unique and calls for its own response. 

For example, if you are at an ATM and someone approaches you, it could be a dangerous situation in which the police should be called, or in which you must find a way to defend yourself. While using a parking machine I was recently approached by a man who offered help in figuring out how to use the device. It was at night, and the man seemed to come out of nowhere. While his offer for help may have been genuine, I decided to say angrily and very loudly, “I do not need your help, sir.” The man backed off. 

Years ago, I was repeatedly harassed on the same street by the same man who was twice my size. He would act threatening toward me and sometimes demand money. Finally, I had enough and I stood up to him. After that, I never saw the man again. 

Over the past ten years, teenagers have approached me asking for cigarettes numerous times. In some instances they try to look older. If I even suspect that someone is underage who asks for a smoke, I don’t give it to that person. At the same time, I don’t attempt to give this person an unwelcome “sermon.” I simply, politely refuse. Usually the response from these teenagers is they would make a smart-alecky remark and walk away. I don’t have to respond to these remarks. It is against the law to give tobacco to minors. 

In the past ten years, many desperate people have asked me for some spare change. I try to help whenever I can, if it is a non-threatening situation. There but for the grace of the universe go I. 

Jack Bragen, Martinez

Time to Advertise Those Tankless Hot-Water Heaters

The current natural gas prices and the proposed extraordinary electric prices proposed by Pigs, Guts, & Entrails leads me to the following thoughts.

Instant-on water heaters have been on the market for many years but are very pricey due to the lack of market penetration. They would produce the following results for the home/apartment dweller. Placing the heater ahead of the Y leading to the tub and lavatory would cut [by my measure] 2.4 gallons from water consumption on each heated water demand. That is what goes in my bucket each time I start up either spigot (the roses get the five-gallon bucket). Best calculation on ¾” pipe would be about two to three pints with the instant system thus placed.

Water savings is probably the small factor. The heat loss warming up fifteen to twenty feet of pipe each usage becomes a major gas/electric cost dependent on your water heater source of power. For instance if the water heater is gas and the instant electric is installed, the cost could be optimized by setting the instant thermostat higher than the water heater when electricity is cheaper. The water heater could be set to a minimum setting. When the reverse is true on energy cost, the water heater set higher than the instant thermostat would shut down the instant on warming the lines.

Ease of access to the thermostats and tables of energy cost to temperature settings would guide the user. Cost-effectiveness curves are easily charted. A combination of water system and power company integrated programs are envisioned but with hindsight highly improbable. Both of these management systems shout savings while enforcing profligacy.

Some visionary in the instant-on market will finally grab the ring and make the thing go. I am surprised they haven’t yet got the bull… by the horns and run with this. How about hitting some instant-on folks with an advertising program?? That’s a challenge you can handle.

Robert B. Wister, Hayward

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