LETTERS

Dear Las Vegas Weekly,

You might want to make note, for future reference, that "lay" is a transitive verb, requiring an object: viz., "lay down the law" (as I'm doing here). "Lie," on the other hand, is an intransitive verb meaning "to rest in a horizontal position."

So, in your review of Hitchhiker's Guide ... , "... as he lays in a bulldozer's path..." should have read, "...as he lies in a bulldozer's path ..." and "...laying drunk in a field ..." ought to have been "...lying drunk in a field ..."

I doubt there are any grammatical exceptions to this rule.

Editor's note:
Reviewer Martin Stein was reared in Canada, where English is different.

Dear Movie Critic Josh Bell,

Your review of The Upside of Anger on rottentomatoes.com, was one of the most pithy I have ever read! Thank God there are still folks who haven't given up on the radical idea that women are human beings!

Keep up the good work,

Editor's Note:
Josh Bell is famous in Canada, where he's routinely on radio station CJOB, Manitoba's Information Superstation

Dear Movie Critic Josh Bell,

You are sooooo right. I went to it and thought it horrid, particularly since I recently lost my father. I hated how she tried to turn the girls against him. And that was never addressed the impact this had on the girls. The hate she spread, also what were they living on? It is not like they lived a modest lifestyle. What was their relationship like that she would go there?

And weren't any friends or family concerned? Coworkers? We saw Robots after. A much better film.

To the Editor:

The high price of gasoline has no quick fix. The costs will only go up. Most experts agree that peak oil production will happen by 2008 and maybe by next year. The rising demand will exceed the supply. Drilling and refineries will not overcome the demand. Even building nuclear electric plants to help would require 1,200 new facilities. Not only will high prices damage our economy but another cost will be the terrible wars to be fought for the precious resource. We have already burned up 100,000 Iraqis in our gas tanks, but the next time we will not have to lie about it. The warring countries really will have weapons of mass destruction.

Another cost of our cheap oil economy is the effect of global warming on our environment. If 2,000 scientists say global warming is happening, that is balance. If Exxon-Mobil spends $8 million to say otherwise, that's propaganda. The only question is the extent of the damage that will be done. If humans are to function above the level of dinosaurs, we need to put aside politics, greed, and denial. Conservation and alternative fuels are our only hope. Even then it will be difficult, as we have built an oil-squandering society that has destroyed communities and made us dependent upon the automobile. Yet, without immediate action, the 21st century could become a Dark Age for our children.

Dear Las Vegas Weekly,

Add me to that list of 50-year-olds!

Although columnist Sonja's unsuccessful encounters make for interesting reading, she should try eharmony.com and stop waiting for lightning to strike.

Then we could read about the exhilaration of a new, successful relationship.

To the Editor,

Situations like the suspension of the five Henderson city employees make one continue to wonder about the auditing, overspending and budgeting process of the whole political state government. The Las Vegas and Henderson buddy-cronyism system with our antiquated, one-horse-town political power has again reared its ugly head, this time with the excessive closeness of the management/employee relationships combined with no formal audits whatsoever!

The time is overdue, after eight years of the Henderson mayor's inactivity and mistaken trust and priorities, for people to see responsibility and accountability to oversee the 22 credit cards that employees violate with over $7 million charges (per) year and about 30,000 total transactions! This misuse has been ongoing without proper supervision for years and is no surprise to the average taxpayer when the city's mayor is busy with special interests, big business, lobbyists, and not with truly important matters, which are his ultimate responsibility. No wonder he said it "wasn't needed!"

Mr. Gibson only communicates with the Henderson families when absolutely necessary or when he wants/needs something, such as the past election when he finally had some competition. This situation supplements the citizens' feelings of the complete lack of stewardship of their hard-earned money. Mayoral challenger Laurie Robinson said she would hold city officials and staff accountable for their actions and have the courage to carefully and cautiously oversee the continually overbudgeted projects and improvements and not cater to special groups. In retrospect, did we re-elect the wrong person?

Mr. Gibson's mayoral philosophy of basic inaction will continue to bite hard. Henderson and government need to do the job of any reputable agency—communicate rather than send insincere notes/letters that bear no relation to their inner actions, feelings and future plans. They just want to keep their political positions intact.

Sincerely,

Dear Editor:

Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada (PPSN) opposes H. R. 748, the so-called "CIANA," or Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. CIANA would prevent nonparent family members like grandparents, aunts, and siblings from helping teenage family members secure abortion services in a non-home state unless the teen has fulfilled the parental notification/consent laws in her home state. The bill also targets doctors, requiring them to notify a teen's parents 24 hours before an abortion if she is a resident of a different state.

Unfortunately, the House of Representatives passed the act—which jeopardizes teens across the nation. PPSN is disappointed in Rep. Jim Gibbons and Rep. Jon Porter for voting in support of this bill. We thank Rep. Shelley Berkley for voting against this legislation.

Congress should support our efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies, expand family planning education, invest in medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education and invest in the youth of America. All of these efforts will reduce the number of abortions performed each year.

Sari Wisch

PPSN Public Affairs Coordinator