Moving to Japan

Peter Byrne's completely rational column "No Right to Bear Arms" (The Byrne Report, April 25) is one that any person with an ounce of common sense would agree with. Of course the gun lovers arguments are fallacious. Of course arming our citizenry to the teeth would be insane. But I learned long ago that not being realistic is the first mistake. As much as we don't like to admit it, America is a country that loves guns and loves violence. No matter the IRA or Chief Justice Warren Burger or the Virginia Tech shootings or thousands of firearm deaths annually. If the American people believed that firearm control was important, it would have happened 50 years ago or 20 years ago or even five years ago. It has not and it will not--at least not in the foreseeable future. I have no suggestions. Move to Japan, perhaps?

John Kitchen, Kailua-Kona

Moz explained

Finally, someone has painted a proper perspective on Morrissey and his now past visit to Santa Rosa ("Moz Deft," April 25). Of all the reviews, articles and blogs related to the current tour, David [Sason] is the first writer to show the ability to describe the Morrissey phenomenon and relevance in a fashion even nonfans can relate to. Nice article!

Machine Machine, Sacramento

Corporate stranglehold

Perhaps the most striking moment in this piece about dress code ("Fashion Friction," May 2) is Dave Palagi's assertion that "We're instilling in our kids that when you go into the corporate world, you have to dress appropriately, and school isn't any different." Indeed, let's limit their personal expression early on so that they are properly prepared for the industrial-strength oppression that awaits them in the "real" world where it is the corporate way or the highway if they want to maintain their livelihood. Stifling the expression of our youth is yet another sign of our once free land caving in to those who would control us.

Our country has maintained its strength because of the outside-the-box thinking fostered by the freedom of expression we have enjoyed here. As our environment and media landscape continue to evolve into a tapestry of logos, and the generation coming up supplies more conformists than mavericks, what is to become of us? Are we to become chattel that feed the Machine? Will we resist the national "Real ID Card" coming next year? Or do we toe the line quietly to maintain our false sense of security?

Malcolm Clark, Occidental

Yummy, yummy meat

What an ironic twist! On the very day that a militant vegan couple in Atlanta were convicted for starving their six-month-old baby to death with a wacko vegan diet, a letter appears in the Bohemian from yet another radical vegan ("Vegan's View," Letters, May 2), this time in Santa Rosa. (They're everywhere! They're everywhere!)

Hope Bohanec's confrontational screed almost put me off lunch: my once-a-month In-N-Out Big "O" Burger (three meat patties, two slices of melted cheese, animal-style--yum!). But thank goodness the churlishness of her letter wore off before dinner time. I wouldn't want to have missed my wife's excellent roast chicken.

Gary Dobuzynski, Petaluma

Love up

What a wonderful story ("Cottage Industry," May 2). Alix McAuley's designs are fabulous, as are her significant touches--right down to her personal wrapping on her packages.

Patricia Peabody, Fairfield, Conn.

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