A crazy hard pill

Hats off to the Bohemian and Steve Bhaerman for the June 14 story "Unquestioned Answers." For months, I'd been living under the spell of Dr. Griffin's books The New Pearl Harbor and The 9/11 Commission's Report: Omissions and Distortions, wondering which local news source would have the chutzpah to grapple with the books' profoundly disturbing questions about the 9-11 attacks. Evidence suggests strongly that the U.S. government was complicit in, if not responsible for, the attacks of 9-11. That's a crazy hard pill for this American to swallow. But the evidence, as Griffin suggests, demands that we consider the unthinkable. Bhaerman did his homework about this remarkable professor, then presented a bombshell with sensitivity and tact.

Matthew Gollub, Santa Rosa

Inconvenient truths

Thank you for having the courage to print this excellent article on David Ray Griffin's perspective of the events of 9-11.

I believe that one of the most effective maneuvers of those currently in power has been their creation of a cognitive repository into which they can deposit inconvenient truths that threaten their control over us. "Conspiracy theory" is the trash can into which they have trained the American public to place these unspeakable truths. Steve Bhaerman and David Ray Griffin should be recognized as national heroes for the work they are doing to uncover the lies and deceptions that are being used to manipulate the American public.

Thom Speidel, Tonasket, Wash.

Hijacking the ship of state

Mr. Bhaerman is to be commended for amplifying one of the most rational voices in the community of those who understand how crucial it is that we at least get an unbiased investigation of the 9-11 atrocity. Anyone who suspects that everything that has changed in the name of 9-11 was already in the pipeline waiting for the event to happen should take the next step and read Dr. Griffin's books. His hyper-rational, low-key approach brings clarity to a mental and emotional roller coaster ride, but it is one that must be made to understand how our system of government has been perverted into an oligarchy of emotionless corporate creatures.

Unlike Dr. Griffin, I don't believe a bigger, more pervasive world government is the solution. The Constitution worked just fine until the problem of secession was used as an excuse to create an all-powerful central government at the expense of the states as the founders had intended. They well knew that power concentrated in a single capital would make it much easier to subvert with bribery and influence, and so it has been shown to be so.

This isn't conspiracy; it's ideology trumping all notions of what America is all about. Our ship of state has been hijacked, and we are the only power that can reclaim it.

Philip Toler, Austin, Texas

Pondering the truffle

Upon reading Sara Bir's "Food Police Meet the Word Police" (June 21), I wanted to further back up her stance on mass-market chocolate.

I agree that large retailers and the like have a quality of chocolate that is far inferior to artisan makers. As someone who has tried many, many different bars, truffles and filled chocolates in my time, I can say that with Target (and others), it seems to be a case of quantity over quality.

In Sonoma and Napa Counties, there are two chocolate shops that are far and away some of the best in existence: La Dolce V in Sebastopol and Woodhouse Chocolates in St. Helena.

Both use farm-fresh cream and have a variety of fillings and flavors that are quite amazing. Of course, the high quality and ingredients of these items makes them very perishable. When one sees truffles in stores that are not stored as perishables, they probably don't contain fresh ingredients and therefore, are probably not artisan.

In the end, for me it really comes down to quality over quantity; a little bit of something of superior quality over a lot of something of a lesser quality. Of course, "quality" is subjective and in the end always depends upon how something tastes.

Eric Zouzounis, Sonoma

Dept. of corrections

Contrary to lofty theatrical myth and the assertion in a recent story ("Song and Spice," June 21), actor Fred Curchack has never (yet) been naked onstage.

Furthermore, EduTrack innovator Andrés Edward ("Mainstream Green," June 21) confirms that his book The Sustainability Revolution has indeed been a decent seller. However, it sold 5,000 copies in its first year, not 6,000 copies in its first month, as gaily gabbed about here.

And finally, about a million years ago we misidentified which magisterial role the actor Barry Kraft performs in the Marin Theater Company's summer Shakespeare series. Mr. Kraft comes to us from Ashland to portray King Lear, not that gent from the Scottish play.

As you might imagine, we regret each error with a terribly measured weight.

The Ed., Dividing the Kingdom

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