Letters to the editor for Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014

Farmer is wrong on Burning Man

Mr. Farmer, I have been to Burning Man 12 times. Thank you for pointing out my motivations for going are drugs and sex. I was certain it was the astonishing art installations that take days to take in. I now see the light and will forsake these in favor of Thomas Kinkade paintings of quaint cabins at sunset.

I did not realize that sex was available outside of Burning Man without a ticket, months of preparation and suffering the ordeals of the extreme environment. Your observations shall save us time and money.

You contend that rich Silicon Valley types with extravagant camps (a very small percentage of the population) expose hypocrisy. Would you prefer to see vegan hippie liberals forbid the rich from attending? Sorry, sir, all are welcome.

Burning Man grossing $25 million? That’s gross revenues — most goes back into the massive costs of putting on the event and providing millions in grants to artists. Recently, Burning Man became a nonprofit. As a staunch advocate for free enterprise, why would you object to success if it were a for-profit?

This year, Burning Man welcomed conservative titan Grover Norquist, who wrote: “I want to live 52 weeks a year in a state or city that acts like this. I want to attend a national political convention that advocates the wisdom of Burning Man,” (The Beacon). More than a week in the desert with a load of weirdos, Burning Man makes you ask why you waste so much of the other 51 weeks.

Rex Norman

Carson City

Hoping family finds closure

I am writing in regards to the human remains found near Spooner Summit. While working on a project with the Nevada Division of Forestry, I personally found the remains.

When positive identification of the remains is made, I would like to send my deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. I hope and pray the family gets some kind of closure now that their missing loved one has been found.

I truly feel I was guided by a higher power to the deceased’s remains. This discovery has affected me in so many ways. I hope and pray an identification is made very soon so the family can lay their loved one to rest.

My very deepest and sincere condolences and prayers to the deceased’s family.

Michael C. Smith

Carson City

Carson City lost a great community activist

A few months ago, the community lost a dedicated saint when James McMullen passed away. Over the years, he shared many precious thoughts, poems and letters to the editor of the Nevada Appeal.

I didn’t know him in his previous career, where he was quite prestigious I was told. I knew him from his tireless work at F.I.S.H. (Friends in Service Helping).

He quietly supervised the food bank while I provided medical care to patients in the clinic, but really he crossed seamlessly across all departments and all walks of life. He greeted everyone with dancing blue eyes and a sincere smile that spread across his cherubic face. That smile lit up my days and it never changed, no matter the workload or circumstances.

He was a small man with a big mission, and I knew he was connected to a heavenly source. We have lost his earthly light, but that smile lives on through his many kind act.

Thank you, Jim!

Carol Read-Andersen

Carson City

Divert Columbia River water to California

The drought in our western states is arguably the worst threat our country currently faces. We need to take action! A second potential catastrophe near the Hansford Nuclear Waste facility in Washington is also silently threatening us, as uncontained nuclear waste continues to seep ever closer the Columbia River. All efforts to clean it up have failed as workers continue to suffer from radiation poising.

According to published data on the Columbia River, there are 137,528,497 acre feet of water that flows to the Pacific Ocean every year. In 2010 California was estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to have a total yearly usage of 42,000 acre feet. That is less than one-third of the water that flows through the Columbia River and into the Pacific Ocean every year!

Why not divert water from the Columbia River into the California water system before it gets contaminated? California could voluntarily agree to discontinue drawing 60 percent of water from the Colorado River system. Six other states that get most of their water from that system, along with Mexico, would have enough water for the coming years. It might also allow all of the reservoirs in that system to fill, even in the absence of rain.

Get busy, engineers!

Terry Adamik

Henderson