Letters to the Editor

NIMBY quibbles:With respect to Matt Smith's most interesting article, "Greening the Left" [Feb. 15]: He is correct of course about the foolishness of "Not in My Back Yard" (NIMBY). I am not convinced however about the explanation for the demographic situation correctly identified as the critical problem with the left, though it does probably make their situation a bit worse.

I also do not think that NIMBY is a big factor in other cities. It does not explain Ohio or Illinois or Michigan or most other places where cities are losing population. Modern suburbs in general did not come into being because of NIMBY.

In the case of San Francisco, the great exodus of families, in the 1960s and early 1970s, predated NIMBY. If this exodus must be blamed on something political, it was school busing that gave them the most forceful boot. I have some old SFUSD enrollment data that makes that point pretty well.

There are also other factors such as differences in birth rates, which greatly favor conservatives.

As for the educational split, the way I understand it, it is the Republicans that actually got most of the college-educated vote. The Democrats got majorities of the less educated and of the postgraduate vote, such as it is.

As for the qualities that cities impart on their populations, I suppose this must remain a matter of opinion. Personally, I think the only difference is in which specific prejudices are fostered. City minds are no broader, it's just that the constrictions are in different places.

Luis Alegria
Twin Peaks

Officially? Do we get a membership card?: You are incredibly stupid and lame ["Department of What the Fuck?," Music, Feb. 8]. You know nothing of black metal and what it's about, so stop running your mouth! Venom has even said that they know they aren't great but if it wasn't for them, there would be no metal or probably even thrash metal! But I'm sure you don't care about those genres of music because you probably sit around listening to Slipknot all day. Congratulations. You are officially an asshat and one of the biggest dumb-asses on the planet.

Amy [last name withheld]
San Diego

Tuning in:I discovered Current TV a few months ago ["Is Anybody Watching?," News, Feb. 8] and have become a great fan. What can those of us who like Current do to help convince cable providers to include it in their lower-priced packages? It would be a shame for innovative programming like Current's to go unnoticed because of a corporate grudge.

Margaux Sanchez
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tuning out:Current is awful. My cable company added it when they changed their lineup, and I told them to drop it. I don't see why it should be on the basic cable package when basic doesn't include many channels people would enjoy before this tripe.

Anonymous
Via the Internet

In last week's cover story, "Greening the Left," the names of Molly Moon Neitzel, Leighton Woodhouse, and Sam Dorman were misspelled.

In the Stage review two weeks ago, "Devise and Conquer," Jyana S. Gregory was incorrectly identified, due to an editing error, as the director of Symphony of Frogs. The play was conceived by Yuval Boim and Denmo Ibrahim, but has no director.

SF Weekly regrets the errors.