SF Weekly Letters

Readers Can't Drop a "Bomb"
Cop to the truth: Peter Jamison's article detailing the excesses of the Weather Underground in the 1970s ["Time Bomb," Feature, 9/16] offers a single paragraph of historical context. The FBI's COINTELPRO program, Jamison allows, conducted wiretaps and illegal searches. What, he fails to wonder, could have inspired "the phantasmagoria of Vietnam-era radicalism"? Not COINTELPRO; we didn't learn about that till later. To answer in one word: napalm. In two: "strategic hamlets" (forced relocation of villagers).

"The Vietnam era was a dangerous time for cops," Jamison intones, not asking why, not evoking battalions of police behind shields beating and macing unarmed demonstrators by the hundreds, or the National Guard shooting and killing students at Jackson State and Kent State. Antiwar activists didn't imagine we were in a war with law enforcement. We were in one, and they started it.

Joan Holden

San Francisco

No justice: I was surprised to see Peter Jamison's article on the Weather Underground's potential involvement in the Park Police Station bombing. Thanks to SF Weekly for having the journalistic integrity to not whitewash this part of America's history and the violent role the radical left played during this period.

I found the article to be balanced, well-researched, and, ultimately, disappointing — as Jamison indicated, Bernardine Dohrn and the Weather Underground seem unlikely to be found legally liable for this crime. I am one who, if they are guilty, would certainly want them held accountable.

Tom Regis

Los Angeles

Just Say Noe to NIMBYS
Maybe you should Google "hypocrisy": I invite any Noe Valley folks to spend one week living in SOMA ["Dispute Pattern," Erin Sherbert, Sucka Free City, 9/2]. Come take a nice long break from your sunny ivory tower and step over human feces and used needles like the rest of us. More accountability? You can't possibly mean providing effective means of mass transit that the entire state of California and the city of San Francisco can't seem to accomplish, because that sounds like taking an issue by the family jewels to me.

Does it even dawn on any of you that, without Google and similar companies providing jobs, your cute, artsy, and eclectic neighborhood wouldn't exist in the first place? There are few high-paying creative jobs, and many of those jobs in the city are the brainchild of former Google and Yahoo (among others) employees. If you're so "concerned" about the environment, then go volunteer and get off your ass.

More respectfully: These companies are local. Make a meeting and talk to them in person, instead of waving a pitchfork in the air expecting everyone to accommodate your lifestyle.

Nothinglefttowhineabout

Web Comment

Snitch Blog Comments of the Week
In response to news that a popular sex club had reopened: Thank God the Power Exchange is back! This is the safe space for those who embrace an alternative view of sexuality. It is not a place where junkies inject their veins with drugs, or a space for mumbling offensive homeless people reeking of their own odor. The Power Exchange, like its sister club in Las Vegas, is a well-organized and beautifully run facility that embraces the human experience. Comparatively, it is an upscale business.

How ironic that residents of the Tenderloin are attempting to deride this establishment, yet remain silent in regards to the dangerous and irresponsible activities of their own neighbors. I, for one, welcome the bridge-and-tunnel crowd with open arms, as well as the San Francisco community, visitors from other states, and indeed the world to enjoy themselves in one of the most iconic, yet responsible, clubs in the world. Welcome home, Power Exchange. God, I've missed you!

Chrissfo1

In response to a blog post about SF State's carnivorous plants: My fellow liberals are often the worst culprits when it comes to supporting (or ignoring) animal cruelty. While I don't see the point of people bringing insects to feed the fly traps (usually these plants attract their own insects), I do recognize, as an ethical vegan, that a plant's gotta eat.

Veghead