LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Burn everything!
Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff must have had some subliminal axe to grind when he turned in his review of the Coen Brothers’ movie Burn After Reading. Really Mr. Garcia-Sarnoff, lighten up. After the lugubriously brilliant No Country for Old Men, I think the boys were going for lighter fare albeit slapstick. I think the brothers knew exactly what they were doing in giving the audience a break from the mucked-up state of the US and politics in general as it’s playing out over the media. For my money, I enjoyed taking a break from the TV, radio and newspapers by watching “the talented stars” acting out to quote you, “nihilism—in its most arrogant, scornful and misanthropic manifestation.” A projection perhaps? Oh, and your observation that perhaps the Coens made the movie for the money was very astute—wink-wink.
Patricia Scalzi
Santa Fe

Hatin’ It
Why did you print the exposé on McDonald’s? You have used the 10 minutes a week that I donate to the reading of your paper to give McDonald’s an apparently free advertisement. I understand if they paid for the article, we all have to make a buck. However, if that is so, I don’t want to read your paper anymore. I do not want to support McDonald’s. In a city with so much diversity, scandal and beautiful art, could you not find something more enlightening to present. You have fallen into a category of worthless publications with this retreat from good journalism.
Warren Campbell
Arroyo Seco

Lovin’ It
The McDonald’s article was great. I saw pros and cons, and a nice balance. I admired the creativity in taking city councilors there to get their take on the food and ambiance. Not least of all, it made me hungry for a cheeseburger. However, I have a question. Why did the writer of the article refer to Vickie Zamora as “the owner’s wife” when all the Santa Fe McDonald’s have plaques stating the establishment is proudly owned by Vickie AND Andres Zamora?
J Alt Romero
Santa Fe
Editor’s Note: Vickie Zamora, in an interview, identified her husband as the franchise owner.

And More…
Geez guys…a full page color cover and a seven-page, free ad for McDonald’s…and the point of which was what? That they are now groovy and socially/environmentally responsible? That their hormone-laced beef isn’t destroying the rain forest anymore? That the distance the beef travels in sheer numbers of gallons of oil isn’t aw-shucks all that bad for us. That…wow…we can even get free green chile on our burgers? I’m sorry…I just don’t get it. They don’t even advertise. Reading your article, I felt bad for all of our Santa Fe restaurants who proudly offer organic produce and meat, locally grown by people we see every week at our community Farmers Market. I know the article should have been hip and cool and funny and cutting edge and whatever…but it left me cold and wondering on what basis you even decided to run the piece in the first place.
Nancy London
Santa Fe

No Bill Nye
I’m no scientist, but even I can see how dumb Dan Stih’s letter is. The melting ice caps (and glaciers) are not all floating in the ocean like ice cubes in a glass, Dan. Much of the stored water is in ice sitting atop land masses. And when the ice melts, the resulting water flows to the sea. Leave an ice cube on the kitchen counter and see how this simple experiment works. Gee, what a Mr. Wizard you ain’t. How are your other “facts?”
Nik Cecere
Glorieta

It’s Science!
Dan Stih’s letter absolving humans of any blame in global warming (GW) contains most of the “classic” arguments of the climate contrarians; unfortunately, none of them hold water (or even ice). Mr. Stih starts with the “Mars is warming, so it must be the sun that’s changing” argument. The problem here is that to make this argument, you must demonstrate that the energy from the sun (the “solar irradiance”) is increasing, independent of whatever might be happening on Mars (or Earth); otherwise, Mars might be getting warmer for reasons peculiar to Mars (as most space scientists believe). To date, no one has made a convincing case that there are any changes in the sun that correlate with the temperature increases on Earth or Mars. As for the other planets he mentions, the weather on them is driven primarily by their internal heat rather than sunlight.
Mr. Stih mentions the “ice cubes in a glass of water” argument that is beloved of Rush Limbaugh. Here’s an FYI: The ice that people are worrying about melting is on land (Greenland and, especially, Antarctica.) For a more proper analogy, Mr. Stih needs to build an island in his glass of water. Put the ice cubes on top of the island. NOW what happens to the water level when the cubes melt?

Mr. Stih is presumably getting his science from Mallard Fillmore (non-admirers of the strip call its author’s explanation of GW the “Evil Sun” theory) and Rush Limbaugh. My personal view is that the expertise of Limbaugh and Mallard’s Bruce Tinsley in modern atmospheric science is comparable to Sarah Palin’s expertise in modern biology.
Allen Moody
Santa Fe

Call a Senator
Thank you for publishing your Aug. 27 article [“Feel the Heat”]. There is no question that global warming is the greatest challenge of our generation. There is also no question that it is caused by humans, as over 2,500 eminent scientists have agreed (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others).
The idea that the increase of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is caused by warming of the oceans, as proposed by one of the letters to the editor recently is nonsense. The cause of global warming is the increasing level of carbon dioxide, in turn caused by our burning of fossil fuels. In the scientific community, there is no longer any serious debate about this fact.

The solution is already available: renewable energy. What we are lacking is political leadership and public arousal. Please call US Sen. Jeff Bingaman (505-988-6647) and Rep. Tom Udall (505-984-8950) and insist that we take on the challenge proposed by former Vice President Al Gore, to convert our entire energy production to non-polluting renewable energy. Such a plan will produce approximately five million new jobs, a healthier environment and help save our beautiful planet.
Robert M Bernstein, MD
Santa Fe