Category: Letter

Regarding “SARS Wars” [May]: One possible factor which I have never heard mentioned concerning SARS is the complaint that I’ve read of people in China spitting on the street. Riding the Edge, by Dave Barr, talks about the sidewalks of Beijing being covered with people’s spit. The author spent the winter there. He said that it was hard to not step in it. And shortly before the SARS epidemic, there was an article in the paper about the Beijing government cracking down on people who spit in the street because they feared that it would not look good for the upcoming Olympics. Might this habit have contributed to the spread of SARS? And maybe explain why it has not been so prevalent elsewhere in the world?
Ross G. Kiihn, St. Paul

We pedaled our singlespeed bikes for three days, roughly 50 kilometers each day, from the Thai-Cambodian border. We were traveling on National Highway 6. Some highway; it’s like a bloody Cal-Trans orgy, only they forgot the asphalt and somebody stole a fleet of Toyota Camrys which cannot be driven slower than 95 mph, kicking up cyclones of pure, demonic, red dust that gets so far down the crack of my biking shorts I think I’m working for Mr. Slate. But it’s a dandy way to see the country. Every Cambodian school kid knows the words “hay-lo” and “bye-bye” but not always in that order. Sometimes they throw a curve ball, and ask, “Where you go?” Well, to paraphrase Picasso, if you know exactly where you’re going, what’s the point? The smiles are endless and genuine, and a great juxtaposition to the endless dust—or if the roads are “paved” then potholes that, if the world were a just place, would be swallowing those damn Camrys. I’m not kidding. Nearly every car is a Toyota Camry, driven by madmen at top speed. They don’t slow down, but their horns work. The pigs don’t seem to mind, and I don’t mean the cops. See, the pigs are being held against their will, upside down, usually three abreast in makeshift cages that look like they were rigged from snow fencing. These “cages” are strapped to the back of moto-bikes, and sometimes rip past us in squadrons of three, for a total of nine pigs. In the morning, we stopped for Coca-Colas and Marlboro (oh, yeah—this is Marlboro country) and I positioned myself so that the local police station sign was in the foreground as these swine merchants rode past. It was pure delight. Well, I laughed anyway.

As I write this, we’re enjoying 75-cent Angkor beer, (in cans, no less, with old fashioned pull-tabs! Can you imagine?) at an air-conditioned Internet brothel. On the way into Siem Reap, we rode with some young Cambodian kids who spoke excellent English. They ride about 10K to school each day, and I gave one of them my last copy of Bike magazine. He was geeked, and then they invited us to their home for coconut water. The kid just shimmied up the tree about 25 feet above the ground, knocked a few ’nuts down, and we had refreshing coconut water, through a straw naturally, as all drinks in these parts are served. We met his whole family, and got to ride through some true backroad Cambodian villages.

Now it’s four days later. We made it from Phnom Penh (and completed our trek across Cambodia) to Saigon. We crossed the Cambodian-Vietnamese border at Bavat/Moc Bai with no problems. Cambodia: What an incredible adventure. Just too bizarre, and yet extremely beautiful, and poignant in its own way. Very desolate, very poor, yet the people so proud, so genuine and friendly. They comport themselves with such grace. Truly humbling, and somehow, sandwiched between the gritty fast-paced world of Thailand, and then the barren landscape gives way to the lush, green irrigation of Vietnam.

At the border, we were immediately thankful for the paved, mostly smooth roads. Aside from that, the mad 71K dash into Saigon was nothing short of a mindblower, traffic coming at us from all directions, in every conceivable and unbelievable vessel. The usual Camry brigade firing past at Mach 666 speeds. Yesterday, we regaled in joy at a broken down Camry on the side of the road. I swerved into the other lane to take a photo, which Mac thought a bit “in-your-face,” as the poor chap had his hood up and was cranking an obvious beat-down starter. Screw ’em. As just one of the legions of Camrys who terrorized us for the past 17 days, I have no sympathy.

The heat continues to beat down on us. We’re riding most mornings by 6:30 a.m. My face is a beautiful shade of crimson, even with the SPF 50 I’ve been lathering on. The exhaust fumes are black clouds of distortion that you could chew on. We feebly defend our lungs with bandanas pulled over our faces like some modern-day Jesse James. As we neared Saigon, the traffic just increased and it was a full-on assault to stay focused and upright, fighting through the maddening throngs of silk-suited school girls, tuk-tuk taxis, moto drivers, and cyclos hauling sheets of stainless steel, or maybe a woman would roll past with a 12-foot piece of PVC tubing casually draped over her shoulder, held at a deathly-close-to-our-heads angle. Pick a lane, any lane, just don’t make any sudden moves and you’re golden.—Hurl Everstone

Isn’t it ironic that President Bush can invade Iraq without definitive proof it possesses weapons of mass destruction, but refuses to accept global warming [“Feeling Minnesota, Looking Nebraska,” April] because, he says, there isn’t definitive proof it exists, despite overwhelming scientific opinion that it is indeed occurring? If Halliburton, Inc., saw there was money to be made in global warming, Bush would likely believe in it.

Doug Seitz, Stillwater

Wm.™ Steven Humphrey’s article extolling the virtues of TiVo floored me [“Jennifer Garner’s Underpants,” April]. I’ve not laughed so hard since my TiVo started recording “Big Joe’s Polka Party” for me just on the off chance I wanted it. I, er, applaud Mr. Humphrey for his sense of humor!
Matt Drury, Orlando, FL

After reading Wm. Steven Humphrey, I find it strange that you published in a Twin Cities magazine an article by a columnist based in Portland who is writing about his Portland cable system. Not all cable systems are alike! If Mr. Humphrey lived in Minneapolis and had Time Warner Cable he would find a service called DVR, a cable box that has a TiVo-type device built in which enables the viewer to tape two programs while watching another without the need for videotape.
Jerry Blizen, Minneapolis

To point out hypocrisy is often to belittle or ignore the larger argument. Colleen Kruse points out that her friend, Megan the Vegan Pagan, eats only organic food in an effort to be healthier, yet she smokes [Motley Krüse, April]. A clear hypocrisy, even if they are American Spirits. President Bush promotes the building of hydrogen-powered cars, yet in the same week offers a big tax break to businesses that buy SUVs and pickups. Hypocrisy? Yes. It doesn’t follow, however, that organic is pointless or that hydrogen-powered cars are bad. The Environmental Protection Agency, surely the president’s most beloved organization, just released stricter guidelines for evaluating the risks of certain chemicals used in pesticides, having discovered the greater likelihood that children will get cancer from exposure to pesticides than adults. To explain all the reasons why it is better to avoid pesticides would be just as trite as the incongruity Kruse points out in her stereotypical depiction of someone who buys organic foods. Colleen Kruse and her ill-used friend can keep their cancer, and I will keep a wary eye on hypocrisy.
Steffan Hruby, Minneapolis

You bet, the Twin Cities area had a great transit system before Green and Ossanna got in and wrecked the streetcar empire in less than three years time, 1951–1954 [“Get Rail!,” March]. Twin City Lines did have buses to augment the streetcars and a fair amount of private right of way. The vast majority of the train cars were built right here in the Twin Cities. They were high-speed machines, capable of 50 mph. The TCL home-built tanks were comfortable and efficient. One TCL “standard car” could hold a “crush crowd” of 150 bodies. A bus can only do about half that many. Electric traction has quicker acceleration than the noisy, two-speed “slushbox” transmissions on most buses. Electric traction vehicles can be coupled into multiple unit trains. The Twin City area needs many more LRT lines, and commuter rail too. Rip out the “insane lane” of I-394, and put in LRT all the way from Long Lake to Hudson, Wisconsin. Minnesota needs to get into the 21st century.
John Kennedy, St. Paul

In the most recent issue of The Rake [April], there is an article entitled “Smashing, Glass” in which reference is made to “NPR’s ‘This American Life.’” This is incorrect. National Public Radio (NPR) has nothing to do with either the production or distribution of this very popular program. “This American Life” is produced by WBEZ/Chicago Public Radio and distributed to public radio stations nationwide by Public Radio International (PRI), located right here in Minneapolis. Public Radio International and National Public Radio are the two major distribution services for public radio. Individual public radio stations can be affiliates of both PRI and NPR, selecting programming offered by each. Public radio is a generic term, while Public Radio International and National Public Radio refer to specific distributors.
Linda Sue Anderson, PRI Executive Assistant, Minneapolis

When a publication goes national and even international, steps have to be taken to make sure that local writers are not confused with national and international figures. The March edition presents an article entitled “Taters” [Down the Hatch]. The author is Stephanie March. The failure by your editors to include a brief note on the author Stephanie March, indicating she is not Stephanie March, the lead actress in Law and Order SVU, is an oversight that should be corrected. Many fans of Stephanie March the actress know that she has an interest in food, so an article about potatoes with Stephanie March’s byline unreasonably suggests that the actress wrote the article. This misconception is reinforced by Google searches which list Stephanie March, the author of “Taters,” in the same results as for Stephanie March, the actress. The only upside is that many of Ms. March’s (the actress) fans read the article by Ms. March (the food writer) and quite enjoyed it. However, given the national and international popularity of Stephanie March the actress, posting a clarification would be considerate to both Stephanie March’s fans and a sign that this is a professional publication.
Malcolm J. Scully, Quebec

In reading Mr. Singer’s letter [Letters, April], I couldn’t help but notice the absence of any mention on his part of the fossil fuel emissions/greenhouse gases that would be produced by the increased demand for electricity from the existing infrastructure—as to whether or not the air quality of the city would be improved by mass-transit’s conversion to electricity. This seems to me to be contingent on where the power plants are located and what fuel is being used. But something tells me that Newton’s First Law of Thermodynamics might be of use in this discussion.
Robert Carter, Eagan