Corrections and letters

Corrections

In his Feb. 16 “Front Lines” story, Dave Maass stated that Assemblymember Kevin Jeffries compared Gov. Jerry Brown to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak via Twitter. Jeffries later tweeted at us that we misread his meaning; he meant to say that Brown compared Republicans to Mubarak. It is extremely easy to misread sentiments on Twitter and we apologize for the misunderstanding. In the same story, Maass reported that Toni Atkins is the co-chair of the state Assembly’s LGBT Caucus. She’s merely a member.

Also, in his “Front Lines” roundup of blog posts last week, Maass’ phrasing indicated that a 70-gallon spill of the highly toxic chemical hydrazine at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was related to the completion of a steam-generator retrofit that occurred the same day. southern California Edison says this is not the case, though it has yet to explain how the spill occurred.

Lastly, in his “Spin Cycle” column last week, John R. Lamb reported that the Republican Party of San Diego County spent $800 on cigars last May. The cigars were donated.

We’re sorry for the errors.

Peter’s ‘poisoned’ ‘pot’

I know your article titled “Super-cleanse me” [Alternative Health Issue, Jan. 19] is about cleanses, which are a good thing for anyone who is experiencing problems with bad reactions to medications and chemicals. I only object to part of the article.

I fail to see Peter Holslin’s explanation or evidence as to why he claims the “pot” was “poisoned.” Did he ever have it tested for poisons? It seems unlikely to me that some drug dealer or dispensary is out there selling poisoned weed and is still in business. Maybe this author needs to make sure his statements are true. The way he refers to “pot” seems to me to be biased and without any real knowledge of what “pot” is. He is likely allergic to “pot” or some of the chemicals used in its fertilization. I feel it is very unlikely that he smoked “poison” “pot.” I would like evidence.

Perhaps Holslin did have both types of “pot” tested. I would like to hear about this, as it would be an important and frightening issue. How many instances of “pot” “poisoning” are there every year? He makes it seem common. It’s easy to blame “pot” rather than recognize that everyone is different and has different reactions to different “medicine.” Marijuana is legally a medicine in California and an author in your publication should be stating why and how he believes this “pot” was “poisoned.” If it wasn’t poisoned he should learn about his allergies so that he can avoid similar allergic reactions and avoid making false statements.

This article seems to be directed in a small way towards scaring people away from medical marijuana. Please let me know, does he have any proof that his pot was poisoned? These people making “poison” “pot” should be arrested!

Matthew Smith, Ocean Beach

Editor’s note: Peter Holslin insists that he is not an anti-pot zealot bent on turning public opinion against the medicinal use of the stuff. No, he didn’t get the offending bag o’ weed tested, but he’s convinced that something nefarious was afoot.

Six questions

Regarding your story profiling several Tea Party Republicans [“The Front Lines,” Jan. 26]. The interviews undoubtedly weren’t all-encompassing, and there may be answers to some of the questions that occurred to me.

1. The three Tea Partiers seemingly have little in common politics-wise; why are they a party?

2. Why are they concerned now? Where were they when the country was being run into the ground?

3. Michael Schwartz’s beef is gun rights.

Nobody’s guns are being taken away. Why are those of his ilk cutting their own throats—and ours in the process—by focusing on one issue and ignoring other issues that are more detrimental?

4. Jenny Erikson said Sarah Palin represented the feminist dream of being a mother as well as a successful career woman. Palin quits when the going gets tough; aren’t there many other mothers with successful careers who don’t quit, who are more worthy as a source of inspiration; Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi for instance?

5. Of the three people interviewed, one had dropped out of politics and one was new to politics. That means they haven’t really been paying attention and likely don’t have a big-picture grasp of things, something probably not unusual with Tea Partiers. So why are they so adamant about being heard instead of listening to what others have to say?

6. B-Daddy as a Libertarian—probably wants less government, less socialism. But he did 22 years in the Navy, so he draws a military pension and benefits, and he is now a federal employee and will probably retire again and draw a second pension. Has the hypocrisy dawned on him?

Dan Jacobs, Mira Mesa

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