Tasty Picnic
A light touch by Dan Platt was the Right touch on the GOP picnic (“Grand Old Picnic,” Aug. 11). Dan earned his free sundae.
Charles V. Ryan
Via email
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Dan Platt’s piece on the Western Mass. Republican picnic was an excellent article; full of local flavor and thoughtful insights; and enjoyable to boot!
Dr. James Quinn
Via web comment
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Dribble Trouble
I was shocked to read Mark Roessler’s bashing of restaurants serving their beverages out of mason jars! As a manager of one such restaurant, I have firsthand experience with this “hip, post-modern fashion statement,” and I can assure you that it is no such thing. We have been serving drinks out of mason jars years, and I have never heard any response from customers other than positive ones.
Mason jars are durable, aesthetically pleasing and most of all cheap! Having a sturdy, inexpensive glass allows us to keep costs down, which is good for us and good for our customers. Personally, I never have trouble drinking my tea or beer out of one. Perhaps Mr. Roessler isn’t quite as experienced a drinker as he thinks he is!
Josh Breitner
Manager, Mango Mango
Amherst
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Unearned Vacation Time
Regarding the recent column by Markos Moulitsas on the debt ceiling crisis (“A Win-Win for the GOP,” Aug. 11): Americans can no longer recognize what leadership is and we have a president who doesn’t provide any. President Obama better start leading very quickly or he will ultimately lead the Democratic Party out of the Oval Office.
I was born in 1960 and I cannot remember a time in my life when things were this bad. We are on the verge of economic collapse and the Congress, Senate and President of the U.S. are all taking a vacation. How wonderful. I hope they enjoy their time off.
I also hope the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are enjoying their time away from their families. Our elected officials should be ashamed of themselves.
Brian Rheault
Via web comment
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All Hail Rebirth!
In re Matt Dube’s recent Behind the Beat about local band Rebirth (“Born Again,” Aug. 18): Rebirth totally rocks! I was at the August 6th performance at Bishop’s Lounge and it was a phenomenal show. I felt like the music was just washing over me. Beautiful! The diversity of the crowd and the audience’s enthusiam was great to see. The energy was thick!!! I truly felt blessed to be at that show.
Amaris Moss
Via web
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Who Snapped That Shot?
The photo of June Millington and Ann Hackler on last week’s cover was taken by local photographer Desdemona Burgin.
Correction: Due to an editing error, we introduced some fuzzy math to a letter to the editor from Chris Matera of Mass Forest Watch (“A Windfall for Biomass?” Aug. 18). The last paragraph of the letter should have read: “This means even if 100 percent of the trees on all 1,200 acres of blown down Brimfield forest were chipped and burned (though likely it would be much less), it would only fuel a single biomass plant like the one in Russell for less than two months or all of the proposed Pioneer Valley biomass plants for only three weeks.
