Clarification: "Mon-Monkeys" do not exist
Some readers were apparently confused by the artwork for our May 20 "Summer Guide."
Because this year's guide emphasized aquatic activities, we ran a cover image that put a Pittsburgh spin on ads for "Sea Monkeys," those tiny brine shrimp once sold in the backs of comic books. On the cover, we decked out the "monkeys" in Pittsburgh sports gear. We repeated the image inside the paper, except this time, in addition to the CP logo and the "Summer Guide" label, we added satirical copy for a "Mon-Monkeys" advertisement.
Readers were told, for example, that Mon Monkeys enjoyed fireworks, and could be trained to do things like "wav[e] tiny towels over their heads [and] vot[e] for members of the Zappala family."
All of this was a joke -- a gentle parody of our city. For one thing, state law does not provide voting rights to aquatic creatures.
To complete the parody, we included an order form, which featured the address of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. The Conference helped lead the city's first Renaissance, and has spearheaded efforts to improve the region for more than a half-century. Consistent with our spoof, we picked the last place we thought anyone would go to order a fictional creature.
But last week, City Paper received an e-mail from a reader interested in ordering Mon-Monkeys. A subsequent call to the Conference revealed that it has received "a number of orders" from people who thought Mon-Monkeys were real, and who wanted to purchase them.
The Conference is returning those orders, along with a letter of explanation. We can only add our apologies and this clarification: Mon-Monkeys do not exist, and the only purpose of this "ad" was to create a loving satire of Pittsburgh life.
We apologize to readers who may have been confused, and to the Allegheny Conference for any headaches caused by our ridiculous stunt.
Taking Power
Re "Power Failures" [May 27]: First I would like to thank Rep. Mike Doyle for voting for the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Considering Pennsylvania emits nearly 300 million tons of global-warming pollution in the nation, it is important that Pennsylvania's legislators support what could be the first ever federal global-warming bill. With that being said, though, our legislators need to push to strengthen the bill in Congress this June.
The United States needs to lead the rest of the world with the strongest possible global-warming legislation. Mike Doyle needs to lead the push for strengthening the Renewable Energy Standard back up to 25 percent by 2025. Doyle should also ignore the influence of the fossil fuels special interest to continue to reduce the pollution-reduction targets.
Mike Doyle and the rest of Pennsylvania's delegation need to step it up, pushing for clean energy and the thousands of green jobs that the new clean-energy economy would produce. Pennsylvania, being the third-largest global-warming polluter in the nation, calls for our legislators to push for the American Clean Energy and Security Act to be as strong, clean and green as possible.
-- Dan Cannon, Squirrel Hill
With Pittsburgh sixth in the country in air pollution levels and Pennsylvania the third-largest global-warming polluter in the nation, combined with the G20 summit descending on Pittsburgh in September, it's clear that something needs to be done to make Pittsburgh a cleaner city -- and fast. I'd like to thank Mike Doyle for taking a step in the right direction and voting for the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the first-ever global-warming bill.
However, I'd also like to challenge Rep. Tim Murphy to do the same. Pennsylvania emits 300 million tons of global-warming pollution each year, and it's important that Pennsylvania's legislators support this green bill.
The American Clean Energy and Security Act is a moment in the sun for green energy. With the support of Pennsylvania's legislators, we can create thousands of green jobs for Pennsylvanians and make Pittsburgh a cleaner city.
-- Kara Stoever, Mount Lebanon
