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Plenty of places to find coffee

Sirs,

Read your piece on mom 'n pops coffee shops not giving you what you need ("Heed my vice: I'm going where the coffee is"). While the point is well taken and is something that ESPRESSO has urged cafes to change for years, I can't help wondering if the writer is transport-limited or unaware of the several houses that stay open late in the neighborhood described.

In case you don't know, Lestat's, at Adams and Felton operates 24 hours. The Other Side, at 30th and Lincoln is open until 1 or 2 am; sometimes later. Twiggs, Korova, San Diego Coffee Co. @ Kensington and The Living Room Hillcrest are open until at least midnight and usually later than that. Pectopah at El Cajon and Alabama, while a Russian restaurant, serves as a cafe for that neighborhood; when I passed by there at 1:30 a.m. last night, they were going strong and offer a discount for anyone who can translate and transliterate the graffiti on their west wall.

In case you have a distance jones for brew, you can hit Zanzibar, Tourquoise, Pacific Bean or 976, all of which are in PB, all of which stay open into the night. Lastly, if you need some rib-sticking cholesterol to go with your joe, you can stop at Coronado's Night and Day Cafe, which has been open round the clock since 1927.

Last point: If your writer thinks that most coffeehouse patrons are a bunch of wannabe artists living with mommy and daddy who nurse toy drinks for five hours at a time, then your writer seems much akin to the kinds of subtle damage that the S'bux people unloads on mom 'n pops in an effort to make them seem superior by virtue of a deeper pocketed market share. This is unkind, unfortunate and inaccurate. Your writer seems to have a well sharpened subcutaneous burr of anger that drips out even in cyberspace and I can only guess at how unpleasant that must be to confront in person. What goes around comes around, in life and in coffeehouses. And if your writer has something to complain about where cafe service is concerned, a long and penetrating look in the mirror may hold an answer as to cause.

Otherwise, its a cool story.

Sincerely,

John Rippo

Publisher & Editor

ESPRESSO, San Diego's Coffeehouse & Cafe Newspaper

Backyard breeders are the bigger topic

Sirs,

I think your article ("Who's flagging postings on Craigslist? It's a mystery") failed by not addressing the bigger topic currently going on in Craigslist Pets, which is the flagging of Backyard Breeder posts. People are more interested in flagging down people they believe to be backyard breeders than flagging free to good home posts. Backyard breeders are highly looked down upon by animal activists because they are seen to contribute to the pet overpopulation problem, as they are average pet owners who decide to breed their animals for fun or profit. There is a forum dedicated to flagging down these people. People all over the country will list the posts that are BYB (backyard breeder) so others can collectively flag them down. The forum location is: http://forums.sandiego.craigslist.org/?forumID=2626

In reponse to the BYB flagging, there are people who will then flag all rescue and shelter posts as retaliation. It's a big "war" if  you will between those against BYB, and those who support it. Even though craigslist now has a disclaimer when you try to post in the pets section, stating "no pet sales allowed," people ignore that and continue to try and sell their puppies online. Craigslist has made it more profitable to be a BYB with the free advertising and high exposure, which is a sad result of an otherwise great website.

Sincerely,

M. Bee

Via internet