Letters to the Editor

Station to station

Thanks for your upbeat story about the visionary city manager of Ferndale, Tom Barwin. Though his input and action on behalf of mass transit will be sorely missed in metro Detroit, what better person to have in the Chicago area to push for high-speed transit between Detroit and Chicago? I don't believe that his transit interest will be diminished simply by his move to Oak Park, Ill. Rather, with his initiative and forthright manner, don't be surprised to see him push for the needed high-speed link from the Chicago end.

Mayor Kilpatrick previously asked what metro Detroit was going to tackle after the Super Bowl success. A high-speed link between our two metro areas would be the perfect project to focus on for the future, benefiting Illinois, Indiana and Michigan greatly. As well, with Detroit Metro Airport currently having the most direct flights to Asia, it's not far-fetched to think that we might garner a portion of the aviation business forthcoming from the 140 airports planned for China and India in the next 10 years. We need only look back at the financial implications generated by our re-investment in Detroit Metro with the McNamara terminal and the added runways. —Robert P. Thibodeau, Detroit

Hi, this is in response to Jack Lessenberry's fetish for politicians spending our hard-earned money as if they were at strip clubs or looking for prostitutes. I can't wait to end the ability of leeches-politicians to waste-spend tax money on Nov. 8, or at least curtail them. I too want to restrict any [parasite-politician] spending increases to the inflation rate which would include "local units of governments too." Hey, Jack, if you in your wet dreams believe that "we need ... more government spending, not less," how about you sending more of your own money to the asshole politicians on payday. Show us that you are not a hypocrite when it comes to your money. I support the idea of the state opening up a "Tax Me More Fund" — that way any fool who thinks the politicians should have their paycheck can mail it to them. —Gregory Creswell, Detroit

Dear Jack: Thank you for helping to bring the worries about the new electronic voting machines to the attention of an ever-widening public.

If one wants to find out whether one can really trust these machines, one needs only ask an IT technician or computer programmer. Among those whom I know, the idea of rigging one of these machines and erasing the trail is seen as a no-brainer — as long as the source code remains proprietary (i.e., a company secret).

More important than the question of whether the 2004 election was stolen is the question of voter confidence. I predict that, unless some measures are taken to have these machines vetted by apolitical, third-party experts, voter confidence in the viability of the vote will plunge dramatically.

If the current administration has devoted itself so passionately to gaining control of all three branches of government and pushing aside any serious consensus between the two major parties, why would they not massage the vote to make sure that all of their hard work is not wasted due to the misinformed leanings of a few voters? —Lori Chinitz, Skokie, Ill.

To Whom It May Concern: Your June 7 story on Wayne Kramer ("Returning to the scene of the crime") may have given your readers the mistaken idea that because I was, at the time the article was printed, Kramer's attorney in his lawsuit against Future/Now Films, that Kramer and I are of like mind with regard to the political statements made in that article.

I wish to specifically refute any such impression.

For the record, I do not condone or support any of the statements made by Kramer in that article about President Bush, nor about the war in Iraq, nor about the President's re-election victory in Ohio. I am not in agreement with, and I do not wish to be associated with, any of those statements. I am no longer counsel of record for Kramer in any court proceeding.

I am a strong supporter of George W. Bush and of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I (along with countless other Ohioans) dedicated myself to the President's re-election campaign here in Ohio, and I therefore take particular exception to any insinuation that the president's victory in Ohio was the result of anything other than a pure democratic expression of the will of the people. —Edward T. Saadi, Esq, Youngstown, Ohio

I chuckled after reading Keith Owens' article "More Talk About the 'N' Word" (Metro Times, June 28), and the crusade to exorcise the 'N' word from our common vocabulary. I instantly thought: These niggaz ain't got nothing better to do!

With so many salient issues affecting black America, why is abolishing the infamous word, particularly among black folk, such a priority? Umm, it won't happen, people.

Now, I admit, I reserve my use of the word for Negroes like Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice, who to me represent the worst of the race, along with drug dealers and gang-bangers that infest our communities. I use the word to shame those blacks whose thought processes and behaviors are destructive to the group.

Nonetheless, the 'N' word is a very complex political concept with a lengthy historical legacy. Yes, the word has become a term of endearment that some blacks ignorantly use to refer to other blacks. This behavior directly results from these black folks' ignorance about the word's history and how it functions as a form of psychological terrorism perpetrated on blacks.

The reality is that the 'N' word is not going anywhere anytime soon. The word has seemingly become a permanent part of our cultural consciousness. And, we can thank each other for that, black people. —Glenn Morgan, Detroit

Erratum: Our review of Mitten [State] Transmissions ("Stabbed in the ear," Metro Times, July 12) should have said that the box set was released by Top Quality Rock & Roll.