Pull our punches?
I am disappointed at the slanted coverage you gave to the recent violent confrontation between Jack White and Jason Stollsteimer at the Magic Stick (“Red blood cells,” Metro Times, Dec. 17-23). The whole tone of the article brands Jack as guilty, which wouldn’t be so bad had there been an exhaustive investigation into the matter. It is entirely possible that Jason somehow provoked Jack or even threw the first punch.
I personally know the pain and humiliation that Jason must feel. In 1985, at a Son of Sam show at the Falcon Lounge, I was suckerpunched by the bouncer and given a black eye that lasted over two weeks. He was fired on the spot, and I felt justified in that. I do not condone violence, and will be upset with Jack if the allegations against him are true. But, for now, they are just allegations as far as I am concerned, not facts.
What really disturbs me is the fact that when Eminem took out his pistol in a confrontation with a member of the Insane Clown Posse crew, there was no feature-length condemnation of his actions from the Metro Times. While that confrontation ended more peacefully, it could’ve been deadly. It gives the appearance that you’re holding Jack to a higher standard, which isn’t fair. — Don Handy, Mt. Clemens
Off the wall
Just because Jack White now looks like Michael Jackson doesn’t give him the right to beat up other people. — Luther Blissett, Detroit, [email protected]
Give me a Y!
Regarding Ann Mullen’s piece on the Clark Street YMCA (“Y bother?” Metro Times, Dec. 10-16), the YMCA never told the community that they would stay at the location for $1 a year under Detroit Rescue Mission (DRM) ownership. However, I highly doubt that would have changed the community’s position on opposing the sale to the DRM because of their proposed programming. The YMCA continued to say that they needed to unload the costly building and wanted to create a new Y for the community. If they were serious about that, they would have been working on that since 2001, making it happen just like their energetic fundraising efforts going toward the grand downtown Y.
Reaching out to the community for membership or other support has never been their strong suit. It’s been so many years since they had a really good director leading our local Y, one who knew how to reach out to the community.
If the YMCA is serious about providing services to urban neighborhoods, they must subsidize their urban Y’s. Instead, it comes as no surprise that they continue to close urban Y’s. — Deb Sumner, Detroit, [email protected]
C’mon, get happy!
Right or wrong, I like Outkast (and I don’t buy much rap these days) and I don’t think they meant to besmirch Rosa Parks’ name. But I just had to say I enjoyed your article (“Mama don’t take no mess,” Metro Times, Dec. 17-23), and the way you "broke it down" really made my day! I can almost hear Frank Sinatra singing the song your way. —Sandra Hampton, Detroit
Nay to new machines
In response to your piece on the new voting machines (News Hits, Metro Times, Dec. 10-16), I can’t believe that, even after the last voting mess in Florida, many Americans are set to use new voting machines that won’t allow a trustworthy recount if necessary.
It was a great idea for Congress to provide money for new voting machines, but the touch-screen computerized machines are vulnerable to computer hacking and tampering.
The solution is easy — the machines should be required to issue a receipt to all voters — but for some reason this has not been made a requirement. For the sake of our democracy we should insist that Congress require all states to create a paper trail we can trust. — Michael F. Patterson, Dexter
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