Eating some words
I am writing regarding my letter, which appeared last week ("Public Hector," Letters to the Editor, Metro Times, Oct. 17). My apologies to Marie Donigan. She reminded me that I mistakenly referred to her service to our city of Royal Oak as being on the school board; it is her husband who is a longstanding member of that organization. It was our frequently squabbling and not very citizen-friendly (at least in my experience; I have not attended meetings in quite a few years) City Commission that she served on. To her credit, upon reflection, Ms. Donigan was one of the more receptive members of that organization. I apologize for any confusion.
To clarify, I was not writing the original piece to castigate Ms. Donigan personally, but to make a point about how our elected officials often fail to act in our best interests for a variety of reasons. —Ed Steinberger, Royal Oak
Detroit art: Still kickin'
Just a quick note to say thank you to Metro Times for the wealth of visual arts coverage in recent weeks. I appreciate hearing from so many different writers in our allegedly deceased and recently eulogized art community. More, please, from Dennis Nawrocki, Glen Mannisto, Chris Hill, Dolores Slowinski and anyone else who's out there looking at work and bringing it to life for readers. —Mary Fortuna, Exhibitions Director, Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester, www.pccart.org
Dead-headed
I'm writing in regard to Mike Ross' rather tardy review of the Grateful Dead CD release Three From The Vault (Spun, Metro Times, Oct. 10).
A bit of research would have turned up that this show heralded the return of the group's original five-man lineup as latecomer drummer Mickey Hart had quit just the night before after learning that his father, who was also the band's manager, had run off with all the loot. With less than 24 hours of turnaround time, the group made the necessary adjustments in their percussion arrangements to allow the band to return to their original harder-edged single-drummer sound. They were simultaneously introducing several of the key songs that would form their canon. They rocked that night in a way they never had before. —Jim Buckingham, Clearwater, Fla.
Pleased by review
I just wanted to thank you so much for writing such a great article about our restaurant, The Emory ("Beer & board," Metro Times, Oct. 17). Of the articles that have been written about the Emory yours is one of the few that actually has all the facts right.
One thing I wanted to mention to you was that we agree with your opinion that the wine list is pretty minimal. Our original focus was on having a large variety of beers to choose from. Now that we've been open for a year and a half, we realize that people want a larger wine list. We are in the process of completely changing the wine list and hope you'll come in to check it out in about a month or so. We'll also be hosting a wine tasting in February. —Krista Johnston, owner, The Emory, Ferndale
Can-do spirit
Re: "A healthy vote," (News Hits, Metro Times, Oct. 17), thank you so much for recognizing us as "best way to cure what ails us." As a MichUHCAN member and DMC staff nurse I see, every day, how managed care affects our ability to deliver safe patient care. This recognition, with our ongoing efforts at raising awareness, aids us in our attempts to be more visible. Thanks! —Pat Cason-Merenda, Detroit
Constitutional crisis
I want to thank Metro Times for its reporting on Project Censored (Sept. 26). The censored articles, taken together, make eminently clear what the mainstream media has failed to report on, to-wit: government abridgement of our constitutional rights in favor of a more autocratic and authoritarian government. Yet, what could be more important and newsworthy to the average citizen than the deliberate curtailment of their civil rights?
While most citizens and the do-nothing Democrats in Congress may feel that surrendering their constitutional rights in the name of fighting terrorism is simply the price one has to pay, I would ask that they consider President Bush's State of the Union address following the tragedy that occurred on 9/11. At that time, Bush asserted that the United States was attacked because the terrorists "hate our freedoms." In his address to Congress and the American people Bush went on to declare that "these terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful." I suggest that by Bush's standards, we can freely proclaim that the terrorists have won. As Project Censored makes plain, our way of life has been disrupted and has been brought to an end. —Bob Grzech, Petoskey
Hard times
I was appalled when I heard that as the United Auto Workers union struck General Motors nationwide, the striking workers numbered only 73,000 members compared to three times that number of GM workers before the North American Free Trade Agreement, Central American Free Trade Agreement and any other free-trade deals were in effect.
Still, our government and all these corporations continue to say the current free-trade policies are not hurting the American worker. There seems to be a huge disconnect between our government and our corporations on just who is a consumer.
The sand under their ivory towers is shifting. Soon, it will be too late when they finally realize the consumer is the worker who no longer has a job. In other words, unemployed workers and consumers are one and the same.
When the workers can no longer afford the products on the market, your consumer base dries up and then America will have the greatest recession (or depression) the world has ever seen! —Gerald Payette, Clay Twp.
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