Author: Flyer Readers

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Sex Doll, Chef Tam, and Johnny Cash at the Zoo

Posted to Twitter by @tee__bandss

Maybe not Memphis

By now we know the photo of the guy who took his sex doll to dinner was likely not at the Applebee’s on Union. The photo was claimed by others across the country to show their local Applebee’s, too. I mean, who wouldn’t?

Lesson from Chef Tam

Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe urged vaccines and mask-wearing for COVID-19 precautions as “the Delta variant is rising all around us.”

“There’s a strong probability that you’ll contract this virus and not recover!” Chef Tam wrote. “I love y’all real big and I wanna see what God has in store for you, but I can’t see it if we finna experience slow singing and flower bringing cause y’all tired and wanna party and wanna be out in the world!!!”

Wayback machine

Posted to Facebook by WEVL

Volunteer radio station WEVL FM 89.9 reminded us in a cool post last week that “65 years ago today, 24-year-old Johnny Cash took baby Rosanne Cash to the Memphis Zoo.” 

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Toby Sells’ reporting on the Memphis Zoo/Greensward controvery …

Since it appears that certain members of the city council and Memphis Zoo administration are seeking to manipulate the Greensward situation into a racial/class issue, I am curious: How many members of the city council and zoo board are members of country clubs?

Not everyone can pay tens of thousands of dollars annually to enjoy protected, well-maintained, greenspace within the city limits. I would wager that at least half of the zoo board, if not more, are members of country clubs. And I would bet that Reid Hedgepeth, Philip Spinosa, Kemp Conrad, and Worth Morgan are also country club members, many of which to this day do not allow non-white members — or parking on their golf courses. Such irony.

Mary Ost

Memphis is very fortunate to have a world-class zoo in a gorgeous historic park in the center of our city. Their embellishment and preservation are the result of immense commitment and decades of hard work.

While I personally oppose continued development in Overton Park, there may be a parking solution that also increases park space. If park and zoo users decide that resolving the parking problem includes a garage, then why not aim for an ambitious innovative project, also world-class, that everyone could support? Why not make a spectacular parking structure that is a fusion of creature habitat and increased park space? The zoo experience could actually begin when one enters the garage, and the structure itself could become a vehicle for a new, permanent exhibit as well as a natural addition to the park.

A solution that vertically increases natural park space and provides car storage could be designed to connect the park and the zoo together instead of having them separated. Why not create something that’s so innovative, inviting, and beautiful that people come from all over to experience it, along with the park and the zoo? We could transform a contentious conflict into a fantastic, positive experience that brings us together and demonstrates what a wonderful, creative place Memphis is.

Roy Tamboli

I cannot believe that the city council would even consider giving land that belongs to and is used by the citizens of Memphis to the Memphis Zoo. I have always loved and supported the zoo, but since the zoo has displayed a total lack of respect toward nature and toward me, as a citizen, I do not feel the same way.

Overton Park is public land. I am an owner and financial supporter of public land, so, I am being disrespected by the zoo’s and the city council’s refusal to get off my lawn! The citizens of Memphis fought to keep the interstate from going through the park, and now we’ve been thrown into another battle against an organization that, up until now, I have always considered to be a great asset to Memphis.

Overton Park is also a great asset to Memphis, and the zoo and city council need to acknowledge and respect that. A parking garage needs to be built so that the zoo will have parking and our public land will still be ours. Funds can be found for a garage. A corporation in town would be willing to put their name on it. Just think how warm and fuzzy people would feel about the corporation that was smart enough to build it.

It’s time the city council started listening to the people who put them in office. We want the zoo to get off our lawn, get out of our Old Forest, and stay away from Rainbow Lake!

Linley Schmidt

About The Donald …

We the people are fed up with the lies and deceit of the greedy politicians who think more of themselves than the people they represent. They are a group of self-righteous individuals who capitalize on every opportunity to benefit themselves. Our voice is being heard, loud and clear. Politicians, you will mistreat us no more!  

We will elect a person who is not a politician and cannot be bought, one who is on a mission to take this country back and restore the greatness that it once had. We will elect Donald J. Trump! And so it shall be!

George Devine

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “CBHS Sends Student Home After He Spoke Out Against Anti-gay Policy” …

He was suspended for making them look bad.

Jeff

Pro tip: If you don’t want your school to get bad press, then just rectify the situation and treat your student fairly. Sending him home for a week as an ad hoc suspension isn’t exactly going to minimize that bad press.

Otterdaemmerung

Don’t be so quick to judge. We only know part of the story, the part the media want us to know. Get all the facts first. If the whole story were known, it might not be so press-worthy. I don’t trust the media anymore. It’s their agenda that gets out, not the whole story.

Bobi

CBHS defenders are correct; it is a private school in a larger community. A community is also within its rights to ridicule that school for their petty actions.

datGuy

Congratulations to the administrators of CBHS for escalating the situation. After reciting to this young man worn-out lies about gay people, they decided to be petty because he contacted the press. Sounds as if some professionalism is badly needed. I would like to caution this student, however, that it’s more important that he finish the school year than seek change at CBHS.

Brunetto Latini

About Toby Sells’ post, “Memphis Wins $30M for Foote Homes” …

I hope they can remain in Foote Homes and not be dispersed throughout the city. I’m tired of government-sanctioned, city-sponsored blight from people who have no idea how to take care of a community and won’t try to grab a clue.

Mnyama

Another fenced-in public housing project that was originally built to prevent people from assimilating being torn down? If so, good. A step forward.

ChrisR

About Lesley Young’s travel story on New Orleans, “Wandering” …

Dang, can I go with you the next time you visit New Orleans? I would love to follow you around to some of these off-the-beaten path spots in my favorite city for a quick getaway. No place else is remotely close.

Strait Shooter

About Toby Sells post, “Pinch Plan Moves Forward” …

It’s a blank slate only because the city and developers tore down most everything historic that could have been restored, renovated, and repurposed. It’s a tragedy. That area is where Memphis was birthed. All Memphians are stakeholders in this critical area.

I hope the meetings will be well-publicized, more than a week in advance.

And the full plan that has been “dusted off” should be released to the public and the media at least two weeks in advance of meetings, so the participants will be informed as to what Jack Sammons and company have planned for us. Not everyone is included in the planning process yet. I hope the preservation groups, urban planners, and Downtown Neighborhood Association will be fully included. The Pinch almost lost its historic register listing recently and has been languishing for years. It’s funny how, all of a sudden, there is this city and developer interest in this land.

MemphisTigers

About Obama and ISIS …

Jeb Bush and other Republicans should not be allowed to get away with claiming the Obama administration is responsible for ISIS.

With the country united behind him — and most of the world — George W. Bush should have concentrated solely on destroying Al Qaeda completely after 9/11. Instead, Bush got us into an unnecessary war in Iraq that wasted the lives of 4,491 U. S. service members and allowed Al Qaeda to become a force there, from which ISIS became an offshoot. If Bush had not gotten us into Iraq and had focused on destroying Al Qaeda as he should have, we never would have heard of ISIS. The Bush administration, along with all of its other failures, is also responsible for ISIS’ existence.

Philip Williams

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said… (July 23, 2015)

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter from the Editor on the Civil War (and civil rights) …

Man, it’s great to see someone grab a machete and hack through the thick brush of douchebaggery. Splendid!

DaveC

I was the only white speaker eight years ago, when the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition held a rally in what was then Forrest Park. Rev. Al Sharpton spoke, the late D’Army Bailey spoke, as did others. We were right then, and recently, events have proved us right now. What was written in this article well encapsulates what I said then. It is an excellent piece of truth-telling, nicely exampled. To be brave and even brilliant in a malevolent cause is still damnable, at best pathetic, but never glorious.

Charles Ingram

About Jackson Baker’s cover story, “Into the Sunset” …

My goodness. I guess “we the sheeple” are being hornswoggled by politicians who don’t understand the ramifications of moving an old dead guy from under a bronze statue in a park to the cemetery he and his wife got disinterred from about 100 years ago.

I almost never argue about what to do with 100-year-old corpses. It’s not something that comes up in conversation all that much. As long as he isn’t in my back yard, I’m probably good with it.

But Elmwood sounds fine for Forrest. It’s a nice place. He has friends and family there already. And give Shiloh the statue. They have a lot of antique bronze out there already. Problem solved.

OakTree

Holding on to the symbols of disunity, oppression, and bigotry won’t accomplish peace and unity between peoples. Since the white South was irrefutably wrong in seceding and using the excuse of Reconstruction to terrorize black people and white Republicans, and subsequently using Jim Crow to resubjugate Southern black people after the North gave up trying to make white Southerners behave civilly, then white Southerners should, as a gesture of conciliation, give up these retrograde attempts to whitewash history. Tell the real history, not the fake history the white citizens who erected the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1905 have concocted out of the ether.

Kilgore Trout

Don’t we have bigger fish to fry in this city than to worry about a dead man who is not doing anyone any harm right now? If you don’t like the statue, go to another park. We have several nice ones.

Stbrnrdehed

Just for the record: Confederate soldiers, sailors, and marines who fought in the Civil War were made U.S. veterans by an act of Congress in 1957, making all Confederate veterans equal to U.S. veterans. Additionally, under U.S. Public Law 810, approved by the 17th Congress in 1929, the War Department was directed to erect headstones and recognize Confederate gravesites as U.S. war dead gravesites. So, in essence, when you remove a Confederate statue, monument, or headstone, you are, in fact, removing a statue, monument, or headstone of a U.S. veteran.

Fred Paul

About licensing guns …

Cars are so dangerous they can kill. That’s why we require a license — not to own one, but to use one. You must be age 16, get training, pass a written test, pass a road test, and get retested every so often for the rest of your life. And if you want to drive anything bigger (trucks, buses, bulldozers, etc.), that requires a different license, one that’s more difficult to attain, again from a state-certified system. No one has a problem with any of this.

So why don’t the same kinds of laws apply to guns? Cars kill by accident, but guns kill by design. That’s why the police have to have serious background checks and lots of practice, testing and retesting, all by a state-certified system, before they are allowed to carry a gun.

All gun users should have to get training then a license. There should be small-gun and large-gun licenses. Ammunition should be sold in quantities appropriate to the purpose of the gun. If you think you need a 100-round magazine to shoot a deer, you really need more practice.

Like alcohol and tobacco, firearms should be heavily taxed, but all gun-safety devices should be tax-free. 

J. Andrew Smith

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (July 9, 2015) …

About Toby Sells’ post, “Council Could Vote on Forrest Statue’s Removal” …

It’s a sad day when you can remove the remains of a husband and wife and relocate them elsewhere over a so-called race issue. It’s also sad that history is not taught in our schools anymore.

The Confederate flag does not mean the same thing to everyone. The Confederates who fought for their flag should be honored just as anyone else who is killed in war. When will this nonsense stop? There are even those who would like to see the American flag taken down. All I can say is, if you don’t like America, go somewhere else.

Julie

Wait a second, you don’t like the fact that there is a proposal to remove a statue and the remains from a city park? That city park is located in America, and it certainly qualifies as “something happening.” Since you said if a person doesn’t like what’s happening in America, they should leave, shouldn’t you leave? You won’t be missed.

The good general was a slave dealer and slave owner, a war criminal (Fort Pillow Massacre), and a prominent member of a racist, terrorist organization, serving as the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.

Sasha

Thank the gods that all of the other issues Memphis was dealing with have been solved, and that we now have time to take care of these sidebar details.

Smitty1961

About Jen Clarke’s column, “Congrats, Bristol!” …

It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything about Sarah Palin with no mention of Tina Fey’s “I can see Russia from my porch” scripted SNL line. But one thing I’ve never read from Sarah’s critics is that she held an 85 percent approval rating with Alaskans.

I’ve always admired Sarah Palin. She was the only governor that I can think of that had the gall and determination to kick the blue-blood corrupt Republicans in the teeth and ride roughshod over ’em in her state; and her constituents apparently admired her actions, too.

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler doesn’t point out why Palin had those high approval numbers in her very short time as Alaska’s governor. One reason was that before being pushed into the national spotlight by John McCain, Palin wasn’t the partisan hack she is today. She actually worked with the Democrats in Alaska.

She raised taxes on oil companies. She created a climate-change team, writing: “The sub-cabinet will also be making recommendations to me on how Alaskans can save energy and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.” She also vetoed a bill that would have barred same-sex couples from state employee benefits, saying that it would have been (shock!) unconstitutional. As governor, Palin governed from the middle, explaining her high approval ratings among the residents of Alaska.

Charley Eppes

About Jackson Baker’s Politics column, “A Two-Man Mayor’s Race?” …

Would somebody please tell me what the difference is between a vote for Wharton or a vote for Strickland? They’re both backed by the same power players, and Strickland used to be Wharton’s campaign adviser. They hold hands on almost every issue. If Memphis thinks that these are the only two candidates, then we will just get more of the same come October 8th.

There are other qualified candidates in this race who deserve an equal platform. I am voting for Mike Williams, and I am not alone. I’m a 31-year-old white, single male who works in the film industry. This is not about black or white, rich or poor, or any other divisive contrast someone wants to come up with. We have had enough of this incestuous political wheel here in Memphis. Fresh faces, fresh voices, new ideas, new citizens being elected into office — this is what we want. This lethargic Southern political machine is coming to an end.

Jordan Danelz

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (May 28, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Kevin Lipe’s post, “How the World Ends: Game 6, Warriors 108, Grizzlies 95” …

As a Warrior fan (since 1965) I would like to say that the Grizzlies are a classy, hard-nosed team with classy fans. They gave the Dubs all they wanted, that is for sure. Also, I will say that I enjoyed reading your columns during this series and I wish you all the best!

GHN

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s editor’s letter, “The Big Empties” …

Yes, positive things are happening downtown and in Midtown. But rather than the obligatory references to Jack Belz and Henry Turley, I would like to see the grass-roots organizations, most notably Memphis Heritage, get credit for the endless amount of energy they have expended in making all of this a reality.

The Belz family certainly jump-started downtown’s rebirth when they purchased and restored the Peabody, but, as a founding member of the Chickasaw Bluffs Conservancy, all I remember of Henry Turley is he and Mayor Herenton fighting us tooth-and-nail for 10 years to prevent the Bluffwalk from being built on the site where Turley’s million-dollar homes overlooked the river.

Research all the restoration projects listed in that article and you will find Memphis Heritage and other activist groups heavily involved in all, including the battle at Overton Square. Good article, and easy to mention the household names, but there are foot soldiers out there working on these issues every day.

Gordon Alexander

The comment regarding the work of MHA director Robert Lipscomb — especially concerning public housing redevelopment — deserves closer examination. As a graduate student in city planning at the University of Memphis, we have examined both the city’s treatment of public housing and its strategy of using huge sums of public money to finance big-ticket development projects in our studies. 

In regards to public housing: While this system has assuredly had many problems in Memphis and throughout the country, affordable housing is a critical need for the most vulnerable of our population. As one example of the importance of public housing, low-income single mothers often use subsidized housing as a stepping stone to a better life as they are able to save more money and/or get additional training that leads to better employment opportunities. 

When bundled with needed social support systems, HOPE VI (now Choice Neighborhoods) can work, but these safety nets are often absent in the aftermath of relocation. In the worst cases, relocated tenants end up homeless when they cannot keep up with utility bills that were formerly subsidized in public housing. The new mixed-income communities offer minimal affordable housing units, thereby essentially facilitating gentrification. 

In regards to big-ticket development projects that have been the calling card under the Lipscomb’s direction, it is hardly time to declare victory in the use of this strategy. Before we hand him his gold watch, I think a balanced examination of Lipscomb’s record is needed.

Travis Allen

About the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act …

Imagine you are out for a hike with your dog and he gets caught in a steel-jawed leg trap that someone set out on our public lands. Or your children are exploring the woods and they come across a trap. That will be very possible if a bill now moving through Congress becomes law.

The bill, known as the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act (S. 405), is anything but sporting. Already, the majority of our public lands are open to hunting, so there is no shortage of access for hunters. But this bill would, for the first time, expand the federal definition of “hunting” to include trapping, and that would open all U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands to hunting and trapping. Steel traps, basically landmines for wildlife, introduce another risk to your child or pet. Traps are notoriously cruel and barbaric, with animals struggling in pain for hours or days before death. The American Veterinary Medical Association reports that up to 67 percent of animals caught in leg traps are not the intended target and that many “mistakenly” caught and then released do not recover.

This legislation is unnecessary and unfair. Senator Lamar Alexander is an important vote on this bill. Please contact him and let him know that you oppose trapping on public land.

Cindy Marx-Sanders

Categories
News The Fly-By

Best of “What They Said”

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

Each week, editorial cartoonist Greg Cravens illustrates a reader comment from the articles on memphisflyer.com. The Flyer staff looked over every illustration from the past year, and after much deliberation, we’ve chosen these as our top 10.

Greg Cravens

About Jackson Baker’s Politics Blog post, “Judge Joe Brown Uncorks a Shocker, Taunting Weirich About Her Sexuality” …

“Does this mean that Joe Brown won’t be attending the annual Memphis Pride Parade?”

— Tom Guleff

About Toby Sells’ cover story, “Trolley Trials”…

“Without the trolleys, it’s like the heart has been ripped out of Downtown Memphis. They truly were the heart, soul, and glue that held everything together. The sooner they’re back, the better off everyone will be. It’s sad to read that many businesses are suffering. What makes this really disappointing is this entire episode could’ve been avoided had competent management been in place. I do feel Ron Garrison has a good handle on the situation, and I feel confident in his leadership.”

— Midtown Mark

Greg Cravens

About Toby Sells’ story, “Confederate Heritage Groups Vow to Fight Park Name Changes” …

“Health Sciences Park, Mississippi River Park, and Memphis Park. Good Lord, how about just Tree Park, Grass Park, and Wino Park (let’s be real)? Or since the Confederates surrendered Memphis after 15 minutes of battle, how about Slam Bam Thank You Ma’am Park?” — CL Mullins

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s letter from the editor on an email comparing President Obama to Russian President Vladimir Putin …

“Obama thinks before he acts; personally, I really like a thinking president, for a change. I can see why Putin is Palin’s idol — two of a kind …”

— Brenda Beasley Berretta

From “Not Okay, Cupid,” Kerry Crawford’s column about her problems with online dating, in which she complained of too many pictures of dudes holding fish …

“Yes, 90 percent of men in Memphis are rednecks with camo hats. Is this surprising? You live in the South. Also, don’t begrudge someone because they have an outdoor-related hobby. Boats are fun. Fishing is relaxing. Fishing is better than sitting around watching Netflix night after night.”

— bill.automata

About Chris Shaw’s post, “Arrests Made at Fast Food Strike” …

“Ya B1971, a living wage is unhealthy! We need an undead wage!” — Ern

From “Death Policy,” about proposals for sedation and live-feed cameras in the animal shelter’s euthanasia room. In the comments, one person said the Bible doesn’t condone mistreatment of animals. Here’s the response …

“The Bible is A-OK with lots of things we don’t condone today. Like, you know, dashing the babies of your enemies against rocks, stoning disrespectful children, keeping slaves, having your women be silent in church. Do you honestly think that if Jesus were here today and you invited him to a dogfight, he’d be all like ‘Not a sin, so let’s go. I love me some dogfighting.’?” — Jeff

About Jackson Baker’s Politics column detailing Steve Mulroy’s apprehension of a thief …

“Is chasing a thief across downtown for $20 indicative of something mayoral that should elicit my vote? If so, I need it spelled out.

— Brunetto Latini

Greg Cravens

From “Haslam, Ramsey State Positions on Meth, Medicaid, Vouchers, Guns, and More,” an article about Haslam’s conservative views …

“So from what hillbilly law school did that slack-jawed yokel Ron Ramsey graduate? The Blountville Moose Lodge?” — Robert Ritchie

Greg Cravens

About Bianca Phillips’ story on animal fighting, “For the Birds (and Dogs)” …

“A last-minute amendment has been added by Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) to allow the trunking of poor, gay, uninsured schoolchildren. I’m not sure how that will affect passage.” — Chris in Midtown

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

About Alexandra Pusateri’s News Blog post, “Uber and Lyft to Receive Cease-and-Desist From City” …

Lyft is an illegal car service that needs to stop. They do not have proper insurance. We pay a lot of money to the city to have the right to operate.

Taxi driver James Edgar Tate

I live in a city where Lyft and Uber are legal, and it has been such an improvement! I get picked up in less time, and the drivers are friendlier and don’t blow through red lights in a rush to drop me off and get another rider. The drivers also make good money. I can’t believe Memphis is going to give in to pressure from outdated taxi companies.

Heather

About cover story, “Endpapers: Time to Take Stock of New Books of Local Interest,” edited by Leonard Gill…

Thanks for another great Endpapers literary issue. I wish you did it more often since writing in Memphis seems to figure far down the list of promoted arts, somewhere below music, painting and sculpting, photography, serpent handling, cow tipping, and barbecuing. I’d like to think that reading about books makes people read more, discuss books more often, and buy more books. I’d also like to think that the beautiful woman on the cover is reading a novel of mine.

Corey Mesler

About Alexandra Pusateri’s Flyer Flashback on controversy over a William Faulkner statue in Oxford, Mississippi…

The writer wrote that Faulkner was born in Oxford, Mississippi. He was in fact born in New Albany, Mississippi, also my birth place. There is a museum in new Albany, the Union County Heritage Museum (UCHM ), on the same block where the Faulkners lived at the time of his birth. [In addition to] exhibits, artifacts, and recorded history of the South, UCHM also features a William Faulkner Literary Garden, as well as much information on the writer.

Jane Thayer

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s editor’s column about “tight” states …

I’m a little slow, but I think I get the gist: Red states like briefs, blue states prefer boxers, and those crazy independents are just out there catching every breeze, letting ol’ freedom ring.

Poots

About Toby Sells’ story “Memphis Police Department Hit with ‘Blue Flu’ Protest” …

Toby Sells’ story on the “blue flu” was not quite correct. It was reported that officers were upset about the 24 percent rise in premiums. We understand that the cost of insurance has gone up. What officers are upset about is the fact that all retired city employees will have to pay 100 percent of their health-care premiums. 100 percent. Some of the retirees are not capable health-wise to work anymore, and all they have is their pension. Some do not have Social Security, because unlike the private sector, officers and firefighters do not get Social Security. All they have is their measly pension. With the cost of insurance for a husband and wife being around $1,700, that is their whole pension. Then some say they can get Obamacare. Not so. They make too much to receive Obamacare, or its premium is higher. This is what everyone is so upset about. The city is basically turning a deaf ear to the retirees. They don’t care if they have insurance or not. The retirees did their jobs for 25-plus years and retired expecting to have these benefits, and now they don’t. How are they going to afford their needed medications or be able to go to the doctor? Some have very serious health conditions. Yet all the while our city leaders continue to spend, spend, spend on other items that are not necessary. We are willing to meet the city halfway on this, to come to some sort of a resolution, but not so for the city. Our pension is actually very well funded, more than a lot of other large cities. When the times are hard you have to make cuts, but you should never balance the budget on the backs of city employees. At home when money is short, you might not be able to go out to eat or eat steaks; we eat a lot of hamburger meat in our home, sometimes maybe we get to eat a steak. The city wants to eat steak at every meal, and to be able to do this they make cuts to the city employees. Not right at all.

Brad Newsom

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Letters to the Editor …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

About Jackson Baker’s Politics Blog post, “Judge Joe Brown Uncorks a Shocker, Taunting Weirich About Her Sexuality” …

I’m a 65-year-old African-American male who grew up in Memphis. Anyone who knows Joe Brown knows that if you attack him, duck! They also know his justice is justice and not “just us” and the punishment fits the crime. They also should know Memphis politics, so don’t get caught up in the smoke. Mr. Brown dispenses justice not politics. The power structure in Memphis — primarily white male and home-grown, black point-men can’t get comfortable around him. If you’re a single mother, at or below the poverty line, trying to rear sons, you need Joe Brown; that is if you’re interested in justice.

Sylvester

I actually believe that there are enough decent people in this county, of all races, who will vote against Joe Brown and Henri Brooks. Sure, there will be people who vote for them, but I expect an overwhelming rebuke in a few weeks in August.

Greg Cravens

BJC123

Does this mean that Joe Brown won’t be attending the annual Memphis Pride Parade?

Tom Guleff

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “TVA Proposes Retiring Allen Fossil Plant” …

Wind and solar costs are dropping so fast that the media, let alone our collective consciousness, are having a hard time keeping up with it.

Yes, we need to maintain some local spinning generation capacity to provide power during peak demand and to assure reliability for local industry like Nucor, but we don’t need a full-time gas plant that’s larger than the existing Allen coal plant as TVA prefers.

Scott Banbury

Retiring the coal plant is a big step in the right direction, but cheap natural gas from fracking is not going to last forever. This would be an excellent opportunity for TVA to investigate solar thermal technology. There are new techniques available that can store the heat generated during the daytime to continue producing electricity at night. And if you don’t think solar thermal will work in Memphis, just think about how hot your car gets if you have to park it in the sun in the summertime.

Chris McCoy

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s editor’s column on the city budget …

You need to check your facts on the pension reform. The city wants to put us into a 401(a) program, which has major differences not in our favor. Also, we have offered three scenarios to raise money that would tax visitors to the city more than residents: 1) a gas tax of $0.01 on every gallon sold; 2) a hotel tax of $2 on every $100 spent at a hotel; 3) a 25 percent increase on the sales tax.

As far as raising property tax, the average house in Memphis pays $100, therefore the tax increase would roughly be $5 a month. I am pretty sure citizens would give up a Starbucks latte for police and fire services. 

Lastly, Mayor Wharton and his crew of seven have got to stop spending on projects we don’t have the money for. They need to learn from Mayor Luttrell’s leadership; he suspended capital improvement spending until he balanced the county budget.

Keeley Greer  Officer PII

About Randy Haspel’s Rant on Dick and Liz Cheney …

My stock portfolio soared thanks to Dick Cheney and his little buddy Bush. At the club we figured we profited over $220 million for every American death. You can’t argue with results like that.

Ern

It is a complete waste of time to get worked up about the Cheneys while President Obama continues to prove himself as willing as his predecessor to mire the USA in foreign conflicts and nation-building. He labors under the same delusion as the neo-cons — that “democracy” is workable and ideal, anywhere and everywhere. Even John Kerry is singing a different tune these days than when I voted for him in 2004.

Brunetto Latini

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Les Smith’s column, “Sounds of Silence” …

Les Smith seems to hate those who have served the city and keeps telling them what wonderful benefits they have. Why don’t you try to actually report on the issue instead of quoting the mayor’s talking points? If you take away the health-care benefits, the city’s benefits are not nearly as good as private industry, even though the pay is much less and the risk is much higher. How many mayors and city councilmen are in a wheelchair or on a breathing machine or have a hip that doesn’t work that they hurt while serving their fellow citizens? 

Let’s compare private sector businesses versus fire department employees: A firefighter’s retirement benefits are about $3,000 a month for life, no current plans for cost of living increases, ever. There is no employee matched 401k and no Social Security benefits. Health-care costs $1,650 per month for a married couple (premier plan). Continuing work-related injuries are very common and not covered.

A typical private employer may not offer a company-funded pension, but employee-matched 401k plans are common at almost every private business. They almost all pay Social Security benefits and health care.

Continuing work-related injuries are covered by Social Security Disability.

Put us on the same benefits as private industry, and you can start by making the city pay Social Security, just like everyone else.

Jim Wilson

About Jackson Baker’s column, “‘Fair Game’ or Smoking Guns in Shelby County Judicial Races” …

A judge is as a judge does. This judicial race should not be about who is a Republican or who is a Democrat. It’s supposed to be a “nonpartisan” race. If members of the executive committee of either party choose to reject the grotesque, self-serving, and corruptive special-interest influences currently being exerted upon all courts in general and the Probate Court in particular, I welcome their endorsement and much-needed support because this judicial election should not be about political parties or individuals running to be officious; it’s about whether or not the candidate will be judicious after he or she is elected.

Lawparks

You have to remember that the official Democratic Party has absolutely no influence and, as long as they act like this, they never will.

Memphis Democrat

About Frank Murtaugh’s column, “USA! USA! Futbol Time in America” …

My opinion is that the drama in the flops has changed from the last World Cup. Still seeing lots of guys who are incredibly clumsy in the box, but the refs seem to ignore most of it.

My favorite is the magic spray. What is it, and how does it cure these guys who get tripped, banged in the shin, etc.? They scream, grab the leg, and writhe on the ground, and the trainer gets out the spray and they are magically all better.

homersimpson

About Greg Akers’ post “Bad Movie Double Feature” …

Gotta check these out; never seen either one. In the meantime, 1970’s Myra Breckinridge gets my vote for worst movie ever. The cast was bizarro: Raquel Welch, Mae West, John Huston, Farrah Fawcett, Jim Backus, Tom Selleck, and even Rex Reed. I’m guessing the casting director was out of his skull on mescaline.

Dave Clancy

On Jackson Baker’s post, “Brooks Ousted But Declines to Go Gentle Into That Good Night” …

My guess is, rules is rules, except for them that make the rules. Long sad tale of Memphis ‘leadership’, no matter what their stripe. The old ones need to go, either side of the bickering.

OakTree

So she’s lived all these places without owning any of them or paying any property taxes to Shelby County? And she votes on property tax rates? Interesting. And no wonder it’s difficult to establish residency.

Brunetto Latini

[Brooks’ opponent] Joy Touliatos needs to buy a Powerball ticket because she has the most amazing good fortune of anyone in Shelby County right now. Autoegocrat