Love Is All Around
To the Editor:
I love the Flyer. I love the thoughtful music reviews, the regular updates, and the ideas about what to do in Memphis. I will even read your sometimes conservative take on the local scene with some interest.
The highlight of your paper, though, is the fact that you have the guts to print a dissenting opinion like that of Tom Tomorrow’s This Modern World. If you let the conservative, Bible-thumping, flag-waving “love it or leave it” patriots who compose 90 percent of the metro population have their way and remove TMW from your pages then you may sound the death knell for your journalistic integrity (Letters, December 20th issue). Such an action will prove that you have sold out to the “boorish whining” of an already oppressive mindset.
Benji Borden, Memphis
Cram-Down?
To the Editor:
John Branston’s article (City Beat, December 20th issue) on the future NBA arena being a “cram-down” by a small group of power people and political backers is true! He goes on to write about the NMAPBA sending nine fans and assorted media to Indianapolis to check out the Pacers’ new luxury arena. What he failed to tell us is that the same people paying for the Grizzlies arena are also footing the bill for this wonderful Christmas excursion. That’s right — Memphis taxpayers. And evidently all the taxpayers approve of it — except me!
Everyone should read the December 17th Sports Illustrated to get Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura’s opinion on publicly funded sports facilities.
Joe Mercer, Memphis
What About Justice?
To the Editor:
In an editorial in the December 13th issue titled “Worth a Try,” you wrote: “As is the case with community policing, the custodians of law and order will inhabit the same universe as that of their charges.”
Anyone with common sense knows that “law and order” applies to all segments of society and is a must for survival. But what about justice? I am surprised there was no mention of justice. Without justice there can be no law and no order. To leave out justice is to make a mockery of law and order and all they stand for.
Arthur Prince, Memphis
He’s Got a Beef
To the Editor:
I can’t believe people still eat meat!
Two weeks ago a U.S. Court of Appeals blocked the USDA’s ability to shut down a major ground-beef supplier for the school lunch program for repeated violations of the salmonella standard. The company was supported by the National Meat Association, which claimed that “salmonella is not dangerous if the meat is cooked properly.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella sickens 2 million to 4 million Americans annually and kills up to a thousand.
Last week the Justice Department indicted Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest chicken processor, for smuggling 2,000 undocumented workers to work in the company’s plants. Just how hard would it be for an al Queda operative to join that crowd and drop some anthrax spores into the food? But why worry about al Queda when we have our own meat industry to contend with.
Mitch Fox. Memphis
EDITOR’S NOTE BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN
Next week the Flyer will publish its third Annual Manual issue, a definitive guide to city services, arts, education, government, media, and entertainment. The Annual Manual will appear in lieu of a regular Flyer issue. The regular Flyer will return January 10, 2002.
The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the Editor, POB 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send us e-mail at letters@memphisflyer.com. All responses must include name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words.
