Why would a hockey fan cross the road? Thank you for writing this article ("Pimp My Arena," Trevor Aaronson, May 4). Sunrise Sports & Entertainment is unreal. I attended about 20 of this season's 41 home games and parked at Sawgrass for each one. I don't understand how they can sit back now and let the arena charge people to walk across the road [under a new policy to charge $5 for hockey fans who park at the mall] when they are losing so much money [on hockey ticket sales]. Please stay on top of Yormark and his pack of sleazy cohorts. I'll keep reading.
Ken Mendonca
Plantation
The Sound of Silence
Zwickel even hears things that aren't there: Thanks a lot for the great review of the JeanMarie's "What's a Revolution Without Backup Dancers" (Jonathan Zwickel, May 4). It was well-written, and you picked up on a bunch of things that were quite complimentary, like the "winking with a straight face" line. There was no way for you to know this, but I actually did all the vocals on "Delaney Street," which makes the "Tweedy-esque" line hit home, because I have not been able to listen to anything but Wilco and Loose Fur for many months. So, good eye.
Jordan Davidson
Sent via text message
A Hero in the Delivery Room
It was one lousy little mistake: Have you ever spoken to Bradley Hertz ("What's a Little Medicare Fraud Between Friends?" Bob Norman, April 6)? Have you ever met him? I have. I have known him since I was born. He is a kind and nice man. He has made a mistake, and he has paid for it. Is he to continue to pay for the rest of his life because of idiots like you? Get over yourself and find some real stories to write about.
These men have been friends forever, and just because Bradley made one wrong choice, everyone who cares about him should just drop him? Get real! Have you ever made a mistake in your life? A real biggie? Did your friends and family drop you? I don't think so.
Your article is nothing but slander. Find a real topic.
Name withheld on request
Animals Are Crying
Can we get some Chicago-style action around here? I applaud the Chicago City Council for banning the sale of foie gras ("Honk If You Love Fois Gras," Gail Shepherd, April 27). We find it appalling when people abuse or kill dogs and cats. Yet we conveniently check our compassion at the kitchen door and allow our taste buds to destroy our sense of right and wrong. We choose to forget that foie gras, chicken nuggets, or bacon cheeseburgers were once living, feeling animals before we paid someone to torture them and turn them into our lunch. Every meal containing meat, eggs, or dairy products directly contributes to the suffering and death of the billions of animals raised annually in the United States for human consumption. Most endure a life of horrific abuse, neglect, deprivation, and extreme confinement on factory farms, and all meet a violent death. Yet these animals have the same capacity to feel pain and to suffer as do our beloved pets.
For anyone who claims to care about animals, not eating foie gras is the least you can do. If you are truly concerned about needless animal suffering, educate yourself about where your food comes from and eliminate or reduce animal products from your diet. By doing so, you will ease animal suffering, ease your conscience, and improve your health. And with all the delicious meat and dairy substitutes, your taste buds will have nothing to complain about.
Monica Ball
Peoria, Illinois
It's what makes us human: I have no doubt that caring people will agree that foie gras is foul and should be avoided like the plague after reading Shepherd's gruesome account of how ducks are pumped full of so much corn mush that their livers expand up to ten times their normal circumference and protrude from the animals' bellies. The birds, as Shepherd points out, are miserable and often suffer from ruptured stomachs, gaping wounds in their necks, internal hemorrhaging, fungal and bacterial infections, and hepatic encephalopathy, a brain ailment caused when their livers fail.
It is heartening to know that cruelty to animals will not be tolerated in Chicago, and I hope that other cities nationwide will follow Chicago's compassionate example. As Matthew Scully, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and author of Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, says, "What makes a human being human is precisely the ability to understand that the suffering of an animal is more important than the taste of a treat."
Bruce Friedrich, Vice President
International Grassroots Campaigns
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Norfolk, Virginia
Recognize!
Zwickel listens to the music too: I read Jonathan Zwickel's review of The Waiting Room Mixtape (Subtropical Spin, April 6). Good stuff. The album should be released in the fall or winter this year. I just found out I'm going on a 45-day U.S tour in June and July. We're taking that South Florida heat on the road.
Wrekonize
Hollywood
