Terri Bryant
Davie
Kill the track: Bravo to Wyatt Olson and New Times for exposing the seamy business of dog racing and those who frequent these events ("Finished Line," April 29). Please don't stop there! You have just touched the tip of the iceberg with your reference in the article to the drugging of these dogs. That abuse is only a small part of what these dogs endure. They are mere commodities to be exploited and then discarded like a piece of trash. Try 22 hours a day in a cage (sometimes muzzled), grade D meat, ticks, fleas, and ill treatment. They are kept excruciatingly thin. Most never know a kind word and perish after being nothing more than a name on a racing form. Some don't even get that.
They are destroyed on the "farms" when they don't show an inclination toward racing. If they're lucky, they get adopted or humanely "put down." Otherwise, it's off to the labs or to other countries to race some more, then be electrocuted, bludgeoned, or hanged. I can only hope that when these pathetic creatures mentioned in your article die off, a more evolved, humane public will follow and banish dog racing from the scene nationwide.
"Be comforted little dog, thou too at the resurrection shall have a golden tail." --- Luther
Stop greyhound racing!
Christine Holod
Fort Lauderdale
Flush the consultant: I enjoyed Bob Norman's illuminating article re GOP shill Frank Luntz ("The GOP's Brain," April 22). I had to laugh, though, at your description of "his orangish hair in a bowl haircut." "His" hair? That toupee on his head resembles nothing more than a weasel. Coincidence? I don't think so. The only thing Luntz needs -- other than integrity -- is a year's supply of "I Love My Carpet."
Dave Winfield
Miami
Preserve the press: Re "The G.O.P.'s Brain": It is the responsibility of reporters to ferret out the truth. When young men become lying jackals to promote their agenda, where are the responsible reporters to track down the facts? They are sadly missing in today's corporate-owned papers and media. Freedom of the press was initiated to keep this from ever happening to a body being governed in this country. Now we are in a war, facing economic calamity because there were no reporters finding facts and reporting them to the public. Letters to the editor about this are not published. The blood of the innocents and our fallen is staining the hands of reporters who have left by the wayside their integrity and their mission to report facts. God help us all.
Anne Sherwood
Kansas City, Missouri
Remember Marilyn: Great article on the feuding former members of the Spooky Kids ("Manson Family Feud," Jeff Stratton, April 15). I've been a fan of their unreleased material ever since I first heard of it in the shadowy tape-trading channels of the early Internet. I think you did a fair job presenting both sides of the story. Thanks!
Chris McClain
Janesville,Wisconsin
WJNA extinguished: In response to the April 8 Tailpipe regarding Jimmy Roselli, first off, let me say that I am a die-hard Roselli fan. I moved to Florida in 1980 and lost touch with Jimmy. I was at the FAU concert and was overwhelmed by his voice, as were the 2,000-plus other fans. I listened to Jimmy in the '60s, and 40 years later, his voice is better than ever.
I am totally aggravated by the excuse given by the so-called music director of WJNA-AM (640). I refuse to mention his name on the same paper that includes Jimmy Roselli's name. But for his [the so-called music director's] information, Roselli has recorded close to 300 records. I'm sure this music director has not heard 5 percent of them. Yet he branded Roselli a "straight-ahead high-note singer." That is a stupid description of a high-quality voice.
When listening years ago to WJNA's "Italian Hour," I noticed that Roselli was excluded even as callers were requesting his songs. I consider this music director a phony with an agenda. The disc jockeys, with their syrupy voices, play records by no-name singers that -- if they appeared in Florida -- couldn't fill a minivan.
I could go on for another 6,000 words, but it makes me sick to think that I can't turn on WJNA and listen to a Jimmy Roselli song. So I won't listen to the station.
Ron Lawrence
Fort Lauderdale
