I realize that with the selection of Sen. Joe Lieberman to the Democratic presidential ticket, it may now be fashionable to get the word Jew, or Jewish, or even Judaism, into print. But the headline "One Live Jew" (Tristram Korten, August 10) for your cover story on Lil' Joe rap record-label owner Joe Weinberger is nothing short of gratuitous.
Not once in the article was a link made, or relevance illustrated, as to what Weinberger's being Jewish had to do with anything, let alone his business practices. In fact, aside from his Jewish-sounding name, readers are told nothing about Weinberger's Jewish roots, upbringing, education, or outlook.
If Weinberger were an observant Jew, strictly adhering to the laws of the Torah, the writer might have made a nice case pointing out the contrast and hypocrisy of Weinberger's business tactics when compared to his religious beliefs. But that comparison was nowhere to be found. We don't even know if Weinberger is anything more than a Jew by birth.
Without that information and those links, headlining the article "One Live Jew" was groundless and meaningless. You also might have had a case if he were the singular (One Live) Jew with a rap music record label. But with a little research, you would have found that many Jews were mining the hip-hop market long before Lil' Joe. If you were so tempted to play off of the name and repertoire of 2 Live Crew, a better headline might have been "As Nasty as He Wants to Be," or "Oy, He's So Ruthless."
Scott Benarde
Delray Beach
Bipartisan or bipolar?: "Nice, mainstream Cubans?"
Your article "Exiles From Cuban Politics"(Undercurrents, August 10) is juicy and funny. Jose Lopez is now trying another strategy to see if he can succeed in something, the same with Diana Wasserman. Both of them have done very little for the Latin community they claim to help and protect in Broward County.
Wasserman has a very good salary as a member of the School Board, and we all know what school boards (don't) do. Lopez is now promoting a nice Democratic candidate, and one wonders what he has in mind. He worked hard for Jeb Bush as a Republican and had most of his Cuban professional friends do the same. They were in every meeting for Bush in Broward and helped him get elected governor. Apparently the governor didn't appoint Mr. Lopez to anything, and he's now campaigning for a Democrat -- which we think is much better and worth it. Can anybody believe those "nice" Cubans anymore?
Thank you, New Times, for talking about the issues. You're a very necessary, refreshing breeze in the polluted journalistic environment of South Florida. (As a matter of fact, it stinks.)
Gary Anderson
via Internet
Dropping the name game:
Jen, stop ass-kissing! Why does the food writer, Jen "Kavetchnick," have to continuously throw in the names of famous area chefs into her reviews? When reviewing Calypso Pub ("A Trip to the Islands," August 3), why did she have to mention Mark Militello, Darrel Broek, and Oliver Saucy? She did it to try and impress her dwindling readership!
Then as if he needs the puffery, she featured Mark Soyka of News Café fame in her Foodstuff column. Shill! Anyone not dead, Jen, already knows he's coming to Broward. You've mentioned it many times already! Why not stop the ass-kissing?
Jen, you have the credibility of Oliver North on a bad day of testimony.
On another note regarding "Whirlwind Courtship, Jewish Style" (Emma Trelles, August 3), the SpeedDating idea makes about as much sense as Rabbi Loring Frank converting goyim to Judaism in a couple of hours! One wonders what's next: "SpeedBris"?
Harvey Slavin
Hollywood