Desert of blight?
Oh, you poor, gullible, misguided media souls. You actually still believe MGM and Motor City casinos’ plans for building new hotels in time for the 2006 Super Bowl. (“The inn crowd,” Metro Times, Oct. 15-21) Talk about blind faith!
What incentive do they have to build expensive motels that would sit mostly empty the majority of the time? Why would anyone want to stay the night at either of those locations? Walk outside of the MGM, and you are surrounded by fences, freeways, parking lots and empty high-rises. Surrounding the Motor City, you have vacant lots, boarded-up buildings and burned-out homes. Why would anyone want to spend the money to stay in a hotel where they would never want to leave the building?
Look at any other major casino destination. In Vegas, Reno or Atlantic City, one can venture outside a casino and easily walk to an endless array of other casinos, restaurants or other entertainment options.
While the Greektown Casino has that advantage of being located within the only year-round walkable, vibrant area in the city, the other two casinos remain misplaced oases amid a desert of drab urban blight.
Whether the proposed casino hotels ever get built remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, though ... they won’t be built in time for the Super Bowl! —Kurt Kelly, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., [email protected].
Deep sentiments
Regarding your recent article on the Edmund Fitzgerald (Zero Potential, Metro Times, Nov. 5-11): A relative of mine went down in the Edmund Fitzgerald. I never met the man, but I have talked to his brother a few times about this dreadful incident. He is still mourning all these years later. He goes to the memorial service every year and has met Gordon Lightfoot.
I think it is good to honor the dead, especially heroes, but sometimes, (and I think the “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” is one of these times), a song only serves to keep alive a memory that really should be healed and released. It’s a powerful song nonetheless, just proving once again the power of music, the universal language. —Nannette Champeau, Sister Bay, Wis.
Hold Bush accountable
I enjoyed reading Jack Lessenberry’s article (“Impeach the president?” Metro Times, Oct. 22-28), but I disagree with Lessenberry that Bush should not be impeached. Bush’s deception has not just caused the deaths of thousands of civilians and hundreds of soldiers, but it also has put every American more at risk from terrorist attacks. Terrorist leaders such as bin Laden will certainly use the war on Iraq to recruit many new followers. A libertarian foreign policy of neutrality and honest friendship to all nations, as espoused by George Washington, would be the best solution to reducing the hostility in that region. For straying from the intentions of our founders, for deceiving the American people and for causing many needless deaths, I believe that the president should be impeached. We should hold our leaders accountable for their actions, especially when their actions cause death and endanger the nation. —James Allison, Warren, [email protected]
Judged by our cover?
I love Metro Times, but ever since Jeremy Voas became editor, there have been more cover shots of “tits and ass” than ever before. I’m beginning to think Mr. Voas is sexist. Clearly, the choice pick for the cover would have been Matthew Barney’s Satyr (“The Wonderful World of Barney,” Metro Times, Oct. 29-Nov. 4) as it is both provocative and freaky and, therefore, appropriate for the Halloween issue. But it seems Mr. Voas would rather exploit the female body and her sex and encourage the public to view Metro Times as smut rather than art. The editor is trying to sell the magazine, but I think he’s selling out. —Karla Richardson, Ann Arbor
Send comments to [email protected].
