Orbit ovation
In anticipation of the Orbit Magazine Anthology, out Sept. 1 on Wayne State University Press, we decided to hand over nine pages of last week's issue to the staff of the long-defunct local magazine (and former Metro Times rivals) to see what they would come up with. The results didn't disappoint — the issue features an 2015 update of Orbit's old "Blast Off" page, a look at "Detropolis 2065," an exposé on Detroit's hipster problem, and a pair of music offerings from Sonic Boom editor Liz Warner. Reader "Anonymous" wrote:
The article "Detropolis 2065" was a fun read and it shined a light on the greatest fears of many Detroiters. Also, it seems some of the blueprints were lost. You know, the ones pertaining to the Detropolis City Council decision of 2035 that decides old-Detroit neighborhoods require too much effort to aid so they are to be plowed over and refurbished with an expanse of semi-radioactive urban gardens, giving the new hip community a pastime in the warmer months when they decided to make the commute down on the Unirale™ system — a plan that will be funded by the auctioning off of the Spirit of Detroit, which is to be replaced with a 150-foot statue of Dan Gilbert.
Reader Ronald Darling said:
I miss Orbit. (No offense MT!)
Rigged politics
In his Aug. 12 Politics & Prejudices column, Jack Lessenberry wrote about Michigan's gerrymandered districts, which results in "a system in which the politicians pick their voters, rather than the other way around." He highlighted the efforts of the grass-roots organization Let's Vote Michigan to make Michigan become the next vote-by-mail state, following Oregon, Washington, and Colorado. Reader "wojoformich" wrote:
I'm for any reason for absentee ballots. Anything to increase voter turnout is a great idea. The minority votes these people in, and we are stuck.
Reader Lee Helms wrote:
I always get a sample ballot a couple of weeks ahead of election day so that I can look up the candidates' info before making my decisions.
Reader "nobsartist" said:
It seems to me that computers could create voting precincts with four corners that have the required population numbers quite easily. Then again, we would have to trust the same felons that blow millions on new state-owned computer systems that don't work that could easily be replaced with over-the-counter software, but that would eliminate the kickbacks required to supplement government pay. You would think that a governor that bankrupted a computer manufacturer and then sent it to China would know this.
The straight dope
In his Aug. 14 "Riding the bus" column, Gary Winslow wrote about the harrowing experience of observing a man possibly having heroin withdrawal on a bus ride in Warren. Some readers questioned Winslow's description of heroin's side effects. Reader "Becca" wrote:
Gary needs to read a book and get some very basic facts straight. I'm nitpicking here, but I have issues with the following:
He lists basic withdrawal symptoms coupled with nodding out. If you're doing the one, you're not doing the other. Period.
Unless you learned all you need to know about heroin from Requiem for a Dream, pretty much everyone knows all opiates make your pupils constricted, not dilated.
Also, heroin has been a noted and major problem in the suburbs of metro Detroit since at least 2000. This isn't new. At all.
Hot shots aren't more potent doses of heroin. It used to be called cheese, and it's usually heroin mixed with fentanyl. It's not for revenge, and giving it to your consumer base couldn't possibly kill off competition. Junkies don't sling. Junkies just bang.
The reason people sell "hot shots" or whatever you want to call them is to turn a quick profit by bringing in new clientele because you have the potent stuff, and junkies that can't get off on their normal supply will always go for something they hear is more potent.
I applaud him for trying to bring attention to the problem and being a nice enough human being to have cared about this person even in passing, but misinformation is frustrating — if not dangerous — when discussing drugs.
