A contagion of bungles: Gregory Weinkauf makes two incredibly dumb statements in his review ["George of the Bungle," June 23]. First, he writes that Michael Moore's "biggest jeopardy" is potentially "alienating those outside the choir" he preaches to. Is Weinkauf joking? There is nobody in the world who will see Moore's movie if he is not already a rabid Bush-hater. There was no need for Moore to concern himself with anyone else. As his movie shows, he didn't.
Weinkauf also writes of Moore's "stroke of brilliance" in urging congressmen to send their children to Iraq. Yes, I thought, almost as brilliant as asking pro-busing and school-voucher-opponent Democrats to send their own children to public school. While only a small percentage of Americans are enlisted in the army, tens of millions cannot afford anything but public school. Brilliant indeed.
David Farkas
Cleveland
Trust Snuffed
A father joins his daughter in death: Thank you for your article on Mickey Mishne ["Kill Me Twice," June 16]. Mickey was a caring, articulate, intellectual gentleman with a curiosity for life and -- unfortunately -- a childlike naïveté when it came to other human beings. It was his trust in others that killed him.
Laurie Mishne, who was married to him for 20 years, showed a sick indifference to his murder by staying in his home for two days after he was murdered. She deserves no less than the death penalty that she forced on Mickey. He will be missed by his many friends from all over the country.
Cherie Dimmerling
Macedonia
Killing for Mom
An avenging son faces life in the bin: Timothy Holt ["In Hot Blood," June 23] deserves a trial by a jury of his peers. This was clearly voluntary manslaughter. All you have to do is put yourself in Timothy's shoes for 10 minutes to know what conclusion you will come to.
This B.S. about the time frame makes no sense. Timothy's mother has to live with what happened to her the rest of her life. She shouldn't have to agonize over both the rape and her son being in prison for the rest of his life, all because he defended his mother.
Yolanda Jones
Cleveland
Ska's the Limit
A glance askance misses the scene: Though I had to chuckle at your preview [Around Hear, June 9] of the Skanktronics show and the note about the next ska revival in 2010, I simply couldn't let this slide: Be careful about writing off small genres like ska when your vantage point is Cleveland.
Cleveland is -- c'mon, admit it -- not the best measure of musical diversity. I move a lot for my job -- Cleveland is my fifth city in the past three years. I can tell you from personal experience that New York City, San Francisco, Boston, and Philly all have incredible (read: 3-5 shows a week) ska scenes.
Ryan Kaisoglus
Cleveland
Sympathy for the Athlete
A son with a gun might've shot the sonofagun: I am writing this letter as a show of support to Abram Elam ["Fourth Down," April 7]. He has definitely had a very difficult life, and I am glad he is getting a second chance. I believe the situation he got into at Notre Dame was unfair to him. If anyone had a bad lawyer, it was Elam. He alone was not acquitted of everything, as he should have been.
Tara Pillai
Florence, KY
Humane Only in Name
The house of horrors has many doors: I am the director of Precious Lives Animal Hospital and Sanctuary. I think the article that you did on the pound ["House of Horrors," October 22, 2003] was absolutely wonderful.
After it was printed, I contacted Summit County. It sent three people to see our facility, the largest no-kill facility in Akron. They seemed very interested, liked the facility, and told us to call them shortly. When we did, they said they were already working with the Humane Society.
Nobody seems to know that the Humane Society has a contract with the pound to do their euthanasias. I think that the public should know that the Humane Society is not a no-kill environment. Not even close.
I can't tell you how hard it has been at Precious Lives. We have no corporate sponsors, no donations to speak of, and an operating budget of $55,000 a month. I think if the public knew which shelter was working hard for the strays, they might think twice about who they are donating to. Did you know that whenever we get calls from the Tallmadge and Akron police, Precious Lives is the only one that immediately takes those animals into the clinic, pays for all expenses, and never euthanizes them?
Kellie Bush
Akron
Better Than Ever
Bad times make for good material: I disagree with John Carlo (Letters, "Not Funny," June 23). I think Derf and Tom Tomorrow, creators of The City and This Modern World, are on top of their game. I have followed Derf since his days in The Edition, and I don't think he's ever been funnier. With all the good material that these crazy times afford us, especially with the election looming, how can you go wrong? Picking up the work of both these artists was a major coup for Scene!
Dave McNally
University Heights
