I'm a Russian emigrant, living in U.S.A. for 10 years. I have to say that I support Cuyahoga Falls residents ["Unpleasant Meadows," October 30]. They have right to decide what kind of people they are going to live with. I would never imagine to live in mostly black area. It is against my cultural experience. We should peacefully coexist but not mix in residential areas, unless there will be tendency on their part to close gap between us. On their part because they live in subculture, not we.
Liberals want to celebrate the diversity. It is gravely wrong. I cannot celebrate their subculture. Europeans think that America wastes land when they see our cities and the residents of those cities. If blacks cannot prove that they can manage to live civilized in areas where they are the majority, white people should not accept them as welcome neighbors. Cleveland has plenty of abandoned land. Why isn't government-financed low-income housing built where it belongs?
Boris Shilman
Mayfield Village
Here's to white isolation:
Being from a town that has its own "Meadows," which white people are scared of and create rumors about, I hope Cuyahoga Falls has no more problems with unwanted integration. That way, all the not-quite-evolved white people can isolate themselves, so that I and everybody else in the world don't have to deal with them anymore. Maybe then the rest of us can focus on progressing society.
Robert Boles
Kent
Avon's rocky road to integration:
There is a similar situation going on in Avon. There is low-income housing that has recently been built conveniently next to I-90. Before it went in, you could count all the black students in the high school on one hand. Now that figure has skyrocketed to the astronomical number of nearly 20! As a high school student, I hear people say, "They drop one joint and all of the Section 8 will go up!" Naturally, these kinds of comments are made by kids whose parents live in the $400,000-plus homes. I am disgusted that some people are so unwilling to give others a chance to better themselves, based just on their race.
Geoff Zimmer
Avon
Mike Baker is a comic worth respecting:
Thank you for doing your recent article on Mike Baker ["Laugh Along With Whitey," October 30]. I really enjoyed it. However, I am not impartial. I'm a local comic. We work at the same venues to get stage time.
It seems very rare to get any sort of media coverage. I like Mike because he is really working at different material. It is extremely hard to get up in front of an audience. It is even harder knowing that your ideas are not going to be popular with that audience. He walks a very thin line, and I respect him for it. Mike has also jump-started an enthusiasm with the local comedy scene. His website (www.clevelandyucks.com) and his comic 'zine have inspired local jokesters. I thank the guy every time I see him.
I liked your piece, and I intend to follow your writing. Keep up the good work.
Ryan Dalton
Cleveland
Why slam the world's greatest band?
I cannot believe your article on Rush [Nightwatch, October 30]. These men are artistical geniuses. The drummer, Neil Peart, whose drum solos you referred to as absurd, lost his daughter in a horrific car accident. Then, in less than a year, he lost his wife to cancer.
The achievements of this band have not come into the spotlight due to people like you. You mock them for their different sound. Well, that is why fans love them. Where is the VH1 Behind the Music on them? There isn't one, because there is nothing to tell. They guard their privacy, and the media hate that. I believe this whole biased article was just something from a wet-behind-the-ears college student. If it was someone who actually took the time to listen to a few of their not-as-well-known songs, the article would not have been so off-base. Please investigate before you go shooting off your mouths.
Sean Herrmann
New Haven, CT
Dinosaurs rock harder:
I recently read your review on the band Rush. I was very disappointed by the author and would be interested in seeing what credentials (if any) he has for judging music.
Take any three musicians from any band today, and you will still not be able to form a better band than these three dinosaurs did. The fact that they still play at a higher level than any band today shows their talent as well as the sad state of music today.
There has probably never been a better drummer than Neil Peart or a better rhythm section than Peart and Geddy Lee. Make fun of Geddy's voice all you want, but try finding a better bass player. Fortunately for me, Rush has more talent in its field than your music critic does in his.
Zack Darada
Westfield, MA
Pick a day and stick with it:
If your ads still read "Get it every Thursday," I would have no problem. But your ads now say "Get it every Wednesday." Back in the day when there were two alternative papers, Scene was advertised as being out every Thursday, but seemed to be available on the newsstands on Wednesday -- to compete with the Free Times, I'm sure, and I don't blame you. But now that there is no competition, you've started advertising about getting it "every Wednesday." The only thing is that, since I've seen the ads for Wednesday, I haven't seen Scene until Thursday.
Just because you don't have any alternative competition doesn't mean you should slack off and misadvertise. If that's how it's going to be, I might as well wait until "Friday" [the Plain Dealer supplement] to read about all that's going on.
Amy Marshalek
Cleveland Heights
Quarterback Keeper:
Thanks for an oddly coherent story: "Sympathy for the Deuce" [November 6] is the first article I've read in a long time that had a beginning, middle, and end; that made sense all the way through; and that, by the end, all questions were answered. Maybe you could teach your peers over in the news department some skills.
Thanks for making sure my time spent reading was (finally) worthwhile. Thanks, too, for answering the burning question of why the guy hasn't been benched.
Lisala E. Peery
Shaker Heights
Standing up to mouthy assholes:
I read the article titled "Bullies With Badges" [November 6]. I personally don't picture Cleveland's finest acting in that manner. Possibly these folks were on the wrong side of the law, and it was the most effective means to break up this party. Sounds like the cops were well outnumbered. Sounds like they handled it in the right manner, too.
I deal with this on a daily basis with my neighbors, who are wannabe musicians, and as hard as we try to resolve our issues with them, they are loudmouthed, egotistical assholes. I've found that people here sometimes are excessively mouthy, and sometimes they need to be put up against a cop car. So, sue! I hope you lose!
Robert Frederick
Cleveland
Destroying shrines is not "artist-friendly":
On the subject of Laura Putre's article on the Temple of Lost Love ["Wall of Voodoo," October 23]: It is certainly a shame the City of Cleveland had to destroy the hard work of local artists. If the city wants to make Cleveland more "artist-friendly," this is not the way to do it.
What's the point of expressing yourself if it'll all be destroyed? The city should leave local artists alone and concentrate on the real problems at hand, like the conditions of public schools.
By the way, the "Fuck Police" graffiti was not done by skinheads. It was done by average working-class citizens like myself.
William H. Michaels
Cleveland
Good news for Target:
I can actually live without a Wal-Mart ["The Wal-Mart Menace," September 4]. I do not shop there and never will. Wal-Mart will behave only when it affects its pocketbook. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sam is rolling over in his grave. What a shame.
Andy Werner
Stuart, FL
