Erosia

LEO welcomes letters that are brief (250 words max) and thoughtful. Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to EROSIA, 640 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or e-mail to [email protected]. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity.

The Broader Picture
While I appreciate being called a crusader for a positive form of activism, I would appreciate it even more if the writer of this narrow-minded, self-centered piece would consult members of her own organization (who I am friends with) before making her isolated feelings public (“Where’s the Girl Power” Erosia letter; Aug. 2 LEO).
The Forecastle festival’s focus on conservation and progressive change within global ecosystems and the communities that inhabit them need not be differentiated from the broader term “Activism,” and the millions of subheadings and diverse opinions that surround the controversial, often misinterpreted, word.
Moreso, the focus should not be on Louisville, as much as it should be on broader change throughout the Midwest, and the country as a whole. In its few years of existence, Forecastle has helped raise money for dozens of non-profit organizations, boost membership and impact lives by creating a medium where similar orgs can consolidate themselves in a single forum with a single message, and use that forum to educate and motivate.
The next step will be to discover new and innovative ways to plant seeds that will stick, sprouting new mindsets and ways of thinking throughout our country that will get passed onto future generations. With so much at stake and so much to gain, it’s a shame some people in our community can’t see the bigger picture.
JK McKnight

Blues You Can’t Use
You forgot one biggie on the genres we wish would die now (LEO Music Issue, July 19). BLUES. This form of music has been run through the shredder and yuppiefied beyond belief. Worst offender: Stevie Ray f’n Vaughan. He was a good at best as a session man, nothing more. Hendrix was the last great blues interpreter to exist. All others after are simply imitators — good or not. No innovations have come about in the last 35-plus years in this field of music. The bulk of fans seem to be yuppies who care more about being “seen” sipping their $4 bottle of light beer at a so-called “blues club” than any form of music in itself. Most of these people would rather pee their pants than even drive by a real blues bar in a neighborhood they would not be very welcome. To all musicians who may have some promising talent: DO NOT try to become the next Stevie Ray or Kenny Wayne Shepherd (we see how far he got), but concentrate on something new and/or mindful.
Justin Bridegam

Hidden Gem
Thank you for your story about A Place on Earth Farm (July 26 LEO), where Carden, Courtney, John and others work so hard to grow food for the farm shareholders. As a member said one day when picking up a beautiful assortment of greens, “This is the coolest CSA!” (Community Supported Agriculture farm).
CSA members pick up their weekly allotment of produce at the Chapel of St. Philip in Old Louisville, at the corner of Floyd and Woodbine streets. The chapel is a former church turned meeting place and art gallery. A large collection of Penny Sisto’s tapestries hang there along with changing exhibits of work from local artists. People gather in the chapel throughout the week for prayer and study. The chapel has hosted many musical events including performances by pianist Denine LeBlanc, and soulful gospel concerts from the Deep River Songbirds.
Another aspect of the farm is its connection to the Catholic Worker House, Casa Latina, next door to the chapel. Casa Latina is a community of women and children living in common, sharing their Central and South American cultures, and making a home for each other. Food from the farm graces their table.
The Catholic Worker Movement, founded in 1933, teaches the virtues of faith and work, prayer and action. The combination of spirituality and community, study and artistic expression, joined with the efforts of the farmers to work the land with loving respect, complete the threefold mission of “cult, culture, cultivation.”
Anyone who would like more information about regular and special events on Woodbine Street can call 635-7073 or e-mail [email protected].
Norah Kute, board member,
Chapel of St. Philip

Violence on Violence
I am appreciative for Linda George and Catherine McGeeney’s brave article (Aug. 2 LEO) and share their concerns in regard to America’s support for the Lebanese attacks. I hope all people can learn from our own experiences with violence (9/11, Oklahoma City, etc.) … that violence only provokes more violence and revenge. How can we as one country preach fairness toward humanity when our nation allows such acts to happen elsewhere?
We need to consider the welfare of all families if we truly believe in fairness for all. What makes our families’ more important than others?
Karen Herold

There Goes the Neighborhood
I live in the heart of St. Matthews. I just have to voice my feelings about the most recent additions to one of the oldest and most historic crossroads in the city. In the spot previously occupied by the landmark White Castle since 1939, we will have ... a bank. In an area that I count a minimum of five banks within a few blocks. And right down Frankfort Avenue we have … a Walgreens and yet another damn Starbucks. There is another Walgreens right down Shelbyville Road. And it now seems that Louisville is determined to put a Starbucks on every block from the Watterson Expressway to the Gene Snyder. Not to mention the addition of a traffic light at the spot of the development that, as far as I can tell, has never been needed and is only being put there now, I assume, at the request of the new big business developers. I am sickened to see the corporate-mongers taking over one of the most historic areas of the city. Who is making the decisions regarding city planning? Are we to become another generic town populated by the same corporate drivel that every other city in America is giving in to? Is the almighty dollar the only consideration? I find it hard to believe that these were the only options available for these choice spots. What happened to “keeping Louisville weird”? What a sad development, literally.
Michele Moore

Stifling Progress
I would like to comment on the following quote made by Kentucky’s junior Sen. Jim Bunning in regard to the possibility of research done on embryos at fertility clinics that would otherwise be destroyed: “Just because the budding lives would not survive does not mean that we should ghoulishly conduct experiments on them ... Who knows how many human embryos we will have to destroy before any tangible progress is made?”
“Who knows?” Let me try to explain to you, sir, that just because you may not know something, doesn’t automatically mean others share in your blissful ignorance. Let’s try to leave things such as science up to scientists, not former baseball players who don’t even read newspapers.
Finally, I’d like to share with you something that is truly “ghoulish.” My grandmother, who has suffered for 20 years with Alzheimer’s disease, lays in a vegetative state with tubes that feed her because she can’t remember how to eat, and even if she did, she couldn’t because they removed her teeth years ago. This research could spare someone in the future the pain my mother has gone through watching her mother forget who she is.
I can’t say for certain that these embryos, which would otherwise be destroyed, mind you, constitute human life. You are free to believe how you wish. I can, however, say with unequivocal certainty, that my grandmother is and has been a living, breathing human being for 70-plus years.
You and your party are making a huge mistake and, by placating to the fanatical extremist base, you alienate the rest of the country, which, you would know if you read the papers, supports this research.
Richard Atnip