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.
Corrections
In last week’s Literary LEO, the name of poet Richard Boada, who wrote the third-place poem “Avocet Coup,” was misspelled. LEO apologizes to
Mr. Boada.
Also, an item in the Jan. 23 Sight Unsound should have stated that Marc Cohn wrote “Walking in Memphis” after seeing an Al Green sermon there. The character of “Muriel,” who is mentioned in the song, was a woman Cohn saw playing at the Hollywood Café in Robinsonville, Miss. LEO regrets the error.
The Rapper’s Right!
After reading Billy Reed many times give the true score on what a taxpayer rip-off the new arena is, it was disappointing to read him completely miss the boat on casino gambling (LEO, Jan. 23). It was also disappointing to read LEO’s “objective” article on the legislative session (by Steve Shaw, Jan. 9) state that casino gaming is an “idea whose time has come.”
I am a progressive. I do not oppose casinos on any religious ground, nor would anyone mistake me for a Republican. I oppose them on practical grounds. They will cost the taxpayers more in social ills than they will make in revenue, and the vast majority of the money lost on gaming tables would go to out-of-state corporations.
The idea that Kentucky’s proposed casinos will be family tourist destinations is silly. The only family activity I know of that has been associated with Caesars has been the locking of children in cars while the parent(s) fed their own addiction. The argument that anyone who is going to have a problem with gambling in Kentucky already has one because of Indiana casinos is also false. One of our three largest metro areas (Lexington) is about 100 miles from the nearest casino. Putting a casino in Fayette County would definitely create more problem gamblers in the area than already exist, and the same is also true of Jefferson, Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.
Carl Brown was the only one to get things right this time.
Ron Schneider, Louisville
Whole Lotta Crap
On Friday, Jan. 25, despite battling bronchitis and pneumonia, I got myself up and drove downtown to the Louisville Palace in an attempt to purchase tickets to the upcoming Robert Plant/Alison Krauss concert. I drove by about 15 minutes before the tickets went on sale and saw what looked like several hundred people. It seemed that I had underestimated the demand for this show. So, after seeing this, and not really being in a state that I could deal with standing in the 20-degree weather in a line of 300 people, I decided to bite the bullet on the Ticketmaster convenience charges, go home and get my tickets online.
I was back at my computer by noon, the time the tickets were to go on sale. By the time I actually got a ticket order through the incredibly slow and bogged-down system, there were no tickets left. Now somewhat aggravated, I decided to take a look on eBay, only to find it was flooded with tickets to the concert, at anywhere from a 150-400-percent markup. I called Outback Concerts, the promoter of the show, to voice my complaint. They took down my number and said they were sorry, but there was really nothing they could do about it.
Ticket scalping has gotten out of hand. It is up to the venues, promoters and artists to ensure that their shows serve the fans and the communities that they have been invited into as guests. Most local promoters, such as Production Simple, have pre-sales and things of the sort that allow locals to have first dibs on shows and ensure that they are serving our community first. Kudos to them. No attempt was made by this Nashville-based promotion company to do any such thing. The upcoming Robert Plant/Alison Krauss concert has served only as a venue for a bunch of people outside of this state to make a whole lot of money for doing absolutely nothing. I can assure you that Outback Concerts will not receive any of my money in the future.
McKinley Moore, Louisville
Tide is High
Is Sen. Mitch McConnell an honest statesman or a cunning politician? James Freeman Clarke, a 19th century American preacher and author, once said, “A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.” McConnell has been running for re-election the past 23 years and has built up a huge campaign war chest from wealthy special-interests donors.
His “money is speech” belief is a kick in the teeth to an overwhelming majority of middle-class and poor Kentuckians whose voices aren’t being heard.
It is time for the middle-class and poor majority to wise up, rise up and vote for candidates who serve their economic self-interests. Mitch McConnell rode into the Senate on a rising conservative tide led by Ronald Reagan’s re-election in 1984.
In 2008, it will be fitting for President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitch McConnell to ride out of office together on a falling conservative tide. It is time for “survival of the fittest” conservatism to be replaced by a liberalism that works for the “common good.”
Paul L. Whiteley Sr., Louisville