THREATENING SYMPHONY GUY RETURNS!

DEAR MERCURY—Since the Mercury stupidly deems only movies worthy of review, allow me to describe what you all missed this weekend at the symphony: Suffice it to say that Yefim Bronfman tore the shit out of all 88 keys—an amazing experience for both eyes and ears. The Haydn symphonies served brilliantly as programmatic end caps—cleaning, balancing, and lifting one's spirit at both start and finish. There, you hipster pissants.

Brian Horay

TURKEY TREASON

DEAR MERCURY—"Tears of a Turkey," my ass [I, Anonymous, Dec 10]. If you're talking about Sunnyside, I live right next to it, and twice I've walked by the school to see one of the turkeys standing up on the banister of its fence. The stupid thing probably finally had the cajones to land on the other side and took off. "Somebody stole it." Get over yourself, and grow up. 

StolenToys

ROAD TO NOWHERE

Well done on the story, Sarah Mirk ["Gridlock," News, Dec 10]. I'm happy to see the current [Columbia River Crossing] project come to a halt. I hope that any new bridge (and there will be one eventually) is financed following a fundamental principle that commuters pay their own way. The freight needs are real, though the scope of a compromise might include looking at trains for long-haul freight. Sarah, keep up the great work of shining a light on what's going on here.

posted by Rich Rogers on portlandmercury.com

KILLING COP MYTHS

Cops are not even in the top 10 for highest fatality rates on the job ["The Name of the Law," Feature, Dec 10]. They use the myth of being close to death every time the radio crackles as an excuse for the amount of force they use, to justify beating and killing "suspects." I work directly with homeless teens, many of who have a long history as the victims of abuse, untreated mental health issues, and oftentimes drug dependencies. The police treat these youth as criminals, routinely disrespect, and abuse them. In my line of work, mediating conflict is the norm, but you don't see me breaking the ribs of my schizophrenic clients, or using any physical force against rowdy pre-teens, or shooting a client who has been in an accident and is acting "weird." We would lose our jobs for shooting 41 times. Police destroy their own humanity by failing to recognize it in the people they deal with every day.

posted by pdxer on portlandmercury.com

DELICATE ASSES, REPRESENTED

I find it ironic that John Edwards attacks both prostitutes and the homeless in his critique of your news writing ["A Detriment to Nature in General Since 2000," Letters, Dec 10]. If it weren't for the Mercury a lot of us would know a lot less about what I feel are some of the most important issues in local politics. One reason these issues are often ignored is because they involve troubled or underprivileged citizens (those with "delicate asses" and less than "tasty" vaginas, according to Mr. Edwards). Please don't follow this guy's snotty, self-important advice. He has the Oregonian, the Willamette Week, and the Tribune, among others. Without you guys, we'd either have to do our own research at meetings and hearings we'd rather not attend, or go on with our lives knowing nothing about civil rights abuses until it's too late and they're not only commonplace, but made legal. There are more homeless and struggling people than I've ever seen in this city. And other cities are in the same predicament. It seems the line between the snotty letter writer and the "delicate asses" of the homeless are thinner than ever. Good luck.

Jay

THANKS JAY, IT'S NICE to feel needed. Jay wins this week's letter of the week and two passes to the Laurelhurst Theater plus lunch at No Fish! Go Fish!, where, hey, we sent a really mean letter writer last week.