Mmm...Grilled Horse Flesh
I can't figure the logic in selectively opposing slaughtering and eating horses ("Tex-Mex Horse Meat," by Megan Feldman, January 10) but being just fine with slaughtering and eating cows and pigs. OK, you love horses and don't feel anything for cows and pigs. Obviously, there are others who don't feel anything special towards horses. At least PETA is consistent. They oppose all animal abuse. But I bet the horse lovers hate PETA. Go figure.
Ed Cognoski, via dallasobserver.com
Cheryl Moore is far scarier than any animal rights activist. Strange that she says only abused and neglected horses come through her auction barn, yet she makes no mention of the laws those owners broke by abusing their animals.
Moore than goes on to say she would never dream of going to Germany and telling them what they can eat, yet she has no problem with the European market dictating to Americans that we need to slaughter our horses to send the meat to them! Moore might also be interested to know that the foreign-owned horse slaughter plants never paid one dime in export taxes to the United States. Sounds as if Moore would pledge allegiance to just about any country as long as she still got her blood money from horse slaughter.
Anne Russek, via dallasobserver.com
Really, though, what's the difference between horses and cattle? People should have a right to do as they please. Kind of like the guy in Colleyville with the emus...the guy had to club them. Have you ever shot an emu? It takes more than one shot to take one down because their brains and necks are so small. Anyway, I've lived in horse country all my life and I swear horse lovers' brains are the same size as the horses.
Rusty Shackleford, via dallasobserver.com
Pay Up or Unplug
In response to the story published on January 10, ("Public Enemy No. 1," by Noah Bailey, January 10), I want to thank writer Noah Bailey for including me in his article. While I appreciate that there are different perspectives on the complex issue of music licensing, I'd like to make a few points for clarification.
ASCAP's diverse membership is made up of over 310,000 music creators. As discussed in the article, some of our members are well-known and earn a great deal from their performance rights. However, it's critical to underscore that there are also thousands of other members who do not grace the cover of magazines—and yet who make a living from, or strongly supplement their income by, creating music. These music creators are in fact the smallest of small business owners whose rights are no less valuable than the bar, restaurant or club's right to make a profit from their business. The money songwriters receive from ASCAP is vital to their livelihoods and their continued creation of music. So to say that only the top earners benefit from performance royalties is simply false.
ASCAP's sole mission is to support and protect those who make music. And ultimately we are on the same side as the venues featured in your article—the side of music being made, and music being heard.
Vincent F. Candilora, senior vice president-licensing, ASCAP, Nashville, Tennessee
I feel ya, Brent. I had a song on the soundtrack to the movie Colors, and I am a BMI-affiliated writer. The song was remixed by Dr. Dre and the album sold over 800,000 copies. If anyone wants to see my check from BMI for one (1) cent, I still have it.
Jeff Liles, via dallasobserver.com
Come On In, The Door's Open
So much pain and suffering, so much heartbreak has been caused by the Castro regime in Cuba ("In Through the Back Door," by Russell Cobb and Paul Knight," January 10). Now our government is expending so many resources on keeping these refugees—yes, refugees—out when the reality is the United States could easily absorb the islands entire population. We should have an open door for fleeing Cubans, end of story.
Ziva, via dallasobserver.com
