Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
‘In New Lawsuit, Activists Seek Ban On Production of Foie Gras in N.Y.’
There is no good reason to produce foie gras. The claim to fame for foie gras is copious amounts of cholesterol, salt, and animal suffering. In The New York Sun’s article on the foie gras lawsuit, reporter Joseph Goldstein reports the first challenge is for the activists to show they have been harmed enough to warrant suing [New York, “In New Lawsuit, Activists Seek Ban On Production of Foie Gras in N.Y.,” November 16, 2006]. In my view, the second challenge is for the activists to get lucky enough to go before a judge who aspires for humans to evolve past this stage of evolution we appear to be stuck in — where we consume unhealthy foods while paying people to torture animals. Then we have the nerve to complain about our health, and we complain that we want better health care. Thanks for the great reporting.
HEATHER SHIRLEY
Ann Arbor, Mich.
‘Nonprofits Not Shy About Cashing In on Real Estate Gems’
My heart sinks at the thought of losing more public places: houses of worship, hospitals, and schools, with their distinctive human-scale architecture, to make room for ever more private luxury priced dwelling places with their characterless overpowering presence [Real Estate, “Nonprofits Not Shy About Cashing In on Real Estate Gems,” November 16, 2006].
Not only do we lose the places of spiritual and physical healing and learning, but every new tower adds to the already crushing crowding, even in residential areas. There is ever more noise and air pollution and trash levels. There is ever less neighborliness. Places of spiritual and physical healing especially should not be contributing to the overbuilding, the dehumanizing really, of this or any city or place — no matter what the immediate monetary gain.
BETTE DEWING
New York, N.Y.
‘Looking Back At a Musical Milestone’
Thane Rosenbaum suggests — in no uncertain terms — that the musical “Les Misérables” was an innovative, ground breaking musical, the first to deal with serious themes and to eschew the “merely flimsy and fun … choreographed spectacle of white lights, high kicks, and big smiles” [Arts & Letters, “Looking Back At a Musical Milestone,” November 8, 2006].
In one fell swoop, he has blithely dismissed such “flimsy and fun” musicals as “South Pacific,” “West Side Story,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Evita,” “Sweeney Todd,” and countless others that not only were hits, but that had profound, serious messages and that had tremendous influence on the musicals that came after them.
“Les Miz” does have a melodic score and effective staging, but it did not spring into being out of a vacuum. It owes as much of its style and musical theater vocabulary to the serious musicals that preceded it as it owes its (overly truncated, in my opinion) plot to an obscure novel by Victor Hugo.
RON SPIVAK
New York, N.Y.
‘Letter to the editor’
What will the world reaction be if Israel launches a preemptive attack on Iranian nuclear facilities – a scenario that is appearing more likely with each passing week? Will it be condemnation, like in 1981 when the Israeli air force took out the Iraqi Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad? Will there be any appreciation amid the realization that Israel was preventing a catastrophic situation from occurring – letting a leader with dangerous aspirations acquire a nuclear bomb?
JACK ALBALAH
Fair Lawn, N.J.
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