Going Postal May 18 2005
Not one of us
Michael Wall’s article surprised the entire group with the presence of our name, Wheels of Fire (News & Views, “Civil disobedient bikers busted,” May 12). The persons mentioned in your article, Lindley [Davis] and Jenna [Hyland], are not affiliated with WOF. We do not sanction such activities, and do not agree with many of the statements made by the two. We are an organization that promotes bicycle riding as a fun, environmentally sound form of transportation and community building.
WOF is a bicycle-based community. The idea behind our group is to be supportive of other cyclists. We help each other with bike problems, trade parts, organize group rides and races, and just do our best to have a good time.
We hope that you understand our position and will make necessary corrections.
- Stephen Cohen, Atlanta
Correction: Davis and Hyland, the two people arrested for painting mock bike lanes on Peachtree Street, told CL they were affiliated with the Wheels of Fire. We were mistaken in implying that their protest was a Wheels of Fire action.
Wheels of Fire is a loosely organized group with no formal membership roll. Cohen and others who belong to a Wheels of Fire online community on www.myspace.com say Davis and Hyland aren’t core members.
Shame on the media
Your recent editorial on how white women get special treatment in the media was great (Humbug Square, “Honkie alert,” May 12). Out of all the Jennifer Wilbanks coverage, I have not once heard the point of view that she was just a crazy chick. Thank you so much for shedding light on an issue that has been going on for hundreds of years.
- Cecily Jones, Smyrna
I’m currently deployed overseas and the biggest news seemed to be the runaway bride. I couldn’t eat in the dining facility without seeing it plastered all over the news. I and several others have noticed in the past several days that the victims in many of the stories are white. The only stories related to minorities is of crimes that they have (or may have) committed, or when the Minutemen have arrested some illegal immigrants. Hell, even some of the foreign soldiers think that it seems like only white women get much of the press.
- Damon Kemp, currently stationed in Kuwait
Lying again
Thank you so much for rightly scolding the media last week in your article, “Jennifer and Journalism,” for not doing their job (Headcase, May 12). I’m beginning to wonder if the ineptitude of the media has more to do with cost-effectiveness (read: CEO ratings greediness) or just plain laziness.
I suppose cable news producers figure it’s much easier for the viewing public to handle a story about love gone wrong than war gone wrong. Investigating the truth about the latter might cause us all to want to hop on a bus and high-tail it out of our dysfunctional relationship with our president.
Like many victims in abusive relationships, we are wallowing in collective denial. That’s much easier than garnering the courage to confront the situation. Instead we rationalize our sorry predicament with stupid excuses: “Oh, you don’t understand him like I do. He lies to protect me. He sent my son and daughter off to die for ‘freedom.’”
The media are supposed to act as that close friend in whom we can confide, who tells us what we need to hear: “Remember when he told you he’d protect you from WMDs? He was lying to you again, girlfriend. You need to kick that lying dog to the curb!” Unfortunately, our “friend” is letting us down. She’s too busy gossiping about the Terri Schiavos and the Michael Jacksons of the neighborhood to concentrate on our real problems.
Too bad we can’t get the Iraq War annulled.
- Todd Wiese, Decatur