Seeing may be believing
Re J. Hoberman's review of Watchmen ['Mask Market,' March 4–10]: This sounds like one of the most asinine cinematic endeavors in the history of filmmaking. There's no way it could possibly be a good movie, and yet I feel this tickling impulse to see it.
Matty B.
via internet
Closing time
Re Tim Elfrink and Jesse Hyde's 'Guantánamo's Final Days' [February 25–March 3]: Omar Khadr shouldn't have been in Guantánamo to begin with. He should be here in Canada. Those people who are slandering him should be behind bars. The real terrorists are the American government, which supported the Taliban in the '80s and gave them arms and anything else they wanted. The Canadian government is no better for having troops in Afghanistan.
Stan Squires
via internet
Using Gitmo to warehouse and torture "prisoners of war" was wrong, but the wholesale release of these threats isn't right, either.
Jeff Saxton
via internet
Duck and cover
Re Sarah DiGregorio's 'The Right Stuff' [February 18–24]: The investigative journalism on American foie gras and the associated poultry husbandry practices was one of the finest pieces of food writing I've seen in years.
I'm no fan of factory farming, and there are plenty of economic and nutritional reasons to avoid foie gras. But clearly, Hudson Valley is as humane as one could hope any medium-scale poultry operation to be.
Ben Shomshor
via internet
If anyone believes that being force-fed huge amounts of food through a metal pipe that's shoved down your throat, several times a day, is not torture, I have a bridge that I'd like to sell you.
Teru
via internet
I live near this farm and have seen its operation firsthand. It is a well-run farm and, by the standards of industrial livestock production, very humane. I find the bickering over Temple Grandin's qualifications and Sarah DiGregorio's intent embarrassing to read.
Roger
via internet
Gosh, what responsible journalism. Good thing she notified the duck killers ahead of time.
Dee
via internet
Thank you for making the effort to check out Hudson Valley and write an informed and objective piece. In the spirit of full disclosure, I myself am a vegetarian. That said, it is a very personal choice, I firmly believe, as is anyone's eating habits, no matter what they are. I am not ever going to protest humane foie gras producers or the restaurants that serve it or the people who enjoy eating it. Different strokes for different folks.
While foie gras production doesn't thrill me, it's at least somewhat of a relief to know that there are humane ways of doing it. At the same time, your article emphasizes a sad trend that I have noticed among animal rights' advocates: that they can be vicious and willfully uninformed.
Justin Pelegano
Manhattan
Never mind the ducks. Tell us where all the stimulus money is right now and where it has been all along. Mention, too, why Barack Obama has used taxpayers' money to pay unconscionable bonuses to CEOs and others who made this mess possible. Obama is probably one of the best-educated presidents we ever had, so there has to be an answer for us ants.
Tom Fergus
via internet
Music to his ears
Re Rob Harvilla's 'The Roots Take Manhattan' [February 25–March 3]: That you chose Rob Harvilla's piece on the Roots as a recent cover story possibly indicates a growing trend toward even more music-related articles.
I have been pleasantly surprised to read many other features from writers I was not aware of that are equally enlightening, Andy Beta's piece on "The Joys of DIY Disco" being just one of your latest examples.
Dave Cromwell
Westbury, New York
