Letters to the Editor

Publix Where working can be lethal
Five workers have died in Publix's Deerfield Beach warehouse in the past eight years. Has the workplace gotten safer? Apparently not.
By Harris Meyer

Gee, Burnett, Publix Must Really Love New Times to Take So Many Copies
Sure, it says "Each additional copy costs $2" in teensy-tiny print on page two of New Times. But on the cover page it says "FREE" in capitals without any limitation of copies.

Unless the Publix employee or the manager knew of your small print on page two (and have you any proof of that, folks?), you have a hell of a nerve charging them with thievery (Undercurrents, February 17). Of course, if the papers were taken with the intent of depriving other citizens of their right to read your fine publication, that would surely be a terrible thing for Publix to do. But not, I think, larceny.

Let us say that Publix had a table with delectable tidbits and a big sign saying "Free Samples." On the wall, not far away, in small print, was a sign that said, "One free sample per customer. Extra samples are $2 apiece." Let us say, also, that if Publix were to arrest a customer who ate several samples and left the store without paying, your paper would be the very first, I think, to castigate Publix in the strongest of language.

Why don't you put on the front page "One free copy per taker. Extras $2 apiece" or words to that effect, such as you have on page two?

Burnett H. Radosh
Lighthouse Point

Copping a Homophobic Attitude
Broward deputy Linda Ashby says she was fired because she's a lesbian. And because she had an affair with a male officer's girlfriend.
By Roger Williams

Dump the Riffraff Cops and Rehire Linda
Linda Ashby should be rehired. Ashby has proved her dedication to law enforcement with professional service ("Copping a Homophobic Attitude," Roger Williams, February 3). Her incredible talents at subduing crooks (as indicated in the story), restoring law and order, and keeping citizens safe should be admired. Law enforcement needs more officers like her.

Instead we the taxpayers have to settle for riffraff in law enforcement. Corruption is at an all-time high, with many crooked cops garnering respect with their corrupt supervisors. In California it's been recently revealed that the police have a history of "framing" citizens for crimes -- especially in the Los Angeles area. Locally FBI agents attempted to blame two African-American men for an accident that caused their deaths -- as it turned out, it was their colleague's fault.

The silence of law enforcement, especially when one of their own is committing the crimes, sends a blunt message to law-abiding citizens: "You see us. We're corrupt, yet we're the ones protecting you." It further erodes the image of law enforcement to have criminals continuing to serve on the force. Weed out the bad cops and keep the good cops, like Linda Ashby.

< i>Name Withheld by Request
Ocean Ridge

Night of the Living Heads
What's it like to ring in the new millennium with 80,000 drug-addled Phish fans? Expensive. Noisy. Crowded. Uninspiring.
By Bob Whitby

Letters of the Living Heads
I just finished reading your article, "Night of the Living Heads" (Bob Whitby, January 13). It sounds like you went into the event with fairly negative assumptions about Phish and its fans. Granted there are lots of fans like "Crash and Burn"; many of us refer to them as "tour rats," and they can be a regrettable component of the Phish phenomenon. However most fans are much more responsible, thoughtful, and intelligent than these people.

The focus for most fans is the music, and it's too bad this wasn't the focus of your article. By your own admission, you barely listened to any of the live performances over the weekend. That's a shame. If you had taken the time to listen to a significant portion of the live music before judging it as an "amorphous blob," your article probably would have been more informed, more positive, and most important, more interesting.

Bruce Brown
via the Internet