Kids Know Better
"The Lost Season" (Bob Norman, November 27) should have been titled "The Lost Parents." As an AYFL parent for eight years, I have seen everything you spoke of and much more. However, you seem to have lost the magic of what it is to be a kid — and are more concerned with being a parent perceiving inequity. To many parents and coaches, success on the field is the only touchstone, the opportunity to play the only reason to show up.
Alas, it is more than that. Your son maintained the proper spirit and, when hit with the inequities that abound in the program, as in life, handled the situation as a young man. While that does not make your frustration any less justified, it needed to be just that — your frustration. When you made it your child's by doing a "forced walk-off" at the end of the season, it was a disservice to him, which he rightly and fortunately pointed out.
The memories of the hard work, team camaraderie, and special moments with friends will serve as great memories for your child. In the end, thus, all is as it should be.
Jerry Jacobson
Weston
Out With the Bums
It is Brenda Snipes and her associates who have never acted on behalf of our voting public in a fair and transparent way who deserve to be "escorted out" of the vote-counting premises ("Banana Republic," Tailpipe, November 27). Ellen Brodsky deserves a medal of public recognition for the years of unfailing devotion to the cause of ensuring that the peoples' votes count and are counted. Tailpipe was correct in pointing out the morality of the politics here: "Brodsky's language, Snipes says, is 'outside the lines of decency.' Maybe so. But so is an election process that nobody really believes in."
Alan Kobrin
Miami
It sure looks like Snipes has something to hide, and now Snipes, her deputy, and the cops who arrested Brodsky should face criminal charges for false imprisonment as well as civil liability for their actions. Thankfully, Brodsky had a witness with a video camera so that she can show that these officials are lying about the basis for arresting her.
Naturally, they will probably continue to pursue their baseless charges against Brodsky because that is how a Banana Republic acts, and America, especially Florida, has a Third World-style government.
Mark A. Adams
Tampa
Blame Game
That was one of the most racist pieces to come out of a fairly mainstream media outlet that I've ever seen ("Fear of the Queer," Bob Norman, November 13).
Which exit polls did Norman use when writing that article? Because for Broward, it was closer to 62/64 percent, which is very close. It seems as though he went out of his way to find unsupportive leaders in the African-American community. Additionally, when you look closer, it has more to do with religion than it does with race.
In Florida, black voters make up less than 13 percent of the registered voting population; it was a little lower than 13 percent when it came to actual voter turnout.
Never mind that 86 to 89 percent of white evangelicals voted yes on Amendment 2. Or the fact that a large amount of the money that funded Amendment 2 was supplied by the Florida Republican Party.
I find it really disgusting that in this trying time, when families are under attack, certain voices are falling back upon the old standard of racism because people of color are the easiest (and most likely) target in popular mythology. I mean, the Rev. O'Neal Dozier is an infamous incendiary wingnut. The use of Dozier's voice in this article stinks — it seems like a crutch to support and justify the singling out of black voters as selfish and stupid. Additionally, there was no mention that more than two years ago, at the beginning of the campaign, leaders in the African-American community like Julian Bond, NAACP President Michael Eric Dyson, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, and many more stepped forward to spread the word to vote no on Amendment 2.
Tobias Packer
Coral Springs
Save the Bobcats
I am a wildlife, animal, and marine supporter ("Lowe's Blows," Amy Guthrie, October 30). I actually watched a patch that is now a Home Depot burn down a month before the store was built. That was a bobcat habitat. I have no idea what happened to the bobcats. Developers seem ruthless, and they seem to have the support of the White House. However, voices can be raised by petitions to spare the wildlife land portrayed in your article. Try Care2.org, which has 9.5 million petition signers to aid in this cause to help spare the wildlife land.
Mary Hostrup
Hollywood
