No Room at the Inn
Good, thought-provoking article ("The $50 Million Solution," Bob Norman, October 2), though I need to question one item you included. You correctly state that Broward County Auditor Evan Lukic investigated Broward Addiction Recovery Center and found it "underused and wasting money." I can't comment on the "wasting money" part of this. But as a professional in Broward County's behavioral health community, I can tell you that BARC nearly always has waiting lists (particularly for its detox services). People in need of services often need to show up early and wait for bed openings. If you polled other professionals who work in the addiction field in Broward, I'm confident that the majority would tell you the same. I'm confounded as to how Lukic came to the conclusion that BARC is underused. Those suffering from addiction still remain in the shadows of society; they're a convenient political scapegoat because the majority of the public still perceives addicts as being "weak-minded" and "lazy," as opposed to having a true disease.
Joe Henry
Boca Raton
Come Back, Box!
I'm wondering where all the New Times boxes have gone ("You're Fired!" Tailpipe, October 2). The one at NE First Street and Second Avenue is gone, but City Link is there. I can't find a New Times in downtown Fort Lauderdale, and it's by far a superior paper. Bring back the boxes!
Name withheld by request
Via the internet
Editor's note: Because of a new Fort Lauderdale city ordinance, many of the old red boxes had to be relocated. There are 50 of them around the city. Look for black boxes, bolted to city sidewalks at strategic locations.
Noise Maker
Regarding Penn Bullock's "Packing a Tune" (September 25): This guy's music blows. His lyrics are cheestastic and almost outright dumb. I wouldn't trust David Packouz to sell Revlon, never mind ammunition. And what's up with lining the pockets of the Chinese anyway? Why do business with them? Packouz is probably all for the plight of Israel, but I guess his big heartedness doesn't extend to, say, Tibet. What a cock.
Name withheld by request
Via the internet
It's Not the Sex
Well, a good thing about this is people get to see another facet of a prostitute. I have gone on similar dates with people, and all they want is to be with you and hug you. No sex. It means so much to us.
Name withheld by request
New York
I don't know about you, but I always search for symbolism for the endless plight of prostitutes in stuffed-animal vending machines.
Reminds me of the equally brilliant insight often found in community-college creative writing classes.
Name withheld by request
Via the internet
If you told me this morning that I would read a story about a guy who dates prostitutes and I'd actually email it to all of my friends with the subject "GENIUS WRITING," I never would have believed you. Who is this guy, and why haven't I heard of him before? It sounds stupid, but these are the kinds of stories that change the world and how people look at other people. Congrats!
Name withheld by request
Chicago
Genius or Chatterbox?
I just came across the piece on the All Florida Show at the Boca Museum ("A Question of Taste," Michael Mills, August 21). Thank you for including my painting Sand Alley in your comments. Your writing "defiantly mundane" about the painting hits the nail on the head and is wonderfully incisive.
Dennis Aufiery
Jupiter
Reviewing art has a function of informing and understanding art. This article first made fun of the viewers in the exhibition and then pronounced that the jurors, hired experts in their field, had no taste. Taste in art has nothing to do with the function of the art critic.
Your writing, sir, comes off like that of a tasteless backwater chatterbox. The Boca Art Museum went to great expense, as did the artists, to commit to this exhibition. They need more than flip comments on taste.
Pip Brant, associate professor
Florida International University
Miami