Personal Foul
I found it very hard to give credibility to Francene’s article on Coach K’s firing (LEO Weekly, Dec. 2). This is particularly because of the seemingly unfair “lashing and bashing,” in competition with the sportswriters, that she regularly gave him on her shows. When I called in once to ask for more patience and support for the coach, she responded like I was from the planet Mars! While at times she can be strategically insightful, this was one topic where she fumbled the ball.
Gary E. Pennington, Highlands
Don’t Be Mean To Green
In light of your inclusion of Councilwoman Judy Green in your “Loserville” feature (LEO Weekly, Dec. 16), I’d like to suggest that you perhaps forgot to include a loser of epic proportions — yourself. Considering the legions of toxic, egocentric individuals kicking around the inner-circles of Louisville, tarring Dr. Judy Green with the title of loser because she drafted a resolution concerning the hip-hop fashion trend of sagging pants, while rife with the irony that people with little education find so entertaining, only reveals your astounding ignorance on so many fronts.
1) Your belief that it was superfluous in the face of all the challenges facing the West End implies that you think it took untold working hours to conceive or that it detracted from the scads of absolutely nothing else being done to address the concerns of Louisville’s West End. However, since Green actually knows something about the community she serves, I think probably neither is the case.
2) Your full-throated defense of the young men’s right to wear sagging pants was almost as inspiring as it was laughable: “… it gained the support from a handful of squares and curmudgeons.” Oh snap! I guess this means that all those open-minded and accepting souls who didn’t agree with Green will no doubt protect this particular right of these young men — right up to the point where they refuse to hire them. This is a resolution, not a law. I realize that their rarity makes them hard to recognize, but a real leader wants to lead — to do anything to help those they lead to succeed, regardless of its popularity. They don’t sit around engrossed in idle cynicism while championing the right of those they care about to self-sabotage.
3) Finally, Green is the mother of 13 children. Thirteen. Two biological daughters and 11 children she and her husband have adopted and created a loving and supportive home for. She is a role model and a public servant, and her charitable support of countless causes in her community is limitless. In short, she will do more for the people of her community tomorrow before you order your three-adjective coffee drink and update your Facebook status than you will likely accomplish during the entirety of your vapidly glib and self-important life.
Jonathan Baize, Highview
Driving Me Mad
In regard to the bad drivers in “Loserville,” you forgot to mention some of the bad driving in Louisville. Let’s see, in addition to texting while driving, there also are the following bad-driving characteristics of Louisville drivers: not turning on red when there is no traffic coming; slow starts when a traffic light turns from red to green; not signaling when making a turn. Then there are aspects not due to drivers that slow you down and lead to frustration: no right turns on red, even when there is no other traffic at the intersection; red lights that seem to last forever, even when there is no traffic in the green-light lanes; having to stop and wait on a red with no other traffic that you would interfere with, even at 2:30 a.m. What a waste.
Marvin Fleischman, Highlands
Misplaced Focus
So Tiger Woods, Rick Pitino, John Edwards, Bill Clinton and maybe even your pastor cheated on their wives … it’s none of my business, and I don’t fucking care! I don’t watch the news (or anything for that matter) on television. Nevertheless, I still hear about the promiscuous Tiger. Why must people’s private lives dominate the media and overshadow what we should really be talking about (i.e. why President Obama is not the change we hoped for, why health care is a privileged commodity and not a human right, and why America continues waging two wars that are only increasing terror, bloodshed and economic degeneracy).
It’s time we ask ourselves some questions: When was the last time you read a book? When was the last time you watched TV? Is the number of movies you’ve seen this year higher than the number of books you’ve read in the last three years? Do you know more about the activities of your favorite celebrity than you do about the policies of your local government? What are you teaching your children? Hopefully, it’s not to rely on the media to plug them with their imperceptive “knowledge.”
Thanks goes to publications like LEO Weekly for keeping the qualities of journalism pure and vital.
Douglas Lucas, Highlands
Death After Death
Regarding “Death becomes us” (LEO Weekly, Dec. 9): I’m with Edwin Kagin on the subject of it. I don’t understand (well, I kinda do) how people can childishly believe in the Stan Lee-ish notions of heaven and hell’s omnipotent beings. Before I go on, I want to say I’m not trying to offend anyone. The virtuous messages I can deal with. There is proof Jesus may have been alive. How do we know he wasn’t an original writer of the Bible? The people who support him are the same ones who discredit the Greek’s religion to mere myth. What’s to say the book of the Christians is no different? That it’s just a compilation of stories — a book of virtue, if you will?
Atheists are just one group of people they want hushed. These people who were legally dead and then brought back to life — how come they have no knowledge of heaven and hell? Were they in a waiting room reminiscent of a DMV? They say eternal slumber, I agree — you die and you dream.
Jax Rhapsody, West End
Respect Cats and Cardinals
According to a recent annual nationwide report conducted by the California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), Kentucky was named the worst state when it comes to animal protection laws.
Why is Kentucky in the doghouse when it comes to animal abuse? According to the ALDF, who also named Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi and North Dakota among the worst, “legislative weaknesses seen in these states include severely restricted or absent felony animal cruelty provisions, inadequate animal fighting provisions and lack of restrictions on the future ownership of animals for those convicted of cruelty to animals.”
It’s time for Kentucky to start taking cruelty to animals seriously — for the safety of both animals and humans. Studies show people who abuse animals are just getting warmed up. In three surveys of women’s shelters in Wisconsin and Utah, 74 percent of women living with companion animals reported that an animal had been threatened, injured or killed by their abuser. A study conducted by Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against humans.
Animals cannot vote, but those who love and care about them certainly can. Please encourage lawmakers in your state to work to adopt and enforce stronger laws that protect animals and punish abusers. After all, laws that protect animals protect everyone. For more information, please visit www.HelpingAnimals.com.
Amy Skylark Elizabeth, senior writer, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Norfolk, Va.
