LEO welcomes letters that are brief (250 words max) and thoughtful. Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to EROSIA, 640 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or e-mail to [email protected]. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity.
No Redemption
Concerning the armed robber and murderer of a good citizen and friend to all in a small Kentucky community, LEO asks, “Where is Redemption?” (LEO, Nov. 29).
Evidently, because this convicted heathen can fashion amusing figurines from toilet paper, he should be released upon society and all should be forgiven for slaughtering a man in cold blood in front of his wife.
Might I remind you that there is no redemption without restoration, and the life of this fine man can never be replaced. Redemption would be fulfilled at the length of a 7-foot rope on a 10-foot platform, facing the family of Seldon Dixon and the decent people of Hopkinsville.
Matt Ingram
Pi in the Eye
Let me be the 100th person to write in saying that Paul Kopasz’s review of “The Fountain,” in identifying “Requiem for a Dream” as Darren Aronofsky’s first film, unfortunately overlooks his impressive actual debut, “Pi.” A small quibble; keep up the good work, Paul.
Mike Brooks
Pi Squared
Come on, Paul K.! Referring to “Requiem for a Dream” as Darren Aronofsky’s first movie (LEO, Dec. 6)? What the hell was “Pi,” then? For shame.
Joden Roshi
How Do You Really Feel?
I just read the review of Jimmy Carter’s book by Paul Kopasz. He tosses in a remark about a few million Jewish-Russian gangster immigrants (he did not mention whether Carter said this, but he did at least parrot the line as if it were his own). How nice that Kopasz enlightens us with the accusation that Jewish-Russian immigrants are all gangsters. I am sure that he also believes all blacks are on welfare and all Mexicans are lazy as well. Maybe Kopasz is a secret admirer of Mel Gibson, as well as other anti-Semites, while all the while posing as an enlightened liberal. If Kopasz has the intestinal fortitude and the decency to do so, he owes Jewish-Russian immigrants an apology.
Aviv Naamani
‘Boo Hiss’ in the Highlands
I regret having to make a comment like this, but “boo hiss” on the changes made at the intersection of Grinstead and Lexington. I understand the change was to better accommodate cyclists. As a driver, I am avoiding this area because it is so compromised. As a cyclist not yet having the opportunity to experience the changes, I expect the moon and the stars, so to speak.
For years just poorly striped, this intersection is now vague, unrelaxed and dangerous. Were vehicular trajectories (for the lack of a better term) even considered? This is serious — people will be having accidents. Particularly traveling west on Lexington, turning left onto Grinstead westbound, and vice versa. I travel this way frequently and feel discomfort in the navigation necessary to get through the intersection. What about an out-of-towner or an inexperienced or elderly driver? Unstable SUV? Or worse, an intoxicated driver?
Years ago, Ralph Nader said vehicles were “unsafe at any speed.” Now we have safer vehicles, but our roads are becoming dangerous and unforgiving.
J.D. Hall
Tasking The C-J
Attn: Courier-Journal editors:
While it is the front section of the newspaper I look most forward to digesting each day, in the past few months I’ve been nothing short of disgusted with the format in which articles are laid out to print. There seems more often than not to be an article of little worldly importance placed in areas most heavily viewed, a.k.a. the front page. I am a patient reader who certainly understands that we the people don’t always agree on which particular bit of news is deemed important enough to fall within the front page. I have continued to have faith that at some point, my wish as a reader would be granted, that the importance of our military’s dealings in the Middle East would “qualify” for front-page news.
You guys really outdid yourselves on Tuesday, Nov. 14, with what made the cut. I am disgusted, first of all, that you would place an article about overpriced gaming systems on the FRONT PAGE of our great Gannett newspaper; but the straw that broke this camel’s back was that on the same day, a most important bit of news on Iraq and the updated death toll of our brave military members, appeared in the form of a border in the back of the front section, graciously surrounding an ever-important Macy’s advertisement. That is blasphemous to me in every way. Every day your writers seem to place some focus on the shift of political party in Congress and what they hope to accomplish with the hopeful cessation of the War on Terror, yet the real news, the real tragedy, is placed carefully to surround an advertisement. Is that some sick way to candy-coat for the readers the closest form of truth in news that we have available? To distract them with sales and early-bird discounts? I’m sure Macy’s pays a lot for a top spot in your news publication, but is it too much to hope for that perhaps in the future, an article based on a more candy-coated topic serves as the frame for such an ad?
Kathryn D. Gilfillan
Miller-Conway!
It is my belief that State Treasurer Jonathan Miller is our best candidate for governor and that only a Jonathan Miller-Jack Conway ticket in 2007 can win back the Governor’s Mansion. It may very well be the only possible ticket that would be able to restore honesty and integrity back to Frankfort.
Miller’s book, “The Compassionate Community,” shows that he knows what’s going on and his ideas of what should be done in order to fix the system. If he is elected as the next governor of Kentucky, I believe he will help restore this state and improve its rankings, especially in the area of education.
Unlike what some other possible tickets have to offer, a Miller-Conway ticket would be free of baggage and scandal.
Daniel Solzman
Humility Reigns
An assassin’s bullet denied America the possibility of a Robert F. Kennedy presidency. If he had become president, I believe he would have been a great one.
Kennedy had courage, vision, humility, a tough mind and tender heart. As a young man in my early 30s, I remember watching Kennedy on programs like “Meet The Press.” His words, tone of voice and body language reeked of compassion and humility. RFK grew up in a family of wealth and power, but he learned early to identify with the needs of the downtrodden. He knew it was the responsibility of the privileged to work to improve the plight of the poor.
Democrats who just won a majority in the House and Senate would do well to model Robert Kennedy’s humility. When Republicans took over all three branches of our government, they ruled with arrogance. Excessive pride and arrogance always lead to failure. What separates the so-called great from the truly great is humility.
Paul L. Whiteley Sr.
SUV Envy
New favorite bumper sticker, spotted in Old Louisville: “SUV=Penis Envy.”
What? Y’all thought folks bought these monsters to scale mountains and cross roadless deserts? It’s no accident these needless gas-guzzlers weren’t named “Mall Lover” or “Little Big Man.”
Detroit recognized this spreading “envy,” once relegated to a small group of angry women, but now including a growing number of mostly fat, white guys who feel they were cheated at birth in the personal department. Tapping in to this testosterone-challenged consumer group, corporate geeks offered a solution — The Explorer, The Navigator, The Expedition, etc.
Good news, size queens — next year Detroit unveils the biggest, baddest SUV yet: The Occupier!
Steve Obrekaitis