Lockup Beatdown
Don't pop 'em: The kids in your story about abuse and violence at the Thompson Academy juvenile lockup are a bunch of punks and hoodlums, or they wouldn't be there ("School of Hard Knocks," Lisa Rab, April 7). What do they expect? This facility is not for potential Harvard grads, and maybe if it's bad enough, they will get the message that they don't want to be in a prison of any kind. Maybe they will start to respect their families and the laws of our land instead of being worthless punks. I have no sympathy for them. If it were up to me, I'd have them all doing hard labor and use a whip. That should also be done to the mothers who keep popping out these kids, virtually guaranteeing the kind of life they are living. These lowlifes need to be removed permanently from society, and their mothers need to stop having more kids.
Anonymous
Help out: Many of these young men come from good upbringings but somehow choose the wrong path because for them it's the easiest way to go. As adults, we need to make an effort to help them and show them the other side of the coin. They would be happy to learn that someone cares. We must step up to the plate and keep a good eye on our brothers, sisters, and cousins, for they too can fall.
Anonymous
Listen up: I told my 15-year-old to read this article because he has been giving me a lot of problems lately. I hate it for these children if this really happens to them, but maybe they will carry their butts home and behave and respect their parents. I have three sons, and I always told them: "If you can't listen to me, there is someone behind bars you don't want to meet that you will have to listen to."
Anonymous
Stripped
Update needed: Grant Gravitt Jr., the vice president of the company that puts on the Miss Florida USA contest, is simply a hypocritical jerk for calling Caroline Schwitzky a whore ("Porn Again," Gus Garcia-Roberts, April 7). For what it's worth, I think she would've been more interesting than all the other contestants combined — and prettier too! Hello — we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. I say the whole beauty pageant concept needs to move ahead into the gritty realities of the 21st Century.
Draconius
No-brainer: It's only a pageant. Not exactly a bucketful of brains. It's just a display of how far we have diverged from the apes.
Angela Garcia
Bum rap: Love it! Who cares about what she did in the past? What really needs to be looked at closer is this pageant and the guy in charge. No way to treat a woman. Period. The guy has been arrested and obviously has had issues with honesty, and this is the guy managing your daughters? She's lucky she resigned and didn't have to deal with him longer than she did.
George Sandi
Still a queen: She should have been able to keep her crown. The media is insanely hypocritical. She is just trying to make it in a gross industry. Too bad, girl — keep yo head up!
Anonymous
Dime a dozen: Seriously, who gives a shit? There are hundreds of hoochies like her in Miami.
CR
Wish List
That's entertainment: Regarding Luther Campbell's column saying that Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina's slush fund can buy lap dances and stone crab claws ("Uncle Luke," Luther Campbell, April, 7): Have you researched what Luther has done with his life in the past? Frankly, what he imagines that Robaina is doing is of no interest to anyone. He cannot judge others by his own manipulative actions. It would be an embarrassment to the constituents of our county to have this sort of mayor. This is not reality TV, music CDs, or a joke! Wake up, Miami-Dade County!
Anonymous
Spread the wealth: Robaina and his band of merry men (AKA the city council) should donate all of their "expenses" to the employees of Hialeah whose backs they are breaking while balancing the budget.
Grew Up in Hialeah
