Racist Washing
And we're all along for the spin cycle: The Haitian refugee situation mentioned in Janine Zeitlin's November 29 article "Washed Up" is to be expected, especially in today's anti-immigrant climate in the United States. It's said this climate is created by working, poor whites who believe the country has to remain "sovereign" and protect its borders. Excuse me, why doesn't someone tell them that white people's ancestors came by boatloads and pushed and shoved and shot and murdered the Native Americans out of existence and territory? Who processed their asses at the border?
Also, I am tired of feeling sorry for poor white folks, even the ones with their brown babies. They always have more rights than the black folks. Walk around South Florida and see. Black folks in fact have stepped in line. We come to this country and fight like hell to transform ourselves into whites — check out our hairstyles and clothing and speech patterns and even culture and social life. This isn't the answer.
I feel a great deal of pain and sympathy for the folks who risk all to come here. I realize Haiti is a war-torn nation-state at this time. This makes the conditions right for fleeing. But when we arrive here, we have no bags or capital, so we can't win asylum. Unlike that of Jamaicans or even Trinidadians or black Cubans, our ethnicity is no help with authorities. The solutions are radical. Unfortunately few if any of us are brave enough to undertake them.
Marie Nadine Pierre
Via Web commentary
Fairness to none: Thank you, Janine Zeitlin, for "Washed Up." I am a Haitian immigrant. I came to this country when I was four years old. Now I am 27 years old and a U.S. citizen. I often think racism is the only reason Haitians are detained and then deported. I firmly believe immigration policies should be consistent. Special consideration should be evenly given to all or none at all.
Myriam Lubin
North Miami
Eat This, Food Dudes
You keep secrets, we expose 'em: Regarding Lee Klein's November 22 article, "Eat Shit and Die": Thank goodness for Miami New Times' courage to print the truths that other media won't.
The animal agriculture industry is full of secrets, and the fact that food animals are fed feces is definitely not the worst of them.
Egg farms keep it a secret that male chicks are thrown into trash cans as soon as they hatch. Dairy farms keep it a secret that male calves are torn from their mothers at birth and slaughtered before they are one day old. Pig farms keep it a secret that they slice off the toes, ears, and tails of live piglets using knives and no painkillers. Meat-packing plants (slaughterhouses) keep it a secret that up to four out of 10 animals are not properly stunned and go to their deaths screaming in agony as their body parts are removed.
The USDA keeps it a secret that it really isn't checking for mad cow disease, because finding it would be bad for business. The American Medical Association keeps it a secret that there is overwhelming evidence linking dairy products to cancer. The American Veterinary Medicine Association keeps it a secret that food animals are pumped with hormones and antibiotics, which are directly responsible for many antibiotic-resistant strains of disease.
Animal products that come from modern production facilities are cruel, unhealthy, and downright dangerous.
It is no wonder that the industry tries to keep these facts secret. Kudos to New Times for letting the shitty facts out of the bag. Veganism, anyone?
Brad King
Miami Beach
Unique free weekly ... aw shucks: "Eat Shit and Die" was great! I sent it to family and friends. Articles like this are rarely found in the mainstream media, which is what makes the Miami New Times so unique. Thank you again for your journalistic excellence.
Carly Goodman
Miami
Numb, numb, numb: Congrats to Lee Klein and the Miami New Times for awakening the numb masses to what they are feeding their families. "Eat Shit and Die" is well written and informative. Thanks.
Rich Sayette
Via Web commentary
Long Drive
For little money: I am writing about Isaiah Thompson's November 22 article "Rent to Moan." I rented from Dadeland Place (after management assumed my lease) for about nine months, and it was a living hell. Everything written in the article is on point. Sadly this has been the condition of the building — bare floors and all — since October of last year. I was a student and as such was essentially forced to live there. They assumed my lease and started being slumlords around October, and there was no way I could find an eight-month lease or afford another place. After I moved out, they kept my $3,300 deposit. It took nearly two months on the phone, threatening to sue them, and having to drive to Miami from North Carolina to get my deposit back.
Justin Moorefield
Via the Internet
Excuuuuse Us
He had nada to do with it: My departure from Gulfstream Park was due to family matters and had nothing to do with the investigation of alleged malfeasance at the park, as insinuated in Bob Norman's November 15 story "Free Gambling." I have not been implicated in any of this, but there is indeed an investigation happening, which I have fully supported.
Eric M. Lemerand
Via the Internet
Editor's note: Lemerand acknowledges he was suspended as a result of the investigation and that it contributed to his decision to resign.
Calvin's War
He doesn't like Adrian, obviously: When I read Calvin Godfrey's November 15 article "The Life and Death of Adrian Ellis," I was reminded of the Hearst paper coverage of the Spanish American War, in which William Randolph Hearst told his correspondent: "You supply the pictures, I'll supply the war."
Godfrey's style is very good, and from a technical standpoint, it was very interesting to read the weaving of present and past. It is a real talent. But from the standpoint of someone who lived it, I was very disappointed. I do not understand how someone like Adrian Ellis, who impregnated multiple women, comes out a hero because he loved all of his kids. That's wrong.
Craig Z. Sherar
Via the Internet
