Fight Club
Disturbing implications: I think it is wonderful that Garret Holeve, the young MMA fighter with Down syndrome ("Looking for a Fight," Chris Sweeney, December 20), is passionate about this sport, and the training is an added physical benefit for him. That being said, I find it disturbing that a person who has limited ability on an intellectual level is being allowed to make the choice to have a "real" fight. People with Down syndrome have other limitations physically and complications besides their intellectual capabilities. How can the punishment and risk of injury impact those conditions? Perhaps there is a reason the Special Olympics do not have a punishing sport like MMA on the schedule. mega_bytes
Let him do what he loves: I love what Holeve is doing. As a father of a young boy with autism, I take to heart anything that provides purpose and hope for special-needs kids. ThunderValleyKO
Guru on the Run
Crazy like a fox: I enjoyed your interesting article about spending four hours with John McAfee, the tech guru on the run from an inquisition into his neighbor's murder in Belize ("John McAfee's Madness," Michael E. Miller, December 20). I think the man lost a few marbles some 50 guns and 15 young girls ago, but he's not as crazy as he's acting. I have lived in Belize full-time for seven years, midway on the coast between this guy's two places. The talk down here, which is all rumor, is that he's afraid to come back for reasons besides the murder case. People here are waiting for the pressure to mount for him to start singing like a bird, but not about a murder most think he has nothing to do with. More likely, he'd talk about his ties to important, unsavory people here. I think he's playing the press like a fiddle with the strings slightly breaking. His key here is to sound crazy, so that way he will feel safer that no one offs him out of fear he will sing. I do believe he has reason to be afraid, though I must admit I have no sympathy for him at all. I can't believe he chose to run to Florida of all places, which has extremely close ties to Belize. Constance Bailey
Liar, liar: Hey, McAfee, since you are a self-professed liar, why should it be good enough for you to say you didn't kill Greg Faull, your neighbor? Why should we believe you? You are a compulsive liar, and I believe you killed him. Enjoy your freedom while you can, because your lies are catching up with you. I'd take real good care of your girlfriends in Belize, or they will turn on you too. At least that's what I'm hoping. psychodrama
Art Heist
Disingenuous thief: So Josafat Miranda, the Miami artist who got caught red-handed at Scope art fair copying another artist's photographs ("The Art of Theft," Tim Elfrink, December 20), thinks the only thing he did wrong was not credit the photographer? Even if he did credit the photographer, it would still be illegal to copy someone else's work like he did and then sell the images without their permission. He is making money and building a reputation on someone else's creativity. Maybe he really was uneducated in the legality of what he was doing (though, personally, I don't think so), but anyone can see this sort of copying is not right. rav1122
Changing world: With the change in social mores (and copyright laws) to accommodate more music sampling and the use of iconic images in street art, the line seems more and more blurred as to whether what Miranda did is outright theft or just image appropriation and refinement. Personally, I like the paintings way more than the original photographs, but that doesn't change the fact that the original artist was upset and feels robbed. Shinyfluff
Photography is art: I've been going through a similar situation with a company that was selling traced work based off my photographs, and I am now facing a lawsuit for publicly expressing my opinion. Makes no sense, right? Yet the ones doing the crime seem to always play the victim. This is another perfect example. Look how Miranda is concerned only about not having a gallery or a job anymore, or complaining that he's "ruined." These are the consequences of plagiarizing. It is no one's fault other than his own. The problem is that the people who do this are so used to doing it that they actually somehow make themselves believe they are doing nothing wrong. They think they can pull random photographs off the Internet and use them as reference material. These people are forgetting that photography is also an art. It takes considerable time to come up with a concept all the way to executing it. I doubt this case would escalate into a courtroom battle, but I hope Miranda learned his lesson either way. artraged
