Love letters
Nice story `"Museology 101," Dec. 22`. Or as Leonore, the French woman who worked at the old Chapters location off Edgewater Drive, said about the story of her and her husband's love, "It's not a story, it's a life."
Dennis Vazquez, Winter Park
Schneider right, Kong wrong
I couldn't agree with you more on the Kong film `Film, Dec. 15`. Although we've reached the height of realistic technology, I certainly do not think the audience wants to sit down for 20 minutes watching a herd of dinosaurs running down a path. You are not kidding when you said Kong's death lasted forever.
David Rivera, Orlando
Bruno to Orlando: You suck
Orlando sucks, Jason `"Counterpoint: No, it isn't (boring)," July 14`. And I've never been there. You type "Orlando sucks" on Google and you get 3,070 results. I've done the same with every one of the important cities in America and the closest comes to a thousand. Only symbolical, but quite representative. Why do you think corporations choose Orlando as their No. 1 destination for conferences and similar events? Because of the city's downtown alt-rock scene and the art museum?
My wife's having one of those corporate things in the spring. A whole damn week in boring, for-rednecks-only Orlando. She's having a hard time to convince me to go with her. And I love to travel and discover places! But Orlando is too much. I'm into the arts, contemporary art specially, and what is in Orlando other than an art museum with American art? What am I going to do there a whole entire week? And there are not even cultural cities nearby to drive to, like Miami or even St. Petersburg, or Sarasota (I don't drive anyway).
It's not that I live in New York City, capitol of the world. It's that hick paradises like Kansas City and Denver or dead cities like Detroit have more museums and culture than Orlando. I'm not saying Florida sucks — there are plenty of museums and artistic activity all around. It's just Orlando.
I went to my Art in America guide, listing every museum and gallery in the country (almost). Orlando is dispiriting: two galleries, the Orlando Museum of Art, the Mennello Museum of American Folk Art and a place for contemporary exhibitions. I'm not going there for that. And believe me, I'm not stupid. I mean, I live in New York City, you live in Orlando. And you call me stupid? Orlando sucks.
Bruno LeMieux-Ruibal, New York
Journalistic travesty
I wanted to praise your observation that the "news" story that WFTV Channel 9 did on gun permits `"All hail sweeps!", Dec. 15` wasn't so much a news story as an obvious ploy for ratings when the subject had absolutely no substance or merit. I'd almost classify it as a "non-story" except for the potential consequences that have yet to occur.
You mentioned that WFTV made public a list of all concealed-weapon permit holders on their website. In truth, they listed all the permit holders in six counties. Also, that list contained not just the names of permit holders, but their addresses as well.
What it basically boils down to is this: They just published a list of addresses where anyone with criminal intent is almost guaranteed to find a firearm when the homeowner isn't around. The only redeeming feature to this is that the list was taken down within 24 hours. Also, they didn't mention to the public how easy it was to obtain that list. All you really need is $200 and the patience to wait on the process.
WFTV took a big step in helping legally obtained firearms find their way into the hands of people who shouldn't have them and are prone to misuse them.
It's bad enough that they would air a story that intentionally misleads the public, but they also provided supplemental information that is actually harmful in a very real way. Personally, I consider this a travesty of journalism.
Nate Ross, Orlando
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