Re the April 29 story Free for only 1 day, ex-con shot to death: When are we going to stop making criminals out to be victims? Joseph Lumpkin had just been released from prison one day before he committed another crime. He got caught by police, a struggle ensued and he was fatally shot.
It's interesting that his aunt said that, ''He was a pretty good kid'' and that his death was ''avoidable.'' She's right in one regard: Lumpkin's death could have been avoided -- had he not been committing another crime. As for her first assertion, anyone spending the better part of the last decade imprisoned --- several times for carjacking, burglary and grand-theft auto -- is definitely not a good kid.
ARLENE CARVAJAL, Miami
Limbaugh's quest
There has been a lot of comment about Hillary Clinton's victory in Pennsylvania. But nowhere has there been any mention of the campaign by Rush Limbaugh and other conservative radio talk-show hosts to get a couple of hundred followers to register as Democrats and vote for Clinton, the candidate they think that John McCain could defeat.
I am bewildered by the absence of comment.
RICHARD B. WOLF, Coral Gables
School funds cut
I wouldn't waste a dollar buying a Florida Lottery ticket when the billboards scream ''$16 billion for education'' while newspaper stories talk about budget cuts to education. Who's kidding whom?
NORMAN W. SCHWARTZ, Miami
Why people pray
The April 26 letter Folks are bitter says, ''Many people who go to church are poor and pray for salvation to improve their economic and living conditions.'' I have gone to church every Sunday of my life and have never prayed for better living conditions or more money.
I, and most people, go to church to thank God for his many blessings and the privilege of living in the greatest and most generous country in the world.
JUNE M. THOMAS, Miami
Runners need air
It was amazing to watch the Boston Marathon and see promoters allow motorcycles, cars and trucks spewing carbon monoxide to drive ahead of runners. They need all the oxygen they can get to perform their best.
If the promoters walked down any street with vehicle traffic and breathe, they would understand that the exhaust hinders runners' efforts.
KEN LEWIS, Pinecrest
Flaws in Medicaid
Re State Rep. Bill Galvano's April 19 letter Expand Medicaid reforms: He is correct in his assessment that the current Medicaid system is flawed.
However, to say that reform, as it's now being implemented, ''offers a better way'' and ''puts patients first'' could not be further from the truth.
Has he not read any of the reports describing Medicaid reform's failure to live up to its requirements or heard the stories of consumers who have suffered through skyrocketing healthcare costs or hospitalization because they couldn't get the care they needed?
Galvano refers to ''choice'' and ''incentives.'' But they are so limited or fraught with problems that they are irrelevant.
I'm curious as to why Galvano, a legislator who lives in Bradenton, is so emphatic about the need to bring this experiment to a county that is 200 miles from his own hometown.
Fort Lauderdale
War on Israel
Re the April 26 story Palestinian plight is flip side of Israel's independence joy: This story features a litany of Arab complaints against Israel, but it doesn't quote one Israeli.
One quote is sufficient to show that this was a biased story. One elderly man says that, ''Israel kicked me out of my house.'' But it wasn't Israel -- it was the united Arab attack on Israel after the Palestinians rejected the United Nations' partition plan.
There were more Jews kicked out of Arab countries at the time, yet those same countries refused citizenship to the Arab refugees -- even to this day. That is why they're confined to refugee camps while fleeing Jews were accepted in Israel. The rest of the article reflects Arab refugees' victim mentality -- and with not a single mention of Israel's losses in many wars and terror against it.
North Miami
Dems ineffective
Ever since the Democrats took control of Congress the economy has been in a downturn. With crude oil under our feet, the Democrats block drilling for it. Instead they support ethanol programs that are driving up food prices.
Yet they place blame elsewhere. Congress passes legislation, and the president signs them into law. Biofuel programs are inefficient and a detriment to the world's food supply. Congress needs to act to satisfy long-term oil demands and declare independence from the Middle East oil cartel.
FELIX A. FERNANDEZ, Cutler Bay
