NASCAR race, gay wedding cake and Xway: Letters

by Alyssa Holroyd
Posted: Jul 07, 2015

Sports columnist Mike Bianchi nailed it when he wrote about TV ruining the July 4th race ("TV turns former 'Firecracker' into a dud," Sunday). The reason the race was moved from Saturday to Sunday evening, network executives would argue, is for better ratings. (I wonder what their market share was at 1 a.m., when the race was at its half-way point.) My argument to them would be that you can draw just as many, if not many more, race fans to a morning race as to a night-time race. Race fans will tune in, and visit the track, because they love racing.

How to contributeSEE ALL RELATED8The fans seem to be low on the list of priorities for NASCAR, Joie Chitwood III, the networks and the sponsors. After all, if they loved their fans — you know, the people who pay them — they would not continually subject them to excessive rain delays and events finishing at absurdly late hours.

The people in charge of racing don't care so much about the fans. They care about money much more.

Race fans, it's time to take back your Independence Day race. Let's run it on July 4th, in the morning, and have some real fun — Firecracker 400-style.

Michael Heamon Kissimmee

Bakery owners have right to refuse service

picture: bridal gowns

The former owners of an Oregon bakery have been ordered to pay $135,000 to a lesbian couple because they had refused to bake a wedding cake for the couple. The former owners had cited religious beliefs.

cCommentsMs. Garven: stop making sense. EVERY argument against same-sex marriage can be just as easily defeated, but the opponents don't care to hear about it.

CONNEMARA

AT 6:11 PM JULY 06, 2015ADD A COMMENTSEE ALL COMMENTS2Apparently, their refusal caused the couple emotional and mental suffering. What about the emotional and mental suffering of the owners? Why is the freedom of the owners being denied? Many bakeries would not have any problem with complying to any request from any couple. These former owners had every right to defend themselves. This is not a government-run institution. All Americans have the right to conduct their business as they see fit.

They were not defrauding anyone. They were not stealing or maligning anyone's sexual orientation. They were just enjoying the freedom that America provides everyone. We are the greatest nation on Earth. God Bless America — land of the free.

Lydia Demola Winter Park

Independence, not 4th

When will we stop referring to America's birthday — Independence Day — as the Fourth of July? On Christ's birthday we don't say: Merry 25th of December. The 4th is just a number. Independence is what we celebrate. God bless, and happy birthday, America.

Toni M. Williamson Poinciana

Fireworks noise can stress people, animals

I like fireworks just as much as the next person, but not in a wooded, peaceful neighborhood. Especially not the explosives that are designed to make the biggest boom.

Have the people who are using these fireworks until late in the night thought about how this excessive noise impacts birds, bats, pets and other wildlife? Dogs can be stressed to the point of needing medication.

Do they consider the war veterans who might have lived through real explosives? Post-traumatic stress disorder is real. Do fireworks honor them?

There are many places to go and enjoy fireworks. Next time, please think of how such mindless entertainment is impacting other creatures that we share living space with. It is the least we can do.

Patricia Sowards Maitland

Citizens should be Xway's top priority

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has suggested taking funds from the Central Florida Expressway Authority to help with other transit organizations that aren't doing as well because the agency is flush with money. Is he serious?

If the Expressway Authority is flush with funds, then why not lower the tolls on the roads? Better yet, why not close down toll booths? This Expressway Authority should be checked by an independent counsel with muscle to do something about overcharging. Toll roads in Central Florida have gotten out of hand, and now we're getting toll lanes on Interstate 4.

Refund tolls, reduce tolls, eliminate toll booths, and look at this agency's budget. Don't move the money to another agency. Give it back to the people.

Mary McKeand Orlando

Confederate flag should fly as reminder

Having just read the news about TV Land dropping "The Dukes of Hazzard" reruns because of the car, the General Lee, having the Confederate flag on it, I had to laugh out loud and long. I am a black male, who is a Civil War re-enactor. We have a Cavalry unit that has been in action for more than 23 years as the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry, one of seven in service during that war.

I laugh, because all this fuss over the flag is silly. The Confederate battle flag is a symbol of a loser and traitor to the United States. The Confederacy in fact was the biggest loser. As with "The Dukes of Hazzard," you can't change history by banning something.

Let the flag fly; let us all learn the truth about the use of the flag during the war and all the years afterward. It is a part of this country's past, and none of us — black, white or otherwise — should forget it. Black people should especially remember, not dwell on it.

So, as Americans, let it fly. Don't let its memory fade from our minds and hearts. Remember, it is a flag favored by traitorous losers — that will never change. No matter how much modern Confederates try to spin it. Like the Nazi flag, it will always be a symbol of bigoted losers.

John Russell Orlando

Not all can procreate

Cornelius A. Kelly writes in his Sunday letter to the editor that gay marriages are unequal because couples of the same sex can't procreate.

I was happily married to my husband for more than 36 years until his passing last year. We spent 10 years using "outside sources," in Kelly's words, to try to have a baby. We ultimately adopted a beautiful baby girl.

For Kelly to suggest that our marriage was something less or not "equal" because we couldn't procreate is not only insulting but hurtful.