;RAISE YOUR IQ
;;To Jon from Windermere [see Letters, ;Aug. 9], about your comment on "Dumbville USA": I recall that Will Rogers once said, "I've always believed all those people who moved from Oklahoma to California raised the average IQ of two states."
;;Tom Geis, Orlando
;;;THE KIDS WILL LOVE IT
;;All right, I usually like Happytown™, but the attack on the Orange County library's gaming program was just childish.Their advertisement, "Come play our Xbox 360," might sound silly to some of us (especially those who already have one), [but] there have got to be plenty of kids out there that love the whole idea. It's not like you check out books from the library you already own, right?
;;Can you think of very many other libraries providing gaming to kids like this? The guys from Happytown™ may not be playing Dance Dance Revolution at the library anytime soon, but I bet the kids that do are going to have a good time.
;;Mike, via the Internet
;;;A USELESS LAW
;;I read your article regarding the SLAPP lawsuit that was filed against Mr. Larry Giles by Veranda Partners over comments that were made by him on his website, www.verandaparknews.com [see "SLAPP happy," Aug. 9]. I have communicated with Mr. Giles and he tells me that just six months into the lawsuit filed against him, it has already cost him $60,000.
;;Mr. Giles is only one among thousands of Floridians who on an almost daily basis have effectively had their First Amendment rights abridged by a more powerful and affluent adversary for no other reason than to silence their critics and exact some measure of revenge. Out of all of the states that have either passed or are considering [anti-SLAPP] legislation, [Florida's] is the most useless and ineffective.
;;As passed, [Florida's law] basically dictates that if a citizen complains about the government to the government and is then sued by the government for complaining about the government, they can invoke the remedies provided [by the law]. A testament to the uselessness of this law can be found in the fact that in the seven years since its passage, a Lexis-Nexis search reveals that not one of the 18 million residents of the state of Florida has ever been able to successfully invoke the anti-SLAPP remedies provided by Florida [law].
;;Even the government attorneys for the Florida Legislature recognized the fact that the law as passed offered absolutely no protection for 90 percent of this state's citizens, who routinely find themselves being sued for exercising their constitutionally protected rights as provided by the First Amendment.
;;This fact begs the question of why did our legislators bother at all? Simple: So Florida can now claim that they too have anti-SLAPP legislation on the books.
;;The fact remains that lawsuits such as that brought against Mr. Giles by Veranda Partners are not intended to see a fair and just adjudication before judge and jury.
;;Such lawsuits are brought for no other reason than to silence a critic and exact some measure of revenge for the perceived insult by so severely burdening the critic with the considerable legal costs and fees that it forces their capitulation long before trial on the matter.
;;The injustice of such lawsuits is readily apparent to all fair-minded people.
;;Which begs my next question: Why are the legislators who consider the passage and/or rejection of such laws and the attorneys who prosecute such cases not among those fair-minded people?
;; SLAPPED in Jacksonville
;;THANKS, BILLY!
;;I'm Martin of the Sprouts and I'd just like to say thanks for such a great review! [See review of Steve McQueen: Legacy Edition, Aug. 9.] "Some of the smartest songs ever committed ;to tape."
;;It's nice to think people still enjoy our music.
;;Martin McAloon
;Microtonal Management
;via the Internet