Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Um Novo Tempo (2000). Jose Feliciano on vocals. Merry Christmas, everyone!

To the Editor:

Re “Don’t Let Kids Play Football,” by Bennet Omalu (Op-Ed, Dec. 7):

I give a lot of credit to football and my youth coaches for helping me find a confidence and belief in myself I may not have found otherwise, as well as providing me a safe place where I could let out my bottled-up anger in a constructive way. But I, like 99.9 percent of the people reading this Op-Ed article and their children, never had any hope of playing in the National Football League.

Tens of millions of people in this country have played youth football, yet there is no widespread epidemic of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The research on C.T.E. is very clear for those who play at a high level, but what does that evidence have to do with the rest of us?

Given how little we know about C.T.E., is there any concrete reason not to believe that maybe all the brain needs after a large impact is a chance to heal (rather than going right back out on the field to absorb another large impact)?

Football can be such an important game for so many children in our country. It teaches character, confidence, hard work, leadership and teamwork. Let’s not take this opportunity away from them because a tiny fraction will eventually have to weigh the health risks of playing football at a pro or a semipro level against the benefits. For most of us, this is not a decision we will ever have to make.

JOHN LICCIARDELLO

New Brunswick, N.J.

What a day! First, the weather in North Texas is exquisite. Thank God for global warming! Second, I rode my bike for the sixth time in eight days, the fourth time in five days (covering 136.3 miles), and the third day in a row. I broke my personal record on the 34-mile course. It used to be 17.30 miles per hour. Now it's 17.45 miles per hour. (I've ridden this particular course 65 times.) The funny thing is that I felt tired this morning. I told Katherine that I'd probably take it easy (instead of hammering). Ha! I felt good (meaning strong) and worked hard in the second half of the ride to break the record. I listened to music the entire way. The image in this post is of the Trinity River, which parallels the trail for many miles. You can see the effect of our recent rains, which eroded the banks. My maximum heart rate today was 157. My average heart rate was 120. According to my GPS device, I burned 1,893 calories, which will allow me to eat some extra leftovers.

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A Pauper in Paradise (1977). Gorgeous.

To the Editor:

I believe that Jedidah C. Isler willfully misunderstands Chief Justice John Roberts Jr.’s question: “What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?”

I say “willfully” because Justice Roberts’s point is pretty obvious. He is not saying that a minority student can bring no new perspective to a physics class. He is saying: What new perspective can such a student bring by virtue of his minority status? In other words, what has blackness, whiteness or any other racial or ethnic feature to do with physics?

JOHN STADDON

Durham, N.C.

The writer is emeritus professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.

Note from KBJ: Here's what's racist: assuming that all blacks think alike, so that the mere presence of a black person in a classroom guarantees a black perspective. When progressives accuse conservatives of racism, they're projecting.

Donald Trump has already reduced Jeb Bush to a boy. When he gets done with Hillary Clinton, she will be crying.

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