Letters to the editor: Nov. 25, 2003

Letter of the Day -- Stop the press

Editor, Naples Daily News:

We scheduled four different companies for a variety of repairs, installation and estimates to come to our home -- all on the same day.

Not only did all four show up, three were early. The fourth, at one minute after his appointed time, called and explained his tardiness. He showed up in a reasonable time.

One was so honorable that he turned down the sale and installation we requested because it might result in a safety hazard.

I won't list the company names because all of the "letters" readers will start using them and we'll have a problem getting them back, when we need them again.

In our 14 years in Naples, we have never -- no, never -- had a bad experience with home-service people.

Hurray for Naples.

Loose cannons sink ships

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Thank God the media picked up one of our greatest destructive problems in Collier County. Brent Batten's column on Nov. 20 pointed out the unhealing wound between the county and city of Naples.

It hurts as a longtime resident of Collier County when a loose cannon goes off and the hateful side of opinions speak out to the public, by our elected officials towards other elected officials in the same county we all live in. It's like having a sore on your body that is trying to heal and your hand just cannot quit picking at that sore even though you know if your hand doesn't quit picking, then your entire body will suffer and never heal.

There are many needed projects for the benefit of the entire county that can only happen with the cooperation of elected city and county officials. This only happens through meetings, workshops and communication, not hatred from loose cannons who can only sink everyone's ship.

These hateful resentments are admittedly used as an excuse for the past. This one particular loose cannon mentioned in the Brent Batten's article has always pointed his finger when criticized for his bad judgments and would say, "Let's move on, that happened in the past."

I hope that doesn't mean only when it fits your personal needs. So remember the needs of the people you were elected to serve and the communication it takes to achieve those needs.

Money and monkeys

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Naples Daily News' reporter Cathy Zollo's coverage of the Nov. 18 Collier County School Board's judiciary hearing was "right on the money" regarding new Vice Chair Pat Carroll's coldhearted attitude towards the support staff, as well as the low morale among these employees as a result of the School Board's decision to grant a pay increase totaling less than the cost-of-living increase over the past two years.

Her lack of empathy with the workers came across much more obviously than I'm sure she intended it to, as I know that she is not normally a "mean-spirited" person.

But I must state for the record that I was not among the group of disgruntled employees who congregated outside after the hearing seeking to oust the School Board member many of them had voted for just a year ago.

Rather than involve myself in the political action committee, I've decided to take Ms. Carroll's message to heart. There's been a great deal of financial waste and careless spending within the school district and I intend to work closely with Ms. Carroll and the other School Board members to uncover and expose it. We are part of the education process, so we need to be part of the solution.

But I wonder if the administration will cooperate with such an internal review and I wonder how cooperative they will be with our recommendations.

P.S. -- I see the Naples City Council has decided not to protect Naples' exotic population of squirrel monkeys after all. Perhaps the school district could train them to work for peanuts and cucumbers!

Rx for drug costs

Editor, Naples Daily News:

There is a big mistake coming. The Medicare prescription program is going to compete with private insurance for coverage. For the last 25 years I have been in pharmacy, private insurance has not been able to keep the cost of drugs down. (They just reduce reimbursement to hospitals, doctors and pharmacies.)

This will never change in the private sector. Unfortunately that means a drug price freeze (Canada) is the only way to stop the escalating costs. Does anyone realize that one pound of Nexium (the purple pill) costs the same as a Cadillac Deville? Almost $45,000.

A Cadillac also produces jobs with 4,000 pounds of materials going into its construction. How many verifiable jobs does one pound of Nexium produce?

New drugs to market also have been doubling in price every seven years (average 10 percent a year). Price controls scare the you-know-what out of a free-enterprise system, but the drug industry is a closed market with the manufacturers in control.

With a price freeze, drug companies will continue research and development by cutting the fluff out of their industry like every other business has already been forced to do. Some $2 billion to $3 billion in advertising is a lot of fluff.

Pact for peace

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Our president spoke in England of the need for peace while tens of thousands marched protesting the war in Iraq. He neglected to mention the most important peace initiative taking place right now in the Middle East to bring an end to the decades of struggle between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Geneva Accord was signed more than a month ago by Yossi Beilin, former Israeli justice minister, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, former Palestinian information minister. Copies were mailed to all Israeli and Palestinian homes. This plan gives structure and steps to a peaceful settlement between Israel and Palestine; it should have been a cornerstone of both President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's discussion.

Why don't they see that peace between these combatants must be achieved before real and lasting progress in the war against terror is possible? Peace in the Middle East won't be won by bullets and force. Tragedies like the bombings in Turkey will stop when chaos ends, when terror has no hold.

The Geneva Accord paves the way toward a world of shared security and strength. Get your copy via Internet on the Web site for "Geneva Accord." Keep a copy of it within reach during these troubled days. Urge our nation's leaders to support it. Share it with your loved ones as Middle Easterners are doing right now in their homes.

Perhaps we can mobilize the moderates across the globe to settle the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and finally make a real road map for peace and an end to terrorism.

Mind-boggling

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Our Collier County commissioners have once again completely disregarded a mandate by the citizens of this county and have chosen to go their own way.

Commissioners Tom Henning, Jim Coletta and Frank Halas have either succumbed to the special interest of some developers or are taking stupid pills. Their plan to divert tourist development tax dollars from beach renourishment and maintenance to purchase land inland to provide parking for "beach access" is mind-boggling.

What good is beach access if there is no beach? Without the funds from the tourist development tax which was passed by referendum in 1992 specifically to provide for beach renourishment and maintenance, our beaches will suffer immeasurably.

The county staff proposal for the tourist tax funding policy is the most convoluted, nearsighted and ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Their plan would renourish only portions of the beach adjacent to the public access areas, leaving the rest untouched and subject to intense erosion mitigated by its proximity to the improved area.

The citizens of Collier County must put a stop to this irresponsible abuse of power.

Lorenzo's toil

Editor, Naples Daily News:

What a marvelous tribute to J. Lorenzo Walker. But only two reporters to write the story of his life? And what a life he had! While I didn't know him well, I am way ahead of those who didn't have the pleasure of knowing him at all.

Lorenzo earned getting his name on "his" school. A power in the state Legislature, he worked to get funds for the school from each county. Despite his efforts, it was not to be -- the first year. So he redoubled his efforts the second year.

I personally am an advocate of such schools and love the one we have on Estey Avenue. I was concerned when they were looking for a "new" name for the school. But the powers that be did the right thing and Walker's reward will stand for scores of years to come as a well-deserved tribute to a much-beloved man.

Only a small percentage of Naples residents realize that they are a member of James Lorenzo Walker's "family." But that leaves thousands of us who do know! We'll see you later, Lorenzo.

The few, the brave

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Hand-wringing French, German and Russian leaders and many other coward leaders forgot, once again, lessons of history. Adolf Hitler, among the worst fanatics, prevailed one time when French and British didn't take strong measures in 1938. They let him go ahead, stupidly smiling to their dream of peace against reality.

The communist system, during 70 years, terrorized the world, but only the United States had the guts to oppose it.

Facing international terrorism for at least 25 years, many countries procrastinated against helping the United States for fear that they might be attacked on their own land. The United Nations closed its office in Iraq, and now Italians quit because they have been targeted. Japan doesn't want to send its troops.

After two attacks in a row in Turkey, will countries and their leaders understand that nobody is spared by terrorism?

This apathetic attitude of facing a big threat is a victory for the fanatics. Even many strong warnings that we received for years didn't succeed to move people against terror and the deliberate killing of innocents.

People and leaders, involved in precious nonintervention in order to protect their interests and their political agenda, will pay sooner or later for a lack of courage, unity and foresight.

My heart is with our fighters for "liberty and justice for all."

God bless America.

Wrong, wrong, wrong

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Didn't Collier County just pass an ethics ordinance? How, then, can this ethically challenged government steal property rights and resident protection by reneging on the deed restrictions to which this county agreed? Collier County agreed to these restrictions in perpetuity, not just for a certain period.

The commissioners insisted that the parking garage was not tied in to the Waterside Shops expansion. Yet the county attorney said this was an amendment to Pelican Bay's planned unit development and the county would look for more changes! Beach access is important but not at the expense of the taxpayers within Pelican Bay.

Is this the beginning of overturning other deed restrictions throughout the county at the whim of the county manager and County Commission? Where next?

In my 25 years in Collier County, including the Stadium Naples days, our county has never been this wrong.

Not so fast there, sir

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Once again, the bad taste in letters award goes to Tom Macchia. Apparently Democrats are passing off people as poor when they couldn't possibly be because they own a house, a car and a television.

I know a married couple in Naples Park. Each works two full-time jobs to pay the bills and feed their children. A night out means a fast-food restaurant. While proud, and they would never admit to being poor, financially they are. They save every penny in the hope their children might attend college, as do many others in their position.

It bothers me that Mr. Macchia has no problem with our Wall Street leaders indicted daily for scamming all of us out of billions of dollars. Or that American companies can incorporate overseas, yet get away with paying minimal taxes. These companies did a billion dollars in business with our government (2001-2002). Yet when the Senate twice passed legislation to stop this practice, it was removed from the bill by House Republicans. Our Congress now allows American companies to send manufacturing jobs overseas and pay no taxes on those products sold there

Yet Mr. Macchia is worried that Democrats are passing off the middle class as poor to "pull at the heartstrings of the middle class." I am middle class, Mr. Macchia, and you, sir, showed none. I would strongly recommend you spend a day at St. Matthew's House serving food to the people who are beyond poor -- or is that something only Democrats do?

Keep Christ in Christmas

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Our Founding Fathers established this nation on Christian principles and, for sure, they knew, respected and celebrated Dec. 25 as the birthdate of Jesus Christ. Our kids, today, with the education they receive, would never see the correlation of "Christ's Mass" to the perverted version of Christmas it has now become.

When the Democratic Party found it could not remove this nation's basic faith in God by constitutional legislative means, it found a way to do so by appointing (for life) federal judges who are now circumventing Congress' sole right to make law by unconstitutional judicial decree.

Examples: "One nation, under God" is unlawful in our Pledge of Allegiance; sodomy now is protected as a constitutional right.

Local school boards have been brainwashed and frightened by the American Civil Liberties Union, People for the Separation of Church and State, People for the American Way and others into thinking schoolchildren cannot say "Merry Christmas," bring anything with a Christian motif on campus, put up a nativity scene, wear a Christian pin or symbol, give out Christian cards, sing Christmas carols or write an essay about Jesus' birth or anything Christian.

Parents, if you go along with this sham, you too have been brainwashed!

If you feel your child's Christian faith is being thwarted by misguided, local school board policies this Christmas, call the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) in Scottsdale, Ariz., at 1-800-835-5233. This nonprofit legal group has been very instrumental in thwarting the anti-Christian movement in our nation. Let's fight to "keep Christ in Christmas!"

Please! Perfect?

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Two recent letters say "our president now is not perfect but he is not far from it" and "this president is honest and courageous."

Please! Perfect? He's about as close to being perfect as planet Pluto is close to the sun.

As for this president "who is honest and courageous," please! Honest? He lied to become president with false promises of uniting us. We are now more polarized than ever before.

He lied repeatedly to get us into this terrible, illegal war that has killed 400-plus of our courageous soldiers and wounded 2,200-plus. He has killed and maimed innocent civilian men, women and children whose only crime was not being free. Well, he certainly freed them from this world.

He has lots of courage to send others to their deaths. He showed his personal courage during Vietnam when he ducked his service.

So much for this swaggering, smirking, phony, courageous president posing in full "Top Gun" uniform. He's nothing but a lying draft dodger.

If a tree fell ...

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Every day there are accounts of suicide bombings, car bombings, the drumbeat of American casualties, nightly analysis upon analysis of American mistakes, and on and on.

But from this comes the meanest riddle of all: Can terrorism prevail without publicity?