Letter of the Day This sells or smells?
Editor, Naples Daily News:
Will big business go to any length to sell their products?
I'd say so.
When Capital One thinks it's humorous to have men dressed up as knights or Norsemen whatever and they run around beating people up and tearing things up; and when Greased Lightning has two older ladies beating each other over the head with a loaf of bread, then I would say that some establishments would do anything for money.
Think what our children must think when they view this spectacle of little or no respect for the human life.
The eyes of our children react to what their elders approve of.
If you do not believe it, then read your Daily News younger and younger children are reacting to the hate we show them.
Budgetary shell game
Editor: Naples Daily News:
The article in the Sunday Daily News that said "With thousands waiting for disabled services, millions unspent" is not new news.
Service providers from around the state were regularly in front of state senators and representatives from last spring with data advocating for individuals not served and the providers who the Department of Children and Families unilaterally cut reimbursement rates to two years ago.
Our agency brought two parents up to Tallahassee in March to meet with Sen. Burt Saunders on this very issue. This is reportedly the second year in a row that the Agency for People with Disabilities/Department of Children and Families has had tens of million of dollars in surplus while not providing the amount of services budgeted by the legislature.
As the Director of Sunrise Community of Collier County, I question the shell game someone in the state appears to be playing.
The Agency for People with Disabilities goes before the Legislature and says they needs X amount of dollars at budget time. Then they fail to provide services to individuals waiting four or more years and fail to reimburse providers for the cuts mandated that were not accomplished to the procedures they set in place, but are able to give $50 million to $65 million back to the state's general coffers.
As an advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities and providers, I urge our state senators and representatives to get to the bottom of this game and stop it.
Impeach Bush
Editor, Naples Daily News:
I agree President Bush should be impeached, put out of office and tried for his role in going to war against another country that did not attack us.
Bush and his cronies caused the deaths of 1,738 of our young men and 38 young women, and injured more than 8,000 soldiers, some losing their arms and legs and suffering other serious injuries. Thousands of innocent Iraqi people have died.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it may take 12 years or more before this war is over. Rumsfeld should resign. He is an arrogant warmonger just like Bush. George Bush claims he went to war to save the American people and the Iraqi people. We all know he went to war because "Saddam tried to kill his dad." How many times have you heard Bush say this?
Wake up, people. Make your voices heard and demand that this war end now and our brave troops be brought home before more of them get killed. The latest poll taken shows that 70 percent of Americans think going to war in Iraq was wrong.
Why did it take so long for them to come to their senses ? I was against the war from day one.
I challenge Naples Daily News to take a poll on impeaching President Bush for going to war against Iraq without justification. The answers should be very interesting.
If I were a betting person, I would say it would be 2-to-1 for impeachment.
Traffic
Editor, Naples Daily News:
What was Bob Trainor thinking when he wrote the letter of the day "open and shut case?"
He states that an individual was traveling the posted speed limit in the left lane on Interstate 75, endangering everyone. He goes on to call the individual sick, unfulfilled, narcissistic, antagonistic, negligent, a loser and so on. What?
Saying that the other drivers were speeding to get to their destinations and trying to get in front of this driver leaves me to wonder: Since when do we take the side of speeders and aggressive drivers?
As far as his statement that if an accident had occurred, he would have gone out of his way to testify in court against the driver who was doing the speed limit, shame on him. To bash an individual who was following the law and observing the posted 70 mph limit does not make sense.
Why not single out the true offenders who tailgate, speed and weave in and out of traffic, presenting more danger to all of us?
If someone is in the left lane doing the 70 mph posted speed it may be in your best interest to mind your own business. Stop watching the "lane changing and jockeying" in your rear-view mirror and pay attention to your own driving. After all, you wouldn't want someone to accuse you of being a "self-appointed speed monitor" (your words, Bob, not mine).
Government at work
Editor, Naples Daily News:
Rest easy. We've discovered proof your tax dollars are being well-spent on government pensions:
1. In 1995, Illinois Assemblyman Roger P.
McAuliffe introduced legislation allowing police officers turned state representatives to collect pensions from both fields of employment. The sole beneficiary of the bill former police officer Assemblyman Roger P.
McAuliffe.
2. Rhode Island state Sen. John Orabona claimed an annual pension of $106,000 when he retired in 1995 based on 79 years worth of state service. The problem is he is 51 years old. So how did he acquire more years in pension credits than he had been alive? Easy.
He found (and exploited) a loophole in the state's pension legislation that made it possible for him to combine benefits from various jobs. (Another Orabona act awarded government insiders pension credit toward summer jobs, such as lifeguarding).
This is our government at work.
Gifted education
Editor, Naples Daily News:
In answer to Nancy Rondina's letter, I can understand her pride and pleasure in knowing that she has a gifted child; and being gifted, this child should receive the best education that she can afford to supply.
She should be pleased that her child does not require special education to make them be accepted into society. A gifted child will, over the years, produce rewards great rewards, both personal and monetary, in which the parents will share and be more than compensated for their expenses (investment). No more than we expect to share in your child's monetary success should we be expected to supply expensive special education to make it happen. I commend the school board for their biting of the bullet in this decision!
We, the senior citizens of Collier County, are obligated to educate the children of our county, and rightfully so. However, the education of the gifted, if this requires special schooling and/or education, should be the responsibility of the family.
Truthfully, I feel that all children are gifted, each in his or her own way.
God bless our children.
Let us review
Editor, Naples Daily News:
Recent Supreme Court rulings, and those believing we aren't allowed religious liberties in public, require review of "Creator" references and religion by our Founding Fathers.
The difference between the Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence is our Founders' believing our rights come from God and not the king or state.
George Washington believed, "It is impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible ... to discount for creation of the universe ... to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being."
The National Archives include an engraving of the Ten Commandments.
At the Washington Monument the Holy Bible rests inside a cornerstone. The stairs' landings contain: Gospels, proverbs and prayers, topped off with an inscription on the aluminum cap: Laus Deo (Latin: "Praise be to God").
At the Jefferson Memorial, statements inscribed include: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man"; "Almighty God hath created the mind free"; "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?"
At the Supreme Court are images, statues of Moses; the Ten Commandments, etc. Court sessions open with "God save these United States and this honorable court."
At the Library of Congress is a statue of Moses, the Ten Commandments and an original copy of the Guttenberg Bible.
Let's ask God to keep our country under His protection and that the Supreme Court remembers from where our freedoms derive.
Real reality check
Editor, Naples Daily News:
Dani Pepin's letter of June 30 regarding a reality check needs a reality check.
Clinton only ran a surplus after a Republican Congress was elected and put a stop to his spending. Two years before he left office, his biggest tax increase in history finally trickled down and started us well on the way to a recession. The Bush administration also had to pay for a war on terror due mostly to Clinton's cowardice in handling previous acts of terror. If he had dropped bombs instead of his trousers, 9/11 probably would not have happened.
You are correct that the unemployment rate is 5.1 percent, not 1.5. That was obviously a dyslexic typo. As to 5.1, the rest of the world would kill to have unemployment that low. It means 94.9 percent of Americans are working! Not too shabby, eh?
The economy is sound; we're defeating terrorists all over the world. Our greatest danger in this country are the Fifth Columnists and Blame America First groups giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
That is your day's reality check. Have a nice day.
Check it out
Editor, Naples Daily News:
In the June 30 edition of the NDN, a frequent letter writer informs us that, having read the Quran, she has come to the conclusion that "Islam is as noble a religion as Christianity or Judaism."
This is consistent, of course, with the politically correct assertion of some government officials that "Islam is a religion of peace."
Before accepting that viewpoint, NDN readers may want to check out www.jihadwatch.org, which is operated by Robert Spencer, an acknowledged expert on Islam. After doing so, they may come to the realization that the so-called religion of peace is anything but.
Send in the twins
Editor, Naples Daily News:
President Bush said doing what we are doing in Iraq is worth it.
That is because he has no one over there. If Jen or Barbara were in the mix; he'd end it now. You see, it's like gambling with other people's money. It would be nice to win; but hey, until it's my money I'm losing, I'll take some chances.
He also invoked 9/11 at least five times in his recent speech; again what did Iraq have to do with 9/11? Nothing.
There are still Americans so misinformed that they believe Iraq had anything to do with 9/11. President Bush has not fired anyone for the wrong intelligence before or after this thing in Iraq.
The only people he has fired are people who told him he was wrong. Now that is a sign of a very troubled individual.
Iraq is a mess now and will be so for many years; I know this as my son is there. If Bush wants to show me how much he believes in his war; send his girls to drive or protect convoys, stand guard at checkpoints, or even just be a bodyguard for some of the newly elected officials over there.
Until he does this, I'll know he is just blowing smoke, like he did as a young man.
Who is responsible?
Editor, Naples Daily News:
Responsibility and accountability go together like love and marriage, but our politicians are obviously not interested in these concepts unless they can be used against the other party's members.
First, we are told that the intelligence before 9/11 was flawed. Who was responsible for that? Were they wrong or were they not listened to? If so, who didn't listen? Nobody was held accountable for this.
Then Iraq was invaded (another word for liberated). More than 1,700 of our military personnel have been killed and many thousand others have been wounded and crippled. We are told that we won that war, but are now fighting the war of the insurgents. I never heard it said like that before. Spin.
To just state that it happened and we must stay until we win and not place responsibility and accountability is poor leadership.
Now, they tell us that the Downing Street Memo is nothing. Sound familiar?
Watergate was also pooh-poohed, but finally some were forced to take responsibility and were held accountable. The president's speech June 28 was very disappointing to me. No responsibility or accountability there.
We must see this war through, but I believe some heads should roll for they mistakes that they are now acknowledging and I feel Rumsfeld should be the first to go, but surely not the last.
Shame on us
Editor, Naples Daily News:
I fail to see how Mario DeMicheli's presentation of Luke 22:42 supports his apparent view that even Jesus Christ supports putting to death individuals who are blind and disabled. Throughout the Bible we are told to care for the elderly, widows, the weak, sick and disabled. We are also instructed to feed the hungry, and give water to those who thirst.
Jesus said these words ("Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.") in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion because he valued his life on earth. The Bible relays that although Jesus was the son of God, he was also a human being who experienced the same emotions and temptations as any man. As such, his desire to cleave to life, and let torture and death pass from him, if at all possible, is not an unusual request.
We progressed from killing babies in the womb, to murdering them via partial-birth abortion. Now people are supporting putting to death the blind and severely disabled. Keep going in this direction and individuals like Professor Steven Hawking whose incurable disease has him confined to a wheelchair, unable to talk, feed himself, or move may be murdered, too.
We condemned Hitler for his selective exterminations of the "inferior" (handicapped, elderly, sick, homosexuals, mentally retarded and the Jews), and now we are doing the same. Shame on us is right.
Fertile ground
Editor, Naples Daily News:
Could something very exciting be happening in Pelican Bay? First, Pelican Bay resident and MSTBU Board member Don Spanier refers to Pelican Bay as paradise in his letter to the NDN editor published on June 30. In the same issue, reporter I.M. Stackel writes that Pelican Bay has a "population of 15,000 according to foundation leaders."
How could this be when the June issue of the Pelican Bay Post states, "there are about 6,500 units in Pelican Bay with an average of about 1.8 residents per unit.
This gives us a population of about 11,700, of whom 5,050 are registered to vote in Florida."
Where is Stackel getting her facts? Does her number include Waterside shoppers on the day that Saks has its sale? Does it include the Philharmonic Center audience for programs that are sold out? Or perhaps there is something else that accounts for the 15,000 number.
When Spanier refers to Pelican Bay as a paradise, what does he really mean besides streets, sewers and landscaping?
Could the 3,000 discrepancy represent new babies? If this is the case, given the average age of Pelican Bay residents, this either represents a miracle or fertility drugs being added to the water.
Keep bias off the front
Editor, Naples Daily News:
It is difficult to understand why I.M. Stackel's article concerning Pelican Bay was placed on the front page of the June 23 issue of the Naples Daily News when it contained few facts, some half-truths, much conjecture, and no news.
Her article stated that the Pelican Bay Foundation has received consent, from owners of more than 50 percent of the land, to continue the annexation evaluation process, but has not yet received consent from all of the commercial interests.
Actually, to date, the Foundation has received consent from owners of more than 58 percent of the land.
This illustrates the broad support from Pelican Bay residents. Significantly, more individual unit owners have consented their land than have ever voted in a Pelican Bay election, with more consents arriving daily.
Stackel then hypothesizes that Pelican Bay commercial interests someday may want to increase the 42-foot height limit allowed by the city. Ultimately, registered voters in Naples and Pelican Bay will vote on annexation. If they are worried about vertical growth, this is a key reason to vote for annexation.
My basic concern is that Stackel appears to have a bias against Pelican Bay that she integrates into her news stories.
Is this her own bias or is she marching to the orders of the editor and publisher?
Whatever the answer, opinion pieces belong on the editorial page and news articles should be factual and unbiased. In a democracy, this is Journalism 101.
Blast the terrorists
Editor, Naples Daily News:
It's nice to hear from Susan Ahlborn about the millions of decent, God-fearing Muslims. I'm sure the majority of Germans were good people too when the Nazis were in power, but that didn't stop their country from being a threat to the world.
The terrorists across the Middle East are cowards who don't wear uniforms but choose to covertly and indiscriminately bomb innocents and enemies alike.
But with a little cooperation from all those so-called God-fearing, innocent Muslims who make up the vast majority but refuse to rat out the terrorists, it would surely be easier for the U.S. to identify and eliminate them. To look the other way at atrocity makes one an accomplice to the crime.
It's time for America to put an end to this mess and cut the losses of American soldiers. Blockade the entire Middle East, give every Arab a chance to surrender within two weeks (giving us a chance to verify their true identity), and then commence to blow the remaining holdouts to Kingdom Come. That's one way to finish bin Laden and the rest of jihad.
Then, for those smart enough to have surrendered, you get your homeland back exterminated of much of the vermin causing so much world grief. Hiroshima was the best thing that happened to the world, and where's Harry S. Truman when we need him.
This would give the world's terrorists the message they need to hear; and by the way, you're next, North Korea.
God bless President Bush.
Nothing new
Editor, Naples Daily News:
I listened carefully to President Bush's address on June 28 for something new and constructive on his leadership of the war in Iraq but was sadly disappointed.
The idiocy of attacking Iraq in the first place need not be repeated. Captain Ahab-Bush was determined to get that damned white whale, Iraq, regardless of the illogic or consequences. Iraq has truly become the center of the war on terrorism because Bush's bungling has made it so. Meanwhile, the 3,000 American dead from 9/11 go largely unavenged, Osama still roams free and plots mischief, and al-Qaida is alive and well.
Imagine what the 135,000 troops bogged down in Iraq could have done to crush the terrorists in Afghanistan who attacked us on 9/11.
Looking up from the depths of the quagmire they created, the Bush team challenges the Democrats to come up with their strategy for dealing with this mess. You can read the Democratic war strategy in the 2004 platform, www.democrats.org/platform. But producing a Democratic solution for any of the disasters of this administration, from Iraq to the economy, is a moot point.
The majority Republican Congress summarily rejects virtually all legislation put forward by the Democrats. Read the Sunday Naples Daily News on "how they voted."
I believe all Americans support our troops, who continue their unbroken heritage of superlative service to our country.
They do the bidding of the administration in power, and it is that administration that is the target of these remarks.
It's getting late
Editor, Naples Daily News:
We lost the war against terrorism the moment we invaded Iraq. We were on track after 9/11, attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan, who were protecting Osama bin Laden. Our invasion of Iraq for oil ended our chances of success against terrorism. Instead it created a rallying point for terrorists in the chaos that followed the downfall of Saddam Hussein.
This war is now a guerrilla war and we have never won such a war.
To fight a battle against terrorism, we should look to the Israelis for guidance.
They have been at it since 1946. Their method includes intelligence and targeting of individual leaders. Our war machine is inappropriate. Our weakest and most vital element is intelligence.
We are not going to convert this defeat by squelching criticism and calling it lack of support for the troops. Putting them in harm's way is not supporting them. The best support would be a total redirection from this ill-intended war in Iraq to a targeting of the terrorists wherever they may be.
I hope it's not too late, but it is getting later all the time.
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