TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Letters To The Editor

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 11, 2009

The 800-Pound Bully

Let me take issue with you not printing one letter in Tuesday's paper to counter the arguments made in support of Israel's attacks on Hamas. It appears many supporters of Israel do not know the meaning of "self-defense." It also appears to me that Israel cannot do any wrong when it comes to dealing with Hamas.

Hamas was voted into office just as George W. Bush and Barack Obama were. That makes it a government of the people, and as such it had every right to refuse signing a piece of paper that it felt would cause harm to its people. And that is what this latest round of fighting is all about.

What bothers me most is seeing military arms built in the United States being used to attack a people without a standing army - M-16s and Abrams tanks used to take out rock throwers, houses, schools and medical facilities, and Apache helicopters used to take out anything that stands, including innocent men, women and children.

Such heavy hands should never be allowed to be used in gaining one's wish. The U.S. government for has for too many years stood by and watched as Israel conducted such heavy-handed policies against the people of Palestine.

The fighting taking place in Palestine is not an act of self-defense by Israel but one of Israel saying "to hell with how the rest of the world sees this." Israel is the 800-pound bully in the room, and no one wants to do or say anything about its bullying.

BOBBY MCGILL

Valrico

Bailout By Design

Since the advent of our country's economic woes, fellow "letters" contributors have suggested plans to alleviate our fiduciary concerns. All have one thing in common: If there is to be a bailout, bail out the American taxpayer.

Do you wonder why no such approach is ever considered by our government scalawags and their Wall Street hacks? The "Other Views" article "Bad News In Store At The Pump" (Jan. 6) is a perfect example. Because Americans conserved and bought less $4-per-gallon gas, government revenue has declined. To make up the difference, bureaucrats have suggested raising the gas tax. What is never proposed is terminating the employment of all the bureaucrats who suggest such tripe to make up for lost revenue.

I just finished my third reading of "The Creature From Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin, first published in 1994. Interestingly, Chapter 2 is entitled, "The Name of the Game Is Bailout." I encourage all concerned to read this book. Even if you only read the second chapter, you will see our economic woes were carried out by design. This fraud has been ongoing since 1913. It's called the Federal Reserve.

JOHN REINER

Tampa

Good, And Cost Effective

Regarding "Hillsborough Schools Put Meal Budget On Diet" (Jan. 6):

Do any of you who criticize the county's Nutrition Division have any concept of how much money it would cost to provide 235,000-plus meals daily as we do in the restaurants? It's not laziness or unconcern that dictates the food that is served as much as it is utilizing labor-saving items as well as cost-efficient ones.

Canned fruits and vegetables not only have longer shelf lives, they can be just as nutritious as fresh products. Plastic pouches are more green-wise, as well as economical, without sacrificing nutritional content. Prepared potatoes are cost- and labor-effective.

My granddaughters eat a hot lunch daily at school. While I would love for them to eat the quality meals such as those my chef peers serve in the restaurant industry, it would cost the school district a fortune in food products and salaries.

Instead of criticizing the division we should be questioning those "billions to education" dollars that don't seem to be filtering into schools.

PATRICIA LEE-LUCARDIE

Tampa

In All Its Splendor

Regarding "The Waterfront Revisited" (Jan. 3):

I am sorry this is late, but this amazing page was spectacular to this native 47-year Hillsborough County resident!

For Christmas, I received the most wonderful gift, a book called "Historic Photos of Tampa," which in the most absolute splendor shows the history of Tampa in glorious photographs. While the pictures are awe-inspiring, they are sporadic in their history of downtown Tampa. Your pictorial and history of the settlement of downtown Tampa has actually brought together the magnificent historical photographs of the book with the timeline and history that the book didn't include.

Thank you for the history lesson and the amazing history of my hometown. I cannot wait until the finished product is open for residents and visitors of our beautiful city in the fall.

SCOTT KJEER

Riverview

Take Spotlight Off Race

I was terribly disappointed in the Tribune's "Face Of A Nation" (Sports, Jan. 4). Can we please, pretty please, stop looking at everything through the prism of ethnicity?

The fact that University of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is one-sixteenth Cherokee means, or should mean, nothing. In the Sports section it means less than nothing.

The time has come for the Tribune and other news media to eschew the endless identification of people by race, nationality, gender and the rest of the terms used to put us into little boxes separate from each other.

I find it ironic that the members of the Fourth Estate, who consider themselves to be among the most open-minded and liberal of all professions, insist on reminding us of our differences.

JOHN S.V. WEISS

Spring Hill

Quarter-Cent For State

Prominent leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties are entertaining two basic strategies for filling the state's $2.3-billion budget gap. One method involves simultaneously "borrowing" money from specifically reserved accounts while cutting back on funding of other essential programs, such as education and health care. The alternative route suggests an increased tax on certain products and services.

I propose an alternative solution, one that will close the budget gap without cutting government programs. A bill that imposes a temporary quarter-cent increase in sales taxes that would sunset at the end of a year will not only help balance our budget but give state officials time to critically analyze our state expenditures and make thoughtful, well-planned adjustments.

My proposal will buy legislators more time, not unlimited time. A quarter-of-a-cent boost in sales tax imposes a small burden without targeting one specific group or program. Another benefit of the sales tax increase is that a lot of the funds needed to balance the budget will come from out-of-state pockets.

Under most circumstances I would be opposed to an increase in sales tax, even a minimal increase on a temporary basis, but these are not ordinary times.

MICHAEL STEINBERG

Tampa

The FCAT Requirement

I am responding to a letter in the Dec. 25th Views section, "No FCAT A Holiday Wish." I have done some research and want to dispel some inaccuracies in Arlene Andrews' letter.

She stated that "hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on FCAT testing because a state law was passed to monitor the results in education." Actually, in 2008 the total amount was about $51.5 million to develop, print, administer and grade the FCAT. This is a cost of $19.44 per student tested.

Due to changes in the program, the Florida Department of Education estimates that the costs for 2009 will be significantly less. Details are at http://www.fldoe.org/asp/k12memo/pdf/K-12Assessmen....

The FCAT was started by a state law as she stated; however, it now comes under the direction of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. If we were to scrap the FCAT, we would stand to lose the federal portion of our schools' budget; approximately 8 percent of each school budget comes from federal sources.

Although this testing program might not be the perfect solution in an imperfect world, we have to make the best of what we are required to do.

ALAN KENT

Sebring

The Reality Of Sports

Let me open by saying that there are far too many football bowl games today. In my days as a student at Michigan State we went to the Rose Bowl twice. By now you probably have figured that I am an old guy still reliving the past.

In those days, I never had enough money to go all the way to California to attend either of those games. Several of us had considered hitchhiking out there, but soon abandoned that idea. Yes, in those days you could thumb a ride and not fear for your life.

In those days, the Rose and Orange bowls were the ones that counted, and both were played on New Year's Day. We have moved way past that time with dozens of bowl games now.

There are so many that they have to be strung out over several weeks. Now they are played for big bucks rather than just pride. Yes, I said big bucks, since the corporate world has even taken over college football. These schools get big bucks just for showing up at the stadium. Yes, I am talking millions here, so why worry about winning or losing what was supposed to be a fun game?

College football is not the only activity being invaded by the big-money corporate world. Auto racing has been taken over by big money, too. We have moved from the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500 to a race almost every weekend during the summer. Dozens of new tracks have been built the last several years, and there are so many ways to cheat that I don't even follow it anymore. I look at it as a gigantic waste of precious gasoline.

CHARLES KNAPP

Brandon

JOIN DISCUSSION

The Tribune welcomes letters and e-mails from readers. The text should be original and no longer than 150 words. By making a submission, you agree the Tribune may edit the letter for length and clarity, and publish it in any medium.

Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Mail to: P.O. Box 191, Tampa, FL 33601-0191. Or e-mail without attachments: tribletters@tampatrib.com.

Also, read and participate in the Tribune editorial board's blog, "Thinking Out Loud," at www.tboblogs.com/index.php/thinkoutloud/categories....

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT