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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 18, 2009

Streetcars Outdated

Tampa's streetcar to nowhere is losing money and will need public financing to survive.

As a child growing up in the 1950s, I remember that streetcars were considered by sensible people to be an outdated mode of transport. Their ubiquitous tracks made navigating the streets of most cities, whether on bicycle, on foot or in the car, into a rough and bumpy road.
Streetcars were outdated eyesores. They lost money and needed public support to operate.

By the mid-1960s most of America's big cities had ripped up the old tracks and gotten rid of the overhead rigging used to support these 19th century buggies. Once-narrow urban roadways opened up and were able to handle additional lanes of traffic for buses, trucks and auto. Traffic flows improved.

Today's big cities mostly use publicly owned bus lines for urban transport. Buses have their detractors too, mostly because most urban bus lines don't collect enough fares to pay their own way.

Suburban folk - who rarely use buses - pay the difference in higher taxes at the local, state and federal level.

Many of the people who loudly proclaim their support of such 21st-century oddities as streetcars and buses do their own travel in SUVs and even private jets.

Like a streetcar to nowhere, it doesn't make sense.

JIM PARKER

Lakeland

Missed An Earthquake

The Tampa Tribune and I have been a morning ritual for over 20 years, and our relationship has become intensified since retiring a couple of years ago. There is nothing like a cup of coffee and the Tribune in the morning (even though my spouse is a big proponent of online news).

However, I feel compelled to express my dismay of virtually no coverage of recent events in Central America, to wit, the earthquake in Costa Rica registering 6.2 on the scale. Since my husband and I spend many months in Costa Rica, we have a vested interest in the area and, of course, the beautiful people of that small country.

If not for the online news and calls from friends around the U.S., we would have been unaware of the massive destruction in Costa Rica.

With the great population of people from Central and South America and Spanish-speaking countries living in the Tampa area, it perplexes me as to why there is virtually little to no coverage of those areas in the Tribune.

Adding any news covering those areas may even increase your dwindling circulation.

ANN BOYD

Plant City

Turn-Signal Crackdown

I have a solution to the budget cuts for the sheriff and police departments. All they have to do is give out tickets to people who don't use a turn signal before changing lanes or turning.

I know there is a law, but no one in this state uses signals. You can't count the ones that put it on while they are changing lanes.

Think of the income they could make by giving everyone a ticket. They could hire a whole new force.

CINDY CONTI

Apollo Beach

Employer Of Last Resort

The federal government could better serve as the "employer of last resort," instead of serving as the "spender of last resort." Once a fail-safe employer was in place, employers in the private sector would have good reason to believe that their customers would have a sustained ability to buy.

Having re-instilled that good reason to believe, there would be a diminishing need for the federal government to provide employment for workers whose time and skills are once again in demand.

The private sector would take it from there, and produce a sustained economic recovery. What the federal government needs to provide is an efficient economic catalyst. Deficit spending without foreseeable end carries too much negative baggage to likely be the source of renewed positive thinking.

JOHN B. HUBER

Sebring

Protest Rally Ignored

On Jan. 9 I was late getting home from work because a political protest delayed traffic along Fowler Avenue. Hundreds of people were protesting the events in Gaza.

I stopped and joined the crowd for about one hour. During that time there was not one member of the local new media. Why would journalists ignore such a large, long-lasting political rally at the corner of a major intersection in our community?

REX MILLER

Temple Terrace

Replace Cell-Tower Loss

The Coleman Middle School principal had to make a difficult decision and in the end decided that it wasn't in the best interest of the school to build a cell phone tower on school property.

Now that the school and its students will not see the educational benefits provided by the proposed tower revenues, I hope all the parents that opposed the initiative will dig a little deeper during Coleman fundraisers to mitigate a significant shortfall in discretionary monies.

J.A. BANKS

Tampa

Study Israel's History

The writer of the anti-Israeli letter (Jan. 11) needs to get himself to a library history section and get educated with the history of Israel. He might discover how this country came about and how much suffering went into that cause. He might discover how Israel has been turned into a garden of industry and agriculture from the stark desert that it was.

He might discover that Israel has never attacked its neighbors and has only retaliated against attackers. He might discover that Israel has always been willing to hold talks that might lead to peace. He might discover how many soldiers on the border have been kidnapped and/or killed along with the many civilians (children included) before Israel has taken any action. He might discover how long and how many rockets have been fired into Israel by Hamas (terrorists) in this latest attempt to intimidate Israelis.

He might then ponder on how many deaths have been caused over the past month (before Israel finally had enough) and he might think about the fact that Israel is our only real friend in the Middle East and a sure buffer against these suicide bombers, perhaps wreaking their destruction on any Western installation or populace in those areas, including Americans.

HUGO T. PEREIRA

Sebring

Cuban Realities

The situation in Cuba after enduring 50 years of what is an imperial tyranny and the three hurricanes of 2008 is at a critical stage. With a new administration taking over, the machinery to promote an unconditional removal of sanctions has gone into high gear using the same arguments that have been used since the fall of the Soviet empire.

Undoubtedly, there is a group that is compassionate and has the unbridled desire to improve the lot of the Cubans on the isle. They heap all sorts of guilt on the U.S., and there are those who cannot wait to enrich themselves making taxpayers pay for the financing of sales to the tyranny, which history shows will not be repaid.

And then there are the "useful fools" who ignore the true nature of the evil system and forge ahead with idiotic quixotic proposals that in the long run will serve to tighten the yoke the Cubans endure.

The desperate plight of the people is shown in news reports of large numbers converting to Judaism, in the hope of becoming part of the Jewish Diaspora and thus be entitled to free passage out of the country financed by Israel.

This brings to mind a story told by a Cuban Catholic Bishop a few years ago about a religious order that went to Cuba to recruit candidates for the priesthood to be educated abroad. In no time they had 42 applicants, and their exit was negotiated. Three months later, only one of the 42 remained in the seminary.

Cuba should be free!

ROGELIO MADRAZO

St. Petersburg

Rays In Crossword

Recently when visiting in the Washington, D.C., area, I was pleased and surprised to take note of a crossword clue in the Jan. 2 issue of The Washington Post, which read: "2008 World Series runner-up."

At last there is name recognition for the Rays.

JEAN HOPKINS

Zephyrhills

Nation Too Large

On the eve of his departure from office, I have this thought about G. W. Bush. He and one other president fostered a costly and needless war that should never have been fought. Bush's debacle in Afghanistan and Iraq is one. Abraham Lincoln and his Civil War was the other.

Their decisions led to the death and maiming of thousands of their countrymen. Perhaps it would have been best had our nation been allowed to break up into several smaller countries, say Dixieland, Yankeeland, Texas, and a few others. It has become so large it is unmanageable and as a military behemoth, throws its weight around like a crazed elephant.

Even today, the idea of a breakup has appeal.

JACK PEEL

Tampa

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....

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