After watching the Florida House of Representatives in action during the last regular session and the interminable special sessions, how could anyone doubt the veracity of Speaker Johnnie Byrd's comment that the members of the House are sheep?
The only thing he failed to say, or if he did it was not mentioned, was that he has been the beneficiary of their passivity and compliance.
The speaker repeatedly has managed to browbeat members of the House into supporting his ill-conceived plans and proposals.
The members of the House have consistently refused to stand up to Byrd as he rammed unpopular and foolish schemes through the House.
Fortunately, there are independent thinkers in the Florida Senate who have prevented some of these programs from becoming law.
Maybe now that the other state representatives realize just what Byrd thinks of them, they'll be able to develop backbones and do what is right for their constituents instead of falling in line and blindly following their leader.
-- Ray Eydmann, Valrico
The sheep and the shepherds
Johnnie Byrd is correct in his description of our legislators. Many of them are sheep, and the lobbyists are the shepherds.
Douglas Gardner, St. Petersburg
Shooting is expensive enough
Re: Let those who use gun ranges pay a disposal fee, letter, Feb. 24.
I disagree with making the shooters pay more to shoot. I think either the cartridge companies that make the bullets or the gun ranges themselves should be made to pay the cleanup fees. If they made bullets out of steel or copper instead of lead there wouldnt be a lead cleanup problem. As an avid shooter myself, I think we already pay outrageous fees to use the range and to buy the bullets, which are far from cheap. For me to take my .357 magnum to the range and shoot 100 rounds, it cost me $10 to $20 for the range, $30-$35 for the 100 bulllets, $6 for eye and ear protection (if you dont have your own) and $3-$5 for targets. Thats $50 to $75 for 30 minutes of fun. That's outrageous, and that is why so many people are taking their guns to the woods and shooting them. We already pay an outrageous amount. Make the ammunition companies that make the lead bullets pay for the cleanup, or make the range operators pay themselves.
-- Aaron Schmitz, Dunedin
Bizarre bill headed for passage
Re: Once again, Leislature takes a shot in the dark.
If Senate Bill 1156 and House Bill 149, proposed by the NRA and requiring taxpayer cleanup of gun-range lead pollution, is passed by our Legislature, it would have to go down as one of the most bizarre laws ever passed. It would be one of the most brazen and arrogant attacks on Florida taxpayers ever committed. It would be immediately laughed out of existence if it came from any other source; but, hold on, this is the National Rifle Association, legislatively the most feared lobby group in America. It will pass unless many of our legislators get either a brain or spine replacement, and we all know the odds of that. The only alternative is to let them know how you feel, and then make a legislator replacement at the ballot box, where necessary.
-- John Farnham, St. Petersburg
Doubts cast from Canada
Re: Diplomat's candor ruffles Canadians, Feb. 23.
As a Canadian, I read your article on U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci with interest. His comment that we learned the words to your national anthem because of hockey games is just one example of why the man, although he is quite candid, suffers from a total lack of understanding and appreciation for the intelligence level and the customs of other countries and their people. In short, he suffers from "foot in mouth" disease.
Unless we as Canadians agree with everything the U.S. government wants to do, we are accused of being unfriendly, uncooperative, or worse still, the enemy. Remember President Bush saying unless you are with us, you are against us?
Canada was blamed initially for allowing the terrorists involved in 9/11 to enter the United States through Canada. This was later proven not the case, yet many Americans to this day think it is true. When we had the massive power outage last year in several eastern states and the province of Ontario, Canada was initially blamed for the breakdown on the grid. That news was spread all over CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC. Within days, it was determined that the fault started in Ohio. However, there was hardly any retraction in the media and I still meet U.S. citizens who think Canada was at fault for the power outage.
I admire the patriotism shown by most Americans, and I think that we Canadians are just as patriotic. However, we are much more subdued and understanding about the customs and traditions of other nations around the world. That is probably why many of my American friends have asked me for Canadian flag stickers to attach to their luggage when going abroad.
In short, both countries are democracies, but Canadians don't have the blind trust and faith in their elected politicians that the Americans have, nor do we think that the American way of life is the only way.
The Canadian government and all Canadians will go to any length possible to stamp out terrorism. Killing innocent people in the name of so-called religious beliefs is wrong, and on this point I think all in the free world would agree. Going to war in Iraq without giving the U.N. inspectors more time was morally wrong. President Bush had applied enough pressure on Saddam Hussein for him to reinstate arms inspection, but he refused to give the United Nations more time. The American claim that weapons of mass destruction existed has proved to be ill-founded. Please remember who put that monster in power in Iraq, and who supported him. It was the United States.
Is it really any wonder why so many people outside your borders, but living in peace in the free world, do not trust your government? U.S. actions and involvement in the Mideast really are all about oil - and your track record in recent years, Vietnam, Cambodia, Grenada, Cuba (The Bay of Pigs) and now Iraq has many of us doubting your true purpose, and your government's credibility.
-- Paul Murphy, St. Petersburg
Priorities in outer space
On Jan. 14, a small group of astronomers who initially calculated that an asteroid was on a collision course with the Earth concluded that the predicted path of the asteroid would miss our planet. However, it became very apparent that there was no governmental emergency plan in effect for taking immediate actions to prevent or minimize the effect of a catastrophic asteroid impact on the Earth. Unfortunately, without a well-organized plan, there is some finite probability that the Earth will someday be impacted by an asteroid big enough to create another Gulf of Mexico and destroy much of the life on our planet.
What this scare should suggest is that our government establish an emergency plan that would coordinate all worldwide asteroid sightings and measurements in real time with optimal statistical estimation algorithms to most accurately predict asteroid trajectories and immediately launch Cold War-modified ballistic missiles, as needed, with nuclear warheads to intercept and divert or pulverize any threatening asteroid in time to minimize any damage to the Earth. This should be a definite priority over putting men on Mars.
-- Bernie Browne, Clearwater
Restoration information
Re: Glades restoration could kill coral, Feb. 25.
The article and headline published in your newspaper were based on the unsubstantiated assertion that Everglades restoration will increase nitrogen levels, fuel algal growth and cause harm to offshore coral reefs. The fact is, many different scientific hypotheses are being tested to explore potential cause-and-effect relationships between nutrient sources and water quality in Florida Bay and the Keys marine environments. Here is what we know:
Unfortunately, coral reef decline is occurring worldwide due to many factors such as disease, age, water temperature, etc.
Nitrogen comes from many sources, with rainfall being the single largest contributor. Local septic tanks, a byproduct of growth and development in the Keys, are also a major source of nitrogen input to area waters.
There is no documented evidence that nutrients from the Everglades affect or even reach the Keys' coral reef tract.
Most nitrogen from the Everglades is in an organic form, derived from decaying plants and soils. Only a small portion of this nitrogen can be directly used by algae. The rest needs to be broken down by bacteria before it can be used by algae. We do not know how quickly or where this occurs.
Nitrogen concentrations in water flowing into Everglades National Park's wetlands have been decreasing since 1985 and are now 50 percent lower than in the early 1980s.
The seasonal timing of algal blooms is similar to the timing of freshwater flow, but this correlation does not prove cause and effect. Nitrogen inputs from local rainfall and from Florida Bay sediments also increase during the rainy season.
Everglades and Florida Bay restoration will not only change freshwater flows but also improve water quality. While treatment marshes are designed primarily to remove phosphorus, these constructed wetlands also remove nitrogen. Monitoring data show that about half the nitrogen entering the treatment marshes during the past five years has been removed. Any future increases in freshwater flow will coincide with improved water quality. Thus, it is incorrect to assume that more water flowing from the restored Everglades will mean more nitrogen entering the marine environment.
Where we have information gaps, we are building complex circulation, water quality and ecological models. As we continue to move forward with Everglades restoration, the adaptive management approach allows us to consider, evaluate and incorporate validated information as it becomes available.
-- Chip Merriam, deputy executive director, Water Resources,South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach
Put tags on the offenders
Re: In slain girl's name, officials seek a GPS eye on offenders, Feb. 19.
I am a Florida native and also a commercial fisherman, and have known for a long time that the public has lost its common sense, but the hesitation to GPS-tag criminals is just complete insanity. We have GPS tags on turtles, fish, bears, tigers and all sorts of animals. We commercial fishermen have our vessels GPS-tagged (mandatory this year) and have to pay for the equipment. Many car owners have also added this as a security measure to their cars at their own expense. The person wearing the GPS tag, like the car owner and myself and other law-enforcement people, should have to pay for the equipment.
This is a no-brainer. Give Pinellas Sheriff Everett Rice and other law-enforcement officers another piece of technology to help control the lawless, and let the lawless pay for it.
-- George Townsend, St. Petersburg
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