Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Let's work to take back neighborhoods from the lawless

Re: Life in Childs Park: "Not on Ninth Avenue," June 30.

Thank you for printing the story about the Lampleys' efforts to stand up for those who work hard and play by the rules! Neighborhood leaders throughout St. Petersburg are volunteering every day in an effort to take neighborhoods back from the drug dealers, criminals and their allies. Too often it is the allies of the criminals who get the attention.

The story also highlighted why the Council of Neighborhood Associations is asking the St. Petersburg City Council to increase the number of community police officers. Community policing focuses on eliminating the sources of crime rather than trying to catch the criminals after the crime has been committed. Community police officers need areas small enough to get to know the problems and the people in a neighborhood. That is how New York reduced its crime rates by up to 75 percent in the last 15 years.

If St. Petersburg residents agree that we need additional community police officers to take back these neighborhoods, please contact your City Council member at 893-7117.

A different view of Childs Park

Re: Life in Childs Park: "Not on Ninth Avenue."

I want to commend the Times and Marcus Franklin on your front-page article of support for the police by those who live in troubled areas of St. Petersburg. It is certainly a reverse view from that seen in the story The Disenchantment of Brandon, which you reported June 6.

I know families in this area who have always supported the law and whose children have stayed clear of drugs and crime and even graduated from college. Some still remain in the area to try as their parents have to make it a safe and good environment with respect for police and security.

I appreciate your research and presentation of their views.

The teaching of respect

Re: Life in Childs Park: "Not on Ninth Avenue."

Bless Tommy Lampley for the way he and his wife are raising their children. He is showing them the same values I was taught by my own parents. I am a firm believer that respect gets respect. If children are not taught respect at home, they haven't any respect for anything or anyone outside the home.

My "child" is 27 years old and a parent herself. Of course, she has her own ideas about parenting, but my granddaughter is only 21/2 years old and already says "thank you," "please" and even "bless you" if she hears you sneeze. That sure makes me proud to be a mother and grandmother.

So, Mr. Lampley, thank you for showing such love and for keeping your children strong with great moral character. They will go on to make you a proud parent and hopefully, at the right time, a grandparent.

We need Bolton at the U.N.

In my judgment, Undersecretary of State John Bolton would make an excellent ambassador to the United Nations, and the congressional Democrats who are holding up his nomination are performing a disservice to our nation.

In contrast to many of his wimpy colleagues at State, Bolton does not suffer fools gladly, and his temper has made him "controversial." That is why we need a hard charger like him to shake up the ineffectual United Nations from stem to stern and once again be a positive force in the world.

I also feel that the United Nations should be moved out of New York City to some place like Uganda so that the delegates could concentrate on carrying out their mission instead of basking in the bright lights and vices of New York.

Records are just an excuse

Re: Release the Bolton records, editorial, June 28.

From what I've seen and read, some of those records aren't for public consumption. We already have folks like Sens. Harry Reid and Jay Rockefeller leaking national secrets because politicians cannot shut up. And only a fool wouldn't recognize that no amount of records, files, witnesses, etc., will ever be enough for the "inquisitors." They are going to obfuscate no matter what. They've already been given much more than they even knew to ask for but, hey, they are politicians, after all.

An old "sharpest knife in the drawer" analogy comes to mind.

Homeschooling can pay off

Re: It's not what you think: homeschooling, June 26.

Thank you for the thorough, well thought out coverage of homeschooling in Florida. When my parents chose to home educate in 1985, I was entering the fourth grade. At the time, their decision - motivated in large part by my father's job - was not just unpopular, the concept was virtually unknown. I have clear memories of friends and family wondering what in the world my parents were doing.

The following year my parents joined a national umbrella group that offered accountability and organization. Over time, their firm belief in their decision to homeschool their children clearly paid off. Through our involvement with the national organization, I was given the unique opportunity to teach English and U.S. history in Moscow, Russia, my senior year of high school. My sisters have also had great opportunities that would not have been available to them through traditional educational models.

Time has demonstrated that home education is a viable if not excellent form of education in America, and it is my firm belief that parents who have invested so much in the lives of their children have made a profound impact on a generation of young people. I expect great things from the children of these homeschooling parents.

The things that bind us

Re: Independence Day, editorial, July 4.

Thank you for stepping above the fray and reminding us all about the many things that bind us together. My views rarely coincide with those of the Times; it is humbling to agree so strongly with the opinions voiced in your editorial.

A flag protest that will wash

If the current flag amendment should pass, it will not deter anyone in a foreign country from burning our flag.

In America, the days are past when dissent from Washington policies is expressed by flag burning. A better way to use the American flag to show dissatisfaction with administration activities and direction, would be to publicly wash the flag and discuss the need to "come clean" with the American people.

[Last modified July 5, 2005, 12:36:13]