Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Re: Hard to imagine, indeed, editorial, Nov. 20. The St. Petersburg Times editorial implies that the state has not spent enough money to provide resources to educate our children in Florida and that tax relief has come at the expense of education. This is disingenuous and inaccurate.
We've consistently provided students and teachers the tools they need to succeed. This year, for example, our public schools have received more than $16-billion. This is one of the largest increases in history - an increase of $1.3-billion or nearly 9 percent over the previous year. And since passage of the class size amendment three years ago, we have provided $3.75-billion to school districts to help them build and expand schools and meet the challenges of the amendment.
Since 1999, we've provided nearly $100-billion for public education and increased funding per student dramatically. During the last seven years, per student funding has increased by 32 percent, compared to only a 16 percent increase during the first seven years of the Chiles administration.
More important than the funding increases are the reforms and accountability measures we implemented under our A+ Plan. More students are reading and doing math at grade level than ever before in Florida's history.
But instead of reporting on the great progress our teachers and students are making, the Times chooses to criticize $14.5-billion in cumulative tax relief over seven years from cumulative budgets of about $360-billion over the same period. This represents only 4 percent of those budgets.
We're proud our fiscal discipline has allowed us to provide tax relief to the hard-working residents of Florida while still addressing the state's many critical needs. These tax cuts have helped grow our economy. They have not been at the expense of spending priorities. On the contrary, they have stimulated the strongest economy in the nation and provided the revenue to fund Florida's most important initiatives, including our No.1 priority, educating our children.
Re: For newspapers, news keeps getting worse, Nov. 27.
I lean to the right side of the political spectrum, so I read Robyn Blumner's column along with listening to NPR and Air America for the purpose of getting the "other side's" point of view. However, her characterization of the nation's newspapers as giving "more comprehensive and balanced coverage of issues" is naive at best, and inaccurate reporting at worst. Newspapers are not balanced. They, along with the network news, clearly lean to the left. There's nothing wrong with that, by the way. So why is Blumner not proudly declaring it?
I am a loyal viewer of Fox News. I don't believe that Saddam Hussein was connected to al-Qaida. I'm not confused on that point as Blumner implies. I simply want to know where people stand and Fox provides a forum for two-sided discussion. What Blumner and her liberal friends don't like about Fox is that it asks the opposition to refrain from their criticism for a few moments, and offer an alternative plan. I have yet to hear one.
Re: For newspapers, news keeps getting worse.
Well, Robyn Blumner got one thing absolutely right: Print media news keeps getting worse. I suspect Blumner, like the many owners, editors and "journalists" of many newspapers across America, are failing to heed the lessons of their freshman investigative journalism classes by ignoring clear facts, preferring instead to "sleuth" tea leaves or "investigate" obscure research for support of their personal agendas.
The fact is that almost every major newspaper in America, like the New York Times, the Washington Post and minor notables like th e St. Petersburg Times purvey "news" that is decidedly and heavily biased toward the liberal viewpoint. Were I to have relied solely on the St. Petersburg Times , or the other papers mentioned above, I would have been totally shocked that Sen. John Kerry lost the last presidential election! But by perusing many different news sources, I was able to discern a very different story.
Perhaps the decline in newspaper readership is a rejection of the bias and scorn that so heavily permeates print media. Take, for example, Blumner's derision of those who do not read newspapers, who don't support her viewpoint, as uninformed. In our capitalistic, democratic society, doesn't it make more sense to reason that multi-media-savvy, informed consumers are rejecting biased news sources in favor of balanced presentations?
Re: Perspective, Nov. 27.
Between checking the holiday shopping sale fliers and dreaming about a Mexican trip to one of the cities mentioned in the Travel section, I kept going back to the horrific photograph from the New York Times entitled African nightmare .
This photo of inmates packed inhumanely in their jail cell like sardines in a can is unbelievable and haunting! How can other human beings be so cruel to their fellow man? I kept turning this photo upside down, as the man in the center was the only one not sleeping. His eyes were open, but I wonder what he was smiling about.
The human rights advocates who routinely complain about the prison conditions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should take note. I suspect these African inmates would gladly change places and relocate to Cuba!
I would also be interested in a follow-up story about the New York Times' prison investigations and exactly what, if anything, the human rights section of the United Nations is doing about these deplorable conditions. Prisoners or not, they should be treated humanely.
Re: Petty in pink, Nov. 27.
The law professor thinks that a pink locker room is sexist? Her outrage is out of proportion for a few reasons.
1. I thought the most recent philosophy in gender studies is that pink is no longer a "girl color," and blue is no longer just for boys. Therefore, how is pink misogynistic?
2. Psychologists tend to agree that pink is a soothing color. Might it be that a locker room awash in calming pink may soften opposing teams' psyches before a game? It sure would give the Hawkeyes a slight advantage if their opponents weren't hyped up on reds, blacks and yellows.
3. Aren't there girls somewhere in the world who need real help, say, in Third World countries where they are subjected to violent sexism, oppressive gender roles and brutal discrimination? Pink decor hardly seems important in comparison.
4. A pink locker room is just plain hilarious. Sometimes a little humor is a good thing. Jill Gaulding ought to relax about it, perhaps surround herself with a little soothing pink.
Re: Readers flummoxed by runaway headlines, Nov. 27.
Perspective editor Robert Friedman wrote, "The public would have been better served if the headline had simply stuck to the boring facts: Barely used Canadian mattress returned to newlyweds.
It's winter up here in Canada. We do nothing "barely"!