Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

We need mass transit, not the madness of more roads

It's obvious to me that the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority's proposal for a beltway around Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties is reason enough to demand random drug testing for anyone embracing the idea that what we need around here are more roads. As the world races headlong over its one and only oil production peak through the next few years, only Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio had it right: We need mass transit, not more roads - and time is running out.

The expense of building major roads, with the right-of-way acquisitions and construction costs, is increasingly unjustifiable in today's market. And with tomorrow's expectations of higher energy costs and an ever-lessening supply, the idea of building more roads seems proof enough that someone's on something (oil, if nothing else).

Instead of finding out how many more miles of congested roads we might build for $3.5-billion, why aren't we asking how much traffic we can replace with mass transit - real light-rail mass transit - for that price?

The time has come for us to stop building what a few people think we need and start building what so many of us want: a better way to get around that doesn't involve more cars, more traffic and more oil.

Chip Haynes, Clearwater

A chance for Florida to do its part

Re: Offshore oil bill.

Congress should be applauded for taking steps toward allowing the environmentally responsible recovery of literally billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico.

The gulf holds America's largest deposits of untapped oil and natural gas. Floridians want to do our part to help the nation solve its energy problems, but we need assurances that Florida beaches and wildlife will not be harmed. This bill meets both concerns. No recovery will be allowed within 125 miles of Florida beaches. And, thanks to modern technology, spillage from current production is virtually nonexistent, with more oil and gas seeping into the gulf from natural geologic formations than from current human production.

Florida's Sens. Mel Martinez (R) and Bill Nelson (D) supported the bill, which shows that bipartisan cooperation can still occur in Washington.

James Taylor, Parrish

Plate scanners would have helped

Re: License plate scanners give too much power to the police, letter, July 31.

Here is another point of view on license plate scanners.

In 2003 my wife had her new Lincoln stolen from the East Lake Shopping Center with more than $100 in fresh groceries in the trunk. The Albertsons video showed the thief driving it off, and while it was reported immediately to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the car was not recovered by the police.

Apparently, the thief was planning to ship the car out of the country as it only had 4,000 miles on the odometer, but he left it in his hideout over the weekend and the smell of the groceries spoiling ruined the marketability of the car. He then returned it to the same center, but at the Target end. It sat there for 30 days until the Target store manager got suspicious about a car sitting unmoved for such a long time.

The Pinellas Sheriff's Office allegedly toured this lot every night for 30 days but never thought to check the license plate. The result: The car was considered totaled by the insurance company and we lost several thousand dollars in value.

We bought another new Lincoln, but this time we had LoJack installed. I wish the police had the scanners three years ago.

Sam Lasley, Clearwater

Focus on adult stem cell research

First, let me say thanks to John Leo for his July 31 column, Ideologues hijacking stem cell debate, and secondly, let me thank the Times for printing it.

It is truly sad that there is little to no information in the news media regarding stem cell research other than embryonic stem cell research. One can take time to look up a lot of information regarding stem cell research on the Internet but few will. All emphasis is put on embryonic stem cell research, which purports to offer wonder cures with little or nothing to back up such claims. But as this article claims, there have been proven advances in adult stem cell research, but I guess it's not exciting enough to make the major news media.

The St. Petersburg Times or any other major newspaper should do an in-depth investigation of both embryonic as well as adult stem cell research to show everyone what the differences are between them.

I'm no fan of the Bush administration, but I believe if any federal funding is spent it should be on adult stem cell research. At least it doesn't harm anyone in any way. Thanks again for printing this article.

Paul Lukacs, Indian Rocks Beach

Extremists distort the debate

Re: Ideologues hijacking stem cell debate.

In his column, John Leo, a consistently reliable voice for the hard right, characterizes funding of stem cell research as a great issue for the left. By "the left," Leo presumably means the great majority of the American people and virtually the entire scientific and medical communities who are overwhelmingly in favor of stem cell research.

The subheading to Leo's column reads: "The thoughtful moral reasons to oppose stem cell research aren't heard amid all the extremist noise." The only extremist noise of which I am aware emanates from those, like Leo, who rant about an imaginary slippery slope in which stem cell research will somehow lead to the killing of live human beings. Of course, that would require legislative action, which is about as likely as Leo writing an unbiased column.

Leo correctly defines the stem cell research issue as moral rather than scientific. In so doing, he concedes the scientific validity of the research. But Leo, and those who share his views, think they have a monopoly on morality. Perhaps they can explain why saving the lives of full-grown human beings is less moral than saving the lives (if you can call it that) of laboratory embryos whose destiny, if they are not used for research, is destruction.

By the way, what would John Leo do with the countless surplus embryos in the laboratories? Keep them there indefinitely? For what purpose? Let's have a moral answer to that question.

Edward Cherney, Sun City Center

President flouts the Constitution

Re: Legal panel blasts Bush's veto substitute, July 24.

I was appalled to read of President Bush's use of hundreds of "signing statements" to disregard provisions of laws passed by Congress. I fully agree with the American Bar Association task force that said, "President Bush was flouting the Constitution and undermining the rule of law ... "

What gives the president the right to ignore portions of legislation to which he objects? Does this president, who is responsible for the quagmire in Iraq, have the wisdom to tailor laws to his distorted view? I think not.

Sol Helfand, New Port Richey

An island not so small

In the article Cuban refugee policy in works, printed Aug. 3, you described Cuba as a "tiny island." Time to get a map! Cuba is nearly the size of Pennsylvania.

John Jagodowski, Redington Shores

[Last modified August 7, 2006, 06:23:13]