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Our airports should follow Israeli security

Re: Get smart on terror, Aug. 16.

I just read the paper, shook my head and wondered what is to become of this wonderful country if we handle ourselves in such a stupid, albeit "politically correct" manner. Of course, people at airports should not be equally scrutinized because they are not equal risks. Why don't we let Israel, which has been dealing with constant Muslim terrorism for decades, teach us some lessons?

Israel has always had to exist with a constant Muslim barrage at its borders. Thus, Israel has always locked the cockpit doors of its airliners. Israel always has an armed air marshal on every flight. Israel has always relied on behavioral scrutiny, as opposed to checking each and every passenger for innocuous items.

The money saved by eliminating unnecessary screeners could be used to hire air marshals for every flight. We're Americans, for heaven's sake! We are accustomed to building a better mousetrap, so to speak! Can't our leaders do so in this instance, as well? But, gee, that would be just too smart and effective for the current administration, now wouldn't it?

Kelly King Helenihi, Palm Harbor

Running the political gamut

Re: Get smart on terror.

What an illuminating juxtaposition of columns you published on Wednesday. On the left was the typical and mindless drivel from Molly Ivins. This column was made even worse by a pathetic attempt at humor, featuring the usual "what terrorist threat?" mentality along with a helping of obligatory Bush bashing.

On the right there was an incisive and thought-provoking analysis by Richard Posner outlining how our intelligence operations could be improved by incorporating some of the aspects of MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence agency. MI5 was responsible for thwarting the most recent terrorist attempt to murder thousands of innocents by blowing up commercial airliners in flight.

In the middle of the page was a logical suggestion by John Tierney of how airport security could possibly be improved by careful surveillance of the actions of suspicious behavior among passengers. The Aug. 17 Times actually featured an article on this topic being enacted by the Transportation Security Administration in several airports around the country.

The symbolism is inescapable, as are the relative political orientations of the writers.

Joseph Hill, Panama City

Air travel opportunities

If we ban carry-on luggage, I can just see it now: Suddenly the latest chic travel fashion will be cargos, cargos, cargos! Boys, girls, men and women will all be outfitted with pockets laden with iPods, books, prescription drugs, lip gloss, dental floss, cell phones, deodorant and whatever else people can't seem to separate themselves from while sitting on a plane for a few hours.

We might even have to widen the seats to accommodate all the bulging pockets. Will we then have a civil rights fight on our hands because we have to get patted down and empty our pockets so they can sift through all our junk for evil terrorist objects?

But think of all the unused overhead storage space. We could convert it to bunks for passengers traveling internationally. Except that the space is kind of narrow - only children and small adults would fit comfortably. Not fair for larger folks. That would bring about another civil rights fight.

All kidding aside, I think the idea of banning carry-ons can be practical. What do you really need in the air anyway? Your wallet, cell phone, prescription drugs that must be taken during the flight and a good book. Everything else will be just fine in the cargo hold. Your time in the air might be a good time to learn patience. Perhaps it's a good a time to do some personal reflection about where you're headed in life (yes, pun intended). Maybe even a rare chance to do some real, actual thinking.

Sarah Lehrmann, Clearwater

Wise thoughts on travel

Congratulations to your travel editor, Janet K. Keeler, for the wise and timely Aug. 13 column Fear of flying - again. Her simple statement, "Travel fosters an understanding of other cultures and ways of life," says it all. She goes on to develop this idea tellingly. So wise and timely is her article that I think you should highlight it with a special border and reprint it for more people to read and relish.

Edward L. Mooney, St. Petersburg

Administration policy doesn't add up

President Bush keeps telling us that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. He says that if we don't fight the terrorists there, we will have to fight them here.

It doesn't add up. The people who were caught in a plot last week to kill thousands of airline passengers were not from Iraq. They were from England.

The people killing Americans in Iraq don't work for Osama bin Laden. They are mostly locals, busy settling tribal and religious scores with each another. We are getting caught in the crossfire.

While the administration obsesses about Iraq, Osama is free to plot and plan. After Katrina, we can't trust Bush to protect us at home. It may not be time to "cut and run," but it's sure time for a change.

Walter Carfora, St. Petersburg

Too many Muslims seem to back terror

Re: Muslims can be allies in fighting terrorists, by Susan Estrich, Aug. 14.

I fully agree with Susan Estrich in opposing blind discrimination against Muslims. I agree with her, also, that the majority of Muslims are good persons who love and wish to be loved. However, I think she is too forgiving in saying that "99.99 percent of all Muslims are not terrorists."

We hear virtually no condemnation by the Muslim community of their fellow Muslims who are guilty of large-scale barbaric terrorism in many parts of the globe. On the other hand, they seem to have no difficulty in expressing their feelings when Muslims are the victims. They were very articulate when a Danish newspaper printed caricatures that offended them. They spoke out loudly in recent demonstrations against Israel in its response to Hezbollah terrorism and against the United States vis-a-vis Iraq.

This disparate behavior suggests to me a widespread, tacit approval of the behavior of their fellow religionists. I cannot avoid seeing many Muslims, at best, worldwide, as sympathetic to Muslim terrorist causes.

Seymour S. Bluestone, Largo

On the wrong side of propaganda war

Pat Oliphant's Aug. 9 cartoon supports the false accusation that the Jewish lobby has too much influence on the political decisions of the U.S. government and Congress. The American people and Israel have a common interest in fighting and defeating the terrorists of the extreme factions of different Muslim sects, and therefore they must coordinate their strategy. That doesn't mean that U.S. policy is dictated by Israel. To depict this joint effort as Israel having too much influence on U.S. political decisions helps the terrorists win the propaganda war.

How the propaganda war affects the outcome of the war itself is becoming clear from the deliberations at the United Nations, where the United States is trying to convince other nations that it is in their interest to join us in the fight against Muslim terrorism.

Why doesn't Pat Oliphant submit this cartoon to the Muslim press? They would love it!

Francis N. Dukes-Dobos, Clearwater

A small benefit better than none

Re: For storm upgrade, only small savings, Aug. 16.

Ted Gembicki can consider himself lucky for getting $16.11 back on his homeowners' insurance. We spent $19,000 for high-impact windows and doors and our insurance went from about $1,600 to $4,200. That company did not offer any discount at all.

We switched to Citizens because the premium is "only" about $2,600 and it doesn't offer any discounts either. Plus we are not eligible for any kind of help under this new mitigation program.

So, Mr. Gembicki, enjoy the pizza. I'll be licking my lips right along with you.

Sylvia Fies, St. Petersburg

Needs of the people are ignored

Re: For storm upgrade, only small savings, Aug. 16.

Your article told about a homeowner who spent more than $5,000 to protect his home against hurricanes and received $16.11 back from his insurance company.

I could not believe what I was reading. This party, to which we have given absolute power to govern this state, has turned its back on us. We should have known they would be owned by the insurance industry. Many hard- working people are now in danger of losing their homes and/or going bankrupt, which this party has recently made more difficult to do.

The Republican word on the street is that the Democrats would not have done any better. Well, they certainly could not have done any worse.

The good news is that we can start to change things this November. If we don't, then we can only blame ourselves for lowering the standard of living we once enjoyed.

Vinny Corelli, New Port Richey

Insurance has reached a crisis point

Re: Blame? Plenty. Fixes? None, by Robert Trigaux, Aug. 14.

The most important issue in the state is property insurance. The present leadership has failed us, and the four candidates for governor have no real solutions. Citizens Property, designed by and for the private insurers, has become the largest property insurer in our state. For a country based on capitalism by competition, the state government has done just the opposite. Citizens charges much more than private insurers and takes on only the properties with the greatest risk. This is government of special interests and not for "we, the people."

Every issue has solutions if those in charge have the will. We must demand that our elected officials tackle this crisis now, and that goes for the four candidates wanting to be our next governor. If they can't find the will to fix our property insurance crisis, then I know I will be voting for change and the candidate for governor who has the best plan. Also, if my present private insurer (Allstate) drops me, I will be finding another insurance company for my two cars. I believe the best hope we have is at the voting booth and with our pocketbooks.

I hope you keep this issue in the paper through this election cycle. This truly is a crisis for many in the state.

Reggie Hall, Ozona

Ad was too much like news

I ask that you re-examine the decision to print the full-page ad in the very precise news format in which it appeared on Page 13A on Aug. 10.

This ad sent shivers down my spine, blurring, as it does, the clear delineation between advertising and news expected of a fine daily newspaper. This item appears to be the print equivalent of the infomercials so abundant on television.

While I am sympathetic to the economic pressures on today's newspaper industry, surely it would have been possible to adjust the format of this ad so it did not look so darn much like a legitimate health science article (at least print the word "advertisement" in much bolder type).

I am a pretty sophisticated consumer of printed news, but I was well into the "article" and sputtering with indignation at the pseudoscientific claptrap before I backed off and discovered I was reading an advertisement. Perhaps it was a good joke on me, but not good newspaper policy!

David Pearce, Tarpon Springs

Pregnancy center offers truthful service

Re: Our tax dollars at work funding antiabortion bunk, by Robyn Blumner, July 23.

As volunteers and major contributors to the work of the Pregnancy Center of Pinellas County, a Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC), we are incensed by the gross mischaracterization of the mission and intent of our nation's CPCs in Robyn Blumner's recent column.

The Pregnancy Center is here to provide compassionate help, facts and truth to women facing an unplanned pregnancy. During the past 20 years, more than 35,000 women and their families have been encouraged and treated with respect and love. More than 1,000 women, who felt pressured to abort, chose life for their babies as they were empowered with information about abortion alternatives, given resources and compassionate support. They made "their" decisions after weighing every option.

All women who receive services are educated about the pros and cons of adoption, the responsibilities of parenting, upcoming medical needs, and abortion procedures and risks. Those who choose to carry their babies are provided with material resources, childbirth education, parenting education, referrals and more. Those who choose abortion are offered information about our postabortion grief and recovery support groups. Every client leaves knowing that we care for her and that we are always available to her no matter what her decision.

Let's look at the "fraud" reported in Blumner's column, which is based on a minority report recently released by Rep. Henry Waxman of the House Committee on Government Reform. To state that postabortion syndrome is a "made-up neurosis" is to deny the feelings and real emotional impact to thousands of women in this country. Diligent research done by Dr. David Reardon of the Elliot Institute, Dr. Theresa Burke of Rachel's Vineyard, Dr. Phillip Ney and Dr. Anne Speckhard provides evidence that postabortion syndrome is real and tragic.

The Waxman report claims that there is no adverse effect on future pregnancies if a mother aborts her first child. Medical studies, including one by Planned Parenthood, refute this claim. The Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research reported in 2003 that the risk of having a premature delivery or a low birth-weight baby "tends to be higher among women whose first pregnancy is terminated by induced abortion."

And lastly, why would Rep. Waxman support a report that misrepresents the scientific studies showing that abortion significantly increases the risk of breast cancer? Is he helping the proabortion industry mislead women about abortion risks? The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons published a scientific review of 10 prospective studies pointing out that seriously flawed research is being used to support the claim that there is no connection between abortion and breast cancer.

Blumner seems angry that some pregnancy centers have received $30-million over the past five years. As with any organization in this country, Crisis Pregnancy Centers have the right to compete for tax dollars to provide needed services to our community. The Pregnancy Center of Pinellas County doesn't hide that it is a faith-based organization. When using tax dollars that we receive through competitive grants, i.e. abstinence education, we do not proselytize. We honor the laws and directives of the agreement we have signed.

Thousands of men and women in Pinellas County do not see our services as "religiously motivated fraud that can adversely impact women's lives and health" but rather truthful, helpful, loving services that support women, their families, and yes, the sanctity of life.

M. Gregory Kovac, chairman, on behalf of the board of the directors of the Pregnancy Center of Pinellas County, Pinellas Park

Don't mask the realities of 'sex work'

Re: AIDS activists ply a deceptive trade, Aug. 17.

Melinda Gates' call for removal of the stigma from prostitution is inspired by compassion, social justice and by the urgency of circumscribing the epidemics of deadly diseases transmitted with commercial sex.

Before embracing it, one should be aware of two unwanted implications of this call, however. By renaming a prostitute a "sex worker," one implies that she/he enters this trade as a free choice. Experience indicates that nothing could be further from the truth! In the Thursday paper there is a well-documented report of how poverty and starvation underlie the flourishing sex industry in Southern Asia (Poverty leads to perverse industry). In addition, by considering the sale of sex to be legitimate, one implies that people may not be able to control their urge for sex. This is the line of reasoning by which one can justify rape and polygamy, and even sexual abuse of children. Most so-called sex workers are victims of their living conditions and should be helped to overcome these conditions, rather than blamed for seeking a livelihood.

What should be stigmatized without reservation is a society that enshrines the free market as the supreme moral law and has no qualms about buying body parts at the lowest price. Like the commercialization of sex, the commercialization of blood has been a culprit in the transmission of AIDS in the past. The blind faith in free market may cause the downfall of the very Christian civilization it claims to uphold!

Lodovico Balducci, Tampa

A misplaced stigma

Re: AIDS activists ply a deceptive trade.

The "larger world" should be thankful for Bill and Melinda Gates and other AIDS activists and place less of a stigma on this worldwide problem. More deserving of stigma is the worldwide suffering caused by the lack of livable wages, medical care and the unpeaceful resolution of strife among all people living together!

Russell Lee Johnson, St. Petersburg

A delightful duck story

Re: Who you calling a duck? Aug. 14.

What a heartwarming story! It brought tears to my eyes. Thank you! With the news so full of stories about murder, abduction and the like, this was a delightful and refreshing change.

Give us more.

Betty Carlson, St. Petersburg

[Last modified August 19, 2006, 01:54:35]