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Today's Letters: Too many infants without parents

Letters to the Editor
Published December 27, 2007

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Sudden siblings Dec. 22, story   

It never ceases to amaze me of the lengths people will go to achieve their self-centered dreams. There are so many infants in the "system" who have no parents.

It reminds me of people who will spend serious money to buy a "purebred" dog and not humble themselves by going to the SPCA.

Dori Emerson, Palm Harbor  

Lost a car, found a mess Dec. 23, story

Shopper is owed an apology

It's hard to imagine that something so innocent turned into the fiasco described by Larry DiSalvo, but it doesn't surprise me. I'm usually very good about making note of where I park, but I had a similar situation about seven years ago at Tampa International Airport, only without the hassle from management or the police. It was a very emotional parting, and while I knew exactly where I was parked, I couldn't remember how to get there!

I went around the parking garage several times, but nothing jogged my memory. Finally a security man in a golf cart drove up, indicated that he could tell my car was lost and offered to help me out. Can you imagine what would have happened if the airport security had treated the situation the same way Simon treated DiSalvo?

I think Simon Property Group owes DiSalvo a public apology. And maybe even a gift certificate.

Brenda Hull, St. Petersburg

At least Nixon tapes weren't destroyedDec. 21, editorial

A baseless comparison

For readers under 50, the "Nixon tapes" refers to Oval Office tapes recorded by President Nixon on a recording system installed at his direction. To imply that CIA interrogation tapes recorded 1,000 miles from Washington are equivalent "Bush tapes" is nonsense. The matter of tape destruction should be investigated on its own merit, with no need for baseless analogies.

Peter Ford, Tierra Verde

Let humaneness rule

Having asked our pastor to have a prayer vigil with a mother whose son was on death row when the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, I believe we in Florida are demeaned by saying we are "Old South" and want the death penalty. The cost factor is no longer an argument. It's been proven that even life without parole costs less than all the costs leading to execution.

The world is watching our country's value of human life. May humaneness rule.

Gail Michael, St. Petersburg

We deserve privacy

In 1947, when I was 14 years old, I acquired a Social Security number so that I could get a job after school delivering orders for a local dry cleaner. On the Social Security card I recall it said, "Not for personal identification."

Now, if you take the time you will see that the card no longer states that disclaimer. What that means is that all Americans now have a personal identification number. Shades of Nazi Germany. You cannot acquire credit, get employment, get insurance or any other benefit without providing your Social Security number.

The number was issued for one purpose only - as an account number for retirement benefits, and nothing else. The fact that this number is so readily available is the root cause of identity theft.

Congress, which is responsible for the well-being and protection of all citizens, has let disclosure of our Social Security numbers run amok. It is time that an alternative method be established by Congress to protect our identities. We are not numbers; we are individuals who desire and require privacy. It is an entitlement as an American citizen.

David Wolf, Citrus Springs

An avoidable tragedy

Whatever happened to accountability? Every time your newspaper publishes an article about the millions who have no health insurance and the thousands of annual deaths it brings, you fail to mention who is responsible. You would think that this ongoing crisis was some natural phenomenon that was totally unavoidable.

Every article about our broken health care system, and the massive human tragedy it causes, should mention two underlying facts:

1. In 1994, President Clinton proposed a comprehensive health insurance reform which would have covered every American. The plan was not perfect, and it was not a single-payer system, but it was a strong start. Then the insurance industry, Rush Limbaugh and Sen. Bob Dole destroyed it with negative propaganda, scare tactics and derogatory names like "Hillary Care." If the plan had been implemented, we would likely have worked out any problems by now and would finally have full, universal coverage.

2. Every single current Republican presidential candidate is against universal health insurance. Specifically, that means that each candidate wants to see a continuation of widespread unhealthy living and early deaths of millions of Americans.

So let's not talk about the "uninsured" as if it were some hobby or lifestyle choice. We are talking about millions of people who have been intentionally denied access to medical care. And the American people deserve some accountability.

Scott Cochran, Tampa

Sudden siblings Dec. 22, story

Notable news relegated

While notable news seems to be consistently relegated to someplace in the middle or back pages of Section A, your paper seems to think that "homey" stories such as a person giving birth to her sister's twins is something we all should know about.

Football photos and other inane stories do not rate front-page coverage. Some of the stories I have seen there are best suited to supermarket "rags" who also present themselves as newspapers.

At the rate you are going, the next headline story I expect to see will be about "Mrs. Jones cooking her famous peach pie for the county fair."

Your readers aren't from the area that prints the Podunk County Weekly; so why subject them to such rural ho-hum news?

Try putting the real news - the important news, that affects all of us - where it belongs and save the rest for the back pages.

Robert Delimon, Largo

[Last modified December 26, 2007, 22:00:05]

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