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Re: Q & A about the advisability of creating a Palestinian state, Nov. 25.
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 2, 2001
Re: Q & A about the advisability of creating a Palestinian state, Nov. 25.
Thanks to Bill Maxwell for his interview with Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America. By providing an outline of 50 years of historical context, Klein provided much needed perspective for the understanding of today's headlines from the Middle East.
The interview should be required reading for all those who believe that 50 years of armed attacks and venomous rhetoric aimed at the destruction of the state of Israel would be ended overnight by moving a few thousand Israelis from their homes.
Regular readers of Maxwell's columns know that he does not share Klein's views. It is therefore a special demonstration of his journalistic integrity that Maxwell chose to present this interview at all, and then presented it without editorializing or comment. For that, your readers should commend him.
Barry Augenbraun, St. Petersburg
Re: Q & A about the advisability of creating a Palestinian state.
Bill Maxwell's interview with Morton Klein was interesting for providing an insight into the Zionist point of view. However, Klein's presentation of the issues was hopelessly unbalanced. It would be too much to expect Klein to mention Zionism's terrorist past or more recent Israeli atrocities, such as the 1983 Christian massacre of Palestinian women and children in Lebanon's refugee camps, which took place under the watchful eye of then-Defense Minister Arial Sharon.
However, as long as Israelis and Palestinians insist on using extremist rhetoric and cloaking their causes in the mantle of religion, they will not find "peace on earth" because there will be no "good will toward men."
I was outraged to learn from Blumner's column describing the rules and regulations that apply to our female soldiers stationed in Saudi Arabia when they are off the base. This treatment is intolerable. These women are as heroic as their male counterparts and should be treated as equals
Will President Bush demand that all our soldiers be treated with respect and dignity? I sincerely doubt that.
Clinton DeMilt, New Port Richey
Re: Liberty's strong footing, Nov. 25.
Jeffrey Rosen says that American civil liberties are "too strong to be swept away." But the assault on civil rights is discussed in the same issue by Robyn Blumner, Bill Maxwell and Martin Dyckman. (Will anybody still advocate the death penalty when they read about how David Greenglass sent his own sister to the electric chair in order to save his and his wife's life?)
The assault is continuous, including ongoing attacks on the American Civil Liberties Union and illegal harassment of female health clinics.
Milton Aronson, St. Petersburg
Re: Respite ends for Pinellas inmates, Nov. 25.
Have I got this right? Pinellas' top cop, Sheriff Everett Rice has been knowingly breaking the law for more than one year because it suited him? "We had been reluctant" to follow state law, but now "we need to be following the statute."
Well, glory be. Can we all ignore those laws we choose not to agree with, you honor? I think not!
Hank Goettelman, St. Petersburg
Re: The sub, Nov. 25.
I read with great interest this article on substitute teaching in the schools. I can relate: Been there, done that. Monique Fields did not sugar-coat the reality.
You can't help but wonder why so many of our children have no respect for anyone and, I suspect, not for themselves either. A double shame that the black students couldn't bring themselves to support her. All were losers, as I feel Ms. Fields had much to offer all the students.
I found the article written by Times reporter/substitute teacher, Monique Fields, very interesting and I believe every word of it
Now, after a typical school day, take 55 of those students and put them in 22 seats on a school bus, climb in the driver's seat with your back to them and tell me how many miles you want to transport them.
And we wonder why we can't keep school bus drivers.
Jo Ellen Truchan, St. Petersburg
Re: The sub, Nov. 25.
And the reporter's point was? That's what I asked myself after reading this article.
Substitute teaching is a challenging responsibility. The absent teacher expects you to execute the lesson plans that were carefully outlined for you before you arrived. The school expects you to teach and not just "cover" for the day. The writer did not accept the role of substitute to teach, she claimed she did it to "feel what teachers feel."
Come on. She did it to report on the poor behavior in school. That's the stuff of titillating tabloid journalism.
The widely known lack of discipline in our schools is a subject for serious examination. The article was a sensationalist story, not a sensational study.
As a retired corporate executive, I love my new life of teaching, albeit as a sub. But make no mistake: Discipline is a problem, more for me, of course, than for the teachers I have had the privilege of subbing for and all the others I have met. They are, without exception, long-suffering educators with the patience of Job. Sure, a reporter's eye-opening tale of her "taking a teacher's place" gets our attention, but it's also a clucking of the tongue and little else.
So here's an assignment for reporter Monique Fields: "The Virus of Bad Behavior In School; The Vaccine of Good Discipline -- Report / Recommendations." No limit on length. Due as soon as possible. Good luck.
When my daughter was involved in a class squabble with another child at Largo Middle School, both were sent to cool off in the principal's office. All parent's were notified; I was the only one that showed up. I later learned that the other child had a very extensive file of behavioral problems at the school and that the parents of that child have never attended a conference concerning their child
Are we seeing a possible root cause to the behavior problem? I think the Nov. 28 letter writer (Beware of generalizations) misses the boat when she asserts that teachers should be the paid entertainers of her kids. Teachers are paid to teach. Parents, yes, parents are required to motivate their children to achieve in school, either by example or by encouragement. Teachers are not day care workers.
Congratulations on an important, well-written editorial for manatees! Protection for the manatee is essential to protecting and preserving our quality of life in Florida. If we cannot ensure a healthy, sustainable population of a high-profile, beloved creature such as the manatee, it does not say much for our ability to preserve open spaces, stop urban sprawl, conserve clean water or protect our pristine coastline
The manatee is the canary in the coal mine for whether we, as Floridians, can expect to raise our children in a state that still boasts beautiful, natural phenomena such as the Everglades, the Keys, serene cypress swamps, colorful coral reefs and white, sandy beaches.
Loving and protecting the manatee is about much more than the preservation of the creature itself. It's about cherishing the way of life that we enjoy as Floridians.
Somehow you expressed stillness vivaciously. You made quietness electric. Thank you, Quiet One. Thank you for showing us our connectedness to the cosmos through the poignant chords of your guitar
We love you, George. We'll never forget you. Peace.