Ban COVID vaccine? Why stop there? Letters to the Editor, July 30, 2023

Why stop with COVID vaccine ban?

I enjoy reading fiction. Perhaps that’s why I liked reading the recent resolution by the Brevard Republican Executive Committee (BREC) calling for the banning of the COVID vaccine, labeling it a biological weapon.

But in my opinion the BREC didn’t go far enough.  Why didn't they include a call to ban the polio vaccine and other medicines which have reduced death and illness for millions across the world?

And why stop there? For its next work of fiction, I suggest that the BREC pass a resolution calling for outlawing heart surgery in Brevard County. I am sure that some patients must have died during this procedure, so by the BREC’s criteria it makes perfect sense to ban it. 

I grant you that some large corporations might have second thoughts about locating here after reading about the COVID resolution, but that’s a small price to pay for safeguarding our health.

I sleep well at night knowing that Brevard County can depend on the savants of the BREC for medical guidance - and medical dictates - rather than following the advice of epidemiologists, microbiologists and other scientists who have trained and worked in the public health field for decades.

Andrew Rothstein, Cocoa Beach

Unheralded but appreciated

Imagine going to the most intelligent doctor in the country but they are not able to communicate with you so you can be in compliance with their treatment plan.

No matter what field someone chooses to pursue whether it is medicine or engineering or law, if you are not able to communicate effectively then you most likely will not be successful in your profession. After watching the Brevard Public Schools meeting this week, I want to thank all of the speech language pathologists for their dedication to helping students in speech. Speech and language therapy offers numerous benefits for children in our schools by helping them with self-esteem and the ability to express their ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Speech therapists can be seen daily at schools working patiently with children through articulation therapy on making certain sounds. Or with language intervention activities such as with play therapy and being a model to correct vocabulary and even grammar.

Families with students who receive services speech therapy know that this is beyond just teaching speech. Speech and language therapy helps with relationship building and brain development, and an overall improvement of quality of life.

Susan Hammerling-Hodgers, Viera

More: Merritt Island incorporation debate restarts as some consider possibility of new government

A say in Merritt Island's future

Residents of Merritt Island will have the chance to consider turning Merritt Island into a city. Over the next couple of months residents will have the opportunity to review lots of data and gather together in groups to discuss the pros and cons of incorporation.

The Brevard County Board of County Commissioners has just released a Merritt Island incorporation feasibility study detailing the many financial aspects of becoming a city, as well as an open discussion of perceived pros and cons of such. Of significant interest the report states there would be a surplus of several million dollars the first five years and no additional tax revenue would be required. The Merritt Island Preservation Committee, formed last fall to investigate incorporation, has produced a website which offers readers a full discussion of facts and the full completed feasibility study. The website is merrittislandpreservation.org.

There is one big problem looming, however, that could derail discussions and eliminate your chance to vote. Part of the process of getting a chance to officially cast your vote on incorporation is a state statute requiring that our Brevard legislative delegation must sponsor a bill allowing the vote to take place. Apparently, this vote is in jeopardy as one of our own representatives from Merritt Island is leaning toward a no vote, taking away your opportunity to vote yay or nay.

Please contact Rep. Tyler Sirois at 850-717-5051 and ask him to let you vote. This is vitally important and if we do not get approval from Tyler and the delegation, this process does not move forward, and your vote is never counted.Andy Barber, Merritt Island

Why no Brightline for Brevard?

Due to the incompetence of Brevard elected and appointed officials and the ignorance of Brightline  management, the citizens of Brevard will be subject to endangerment and inconvenience 32 times a day (16 round trips) by high speed trains without receiving any benefit.

Any competent management, after investing multimillions of dollars in a transportation system, should realize that high public usage is the only way to profit.

In Brevard, three north and south trips with stops in Cocoa, Melbourne and South Brevard served by Sebastian would be very feasible without altering the efficiency of the high speed system.

It is not obvious why, with major airports in Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm and Melbourne, there will be major demand to travel to Orlando International Airport.

The inability of Brevard government officials to secure rail service for our county is inexcusable.

Charles Settgast, West Melbourne

More: Torres: As DeSantis campaign flails, the governor continues to ignore insurance crisis

DeSantis' inefficient move costs Floridians

In March I replaced my 25-year-old heat pump with a new energy efficient model. Fortunately, I was able to take advantage of a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act so that I could expect a $2,000 rebate from my 2023 federal taxes.

Unfortunately, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in June vetoed allowing Floridians to receive the rebate. Thereby he cost Florida taxpayers around $340 million.

I am amazed and angry. As Florida waters reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature (Manatee Bay last week)are we to penalize energy efficiency so that more fossil fuels will burn and the waters (and voters' blood) boil?

Gary Howell, Melbourne Village

More: Ron DeSantis' budget vetoes were driven by politics, some Florida Republicans say

Are there 'fake religions'?

As a person who rejects Trump’s “fake news” garbage, I use “fake” to describe some religions. Are there fake religions on our endangered planet Earth?

Religions that teach that contraception, (other than natural) is a sin against nature may be fake.

The ever-growing human population is destroying the planet with deforestation, raising livestock, and of course the large amounts of manmade greenhouse gases from various sources. Some would say the creator still disapproves of contraception in spite of the destruction of the planet by mankind. While the planet is heating faster than predicted we are seeing ocean life threatened by rising temperatures and dying coral reefs. That is the bottom of the food chain and will affect all marine life.

Land food sources are also in trouble, and some lands are becoming uninhabitable.

As the beautiful planet is being destroyed, how can one believe the creator approves of the continued destruction of an ever-growing human population? Are those religions that ban all unnatural contraception, including sterilization, fake?

K. Don Williams, Palm Bay

POTUS and DOJ team up

President Biden has his own personal police force, the Department of Justice, doing all they can do to find new charges to press against President Thump. The list of charges continues to grow. He has them doing this to prevent Trump from returning to the White House in 2024.

And it's not a coincidence that the DOJ is pushing for these new charges, now that Biden and his son are under the microscope for their alleged involvement in money shakedowns from various overseas entities. Due to the bias of the media, Trump's charges will make the front page while the Biden investigation will be in the comics section.  However, the last laugh will be on them, when Trump returns to the presidency, and returns America to prosperity and once again respected around the world.

Ted Hesser, Indian Harbour Beach

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Biden uses DOJ as police force: Letters to the Editor, July 30, 2023