DeSantis’ presidential campaign like a comet. And that’s not a compliment.

Re the Herald’s July 26 online story “Is DeSantis headed down the Jeb Bush campaign path of ’16? How they are alike and not:” The more apt comparison is probably to 1973’s Comet Kohoutek.

Early predictions suggested Kohoutek could become one of the brightest comets of the century. Even the press named it the “Comet of the Century.” Although Kohoutek became rather bright, the comet was ultimately far dimmer than projected, visible for only a short period, soon becoming invisible to the naked-eye.

One might easily substitute “DeSantis” for “Kohoutek” in the previous paragraph.

Richard Pober,

Palmetto Bay

Conservative bent

Re the July 31 story “PragerU videos can now be used in Florida schools:” In our state, where the governor declares “woke goes to die” and Moms for Liberty clamor for “freedom to choose,” the right-wing advocacy group PragerU’s curriculum has been adopted. So much for fighting indoctrination.

Indoctrination seems fine in Florida as long as it leans conservative and Christian.

What about the Floridians who are not of that persuasion?

I am a retired public school teacher, and my children have all graduated. However, I fear for those children who remain in the public school system, as it is being decimated and manipulated by a hateful, bigoted, myopic political agenda.

What happened to the separation of church and state?

Christina Garcia,

Miami

Watered down

Miami should have a world-class fountain in Bayfront Park that is useful to the public, fun for kids and that celebrates the importance of water in our subtropical city. However, the park fountain is dead, blocked off and not one bit of fun.

Contrast that with the fountain at Seattle’s Space Needle Park. It’s loads of fun, accessible and world class. Ditto for the Crown Fountain at Chicago’s Millennium Park. Even the Airport Hyatt in Orlando’s international airport has a fountain that puts ours to shame.

I tried to address this issue with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and City Commissioner Joe Carollo, who chairs the Bayfront Park Management Trust board. In this hottest summer on record, neither elected official responded to my suggestion that the Bayfront Park fountain could be so much more than what it is now — broken and cooling off no one.

Shawn Eric DeNight,

Miami

Effective teaching

Florida’s children have the right to know the correct version of history. It is only by being honest and open about our past that we can avoid the mistakes of the past.

Children are not snowflakes. Often, they ask the most meaningful questions about the past. They can handle the truth. They are our future. Their knowledge of history will help them to make informed decisions when they are adults.

To deny African-American children full access to knowledge about their ancestors is particularly wrong and frankly, immoral. The contributions African Americans have made to our collective history are not always well known, and there are many.

Our teachers have the obligation to share the unvarnished truth of history — no matter how painful — with our children. Florida is doing a tremendous disservice by whitewashing the horror that was slavery.

Frank Morra,

Redland

Hot times

Do we really want to be on permanent daylight savings time here?

I wouldn’t have been bothered if the sun had set an hour earlier these last four weeks. Arizona and Hawaii (two other places with abundant sunshine) do the smart thing by ignoring daylight savings time altogether. It’s not necessary for them and it isn’t for Florida.

Sen. Marco Rubio may not agree. Of course, he doesn’t have to wait for a bus on 49th Street in Hialeah at 6 p.m. on a hot July afternoon, either.

Erik Miller,

Hialeah

Say neigh

I appreciate Sen. Marco Rubio’s co-sponsorship of the SAFE Act and urge him to ensure the language included in the upcoming 2023 federal farm bill.

Specifically, I would like to see language that places a permanent federal ban on the slaughter of American horses and a ban on their exportation for slaughter abroad.

No federal ban on interstate slaughter exists now, and thousands of horses are sent abroad annually for their meat. It is time to stop this.

Joel Blumstein,

Surfside

Game changer

As we celebrate Lionel Messi’s debut with Inter Miami, it is imperative to emphasize the potential for eye injuries in soccer.

Sports are a common cause of eye trauma, accounting for more than 40,000 emergency-room visits per year in the United States. The type and severity of injury vary; larger soccer balls can cause contusions, while injuries from smaller balls can cause severe damage and rupture of the eyeball.

With its increasing popularity, soccer has become a common cause of eye injury in the U.S. Injuries occur due to the impact of the soccer ball onto the eye after an initial impact with the bones surrounding the eye. Although the prognosis can vary, there are many reports of permanent vision loss after soccer-related injuries.

At Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, we care for many patients with soccer and other sports-related eye injuries. We recommend the use of adequate eye protection for people with a history of pre-existing eye disease or prior trauma. Protective goggles are commercially available and could substitute for glasses for those who require them.

If direct facial impact has occurred, the injured person should seek professional eye consultation.

Landon Rohowetz M.D.,

Harry Flynn Jr. M.D.,

Miami

Critical learning

According to the July 31 Herald story “PragerU videos can now be used in Florida schools.” This is absolutely fantastic. As a former Miami-Dade County Public school teacher, I could have used the videos as a resource to discuss propaganda and to practice critical thinking.

Similarly, the publicity over critical race theory, even though not taught on a K-12 level, would provide an opportunity to highlight current events for a study of elitist, white, male-dominated professions, their practices and lexicon, to discourage integration and inclusion.

Don Deresz,

Miami