Letters to the Editor: June 26, 2022

Largest heart may be ‘Instagram-worthy,” but is it worth $7 million?

I was both saddened and amused as I read the front page of the June 22 St. Lucie News-Tribune. "Statewide rental aid program halted" reads the top headline. It is sad that funds are no longer available from this government funded program. Yes, times are tough.

But then, right below, I read, "World's tallest heart sculpture set for PSL.” Mattamy Homes, a major home builder, is financing up to $7 million for a project they call “Instagram-worthy.”

"This is an opportunity for the millions of people that come between Orlando and Miami to stop in Port St. Lucie to come and see this." says the sculptor, Jefre Figueras Manuel, known as JEFRË. He added, "Port St. Lucie is really a city that has the world's largest heart.”

But obviously not the world's largest brain. Of course, who could resist stopping? – unless they were blocked by the garbage that is not being collected on a regular basis, because the city can't negotiate a reasonable contract.

I wonder how many affordable housing units could have been built in Port St. Lucie for $7 million? How many low-income people would have benefited? I can't wait to get on the road this summer and see the world's largest ball of string, cheese sculpture, the Long Island Big Duck and lots of other "slob art" in the country.

Thank you to Mattamy Homes and the city of Port St. Lucie for adding to our civic pride.

Tony Lella, Port St. Lucie

A dangerous intersection in Indian River County still has no traffic light

One of Indian River County’s most dangerous intersections needing a traffic light continues to have numerous accidents, including one just yesterday. I am sure that many of these leave drivers with totaled vehicles and sometimes serious injury.

This is the intersection of 66th Avenue and 8th Street. Many people treat 66th as a freeway and 8th Street has a lot of east-west traffic, resulting in a deadly combination. I recall around a year ago word was a traffic light was in the works. Where is it and how many more terrible accidents need to occur before something is done?

Randall Groom, Vero Beach

We must clearly define a problem before passing laws to ‘solve’ it

Lately, there has been much talk about "affordable" housing in Martin County without a definition of the term.

Do “homeless” and “jobless” mean the same thing? If you provide a homeless individual with a place to live, does a job accrue? Is there a time limit on the length of time one may stay in quarters provided temporarily by the government (taxpayer)?

Two recent letters lamented the number of homeless here without focusing on the current national economy which – from all quarters – is heading toward causing more working poor, needy, homeless, etc.

The concept of logic dictates the identification of a problem must be the first step in solving a problem. One letter pointed out that some believe the homeless to be disruptive or mentally disturbed. Others are the working poor who are home surfing. Who determines which are which?

We have learned by observation that providing an affordable place to live – such as “projects" in Brooklyn, the Bronx. Chicago, Detroit, for example – has created dreary, unsafe situations where there is neither order nor safety, even, or especially, in elevators.

No, the problem must be clearly stated, then studied, and solutions presented and evaluated.

Define affordable, workforce, low-income housing, and so forth.

If you envision places where sons and daughters can live close to family when they begin their working lives, define income level, length of stay, etc.  Renovated motel units could serve as studio apartments for young singles.

Income level categories would specify a two-person, three-person, four-person level, obviously at a higher need due to more space needed/provided.

As Ayn Rand often suggested: We must check our premises prior to passing "feel good legislation" or vague construction of laws which did not anticipate all possible outcomes obviously due to flimsy research and planning.

Audrey Taggart, Hobe Sound

The ‘Stop WOKE Act’ clearly violates the First Amendment

The June 21 article “DeSantis’ ‘Stop WOKE Act’ faces court test, opposition,’’ noted the act — designed to restrict “race-based teaching (whatever that is) and training in schools, universities and workplaces’’ — will be tested in court.

Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressions, a conservative civil rights organization, says the bill’s intent is to “chill speech,” something conservatives once vociferously opposed. “The entire point of the new law is to set out certain categories or concepts that the state disdains and says you can’t introduce (in certain public and private spaces)," he said. This sounds like fascism to me because the law most certainly violates free speech guaranteed by our Constitution by “arbitrarily deciding what speech is prohibited and what speech is permitted.”

In defending the law, attorneys for DeSantis argue that the First Amendment doesn’t pertain to restricting what subjects are taught in schools because curricula are established by elected officials and, therefore, are considered by Florida officials as government speech, which may be regulated by the state. I’m pretty sure the Founding Fathers would disagree vigorously as such a provision would lead to a multitude of governmental restrictions and abuses of individual freedoms.

Let’s remember what fascism is: a form of right-wing, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society. DeSantis, like other Trump wannabes, is an opportunistic demagogue willing to seize any crazy, right-wing conspiracy theory and fabricate it into a crisis his supporters fear will lead to the destruction of America.

Under this law, anyone offended by restricted instruction, which sounds a lot like government-sponsored mind control, could sue the company or institution. Conservatives used to be opposed to frivolous lawsuits. This legislation encourages it.

Cray Little, Vero Beach

More: Letters to the Editor: June 23, 2022

More: Letters to the Editor: June 22, 2022

White nationalism isn’t ‘rising’

Too many low-information voters are buying the line that the rise of white nationalism presents a danger to this country. The oft-repeated shibboleth, “rising white nationalism” creates undue anxiety in those who believe every word of their favorite news source. Where is it, exactly? Which yahoos are “rising”? Is there a platform? A manifesto? A position paper? White nationalism is the desire to separate ethnically Caucasian people into a separate geographical entity. You know, like turning the U.S. into Romania. Confusing.

Yet leading lefties see the top three issues to defeat the righties are 1. Climate change 2. Gun rights 3. White nationalism.

Huh?

When researching white nationalism, you’ll find the names of dopes who don’t fit that definition even tangentially. Timothy McVeigh, Dylan Roof, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter and the El Paso Walmart shooter are thrown into a hat with jerks from other countries, like the New Zealand mosque shooter or the nut in Norway a decade ago. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the ADL and the ACLU will go back to the 1920s to take a stab at it.

So maybe the white nationalism is confused with “white supremacy." But is it supremacy, or just plain ole hate? Did the guy in Buffalo shoot up the grocery to create a white nation? Did he feel supreme? Before the bandwagon could be filled with finger-pointers, someone else went crazy in Uvalde. But he was brown. Never mind.

When President Biden said that white supremacy is at fault for “all these mass shootings,” the FBI nodded in unison and went out to inspect Jan. 6 rioters. But they couldn’t find a “white nationalist” in the lot. No white supremacists either. But rest assured, they’ll keep looking.

Norman Grant, Vero Beach 

If you already shop online, support Ukrainian sellers

In the beginning, everyone was cheering the plucky Ukrainian resisters. The war drags on, and there are no recent thrilling defeats such as the sinking of the Moskva to ignite the public imagination. A sense of wariness has set in.

Ukraine should still command our attention. Ukraine is a major world exporter of grain. It exports 10% of the world’s wheat traded in international markets, 40% of sunflower oil, and 15% of corn. Each year, 60 million tons of grain are shipped out of Odessa, which Russia is blockading, and 20 million tons are waiting to ship. There are reports that Russia has confiscated an untold amount of grains and is standing in the way of distribution.

Russia's economy is expected to shrink 15%, while Ukraine's is expected to contract 45%! At home this means continued inflation as ingredients to common foods like sunflower oil become more scarce and expensive.

While one might think there's nothing to do, we can help Ukraine's economy and ours by by supporting Ukrainian small businesses. If you're already shopping online, support a Ukrainian seller. They are easy to find on Etsy, eBay or any place that has international sales.

NGOs are having trouble reaching the hardest hit in Ukraine. I am reminded of Katrina, when the Red Cross couldn't get in, and how seasoned residents of Florida's hurricane alley stepped up and delivered supplies themselves. Like Floridians in Katrina, these people know what's really happening, and where to help. For example, my friend Olga of Lihtar, an Etsy craftsperson, is making military backpacks in addition to ceramics. Supporting people like her improves Ukrainian independence and the war effort all at once. The world economy needs the war to end, and when it does these small businesses will be the ones to reestablish stability.

Rebecca Schleider, Stuart

Let’s do the math on President Biden’s gas tax proposal

So our wonderful leader thinks he is doing all of us a big favor by eliminating the federal gas tax for a while. Apparently his idea of help is a little different from mine.

I did the math, something I wonder if he is capable of doing.

Eliminate the federal gas tax, which is approximately 20 cents per gallon.

Fill up my 20 gallon gas tank, and I save $4 each time. If I fill up once a week I save a whopping $16 per month ($4 per fill × 4 fills = $16).

However I am now paying $5 per gallon instead of $3 to $4 a gallon so I'm  paying approximately $80 more for those gallons (4 fill ups × 20 gallons × $1 increase per gallons) resulting in an additional $64 out of my pocket in a month just for gas. This added to the increase in food, clothing and shelter and utilities. Biden’s gas tax proposal is laughable at best.

He needs to man up, admit inflation is out of hand and do something about it. We need something better than negative $64.

Jan Belwood, Palm City

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Stop WOKE Act; that big PSL heart; Biden's actions: Letters, June 26