Letters to the editor for Sunday, March 26, 2023
Neglect for women and children
The New York Times review article: States With Abortion Bans Are Among Least Supportive for Mothers and Children (March 18) reveals the political will that is limiting the basic health care to Florida women. It may not be well known to Floridians that the Florida political leaders actually lost free federal money by rejecting the Affordable Care Act's Medical Expansion Program. This would have included the Postpartum Extension that would have extended Medicaid to women for a full year after giving birth. The article rates the states that do not offer basic health care for their women and children. Florida has had a bad reputation for years with no plans for improvement. Florida is 46th in the nation for uninsured women; 29th in maternal mortality; 30th in infant mortality and 33rd in child poverty.
Many women and children experience stress, sickness, poverty, hunger and even death in Florida. The governor and legislators should have the will to use their power to improve decades of political indifference and neglect for the women and the children of Florida. Many people say that they enjoy living in Florida but many women and children would say that they don't, and would be better off in another state with better medical outcomes for them.
Tim Diegel, M.D., Naples
A teacher's story
In reading the latest comments on young girls discussing their periods I am reminded of a spring day back in 1971, Canton, Ohio, where I was a teacher. On the second floor of the old school I saw a girl from another class in tears. Thank the dear Lord it was before hugging school children was outlawed, I went over, put my arm around her and asked her what was the matter. She started to cry a bit more then stated "I started my period." I was amazed at the confident maturity of this fourth grader. ( I started mine at 14, my sister at 16) so this alone blew me away. Nonetheless I asked if she wanted me to call her mom, the principal to let her go home. She said, "My mom is in the hospital having a baby." So I proceeded to take her to a quiet place with a bathroom, school children all out for recess at the time. In our walk I learned how well prepared she was for use of feminine necessities. We arrived, I gave her what she needed, she went in and took care of herself, returned to the classroom. To this day I marvel at that young 9-year-old's mother preparing her for menstruation. And NOW you are telling teachers the topic is taboo!Better you take a serious look at the violent TV shows, movies shown in theaters, and listen to the music that adds to violence in our culture as well as degrades women and get all of this cleaned up so society can be free to live in peace.
Diane Koster-Marquard, Bradenton
Exceptional leadership on Sanibel
I am writing to express my deep gratitude for the exceptional leadership demonstrated by our former Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. As a resident of this city, I have personally witnessed the remarkable efforts made by her in coordinating relief and recovery efforts.
During the disaster, Mayor Smith showed unwavering commitment to the people of our city. Her tireless efforts in providing guidance, support, and comfort to those in need were truly remarkable and inspiring. The remarkable dedication and hard work that she put into helping our community recover is something that will be remembered for years to come.
In addition, I would like to commend Mayor Smith for her crucial role in securing funding and resources from the state and federal government. The mayor’s persistence and determination in advocating for our city’s needs ensured that our community received the support it deserved. This was instrumental in ensuring that our city could rebuild after the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian.
As a former mayor who will remain on the Sanibel City Council, Council person Smith’s continued presence in our local government is a great asset to our community. Her experience, knowledge, and leadership will be invaluable in helping us face any future challenges that may arise. We are all aware of her unwavering dedication to our water quality issues and look forward to her continued efforts on behalf of our city.
On behalf of myself and my fellow citizens, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for Mayor Smith's leadership and dedication to our community during one of its darkest moments. Her service to our city has left an indelible mark, and we are deeply grateful for her contributions.
Robert Brooks, Sanibel
Spreading the word
I am writing to you as a high school student at Lorenzo Walker Technical High School in Naples to bring attention to an important initiative taken by a youth-led grassroots group called Climate Cardinals, where I volunteer as the director of fundraising. This nonprofit has translated over a million words of climate and environmental information into 100 languages.They've recently translated the United Nations climate science body's latest report into 25 different languages, including Hindi, Urdu and Swahili, helping youth activists worldwide understand scientific discoveries and communicate them to the public. This is crucial because 80% of scientific articles are written only in English, even though 75% of the world doesn't speak English. Climate Cardinals is doing important work to make climate education more accessible to people who don't speak English.They have 15 directors and 9,000 volunteers in 41 countries, with notable partnerships including the UN Environment Programme, the Italian government, UNICEF, and Yale Climate Connections. I urge everyone to visit their website and take advantage of their resources. Their efforts deserve recognition and support.
Selvin Perdomo, Naples
Hands off our books
Soon libraries will be able to put a sign on the door "Closed… no books."
My guess is those wanting to ban all these books from our libraries seldom if ever visit a library and probably have never liked to read. Get your hands off our books and maybe you might try reading a few of them and learn something.
C. Kay Best, MSW, LCSW, Lehigh Acres
Social Security gap
I am amazed that more women are not outraged by the fact that they are receiving less Social Security to live on than men. Maybe it is because the men have also outlived the lower paid women wage earners! I do not think that is the fact. According to Morningstar in 2020 the gap widened between men and women executives. Women earned 75 cents for every dollar of men executives. Ergo in retirement women have less to live on then men. I know I am not the only woman living with this problem!
Why are women not upset by this disparity?
Marjorie Hancock, Naples
Incentive to serve is gone
Enlistment in the U.S. military is down. No surprise watching some states impose new laws, antithetical to democracy.
Why would anyone risk their life in support of anti-democracy, autocratic policies. As someone who has served (Korean War) and a strong supporter of the military, I wouldn't volunteer again. Why get killed fighting Russia or China?
Let them take control of the U.S., then states won't have to enact these autocratic laws. Already built in!
Henry S. Kolesinski, Naples
Targeting the weak
I am very concerned about the parallels I see in some states with Nazi Germany in the 1930’s. State legislatures are targeting the LGBTQ community, voting rights, banning books that they don’t agree with, endangering women’s health, threatening the medical community’s ability to treat patients under threat of criminal prosecution, arming teachers in our children’s schools and banning medical practices for children struggling with their sexual identity. They target the weak and the minorities who don’t have the resources to fight back effectively.
Ultimately it is because we voters continue to accept gerrymandering that allows minority positions to elect representatives who don’t reflect a majority position. We have also allowed enormous amounts of campaign financing from outside of the election district. It’s time to stand up to these absurdities while our vote still matters.
I am reminded of German Lutheran minister Martin Niemoller’s prose:“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I wasn’t a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Doug Zwank, Fort Myers
Suppression of history
The often-quoted admonition of philosopher George Santayana that ”those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” seems to be forgotten by Governor DeSantis and his legislative and administrative cronies.
By suppressing school textbooks and curricula that address unpleasant features of American history, their censorial actions prevent students from learning about past inequities and deprivations, especially racial bias, discrimination, and other maltreatment.
These deprivations create a high likelihood that those degradations and other improprieties will continue to exist and intensify.
As another sage, William Shakespeare, reminds In "The Tempest": “What’s past is prologue.”
Those imprudent authorities trying to run Florida education into the ground ought to familiarize themselves with these wise observations.
Marshall H. Tanick, Naples
Legal or not?
From what has developed this week, it would appear likely that many members of the Biden family accepted money from the Chinese Communist Party for favors as yet to be revealed.
Much of this money was received while Joe Biden was vice president. It remains to be seen whether these monies were legally gained or not.
What has not been mentioned by the media is whether these sums of monies received by the Biden family were declared on their respective tax returns or whether taxes were avoided.
Michael Adler, Miromar Lakes
GOP insurgency
Rest easy everyone, the guy who said to rake the forests, nuke a hurricane, told us that Hitler "did a lot of good things," was impeached twice, stole more classified documents than anyone else in history, incessantly lied about election fraud and incited a violent coup attempt then called those seditionists "patriots" and "peaceful people" is the leading candidate for president.
The GOP is no longer a political party, it's an insurgency.
William Linehan, Naples
Age of Haley, Harris
It is interesting to note that liberal talk show host Don Lemon opined that Nikki Haley is “past her prime” as a woman and presidential contender at the age of 52. He failed to make that same observation when Kamala Harris ran for president at 56; or, that she could be second in line for the presidency at 60 years old.
Ron Ustruck, Fort Myers
Ineffectual leader
Having been proud of and dedicated to my country, today I confess I am ashamed of how our leaders are bent on embarrassing the U.S. on the national and international stage.
China complains that America has suppressed, encircled and contained their economy and nation and, if we, America, do not change our treatment of China, there will be a confrontation (most likely Taiwan). I believe that a very recent graduate of the Fletcher School at Tufts University would understand that the balloon event was not a reason to cancel our diplomatic trip to China but all the more reason to proceed.
Yes, Russia is indeed cozying up to China but China does not have energy resources and requires the luxury of world trade, especially with the U.S. It’s time now to realize that our most important international "ally" must be China and we have to get off of the balloon dunce stool and make multiple offers, many of which should include trade incentives, to China.
The Taliban have charge of Afghanistan because we made a clumsy and horrific exit in terms of loss of life. Enough said. We cast the country back into darkness.
Over 100,00 Americans die of ingesting fentanyl which is brought across our southern border because our administration has allowed this to occur. In a previous presidential context this alone would have been grounds for impeachment. But the media remains quiet while thousands die and hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants pour into our country – while our president is fiddling while Rome burns – an ineffectual leader in a time of crisis.
And then there’s our president’s reversal of our nation’s energy self-sufficiency to a disgusting plea for Venezuela to sell us oil. This is shameful and completely ridiculous.
So, I’m not sure we can be saved from the people at the wheel of the ship of state unless there is an abrupt change in command.
Read McCaffrey, Naples
Hate crime article
I am writing to address a concern about the placement of an article in the Naples Daily News on March 15.The article on page 9 was titled, “Jewish center, rabbi’s vehicle attacked Saturday in Cape Coral.”
Why wasn’t this attack on a Jewish Center not placed closer to the front page?
One might assume from the headline that this is just an article about a car being vandalized. When you read the article (which may not happen because of its placement) you learn this is not just about a car being destroyed.A man toppled the menorah in front of the Chabad Jewish Center of Cape Coral. He then threw bricks at the front door to gain entry. Only the impact glass stopped him from entering and harming the people inside. The article further states that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reports, “incidents of antisemitism remain at historic levels targeting Jewish institutions…”Reporting news is not just about content, but also about placement. Journalistic integrity requires attention to both of these factors.
On March 16, page 7, The Naples Daily News did have a follow up to the Chabad attack. Because of placement, I doubt these articles on Chabad got appropriate visibility.
I hope in the future you will give more attention to the placement of news about bias incidents and hate crimes that are on the rise in Florida and throughout the U.S. Your readers need to know what is happening.
Harriet Raynes Thaler, Bonita Springs
Radicals right and left
"Let's re-elect 'Slow Joe' & 'Cackling Kamala' in '24." This catchy but caustic promo sounds like the lead in to a comedy bit promoting an aging leader and his equally inept VP. But this is no laughing matter since half the nation's voters favor this duo while the other half would prefer "Attila the Hun & Calamity Jane."
At age 90+, I consider Joe Biden the worst occupant of the White House in my lifetime. His mistakes are so apparent and extensive he appears to possess a reverse Midas Touch since everything he touches turns into a disaster. He flip flops incessantly and always blames others for his miscues. Argumentatively, he is responsible for more deaths on the southern border than Trump in addition to enabling drugs to flow into the U.S. unabated and killing thousands of innocent youths.
"Recycled Joe" fairly defeated an aspiring dictator in Donald Trump in 2020, then benefitted from a natural economic rebound after the COVID pandemic, but he turned his Afghanistan withdrawal into an Al-Qaeda victory then proceeded to get entangled in what Ron DeSantis has rightly labeled a civil war between pro and anti-Russian factions in the Ukraine that might have been avoided at the start. Consequently, we remain stuck in an expensive quagmire in a distant land. Lest we forget, the entire Biden family's penchant for nepotism adds to Joe's excess baggage.
So where does America stand? With West Virginia's Manchin a long shot alternative for the Dems and either Trump & Taylor-Greene or DeSantis & Haley for the Republicans, the 2024 race shapes up as a contest where America could be the big loser regardless of who prevails. Four more years of Woke & Antifa vs the MAGA guys will further divide America. Are these rabble rousers cognizant they are unravelling the fabric that made this nation great? It's time they all shut their radical yaps and allow the silent majority to prevail and prosper.
Gerald Ponder, Cape Coral
Health care records
Some 20 years ago, I was taking my mother from one doctor to the next in her final days. For each doctor, we had to fill out information sheets, the same information over and over. I wondered then why they couldn't coordinate all of this to avoid the duplicate effort.Well, guess what? 20 years later, it is exactly the same. Every time you go to a doctor you haven't been to before, you have to fill out a bunch of detailed information. Some of them are relatively short but some are unbelievably long. So my question is, why? I have a primary care doctor. Why can't everybody hook into his records and download whatever they need? Or why can't I carry a card with me that lists all of my medical history and which could be read by each doctor in turn?We Americans spend among the highest in the world for our health care. In my experience, the doctors and nurses are excellent, they do a great job. But the record keeping is abysmal. Someone needs to address this, and the sooner the better. Is anybody out there looking at fixing this?
Jerry Miller, Naples
Build, operate affordable housing
What do the the Collier County commissioners do for the residents of Naples and surrounding communities?
They do very little. It takes volunteers. It takes nonprofit operators to fill the gaps which the county commissioners have failed to fill. The Collier County commissioners have ignored affordable housing because, historically, they provide little or no social services for residents of Collier County. The county commissioners have relied on nonprofit foundations to provide community services for hospitals, hospice and bereavement, addiction, social work, homelessness, mental health, veterans, conservation, behavioral health, foster children, food banks, literacy, senior centers, abused women and children, family planning, youth and children services.
Now the affordable housing problem has become so overwhelming that nonprofits cannot begin to undertake the task.
The commissioners should learn how to build BIG government from Governor DeSantis. He spares no cost in enlarging Florida’s governmental control as he silences the voices of suffering minorities, transports immigrants country-wide operates Disney World, prosecutes innocent voters, raises $100 million for a private Florida army, thwarts efforts by corporations to implement measures to protect the environment and to create corporate governance standards and dismantles diversity, equity and inclusion programs in educational institutions across the State of Florida.
Come on, commissioners. Take control like Ron DeSantis does. You have the money, and, tenants pay rent. Build and operate affordable housing.
Joe Haack, Naples
Transportation secretary MIA
What’s it going to take for our “missing in action Transportation secretary,” to do something?
Once again another near miss at a major airport, while the planes are on the ground!
When is our unqualified leader going to do something positive to help the transportation industry?
Oh I forgot! He was missing in action from the FAA summit meeting in Virginia?
Probably more “personal time.”
If he had a boss in any other industry, “he would be fired!”
Denny Rosenhagen, Naples
Propaganda a weapon
When the people are represented in America’s courtrooms, ALL witnesses are sworn in and under oath to tell the truth or face criminal perjury indictments. It sets the stage for just the provable facts to be heard.
If a witness testifies that they "heard" an unproven or unprovable assertion, an immediate “Objection! Hearsay!” will be entered and “Sustained” by the judge and not entered into the court record of factual witness testimony for the jury to consider.
Maybe it’s time for The People, aka the Court of Truthful Information Consumers, to demand that factual news outlets -- and campaigning and elected politicians -- be treated the same as courtroom witnesses and swear a perpetual oath to only dispense proven factual information or face criminal perjury indictment.
Opinions or unfounded assertions, aka "Hearsay," should never be broadcast under the banner of factual news or in campaign speeches. The First Amendment, of course, grants broadcasters and politicians the right to express opinions but should not grant them the right to spout their opinions as facts under the banner of factual news or in political speeches. That would be classified as propaganda and if Hitler and the Third Reich taught us anything, it’s that propaganda can be a deadly weapon that can literally kill people (6 million Jews) or incite people to attack their own democracy (January 6th).
J. Cant, Naples
Book bans
In all of history the good guys were never the ones who banned books.
Edwin Cohen, Naples
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Letters to the editor for Sunday, March 26, 2023
