The readers’ forum

American’s bankruptcy hurts middle class

In its Dec. 4 editorial, Up in the air, The Miami Herald said that American Airlines will restructure and come out of bankruptcy stronger. But it neglected to state that 9,000 local families who directly work for American and thousands more indirectly will be devastated financially. And our local economy gets a direct hit with personal bankruptcies, foreclosures, car repossessions and unaffordable healthcare. Not to mention the unemployment benefits and food assistance as other workers from around the country come to Miami and displace local workers sending money earned here to other states where they reside.

Inspiring views

Kudos to The Miami Herald for an inspiring and meaningful series of opinion pages from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2. The week began with an inspirational column by Leonard Abess Jr. tracing the history of integration at the University of Miami. It included personal memories of growing up in a segregated Miami.

Shame on Russia, China

Pictures of tanks and field artillery bombing civilians in major cities of Syria are made worse by the fact that it is their own government that is killing them. Three thoughts came to mind in the last few days when seeing these pictures:

Can’t be trusted

What kind of a school system would keep Leslie Rainer as a teacher? She’s already shown she can’t be trusted with Haitian children. As far as I am concerned, she isn’t fit to be any child’s teacher. Just imagine if she had targeted a Muslim child in her class and the outrage there would be.

U.N. a waste

Why does our government continue to support the United Nations when the Security Council can’t even pass a nonbinding resolution blaming the Syrian government for killing of thousands of protestors and innocent civilians?

The readers’ forum

Schools bill empowers business, not parents

When it comes to deceiving voters, Florida politicians earn an A+ every time. The Parent Empowerment Act or “parent trigger” promoted as “opening the door to a whole new level of communication between parents and the schools,” is nothing more than another bait-and-switch scheme like the Florida Lottery.

Church and politics

Kathleen Parker may be confusing President Obama with some of his Republican counterparts ( For Catholics, it’s about freedom of conscience, Feb. 8, Other Views). He is running for reelection, yes, but perhaps not all of his positions are based on the road of political safety or popularity. He may indeed make decisions, tough as they may be politically, on the basis of fairness to the masses.

Broader view

Often, after reading the news or observing the world, it is difficult for me to believe that no man is an island, a part of the main. There’s a big problem in Indianapolis with private jet jams. Infants are freezing to death this winter in Afghanistan. Americans are selling some of their vital assets to pay heating bills. Multimillionaires are saying nasty things about one another in hopes of becoming president.