MiamiHerald.com: Opinion

Gathering storm over insurance bill

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:23 EST

OUR OPINION: Don’t let unregulated insurers into Florida

Another loony ‘jobs’ bill

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:13 EST

OUR OPINION: Out-of-state Internet companies should collect Florida sales tax but why a “freebie” tax holiday?

Indecision roulette

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:32 EST

OUR OPINION: Future of gambling in the Sunshine State remains unsettled

Florida’s simpleton rankings

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00 EST

OUR OPINION: New state rankings of school districts do nothing to promote reform

Is there a hero in the House?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00 EST

OUR OPINION: Gov. Scott, state Senate need missing House support to crack down on bad ALFs

Break the cycle of violence

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:10 EST

OUR OPINION: End physical and emotional abuse during teen dating by speaking up

Exaggerations and outright dirty tricks

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:19 EST

OUR OPINION: In the battle over casino resorts, all sides need to cool down and focus on the facts

One more time: term limits

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:49 EST

OUR OPINION: Charter votes in Miami-Dade offer lessons for commissioners

Playing in the wrong arena

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:21 EST

OUR OPINION: Housing the homeless in sports facilities a logistical nightmare that would not address root problems

Rough seas

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:47 EST

OUR OPINION: Congressional panel right to seek answers about Costa Concordia incident to allay public’s concerns

Setting record straight on a program to help Cuba

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:58 EST

Totalitarian regimes and their apologists have turned the manipulation of facts and the distortion of reality into a science. Dictatorships believe that political power flows from moral power, therefore character assassination of their opponents is imperative.

The unruliness of Cuba’s law

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:59 EST

Lorenzo Enrique Copello Castillo, Bárbaro Leodán Sevilla García and Jorge Luis Martinez Isaac are the names of the last three Cuban citizens to face a firing squad. They were arraigned on April 5, 2003, charged under Cuba’s Law 93 of Dec. 20, 2001, known as the “Cuban Law Against Terrorist Acts”, for hijacking a ferry and taking hostages.

For Komen, no going back to charity as usual

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00 EST

So that’s it then.

More wasted money in Liberty City

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:42 EST

I’m sure you’ll be as relieved as I was to learn that four — count ’em four — small businesses in Liberty City will soon get their facades spruced up thanks to $428,545 of taxpayers’ money. It’s small change compared to the millions, nay hundreds of millions, poured into Liberty City since the 1980 McDuffie riots, but still worth our attention.

Catholics and healthcare: An issue of conscience

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:42 EST

Most Americans can hardly believe we’re having a national debate about birth control in the 21st century — more than 50 years after The Pill became available and decades after condoms became as commonplace as, well, balloons.

Venezuela: Out! Out! Out!

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:36 EST

María Corina Machado has written an open letter to Fidel Castro that has shaken cyberspace. I must have received 300 copies since it began to circulate through the Internet. It doesn’t go unread.

Red lines in the sands of Iran

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:35 EST

There are three red lines when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program. The first is the moment when Iran tunnels so deeply underground that Israeli bombs will be incapable of doing real damage. The second is when the tunneling goes even deeper and the United States’ “bunker buster” bombs will be insufficient. And the third, well, that has already passed. It is the conviction that the current Iranian regime will never let Israel live in peace.

Which way the Hispanic vote?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:34 EST

In a recent ABC News/Univision News survey the Hispanic/Latino vote in Florida favors President Obama 50 percent, over Mitt Romney’s 40 percent and 52 percent for Obama, over Newt Gingrich’s 38 percent. That is not significantly different from the 57 percent of the Florida Hispanic vote that Obama took in 2008 race.

A home’s real value

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:07 EST

Re the Feb. 7 story Citizens boosted home values to raise premiums, suit says: This practice is rampant throughout the insurance industry in Florida. It has been going on for years. As usual, insurance commissioners have done nothing to stop this nonsense. The concept is completely flawed. The policy value should reflect the rebuild cost of the home, not the market value. Market value includes land value. Obviously land value should not be considered.

The rules are different in Tallahassee

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

It amazes me how the media write stories and blog posts about how contentious some of our debates on the Broward County Commission dais get on any given Tuesday during our meetings. Something they do not realize is that a Florida law forces that to happen. It is called the Sunshine Law.

Police overkill

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

There were four — count ’em, four — cops surrounding a young woman in Hollywood sitting on the curb in a photo on the front page of the Feb. 7 Local section.

Don’t inject religion

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:11 EST

Sen. Marco Rubio opposes making Catholic institutions offer employees — Catholic and non-Catholic — health insurance that includes contraception. He may proudly proclaim that none of his children were planned, but it is estimated that the majority of Catholics do use birth control. He fails to understand that we live in a democracy where one’s opinion should not be foisted on another. If those employees do not wish to partake in birth control, they do not have to.

Horrific treatment

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:11 EST

The death penalty for Jorge and Carmen Barahona would be too lenient.

Get tough on ALFs

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:11 EST

Floridians should write their state legislators urging them to pass the two laws to toughen ALF regulations and stop nursing-home patient abuse.

Different topics

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

I found the Feb. 7 editorial, Indecision roulette, somewhat disingenuous. The first half of the editorial argues that we need a rigorous, honest debate and a “full, public airing.” I heartily agree. Our legislators won’t do it. I suggest that The Miami Herald set its reporters on the hunt for the “badly needed discussion.”

Komen reconsiders

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

I applaud the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s reconsideration of its support for Planned Parenthood. As a nurse practitioner working in a breast diagnostic center, I see many patients referred to us by Planned Parenthood.

Federal ban on snakes lacks bite

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

Recently, a powerful lobby spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat a bill that would have enhanced public safety, safeguarded the environment and curtailed cruelty to animals. Who is this giant wielding such influence? BP? The NRA? Halliburton? Nope, it’s none other than the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers, which fought a bill that would have made some species of dangerous snakes illegal to import and sell. The group griped and hyped for three years until the list was gutted by more than half — four species have been banned rather than nine.

Military preparedness does not come cheap

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:01 EST

Here’s something for critics of the country’s defense budget to ponder: After I was confirmed as secretary of the Navy in May 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asked me and the other service secretaries to work with Congress to gain approval for a pending supplemental appropriation to the defense budget. This was not a war supplemental; it was still four months before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Pentagon was simply running out of money.

For Planned Parenthood, backlash pays off

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:31 EST

Last spring, Cecile Richards’s BlackBerry buzzed with an unexpected text message. It was from her son Daniel, a college student in Pennsylvania. He was heading off to Toledo, having organized a bus trip of friends to attend a rally supporting Planned Parenthood. The message came as Congress was debating ending the group’s nearly $100 million in federal funding.

Bullying women

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00 EST

You’d think the political process had turned into one big, sexy GoDaddy Super Bowl ad, with all the focus on breasts, bellies and even butts this week.

California college not alone in admissions mischief

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:07 EST

The news that Claremont McKenna College submitted false SAT scores for incoming freshmen to U.S. News & World Report (and other outlets, including the Department of Education) is causing a ripple of shock throughout higher education.

Buddy Holly: The music lives

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00 EST

The Jan. 20 death of 72-year-old rhythm-and-blues legend Etta James, just three days after the death of her mentor, bandleader Johnny Otis, is a sad reminder that the early pioneers of rock-n-roll are a dying breed.

A false portrait of sexual violence in the United States

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:49 EST

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a study suggesting that rates of sexual violence in the United States are comparable to those in the war-stricken Congo. How is that possible?

Rushdie falls victim to Indian intolerance

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:13 EST

In 1984, criticizing George Orwell for having advocated political quietism to writers, Salman Rushdie asserted that “we are all irradiated by history, we are radioactive with history and politics.” He added: “Politics and literature . . . do mix, are inextricably mixed, and that . . . mixture has consequences.”

Dream candidate? Only for Democrats

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:40 EST

If you’re a Democrat, here’s what you’re thinking two days before the Florida’s Republican primary:

Those big snakes are here to stay

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:24 EST

Now that federal regulators have outlawed the importation of humongous, gator-eating pythons, all Floridians can breathe a grateful sigh of relief. Finally we are saved from this insidious reptilian plague!

Haiti: Not trendy, not chic, just real news

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:29 EST

The news of the day is burning with big questions:

Mitt wins … unless he blows it

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:26 EST

Florida is being overrun by pundits and pollsters in advance of the upcoming Republican presidential primary.

Why some lawmakers are in panic

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:21 EST

An absolutely true news item: Having passed a law allowing gun owners to bring their weapons inside the state Capitol building, the Florida Senate has hastily installed panic buttons on the office phone of every senator and staff member.

Only in Miami: Indicted, but on the payroll

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 23:59 EST

More proof that Miami is the worst-run city in America:

Taxpayers harpooned on stadium

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 22:47 EST

The new Miami Marlins stadium is rising to completion in Little Havana, and rising with it is the blood pressure of taxpayers who are learning how much the new ballpark will really cost.

In casino fight, all bets are off

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 21:54 EST

An international resort company wants to build a huge casino on the shore of Biscayne Bay, where this newspaper now stands.

Tim Tebow’s prayers on field: the personal versus public consumption

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:42 EST

Really? Seriously?

And the winners are . . .

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:49 EST

In a recent column, I announced a giveaway of 50 copies of The New Crow by Michelle Alexander. Twelve thousand entries later, the winners have been chosen. Here’s the list. If you are a winner, the book should be in your mailbox shortly.

Don Cornelius created show that helped black kids come of age

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:20 EST

This was for us.

Looking for morning in America

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00 EST

A picture, the saying goes, is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, we have only about 550 with which to appraise a picture that has raised eyebrows across the country: In it, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is seen wagging her finger in President Obama’s face during his visit to her state last week.

Rep. Giffords’ departure a blow to democracy

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:18 EST

In a democracy, nothing is supposed to matter more than the will of the people.

Practicing the politics of racial resentment

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:01 EST

I got my first job when I was 12. The deacons at my church paid me $2 a week to keep it swept and mopped.

Strip club’s ‘I Have a dream bash’ hardens the heart

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00 EST

You might call this a requiem for reverence.

On video of Taliban corpses, let’s not be so quick to pass judgment

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:12 EST

Nearly 30 years ago Greg told me how it was, cutting the ears off dead men.

Newt, Mitt and our next ambassador to the moon

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:52 EST

To paraphrase Jackie Gleason’s legendary TV character Ralph Kramden, “To the moon, Newt!”

‘Run for Roots’ moves the conversation on Cuba fast forward

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:41 EST

Carmen Pelaez, a playwright and actress who grew up in Miami and made a name for herself nationally with her one-woman show, Rum and Coke, was running around New York, training for a marathon, when she experienced The Moment.

On education, money counts

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:02 EST

Money can’t buy you love, and maybe it can’t buy you happiness, but can it buy a top-notch education?

Latest budget fight in Miami-Dade a tragic comedy of political manipulation

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:26 EST

There were moments of deep sadness in the midst of raw political maneuvering. The families of two slain officers were begging for commissioners to back the police union and deliver a budget that wouldn’t hurt those officers still living — as if a 5 percent contribution from their salary to the healthcare fund would be a travesty compared to the alterative, layoffs.

Santa’s gifts for South Florida’s movers and shakers

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:16 EST

This year Santa delivered special gifts to all the good boys and girls in South Florida, but it almost didn’t happen. At the height of production, Santa’s elves disappeared, muttering something about poor pay and a busted pension at a melting North Pole.

The art of eating our own

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:49 EST

Ask Pepe Croqueta — Miami’s Everyman — about some guy named Jorge Perez donating $35 million in cash and art to a public museum that will bear Perez’s name, and Pepe will say, “But this guy is a Perez cualquiera,” a popular Cuban saying when one has a common surname.

Stop bothering the Fed, you peasant taxpayers!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:10 EST

Breaking news: When it came to the collapse of the bubble that touched off the 2008 meltdown of the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve was a placid herd of clueless blockheads. Less than two years before the housing market turned kamikaze, Fed officials were gathering around conference rooms congratulating one another on what a genius job they were doing managing the economy.

Does the GOP really want a return to the buggy-whip economy?

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:44 EST

George Wallace, when he made a third-party run for the presidency in 1968, acidly observed that there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. And as everyone can tell you, a dime ain’t what it used to be. The way Mitt Romney’s Republican rivals savaged him last week proves that the difference is something under two cents.

Correction

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:42 EST

A column by Glenn Garvin on Dec. 20 stated that the National Science Foundation “funded a study on Jell-o wrestling at the South Pole.” That is incorrect. The event took place during off-duty hours without NSF permission and did not involve taxpayer funds.

Great moments in history? Not so much

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:55 EST

I knew 2011 was going to be one of those years when I wrote a column saying that $80 billion of proposed federal bailout money to the U.S. Postal Service was a useless subsidy to “a dying ink-on-paper technology in an electronic world.” I got more than 100 bitter complaints from postal workers . . . every single one of them delivered by e-mail.

In war on drugs, dissent ‘unpatriotic’

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:09 EST

I owe Kyle Vogt an apology. A former military policeman, he’s now a member of a group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, a group of former cops, prosecutors and judges that supports ending the war on drugs.

Giving bullies a veto on the First Amendment

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:22 EST

Imagine five Jewish kids go to school one day wearing their yarmulkes. The school’s numerous skinhead students are furious. At lunch they mill around in the school yard, muttering threats and complaining to the assistant principal that that their political beliefs have been insulted. The assistant principal responds by calling the Jewish kids into his office and ordering them to take off their yarmulkes or go home.

Health team can detect child abuse

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:14 EST

The Jan. 30 story Judge: Abused boy looks like concentration camp victim, about the neglect and abuse of a 9-year-old boy in North Miami Beach, is a poignant reminder of how inadequate our current systems for treating mental health and child abuse are and how desperately our community needs innovative approaches to these problems.

Gathering storm over insurance bill

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:46 EST

OUR OPINION: Don’t let unregulated insurers into Florida

A home’s real value

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:07 EST

The rules are different in Tallahassee

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

Police overkill

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

There were four — count ’em, four — cops surrounding a young woman in Hollywood sitting on the curb in a photo on the front page of the Feb. 7 Local section.

Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee, and all that

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:13 EST

The first Queen Elizabeth was standing under an English oak tree when she learned that she had become queen.

Federal ban on snakes lacks bite

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:12 EST

The GOP’s tribal warfare

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:44 EST

This was the week Mitt Romney should have sealed the Republican presidential nomination. He was expected to win Tuesday’s caucuses in Colorado, to win or tie in Minnesota and to do credibly well in Missouri. Instead, the former Massachusetts governor managed to lose all three contests to Rick Santorum, a candidate who has spent most of the campaign stuck near the bottom of the polls.

To Sen. Storms: Let them eat cake

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:46 EST

Up in Tallahassee, the irrepressible Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Ronda Knows Best, wants to peek into the grocery carts of poor people and tell them what they can’t buy with food stamps, a push that’s getting the not-shy Storms attention from National Public Radio to the New York Times.

Have Russians moved beyond apathy and cynicism?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:45 EST

The wave of protests against the rule of Vladimir Putin in Russia brings back memories of another winter when Moscow stood poised for change. And it has made me wonder whether at long last, the cynical and apathetic Russians I met back then have been finally replaced by a new generation ready to fight again.

2/10/12

Thursday, February 9