MiamiHerald.com: Letters to the Editor

Spiritual or religious?

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:48 EDT

Martin Slater’s May 17 letter, Changing beliefs, responding to Myriam Marquez’s May 12 column makes the common mistake of equating religion and spirituality. While religions encourage the development of our spiritual sense, religious dogmas are unnecessary to cultivate one’s own sense of spirituality. Many nonreligious individuals are highly spiritual, keenly in tune with their inner-self and the concept of a creative universal force.

DCF is disgraceful

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:48 EDT

Re the May 21 article DCF deemed boy safe before he was left in vehicle: It’s unbelievable that the Department of Children & Families would do absolutely nothing about a woman who reportedly was drunk and driving, hitting walls and passing out while her young son was in the car untethered.

Indifferent to despair

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:47 EDT

There are a lot of decent people working for the IRS who are being hurt by the blunders we’ve seen, and it’s up to the administration to reach across the aisle to opponents so that they can jointly clean up any mess — actual or contrived — caused because of hard-core politics.

Castro’s sad history

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:47 EDT

Re Jose Azel’s May 18 article, Oedipus in Havana: Fidel Castro’s only success has been in his role as the No. 1 anti-American. As a result, he gained the support of the left and most of the anti-U.S. governments worldwide.

Remedial courses necessary

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:47 EDT

Re the May 15 article MDC helps students discover potential: After having taught mathematics for 37 years at Florida International University, the problem of inadequate student preparation is painfully clear. Many students are wholly unprepared for the course material and would stand no chance of passing required courses without the remedial courses offered.

Screening tests unfair to some students

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:45 EDT

Re Eduardo Padron’s May 19 Other Views article, Pell grants for poor students can change lives so let’s fix the system, not dynamite it: Padron, the president of Miami Dade College, takes issue with a report that the National Center on Education and the Economy recently issued.

Protect foster kids

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:45 EDT

I recently completed 57 months as a house parent in a residential-care home for foster children in Key West.

Where was Obama during attack?

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:44 EDT

On five Sunday television talk shows, the Obama administration sent out senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer to downplay the three recent scandals: AP, IRS and Benghazi. His claim that the still-unanswered question of where President Obama was and what he did was irrelevant, since Obama was in contact with his staff, was particularly outrageous.

Bathroom reading?

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:44 EDT

Re the May 20 letter An honest living, about street vendors: Fine, let them sell water, flowers, fruits and vegetables on the streets, but make sure they are paying for the licenses, sales taxes, income taxes and other expenses required to do business.

MAM mum

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:44 EDT

Re the May 18 story Miami Art Museum gets anonymous $15 million gift: This public-relations announcement diverts attention from the real financial issues of the museum.

Lack of planning

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:43 EDT

Regardless of the spin by all parties, one fact remains clear: Despite what our country experienced on Sept. 11, 2001, and the lessons learned, the Obama administration did not make any contingency plans for the anniversary of 9/11 to protect what was an obviously vulnerable diplomatic post in an unstable location.

Focus on Americans’ needs

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:34 EDT

Elected officials can create all the crises they want over Benghazi, the IRS and √The AP, but the public doesn’t care. We want them to fix the things that affect us daily. They need to lower the unemployment rate, keep gas prices low, make housing affordable and keep our roads from being congested. If they concern themselves with making my life easier then I will vote to reelect them.

President’s ‘scandals’ could actually hurt Republicans

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:00 EDT

Republican politicians and activists can barely contain their glee at the simultaneous eruption of three major controversies about the Obama administration.

The White House to-do list

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00 EDT

When White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told his colleagues last week to spend no more than 10 percent of their time responding to scandals, he didn’t know a tornado would devastate entire stretches of Oklahoma. He knew something like it would happen though. A chief of staff knows that White House plans are always being upset, so he reminds his staff: Don’t get too distracted, bigger distractions are always on the horizon.

Unethical tutors cause Florida’s children to lose out

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:47 EDT

As a district coordinator for a tutoring company that received an ‘excellent’ rating from the Florida Department of Education (DOE) for the 10 years that we have been providing services in Florida, I must respond to the May 12 article Fight over money for tutoring went down to the wire.

DCF fails again

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:47 EDT

Another innocent child has died because of the blatant incompetence of the Florida Department of Children & Families. The little arms of Rilya Wilson and Nubia Barahona have stretched out to embrace the latest victim of neglect, infant Bryan Osceola.

Larger type, please

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:47 EDT

I am always proud of the Silver Knight nominees from Miami-Dade County. When the winners are printed in The Miami Herald, the categories, from art to world languages, can be easily read. But even with the best of bifocals, I need a high-power magnifier to read the students’ names. The Herald should print the names a little larger to honor these outstanding students more fully.

Racist statement

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:47 EDT

Mary Sanchez’s May 14 Other Views column, Scholars claim Hispanics are intellectually inferior, says that that Jason Richwine, a Ph.D. from Harvard and, until recently, analyst of the Heritage Foundation, says that Hispanics are genetically inferior intellectually and will never fully assimilate into the U.S. society.

Hasten executions

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:46 EDT

Leonard Pitts seems to think in his May 19 column, On death penalty, wrongly accused are victims, too, that George Ryan did the right thing by imposing a moratorium on the death penalty. Ryan is a criminal himself and will certainly side with other criminals. Now with DNA testing being so accurate, except in the case of OJ Simpson, the chance of an error is minute.

Doctors’ secret PIN

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:46 EDT

While Medicare regulations are a tangle of daunting legalese, the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) could squash Medicare fraud by enabling the prescribing doctors to guard the gates.

Lost at sea

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:44 EDT

Any writeup on the passing of Capt. Mike Burke that omits mention of the Fantome, the Windjammer schooner lost off Honduras with 31 crew during Hurricane Mitch in 1998 — a tragedy that could have been averted — strikes me as seriously incomplete. For the full story, people should read Jim Carrier’s book, The Ship and the Storm.

‘First 48’ exploits victims of crime

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:48 EDT

Thank you for your recent coverage of the city of Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa’s decision not to renew a contract with the reality show The First 48. For years the show’s film crew has roamed the streets of Miami’s urban communities searching for victims of homicide to feature on their show.