Miami Herald >  Opinion >  Speak Up

  • Welcome to the land of inconsiderate

    Observations of a visitor to South Florida:

  • Protect kids no matter where they learn

    Local state representatives have proposed a property-tax increase, and the revenue generated would provide visible security in our schools. In view of recent events around the nations, this is a commendable proposal. Our children deserve the assurance that they can enjoy school in safety.

  • Haiti can’t build its future without confronting its brutal past

    On Jan. 31, in a crowded and chaotic courtroom in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the main character in the drama was nowhere to be found. Ex-President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier had failed to appear for a hearing to determine whether charges that he was responsible for crimes against humanity could proceed. The presiding judge postponed the hearing until Feb. 7.

  • Pope has been our guide toward spiritual holiness

    In a society that prods us to cling to possessions, positions, powers and titles, the concept of spiritual detachment is often misunderstood. In some circles, it is completely forgotten. Still, spiritual detachment is a staple of Catholic spiritual tradition. Spiritual detachment has been described as “the virtue that frees man from any inordinate or excessive attachment to another person, thing or state of mind. Detachment should be seen within the overall context of the universal call to holiness . . . detachment is a virtue to be exercised in the midst of the world because it bears strong witness here and now to the ultimate aim of our existence: attachment to God alone in eternity.”

  • Miami, Gables practice ‘brick-and-mortar’ racism

    I have been invested in the Coconut Grove community for 20 years, as a volunteer, an employee of a business there and a concerned citizen. Moving Coral Gables’ trolley-bus repair depot to the West Grove is an action steeped in historical injustice. Once again, this pleasant community is being treated unjustly, with condescension and with a sense of privileged charity by those in power, whether they are business people or politicians.

  • Post office is too unreliable

    I don’t use the post office to send packages. I wonder how many other people have turned away from shipping with the U.S. Postal Service. Unless changes are made, the decline in shipping packages will lead to deficits and cutbacks. I would rather support our post office instead of going to a commercial shipper, but the services rendered are inefficient and waste my time.

  • Catholic Church still stands on firm moral grounds

    Re Fabiola Santiago’s Feb. 12 column, Vatican must modernize beyond opening a Twitter account: The Catholic and Apostolic Church has been around for more than 2,000 years. It has gone through many changes, both positive and negative. But the essence and cornerstone of the church, the basis for its existence and its moral grounds have been unchanging, irreproachable and infallible.

  • End permanent alimony

    The Florida Legislature has before it proposed legislation to finally overhaul our state’s outdated permanent-alimony laws. Florida is one of the few states that still allows a former spouse to receive a lifetime of support, even after a short-term marriage to a healthy spouse of 10 years or less.

  • Keys road shabbily rebuilt

    I’m not a road engineer, but I have lived in the Keys enough years to have seen the 18-mile stretch rebuilt twice.

  • Koch: More than mayor of New York

    In 1998, I got to share some interesting moments with Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York City who died recently.

  • NFL has a double standard

    The NFL has threatened not to consider Miami for future Super Bowls unless the stadium is renovated, protected from the elements and brought up to its standards. But next year’s Super Bowl will be held in the new, open-air stadium in the Meadowlands, New Jersey, during the coldest part of winter. The record low temperature for a Feb. 2 was 2 degrees below zero.

  • Which kind of energy creates more jobs?

    In their Feb. 2 Readers’ Forum letter, Nuclear energy can lead to economic opportunities, former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman and Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman missed another economic upside to nuclear power: Nothing makes new jobs like a nuclear accident. As Fukushima, Japan, continues its uncontrolled radiation release, the prefecture has become a “hot” travel destination for scientists and curious visitors who roam the streets with Geiger counters, posting to their Facebook pages the latest radioactive cesium levels detected in sidewalk cracks.

  • Offshore explosions will harm sea life

    Re the Jan. 30 story Groups appeal ruling to let Navy train near whales: The U.S. Navy’s explanation that “only an occasional aquatic mammal will be killed” by its offshore underwater tests in the Atlantic ignores a basic biological fact: In the hunt for food, land-based mammals depend largely upon their sense of hearing and smell. So it is in the ocean.

  • Angie says: Honest consumer reviews shouldn’t spur lawsuits

    There has been news coverage lately about the potential for litigation that could result from consumers posting comments online. In my experience, it’s rare for a company to take this drastic action.

  • Skip the raise, governor, fund schools properly

    I am a National Board Certified Teacher with 30 years of experience in public schools. I do not want a $2,500 raise. Instead, I want Gov. Scott to govern appropriately and play by the rules as teachers do, and as we teach our students to do. Scott does not have a wand to wave to issue us a raise. That’s magic, not playing by the rules. After his budget cut $1.3 billion to education funding two years ago, even if it was followed by a $1 billion increase the following year, it is obvious that neither he nor the Florida Legislature support public education.

  • Dumping dogs is not the right solution

    He came up the driveway one afternoon while my wife, Willy, was hanging clothes.

  • Public adjusters do valuable work

    Re the Jason B. Wolf’s My View column in the Jan. 20 Business Monday, Think twice before hiring public adjusters: The piece misrepresents the role that public adjusters play in the insurance claims process: Public adjusters work as consumer advocates on behalf of policyholders like me. I was president of Snapper Village Condominium Association in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina did millions of dollars in damage to our 783 units and 93 buildings.

  • Rubio should learn from the past

    I got a warm and fuzzy feeling as I read Sen. Marco Rubio's vision for our region in his Dec. 30 article, Crucial time for our hemisphere. Why did I have such an emotional reaction? Because I felt I was 10 years old again sitting in my house off of Eighth Street listening to my father talk about the Cold War. We had just elected a young president, John F. Kennedy, who would soon electrify us with a speech that echoes till this day.

  • NRA teaches children gun safety

    Re Ana Veciana-Suarez’s Jan. 19 column, NRA’s new game app: Callous, tone-deaf: She attacks the NRA for callousness, however, the game was in production for months before the tragedy of Sandy Hook. Though she criticizes the idea of a shooting game for sixth-graders, there were shooting clubs in the public schools, and scouting and 4-H Club camps taught children how to safely shoot rifles. And were we inundated with school shootings then? No.

  • We are not entitled

    The Jan. 21 letter Needed entitlements says that the “great” United States entitles everyone to fair wages, decent and affordable living accommodations, safe and efficient infrastructure and roads, healthcare, adequate food, an education, vacation and personal time, flexibility and a livable retirement income. It addition, it should take care of the medical needs of the elderly, infirm, children and the less fortunate. The letter says that America should pay for this marvelous entitlement society with “fair and graduated taxes.”

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