Help the farmers


Many had their citrus trees yanked from their yards in an effort to end the threat of citrus canker. Were they hurt?  Yes. Should they get a government check? The court says yes. What are we missing here?

So few of us are farmers now. When a threat appears to our farmers we used to think that was important enough that we were all ready to pitch in. To take a hit, and yes, to take it on the chin. Our lives would go on without an outcry to be made whole via a government check. Many are new to Florida, but are not new to farming issues. Hey this is Florida. It really is a real state, with real problems to solve, just like the problems back home.

Bill Beaumont, Fort Myers 

'Enough is enough'


How can one not admire and be impressed by the many thousands of students nationwide who are demonstrating to bring about stricter gun laws.

 As the students have said, they are not going to move on and will persist until they get the changes they seek. I’m inclined to believe them. They are highly motivated and will register to vote. Their message is “we will vote you out.”   The students are the “adults in the room” -- lawmakers as well as some adults have failed them. If any group can bring about meaningful gun reform it’s these young students. 
As one student advised the lawmakers, take the checks you received from the NRA and put them in your retirement account – you will need that money soon. And as David Hogg, a Parkland student, warned “get your resumes ready, you won’t be around much longer.”  To quote the students, “enough is enough."

George Rosinger, Fort Myers

Capitalism and Easter


Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the cold and dark of a tomb borrowed from a friend to God's eternal Kingdom in Heaven. It is the hope of eternal joy, not in this life where it is not to be found, but in the next.

Capitalism, socialism and all the other 'isms' are human inventions which to their followers have their uses, but which at their best do not afford what all men vainly seek in the here and now.  

Economic studies purport to describe the deployment of labor and capital in the production, distribution and allocation of goods and services. For the capitalist, if he is honest, capitalism is the most efficient means of providing material abundance for the general population, but no more than that, and for the socialist, at its highest level, his beliefs point the way to fair and equitable allocation of material well-being for the masses.

Neither system, nor any other human contrivance, satisfies the deepest yearnings of the human heart. They all fail to provide ultimate satisfaction and happiness. The  Easter message is that the Kingdom of God does not fall short and does not fail. There the promises are kept.

Richard W. Metz, Fort Myers


Politicking the judges


One of your readers was appalled by a recent attempt by Republicans to recall some judges in Pennsylvania. This move obviously engineered by Donald Trump. He runs around the country and the world creating so much mischief I'm surprised he has time to brush his teeth in the morning.

What Mrs. Garber is witnessing is called politics as usual. These practices have been utilized by both parties for decades. Rule of law? Perhaps she has forgotten the hostile takeover of the Wisconsin state legislature a few years ago by radical leftist activists. They also attempted (and failed) to recall Scott Walker the duly elected Governor. "Power grab?" How about Hillary Clinton and the D.N.C. stacking the deck so Bernie Sanders has no chance at the nomination? Those boys in Pennsylvania should go to Chicago where I come from. Rahm Emannual and the Democrats in that state could teach classes on dirty tricks.

Clifford Nolan, Fort Myers


Dealing with killer disease


A killer disease spreads across the globe, sickening 10 million people annually. In a single year, the airborne illness kills more than 1.7 million people, with no end in sight. 

This isn't the plot for a Hollywood blockbuster. This is a disease that has plagued humans for millennia. It's Tuberculosis. 

The most troubling thing about TB is that it is curable. So why does it still kill more than 4,000 people every single day, yet never makes the headlines? Why have we allowed it to remain a major cause and consequence of poverty? It's because we haven't made ending it a priority.
Right now, Congress is deciding what we'll invest in this fight in 2019. Our senators can fight for a significant increase in U.S. funding to help end this epidemic, but will they make it a priority?

Alexis Maestre-Saborit, Fort Myers


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