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It seems the daily COVID-19 briefings by Gov. Ron DeSantis arethe presidents puppet trying to convince us we are all safe and there is no need for concern.
What about the numbers? Sure, testing is increasing, but our fearless and somewhat uninformed president seems to ignore one fact. Given the increase in testing, and identifying positive infected persons,the correlation is the number of hospitalized patients.
Therein lies the true concern. Continue those tests at an even greater number per day and look at the increase in hospitalizations; more positive people leads to more hospitalizations.
What happened to presenting this number?
Come on, Governor lead, dont follow. Only a fool follows a fool and gives up their independence and lessens their potential. Open the state, as the governor says we should, to expand that process? Is he willing and going to send hischildren to school? Is he letting them run wild? Will heattend the Republican National Convention with all those unmasked people?
There must be intelligent people working toward the best and safest way to handle this situation. Why are they as with the advisers to the president not speaking out against the false presentation of what is happening? Can DeSantis be that blind to the truth?He should stand on his own two feet andmake decisions that serve and work for the good of the state of Florida.
And about the RNC is it some kind of ploy to get DeSantis another spot on the team, as Rick Scott did? Has everyone forgotten his dealings with Medicare and millions of dollars in fines? I would rather the corruption in that scenariothan the death count.
Chuck Goodwin, Port St. Lucie
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis puts on his mask to protect against the new coronavirus as he leaves a news conference on COVID-19, Friday, June 19, 2020, at Florida International University in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)(Photo: Wilfredo Lee, AP)
Think about how preserving relics of Confederacy affects others
My heritage, you say! My friends have told me that my efforts at communicating my concerns are a waste of time. I disagree! If I can get just one person to rethink their position I feel the effort was worth it.
Many of you reading this letter are second- and third-generation Americans. They call me an African American, but I dont know a thing about Africa. I am American through and through, I just happen to be Black. That is no slight on Africa, where I may have some roots. It is just a fact
You may feel removing the monuments and not displaying the Confederate flag are an infringement on your rights. What about me? Those monuments pay homage to people who wanted to keep me in bondage. Nathan Bedford, whose monument is in the Tennessee statehouse, was a confederate general and a member of the KKK.
Are you kidding me? Your quest to save these things is for what purpose? Protecting the memories of people who were opposed to the American dream.
Put them in a museum. I have no objection to that. If you look into it, most of these statues were built long after the end of the Civil War. The purpose was to make a statement against integration and to intimidate Black people. Dont take my word for it, look it up; the information is easy to find. With all the past military heroes we have in this country, why name a military base after somebody who committed treason?
Now that I have your attention: Dont be selfish, think about how preserving these relics affects others.
Rudy Howard, Port St. Lucie
MIKE THOMPSON/USATODAY(Photo: MIKE THOMPSON/USATODAY)
Dr. Keith Roach, in his May 27 To Your Health column about vitamin supplements, made several incorrect statements.
In essence, he wrote that given a "healthy diet, one does not need nutritional supplements. True. In private email correspondence, I think he was convinced that the diet of most people did not meet that standard, and nutritional deficiencies were rampant in this country.
On June 17, Roach again erred in stating, evidence that treatment of low vitamin D improves immune function is scant." Wrong!
The medical literature abounds with scientific articles detailing some of the many functions of vitamin D, especially that of enhancing immune function!
I refer you to two of many. In a 2018 edition of "Open Rheumatology Journal, in an article "Vitamin D, Inflammation and Immunity " the authors reported, "Several studies testified to the correlations between acquired vitamin D deficiency and reduced immune function or autoimmunity development, cancer and cardiovascular diseases."
It stated: "Vitamin D has both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on innate immune cells." Another publication, "Health and Wellness," published an article: "Vitamin D is crucial for immune health make sure you get enough the surprising role it plays for your body's immune system and how it can ward off respiratory infections.
As a physician, I am compelled to publicly point out the serious errors in these two columns. At least 75 percent of seniors in this country have been shown to be deficient in vitamin D. Nutritional deficiencies are rampant. Given the average American diet, it is vitally important the public be educated on the great need for nutritional supplementation not the opposite!
Jesse A. Burnam, M.D., Vero Beach
President Trump boasts he has built the greatest economy ever. We need to examine both parts of that assertion that the economy is the greatest and that he built it.
Trump has a poor grasp of economics. He seems to thinkthe Dow Jones Industrial Average is the economy, and that China, not American importers, pay the tariffs on Chinas exports. He presumably thinks the Boston Tea party was all about King George not paying the tariffs, then called taxes, on tea.
The economy is good for those who own stocks, but not for those with $7.25-an-hour jobs. Adjusted for inflation, wages have barely risen since the 1970s.
A better measure of the strength of the economy is growth in gross domestic product. The average annual growth in GDP has been essentially constant at about 2 percent since 2010.
Unemployment, until recently, was indeed low. It was at its worst in October 2009 and then declined steadily until February 2020. Monthly new jobs have, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, averaged around 190,000 a month ever since 2010.
So, Trump has not affected three of the key indices of economic strength. What has he done?
His tariffs, in general, have lowered GDP growth and raised consumer prices; in particular, the steel and aluminum tariffs have cut employment inthose industries and raised the price of everything made from them.
No data support beneficial effects of Trumps attacks on regulation. In any case, no accounting system records the adverse health effects of his attack on water, air, etc. quality.
And finally, there is the great 2017 tax cut for those who did not need it, and used by corporations to buy back their stock, leading to stock price growth and drum roll! his great economy, all paid for by borrowing.
Maxwell Hughes, Vero Beach
As a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department, I have been not only taken aback as of late but appalled at the way current law enforcement officers are treating their fellow citizens around the country.
After graduating from the academy I was assigned to Harlem, a predominantly Black community. I walked a foot post and am not ashamed to say I was scared to death, as I was white in a Black community.
I believe at the time it was because I was alone in an area where everyone else was not like me. I soon came to realize the residents of Harlem wanted and looked up to me for their protection. I was there to "serve and protect," which I can honestly say I did and I am proud of it.
I came to have an affection for the residents as I began to know them personally, fostering a community policing program unknowingly. Soon, I no longer saw color, but saw fellow citizens in need of help. At the time I was dismayed by what I heard from my fellow officers. It seemed some only worked the job seeking the power of the badge and gun. Now I believe a better system of vetting these men is needed to separate them from the men and women who are truly willing to help their fellow citizens.
After getting my gold shield I was transferred out of this area, but will always have fond memories of I time I was colorblind.
Policing has to change with the times. Officers must serve all their community regardless of ethnic background. Officers must impose higher standards on their fellow officers, or we will surely give in to our shortcomings.
Joseph De Phillips, Stuart
Every summer, Martin County unleashes its mosquito fog trucks in our neighborhood. It happened again late Monday night, June 15.
The truck drove up and down the streets waving its wand onto everyones property, within minutes destroying the delicate ecosystem I have cultivated in my yard. Usually my garden is teeming with life, hundreds of butterflies, bees and ladybugs, due, in part, to my keeping everything organic and everything thrives.
Today the garden is still.
Ive asked the county if they would please not spray my property, and they said, No, because spraying is for the greater good.
Its very discouraging.
Missy Coffin, Stuart
Isn't it time to open up? I just checked the June 17 deaths from COVID-19 in four countries and computed the rate per million population using the CIA World Fact Book numbers.
Taiwan 0.3 per million
New Zealand 4.9 per million
SouthKorea 5.4 per million
United States 364.3 per million
Hey, let's open up, forget the masks, and hold indoor rallies!
Marc Renzema, Vero Beach
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Letters to the Editor: June 27, 2020 - TCPalm
