Voice of the People (May 12, 2024): Florida meatheads ban lab-grown meat

The ban on lab-grown meat

So, DeSantis has apparently run out of things to ban. His latest desperate move is to ban (and criminalize) lab grown meat.

He, along with the usual suspects — Alabama, Arizona, and Tennessee — "Don't want the world elite forcing us to eat meat out of petri dishes." If lab isn't your thing, cool. No one is forcing it down anyone's gullet. It is better for the environment and cruelty-free. I guess Big Beef couldn't stand the competition.

This lame-duck gov better check himself. He is a sad joke and this is lunacy.

Alexis Livingston, Lakeland

Voice of the People (May 5, 2024): Roundabout at Galloway and 10th Street would be a waste

Where are you getting your truth?

Today’s politics reminds me of family holiday gatherings, everyone talking — nobody listening.  Most seem to be getting their news from sources that they agree with, but what is truth?

The number one issue seems to be the economy. Friends complain about spending more money at the grocery store and coming home with fewer bags. Our insurance rates are going up, some are even finding that their insurance is being canceled or coverage is being denied. Many are finding that providers are not accepting the insurance they have.

Trump complains about “Sleepy Joe” but is reported to be falling asleep in court and is still complaining about losing the election, blaming Biden for all that is wrong with the world. His focus is on fear, convincing followers that only he can save them. He apparently intends to accomplish this by eliminating civil service and replacing them with like-minded supporters.

The truth is our economy is doing pretty well compared to other industrialized nations. Grocery costs are up due corporate price gouging and the war in Ukraine, a major international supplier of grain and climate change, which is also impacting the cost of insurance, not President Biden.

Robert Connors, Lakeland

Voice of the people (April 28, 2024): Why are Polk County trash collection fees going up?

A woman's right to make decisions

Being a mom is a role I cherish. Just because it’s important to me doesn't mean I think every woman needs to be or must be a mom.

Your faith doesn’t have to be my faith; you don’t have to read the same books I do. So how much more intrusive can government be than to interfere with a woman’s private healthcare decisions?

The reasons for ending a pregnancy are myriad, and we can’t know every situation. On a need-to-know basis, we don’t. Every woman is a living, breathing human who deserves the right to make her own healthcare decisions.

Florida’s near-total abortion ban steals that right, usually before a woman even knows she’s pregnant. The exceptions are logistically meaningless, and the consequences can be dangerous.

Amendment 4 will restore her humanity, the right to care for her physical and mental health with her physician’s advice. We must vote YES on Amendment 4 to keep government out of exam rooms and a woman's private decisions. Just consider how much further government might intrude in your life.

Vote Yes on 4.

Cindy Sternlicht, Lakeland

Voice of the people (April 21, 2024): US crackdown on TikTok is about security

The Trump Trial

The following is in response to R. Bruce Anderson's opinion piece entitled: "Trump on trial; Free the New York One!"

As a non-legal scholar, I believe that our criminal justice system is an adversarial system where a prosecutor has the job of proving that a defendant committed the stated crime. The job of the defense is to introduce reasonable doubt. The judge runs the court and acts as a referee to ensure that all parties act in accordance with the rules of our legal system. The role of the jury is to assume the defendant is innocent, to listen to all arguments, to evaluate the evidence, and to determine a verdict using the reasonable doubt standard.

Our system of justice only works if both the judge and the jury are impartial.

The referenced editorial talks about “factual guilt” and “legal guilt.” Discussion of these concepts may be a fun exercise in a university law class, but in the real world they mean nothing.

Mr. Anderson thinks that Donald Trump is unworthy of being president, but he reaches the conclusion that the New York “hush money” trial is a sham. I agree with his conclusion, but his rationale is somewhat contorted.

Edward McDonald, Auburndale

Voice of the people (April 14, 2024): What made America great? 'We,' not 'me'

Aid to Ukraine

Three of Polk County's members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted against "aid to Ukraine," all Republicans — Scott Franklin of Lakeland, Laurel Lee of Brandon and Daniel Webster of Clermont. [Polk County's U.S. House members split on aid to Ukraine, April 24.]

I put "aid to Ukraine" in quotation marks because a very significant portion of those funds will be going to American companies to pay for weapons and munitions that are now on their way to Ukraine. That money is being spent here.

I have tried to restrain myself from asking this question, but it needs to be stated: How stupid, how misinformed about history and military aggression, how callous to the murder of innocent men, women and children by Putin's forces can they be? Do they not know that appeasing aggressors only feeds their appetite? Have they never read about Chamberlain and Hitler and what happened as a consequence of Chamberlain's appeasement toward Hitler?

For the benefit of the three Congressional Representatives, what happened was the Holocaust.

Seriously, these three representatives need to leave Congress and make way for people who are competent to serve this nation.

Richard Sutherland, Lakeland

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This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Voice of the People (May 12, 2024): Ban on lab-grown meat is senseless