Letters and feedback: Dec. 1, 2021
Wrong message about area is flying
I agree with Ms. Castro’s Nov. 28 letter about the “vulgar flag messages” here on Cocoa Beach. The flags are about 800 feet from the Cocoa Beach public beach access at Minutemen Causeway and are clearly visible from the public beach area. Each displays a slogan which would be considered offensive to any political, religious, or social beliefs.
Cocoa Beach is a community of about 12,000 year-round residents, and in an average economic year we have about 2 million tourist visitors. We are a diverse group of folks, and despite our many different opinions (on which there is a great deal of discourse) our residents have a strong sense of community and active local participation. We do not feel the need to display our individual preferences, be they political, religious, or social, in such a publicly offensive way.
A check of public tax records indicates the house is not owned by any local residents; taxes for the incorporated entity owner are sent to a private address in the Orlando area. They are not invested in our community’s reputation and economic success and feel no consequence for such offensive public displays in someone else’s community.
We are entering the Christmas season, and many of our town celebrations take place on the beachfront at Minutemen Causeway, with thousands of visitors, many of them families with children. Like Ms. Castro, I hope our city officials can take action to remove these flags, which reflect badly on the reputation and presentation of our town.
Colleen Bryan, Cocoa Beach
Opinions and facts are very different
New York and Florida are almost identical in population and in the total number of deaths from COVID. What distinguishes the states is the sequence of events.
New York was hit hard in the first outbreak, before the danger of COVID was appreciated. However, the state implemented consistent measures for social distancing and use of masks, and promoted the vaccine intensively as soon as it was available, ultimately requiring immunization for workers and activities carrying a high risk of infection. The second wave in New York was much less severe, and the third only a tiny fraction of the first.
In Florida the first peak was delayed by travel restrictions and was less severe than in New York, but the second peak showed no improvement. Then the governor turned completely away from the public health measures, opening bars where shouting patrons spray clouds of droplets into the air. He ridicules masks and vaccination and actively punishes local officials who try to protect the people in their districts who work and study in crowded environments. The results are clear; the third wave in Florida was by far the worst, with over 24,000 deaths. This deterioration in the effectiveness of the DeSantis administration in protecting our lives is exactly what we should not be seeing.
We all have our own opinions, but there is only one set of facts.
Daniel Woodard, M.D., Merritt Island
When protests become violent
Howard Simon's recent guest column, "Civic responsibility amid mounting political violence" starts with the assertion "America is overflowing with guns. Studies document more guns than people.”
He goes on to cite four violent incidents. One of them was the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which guns were not used. The death toll and property damage there was much greater than in the other three cases he cited where guns were used.
Recently six people were killed and 61 were injured by a driver who drove over them as they were participating in a parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Using the anti-gun group approach of counting deaths plus injuries (called "mass shooting incidents") to characterize these two incidents, the bombing caused 848 casualties while the driver caused 67 causalities without use of a gun. This is higher than the gun incidents he cites showing that guns are not needed to perpetrate these incidents.
Simon goes on to assert the desirability of "resisting the seduction to join the mob". I agree with this thought.
Many mob incidents in the last several years have been associated with Black Lives Matter protests, including taking over a police station. They have often devolved into looting and resulted in millions of dollars in property damage. The protests have drawn persons who in Simon's words "join the forces that are increasingly using the threat of violence and actual violence.”
James Beasom, Melbourne Village
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Letters and feedback: Dec. 1, 2021
