Archive for the Blog Category

The following opinion, by member Jim Eisenberg, was published in the ‘The Palm Beach Post’ on March 21, 2024. We now have a new benchmark in cruelty and disregard for our fellow men and women in need. There can be no doubt that the people of Haiti qualify as admissible and lawful migrants under any definition of the term. There is no government. Rival criminal gangs rule the country. If that isn’t chaos and a living hell, I don’t know what is. How does our Governor respond? Rather than show one speck of humanity by welcoming refugees and offering them life support,DeSantis’ response is to send all law enforcement he can muster to intercept and keep out of Florida any poor soul fleeing for their lives. Children included.What a despicable person DeSantis is.Jim Eisenberg, Palm Beach Gardens

The following opinion, by member Ira J. Raab, was published in the ‘The Palm Beach Post’ on Feb. 24, 2024. Palm Beach County government reports that tourism is one of the three major industries in the county, with 7.3 million visitors spending $4.6 billion and supporting 66,000 jobs. The Feb. 20 article by Jim Turner reported that Florida tourism is down and that domestic numbers had a decided drop late in 2023. However, the article did not report why tourism was down. The answer was found in another article published on the same day by Kathleen Wong of USA Today, entitled “International travelers fear U.S. is unsafe.” She reports that international travelers complained to her about open politics toward gun possession, lax gun laws, homicides and mass shootings. Legislators in Florida are considering new laws to reduce the age to 18 for purchasing guns, reduce the days waiting for background checks,

The following opinion, by member Marcia Halpern, was published in the ‘The Palm Beach Post’ on Feb. 21, 2024. So much for the free state of Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature are taking the voice of the people away. I thought they believed in limiting government, not limiting freedom. What are they so afraid of? Our local communities have to have the ability to solve local problems. Marcia Halpern, Palm Beach Gardens

The following opinion, by member Susan Breece, was published in the ‘Sun-Sentinel’ Dec.16. Besides the obvious financial benefit to polling companies who sample a minute number of consumers then sell findings to an interested entity, what is the true purpose of polls, especially as related to elections? Could it be intent to influence/skew voter thinking over a long lead  time, so that voter response at the ballot box is a reflex to “what everyone else is doing” rather than an informed choice based on research and fact? Regardless of sampling criteria, pollsters come nowhere near querying 100 percent of possible pollees.  Even the biggest poll of all — the election itself — doesn’t come close to indicating the opinion of 100 percent of all people eligible to have one. Especially today, rife with fake everything — tools of our enemies — polls are just as subject to falsehood as stories about

Palm Beach Post, Letters to the Editor: The economy favors the very rich Who can say for sure if all of the interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this past year have really helped? Americans really don’t feel good about the economy due to all of the higher prices we are paying for food, healthcare, housing and other things. They say higher prices are due to “inflation.” In reality, this is “gouge-flation.” America’s largest healthcare companies raked in more than $41 billion of profits in 2022. Housing has gone up 10% to 13%, depending what source you look up, and researchers estimate if the top 1% of Americans paid their full amount of taxes, it would raise $175 billion a year. Instead they bilk us. In the end, our Congress has no problem funding $886 billion in the defense budget. However, when it comes to healthcare, paid family leave or universal

Palm Beach Post, Letters to the Editor: Where are the demands on Hamas? The world has turned against Israel. I agree that horrific things are happening to the Gazan people, but the world seems to have forgotten why this is happening. On Oct. 7, Hamas, along with other terrorist groups, perpetrated the most horrific, inhumane massacre of the Israeli people. That is the reason for the devastation in Gaza. Israel is being demanded to “ceasefire.” Why is Hamas not being demanded to surrender? They caused this. There are horrific ethnic wars all over the world, but the United Nations does not demand ceasefires. Only Israel is told to stand down. People wondered why the Jews did not fight back in Europe in the 1930s. Now they are fighting back, and they are being castigated for it. Where is Justice? Demand the surrender of Hamas and then the suffering of the Gazans will

Palm Beach Post, Letters to the Editor: Why is abortion-rights petition threatening? Thank you for your honest appraisal of the obstacles Republican-dominated partisan politics have created in Florida to deny a genuine voice to everyday Floridians. Unfortunately, we’re warned it probably won’t be enough for volunteers to collect over a million signed and verified petitions to get the amendment to limit government interference in abortion/healthcare on the 2024 ballot. Floridians who clearly want politicians out of healthcare are only asking for the chance to put the question on the ballot for an up-or-down vote. Why is this so threatening to Florida’s current political regime? I think the answer is the majority of Floridians don’t agree that the right to reproductive healthcare should be in the hands of politicians. Despite the obstacles, overwhelming support for reproductive freedom will continue. While we hope we can vote for this amendment in 2024, we can certainly all

Palm Beach Post Guest Editorial- Your Turn: Cecile Scoon and Debra Chandler. Don’t Let Florida Hurt our Votes-
People and organizations across the country and of all political persuasions work to extend the fundamental right to vote to all lawful citizens. Many of these organizations are making special plans to push for potential voters to get registered on National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 19. Unfortunately, even as these organizations try to expand the franchise, there are a number of states making it harder for citizens to vote and adding difficulty to registering voters, including Florida.