Recycle symbol
Things you can recycle in Hillsboro County | April 13th
Manufacturers need to change the way they mark plastic products with recycling symbols. The symbols should be much larger and easier to see. People don’t need to hold the plastic container at the right angle with a flashlight or magnifying glass. Many symbols are so small and difficult that I’m sure people give up and throw containers into the garbage.
Making the symbols bigger and easier to see is a great help manufacturers can do. Are there any industry groups that can help you defend this simple change?
Tom Boyle, Lutz
Trashy St. Pete
Our city is beautiful. We have exceptional museums, thriving cultural scenes and stunning parks. But the trash is scattered across the streets, alleys and streets of the city. Our cities should invest our taxes in education programs and outreach to reduce waste.
Alleys are garbage dumps of all kinds, many of which have been dropped in small piles next to the trash cans. The wind then transports the trash to the yard.
The huge neighbourhood black trash cans may be part of the problem. Large black cans often live somewhere in alleys, making them an inconvenience that can contribute to the problem. Let’s fix this confusion.
Susan Garvin, St. Petersburg
Numbers don’t lie
Trump says our kids might get two dolls instead of 30 | May 1, 2025
As President Ronald Reagan famously said, “You’re going again.” This time, President Donald Trump is spinning the false narrative, when stocks go up, it deserves all credit and when they go down, he is not responsible.
Whether he is like him or not, when President Joe Biden took office, Dow Jones’ industrial average was 31,188. Over the past four years, it has increased by 12,299 points to 43,487.
In the first 100 days of Trump’s current term, the Dow dropped 2,818 points to 40,669 points.
It is debate how much market success or failure is attributable to the presidency, but the actual changes in policy have been the threat of tariffs and implementation. Trump channels his inner Marx brothers, saying, “Who do you believe in, are you lying about me or yourself?”
Terry R. Arnold, Treasure Island
Old tactics
Trump branded his enemy as “Communist” and label packed with American history baggage | May 4th
This article explains old tactics that should have been carried in wood a long time ago. However, this old trope appears to have re-emerged as a useful tool for winning votes. (I’m sure it’s been working in Miami in this past election.) And what’s better promoter than Stephen Miller to continually remind “busy” Americans of the dangers at hand. Miller incites Americans to remain vigilant against the ongoing threat of communism. And, of course, President Donald Trump will follow the lawsuit. The president was recorded in August saying, “All we have to do is define our partner as communists.”
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Many of us were interested in American history and thought this stupidity would end with Joe McCarthy’s end in the Senate in the 1950s.
But the demonization on the other side survives as Miller as Trump’s new Roy Cone. If the voting public remains “too busy” to view this as a complete lie, McCarthyism lives on. What ending will remain for historians?
William Falcone, Brandon
The duck is a duck
Trump branded his enemy as “Communist” and label packed with American history baggage | May 4th
Democrats may not openly support socialism or communism, but if you look closely at the platform, it will be obvious otherwise. Beneath a refined language there is a consistent push for policies rooted in socialist ideology. Key voices in the Party’s Progressive Wing – Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the team – wipe out government programs like Medicare for All, tuition-free universities, and strict labor obligations. These are not reforms. They are characteristics of intensive economic management.
Ironically, many of these politicians enjoy the billionaire lifestyle and blame wealth inequality while owning multiple properties. Their “fairness” message often hides a deeper agenda. Expanding government power over healthcare, education and the economy at all taxpayer costs. Programs are routinely mismanaged, inefficiency and bloated, but the solutions are always the same. More governments will spend more control.
They brand policy as “regulated capitalism,” but their similarities with socialism are unmistakable. It is a clever disguise, designed to slowly transform the country into collectivist ideals, while mitigating public resistance. The redistribution of wealth, class divisions, and government dependence are not contingent. They are the characteristics of the system they promote.
This is not to help the working class. It is to integrate forces under a compassionate attire. When policies reflect socialism, when rhetoric reflects socialism and the outcome replicates socialism, it becomes clear: this is actual socialism. And if it walks like a duck and plays like a duck, it’s a duck.
Mark Kahn, Tampa
Yes, in mathematics
Scores are down, Florida schools pay more attention to mathematics | April 30th
I am truly grateful for the article by Times Reporter Jeffrey Solochek. I had a hard time subtracting. My father was extremely erudite and he had him read from his library when we were five years old. He also taught us to count 100 and add, but that was all the mathematics we were exposed to.
A second-grade letter was sent home, stating that I had a hard time subtracting. My mother, the mathematics withz and the creative thinker, made me buy a bag of Nestlé Toll House. She placed a handful of sips on the kitchen table and subtracted some of them. Every time I made it wrong, she fed my sister and brother. Then I had to buy another bag. After that, I finally got the idea and became a math with. I’ve become very good at math and have been asked to tutor some of the students who are particularly struggling.
I’m so happy to have the help I need in my second year. It made all the difference in the world.
Holly Haley, the new Port Richie
Supports education
Teachers need more support | Letter, April 24th
I was a good teacher. I loved my subject, my school, my colleagues, and most of my students. Aside from uneven pay, several issues had to be addressed: teachers, student discipline, respect for school safety. Respect and discipline begin at home, and school security should coincide with the security that politicians enjoy.
Ginger Gapper, Treasure Island
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Submit your letter at www.tampabay.com/opinion/submit-letter/. The letters are edited for clarity and length.
