Did voters make a case for socialism? Your say

Socialism confusion

Anthony Edwards writes that in our elections "half of the voters, nationwide, voted for introduction to Socialism," and that this is an agenda to take control of our lives ..."

I believe Edwards may have confused the term "Socialism" with "Nationalism." There is a vast difference between those terms and their implications. 

If he cares for and uses Medicare and Social Security, if he uses our public highways and our parks and perhaps has used the GI Bill, those are a result of a little dab of socialism. I am grateful for them.

People are fleeing oppressive political regimes in  various countries because of far right, authoritarian ideologies. They are fleeing countries that are more and more Nationalistic They are not fleeing Socialism. I regret that so many are ready to jump on any bandwagon without taking the time to research the subjects they are so over-wrought about.

I hope that's the case with Mr. Edwards. He simply got his terms mixed up? It is so easy to do research on basic American history if one has forgotten it from their school days.  

Our libraries are full dictionaries, of books on American history and on American government, as well as having public computers available so that we can do this research. Our wonderful libraries are also the result of a little socialism. 

 Sarah Wilmarth, Fort Myers

Murphy's 'valid' signature

Democrat Patrick Murphy is a former congressional representative whose ballot was not counted because of an improper signature. He spent many words in the column trying to cover his stupidity and incompetence. Absentee ballots are very clear. There is no room for misinterpretation. A valid signature is required. It says so in the accompanying instructions and it says so right on the mail-in envelope. A child would not have misinterpreted. Yet Mr. Murphy bemoaned the fact that his ballot wasn’t counted. It’s no wonder he wasn’t re-elected.

He opined that his ballot should have been counted because he had been a registered voter in Palm Beach County for six years. There’s great logic for you. No wonder that county is known for its fractured and fraudulent voting system. In the 2000 elections it saddled the entire state with a reputation of incompetent voters. My suggestion to The News-Press editorial board is to re-visit your policy on opinion columns and weed out the columns that reflect valid opinion not incompetence.   

J.F. George, Sanibel
 

Eucalyptus trees a fire source

California Wildfires: Are Eucalyptus Trees to Blame? No country knows more about dealing with eucalyptus tree fires than the Australians. And as it turns out, we can put the state of California in that same category, even though they seem to avoid dealing with it. If you read the Live Science - Planet Earth article of Oct 21, 2013, it lays out the history of eucalyptus trees being introduced into CA and the impact they have once on fire.

They specifically cite the terrible Oakland Hills fire that claimed lives as being a classic illustration of what can happen with hot, dry climate eucalyptus trees and a flame source. Because of the volatile oils (and pleasant scent) emitted by the trees, when exposed to fire, this cloud of volatile oil in the air explodes, sending burning bark and ground debris up to one mile or more where it can start a new fire. In spite of what the politicians and chamber of commerce are saying and telling the press, the eucalyptus tree fire threat/issue has been with them for decades now and they refuse to openly acknowledge it.

Why? because if you want a fast growing tree on your property you plant as eucalyptus tree. It grows 3-4 ft or more a year to provide shade plus it's volatile oils give off that nice scent. Also, it's hard to get rid of eucalyptus trees once in place.

When they burn they release seeds that thrive in the new burn debris around the tree and crowd out other seedlings. It's hard to imagine that Trump might know about eucalyptus tree fires, but the more you know about the issue, the more his claim that CA officials have mismanaged their forests, it's hard not to be of the same opinion. 

Alan Faber, Punta Gorda

Snipes' shell game

How much money do you have to lose while playing a shell game at the carnival before you realize you are being scammed? It is quite obvious Florida has a problem when it comes to fairness in counting votes. Brenda Snipes,the supervisor of Elections in Broward County has held her job for 15 years. She violated federal and state election laws when she destroyed ballots in the 2016 congressional race.

Now in 2018, she is up to her old tricks and since she did not serve time in jail for her past behavior she is under the impression that she will get another pass. She's untouchable my friends and how is that so, she is a woman of color. If you can't see that she is pulling the race card there is no hope for you. 

Let the shell game continue and stop picking on poor Brenda. Every once in a while she will let you win just to keep the game alive.

Ken Spangler, Blountville, Tennessee