Siesta Key Beach isn't a hotel room - guests must help keep it clean, too

Guests must help clean Siesta Beach

I recently spent two weeks on Siesta Key. To me it was paradise.

I stayed on Crescent Beach and took daily hikes up and down the entire waterfront, from the Point of Rocks to the Sunset Pier and into the village.

At daybreak each morning, I would pick up trash at my end of the beach, sometimes making several trips to properly dispose of trash left behind, including soiled diapers, beer cans and plastic.

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On my daily walks, I often filled my pockets and had my hands full of discarded material (waste) left behind.

It is a beautiful key because of its ecological environment. We are guests and should respect that. 

Steve Stasyna, Sarnia, Ontario Canada 

Attend meeting about Ken Thompson Park

I am writing to express my concern about private development in Ken Thompson Park.

This is a beautiful park, and not a business.

It should be protected from encroaching private enterprise, which is guaranteed to change it.

We do not want to commercialize the park.

Please, keep profit and commercialization out of our beautiful Ken Thompson Park!

I urge your readers to attend a meeting April 18 at Sarasota City Hall, when the Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Advisory Board will consider the issue.

Diana Cable, Longboat Key

Florida wrong to ban lab-grown meat

As a Sarasota resident and longtime vegan, I’m disappointed that Florida recently passed legislation to ban the manufacture and sale of laboratory-grown meat.

The development of cultivated meat, or “clean meat,” as it’s also called, would spare billions of sentient beings from immense pain and suffering, and it’s environmentally friendly.

It requires only 1% of the land and 4% of the water that’s currently used for conventional meat production, and it may also reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 96%.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to sign the law banning lab-grown meat.

Eating meat that’s humanely created in a sterile laboratory would surely be an appetizing option for everyone who insists on eating the flesh of animals who are confined to filthy farms and slaughtered on killing floors.

Thankfully, Floridians can still enjoy the tasty and affordable vegan meats and other plant foods that are in supermarkets and restaurants today. See PETA.org for free vegan recipes and product suggestions.

Heather Moore, Sarasota, PETA Foundation, Norfolk, Virginia

Firing GOP figure exposes media bias

We should thank NBC for exposing the corruption in the media.

The network hired one conservative woman – former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel – and it set off an internal riot. So NBC fired her.

Hillary Clinton was given advance notice about possible debate questions during the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, and she mishandled thousands of government documents. No one seems to care except when former President Donald Trump is charged with fraud because his victims all made money.

How does that work?

Think of how low our taxes and inflation would be if the media printed the names and the earmarks that politicians hide in the budget? It’s pure theft of billions of our hard-earned dollars. Why do voters even allow it?

The media don't seem to care; if they did, we would be reading about earmarks every day instead of the endless "hate Trump" letters and articles.

America has about 350 million people. We should be able to find a handful of people who will treat our tax dollars as they would treat their own.

The one thing I admired about Trump was that he didn’t take a presidential salary. He donated his salary. Has any politician ever done that? Let’s get rid of the political anger and start using our heads.

Larry J. Tracy, Sarasota

Nov. 5: ‘Something wicked this way comes’

In Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth,” Act 4, Scene 1, the second witch says, “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”

Our presidential Election Day will be here in seven months. Is America on the verge of electing a 21st century Macbeth?

We have a choice between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. In other words, between sanity and madness. Democracy and authoritarianism. The rule of law or mayhem.

Think it can’t happen here? Ask the people of Hungary, Russia or Venezuela. By the way, Hungary’s president, Viktor Orban, was in Florida last month to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago. What was that all about?

Highly recommended reading is Matthew C. MacWilliams’ 2020 article, “Trump Is an Authoritarian.” After reading his commentary, one realizes just how easy it is to implement an authoritarian government. All you need is a charismatic person to bend the truth, stir up people’s fears and insecurities and you’re halfway there.

This is happening right now as we live and breathe.

So let us heed the second witch’s warning. First, please read MacWilliams’ article. Then, come November, let’s defeat Macbeth. Vote.

Peter Brown, Venice