St. Petersburg Times Online: Opinion

Editorial
Nuclear irresponsibility
Even though the dangers at existing nuclear facilities and waste sites haven't been addressed, Washington is rushing to encourage construction of new plants.

Letters
Teacher union stands up for Florida's schools
Re: Once mighty teacher union's influence on wane, March 25.

Columns today
Howard Troxler
GOP's reign boils down to whom voters distrust less
If you've ever wondered why Republicans are so firmly in charge of Florida politics, even though the state still has more registered Democrats, take a look at the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll results published on Sunday and today.

Jan Glidewell
Jim Gillum as chief cop makes my job too easy
Here's an early start on today's festivities.

Gary Shelton
Do Hoosiers have sequel in them?
ATLANTA -- Watch them fly. The highlight tapes are on, and the Maryland Terrapins are putting on a show.

Sara Fritz
Who will pay for health care?
WASHINGTON -- If prescription drug expenditures keep rising at their current pace, can our health care system withstand the burden?

Perspective
Taking jobs, alienating customers
For weeks Americans have been told that the outsourcing of high-tech jobs is good for our economy. So said Greg Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a recent report signed by President Bush. So, too, writes Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in articles praising the rise of call centers in India used for everything from making airline reservations and reading medical X-ray films to providing tech support for American computer firms.

Philip Gailey: Democrats fall off campaign finance reform wagon
Well, what do you know. Soft money is back, and it's making hypocrites of all those Democrats who fervently championed the McCain-Feingold campaign reform law, not to mention those Republicans who objected to the law's restrictions on issue advocacy.

Bill Maxwell: Who is for the farm worker?
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is touting legislation to improve the lives of Florida's 300,000-plus farm workers, who endure institutional and systemic injustices each day in our fields and groves and their personal lives.

Robyn E. Blumner: For some defendants, an American gulag
In Bernard Malamud's masterpiece The Fixer, inmate Yakov Bok was subjected to psychological torture in a Soviet gulag through the humiliations of constant shackling and repeated strip searches.