Don Addis Editorial Cartoons E-mail a letter to the editor

Editorial: Whatever you do, don't tax me
Russell Long, the Louisiana senator, is remembered for the aphorism, "Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax the fellow behind that tree." Florida has a corollary to that: "Don't cut you, don't cut me, cut the fellow behind that tree." Trouble is, Florida is running out of trees.

Editorial: Tough choices
With the difficulty of maintaining proper ratios at some south Pinellas schools, the choice plan could end up being one of resegregation.

Editorial: Israel's rightward turn
Ariel Sharon used to embody the right-wing fringe of Israeli politics. For many years, even the leadership of his conservative Likud Party distanced itself from his bellicosity. Sharon has modulated his politics and personality to some extent since becoming prime minister two years ago, but there is still broad doubt that the old warrior is capable of making a genuine overture toward peace with the Palestinians when and if the occasion presents itself again.

Letters: Luring retirees makes sense for state's economy
In your Feb. 22 editorial Retire to Florida, we're cheap, you overlooked the fact that the Destination Florida Commission is trying to target migrating retirees, people who are planning to relocate somewhere. It is only logical to work toward drawing these migrating retirees to Florida, especially because they spend more than their younger counterparts and pay sales and user taxes far in excess of the cost of services they receive.

 

Columns today
Howard Troxler: A certain discomfort could weaken man's desire to wage war
The guy who came up with the idea of "make love, not war" did not live in the 1960s. He had that brainstorm about 2,400 years earlier.

Robert Trigaux: State Farm's no nukes policy another sign of the scary times
If you are one of the millions of Floridians whose vehicles are insured by State Farm, brace yourself.

John Romano: Soul purpose: Yanks have one, Rays in need
TAMPA -- You wonder, sometimes, how the other half lives. Then you see a picture of David Wells running naked through a field of sheep.

 

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.