In his March 12 column, Robert Trigaux laments the high price of gasoline, and along with state Attorney General Charlie Crist, suspects conspiratorial price fixing among major oil companies. Crist is quoted as saying ". . . you can't help but be skeptical. People deserve to know the real reasons" (for the "spike" in gas prices).
A clue for Trigaux, Crist and the rest of us who believe that Americans have a sacred right to cheap gasoline appeared two days later in Paul Roberts' wakeup call (Running out of oil, and time, March 14, Perspective). The maligned oil companies currently find only four new barrels of oil for every 10 barrels that they pump. The more oil produced, the less remains in the ground.
All global warning signs suggest that within a few years we will look back on $1.70 gasoline with the same wistfulness we have remembering 5-cent coffee. The intelligent use of political pressure is not directed to the oil companies in a futile effort to sustain the unsustainable, but to Washington to finance a serious effort to foster energy conservation and develop alternative energy sources. Where should the money to fund these activities come from? Gasoline taxes, of course.
-- John Axe, Lecanto
A way to conserve
Re: Running out of oil, and time.
Paul Roberts makes a strong case for conservation of oil to better cope with imminent shortages. One of the best places to conserve is ground transportation.
Trains are about 10 times as fuel efficient as buses, cars and trucks because of trains' lower rolling-friction steel wheels on steel rails, and trains' lower-drag shape. We should be subsidizing train travel, and at the very least stop subsidizing highway travel!
The user fee on motor fuel has not kept up with inflation. I believe that to pay for building, maintaining and policing our roads, the tax on motor fuel would need to be at least $2.50 per gallon as it is in Europe. If we stopped the highway subsidy, we would greatly reduce oil consumption. If we subsidized train travel more than air travel, we could save even more oil!
-- Jack Gregg, Largo
Hybrids make green sense
Re: Hollywood gears up for Car Wars, March 12.
As an owner of a gas-electric hybrid (the Honda Civic), I felt compelled to respond to the article on Hollywood's "Car Wars," the celebrity showdown between hedonistic Hummers and "holier than thou" hybrids. I find it interesting that some of these green-conscious celebs made a big show of arriving in a Prius, but as the author writes, "had not put their money where their green principles are" and actually purchased a hybrid themselves. The cars were only loaners. I have to wonder whether the celebrities care more about their personal impact on our environment or their impact on Entertainment Weekly.
Gas-electric hybrids make for exceptional cars and represent a step in the right direction. And with gas prices always on the rise, hybrids can save you green at the pump while making the world just a bit more green for all of us.
Finally, serious consideration and support should be given to innovative alternative fuel vehicles, such as USF graduate student Morgan Crawford's "VegieMobile," a redesigned car fueled entirely by (free) waste vegetable oil collected from local restaurants' grease traps! If our students can make it work, why can't Detroit?
-- Mark Mueller, Tampa
Al-Arian is a manipulator
Re: For some defendants, an American gulag, March 14.
As a lifelong civil rights advocate, I am dismayed by Robyn Blumner's extravagant claim that Sami Al-Arian's imprisonment is akin to an American gulag. While Blumner has been a strong supporter of civil rights, she certain has overreached here.
Indeed Sami Al-Arian has manipulated many well meaning people since his arrival in the United States. His indictment as a major supporter of terrorism, including Islamic Jihad and Hamas, makes him a very special prisoner not unlike those in Guantanamo. He consorted with the likes of Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, the head of the Islamic Jihad and a dispatcher of homicide bombers, and Sheik Rahman, the mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing.
As for his alleged mistreatment, no proof has been offered to date. He has whined since his imprisonment, and the frustrated judge has warned him to cease.
In conclusion, it is not Sami Al-Arian who is breaking down. It is well meaning people who continue to be manipulated by this master manipulator. Once again, let us not collaborate in our own demise.
-- Norman N. Gross, Palm Harbor
No tolerance for terrorists
Re: For some defendants, an American gulag.
Robyn Blumner would have one believe that the federal government has arbitrarily and capriciously treated Dr. Sami Al-Arian in a cruel manner. Far from it. The facts that Blumner neglected to mention add context to the manner in which he is currently incarcerated.
Dr. Al-Arian is not being charged with a minor infraction. Nor is he being charged with a tenuous association with Islamic Jihad. Dr. Al-Arian is being charged with the active involvement and participation in a terrorist organization that resulted in the death of more than 100 people.
In addition, the restrictions placed on him are a direct result of his willful violations of prison protocols and court orders. At one point, he was able to freely call his family. At such occasions, he was conferenced in to third parties in direct violation of court order.
As Blumner so noted, the world is watching. Let everyone heed the cautionary tale of Sami Al-Arian. The United States will not tolerate terrorists or those who harbor terrorists. Nor will the United States allow these individuals to abuse the democratic judicial system.
-- Steven Johnson, Largo
Horrendous treatment
Re: For Some defendants, an American gulag.
I am writing to thank Robyn Blumner for her column describing the conditions under which Sami Al-Arian is being held. Like most Americans, I grew up thinking this sort of horrendous treatment only happens in countries like the former Soviet Union or Iraq - never in the United States, where human rights and due process of law are of utmost importance. But, of course, it does happen here, and more frequently than we think. These stories of gulag-type treatment, in my opinion, belong on the front page, but I am glad at least to see this in the Perspective section.
This was a great column, except for the comment that Al-Arian is "decidedly unsympathetic." Sami Al-Arian has lived in my community for more than 20 years, and has made many contributions - especially in the area of building bridges between Muslims and Christians. He also started an excellent school, graduates of which have gone on to prestigious universities. He has been a respected and award-winning professor at USF. He has worked tirelessly for civil rights for all Americans. He has a wonderful wife and five wonderful children, the youngest of whom is 10 years old.
Sami Al-Arian has not even been tried, and it appears that certain people are doing everything possible to prevent him from getting a fair trial. To say that he is "unsympathetic" merely because he has been accused of a crime does not make sense to me.
-- Melva Underbakke, Temple Terrace
Two kinds of treatment
Re: Fond memories of Guantanamo Bay, by James Astill, and For some defendants, an American gulag, by Robyn Blumner, March 14.
Three young boys, ages 12 to 15, were caught in the sweep-up in Afghanistan following hostilities and sent to Guantanamo Bay. They now say they have fond memories of that experience because the Americans treated them decently, helped to educate them and ultimately released them and sent them home.
I am proud of the Army general who decided to treat these young boys in this way. I am proud of the soldiers who worked with these boys and impressed them with their fairness. To me, this is what America should be doing to everyone.
In sharp contrast was Robyn Blumner's story about the way Sami Al-Arian is being treated. He has been denied bail and a speedy trial. There are obstacles to meeting with his family and lawyer, problems with reviewing the evidence against him and numerous petty cruelty measures, such as forcing him to balance his paperwork on his back when he goes to meet his lawyer.
I see our treatment of Sami Al-Arian as a black mark against our country. We complain loudly about human rights abuses in other countries, but we tolerate them in our own land.
-- Joseph A. Mahon, St. Petersburg
[Last modified March 21, 2004, 01:20:24]
