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May 24, 2000

Bill Maxwell
In the end, one can bring humor to life
A powerful, formerly mean, mean man uttered these words the other day:

Editorials
Peru's leader affronts democracy
Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori likes to win elections, but that's where his appreciation for democracy ends. He was first elected 10 years ago on a promise to end hyperinflation and defeat an entrenched guerrilla movement. He succeeded -- but only after shutting down Peru's Congress, muzzling the press, outlawing opposition parties and trashing Peru's existing constitution.

Veto mine bill
Senators approved a bill that regulates mining and eliminates automobile emissions testing, but since most didn't cast an informed vote, it should be vetoed.

Letters
Codes should require safer building methods
In light of recent fires in Ybor City and other parts of the state, I think the government should review our building codes. It's a sad and dangerous fact that solid brick-and-mortar construction is becoming a relict of the past. The most popular type of construction today is a wood-frame building with plywood walls. They're structurally weak and extremely flammable, as we have witnessed in Ybor City. Unfortunately, will see a lot more of this in the future.  

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.