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October 6, 2001
Editorials
Unseemly secrecy
Despite the events of Sept. 11, the withholding of state driver's license records and other proposed public recordsexemptions are a poor way to serve the public.
Why fuel efficiency matters
American car manufacturers and motorists have earned a dubious distinction. The 2001 model year vehicles had the lowest average fuel economy rating since 1980, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sport utility vehicles averaged 17.2 miles per gallon, pickup trucks 16.5 mpg, vans and minivans 19.3 mpg and cars 24.2 mpg, and because more drivers chose SUVs in 2001, the overall fuel economy average dipped to 20.4 mpg, a 21-year low.
Letters
Muslim, Afghan people are not our enemies
Regarding two letters of Oct. 2 (Sending food to Afghanistan is aiding the enemy and Let the Taliban feed its own): The United States has been a friend of Pakistan, the Taliban regime's main benefactor, for many years. The United States provided major assistance to Osama bin Laden and other groups who fought the Soviets during that 11-year military operation. When the Soviets were ousted, the Taliban (former radical students) seized power.
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.
© Copyright 2001 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.
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