Editorials
An unheeded warning?
Flight training in Florida. Acquisition of lethal materials. A quick accumulation of wealth. All this was accomplished by the cult responsible for the gas attack in a Tokyo subway in 1995. Somehow the group passed under our radar, Congress was told.

Feenaticism
House Speaker Tom Feeney's perverted priorities would force lawmakers to make cruel choices to erase Florida's $1.4-billion budget deficit.

Change child welfare cautiously
The move to privatize Florida's child-welfare system is generating unexpected optimism in Tampa Bay and elsewhere. Early results from Pinellas and Pasco counties are encouraging, and Hillsborough's plan, reflecting a broad and cohesive effort, has renewed a sense of hope that had long since flagged. But no one should underestimate the challenges that lie ahead. For all the promises of privatization, its long-term prognosis remains far from certain.

Letters
Editorialists, firefighters are not equals
Re: It's no time for editorialists to abandon principle, by Robyn E. Blumner, Oct. 7.

Robyn E. Blumner
FBI abuses witness detention
Attorney General John Ashcroft has been giving the public a weekly count of the number of people detained or charged in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Bill Maxwell
Burial insurance indignities
For older African-Americans, the funeral always has been the most important rite of passage. Buying burial insurance, therefore, became essential to black families.

Martin Dyckman
FAA's many failings
TALLAHASSEE -- One of the strange things about America is how rarely anybody is ever made to take a fall when something goes horribly wrong. There are far too few apologies, far too many excuses. The worse the bumble, the less the blame.