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November 1, 2001
Editorials
Budget uncertainty
It is uncertain what Gov. Jeb Bush will do with the Legislature's "balanced budget," but his statements seem to indicate that it's not over yet.
Behind Al-Arian's facade
In 1995, after a suicide bombing operation carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad killed 21 Israeli soldiers, University of South Florida computer science professor Sami Al-Arian wrote a fund-raising letter in which he "call(s) upon you to try to extend true support to the jihad effort in Palestine so that operations such as these can continue." Many of Al-Arian's past statements and associations have raised suspicions that he was involved with terrorist organizations based in the Middle East. However, the fund-raising letter signed by al-Arian, shown during the Oct. 28 telecast of NBC's Dateline, is direct evidence of his active support for terrorism.
Lost cooperation between faiths
After Sept. 11, it was immediately recognized that measures had to be taken to prevent the harassment of Muslim communities in Western countries. In the event, there have been tensions but very little such abuse. However, the massacre (of Christians) at Bahawalpur in Pakistan is a reminder that the more serious problem for religious minorities may lie in Muslim rather than in Western lands.
Letters
The media's duty is to report news, not to demoralize
The headline in your paper on Oct. 29 read: Wayward bomb kills 13 civilians. I don't think there is an American that didn't think that some innocent people would be killed in this conflict. Why did you have to give that a headline on Page 1 while the massacre of innocent Catholics in Pakistan by alleged terrorists during a church service received a small, insignificant amount of reporting on Page 2 of your paper?
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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