Opinion: Ybor cameras let government pry into our lives

Throughout America today, our rights as citizens of this country are being attacked. The latest assault on our liberties is coming from the Tampa Police Department. By putting cameras in place in Ybor City, the police are violating the privacy rights guaranteed all citizens by the U.S. Constitution.

While most people seem to have no problem with these cameras, they don't realize that this is just the beginning. If the cameras are in Ybor, why not all of Tampa? Once they are in Tampa, why not Clearwater, or all of Hillsborough County? Why not put these cameras in private businesses, such as restaurants, movie theaters, malls and homes? Then government would be able to keep tabs on you wherever you go. These cameras represent the long arm of government trying to pry into American's lives, and this violation of our rights is simply wrong.
-- Scott Layden, Brandon

Beware the "cop mentality"

I read with outrage that Tampa is now using the same face-recognition technology used at the Super Bowl to scan the city's streets for people wanted for crimes.

It was 225 years ago that our libertarian Founding Father's pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor so that they -- and now we -- could live free of arbitrary power. Specifically, they laid everything on the line in opposition to taxes that by today's standards would seem minuscule -- hardly worth fighting or dying over. The result was the world's first free and open society, based not on the "divine right of kings" but on the inalienable rights of individuals.

Today we face not only high rates of taxation, but now general public surveillance. And instead of patriotism, there is a kind of "cop mentality" prevalent, a mentality that says that only criminals have reason to fear their government. It perverts our Founding Fathers' legacy (if not logic) because it is used to justify every manner of intrusion into our lives and forces us to ask again and again, "Where do we draw the line?"
-- William Gene Cole, Riverview

Fourth Amendment is being trampled

Re: Ybor police cameras go spy-tech.

Just what is it about the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution that people like his lordship the mayor of Tampa, the police department and council member Bob Buckhorn don't understand?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons . . ."

Now when we go to Ybor, we must pass an electronic line up and prove we are not wanted, and all this is done without warrants. This is not "The right of the people to be secure in their persons . . ." Did his Lordship the mayor, the police department, the Tampa City Council and Bob Buckhorn delete the Fourth Amendment from their copy of the Constitution? What will be next? Electronic listening posts around the city?

How long will it be before you in the Fourth Estate will have to submit copy before printing?

Today it's my Fourth Amendment that is being trampled. Tomorrow it'll be the First Amendment that you in the Fourth Estate depend upon.
-- Michael Moss, Tampa

A biased and provocative perspective

Re: Israeli settlements: outposts of national lunacy, by Bill Maxwell, June 24.

Maxwell's article is biased and provocative. It's obvious that he is a spokesman for the Palestinian people. He does not even try to understand the Israeli point of view.

Israel is protecting itself from vicious terrorist attacks aimed at civilian women and children. The Israeli settlers in the disputed territories live among the Arabs, as the Arabs live among the Israelis in their cities. As the situation looks now with the second intifada in full swing, the settlers have no choice but to carry weapons to protect themselves and their children, even if they have to travel to school in an armored vehicle guarded by Israeli soldiers. Israeli Arab children do not need this protection. They are all safe within the "green line" established in 1948.

The Arab dream of driving the Israelis into the sea is "lunacy," not the settlements which, under normal circumstances, are peaceful. This Arab lunatic vision to force the Jews out of Israel is the core of the unfortunate situation in the Middle East.

Maxwell's observations are skewed and do not serve the purpose of peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians, and Arabs in general.
-- Mary Wygodski, St. Petersburg

A clear view of the Mideast

Bill Maxwell deserves a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Israel. Having just returned from Hebron as a delegate of Christian Peacemaker Teams, a human rights advocacy group, I agreed entirely with his observations on the West Bank settlements and their destructive role in the peace process (Israeli settlements: outposts of national lunacy, June 24).

The good news is that so many enlightened Israelis are joining in the protest against their country's misguided occupation: Rabbis for Human Rights, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Gush Shalom, the Coalition of Women for Just Peace, Women in Black (which has worldwide membership, including chapters in Orlando and Tallahassee).

Israel has a Vietnam in its own backyard, and its best hope for peace lies in eliminating the human-rights abuses in the occupied territories. Congratulations to the numerous peace-minded organizations -- Palestinian as well as Israeli -- that are working to end the occupation, and to clear-sighted reporters like Maxwell.
-- Bill Rose, Tampa

A standing ovation is due

Re: The Saboteur and his Son, by Thomas French, June 17-19.

I attempted to write my thoughts on this story immediately after reading it but couldn't. This was no superficial piece of writing, and it required reflection and digestion. The story reached deep down into the core of what is the foundation of any society, but especially society in America -- the family.

While reading this tale of a "not so perfect" family, I found myself thinking of my own family and its dysfunctions. What family can say that they have none? Herein lies the value of The Saboteur and his Son: The author touches on family things that most of us have filed away somewhere in the subconscious, never to be resurrected. I knew that this story was something special because most storytellers never dare "to go there" with such honesty about family matters, regardless of the truth that is uncovered.

Thomas French's story calls to mind the classics Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill. Norman Mailer recalled the audience reaction to one of these plays, which he was fortunate enough to get tickets to for the opening night's performance. "When the final curtain fell, all that could be heard were the quiet sobs of a woman in the audience. There was a stunned silence for a time, as no one knew quite how to respond. Then there was a lone hand clap . . . then another . . . and another. Then suddenly an eruption of applause began with the audience rising to their feet. It seemed that we were not only applauding the play, but ourselves, who we saw portrayed in the characters in the play."

The Saboteur and his Son deserves a standing ovation because it is the story of imperfect people struggling to make the best of life in an imperfect world. None of French's forebears need to be demonized. Not his grandfather or his father and especially not Frau French, his grandmother. This was a woman with spunk. She had to survive the death of her mother at an early age, then leave her familiar surroundings in Germany to follow a husband who was so absorbed in his career that he was unable to give his wife and son the support that they needed. Yet this resilient woman maintained a sense of humor throughout her life and even in old age could be awed by watching the sunrise over Lake Michigan.

Yes, I can see myself standing on my feet and applauding with the rest of the audience if this story were a play. For we would be applauding ourselves and the triumphant human spirit in spite of our disappointments and flaws.
-- John Mashburn, Largo

Bad news for the high court

Re: Author says he lied about Anita Hill, June 28.

It appears that Anita Hill's charge of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearing -- a charge that Thomas claimed to be an attempt to slander him -- was true after all. Worse, it now appears that Thomas participated in the odious, dishonorable scheme to slander Hill.

It is not surprising that Hill has reacted to the news of her public vindication with the same quiet dignity she has displayed throughout this entire sordid episode.

Add to this fact that Thomas was a purely political appointee, a "least-qualified" candidate whose service on the U.S. Supreme Court defines the word "undistinguished," and we Americans find ourselves saddled with a discredited, shamelessly politicized Supreme Court.
-- Joseph H. Francis, St. Petersburg

Consider the people of Vieques

Re: Political decision will hurt military, letter, June 28.

The letter writer seems to be quite narrow in his views about the Vieques controversy. He claims that the only reason President Bush is stopping the bombing exercises on the island off Puerto Rico is to gain Hispanic votes for any future election. He totally accepts the military's explanation of why Vieques is so important as a training ground and speculates that the Vieques protesters will be responsible for the potential downgrading of military training, and by extension, the security of our country. The tone of his letter is offensive to anyone who cares about a humble people and their human rights.

We have family on Vieques. They were there long before the military expropriated much of the island on both the eastern and western shores. The expropriation virtually eliminated agriculture as an industry and the fishing industry has been seriously affected by the military's war games. Unemployment is about 50 percent. Health problems, including cancer, lupus and asthma are exceptionally high as compared to other islands in the Caribbean. These problems are in addition to the more direct reality that innocent people get killed from the explosives and gunfire.

This information may not mean much to the letter writer, but it means something to us and our relatives on Vieques. If the military must maintain these training exercises, must it be at the expense of the people of Vieques? What if the government decided to use Madeira Beach as its testing ground? How safe would the letter writer feel if the military personnel are told to aim only at "unoccupied condos?" What would the quality of life be for those who live there?

We are citizens of the United States and so are the residents of Vieques. It is a shame that the letter writer is so hardened by political and ethnic bitterness that he can't demonstrate more respect toward the Puerto Rican people and other Hispanics, whatever President Bush's motives may be.
Carole Ann and Bill Avramides, Spring Hill

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