Mining the Past
Re: "Mines Get Little Notice"
by Francis X. Gilpin (Sept. 27-Oct. 3)
My letter will probably be only one of a few who doesn't call Gilpin a traitor or some other demeaning name. Let me first state that I love my country and am a patriot, but I fear my government. We interfere with other countries' attempts to install democratic forms of government, while at the same time saying how great our democracy is.
It amazes me how little lack of understanding of history exists within our country. It also amazes me that we cannot understand how violated the citizens of these other countries must feel, considering we once felt the same way about the British.
Malcolm Cook
Via e-mail
Let's Get Political
Re: "Two Perspectives on the Earth Charter" by Ellis Rexwood Curry IV and Jan Roberts (Sept. 27-Oct. 3)
Curry's argument is unworthy a competent attorney and not worth consideration or publication. Because of the liberal bias of the Weekly Planet, one suspects that is precisely why his argument was printed instead of one more competent.
The libertarians do not have a serious position. They are just as socialist as anyone else and expect everyone to fall into line with their philosophy. Mr. Curry might be surprised to know that the term "socialism" as used by Oswald Spengler in The Decline of the West includes not only libertarians but Nazis, communists, socialists, Republicans and Democrats as well. The term refers to the intent of one that all must live under his proposed scheme.
The Libertarians are just as nihilistic as any communist, but they have focused on the "market" as the supreme entity that all must bow to.
As for the presumption of moral superiority of the libertarians' championing of the market I note that modern business has managed to employ workers at less than it would cost to keep a slave. If they owned a slave they would have to feed him and care for him. As it is they can pay him a wage that will neither feed him, clothe him, nor house him.
Ms. Roberts is wrong when she says that man is not dominant. Man is dominant because he is the most powerful animal on the planet. If man were not dominant what could an Earth Charter accomplish? Isn't it that very dominance that calls for an Earth Charter?
Heman H. Higgins III
Via e-mail
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I found the juxtapositioning of viewpoints of the upcoming "Earth Charter Community Summit" to be quite illuminating. While Jan Roberts stated the purpose and goals for this meeting quite eloquently, Mr. Curry couldn't seem to finish a sentence without an insult. This is a stark contrast to the appeals to reason and logic that libertarians and objectivists are so fond of.
Matthew G. Sullivan
Tampa
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Jan Roberts never mentions any specifics to defend the Earth Charter. Just a bunch of vague, feel-good mumbo-jumbo about compassion and a just and caring world. Who can argue with that? But, capitalism creates more of this good stuff than Jan Roberts seems to realize.
Rex Curry offers substance with these specifics: The highest standards of living and the cleanest air, water, and resources are in the more capitalist countries that recognize and protect private-property rights. Statist policies confiscate, redistribute, and exhaust more wealth than they produce and encourage the overuse of resources held in common.
Hal Dunn
Via e-mail
The Best and the Rest
Re: "Best of the Bay" (Sept. 20-26)
What's this crap about me being pasty-faced? If my tan (gained during my gallant, swashbuckling Caribbean years) was fading, it's because I worked my ass off in that goddamn sweatshop. And what incredibly sloppy reporting — I would never, ever buy a Hawaiian shirt from Sears; I mean, one can be progressive without being declasse. And, finally, there was nothing rickety about my beloved sailboat — it was lovingly maintained (at least that's what I told the rube who bought it).
John Sugg
Atlanta
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Just wanted to thank you for your "Best Meteorologist" award of 2000. At some point in time, I sincerely hope your "readers" will agree with your rather astute assessments!
By the way, no blow dryer for me. Air dry — then a touch of molding creme.
Denis Phillips
WFTS-Ch. 28
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I want to thank you and praise you for your decision to run the "Best of the Bay" issue. You have provided us with a much-needed respite from so much suffering and reminded us all that life is still worth living. Thank You!
Carlos Milan
St. Petersburg
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OK, let me see if I have this correct: Each year you print a special edition featuring your staff's selections for the best of everything in Tampa Bay. You also have the Readers' Poll, where readers are asked to submit their ideas of what's best in the Bay. So after you receive and tabulate the readers' suggestions, you rip the readers for their suggestions?
Perhaps the majority of your readers prefer grabbing appetizers at a chain restaurant (Chili's) instead of a local establishment (New City). Perhaps the mysterious Kelly Timm is a creative and talented poet whose work you haven't read or heard before. Perhaps the local's idea of a "day trip" is merely spending a day at Busch Gardens. Perhaps, and here's a wacky idea, YOUR READERS HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS THAN YOURS!
But then again, why should you care what I think?
Matt Sammon
Tampa
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From a distance, it may appear that Jeff Testerman (your selection as Tampa Bay's best reporter) has some merit. It was, indeed, his partner's name on the lamest of entreaties to members of the Seminole Tribe to rat out their bosses to him. That led to an unfair business practices suit against the St. Petersburg Times, which would still be making its way through the state courts, with Testerman listed as a defendant (along with fellow reporter Brad Goldstein who wrote the offensive letter) except that James Billie, the Tribe's chairman, who had pushed the suit, is currently under suspension. The federal agencies and courts that oversee Indian tribes have yet to weigh in on the legality of that suspension, so it is too soon to anoint Testerman with any credit for it (as the Times itself seems to do in its editorials). But the other reasons are far more compelling. First, he has followed, not led, other reporters on the story. Erika Bolstad, a young reporter for the Miami Herald, has beat his brains out on reporting corrupt spending of millions of dollars by other members of the Tribal Council besides Billie. Secondly, he has trailed my coverage in the South Florida Business Journal on Billie's plans and attempts at reinstatement.
Testerman is not simply carrying baggage on this story; he is saddled with luggage. He has relied on the same telephone sources almost from day one, which include federal investigators who certainly have their own agenda in talking to him, and he has produced coverage which is far less insightful than your blurb suggests.
If he is the best of the bay, I suggest you start swimming south.
Charles Flowers
Via e-mail
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I want to say thank you for putting a considerable focus (compared to years past) on the Best of the Bay Readers' Poll. It's not that I don't value the opinion of the Weekly Planet editors, but I think that the readers' voice speaks louder about who has made a name for themselves in Tampa Bay. I also want to congratulate The Gita on dominating the Readers' Poll music votes. Those guys have worked so hard over the past few years to gain a following and they truly deserve this type of recognition. I think it's safe to say that anybody who hasn't seen the Gita perform yet is going to feel pretty out of the loop. It is to those of you I say, crawl out from under your rocks and join the party.
Jennifer Brittain
Via e-mail
No Denial
Re: "Fears and Fallacies" by Francis X. Gilpin and Rochelle Renford (Sep 13-19)
When we instantly blame Arabs or Muslims for every act of terrorism in our midst, we are being obnoxious and offensive, and we are acting in contradiction of the values of our democracy and of our respective faiths. Shame on us.
That said, the comments of Sami Al-Arian ("I don't think any religious person or any Islamic person would do this") suffer from the very same problem. His instant denial that any Muslim could be responsible for the terrorism of Sept. 11 is itself as obnoxious and offensive as any instant accusation. And it certainly rings hollow in view of what we know now of the identity of the hijackers.
Steve Marx
Tampa
This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2001.