I read with dismay about the alleged plight of Rick Miranda"Nonstop from O'Hare to Havana? It's a step closer" [news story, July25]. Miranda wants to go to Cuba to visit relatives, but thinks he'sbeing thwarted by U.S. law. A measure passed by the House ofRepresentatives recently to make it possible for him to travel toCuba risks a veto by President Bush.
Miranda, however, should check with a travel agent. He could booka flight and legally travel to Cuba tomorrow under existing U.S. law.
While the U.S. government has no interest in seeing Americantourists prop up a brutal dictatorship by spending hard currency atits government-run beach resorts, it does believe that some travel tothe island furthers U.S. interests and promotes our values. The U.S.Treasury issues licenses for certain types of travelers. Anyone withrelatives in Cuba has a general or blanket license, and can travelthere with minimal hassle and need not even apply to Treasury. So canlegitimate journalists and academics conducting research.Representatives of church organizations, humanitarian groups andorganizations conducting educational exchanges can obtain licenses ona case-by-case basis.
Business travel to Cuba is permitted if it is conducted to arrangefor sale of U.S. exports that are permitted under U.S. law, such asmedicines and certain agricultural products.
These existing arrangements promote outreach to the Cuban people,rather than provide an illegitimate government with money to maintainrepressive control over its own citizens, support terrorists andfugitives from U.S. justice and foreign terror organizations, conductespionage operations on U.S. soil and engage in bio-weapons researchand development efforts.
If Miranda does visit his relatives, they will no doubt tell himof their hopes for change in Cuba so their country can take its placeamong the democracies of the region. U.S. policy is to promote suchchange. Permitting tourist travel to Cuba would undercut ourobjectives of improving the lives of ordinary Cubans and counteringthe Cuban government's implacable hostility to the United States.
Charles Barclay, spokesman,
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs,
State Department, Washington, D.C.
Newspapers are a powerful bully pulpit, and the Sun-Times--whichfor many years has enjoyed a loyal readership in Chicago's African-American community--is no exception. That's why it's so disappointingto see the Sun-Times get it wrong on an issue of great importance toAfrican Americans: the mob attack that took the lives of two meninvolved in the accident that ultimately killed Shani Lawrence.
In its Aug. 7 coverage of the Rev. Al Sharpton's Tuesday visit tothe Oakland neighborhood, the headline showcased a small group ofhecklers at the event at the Lawrence family home--hecklers whosepresence unfortunately deeply hurt an already traumatized family. Butthe Sun-Times missed that part of the story in its zeal to take acheap shot at Sharpton, and ultimately, we fear, distorted both theday's events and the broader involvement and concerns of the Lawrencefamily and the community.
We wish the Sun-Times coverage had been equally zealous inreporting the family's and community's response to this hecklingincident, or in reporting growing community concerns that State'sAttorney Dick Devine and the Chicago Police Department may be rushingto judgment about who was involved in the tragic beating deaths ofJack Moore and Anthony Stuckey.
We also wish the Sun-Times would have asked that small group ofmalcontents what they have done for the community and the family inthe wake of this incident, or for that matter what they have done inany capacity for the community.
This is a particularly compelling question at a time when ourcommunity seeks to confront the role that each of us must play infostering healing, reconciliation and ultimately a more unifiedapproach to tackling the root causes of alienation and violence inour neighborhoods. That is why local activists are working so hard tobring healing to the tensions that wrack Chicago's African-Americancommunity--tensions grounded in issues of inequity that boildangerously near the surface in many neighborhoods. And that is whywe are committed to resisting any potential attempt by Devine tocompound this tragedy by seeking to execute those who may ultimatelybe convicted of the murder of Moore and Stuckey.
We wish the Sun-Times had asked those who attended Tuesday'sevents about these important issues, instead of throwing away columninches on a misleading headline and one-sided "reporting" that servesonly to cast bogus aspersions on Sharpton.
Rev. Paul Jakes, Old St. Paul
Missionary Baptist Church;
Rev. Al Sampson, Fernwood United Methodist Church
In the Aug. 7 Sun-Times were two stories that seem to be related:"Scofflaw's car taken under new law" and "Sticker scofflaws to getboot." The power of the state is increasing, and is increasinglydraconian, in pursuit of revenue. At first, the Denver boot wasintended as a weapon against the worst of the parking ticketscofflaws--as a last resort. Now it is being used after three tickets--and for [failing to buy] city stickers.
Now the government confiscates cars, in reaction to the worst ofthe suspended license scofflaws. Will this approach eventually becomeanother arrow in the quiver of revenue enhancement, as common as theDenver boot? Impossible? Who would have imagined we would get bootedafter only three tickets?
Call me cynical, but whenever we give excess power to thegovernment, it backfires. Anyone care to dispute that?
David Dolgacius,
Franklin Park
The mayor and citizens of Chicago should be very thankful for theChicago Police Department. When the city announced a $110 millionbudget shortfall, the mayor turned to the best revenue source of thecity: unpaid parking tickets.
What the mayor should remember next year when the police contractcomes up for renewal is to negotiate immediately instead of stringingthe police along for three years without a new contract. I fear nexttime the police officers may give the mayor the same treatment hegives them when it comes to writing so many tickets.
Maybe the mayor could have the the Fire Department or Streets andSanitation write the tickets or, better yet, the laid-off cityworkers.
Mark Severino,
Jefferson Park
I don't understand people who live in Chicago. They seem to have acollective sense of low self-esteem. The city collects their taxesfor city services, then charges them for those services at the pointof use.
Chicago has some of the highest taxes in the country. Eightydollars for a city vehicle sticker is outrageous. Furthermore, themayor, who is more like a king, gives away a million-dollar parcel ofcity land to one of his cronies, and the city later ends up with abudget deficit. The parking situation and the outrageous revenuesgenerated from them is another aspect of citizen abuse.
I didn't realize how much I was paying to live there, let alonehow diminished my quality of life was with the congestion until Imoved. I now live in the far northwest suburbs. I pay $15 for a cityvehicle sticker. Taxes are high, but I get the quality of life thatshould go with it. I don't have to pay obscene amounts of money andput up with panhandlers, rude drivers, poor air quality and the highcrime of the murder capital of the United States.
Thank god I woke up!
Glen Latham,
Lindenhurst
The president's call for welfare recipients to work 40 hours aweek or lose their benefits [news story, July 30] highlights how outof touch he is with the realities faced by poor and working-classpeople in our country. First of all, anyone who is working 40 hours aweek on a regular basis is most likely already ineligible forbenefits. And if not, that points to the need for a higher minimumwage to allow workers to pull themselves out of poverty.
Secondly, many employed recipients would like very much to be off"welfare," if only their jobs were consistently full time.
Many workers in entry-level positions--hotel housekeepers, grocerystore clerks and home care workers come immediately to mind--wouldvery much like to work full time but their employers adjust schedulesto meet their needs, not the needs of the workers.
The requirement the president calls for would penalize many peoplewho are making every effort to eliminate their need for cash benefitsfrom the welfare system.
Carol Bradford, Hyde Park
Is gambling a vice or not? Or is it just good over here and badover there? Or is it good if the government does it and wrong foryou? 'Tis a puzzlement!
Gambling is simply a transfer of wealth without an exchange ofgoods or services, and its vanished wealth always leave the communitypoorer. Statistics show that the greater percentage of those willingto risk their family's rent, food and clothing money are those leastable to afford to. Besides the probability of losing one's hard-earned wages, gambling encourages too much of society to expect thatthey can acquire wealth without working for it.
As one sees the barracudas circling the waters around the Rosemontcasino, it is easy to see that gambling attracts those anxious toprey upon the weakness of others for their own enrichment. Multitudesaddicted to gambling have lost their wealth, their families, theircareers and their self-respect.
It is a poor excuse of a country that actually encourages itscitizens to participate in such self-destructive behavior.
Thomas J. McLoughlin,
West Ridge
My brother, a fan of minor-league baseball, was in town recently,so we spent the weekend attending three minor league games in threedifferent parks.
Sights seen:
nPlayers helping stadium staff toss promotional items into thestands.
nA $50 bonus from a local paper to the team's "pitcher of theweek"--an amount that might actually matter to a minor league player.
nWorking-class families who could afford to attend a game withoutstretching the week's paycheck.
nPlayers who were playing for the love of the game, and whounderstood how lucky they were to be making even a few dollarsplaying baseball.
After these sights and many others, we agreed that if the majorleague crybabies want to strike, let them. There is plenty of otherbaseball to be found. Fans, go out and support a minor league team!Besides all of the above reasons, it can't be any worse than whatwe've seen from the Cubs and Sox.
Mike Bultman, Tinley Park
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