• LAWMAKERS GO HOME
Whenever the Legislature convenes a new session, there is anticipation about what will be accomplished. Just as predictably when the session ends, there is disappointment about what was left undone. The 2008 Legislature was no different. Lawmakers faced the daunting task of setting state priorities amid a sinking economy, a $5 billion revenue shortfall and a bruising housing market. Not surprisingly, lawmakers left Tallahassee last week with a decidedly mixed record -- May 9.
• DEATH BY DETENTION
The U.S. immigration system has too little oversight and too much impunity. Nowhere is this more evident than in cases where people have died while in U.S. immigration custody. Secrecy is one of the worst aspects of the immigration-detention system. It explains why little is known about medical abuses and deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement jails and prisons -- May 8.
• TYRANNY AND TRAGEDY
At first, the world held its breath to see if the military junta ruling Myanmar was going to bow to the realities of the tragedy that struck there Saturday and ask for outside help -- or just sit tight and remain isolated behind its iron veil, ignoring the immense suffering of its people in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. . . Fortunately, Myanmar's military henchmen seem to have blinked after realizing the depth of the cyclone's destruction and have asked for foreign aid -- May 7.
• CREDIT CARD GAMES
Ask anyone with a credit card about the abusive practices of lenders and you're likely to hear a torrent of complaints about unfair late fees, inexplicable interest-rate increases, misleading terms, confusing rules and much more. Last week, the Federal Reserve Board finally took steps to crack down on the credit-card industry, but banks signaled immediately that they're going to put up a fight. The Fed must hold its ground. Consumers need a break now more than ever -- May 6.
• HOME OF THE WHOPPER
As a practical matter, it is impossible for this or any other newspaper to set the record straight every time the Cuban government tells a whopper. Orchestrating lies is the specialty of police states. Anyone who has ever listened to Radio Havana or watched a Cuban TV ''news'' program knows that Cuban leaders lie to their own people
and lie to the outside world. They even lie to each other. But sometimes the lie is so blatant, so
malign, so far removed from the painful reality of life in Cuba
that it must be refuted -- May 5.
