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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us December 15, 2004 Anger turns to sadness over view As one of the "Ashland idiots," I would like to comment on Ellen Alderman's derisive assessment of Ashland and the possibility of creating a Tent City for the growing homeless population. While I understand many of the concerns around this issue, for the life of me I cannot understand Ms. Alderman's need to verbally attack a community for an idea that is rooted in compassion for those, who for whatever reason, find themselves without the warmth of a home. Rather than widen the divide so apparent in this country, and apparently this county as well, why not constructively debate an issue that has an impact on all of us? And, while I initially felt nothing but anger after reading her letter, I later realized it is better to yield to the sadness of recognizing how cruel we are all capable of being. There by the grace of someone goes each one of us, Ms. Alderman. Your letter helps me remember to think before I speak. Jane Maynard Ashland Letter shows insidious bigotry Ellen Alderman's letter about the homeless is a nearly perfect expression of the most dreadful social disease confronting our world: bigotry. As an experiment, try replacing the word "homeless" throughout her hate-filled diatribe with any alternative class, race, ethnicity or other group. Her claims about criminality, drug abuse, immorality and general degradation have been made about nearly every minority in the history of the country. Every Irish man was a hard-drinking hood in 19th century New York, and a corrupting influence on the body politic. Likewise for every wine-drinking Italian in Prohibition-era New Jersey, every pot-smoking hippie in the 1960s, and every latino sipping cerveza on his front porch in today's L.A. The truly corrosive influence on our body politic, however, is the seemingly irrepressible instinct among the comfortably established to cultivate a selective blindness - one that makes individuals and their personal stories invisible and inaudible, but their class affiliation readily apparent. This disability allows us to pre-manufacture judgments about people from the comfort of our homes. Hence, the recent debates about whether we "owe" anything to the homeless, or whether they "deserve" it. This argument is asinine. If somebody needs help, the right and moral thing to do is to help. A discussion of how best to help might be useful, though the "screw 'em" crowd would no doubt argue that doing nothing and looking away is really the most compassionate action to take. I have nothing but admiration for the people who are taking real action. Steve Rehn Ashland Letter reveals writer's core I feel compelled to reply to Ms. Alderman's letter in Monday's paper (Dec. 13). Not knowing the writer, I have no way of discerning what her experience of poverty is, or what has inspired her mean-spirited comments. I do know that the face of poverty is that of a child, a single mother, a disabled or mentally impaired adult and an abandoned teen. I do know that poor people are hungry, and they sleep in the cold. Poor children go to school without breakfast and suffer from want that most of us don't experience. If there is a way to help some of the poor and disadvantaged people in our area, we should find a way to do so - even if a few of those who receive assistance are not "worthy." As for the reports of "finding beer bottles" in areas where the homeless have slept, I have seen discarded beer cans and bottles along the streets of Ashland after July 4 and Halloween festivities, but that does not make me wish ill of the more affluent people who left them there. Liquor helps numb the sensation of shame, misery, loneliness and cold for some of those who are homeless, even if it offers no other nourishment. If there were adequate shelters and sources of the most basic food for those in need, perhaps there would be less shoplifting and other petty crimes. But to label homeless people as "bums, thieves, con artists and murderers," and to call concerned Ashland residents "idiots," says much more about the writer of the letter than those she writes about. Kathy Swarts Ashland Media fails to cover vote issue There are serious irregularities in the voting system that elected George Bush as president of the United States on Nov. 2. The press in this country has chosen to ignore the information on these irregularities and in some cases dismiss the claims as either sour grapes or silly. When Rep. Conyers held a hearing on the Ohio vote on Dec. 8, all of the media ignored this newsworthy event except for C-Span. Why is the U.S. media covering the voting irregularities in the Ukraine with such vigor and failing to cover the same news here at home? This is not a rhetorical question; the American people deserve an answer. Joseph T. Suste Medford Peace House stands for peace Marty Barickman's rant (Dec. 8) against Peace House, a wonderful organization and a credit to our community, is totally off the wall, not to get too technical about it. Peace House stands for precisely that, "peace," and it has never advocated or condoned violence in any way, shape, or form. So what is going on here? Is Mr. Barickman simply out to blacken the reputation of Peace House with falsehoods and wild accusations? Is Mr. Barickman so obtuse as to equate principled, nonviolent opposition to war and other atrocities with violence itself? Is he unable to distinguish between what some people may say at an open meeting and what Peace House actually does in accordance with its nonviolence principles? As supporters of Peace House who know the organization's leaders and activities, we are sickened by Mr. Barickman's diatribe and astonished that the Tidings would publish such an unconscionable attack on one of our community's finest organizations. Ragan and Gerry Cavanaugh Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. 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