Document text
Letters to the editor: Photo caption showed bias An AP photo in today's paper (5/29/03) demonstrates intended or unintended editorial bias against Israel. It shows Palestinian women standing in a ravaged kitchen. There are no signs of bullet holes or an explosion. I don't know if the caption was written by AP or locally but it is inflammatory. "Palestinian women survey damage inside an apartment building stormed by Israeli troops during an army operation searching for wanted Palestinians." Although many people have chosen sides in Israel/Arab (Palestinian) conflict, many have not. For the undecided, the picture and caption can easily imply the following: Israeli soldiers are brutes and vandals. The women are facing away from the kitchen, implying even greater damage. Using the term "wanted Palestinians" avoids acknowledging official Israeli policy which is to find and arrested suspected/known terrorists with the least possible side damage. The picture/caption is relevant to my visit yesterday with a man who, for now, seems to hold Israel in low esteem. I asked him what Israel could do to improve its stature in his eyes. He said it seems Israel usually uses unnecessarily blunt force that often harms innocent Palestinians; Israel should stop doing that. Today's picture/caption may reinforce his opinion. While the picture/caption was not necessarily pro-Palestinian, it was certainly anti-Israel, and for what purpose? Inasmuch as peace talks are finally at hand, publishing the picture/caption was a poor editorial choice. Gerry Mandell, Ashland Guest forum: Marijuana and 'Carrie Nation' By Randy Bofinger Mount Shasta, Calif. The recent furor with the Bush administration over Canada proposing to decriminalize marijuana is bringing up some interesting facts about our own policies toward this much-maligned and medicinal herb. The U.S. government claims that much more marijuana will be exported here form Canada if they decriminalize. The fact is that the U.S. produces most of its own marijuana already. Another interesting point in comparing the U.S. to Dutch policies on marijuana, we find that its use among all age groups in the Netherlands is much lower than in this country, though their pot laws are much more liberal than ours. The truth is that decriminalization has little or no impact on levels of use and abuse of marijuana. Decriminalization reduces the number of people getting arrested, saves tax dollars and allows law enforcement to focus on more serious crime - not a bad idea. Other interesting facts begin to surface when we look at incarceration rates of the U.S. compared to other advanced democracies in the world. America, with 5 percent of the worlds population, has an incarceration rate of 25 percent of the world's prisoners. America incarcerated more people just on drug charges than the entire European Union incarcerates for all crimes (and they have 100 million more people than we do). Because America has the highest incarceration rate of any democracy in history, our neighbors now know us as the "American gulag." The majority of marijuana users are responsible, intelligent people in all walks of life in our communities. To criminalize something as safe and medicinal as marijuana is itself a crime. During the time of alcohol prohibition, an extremist named Carrie Nation went around with an ax smashing up bars and nightclubs. Today, this same "Carrie Nation" is dictating our country's drug policies to everyone's detriment. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -