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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories The Beanery coffeehouse closes abruptly Ashland fire torches woodshed, greenhouse 10 things to know for Thursday Welcome Center plans can proceed Principal Zundel looks to next challenge Education Principal Zundel looks to next challenge Youth Activities and Academics Levy rolls in early returns It takes a village to raise a child Ashland High's Michelle Zundel heading to Medford district John Muir students need help producing eighth-grade yearbook Environment Demonstrators hope to save tree Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Mt. Ashland Ski Area proposes summer adventure center Long drought, big storm make for a dirty Bear Creek Jackson County declares drought disaster Business The Beanery coffeehouse closes abruptly Makeover brings new look to old clinic Cars We Remember: 1955 and 1956 Plymouth memories Ashland's CD Or Not CD will carry on Sawyer Paddles sues manufacturer, alleging breach of contract Politics and elections Welcome Center plans can proceed Ashland council to consider water rate surcharge, Welcome Center agreement Jackson County district election turnout under 17 percent Arthur I. Cyr: Camp David summit will not help Mideast stability City of Ashland to consider making recorder position appointive, not elective State News Oregon's snowpack at just 11 percent of average Lack of snow nixes ski portion of popular Central Oregon race Bill under debate in Oregon would limit livestock antibiotics Nation - World Uh oh .... Apple Watch demand is weak There's a $10 million precious stone hidden in plain sight at Grand Central Obituaries Fredric Martin Latty Death Notices Death Notices Death Notices Death Notices Shareable Check out top import and export for every U.S. state Patriots fan sets up GoFundMe page to help pay for team's Deflategate fine Sports Latest Stories SOU's sweet 16 heads to nationals Grizzlies push defending 6A champs but fall in extras O'Brien goes for rare four-peat AHS decathlete Thompson-Siporen overcomes knee surgery to shine at districts George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady High school Grizzlies push defending 6A champs but fall in extras O'Brien goes for rare four-peat AHS decathlete Thompson-Siporen overcomes knee surgery to shine at districts O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Thompson-Siporen earns three MWL titles in first day of district meet Southern Oregon University SOU's sweet 16 heads to nationals O'Brien, Kim claim MWL doubles title Ashland heads to Eugene for MWL district meet Raiders Maguin, Parks, Sanders highlight first day of CCC track meet SOU lands two on all-CCC softball team Voices Latest Stories Arthur I. Cyr: Secretary Kerry’s reply to North Korea Our View: Bravo, Ashland voters Granlund cartoon: Hillary and the press Landgren cartoon: College loans and graduation Robert DeWitt: WWII veterans are pieces of living history Editorial Our View: Bravo, Ashland voters Our View: AHS loses a leader Other Views: Vaccine rate improves Our View: Focus on the basics Our View: Elected or appointed? Letters Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, May 19 Letters to the Editor, May 14 (No heading) Letters to the editor: Tuesday, May 12 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: A day in the life of ScienceWorks Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Guest Opinion: Restoring the Plaza's sense of place Guest Opinion: Making conservation a game Guest Opinion: A good day to act Columns Arthur I. Cyr: Secretary Kerry’s reply to North Korea Council Corner: Citizens on the move Guest Opinion: A day in the life of ScienceWorks Council Corner: Please help me with my list George Barnes: We need to help free Tom Brady Chris Honore Council Corner Editor's Notes Jeffrey Gillespie Herb Rothschild Revels Latest Stories Movie listings: May 22-28 5 things to do in the Rogue Valley Sly & Robbie play Historic Ashland Armory SOU presents Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale' 'Mad Max: Fury Road' brings the crazy like no other Theater SOU presents Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale' Ticket Availability Ashland-originated plays to tour throughout country Ticket Availability Ticket availability Music The Farr Side: Swift dominates Billboard Music Awards Interview: Country mainstay T. Graham Brown reflects on career The Farr Side: Contest open for singer-songwriters The Farr Side: Mumford & Sons’ latest is full-on rock Interview: Country singer Suzy Bogguss enjoying life on the road Visual Art Movies Dwayne Johnson rocks in a new way in ‘San Andreas’ Movie listings: May 22-28 'Mad Max: Fury Road' brings the crazy like no other Movie review: Cast keeps laughs coming in ‘Pitch Perfect 2’ Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Food and Drink Taqueria Picaro takes over Tabu space Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Homeowner’s insurance: What it covers, what it excludes They key to lifelong marital happiness Monarchs are disappearing, but you can help with a wildflower garden Marketta Gregory: Thankful for those who made the ultimate sacrifice The seven wonders of southwest Oregon Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Mocha Musings Rogues: Tales from the Valley Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW Ticket Availability ... Ashland fire torches woodshed, greenhouse ... Our View: Bravo, Ashland voters ... Ticket Availability ... Ashland fire torches woodshed, greenhouse ... Our View: Bravo, Ashland voters ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: Ambrose spins a conservative fantasy Comment By R.L. Tokareff DailyTidings.com By R.L. Tokareff Posted May. 9, 2015 at 12:01 AM By R.L. Tokareff Posted May. 9, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Over the past three or four years the conservative spin of your paper becomes more and more obvious each day. For example, Jay Ambrose's column on Wednesday. Jay Ambrose! Spin master par excellence! This “op-ed columnist” opines on what a wonderful job the New York Police Department did to bring down crime in New York City. “Police have saved thousands from being murdered, robbed or beaten and thousands more from going to prison because they were deprived of their chance to commit a crime.” “Deprived of their chance to commit a crime?” How exactly does this statement have any basis in reality? In a free society, how does one deprive a criminal from breaking the law? By spinning their brains? Society can deprive them of their freedom or their life after the crime, but how do you do it before they commit the crime? How did the NYPD accomplish this miraculous crime-cutting feat? Answer: They control the statistics! And by aggressive illegal street arrests of 80 percent to 90 percent minorities on trumped-up charges, most of which were plea bargained or dismissed as illegal if you could afford an attorney. One reality is that he fails to mention that the biggest drop in crime happened when the NYPD was on a slowdown/strike. He then goes on to spin how poor minority neighborhoods “have become much safer.” I guess he forgets about Ferguson and Baltimore? There's that conservative bubble again. I’m sure he lives in poor minority neighborhood, so he knows, right? Ambrose is not finished with his conservative fantasy amnesia: He goes on to say how bad it is that “judicial discretion (makes) sentences tortuously long for reactively minor acts and spend ungodly amounts of money on building prisons, maintaining them and housing guests who hardly pay for the privilege.” After reading that my head almost exploded. He totally ignored the “war on drugs” (which was and is a war on young people that Nixon started to punish the anti-war protesters in the 1960s) that made the USA have the highest number of people in jail compared to all the other countries combined and is totally responsible. His statement is classic conservative spin: “housing guests who hardly pay for the privilege”? I have to give it to him for this wordsmithing statement! He is very concerned about the money spent and little about the lives destroyed. This is the first time I have ever heard of convicted felons called a “guests” who “hardly pay for the privilege” of being in prison. So going to jail is a privilege? Talk about spin! I need to go sit down. Even George Orwell is spinning in his grave over that statement. Next this spinmaster goes on to give a small nod to Hillary Clinton to show he is "fair and balanced." Then he goes on to say how all the wonderful Republicans who are “concerned” like Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie and company. You remember the “ tough on crime” guys who pushed mandatory minimum sentencing back in the Bush ’41/Clinton/“W” years? Now they totally abhor this miscarriage of justice? Ambrose goes on to refer to Franklin Zimring's U.C. Berkeley study of NYPD and what a wonderful model they would make. However, he fails to mention this study was from 1990 to 2010, five years before the riots across the country that we have currently experienced. A connection between then and now, perhaps? Ambrose goes on to finish his conservative spin cycle to state the obvious about the country’s problems with education and the evil single parent problem, which is code for poor and/or minority families. Like most conservatives he offers no answers, just criticisms and cuts to their programs. I hope that E.J. Dionne is right about “America becoming less conservative” (Tidings, May 6). It would be nice to have the rest of you on board. R.L. Tokareff lives in Ashland.         By R.L. Tokareff DailyTidings.com By R.L. 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