HELP SUDAN
NOW
Secretary of State Powell recently went to Darfur
in Sudan and
saw the genocide going on there. Then he told the world that it was terrible,
but not really genocide. Why the waffling? Because in 1948 the United
States and 130 other countries signed a
treaty that obligates us to prevent or stop genocide wherever it may happen.
This is no
time to turn our backs on our brothers and sisters in Darfur.
Violent armed militia on horseback have chased over a million people from their
homes, leaving them in refugee camps that they have cut off from aid workers.
Over 1,000 people a day are dying, and as starvation and disease take hold,
that number will only go up.
President
Bush needs to make sure that we live up to our moral and legal duties and to
stop the genocide in Darfur, even if that means
supporting an armed international force to get the aid through. Anything less
would be a tragedy.
Howard Eagle, River Ferry Way, Rochester
LISTEN; THEN CALL XXI
The title of Jennifer Weiss’s June 9 piece, “Democracy…
Later,” is an all-too-telling comment on WXXI’s reluctance to carry Democracy Now!, the outstanding, daily,
one-hour, in-depth news-interview program hosted by award-winning journalist
Amy Goodman. I fully concur with previous letters calling WXXI to task for not
bring DN! to our local airwaves.
I speak
from the personal experience of regularly hearing DN! on WEOS Geneva from my residence on a farm high on a hill near Naples.
For many in
Rochester not familiar with the
program, I recommend driving toward Geneva
with your radio tuned to WEOS (FM 89.7) between 9 and 10 a.m. any weekday. Once you pick up DN!, pull over, have a cup of coffee,
and listen — and if so moved (as I wager you will be), contact WXXI on return
and insist that they start carrying Democracy
Now! now — not later!
Bill Barker, Naples
MARRIAGE AND GOVERNMENT
Late one night recently, I flipped on the cable and found a
scary movie: Conspiracy (2001), with
Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci.
Based on a real-life meeting, it portrays leaders of the Nazi party developing
the plan for the mass extermination of the Jews and others.
The movie
was horrible in that it showed the brutal indifference of a government killing
its own citizens. But in one scene, the Nazis debate marriage: who could get
married and who could live — even children, depending on various marriage
rules.
I am for
gay-marriage rights, but being a heterosexual living in the blue-collar town of
Gates, it was never a big,
emotional issue for me. Seeing that movie moved me to write.
All those
who support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage — especially
small-government conservatives — should see this movie.
Rocco Mastrangioli,
Gates
READERS LIKELY TO VOLUNTEER
Jennifer Weiss’s story (“Give and Take,” June 30)
about the “razor-thin” line that the library budget and staff are on is
frightening. In a city that prides itself with appreciation of culture, why
should we have budget cuts and staff layoffs?
The
National Endowment for the Arts just published the results of a survey (Reading
at Risk: a Survey of Literary Reading in America)
that states that reading has dropped by up to 28 percent in the youngest age
group, with an overall loss of 20,000,000 potential readers.
The survey
points out a fascinating correlation between readers and activities in other
areas. “Literary readers,” says the report, “are much more likely to be
involved in cultural, sports, and volunteer activities than are
non-readers.”
Even if Rochester
wants to be self-serving about making sure we are a community of readers, no
one loses if we maintain book budgets and staff levels.
Peggy Fleming, Chili Avenue, Scottsville
THE IRAQ
WAR MADE US SAFER
Now that the Intelligence Committee report is out, the usual
sniping and blame-gaming has ensued. Let’s all try to keep the report in proper
perspective.
Given the 9/11
horror and a worldwide intelligence failure, America
and her allies invaded Iraq
in self-defense. Because of an eviscerated post-Cold War CIA and the resulting
absence of on-the-ground human intelligence, both Congress —including the
bipartisan Intelligence Committee — and the Bush administration were
reasonably convinced of Iraq’s
WMD threat to our security. Thus the entire government may properly share the
blame for this intelligence failure.
There is
not a shred of credible evidence to suggest that the president or Congress
deliberately manufactured a case for war — and who in their right mind could
have bought into that fantasy, anyway? But many on the far Left will continue
to blame the president and his administration for the intelligence failure and
for waging an unjust war. Why? Political expediency. For too many on the
Leftist fringe of the Democratic Party, ejecting President Bush from the White
House takes precedence over common sense, decency, objectivity, fair play and,
sadly, integrity itself.
Finally —
and we’ve heard this important question many times now — isn’t the world
better off without Saddam? Of course it is.
And has our
war in Iraq
increased the terrorist threat in the world, as some on the Left have claimed?
That pronouncement makes for a nice sound bite, but the statement is both
spectacularly specious and wholly inane. In truth, although terrorism remains a
clear and present danger to us all, it has been severely weakened. Why? Because
America has
taken the war to them, right in the heart of “madrasahland.”
And enormous changes for the better are already beginning to take shape.
So buck up,
America.
Patiently, relentlessly, and with unshakeable resolve, let’s continue to
successfully prosecute this war on terrorism in its spawning grounds and
wherever else terrorists may be hiding and plotting against us and our allies.
Never let them rest.
Jim Delaney, Images Way, Greece
WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE?
Everyday it’s something new — as if the old stuff weren’t
bad enough. It started with the questionable validity of the 2000 Florida
election and continued with lies about weapons of mass destruction. The Patriot
Act was opportunistic legislation coasting into law on fear of terrorist
attacks. And Bush’s desire to have an anti-gay marriage amendment is nothing
but pure hate.
Now two
news stories are circulating that should pretty much seal the lid on the 2004
election. First, the Department of Homeland Security has been consulting with
the Department of Justice to figure out how to legally postpone the election if
terrorists strike on or before election day. If this administration gets the
power to postpone the election, our democracy will cease to exist — if only
momentarily.
The Bush
administration is flip-flopping. Bush himself has reminded the American people
not to let the fear of terrorism change our lives. If we give in to fear, he
says, the terrorists win. Now his administration wants to give into fear for
political gain.
If there is
a terrorist attack on or shortly before the November election, Bush’s premise
that the world is a safer place crumbles, and there would be no way he could
win. Instead of making contingency plans to postpone the election, the Bush
administration should round up the resources that would allow the election to
go on as scheduled.
The second
news story circulating is a proposed change in logging rule. Bush is not a
friend to our environment, though he claims to be. Bush wants to lift the ban
on logging in remote areas of national forests. If you looked at his
environmental record, you would think he set out to destroy this country.
Where is
the outrage? How can polls show a close race between Kerry and Bush? How can 48
percent of the population approve of his job performance? Do 48 percent of Americans
appreciate his lies and hatred?
In
November, think about those trees that may fall prey to Bush’s new logging
rules. I say, let’s be fair. If trees are going to be cut down, cut down the
Bushes as well.
Thomas R. Janowski,
Hazelhurst Drive, Gates
THE ‘UNIQUE’ FACTOR
Several months ago, a Democrat
and Chronicle article reported on the abandoned RG&E Beebee Power Station on the majestic cliffs of the GeneseeRiver gorge in the HighFalls area downtown.
I was amazed
to learn about this hidden-in-plain-site giant and was fascinated by the
enormous, cavern-like spaces. At the time, I thought there was an incredible
opportunity to create something out of this obsolete space and not let another Rochester
resource go unused and be torn down later. I thought there must be a group
working on preserving and using this fantastic building complex in such an
unusual setting.
Perhaps a
multipurpose complex would fit the bill, with high-end retail shopping,
four-star restaurants, and half-million-dollar condominiums, or maybe a luxury
hotel with great views of our 96-foot-high waterfalls and beautiful fall
foliage.
Then I
thought the old power station could become home to a totally new concept,
“The Kodak Museum and International Film Institute of Rochester.”
What if
those cavernous spaces were turned into Hollywood-size sound stages for
motion-picture productions crafted with Kodak’s state-of-the-art technology?
Film and video producers and cinematographers would be drawn here from all over
the world to teach their craft and give seminars. It could eclipse every other
film school and studio space in the country.
On July 5,
all those ideas came back to me after reading about the difficulties of some
businesses in the HighFalls
area.
Now there
is talk of putting a gambling casino in the old Sibley’s Building downtown. But
why not use the Beebee Power Station site as the New
High Falls Casino and Hotel District?
The new
ferry crossing to and from Toronto
brings new energy to link all the pieces and solve problems for the casino, the
HighFalls,
and Rochester.
If the Beebee facility were in Toronto,
architects and designers would have had a plan to use it for some fantastic
purpose the day RG&E shut the door.
I hope that
in Rochester, we will take full
advantage of its unique factors.
Richard C. Adams, ArnoldPark, Rochester
ANGEL ATTACK
Earlier this month, the Blue Angels terrorized Rochester.
These supersonic planes were virtually buzzing the rooftops of city homes, setting
off alarms, shaking windows, and scaring the heck out of people. It really made
me angry to have been subjected to this “attack.”
I alienated
one of my new neighbors when I arrived at my apartment and he was on his porch.
He enthusiastically said to me, “Hey! Did you see the planes?” Since
one just seared our neighborhood seconds before, I would have to be dead to
have not noticed.
I just
shook my head and said, “Don’t those guys have women and children in Iraq
to bomb?” Yes, it was harsh, but I was angry.
A little
while later, while I was walking to an appointment near City Hall, more planes
flew by. I could feel my fists clench each time a plane shook the ground. Then
it hit me. This is nothing compared to what innocent people in Iraq
have been dealing with for more than 10 years. But their terror has been
longer, with actual bombs being dropped. (The military under Clinton
continued bombing runs through out his administration.)
At that
point, my anger did not subside, but it was redirected. It is too bad this
country does not have a political party that does not believe in killing as
foreign policy. Oh, wait: it does. The Greens.
Dave Atias, Rowley Street, Rochester (Atias is a Green Party
candidate for the Rochester School Board.)
WRITING TO CITY
We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester14607.
Our
guidelines: We don’t publish anonymous letters — and we ask that you include
your street name and city/town/village. We don’t publish letters that have been
sent to other media. While we don’t restrict length, letters of under 350 words
have a greater chance of being published. We do edit letters for clarity and
brevity. And in general we don’t publish letters (or longer “op-ed” pieces)
from the same writer more often than about once every two months.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2004.
