Thank you for your clever commentary on the RepubliCrat conventions. ("Party conventions are all about presentation") I could not have said it better. These conventions are nothing but tightly scripted pep rallies of little substance. There is another convention that is worthy of notice, however. The first was held in Philadelphia at the same time as the Republican' and was basically ignored by the media, including The Herald. The second will be held in Los Angeles during the Democratic convention. This convention has a large range of ideas and styles. There are many speakers, ranging from the graceful Arianna Huffington on the one hand, to comedian Al Franken on the other. And all with intelligence and wit. [continues 121 words]
Full of non-violent offenders In the May 18 letters section of The Herald, a puzzled Jack Yoder asked why two articles about crime seem to contradict each other. ("Crime Statistics; Articles conflicting"). The first article he refers to is the May 8 article, "Year sees big bite in crime." This article reports that crime is down 7 percent and has been dropping each year since 1992, according to the FBI. The very next day he read the May 9 article, "County grits its teeth, takes on jail question." This article states that the jail is overfilled and we need to at least double current jail capacity. So, what is the answer to this seeming conundrum? [continues 172 words]
INITIATIVE 685 End the war on drugs In 1972, when President Nixon made a declaration of war, our modern war on drugs began in earnest. Since that time every president has rattled his sabers ever louder. And what has been the result? Other politicians have taken up the cause and have been pounding their chests with more and more ferocity. Each has tried to out tough the other. Has it helped? Politicians have irresponsibly foisted the enforcement of their drug policies on some of our finest the police. Is using law enforcement an effective way to deal with what is really a social and health issue? [continues 225 words]
