Bravos
Bravo for publishing Hazzim Yousif’s letter regarding the genocide in Turkey (PWW 11/10-16). I thought of writing you along the exact same lines, including elders’ memories of murder, but Hazzim wrote what needed to be said.
I understand Norman Mark-owitz’s article focused on the Armenians, but the points Hazzim makes are an important part of that episode in history and need to be included. So glad you did not pass it by.
My Assyrian grandparents and theirs before them made their home in an Armenian/Kurdish area in eastern Turkey. There are many stories of that painful period. My mother saw this letter before I did. Thanks again for publishing it and thanks to Hazzim for writing it.
Pam Saffer
Worcester MA
I thought Frank Chapman’s comments on the background to American gangster movies in his review of “American Gangster” was extremely well done (PWW 12/1-7). He’s a fine writer and clearly an excellent analyzer of social trends as reflected in our culture.
But why ruin the movie by telling the ending?
Jim Lane
Dallas TX
Thank you for the “Jewish Americans speak out for Middle East peace” article in the Dec. 1-7 issue. Many of my relatives were victims of the Holocaust and I, like Anna Baltzer, grew up with the misconception of the Israeli state as a “tiny victimized country” surrounded by hostile Arab regimes.
I know it is daunting and emotionally draining to recognize the brutality of Zionism in its campaign to rid the land of Palestinians. It is essential to do so, however, if we hope to correct past errors. These errors include systematic usurpation of land and the institution of national borders that pit Israeli workers against Palestinians.
If things are to change, we must speak out. As the article urges, we should insist the United States “stop sending our tax dollars to Israel.”
Sandy Rosen
Via e-mail
Gambling
A most thought-provoking article by Bill Mackovich (“Gambling with our money,” PWW 12/1-7), which places the spread of gambling in context of the wider social and economic changes that have occurred since the Second World War. I have sent it on to friends who are concerned about the spread of gambling.
I recommend for reading “Unbalanced Reel Gaming Machines” by the Canadian expert Roger Horbay and myself. The paper may be downloaded from a number of web sites including www.vivaconsulting.com/advocacy/34.pdf.
The paper has formed the basis for consumer complaints in Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
Tim Falkiner
Melbourne, Australia
Answer to last week’s question
The Annapolis conference was nothing more then a photo-op for Bush. Hamas, the party put into power by the Palestinian voters, was not even invited.
Sean Mulligan
Via e-mail
Where are you now?
President Bush has vetoed funding for the Women’s, Infants’ and Children’s nutrition program (WIC), a program that has a long and proven record of reducing miscarriages, neonatal mortality, low birth weight, potentially fatal birth defects and infant anemia. Tell me: Where the heck did all those pro-lifers disappear, just when we need them the most?
Owen Williamson
El Paso TX
Shop talk
A note of thanks the PWW staff: I have a new co-worker who mentioned factory farms and the problems so I brought in a copy of the PWW, which had a two-page article on factory farms (PWW 11/10-16).
My co-worker exclaimed, “The PWW! I pick it up all the time at the co-op.” It is always great to run into people who read the paper, but a co-worker one desk over is even better.
Dean Gunderson
Minneapolis MN
Abu Dhabi and Citigroup
Citigroup, one of our nation’s largest and most venerable banking houses, has been compelled to seek financial salvation by cutting an unprecedented bailout deal with Abu Dhabi, a capital city in the United Arab Emirates.
We recall some two years ago that the Bush administration proposed a sell-off of vital U.S. seaports to Dubai, another Emirate metropolis. That scheme was quickly shot down amidst widespread public condemnation. In contrast now, the Citigroup deal is hailed by punch drunk money pundits as a brilliantly opportune plus for America’s flagging economy.
As a result, anxious investors immediately boosted the N.Y. stock market, a morose institution since the great burst of the housing debt bubble. Moreover, little has been made of Abu Dhabi’s lavish foray into U.S. high finance in the nation’s op-ed pages or on our normally bumptious talk-radio airwaves.
The dollar is inexorably sinking and shrinking. And yet, the Fed is pondering interest rate cuts. Whoopee! Citigroup can continue providing cash loans to already over indebted consumers. There’s still plenty of shopping for America to do, with a little help now from the wealthy princes of Abu Dhabi.
Cord MacGuire
Boulder CO
Erosion causes
I think Tim Wheeler wrote a great article on Gulf Coast shrimpers (PWW9/29-10/5). But, I would like to point out that the west side of the Mississippi River has the same coastal erosion as the east side. Both sides have a lot in common. But what they don’t have in common is the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (M.R.G.O. or Mr. Go). I believe it is not a big part of the erosion problem. If so, why is such a problem on the west side also? Get a map from 30 years ago on the west side and compare to a recent photo map and its easy to see the damage is at least equal to the erosion on the east side. A serious problem does exist, but MRGO is not the main cause.
Dan Robi
Via e-mail
Tim Wheeler responds:
Thanks for your response. I am not a geologist or climatologist so my knowledge of the problem of erosion is based on interviews, what I read, and what I see by visiting the Delta region. I much appreciate the information you have provided and I will incorporate it in a PowerPoint presentation I am giving around the country. It seems logical that there is a complex of interrelated factors contributing to the erosion, not one cause. If it were just MRGO, then it would be easy to solve by closing MRGO. These days, nothing is easy. Thanks again.
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