Monday, June 27, 2005
I find the mayor 'guilty'
EDITOR:
I am outraged. "If I'm in the jury box, the suspect is guilty," says George McKelvey. This is the mayor's principle of fair law? What country does he think he lives in? In all my years of hearing garbage from politicians, nothing has disturbed me more than these comments.
I thought that we lived in a fair and democratic country based on the principle that everyone is entitled to a fair trial; that an individual charged with a crime has a right to defend himself; that nobody has the right to punish you for something you have not done. I also thought that in our legal system our trials are approached on the basis that the prosecution must prove their case and that jurors are to presume a defendant is "innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" based on the evidence presented. Isn't that how our judges instruct juries? Democratic countries follow this principle and even the United Nations incorporated it into its Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
But not McKelvey, Youngstown's law-abiding mayor, whose motto is: "Your client is guilty until proven innocent in my book. & quot; His book? He thinks he's above our legal system and has his own set of rules. I'd like to see what else is in that book. Based on the principles of the mayor of Youngstown, someone that is charged with a crime must prove, to McKelvey's satisfaction, that they are innocent. Doesn't he realize that sometimes there are actually innocent people accused of crimes that they did not commit? McKelvey has stated that "no defense attorney would want him as a juror. & quot; He's proud to call himself the "hanging mayor. & quot; Does he really think these comments will make him look like he's tough on criminals and pro-victim? I think this is his very public way of getting out of his civic duty to serve on a jury when called to do so. What a disgrace.
Using McKelvey's rules of law and based on the evidence I read in the newspaper, here is my verdict in the case of the defendant, George McKelvey:
Without any doubt, I find him guilty on all counts (arrogance, shirking his civic duty and stupidity).
LUBA HORSKY
Canfield
Law of supply and demand
EDITOR:
It is apparent that the majority of the vocal public have no concept of the laws of supply and demand or cause and effect.
Supply and demand means; Excess supply and low demand lowers prices and low supply and excess demand produces the opposite effect.
Cause and effect means there is always a cause for anything that happens good or bad.
Many people place the blame for high gasoline prices on the White House and the political party in control of Congress. This is simply untrue.
The oil companies are only following the capitalist way of taking advantage of supply and demand.
Gasoline is in short supply. This is the cause of the effect (high prices). The reason for the short supply is a new demand for oil and gas from countries that have found a new way of improving their economy. They turn out cheap, shady merchandise to ship to the United States. This cheap merchandise shows up at flea markets and super stores and Americans flock there to buy and send their dollars off shore.
This allows other countries to demand more oil and gas and to have the ability to pay for it. The next time you pay over $2 per gallon for gas to drive somewhere to buy cheap gloves, underwear, socks or dishes and other commodities that once were produced in the USA, remember that your own stupidity is the cause of the high price of gas and sinking American economy.
ROBERT HUSTED
New Springfield