‘Peace’ has nothing to do with Middle East conference

‘Peace’ has nothing to do with Middle East conference

EDITOR:

Bush, Cheney, Blair and Condi will convene a great peace conference in the fall. Like any great endeavor, it should be given a great title. I would like to suggest: Broken Promises. These promises are broken even before they are made.

Everyone knows that the settlers and their Christian Zionist supporters will not allow one inch of stolen land to be given back to the Palestinians. Everyone knows that billions in military aid will be given to maintain the unending brutality that is required to maintain the occupation. Why wait for the heartbreak when the suffering is already here? The peace process has become a genocide process. It doesn't even bother to offer the old mirages anymore. Instead, $30 billion in military aid is sent to the nation that bombed civilians and planted millions of cluster bombs in the fields of southern Lebanon before they fled.

The peace conference intends to bolster Mahmoud Abbas, the unelected but U.S.-preferred leader of the Palestinians. Hamas, obviously, is not corrupt enough to be the administrator of false promises to their own people. They demand more than rhetoric and promises. They demand their rights, their land, and an end to demolitions and destruction.

The United States now presents Abbas as the shepherd of his people who will lead them to some vague rosy future involving some kind of meager imaginary statehood. It is strange when a shepherd has to take his marching orders from the wolves, but that's the world we live in when Arabs have no voice in their own lands and have to obey or be bombed.

The real target of this coming peace conference, though, is Iran. Time magazine tells us that war with Iran is being planned in the White House, a war that religious fanatics hope will bring us to Armageddon, in which billions are to be slaughtered, and only the most fanatical Christians are to be saved by rapture. This is the peace that this peace conference is bringing.

ROGER LAFONTAINE

Youngstown

Naturally red ... or pink?

EDITOR:

Sept. 5 was my daughter Jessica’s first day of her senior year at Jackson Milton High School. We are actually residents of Girard, but participate in the open enrollment because I have always thought so much of Jackson Milton Schools. I am a graduate from there, also.

Upon entering school on her first day Jessica was approached by the principal, Mr. Malmisor and he told her that she had to immediately leave school. When she asked him why he said that he did not approve of her hair color. She explained that it was a red temporary color and it washes out. He told her that he felt it looked pink and that she could either spend all day in the office or that she could be picked up. He would not even allow her to go to her home room or pick up her schedule.

Upon a phone call from my daughter I drove back to the school to pick her up. I got to Jessica and asked to please speak with the principal. When he walked over to us I was told that Jessica’s hair color was not appropriate for school. He said that it was not a “natural” color. I explained to him that it was red, and that is a natural color, and I could even bring in the bottle to show him. He said that he felt it was pink, not red, and not acceptable. When I went to reply he very rudely interrupted me saying that she could not return to school until it was fixed and turned and walked away. A principal walking away from a parent?

As we were exiting the school, we passed a boy walking down the hallway with a mohawk haircut sticking straight up and a young lady’s hair color that almost looked like tiger stripes. Fair? Equal treatment among the students? I don’t think so.

I even had a conversation with the principal about my daughter when she was in 9th grade, in which he referred to her as the girl with two-toned hair. I was so offended, I asked him, is that how you know your students? How about the fact that she is a straight-A student, or the fact that she has never been in any kind of trouble, or that she participates and competes for the school choir?

Maybe some parents would see this matter as silly or of no importance. Maybe some would react just as I am, furious and feeling that my daughter has been treated unjustly.

ERIN ALICEA

Girard

Litter is ugly and dangerous; report it when you can

EDITOR:

The recent incident involving a can lid being ejected from a lawn mower and striking a Poland High School student, causing serious injury, highlights the fact that litter is not only unsightly, but dangerous. Littering on land and water, from a motor vehicle, or having an unsecured load, are all illegal acts. It is time for the violators to be sternly reminded that in Mahoning County, we will not tolerate this senseless, illegal act any further.

The Mahoning County Commissioners’ Reuse and Recycling Program — the Green Team — funds two dedicated Mahoning County sheriff deputies to investigate illegal dumping, unsecured loads, and related littering offenses. When witnessing a violation, I encourage residents to write down the license plate number, color and make of vehicle, and location with the date and time. This includes seeing trucks without a secure cover. Phone the Green Team at 330-740-2060 to report the information, and it will be provided to the deputies for investigation.

Mahoning County is a Keep America Beautiful affiliate, and the Green Team is willing to assist school and community organizations that want to perform litter clean-ups and begin recycling projects. Many organizations, such as the Canfield Rotary, of which I am a member, are “Adopt a Highway” participants, and they clean sections of roadways each spring and fall. I commend Linda DeJoe and the city of Youngstown Litter Control and Recycling Agency for their valiant efforts in organizing neighborhood clean-ups, and the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Day Reporting crew who do an amazing job of cleaning up miles of roadways and public lands.

So the next time someone witnesses littering and decides whether or not to write down the relevant information and report it to the Green Team, I urge them to remember the wonderful Poland High School student who was injured through this careless, illegal act. Let’s make sure this terrible incident never happens again.

JIM PETUCH

Youngstown

X The writer is director of the Mahoning County Reuse and Recycling Program.

Justice for all God’s creatures

EDITOR:

I believe that anyone who is guilty of animal cruelty has bird seed for a brain, a block of ice for a heart and a black hole for a soul. They are heartless criminals who I personally feel are less than human. They are some evil species lacking in love, compassion, goodness and responsibility.

More and more helpless animals will continue to suffer and die unless those guilty of such horrible crimes are severely punished and made to register as “animal offenders.” they should never be allowed to own another animal — ever.

The words, “justice for all” should include the animals that God loves and created.

A person’s humanity is heightened by the love and kindness that is shown to their fellow man and to animals also.

MARY LOU JURINA

Youngstown