[Re: Letters, “Offense Taken,” Feb. 12-18] Mr. Efroymson, to address your "truth": You claim that Israel withdrew from Gaza two years ago, but what you fail to mention is that Israel still holds the keys to the prison that is Gaza, created by Israel. Mr. Efroymson, can you say “blockade”?You claim there is no racism, no apartheid. What would you call the fact that Israeli Arabs in the West Bank are not allowed to use the same streets the Jewish Israelis use? What would you call checkpoints?You claim that Hamas hides behind the Palestinian people. In a densely populated area with more than 1 million people, when Israel dropped the U.S.-made bombs, it would be impossible for Hamas or the Palestinian people to find a place to hide. The blockade made it impossible for the Palestinians to go anywhere safe."Self defense." Since when does the oppressor get to claim "self defense"?
Letters Mary Jane Madness
Michael Phelps was suspended for three months for having a bong in his hand. Michael was 19 at the time. He is now 23 or 24 years old. One endorsement Michael lost was Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. I wonder just how many employees working at Kellogg’s are on some form of illegal drug?Americans are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites! It is not as if Michael was using some kind of performance-enhancing drug. Americans can’t have that, a bong in his hand, oh no. Yet football players live on illegal drugs. Then Monday morning, these thugs take every painkiller in order to get them to their next game.Or a baseball player (Pete Rose) that has a serious gambling problem. Not to mention using every steroid on the black market that these players need in order to get through life. These guys go to trial then end up walking. Over and over. Which doesn’t seem to bother Americans.You go to prison in this country for seven years for smoking a joint in the parking lot or having a small amount in your pocket. Yet it is OK for Wall Street and all these lending institutions to rip off tens of billions of dollars from the American people. These common street thugs in white shirts and ties never spend a day in court or a night in jail. Then the government lends these guys bailout money (a gift).And now these billions have disappeared. And nobody knows where the $$$ went, other than a corporate jet for $40 million. Or a single person that rips off $50 billion dollars of investors’ money then gets to stay home in his multimillion-dollar penthouse with servants. All the government asks for is the person’s passport.I see no difference between kids looking up to sports figures and adults looking up to Wall Street to be honest, invest properly and do what’s right with their money.I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked myself, Doesn’t anybody else get outraged at these injustices or disturbed over these absurdities? What more needs to be said? The hypocrisies and the inequities are in plain view. What is it about "madness" that people don’t get?
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