Show -- --- — -- - n 'V ?i - Wi Y" W-- The Herald Journol : — ' ® r rr — ''' — ' - Your view y Circumcision ritual disturbing 4 To the editor There are some things that we as human beings believe every individual has a right to These “Human Rights” we trumpet proudly proclaiming civility and respect for every man woman and child Yet right under our noses continues a practice that is in clear violation of human rights It is rare in the US for a baby boy to come home from the hospital with all of his body Doctors mutilate our sons in a disturbing American ritual called cir- - cumcision America is the only country in the world to deprive the majority of our baby boys from their birth right an essential human right: a whole and intact body How can we as a nation as a coni- munity as loving parents allow doctors to solicit unnecessary and unbeneflcial surgery and accept their solicitation blindly? This constitutes fraud There is no compelling medical evidence to circumcise and there is not an ounce of religious pressure from nearly every Christian religion including the LDS Church to circumcise Why then do we rob and hurt our babies? Some would argue it is acceptable if you examine the cultural and social reasons They say he needs it to ‘Tit in” They say he should look like his father We have truly lost our freedom if we now live in a society where we can void human rights and commit assault on the basis that we feel it is culturally acceptable and for no other reason Shouldn't the individual the child decide how he fits into culture for himself? And where do we draw the line on this cultural reasoning? Where does it shift from a wound and a scar down there to a wound and a scar on the back the arm or the face? How can we be so hypocritical when it apples lopro- tccting our children from abuse? Please assess yourself Reflect on your principles and values What do you believe human dignity human rights and human respect really are? I see an America who has cut off my human rights and thrown it in the trash that the all benevolent and powerful Bush administration would cause democratic fruit to spring up from the desert as was done in Japan and Germany following World War II How is the Bush administration con-- ! nected to die development of democracy in Japan and Germany? It was Afghanistan that Bush invaded and was going to lead to the democratic Promised Land' after he got Osama bin Laden How is the democratization of Afghanistan going? And where’s Osama? The Bush administration had already established a Palestinian state as policy At that time it was Ariel Sharon that stood in the way of a Palestinian state and who was supposed to end his Palestinian occupa- tion Bush said ‘Time was running out for Sharon” too Bush was really serious about that too Bush has failed to control Ariel Sharon too Bush is blindly fixated on invading Iraq He shows no effect to the voice of reason or world opinion He will apparently use any justification he can think of to follow his personal war agenda Count me among the majority of citizens of the world in dunking that George W Bush is the most dangerous man threatening the world community today If we as the crew of this ship don’t get up on deck and collectively lash that loose cannon into place he may well sink this ship Tom Schroeder Logan Hospital helipad a good thing people To the editor: I don’t get it I just read an article in the newspaper this morning YOUR VIEW to be exact I cant believe there-ar- people out them i complaining over a helicopterpad being needed at the CVSH in North Bush a loose cannon on deck man-of-Wa- rs ! da I J tmfi Ait?-- wM Two types of snowmobilers By Mark Mentove A recent story in my local r headlined “Snowmobiler says riders endure hate!’ made me sit up straight The article quoted Clark BlueRib-bo- n Collins of the Idaho-base- d Coalition who said that snow- mobilers have become victims of a campaign “akin to any other hate campaign against ethnic or religious groups” Mr Collins’ comments interest me because I strongly dislike — hate is such an ugly word — many of the people onsriowmo- - Writers on the Range no matter how many sign ropes I string from tree to tree almost any weekend brings a handful of snowmobilers riding right through the middle of camp Yet these snowmobilers have thousands of acres nearby where they can legally ride Evefy snowmobiler who approaches one of my No Trespassing signs unknbwingW participates in an informal survey I’m conducting They sign my survey with their tracks left in the snow A snowmobile track checkmark in the Sn col- :tnjejr encounter ! hoped the article would shed Kjonthe internal conflict I feel over my negative feelings since I’m a snowmobile rider myself Mr Collins and his coalition provided an easy explanation for my dislike: My mind has been poisoned by propaganda sent out by environmental organizations Since I don’t belong to any environmental organization this reasoning doesn’t work forme No my dislike is based on person- al experience I work as a caretaker for a Girl Scout camp located at 9200 feet in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains The nearest plowed road is five miles and a couple of thousand vertical feet away so my family and I commute by snowmobile during winter At the camp one of my main duties is maintaining the safety and integrity of the camp and this involves keeping out intruders Most of the year this is an easy task During winter it’s a nightmare ' No matter how many No Trespassing No Snowmobiling signs I post umn Attack ttytf4pTOrigfypast the sign which iwmeaaiqqYfeg sign and lifting a rope to ppiss by gets a checkmark in die column So far this winter abusers outnumber the law-abid- ers right to one I’d like to ask a few follow-u- p questions for my survey but I rarely get die chance When at the sound of approaching snowmobiles I walk out my front door and wave someone over most riders look right at me as they hit their throttles and accelerate past The few who stop are usually apologetic and agree to turn around though I am dumbfounded when they all try to pass off riding past a clearly visible No Trespassing sign as an honest mistake Occasionally I get on my snowmobile and chase down the tres- This invariably leads to the of nasty encounter that cements my dislike for this group I’d quote a few gems from the verbal abuse I’ve heard but no newspaper would print them' Though I’ve been threatened in my two winters here I’ve avoided hav ing to duck a i a woman standing all of 5 foot 4 : inches wasn’t so lucky She was physically accosted on several occasions by trespassing snowmobilers who didn’t want to hear that they couldn’t ride on private posted prop: man erty Once a choked her and threw her to the snow while his father watched from another snow machine Snowmobiler encounters she said drove her from the job after five yean I want to believe the majority of snowmobilers are responsible citizens as Mr Collins claims and not the arrogant boon he says environmentalists make them out to be in an attempt to poison my mind As it turns out I malw up my mind largely based pn what I experience and what I’ve seen are obnoxious people contemptuous of law-abidi- ng i w ngnts tJ Mr Collins andhisBlueRibbon Coalition really are interested t j conflict reducing snowmobile they might turn their efforts inward Never mind that Collins couldn’t cite example of the hate mail or that the Salt Lake Tribune article found a link from die BlueRibbon Web site to a columnist private-proper- ty "If : deriding environmentalists as “Satan’s servants” who “should be beaten senselessly and ultimately j exterminated” The hate-campai- rhetoric is unproductive at best and sadly absurd at worst It’s also a slap in the face to ethnic and religious groups that are victimized by hate campaigns Until snowmobile-user groups rein in their abusive members they will continue to make themselves easy targets of negative stereotyping and they will continue to lose ground in their fight to improve their public image Mark Menkwe is a contributor to Writers on the Range a service of High Country News in Paonia Colorado (hcnorg) He lives and writes in the mountains above Park City Utah World view North Korean crisis must be addressed Le Monde (Paris) L masks a second emerging crisis no less dangerous perhaps even more: North Korea The recent interception of an American spy plane in international airspace by four North Korean fighter jets over the Sea of Japan Sunday March 2 gives the impression that the Korean Peninsula is skidding Wrong or right North Korea feels it is the next target of Washington after Iraq it intends to show it is not intimidated by the United States Washington insists it does not want war with North Korea and is favor- - Herald Journal tewccEUTiw The Opinion paps to Intended to acquaint leaden with a variety of viewpoints on matters of public importance and provide members of the community with a forum lor Mr views Personal columns cartoons end lettete luMi leaders isflsct tie opinions of their writers end creators Edtoriak under the headng'Our reranI journo ofv repr?Mrw int views - Jfj uoaru dohu Momoan or roe ooRonai DARRELL :S EHRUCKfcity adttor CINDY YURTHflsatorse adttor VlWOiUCOMCCoA conclusions one mm Gtdy to StgaAendwt ' Wnmfil’y viiskw I ' - Non Sequitur jl m-- x W“- If'" e Logan I would like to ask these people who object to this "what are you thinking?" This valley is growing at an alarming rate We need to be thankful for having more than one hospital It is obvious to me there is a ' need for transporting hurt people Trevor Perry What if your mother or quickly Logan granddaughter lived in Providence or ' Avon and needs to be rushed to the hospital? Would you then be challenging the CVSH to have had a whiqh could have transhelicopter To the editor: loved one to the hospital ported your We have a cannon loose on the at a faster pace? I know we have the i deck of the ship of state right to voice our opinion in today's In the days of wooden world however the bottom line is a multiton cannon on wheels these are hurt people who need propcrashing about untethered could er assistance These are doctors who kill hash maim and cause general want to help mend them ASAP mayhem The randomness of the Children adapt quickly to change damage it could cause is parallel to Sure they might be distracted for a the Bush administration's incoherent minute or two but oncethey are use ! policies to the sound of a helicopter it will be In his most recent speech deliv- old news to them in no time They ered as if he really expected people might even feel safer knowing there to believe it Bush slammed out a is a hospital near by You do realize new justification for his invasion of professional pilots will be flying the Iraq chopper not doctors and staff His initial justification was to disMaybe a few children might want to mantle weapons of mass destruction be a doctor or pilot when they grow Then it was because of terrorist links up Think of the positive Now he says he is going to Maybe these changes were not to invade Iraq in order to establish a ' addressed before the construction of Palestinian state Can anyone possi- the hospital yet all of us have felt the growth in this valley We need to bly take this seriously? What’s next? Is he going to invade Iraq so that the have the best possible assistance to Texas Rangers can win the World people in need of proper care Why Series? not be more appreciative? In the same speech Bush claimed that the invasion of Iraq was an Kathryn Wuthrich extension of the Marshall Plan and Logan t fc? of a multitude of tongues tm through ay BRUCE SMITHpubisher CHARLES MoCOliUllMiMeieaing adttor of autfwritatwt selection’ — able to negotiating a solution to the crisis started by the nuclear ambitions of Pyongyang But the more the Americans delay restarting dialogue with Pyongyang the more the process of reactivating a (nuclear) reprocessing facility in Yongbyon capable of producing plutonium becomes inescapable Lettersj policy The Herald Journal welcomes letters to the adttor Polenlialy Riotous or oftonslvo letters wl not be publshed however and the adttor receives the right to edftal totters to conform to the length and style requirements of the Letters should be: Typewritten and double-space- d No more than 450 words In length Addrseaed and Muds daytime phono number for purposes of verification Signed by lha author IndMduato are Imitod to one puMshad letter stihin any 304ey period Address lettars to htotterOhnewejom Guest commentaries are also wefcotps and ate nm at jurist (1S72-196- 1) I L- : |