Letters to the Editor

Helpful eating tips

Regarding 'Wash your hands clean' (Thursday, April 28, 2007):

I commend The Daily Princetonian for running this piece criticizing something we take for granted everyday and seldom question: food. While I do not hold the same opinion of fervent anti-meat-eating as the author, it is sometimes important and insightful to know where some of the meat products we consume come from. For example, there is a reason why turkey, the purported Blessing of Thanksgiving, tastes so incredibly bland. Turkeys that are grown on industrial farms are fed highly fortified corn-based mash, a long cry from the insects and seeds wild turkeys consume. Furthermore, the turkeys are fed massive amounts of antibiotics to prevent them from contracting diseases and decreasing the industrial farms' yield. No wonder turkey meat is usually tasteless and side dishes probably have grown in popularity at the Thanksgiving table. The Census Bureau keeps tabs on the commodities that go into a traditional Thanksgiving, so see for yourself. Next time something tastes bad, you could blame the dining hall, or you could push deeper and ask where that something came from. The answer may change the way you eat. Howard Yu '08

Middle East mistakes

Regarding "Energy, security and the crusades?' (Monday, April 30, 2007):

Emily Norris '09's guest column demonstrated a dangerous ignorance of political realities in the Middle East. She suggests that Jordan, or perhaps Egypt or Qatar, are nations in which Arab Muslims have equal representation and full civil liberties. The widely respected NGO Freedom House would strongly disagree with her characterization. Freedom House does an annual "Freedom in the World" study, ranking countries on a scale of one to seven on political rights and civil liberties (one is most free, seven is the worst). Jordan clocked in at five for political rights and four for civil liberties; Egypt and Qatar were given six for political rights and five for civil liberties. Freedom House concluded that Jordan was "partly free," while Egypt and Qatar were "not free."

Israel, on the other hand, which Norris saw so fit to impugn, received a score of one for political rights and two for civil liberties — earning a ranking of "free" from Freedom House. In Israel, all citizens — Jews, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, women and homosexuals — are given full political rights. This includes the universal extension of rights of land ownership to peoples of all races and religions (see Kaadan vs. Katzir, Israeli High Court decision). In Jordan, on the other hand, Article 3 of the 1973 "Law for Preventing the Sale of Immoveable Property to the Enemy" makes it punishable by death to sell land to a non-Arab.

Norris should get her facts straight in the future before levying baseless accusations against the State of Israel and impugning the integrity of one of America's great public servants, James Woolsey. Zachary Hughes '08

Gun control necessary

Regarding 'Letters to the Editor' (Tuesday, May 1, 2007):

While I agree with Michael van Landingham '08's main point that the University should not undertake inquiries into students off-campus ownership of firearms, his broader thrust, that further restrictions on the ownership of firearms is not needed, couldn't be further from the truth. Semiautomatic handguns and other similar firearms, as he stated, are designed with the sole purpose of killing large numbers of people. The accepted ownership of such instruments of murder guarantees that our country will continue to experience the type of tragedies we witnessed at Virginia Tech.

Just because something is enshrined in our nation's constitution doesn't make it right. Nobody needs to protect themselves from King George III and nobody needs guns. While I don't expect our country to make any strides in significantly restricting firearm sales in my lifetime, I hope that we will eventually come to our senses as a country and keep the deadliest of modern weapons with those protecting our country and not in the hands of its citizens. Until then, we will continue to see innocent people killed with ease. People kill people, but they will kill many more people with the type of guns that are readily available for purchase in any part of our country. Derek Yecies '08