Iran is not a peaceful nation

Dear Editor,

I feel compelled to address some confusion surrounding the Middle East, especially Iran, and the danger brewing there. Some writers, including Gil Villarreal, seem determined to defend the threat presented by its troubled president, and the mullahs in authority behind the scenes.

Following is an incomplete catalog of injustices, from a lengthy litany compiled by Human Rights Watch. Under President Ahmadinejad, Iran continues to execute offenders by the horrific method of public stoning, lately that of Jafar Kiani, July 2007.

Recently, a girl in her teens was stoned to death for having sex with an older man, who suffered no such fate. A 43-year-old mother of three is due to be executed soon. Iran has executed at least 17 juveniles since 2004, eight times more than any other country.

Human Rights Watch also said Iran should immediately release two Iranian-American scholars, and clarify the case of a third, who disappeared, and Iran's judiciary must halt the imminent executions of 10 Iranians of Arabic origin and revoke their death sentences, imposed following secret trials not meeting international standards.

In Iran's latest campaign of religious intolerance, security officials arrested scores of Baha'i youths, solely because of their religious faith. Also, numerous Christian pastors and churchgoers have been arrested in recent years, with many being executed, according to Voice Of The Martyrs. (Just President Mahmoud and his mullahs keeping their happy land morally pure; last I checked, there is a beautiful mosque in Jerusalem ... interesting.)

Can one find atrocities even approaching these and many others in Israel, or other democracies? No. But one seldom finds such in any leftist media.

Concerning Mr. Villarreal's passionate defense of Ahmadinejad's indefensible rage against Israel, there is scant difference between Ayatollaha Khomeini's vicious, racist vow, and Mahmoud's equally hateful rephrasing of it, and its alleged mistranslation. Both leaders were (and are) demonically inspired haters, desiring destruction for the Israelis. And the present one poses an imminent danger to that region and the world; more than Israel or its ally, America.

John Herbst

Battlement Mesa

An a cappella clarification

Dear Editor,

This might make me sound nitpicky, but ... I sang in an a cappella group at CU for four years. It was a co-ed group called Extreme Measures. I was reading the article by Samantha Pal titled, "Nothing but harmony to hide behind ... Thomas Breslin, a New Castle native, thrives on a cappella music." One paragraph caught my attention.

"Group members arrange all of the music they sing, transposing what you hear into many vocal parts. Breslin says that is one of the main things that makes them different from the other a cappella groups on campus, because it takes a lot more time and effort to arrange a song than to buy it pre-arranged online.

"Another thing that sets them apart is their originally written songs. No other group at CU performs songs they write, Breslin says."

I arranged two songs for Extreme Measures, and I am credited as doing so on the albums we recorded. During my time in the group, members arranged everything we sang, except for one song, which was arranged by a friend of the group. We also performed an original song, "Fader," by Jeremy Ruff.

Extreme Measures, In the Buff, and the Buffoons are bursting with creativity and talent, and we would frequently perform together and support each other. We all had something unique to offer, and many singers were prolific in their arrangements.

I just had to get that out. I feel better!

Merrilee Tobin, Extreme Measures '98-'01

Boulder

Help the push to change the U.S. Farm Bill

Dear Editor,

This summer, while you're hopefully enjoying some much-needed vacation time and hitting the pool or a barbecue with friends, Congress is considering the farm bill. I'm pretty sure we have the better deal.

All kidding aside, the farm bill is an important piece of legislation and a big opportunity. Congress has the opportunity to significantly improve the livelihoods of small farmers around the world, including here in the United States, by instituting reform in the U.S. Farm Bill.

Considered once every five years, the U.S. Farm Bill is in desperate need of change, and this year is our time to act.

The current farm bill encourages American farmers to overproduce and flood world markets with crops sold at artificially low prices, making it almost impossible for small farmers at home and abroad to sell their own crops.

The current system does not even primarily benefit America's small farmers. Reforms should also provide better support for U.S. farm families of modest means as well.

As a member of the ONE Campaign, I urge Congress to make the necessary changes to the U.S. Farm Bill - smart trade reform helps everyone. Please visit www.one.org and learn more.

Deborah Anne Johnston

New Castle

Standing up for my alma mater

Dear Editor,

After reading George Will's column in the July 15 edition of the PI, in which he trashes Antioch College, my alma mater, I can't help but wonder if he was jilted by a girlfriend who attended that school.

To put such venomous energy into his criticism seems at the very least odd, considering all of the other issues he has to address from his conservative perspective. What is the point?

I'll credit Will with acknowledging the part that Horace Mann played in establishing the college, and the early progressive policies that it adopted, including accepting women into higher education. But the rest of his diatribe is pure conservatism, resisting change and not seeing the value in experimentation in the educational process.

Antioch has had its crises, financial and otherwise, just like any other college. One cannot expect a school to not be affected by what's going on in the "outside," off-campus world. At the same time, the list of alumni who have gone on to positions of impressive accomplishment and leadership is far longer than those mentioned by Will.

I refer you to this Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antioch_College#Noteworthy_alumni. Another Web site, http://antiochians.org/ reveals that there is a move afoot by many alumni to save Antioch.

As for me, my tenure as an Antiocian was one of the richest periods in my life. I'll never forget the watchword phrase circulating among members of my freshman class - "Re-evaluate your basic assumptions."

Perhaps Mr. Will could try that.

Pat Girardot

Glenwood Springs

A case of the pot calling the kettle black

Dear Editor,

I read Gil Villarreal's July 17 letter about the violence in which the state of Israel began.

I do not condone violence of any kind, but I will remind Gil of the origins of the United States, in which Tory loyalists were persecuted for siding with the existing government, and the way the native peoples were systematically slaughtered and forced from their traditional lands onto reservations where they could not be self-sufficient.

This letter by Gil appears to be a case of the pot (United States) calling the kettle (Israel) black.

What we can do is to repent as a nation of our misdeeds, and start now to follow God's commandments to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our fellow human, whether that be friend or foe. Love does not kill, love heals.

Charlotte Ralff

Glenwood Springs