LETTERS

What, not a single letter about our new format? I can't believe that no one has an opinion; the most mail ever sent to the editor previously came from a short-lived experiment with animating the "new" logo on the front page. Do you think the new design is easier to read? Have you tried the new search features, or found the additional resource pages useful? Are there other special index pages you'd like to see? Let me know!

-- Editor

Thanks for the Counting Lewinskys article. Because of the excesses of all the irresponsible journalism, it is no small feat for a responsible journalist to try to set the tattered record straight. Is this going to be the future of ethical journalists... finding the threads of truth, after the media feeding frenzy?

Sandy O'Donnell

I read your article on DPT vaccine and felt I must comment. Years ago in San Diego (1988) I was a caregiver for a young man severely affected by "DPT" Injury. Travis suffered from severe retardation, seizures (the mediction for which left him even less able to function) very poor coordination, and numerous other medical problems. His mother had to provide and do everything for this 16 yr old. She heard about the fund you mentioned and was able to successfully get a settlement for her son. The money is adequate to provide the necesities of life for his expected lifespan, but she would have so preferred to have her son as a whole person!

You are correct that reactions are underreported. My own son had his final DPT series Oct 97. Two days later he had a seizure. He had a fever, not very high (about 102) and seized for about one minute, then was very confused for about five more minutes. At the local ER they said it was a febrile seizure of unknown origin. I contacted the local Health Dept where he had gotten the shot...Their response was that 48 hrs after the shot is too late for a seizure to be a result of the shot. Since no one else in our house or none of my many nieces and nephews had any virus or cold or other type of crud to possibly have spread to my son I'm convinced that his seizure was a result of the shot. NO MORE DPT IN OUR HOUSE. The children will receive DT only or the accelluar vaccine.

"Angie"

I have been sharing with students in Jr High and High Schools for 23 years now, speaking about my twenty five years experience with prison, drugs, gangs and violence. Today, the drug and violence are growing in our schools and communities like never before.

It's time for Americans to stand up and encourage our government to put up a $50,000 reward for anyone that is Smuggling Drugs, Growing Marijuana or Manufacturing PCP/LSD in the United States of America. This will put all the focus on the main players in drugs.

There is no Honor among thieves and their main motivation is Greed. Let's use their Greed to put them out of business. Would you stay in the drug business knowing that anyone of the people you know could turn you in for $50,000 with out you ever knowing who done it? That takes care of the main players.

I am looking for sponsors in your community that will bring me in to speak to your schools and parents.

Ronald Iceman Rearick (Washington)

Bull

"KDvines"

I'm disappointed. Alexander Cockburn's "no-smoke-without-fire" essay is the kind of banal speculation that belongs in the New York Times or Washington Post. Who cares about his opinion? The Monitor is better than this. Stick to what you do best ... alternative news.

Gayle Ernst

HBO is re-writing history. Wrapped in super-patriotism and anti-communist fervor, Tom Hanks' From Earth to the Moon has conveniently left out the fact that the Saturn V rocket, which carried the astronauts from the earth to the moon, was designed by Nazi scientists Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolf.

A University of Michigan's webpage about von Braun credits him with "constructing the powerful Saturn rockets used to launch the Apollo missions to the moon," but neither the HBO movie nor University of Michigan mention that the first German V-2 rockets were built with slave labor at concentration camps.

Historical accuracy belongs to all of us.

Mary Lou Jones
Editor, Zuni Mountain Citizen (New Mexico)

A subsequent episode praised von Braun as being one of three key individuals behind the moon voyages, equal in importance to President Kennedy.

Zuni Mountain Citizen recently carried an article by Linda Hunt exposing von Braun's and Rudolph's roles as Nazis. For a copy, send $5 to POB 39, San Rafael, NM 87051.

-- Editor

No civil rights lawyers that will go near the Indians here to defend them when they are shot or accused of crimes for defending their sovereign rights. The police investigate themselves in Canada, with no independent observers. And Kenneth Deane was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death -- which carries a 25-year penalty for anyone but a police officer.

Just to contrast: William Jones Ignace (aka Wolverine) was sentenced to 8 years for shoooting out the tires of an APC tank that tried to run him over during the Gustafsen Lake standoff of the summer of 1995. The prosecution was seeking a 25-year sentence.

A pregnant Indian woman and her 10-year-old son were just killed by police in Alberta last week. First media reports were that the two were left to bleed to death for four hours, but because Canadians don't like to hear such things, the official story the next day was changed so that they had died instantly upon being shot with a shotgun. And there's a hell of a lot more to this story if anyone outside Canada even bothered to look.

Chris Morabito

Although I appreciate Chris Morabito taking the time to respond to my article, I take issue with several points made in his letter.

First, in Ontario, all alleged incidents of serious police violence are investigated by a trained civilian force called the Special Investigations Unit. Independent of the police, SIU officers conduct their own investigation and recommend to the Ontario Attorney General whether charges should be laid. For sure, the SIU has its share of critics who say, among other things, the unit too often gives police the benefit of the doubt. In turn, the SIU is often slammed by police officials and police union leaders who claim the unit is too tough on police. Like all public institutions, the SIU is not perfect. But it was the SIU's investigation of the 1995 shooting death of native protester Anthony "Dudley" George that led to the conviction of Ontario Provincial Police Acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane. One can't undervalue the importance of that conviction: Deane is only the third police officer in Canada's history to be found guilty of killing someone while on duty.

Secondly, at the time Sgt. Deane was charged with criminal negligence causing death, he faced a maximum penalty of life in prison. (In 1996, the charge was amended to include a four-year minimum for anyone found guilty of the offence while using a firearm.) In a controversial ruling, Ontario Judge Hugh Fraser sentenced Sgt. Deane last July to a two year less a day conditional sentence to be served in the community. As part of the sentence, Sgt. Deane must perform 180 hours of community service and is banned from carrying firearms for the two years.

Thirdly, several committed lawyers have or are currently representing Natives arrested for charges related to their participation in the 1995 occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park. They hail from cities across southwestern Ontario, but share a common goal in vigorously defending their clients and in calling for a public inquiry into Dudley George's death. Five of Dudley's seven living siblings are represented by a trio of attorneys who have filed a wrongful death suit against the OPP and the Ontario government. They have also held several news conferences asking both the Ontario and Canadian governments to hold an inquiry.

Also, Ontario prosecutor Ian Scott, who led the province's successful case against Sgt. Deane, was cited by many for his skillful performance during the high-profile trial. Scott quickly shot down questionable police testimony -- with Judge Fraser agreeing that at least three officers lied on the stand -- and refused to be cowed by an "expert" forensic witness called by the defence. Scott, who is now working for a private firm, played a major role in bringing some justice to this issue and shedding some light on the Ipperwash confrontation.

Like the fatal Ipperwash protest, the shooting deaths of Alberta native Connie Jacobs and her nine-year-old son by an RCMP officer scream for a public inquiry. But unlike Ontario Premier Mike Harris, who native leaders accuse of ordering the OPP to confront the Ipperwash protesters, the Alberta government has ordered an inquiry to be held once the criminal investigation is completed. Judge Tom Goodson, one of Alberta's two Native judges, will preside over the inquiry. Meanwhile Canada's national chief, Phil Fontaine, and the Canadian government are negotiating terms for a Native-led inquiry that will look at the shooting and broader issues such as child welfare on reserves.

Undoubtedly the Canadian justice system and its enforcers have often been used to keep First Nations people down. But any shortcomings that exist -- and First Nations people can rightly cite many examples -- will only begin to be solved by taking a cold, hard look at the facts.

Show Me The Money

There was an article about marijuana on your page that interested me. None of the free articles did. Why would I send you $10 when I don't know what I will get in return? In a newsstand you can at least browse a mag.

"Trait"

Here's an even better solution:

1. Go to the Library of Congress
2. Read a few hundred newspapers, magazines, and journals and all of their recent back issues on microfilm until you find this report
3. Congratulate yourself on saving ten bucks
4. Go back to step 1 when you find another interesting copyrighted article in the Monitor

Hope this helps.

-- Editor