CHILD'S PAY
I'm not normally a Super Bowl fan, regardless of who's playing, where, or on what channel. I watch the Super Bowl for the ads. They're great: millions of dollars for 30 seconds of advertising genius (hopefully). But before you watch the Super Bowl this weekend, [This letter was submitted before the Super Bowl.] I wanted you and your readers to know what's missing.
Recently, MoveOn.org had a contest to create a 30-second commercial that would air during the superbowl. You can see the winner at www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/ (and that's the only place you may ever see it). CBS has refused to air the ad because of their policy against airing "controversial issue" ads. But what is controversial about it? It shows images of children (about eight or nine) working as dishwashers, assembly line workers, janitors and other jobs. Then the words "guess who is going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?" appear. But the only line in the whole ad is a fact: President Bush has created a $1 trillion deficit. In fact, according to numbers released by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office yesterday, that number's low. They have, however, agreed to air the ad paid for by the White House.
Another interesting factor is that CBS and Fox are getting a huge helping hand from the White House, in the form of a bill that Senator John McCain said was custom tailored to CBS and Fox, which have been lobbying heavily to be able to grow larger. MoveOn and other groups have lobbied against this bill. Now the White House is allowed to run an ad, and groups like MoveOn Voter Fund are not. PETA was also denied airtime during the superbowl.
I've gotten used to hearing about corporate entities playing politics. But I have a big problem with corporations limiting our freedom of speech. The First Amendment doesn't mean a whole lot if we're denied access to the airwaves. CBS has a constitutional obligation to air opposing points of view.
If the White House can run an ad, other groups should be allowed to also. CBS will be airing an ad sponsored by the White House on this year's Super Bowl. Previous ads in this series have implied that buying drugs funds terrorism - a much more controversial claim than the one "Child's Pay" makes.
So, if this upsets your sense of justice (and it should) go to the moveon.org website and sign their petition to CBS. Or call or write your congressmen. Or call CBS (212-975-4114) and tell them what you think. Tell your friends and family what's going on. But DO SOMETHING besides sigh and turn the page.
Jess McDill
Athens

TABOO MADNESS
Someone once said, "Common sense really should be called uncommon sense 'cause so few peoples got it." It is my belief that if you violate the laws of nature, you will have to pay some price. Mad cow disease is that price. Maybe I am strange, but I believe it is common sense to not feed a herbivorous animal, especially one with four stomachs and very long intestinal tract, meat and meat by-products. Cows are herbivores. Their prescribed diet is grass and grains. They were never meant to eat animal flesh. Not only are they being fed meat, they are also being fed beef. They are consuming the flesh of their own species. So, not only are we humans contaminating the poor cows' food with meat, we are forcing them to be cannibals. Does that sound like a sane practice?
In nearly every country in the world cannibalism is a taboo. At least for humans it is. Cannibalism is obscene and strange. Written laws forbidding it are hardly necessary. No one in his or her right mind would practice it. Perhaps cannibalism is taboo for a reason. Perhaps it protects us from some unknown harm.
From what I have read, mad cow disease and a brain wasting disease found in humans, found in a particular tribe of people in New Zealand, are both very similar. Abnormal proteins cause both diseases. These abnormal proteins act in the brain just like rust does on iron. These proteins eat holes in the brains of their victims causing madness and eventual death. What sets this tribe of New Zealanders apart from other tribes of primitive people is the fact that they practice a form of ritual cannibalism. They eat their dead relatives as a holy sacrament.
Eating human flesh sounds very strange does it not? So, if cannibalism is a taboo for humans, it just seems like it would be common sense that it would be a taboo for herbivorous animals as well. So why does American agribusiness continue to mix animal flesh with the same grains that they are feeding cattle? Greed and ignorance, I say.
Human beings get mad cow disease by eating the flesh of cattle that have mad cow disease already. For some reason, the abnormal proteins found in the brain and nerve tissue of the afflicted cows are able to pass through the blood brain barrier in humans. This is how we get mad cow disease. But, who can say for sure if these abnormal proteins are just in the cow's flesh? Could they also be slipping into us by drinking milk? It takes years of consuming these abnormal proteins to rot away healthy brain tissue. Perhaps in 20 years we might be a society of mad-cow humans!
Common sense says that we have got to stop this practice of feeding meat and meat by-products to farm animals. Chickens do not need to eat meat, nor do pigs, nor sheep, nor goats, nor turkeys, but especially not bovines! If cannibalism is taboo for us, then it seems like common sense that it would be wrong for animals.
Parasurama Dass
Athens

HELP FESTIVAL
Only you can save the Athens Human Rights festival. For 25 years the Annual Athens Human rights festival has been a political and musical tradition here in Athens. Now heading into its 26th year, after a milestone Silver Anniversary festival last year, the Athens Human Rights Festival needs the help of every progressive-minded organization and individual in this area. We cannot organize the festival with only a handful of people, and the festival organizers are in dire need of help for the Athens Human Rights Festival to continue. Our meetings take place every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. downstairs at the Blue Sky coffee house on College Square in downtown Athens. Our festival phone number is 208-8674, and readers can log on to our festival website at www.athenshumanrightsfest.org. The Athens Human Rights Festival is the only large, outdoor event in downtown Athens that does not rely upon corporate or governmental funding or sponsorship. We are a grassroots political labor of love, and we need some new people involved to ensure the future of the festival. For a quarter of a century, the Athens Human rights festival has melded music and the movement into a dynamic and entertaining program that has been a marketplace of ideas enjoyed by thousands each year. We have given needed exposure to many worthy organizations over the years, and now it is time for progressives to help out the festival that has helped their causes through the decades. Don't let the Athens Human Rights Festival be killed by Athens apathy. Lend a hand.
Organizing Committee,
The Athens Human Rights Festival 2004
Athens