Dear Editor,

I wonder if this not a blatant practice of “double standards�!

Mehri Madarshahi

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Dear Editor,

This is an interesting struggle, amazing that the informal sector is such a vibrant economy. Mexico should incorporate a registration tag that each informal vendor selling goods on the street would have to carry. The permits should be easily and cheaply acquired at the city and the proceeds should go to giving small business loans to build a formal business sector. People caught conducting business with out valid tags would be fined. This should be a stepping stone to eliminating the informal sector in the long run.

Roger Naranjo

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Dear Editor,

Particular kudos and appreciation to IPS for today’s stories from Jim Lobe on the Brookings report, Bush administration and aid to Africa, and Haider Rizvi’s story on U.S. terror/torture policies.

Best,

Jan Dragin and Associates Communications
Hull, Massachusetts
United States

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Dear Editor,

Where profits are the motive one can never assume company reports give us the true facts. It seems to me that the governments of North America would do well to take heed when other countries raise concerns of GM products. But of course that would hurt their pride. It does seem that our representatives tend to accept the private enterprise system over the public healthy system.

Alec Streeter
Canada

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Dear Editor,

One very important point your missing is the impact of a yuan revaluation on China´s $700 billion in foreign exchange reserves. China won´t revalue the yuan until it rebalances its reserves out of dollars and into euros and yens. Any change in the value of the yuan will be preceded by sharp dollar depreciation driven by this reserve rebalancing.

Jephraim P. Gundzik
President
Condor Advisers, Inc.

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Mammoth Lakes, CA
The United States

Dear Editor,

As a Serb-American, this article does not surprise me. After years of destitute economic conditions, Serbs are drawn to naturally to opportunities, regardless of ethics. They will work for those who destroyed their own country, to secure another country that was destroyed. My people are only impressed by one thing… money.

Radoslav S.
The United States

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Dear Editor,

I am from Guyana, which is one of the countries that will be hardest hit by the proposed Sugar Reforms. These reforms would have an extremely devastating effect on our already small and fragile economy.

Sugar is still one of my county’s major exports, and these price cuts would basically cripple the industry, which would also include the loss of about 30,000 jobs. In a country where there is already a shortage of jobs, what would these people turn to? We could very well witness an increase in crime, which would bring further turmoil.

I think the EU needs to look at the bigger picture. I appreciate the fact that the EU is trying to save its own industry, but this should not be done at the expense of small, vulnerable countries. These reforms are too much, too fast. It is simple; the ACP countries would not be able to handle these cuts. I am hoping that the reforms are not approved.

Roger Roopchand
Clerk-Statistics
Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM)
Guyana

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Dear Editor,

Indeed a magnificent step forward in world history! United Nations will be ready for the future! Especially when also consumer education in schools will get a broader basis. In 2006 there will be the third and last conference of the Consumer Citizenship Network 15-16 May in Norway, a project that started at UNESCO in Paris together with educators around the world.

With education, consumer organizations and a new United Nations we can work much better towards an economy of questions and answers, I think.

Peter Daub
Chairman
Vrije Consumenten Vereniging
(free consumers association)
www.vrijeconsumenten.nl
Netherlands

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Dear Editor,

Thank you. Keep up this important work.

Dave Dodge
Williston, VT
United States

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Dear Editor,

What a wonderful article! I am a Certified Birth Doula with DONA in the USA. Unfortunately I have seen similar problems in our hospitals in the U.S., women’s rights are being trampled on daily and the women are totally unaware most of the time.

Sincerely,

Stacey Gregg CD, DONA
Wharton, New Jersey
United States

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Dear Editors,

To refer to the systematic exploitation and degradation of women as “work� is sheer perversity. What person chooses to make being raped for profit a “career�? What kind of person tries to confer a veneer of legitimacy on such horror? It´s nothing but modern-day slavery.

Whatever the economic consequences of opposing prostitution, they would be far better than the consequences of willingly accepting the reduction of fellow human beings to the status of animals. It´s this kind of moral turpitude and cowardice that destroys the credibility of so-called “progressive� organizations in the eyes of ordinary, conscientious people.

Otha M. Nash
Augusta, GA
United States

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Dear Editor,

“Today Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home and spread terror across the world,� Bush declared in a statement issued by the White House Thursday afternoon. “Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy.�

I think that the above quote from your article just says it all. It’s got to be the first truthful and intelligent statement made by Junior.

Kind Regard’s

Glenn Chappelle-Marriott
United Kingdom

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Dear Editor,

The ruling government is not in touch with the Ethiopian people. Their supporters get jobs, housing, almost all benefits and isolate themselves from the general public. The fact that they thought they were going to win this election is a joke. In Addis Ababa, where the international observers were present, all votes went to the opposition party. This proves two facts. First, how much the ruling government is detested by the people; and second, if observers were in other cities, the ruling government would have had a maximum of 10% votes. I am afraid this ruling government will never give up its tyrannical nature, and will keep its power by gun and claim itself democratic government.

Christopher Hanley

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Dear Editor,

The whole thing of deportation of the Jews by Jews is a disgrace. I came from the former Soviet Union and I remember the stories that my mother told about how the Ukrainian fascists helped the Jews out of their homes, killed them and took all their belongings. But those were the fascists. It will be on the radars for the whole world how the Jewish soldiers drag out the elderly and the children from their homes. Sharon still didn’t give a clear answer why he is doing it except to escape investigation on his dirty deals and indictment. Will the disengagement create a situation of stability for Israel? No. As Moshe Ya´lon is saying, most likely the Army will have to return to Gaza Strip at some point. Then, what is the point of doing it and not getting anything in return?

I think Sharon should resign and be tried not only for the corruption, but also for treason.

Sincerely,

Rachel Reznichenko
San Rafael, CA
United States

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IPS Editor,

The fundamental factor that contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS is poverty.

Communities in the South believe in gender dependency. The men look upon the women as the domestic resource providers. The generosity of women subjects them to achieving the provision. It is important to concentrate on the women empowerment through authentic infrastructures, free from exploitation.

Urban migration and lack of employment has also contributed to the spread of diseases. It is the unemployed who live in the slum villages characterized by poor sanitation and existence of communicable diseases.

The lack of equitable land distribution, the economic divide leads to urban migration. Countries in the South have continued to believe in the Western world as a model to be emulated. The white settlers owned massive of land to boost the export market. Our leaders have emulated the same model and ignored the poor. Poor land distribution has resulted to violent attacks affecting women and children.

It is time for a change of attitude. Seriousness in attaining the MDGs is necessary.

Grace Mjurei
Kenya

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Sir,

I am extremely astonished at the article you published entitled: RIGHTS-EGYPT: Censorship Chills University Life, Report Charges” by Isaac Baker. I am an Egyptian who graduated from the American University in Cairo, and my husband, also Egyptian, is a professor at Cairo University. Our children as well as all our friends and family are also graduates or students or professors of Egyptian universities… And contrary to what Mr. Baker says, we have never experienced any kind of repression or censorship on what we learn, what we say in discussions or what we teach in classes by any Egyptian authorities.

State security forces stand outside the boundaries of universities, in particular when students are demonstrating a certain cause. They do not enter the university in question. Sex as a subject is taught in biology classes in school as well as at universities. Politics or Political Science is an entire major of which I happen to be a graduate. Never have I or my fellow students and friends been told not to discuss, research or write on a specific subject. As for the interpretation of the Quran, indeed there is interference by the professors when students try to mix religion with academic subjects. Would American professors not interfere if a student tried to study medicine or astronomy via holy books rather than via the scientific books they are supposed to be learning from?

Mr. Baker says that “An Egyptian law states that all printed material being imported must first pass through the government’s Ministry of Information for review. This law has allowed for the blocking of many books, including classic literature that deals with sexual topics.â€? I wonder what is so strange about that.

He also says: “However, while HRW blasts the Egyptian government for failing to protect academics from Islamist militants, it also criticizes the government for repressing students with conservative Islamist beliefs.â€? Mr. Baker and the HRW (Human Rights Watch) obviously and sadly don’t understand Egypt as they contradict themselves in their own writings. On one hand they claim resenting what they call “government interferenceâ€? in academia, the “presence of state forcesâ€? and the limiting of religious discussions. On the other side, they accuse the Egyptian government of failing to protect academics against the interference of Islamic militants. It seems to me that the only thing Mr. Baker and the HRW agree upon is criticism for the sake of criticism rather than really understanding and evaluating a situation and country they are writing about.

As an Egyptian, I find it very distressing to read judgmental material such as Mr. Baker’s article which unfortunately totally lack an understanding of Egypt, be it on an academic, social or political or analytical level.

Cherifa Sirry
Cairo, Egypt

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Dear Editor,

Meles is responsible for the death of more than 36 peaceful protesters in Addis Ababa. Killing innocent people just because they express themselves is a problem, and it is not on the right side of the law either. Don’t be deceived by his kindly words. He is an evil man.

Andargachew Manyazhal
Concern Ethiopian

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Dear Sir,

Iraq experiences an elevated number of Road Traffic Accidents (RTA), more than mine explosions, trapped cars, and attacks by insurgents. But the problem is underestimated and neglected. As an example, we had 51,762 RTAs in 2003 while there were 27,388 injuries caused by violence. RTAs are due to many causes like importing more than 750,000 old cars since 2003, the very poor state of Iraqi roads, dense traffic, poorly educated young drivers who don’t obeyed road traffic authority instructions. Moreover, casualties are generally poorly handled and evacuated.

Now, we are trying to implement a prevention program in cooperation with other national institutions to face this growing horrible catastrophe. We need WHO´s support for implanting new prevention programmes like updating data bases, training, and providing basic information for the public.

With our best complements,

Dr. Abdul-Salam S. Sultan
Director of prevention of handicap MOH
Dr. Sami N. Dawood
Assistant Director of prevention of handicap MOH
Baghdad – Iraq

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Dear Editor,

The Arabs should refuse to work for Israeli companies. They should stay home and protest why the Palestinian Authority doesn’t create job opportunities for them. The PA gets enough money from various sources. Why doesn’t it use some of it to create job opportunities so that Arabs wouldn’t have to work for Israelis, but would work for other Arabs instead? Maybe if they shared the wealth the world gives to the PA officials, with the simple folks, there wouldn’t be the need for conflict as an excuse to divert attention from the fact that PA officials are living “high off the hog” [I know a Muslim doesn’t eat pig] while the common folk are driven to desperation ending in suicide bombings. The World Bank and other supporters of the PA’s corruption are accessories to that corruption, even if they claim ignorance of the facts!

Gerald Myles Dunmore

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Dear Editor,

This is a great article! It seems to have gotten picked up pretty widely, too. Thank you for informing people around the world about the major steps the global community has taken this year to improve international regulations.

The global tobacco treaty is groundbreaking international law that is powerful enough to put a stop to the irresponsible and dangerous actions by Philip Morris/Altria and other giant tobacco corporations. In a world where 51 of the 100 largest economies are corporations, people increasingly demand limits to corporate power and strong, enforceable global standards of conduct.

The global tobacco treaty establishes important precedents for international regulation of other industries that profit at the expense of our health and human rights. Such precedents could be used to insulate health policy from interference by food and agribusiness giants such as Cargill and the Grocery Manufacturers of America, water policy from corporations like Coca-Cola and Suez, and energy policy from ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco.

Sincerely,

Kathryn Mulvey
Executive Director
Corporate Accountability International
Bryan Hirsch
Press Officer
Corporate Accountability International (formerly Infact)
Boston MA, U.S.

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Dear Editor,

An eye-opener, but it reminds me of the horrible stories I’ve heard of violence aimed at the Central and South American poor who are simply trying to unionize their labour or assert their rights. During the 1980’s I met a young Salvadoran who became the target of death squads simply for helping the poor to learn to read. He said he was called “a wolf in sheep’s clothingâ€?. Terrible situation down there, we must monitor it closely.

Arlene Kelly

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Dear Editor,

There is need to strengthen community mobilization if we want to see people accessing drugs. Most of the information is published by the media, but poor people cannot afford to have a radio or buy a paper. We need door to door mobilization.

Thomas Mugala

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Estimado Gustavo González,

Reciba saludos de la organización MADRE desde Nueva York. En esta oportunidad quisieramos agradecerle por su artículo, “Latin America: ‘War on Terror’ Has Indigenous People in Its Sights”. MADRE es una organización de mujeres pro derechos humanos que ha trabajado por mas que 20 años en colaboración con organizaciónes de mujeres Indígenas en America Latina y Africa. MADRE apoya al Foro Internacional de Mujeres Indigenas que trabaja por los derechos de las mujeres Indigenas a nivel internacional.

Tambien quisieramos comentarle que hemos incluido su artículo en nuestra página web (www.MADRE.org). Lo invitamos a que visite la página y conozca mas sobre nuestros programas con mujeres Indígenas quienes estan luchando por sus derechos en la arena internacional y en sus comunidades. Adjunto le enviamos el artículo: “War on Terror or War on Women? The View from Latin America,” publicado por Feminist Press el año pasado en el libro The W Effect: Bush’s War on Women, que esperamos sea de su interés.

Atentamente,

Yifat Susskind
Directora Associada
MADRE, An International Women’s Human Rights Organization
New York, U.S.

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Dear Editor,

This article is well written and has a lot of information. But there is no mention of the risks of the sexual minorities - homosexual and bisexual people - in this regard. They do face a higher risk in terms of stigma and discrimination, lower facilities in health, as well as being an invisible group in this country. This is proven by the silence of the writer on this subject too.

WSG Kaushalya

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Dear Editor,

If this is how the U.S. is viewing indigenous human rights efforts in Central and South America, just imagine what they are thinking of the independence movements among the Hawaiian people in Hawaii, a country that the US invaded, subjugated and then forced into full incorporation with their so-called “Hawaiian Statehood Act,� and movement of the Chamorros for independence in Guam, a U.S. Territory.

Rev. `Alapaki K. Kim
Nanakuli, O`ahu
Hawaii

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Dear Editor,

We have done our job as a world leader in the fight for freedom. It is time the Iraqi people stand up and make it happen. I’m not talking about the Iraqi police and military forces. I am talking about the people. We can not solve all the problems, so get my son and the rest of our families out of there and let’s send Dick over there to manage his and Halliburton’s contractors. Let’s see how deep his capitalist principles run.

Don Grant
Contract Maintenance Analyst

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Dear Editor,

Carmelo Ruiz writes a great story. Of course, I am not an unbiased reader. I would like to see the further development of organic farming in PR.

While I accept the point that it is hard to compare a conventional operation with an organic one, I would like to have seen more quantitative evidence of the transition that is suggested by the headline. What’s the current number of operations that are certified? What is the experts’ best guess for a rate of transition? What was the situation five years ago? Growth in number of farmers’ market may be another helpful indicator. If you are able to point to any resources helpful in addressing these questions, I would sincerely appreciate knowing about them.

Keep up the good work. Thanking you beforehand,

Miguel Guerrero

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Dear Editor,

I am surprised why all the world media is always deaf and mute when it comes to Israel’s nuclear weapons and the attention is always exclusively on Iran and North Korea. May be the majority of the people in this world are not dumb and they can see the hypocrisy and double standards of this flawed US policy.

Seifollah Bakhtiari

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Dear Editor,

Your service is one of my favourite sources of information for news, views and analysis of international affairs. During this sensitive time, I believe many Ethiopians depend, among others, on your news service, as well.

Sincerely,

Wondwossen Mezlekia
Seattle, Washington
United States

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