Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 8

OPINION 8A Friday, Dec. 6, 2002 Battle Creek Enquirer Battle Creek Beauty wins out over human rights INQUIRER Established 1900 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS 1 1 Publisher Executive editor Managing editor Opinion page editor Newsroom Recruitment advertising specialist Gary Omernick Michael McCullough Les Smith Steve Smith Stephanie Boyd Gina Jackson Randy Rolfe Harry J. Bonner Art Curtis, Maureen Dudley, Michael M. Feeney, Kurt Rhode and Rosetta Sanders Community members Enquirer's View is expressed on behalf of the newspaper as a local institution. After a small protest, our friends at Miss World decided the show must go on.

While the contestants were to be crowned for their sex, the defendant would remain condemned for hers. Nice symmetry. Then we go to Isioma Daniel, a smarty-pants newspaper columnist a species with which I am very familiar. In the run-up to the finals, this Nigerian wrote a response to Muslim leaders opposed to the pageant. WWMD? she asked.

What Would Muhammad Do? She concluded, "He would have probably chosen a wife from one of them." This set off a horrifying series of religious riots, ending in almost 200 deaths and thousands of injuries. What did the Miss World folks do then, besides skedaddle out of Nigeria? Did they express horror at such madness stemming from a beauty pageant? Did they condemn religious wars? Did they rush to the defense of the free press? No. In fact, they issued a release saying they were "shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling comments that led to such a tragic loss of life." By we're all aware of an odd split in the world. The same bathing beauties who are far too sexually liberated in the eyes of Islamic traditionalists are far too retro in the eyes of contemporary feminists. All in all, the current Miss World debacle suggests that the West has had more success exporting its images than its ideals.

Every pageant on inter national TV or in a Lithuanian jail has the same single standard of beauty: lean, lanky and Western. But the world has very different standards for unmarried mothers or mouthy journalists. The globalization of female beauty has leapt far ahead of the globalization of human rights. We leer global, but we persecute locaL Here are the contenders for my Miss World: A mother who may yet be stoned for adultery. A journalist still in hiding for a risky turn of phrase.

And 93 young, lean, lanky women. Anyone have a mobile phone? Write to Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass. 02107. Ellen Goodman before an expected international TV audience of 1.5 billion people. Before that happens however, allow me to walk through the controversy that has tripped up this contest.

First to Nigeria, the original site for this pageant. Nigeria is also the homeland of Amina Lawal, a 31-year-old mother sentenced by an Islamic court to be stoned to death for having a child out of wedlock. Operations manager are raising a generation of children for whom the Our guiding principles Seek and report the truth in a truthful way Serve the public interest Exercise fair play Maintain our independence Act with integrity New domain will aid families NjU0 arried Mtar 7 atorut a missile AttW teclL 01 oiw Wj several 1 iVvl yr 1. 1 viruses you IsnJhhN Nlx we bona can choose BOSTON Let's just say that the Miss World organization is a little weak on the concept of democracy. Maybe that's what happens when you work with beauty queens for 52 years.

You become a monarchist. For openers, they're weak on voting. For the first time, the beauty pageanteers are expanding the electorate from a handful of judges. This year, ordinary voters will account for half the points. But only people with mobile phones will be able to vote.

And they'll be allowed to vote as many times as they like. More important, the Miss Worlders are also weak on the concept of human rights. Not to mention freedom of expression. On Saturday, a new Miss World will be crowned READERS' VIEWS Disappointed not to get any cereal I do not like to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I wonder if other Kellogg retirees received a gift box of cookies from Keebler with Christmas cards inside from Kellogg Co. corporate headquarters.

Maybe Kellogg reasoning was because we can go to the plant and buy cereal at a reduced rate. Still, I felt real disappointed when I didn't receive any boxes of Kellogg cereal as we have in past years. Is this part of the down-sizing process? I worked there 33 years. Thanks to Keebler. Betty Dowding Marshall 'Boondocks' attack on GOP disgusting My husband and I are considering how much we really need the Battle Creek Enquirer in our home.

Its presence seems less important every day as we read articles and similar to the "Boondocks" cartoon of Saturday, Nov. 30. Opinions have their place in newspapers, but they should appear on the Opinion Page only, not in cartoons. As a moderate Republican, I was disgusted, incensed, insulted and personally offended by the flagrant attack on the Republican Party. And looking at the broader picture, any such attack on any political party, be it Democratic, Libertarian, Independent, Green or any Enquirer's view THE ISSUE Creation -of a "kids" domain on the Internet that will be free of pornography and pother materials inappro-- priate for children.

-U WE THINK: Creation the new domain will help parents to ensure their children are exposed to dangers that are available online, 'although it is no substi tute for carefully moni-vtoring kids' use of the Internet WHAT ABOUT YOU? Tell us what you think. Information on how to publish your ideas appears with 'Readers' Views' at right Internet is a practical tool they use in their daily lives both to learn and to have fun. But for many parents, particularly those whose children are far more technology-sawy than themselves, the Internet is a minefield of hidden dangers, including pornography, violence and other unsavory aspects of life from which they want to shield their kids. On Wednesday, those parents got some help as President Bush signed into law legislation creating a new kids-safe "playground" on the Internet. The new domain will be free of pornography and other inappropriate materials.

Parents will have the reassurance of knowing that when their children are logged on to a site, they are pro Where to Write READERS' VIEW: 155 W. Van Buren St, Battle Creek, Ml 49017 FAX (616) 964-0299 E-MAIL Send letters to ssmithbattlecr.gannett.com. Letters must have author's name, address and daytime phone. They should be no more than 250 words and may be edited. No author will appear on this page more than once a month.

Anonymous submissions will not be published. Letters to the editor, opinion and editorial columns, and articles submitted to the Enquirer may be published or distributed in print electronic or other forms. States citizens! (Double-o Dubya). Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? I support the war on terrorism, but the holding of U.S. citizens without legal counsel for as long as "we" feel necessary goes against why I believe the United States began and has continued to thrive.

In the 51 years I have tected from online dangers. The Jads" legislation was authored and shepherded through Congress by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, who serves as House telecommunications and Internet chairman.

It was not an easy accomplishment. The international body that governs domain names refused to create a suffix similar to and for child-appropriate content. So the new domain will be administered by Neustar, a corporation under contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce. In order to avoid accusations of government censorship, participation in the new domain will be voluntary.

Upton compared "Jads" to the children's section of a library that is free from materials unsuitable for minors in this case, defined by the legislation as anyone under 13 years old. This is important legislation that we think will be of tremendous benefit to American families. We agree with Ann Brown, former chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission who now heads SAFE (Safer America For Everyone), a group that pro-'-motes safety in the design, manufacture and use of consumer products. "Just like a safe playground, our children need a safe place on the Internet to grow, learn and be entertained and to avoid the current onslaught of pornography, child predators and other undesirable information on the World Wide Web," Brown said.

Upton deserves praise for pushing to create the Ckids" domain, but he also is right to warn parents that they should not view it as a "silver bullet." Parents must continue to be vigilant in overseeing their children's use of the Internet. "The key will always be parental involvement," he said. We agree. Socialism can't overcome human before we worry about the rest of the world. George E.

Longbons Jr. Battle Creek Government must start saving up In a recent "Capitol Connection" column by Eric J. Greene, U.S. Rep. Nick Smith, R-Addison, was quoted about the future of farm subsidies in America.

Rep. Smith said, "Farmers should start saving up for hard times ahead. Rainy days will be coming," etc. Now if Rep. Smith will carry that message to the spenders in local, state and national governments, we may have something for which to be thankful.

Bud Haley Marshall nature there are creatures who would, but the track record of socialism among human beings on earth shows that this is not the place. Worst of all, the concentration of political power necessary to try to reduce economic inequalities has allowed tyrants like Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot to impose their notions and caprices on millions of others -draining them economically or slaughtering them en masse or exploiting them sexually. Socialism has long sought to create a heaven on earth but an even older philosophy pointed out that the road to hell is paved with good intensions. Write to Thomas Sowell at the Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Suite 700, Los Angeles, Calif.

90045 Garry Trudeau been alive I don't remember another U.S. president that wanted to go to war as badly as Dubya. I just wonder what he and his staff would think if the U.N. told us to disarm? After all, we are the only country to unleash nuclear weapons on another country. It is no wonder that some countries in the world feel the way they do about our country.

We are the big boys on the block and Dubya, as I see it, is a warmonger. We do have to protect our country, but what does Iraq have to do with that? They cannot attack us directly. As far as I have ascertained, there is no direct link to the "evildoers." Let's take care of our own business at home ries of huge nations like China and the empire known as the Soviet Union. In all these very different societies around the world, the story of socialism has been a story of high hopes and bitter disappointments. Attempts to redistribute wealth repeatedly led to the redistribution of poverty.

Attempts to free ordinary people from oppression repeatedly led to what Mikhail Gorbachev called "servility" to new despots. How and why are spelled out with both facts and brilliant insights expressed in plain words. Human nature has been at the heart of the failures of socialism to produce the results it sought. Nowhere have people been willing to work as well for the common good as they do for their own benefit. Perhaps in some other galaxy By other is not within our American tradition of fair journalism.

Patricia A. Jones Battle Creek Double-0 Dubya: License to kill Watch out for "Big Brother Dubya." Wire taps, searches and now the authority to kill United Thomas Sowell would all have worked out fine, according to plan. A remarkable new book makes the history of socialism come alive. Its' title is "Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism." Its author, Joshua Murav-chik, is a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a leading think tank in Washington. It is hard to find a book on the history of socialism that is either readable or accurate, so it is especially remarkable to TttGPh OjHAT.

7HA7 1 I Ajnv OTHER VIEWS find one that is both. This history of socialism begins more than two centuries ago, at the time of the French Revolution, with the radical conspirator Babeuf, who wanted to carry revolutionary ideas of the times even farther, to a communist society. It ends with current British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who brought the Labour Party back to power by dropping the core of its socialist agenda and putting distance between himself and previous Labour Party governments, whose socialist policies had so backfired that the party lost four con-secutive national elections. In between, there are stories of small communal societies, such as that founded in the 19th century by Robert Owen, the man who coined the word "socialism," as well as sto- Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous.

Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export. Its economic disasters have afflicted virtually every industry. In its Communist version, it killed far more innocent civilians in peacetime than Hitler killed in his death camps during World War II. Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea in fact, seductive. Its failures are explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders.

Many of the intelligentsia remain convinced that if only there had been better leaders people like themselves, for example it A colossal undertaking From the Plain Dealer, Cleveland: The Department of Homeland Security, for months a gargantuan concept, is now a gargantuan federal agency on paper, at least, where its skeleton now is drawn. This colossal melding of 22 federal agencies and their 170,000 employees into an effective shield against terrorist attacks on this nation, even while al-Qaida and its allied terrorist brotherhoods remain a daily threat, is unlike anything ever before attempted. Reorganization of these agencies is, in the end, simply a redrawing of command chains, a rerouting of paperwork, a redesign of the only thing the federal government can be a bureaucracy that is no better or worse than the daily performance of its lowest-ranked employees. USE YOUR VOICE Doonesbury 1 1 I ir. what! oArifdl 9cs orx INDG! I I 1 I UJHAT I I II hi maaortt If un I GUESS AH I onilkirtal MM- nl I I I yti i lko uirz r1 I -rrirz 11 Galesburg, 63rd District.

Lansing: 517-373-1787; R0. Box 30014, Lansing, Ml 48909. E-mail: jvanderroest house.state.mi.us STATE RESOURCES AGRICULTURE 616-428-2546 ATTY. GENERAL 517-373-1110 CORRECTIONS: 965-6308 EMPLOYMENT SECURITY: 962-5411 or 781-0983 FAMILY INDEPENDENCE 966-1284; for DAY CARE, call 877-868-8363; Room 505, Farnum Building, Lansing, Ml 48913. Battle Creek: 251 Central Battle Creek, Ml 49017.

E-mail: SenJSchwarz sen- ate.state.mi.us STATE REPRESENTATIVES DMarkSchauer.D-Battle Creek, 62nd District Lansingr 888-962-MARK, 517-373-0555; R0. Box 30014, Lansing, Ml 48909-7514. Battle Creek: 660-6275. E-mail: schauer house.state.mi.us Jerry Vander Roest, R- To help provide its readers -access to their elected officials and public servants, the Enquirer provides a daily rotating list of important contact names and numbers. MICHIGAN GOVERNOR Gov.

John Engler, 517-335-7858; State Capital, P.O. Box -'30013, Lansing, Ml 48909. E-' 'mail: migovexec.state.mi.us STATE SENATOR John J.H. Schwarz, R-Battle Creek, 24th District Lansing:.