European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 s tars and stripes wednesday april 25 2007 Thomas l Kelsch publisher Richard Braun Genera manager Europe it col Stephen Oconor commander news and editorial robs 6rsdswff Doug Cusson executive editor managing editor Europe Sam pc Rhein Europe Bureau chief Joseph Ordono Mideast Bureau chief Harai Mentse assistant Bureau chief Washington do assistant managing editors Mary Bandar news Sean mores sports Brian Bowers features Christopher six Patrick Dickson news editor Jos grow Tylski web editor addresses us mail unit 29480 Apo a 09211 International mail Postiach 133054345 Griesheim Germany fax Dan 3498415 Civ 0 email news letters Central office 529 14th Street new suite 350 Washington do 200451301 phone Dan 3127530900 or Civ 202 7610900 fax 202 7510890 editorial director 529 14th St new suite 350 Washington do 200451301 phone Dan 3127630945 or Civ h 202 7610945 How to Call us 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200451301 fax Civ 202 7610890 email printed in Germany by Hii yet As  deutschland printed in Italy by de Trice Tel Estampa stars and Stipes uses 017252 is published daily except Christmas and new years for 50 cents daily and sunday by the stars and stripes Central Oice 529 14th slow suite 350 Washington do 200451301 periodicals postage paid at Washington do postmaster Send address changes to european stars and stripes unit 29480 Apo a 09211 ombudsman David Mazzarella the stars and stripes ombudsman protects the free flow of news and Insor Matron reporting any attempts by the military or other authorities to undermine the newspapers Independence the ombudsman also responds to concerns and questions from readers and monitors coverage for fairness accuracy timeliness and balance the ombudsman welcomes comments from readers and can be contacted by email at or by phone at 2027610945 european and Pacific stars and stripes 2007 stars and stripes web site  letters to the editor merged photo was misleading do you folks not realize that by Merg ing the photos the Way you did on the april 23 frontage coverage of the Blue Angels crash you probably dredged up old horrors of the Ramstein air show disaster of 1988 i was in the country at that time and be Lieve me while the South Carolina crash was an extremely sad situation and any loss of life is grievous the Way it was portrayed in your photo made it appear much worse those who didst hear of the Acci Dent yet would surely see that photo and assume a lot More loss or those who were Here in 88 would have those memories come flooding Back when will you learn that if it bleeds it leads is a ridiculous Way to run this rail Road specifically when you Cater to an audience that already faces real death and in jury every Day either their own or that of a loved one on the front lines if s no won Der our children grow up in severe Depres Sion and dont want to go out into the world on their own the Media has made it a horrific place to live yes i noticed that in my edition of stripes there were three death headlines one sports headline one feel Good head line and one entertainment albeit Freaky and scary Arent what id con Sider a Good balancer to death and destruct so your front Page is fairly balanced but men the Blue Banner on top pushed you Over the Edge i think you All need to consider what youre doing for or to the morale of the troops and families you serve master sgt Eric Ayers Ramstein or base Germany Story was enemy propaganda the Story Juba the sniper legend haunt ing troops in Iraq april 22 amounts to enemy propaganda any paper with such a wide circulation and Reader base As the us military should be More responsible and publish unbiased facts and stories that do not seem engineered to degrade morale the title champions a fictional enemy combat ant As a legend one of the photos chosen for the article shows a us Soldier that appears to be wounded and any person who did not read the very last sentence of the caption would have thought they were looking at just that we need fewer negative rumours and myths circulating the soldiers Are doing a great Job out there and working hard at it every Day please be More responsible in your future stories capt Bryan Linnehan Baghdad pay Cut Start at the top i will say this about air Force shift in Rands May affect payroll article april if pay is going to be affected then Lef s thus what Yon think stars and stripes welcomes your comments on editorials and column that Are published in the values letters on topics of importance in thrives of our readers All tetters must be signed and must include the address or base and Telephone number please limit All letters to 300 words we Reserve the right to edit letters for length taste and clarity Send your tetters to us mail International Matt stars and stripes stars and stripes unit 29480 Postrach 1330 Apo 64345 Griesheim via fax country code 0 dsh3498395 email Start with the top and work Pur Way Down in All the branches some of the higher ranks could afford a paycheck but not too Many lower ranks it has always seemed to this airman that the higher ranks tend to think All of the lower ranks dont have the same Bills they do granted some of the single live in the dorms and have a Little less to pay but not As much As the officers would think More of the younger folks Are paying the Bills that the higher ranks helping out their family at Home and so Forth so if we Are going to trim some Money off make it fair and Start at the top and work your Way Down to us senior airman Jason Geddings Ramstein air base Germany  we thank cafes gee  we fall All Over ourselves for army and air Force Exchange ser vices announcing another Gas Price at its Gas stations and Coupon sales  we congratulate cafes on re fining its technique of ensuring profits for our morale welfare and recreation funds by changing from around monthly Prean bounced Price changes to too late to do anything weekly ones after All now we cant hurry out and buy the cheaper coupons before that change or know to wait for a decrease How better to add Many extra dollars to its Gas profits and Call it a favor to us Robert d Doleman Heidelberg Germany 6un control is ineffective i have to agree with the writer of gun control int the answer letter april guns Arent the problem there will be violence As Long As there Are people on this planet this is the Way if s been since the Dawn of time there Are Many methods of combating violence and crime some of these Are pro doonesbury Edural some Are behavioural some Are spiritual and some Are a combination gun control however is singularly ineffective in fighting criminal violence for one very simple reason criminals by definition break the Law the simple truth is that passing Laws Lim iting the availability of weapons restrict ing their carry to police or Banning them altogether simply results in la abiding citizens being rendered defenceless the tragedy at Virginia tech has been the perfect example of just How vulnerable a disarmed society really is this could never have happened in say Israel where the gunman would have been killed almost instantly the sad truth is that the police simply cannot respond fast enough or be in All places at once it is therefore our responsibility not the governments to ensure that this kind of tragedy is not repeated we can argue All Day about exactly How to accomplish this but make no mistake further disarm ing ourselves is not the answer staff sgt Gordon m Childs Masa Iraq Freedom of speech for ail i am writing regarding a couple of Arti cles that have been in stars and stripes lately mainly regarding chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen Peter Pace and talk show Host Don Imus liberals love making references to their constitutional rights and their Freedom of speech when they Are arrogantly and ignorantly professing their beliefs but when someone like Pace states his they try to silence him and condemn him if s like if a person has morals and values he has fewer rights Well Gen Pace sir pm glad you said what you did and i stand behind you 100 percent if liberals can March Down the Street and say ifs of to be Gay then i can say no if s not if s immoral and wrong and state my reasons for believing so As for Imus calling those female Basket Ball players hos so what i hear entertainers such As Dave Chapelle Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence make much worse racial jokes and say Many More racially sensitive things but nobody cries about that Why is it because the entertainers i mentioned Are Black and Imus is not if anything that sounds racist to me to have True Freedom of speech and to be truly racially unbiased a White person should be Able to say anything a Black per son can and vice versa if one group of people wants its Freedom of speech respected it needs to respect other Peoples so if if s of for homosexuals and people who support them to openly speak their minds then people who oppose homosexuality can speak theirs if a Black entertainer can make racial state ments about Black and White people a White entertainer can do the same there is supposed to be Freedom of speech for All not just the Liberal few Lance Cpl Christopher Bell Al tax Wadum Iraq by Garry Trudeau quauf1bp Pap i a Cia Veteran of sowha7 Point tvz555n action have a5 War or Sombaht who actually blown stuff up th05barb my Only most