Roll 'Em!
I applaud Deval Patrick for taking the bold and controversial initiative to harness the potential of high-end casino resorts for Massachusetts. According to the UMass Dartmouth Center For Policy Analysis, Bay State residents made 6.9 million vehicle trips to Connecticut casinos in 2006.
Going to a casino is not deviant. It's an occasional recreation activity enjoyed in the same way as a sporting event or concert. The majority making these visits are not compulsive gamblers; they are ordinary citizens ranging from college students to retirees. In addition to our money staying in our state and funding worthwhile Commonwealth causes, imagine the traffic and environmental benefit of 6.9 million less cars driving down to Connecticut each year!
Jude DeMeis
Northampton
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Action for Darfur
Since February of 2003, over 400,000 Sudanese people have been killed. Over 2 million Sudanese people have been displaced, forced to live in refugee camps in Sudan and neighboring countries. The Janjaweed, the military force behind these atrocities, have used not only bombs and terror, but also rape and mutilation as weapons. The violence has destroyed entire villages, separated children and their parents, brothers and their sisters.
The Janjaweed is clearly supported by the Sudanese government, and the Sudanese government is clearly supported by China, economically, militarily and politically. For years, instead of using its influence over the government of Sudan, China has served as a bystander to the atrocities, quietly funding a genocide.
In 2008, China will hold the Summer Olympics, an event that serves as much more than a forum for athletic competition. The Olympic Games represent peace among and within nations. They are a time of international collaboration and friendly competition. And now, activists can use the games to call attention to the suffering of the people of Darfur.
With this in mind, Dream for Darfur has organized a rally that brings a torch, like the Olympic torch, from Darfur to Beijing to the United States. This torch will be in Boston on October 7, where a rally will be held to support the movement for peace in the Sudan.
In Western Massachusetts, activists will be holding a parallel rally the same day on the Amherst Town Common, from 1 to 4 p.m. Both rallies will focus on rewarding activists for what they have done, encouraging new activists to take up the cause, and most importantly, asking China to use its considerable influence to bring peace to Darfur. We hope to see you there.
Elizabeth Hawley
Five College Darfur Coalition
