Cover, Oct. 8: “Return to Gitmo”
Semantic Meaning
Crimes are violations of statutory penal law; war crimes are serious violations of international humanitarian law; a guilty plea is the accused's freely and voluntarily given confession in open court to the crime(s) with which he has been charged; statements not made voluntarily are inadmissible; sentencing is the judgement made by a court after an accused is convicted according to law. Imposition of sentence, as done by the Guantanamo Bay military tribunal, "without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees, which are recognized as indispensable by civilized people" is a grave breach (i.e. a crime) of the Geneva Conventions and a crime in Canada.
In the Omar Khadr case, there were no war crimes and no guilty plea and the imposition of sentence was itself a crime.
By using these terms you invite readers to accept falsehoods, which in turn legitimize atrocious violations of Omar Khadr's rights, prevent the remediation recommended by the United Nations Committee against Torture and shield state authorities from accountability.
Aaf Post
SFReporter.com
Food, Oct. 8: “Come to M.A.M.A.’s”
Just a Fluke
M.A.M.A.'S is the latest venture of my local packaged food company. The reviewer, Julie Ann Grimm, just happened to come by on the most difficult day possible. And while she did recognize the high quality and great prices of the food, she had a bad experience with the service—so much that the story comprised nearly half the review.
Which was merited, but only on that anomalous day. We had just received our first media attention, and that article was pretty much an unqualified rave. So, we were deluged with at least four times the traffic we had ever gotten. This happened to coincide with the one week where I, the other half of a two-person crew, had to be out of town. At the last minute, I managed to find someone to fill in on taking orders and payment, but there was no time for training; the poor guy had to wing it.
While there are valid reasons for food reviews to be conducted in an undisclosed way, there also can be a big downside. By only going once—and/or not engaging—there can be an extenuating circumstance that they'll never know. And to broadcast that negative thing that may be far from the norm—that risks bringing irreparable damage to a struggling business and peoples' livelihood.
Mark Friedman
Owner, M.A.M.A.'s World Take-Out
SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake, editor@sfreporter.com or 988-5541, ext. 215.
Mail letters to PO Box 2306, Santa Fe, NM 87504, deliver to 132 E Marcy St., or email them to editor@sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.
