Opinion: In today’s pages: R. James Woolsey, John Garamendi, and Frank Pierson
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The editorial board advocates a way to pressure Myanmar’s junta:
Thanks to Hollywood and a tireless campaign by human-rights activists, many people have heard of ‘blood diamonds.’ An international outcry over the sale of diamonds to fund atrocities in African countries such as Sierra Leone led to a gemstone certification process that has helped quell the problem. Today, rubies are the new diamonds, and this time the atrocities are happening in Myanmar.... With much of the world searching for ways to pressure the Myanmar regime to stop killing and imprisoning its political opponents, Human Rights Watch has a sensible suggestion: Don’t buy Burmese gems.
The board also cues the Ghostbusters theme song and hails the return of L.A.’s Drought Busters, and wonders if Bush’s ‘compassionate conservatism’ extends to protecting gays and lesbians from workplace discrimination.
Columnist Rosa Brooks says Bush made the wrong choice by befriending Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf. California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and UC Davis law professor John Oakley want to freeze college fees for the state’s students. R. James Woolsey, a former CIA director, explains why companies cooperate with the CIA, and why they should be protected. Author Jeremy Scahill points out that prosecuting Blackwater for shooting Iraqi civilians might be impossible.
Readers discuss the writers strike on the letters page. Frank Pierson, a former president of the Writers Guild and of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and an Oscar-winning writer of ‘Dog Day Afternoon,’ says, ‘The law says that in ‘work for hire’ the employer is ‘deemed to be the author.’ If you follow this logic, Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria wrote Wagner’s operas and the pope personally painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling.’