The Ennis Daily News (Ennis, Tex.), Ed. 1 Sunday, September 16, 2012 Page: 4 of 10
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Opinion
Page 4
Sunday, September 16,2012
Ennis Daily News
What’s
wrong with
this picture?
—An editorial from the National Newspa-
per Association
The newspaper business—both small and
large papers — has sounded full-throated op-
position this past month about a plan by the
U.S. Postal Service to purposely entice adver-
tising out of the newspaper so ads can be
placed instead with USPS favored stake-
holder Valassis Inc., which bought direct
mail company ADVO in 2006.
The goal of USPS is to create more adver-
tising mail. To newspapers that count on ad-
vertising to pay its reporters and cover the
news, this new venture is beyond alarming.
Many think it will push
some newspapers—al-
ready made fragile by the
economy and the Inter-
net—over the edge. If that
happens, it is the commu-
nities across our country
that will feel the most
long-term harm.
People have a love-hate relationship with
advertising, whether in the newspaper or in
the mail. When advertising helps them find
deals or shop smartly, they love it. When it
doesn’t happen to scratch the shopping itch,
they may not like it so much. But most peo-
ple understand advertising drives the econ-
omy and it brings other intangible benefits,
like the paying the bill for news coverage
that keeps communities informed.
On every level advertising is highly com-
petitive. Local, regional and nationally, news-
papers compete with a growing field of ad
media, from Internet to television and door
hangers to direct mailers.
But now the Postal Service wants to pick
winners and losers in this market. It is pro-
viding postage rebates to Valassis of more
than 30 percent if Valassis can divert more
ad inserts into direct mail from newspapers.
Not everyone can play The discounts can
be offered by Valassis only to large national
retailers.
Newspapers cannot get the same discount
for their own mail because they can’t sign
one national postage contract, as the direct
mail company did, with USPS. Neither can a
small clothing or bookstore or a hairdresser
or auto parts shop. We—the newspaper and
our small businesses—are all local. This deal
is only for the big guys.
For the little guys, USPS has another ad-
vertising plan that enables businesses to
bring unaddressed advertising directly to
the post office.
What’s wrong with this picture? It is that
USPS isn’t a business. It is owned by Uncle
Sam. It exists to serve all.
It shouldn’t be picking winners and losers
in any marketplace. It shouldn’t be compet-
ing with and undercutting its stakeholders,
which are all of us. It should deliver the mail
that exists, promptly and affordably
But we have to ask ourselves: does Amer-
ica need a federally-owned advertising serv-
ice?
This newspaper says no.
fiilLl VI
© Contents copyright 2012 and cannot be reproduced
without the written permission of the publisher.
Tre Bischof - Publisher Michelle Crouch - Advertising Manager
Nick Todaro - Editor Teresa Watson - Office Manager
Bryan Traylor - Production Manager
Tico Montemayor - Circulation Director
Melissa Honza - Composition Manager
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nited Way reaching for record
Helping those who need it most is
the simple, yet vital message the
Greater Ennis United Way has for
the residents of the area. And the
importance of the organization can-
not be understated.
The Greater Ennis
United Way is looking to
raise $350,000, of which
88 percent goes directly
back to the agencies that
help local people. The re-
maining money is spent
on things needed to run
the campaign. This is
not an agency that col-
lects money from local
residents and sends it to
Washington, New York
or Los Angeles.
Our money doesn't
even go to Dallas. What
we raise as a community goes di-
rectly back into our community
helping the Boys and Girls Club,
Helping Hands, Meals on Wheels,
the Ellis County Children's Advo-
cacy Center (the Gingerbread
House), A-CROSS, American Red
Cross, Candy Cane Corner Child
Care Center, Friends of the Public
Library and Ennis Golden Circle.
These are groups that reach to
vastly different members of our
community to help those who need
it most.
The EDN has published and will
continue to publish features on all of
these organizations throughout the
late summer and fall. We want you to
understand what each of these agen-
cies is doing for your fellow neigh-
bors.
The GEUW is in place to make
sure our community which is al-
ready a great place to call home,
stays that way One
thing that those in-
volved in the group find
is that those who earn
the least donate the
most. It's possible that
this is because they see,
first-hand, more people
benefitting from the es-
sential services the
United Way agencies
contribute to our com-
munity Some of them
may have been benefac-
tors in the past. What
we'd like to see in Ennis
is just a jump in the
number of people contributing to
the campaign.
The best way to do so is to start up
a campaign at your business or to
encourage your employer to set up a
campaign.
To do so, just call me at the EDN
office at 972-875-3801.
For those already contributing,
maybe consider increasing your do-
nation by just a $1 per month. Every
little bit helps. The more contribu-
tors, the more people the United Way
can help.
One of the reasons I became a
United Way volunteer is because I
believe in the agencies that make up
the recipients of the money raised.
First hand knowledge of what all of
these agencies provides because of
my time at the newspaper affords me
unique insight into what's going on.
Another reason for my decision to
take part is the transparency of
records being kept. We all want to
know that the money donated goes
to those in need.
I can assure you it does and the
agencies who benefit can verify that.
This year the United Way has an
ambitious goal of raising $350,000.
And our agencies need every bit of
that total. We are a community in
need and Ennis area residents have
always responded when a need has
arisen.
We need participation from the
employers of this town.
We need encouragement and
leadership from those business lead-
ers to show their employees that this
is not only a worthwhile cause but a
necessary cause vital to the strength
of our community We also need
leadership from the employees of
the area to let their bosses know
they'd like to have a United Way
campaign done at work.
You live here.
You know our challenges.
Ennis is a great place to live. Let's
unite the community with the
strongest United Way campaign on
record to make it even better.
Tre is the publisher of The Ennis
Daily News. He can be reached at
tre@ennisdailynews .com
Tre Bischof
From the
publisher
U.S. Kowtows to Islam? Really?
Two historic attacks on U.S. terri-
tory marked the 11th anniversary of
the 9/11 attacks, and what happened?
The Obama administra-
tion surrendered our
constitutional princi-
ples.
The first was a "blas-
phemy" riot that
breached the walls of the
U.S. Embassy in Cairo,
whereupon thugs
burned the American
flag and hoisted in its
place the traditional
black flag of Islam that
flies over al-Qaida and
other jihad movements.
The second was a mil-
itary-style assault against the U.S.
Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, be-
lieved to have been mounted by a mili-
tia known as Ansar al-Sharia
("Partisans of Islamic Law"), which
formed in the U.S.-supported anti-
Gadhafi revolution. Christopher
Stevens, US. ambassador to Libya
and former point man to the al-Qaida-
linked revolutionaries, and three
staff members were killed. Five more
Americans were wounded, and the
American outpost burned under an-
other black flag of jihad.
An obscure, made-in-the-USA
movie critical of Muhammad has
been blamed for "causing" these at-
tacks. In fact, it is people in Egypt and
Libya who committed these two un-
provoked acts of war to mark the 9/11
anniversary. The official response?
The first response actually pre-
ceded the mayhem in Cairo when the
U.S. Embassy, having suspended reg-
ular business in anticipation of the
planned movie protest, posted on its
website on Sept. 11: "The Embassy of
the United States in Cairo condemns
the continuing efforts by misguided
individuals to hurt the religious feel-
ings of Muslims - as we condemn ef-
forts to offend believers of all
religions." (As Middle East and Is-
lamic expert Raymond Ibrahim
pointed out, the embassy expressed
no such solicitude for the "feelings" of
a Christian on trial in Egypt for "in-
sulting" Islam, "even as a throng of
Muslims besieged the courthouse, in-
terrupting the hearing and calling for
the man's death.")
Noting the 9/11 an-
niversary, the embassy
statement continued:
"We firmly reject the ac-
tions by those who abuse
the universal right of
free speech to hurt the re-
ligious beliefs of others."
In response, GOP
presidential nominee
Mitt Romney issued an
initial statement ex-
pressing outrage over the
violence and the Cairo
embassy statement,
which the embassy Twit-
ter feed would underscore in both
English and Arabic messages.
In the meantime, the White House
disowned the embassy statement as
unauthorized. But Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton echoed the embassy
message to "deplore" free speech.
Clinton said: "Some have sought to
justify this vicious behavior as a re-
sponse to inflammatory material
posted on the Internet.
The United States deplores any in-
tentional effort to denigrate the reli-
gious beliefs of others. Our
commitment to religious tolerance
goes back to the very beginning of
our nation. But let me be clear: There
is never any justification for violent
acts of this kind."
Actually, the nation's founding
commitment is to religious "liberty"
It's important to realize that Clinton
supports an anti-liberty, U.N. anti-
blasphemy resolution designed to
curb criticism of Islam, advocating
the circumvention of the First
Amendment through what she calls
"plain old-fashioned peer pressure
and shaming." Then came details of
the assault in Libya.
Addressing Libya only, President
Obama also inserted the government
into free speech, while criticizing the
violence (and taking no media ques-
tions). "While the United States re-
jects efforts to denigrate the religious
beliefs of others," he said, "we must
all unequivocally oppose the kind of
senseless violence that took the lives
of these public servants."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai
weighed in, denouncing the "heinous
act" - the Muhammad movie! - and
calling for "efforts to prevent" its re-
lease and other restrictions on the
lawful activities of its producer and
pastor Terry Jones, who endorsed the
movie. Karzai ignored both attacks on
the United States.
Similarly, Mohamed Morsi, the
Muslim Brotherhood president of
Egypt (who denies that al-Qaida at-
tacked the U.S. on 9/11, by the way),
directed the Egyptian Embassy in
Washington to "take legal action"
against the movie's producers. Morsi
doesn't seem to understand First
Amendment protections; of course,
neither does the Obama administra-
tion. (Maybe they will discuss a "solu-
tion" to free speech when Obama
hosts Morsi at the White House this
month.) Egyptian Prime Minister
Hisham Qandil asked for similar ac-
tion "within the framework of inter-
national charters that criminalize
acts that stir strife on the basis of
race, color or religion."
This is a direct appeal to hold
Americans accountable to the U.N.
blasphemy resolution that Hillary
Clinton, along with the Islamic bloc,
has championed, despite its repres-
sive controls on free speech.
In a Wednesday press conference,
Mitt Romney stated: "America will
not tolerate attacks against our citi-
zens and against our embassies. We'll
defend also our constitutional rights
of speech and assembly and religion
.... We stand for the principles our
Constitution protects.
We encourage other nations to un-
derstand and respect the principles of
our Constitution, because we recog-
nize that these principles are the ulti-
mate source of freedom for
individuals around the world."
At least one American leader is
willing to defend our country and
Constitution.’
Diana West is the author of blogs at
dianawest.net. She can be contacted
via dianawest@verizon.net.
Diana
West
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Todaro, Nick. The Ennis Daily News (Ennis, Tex.), Ed. 1 Sunday, September 16, 2012, newspaper, September 16, 2012; Ennis, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth771510/m1/4/: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ennis Public Library.