Letters to the Editor
Delightful picture
ISA Levuka, what a delightful picture about the crew member of the Uto ni Yalo during the traditional welcoming ceremony, the cere.
Levuka hardly ever has anything this interesting and it is good to see the schoolchildren in the picture and Im sure there will be other pictures of all the people in the background.
And a big thank you to the town fathers for preparing such a wonderful welcome ceremony.
I spent four years working in Levuka and I left my heart there.
Naova ke.
ALLEN LOCKINGTON
Lautoka
Roti parcels
CAN anything be done regarding the selling of roti parcels? Especially those who sell from the roadside. Where has all the hygiene and proper handling of food gone?
The Ministry of Health should check into this and take action immediately.
VISHAL RAJPUT
Lautoka
Sharks belong in the ocean
HUMANE Society International enthusiastically supports the creation of a Fijian national shark sanctuary and applauds Fijis Department of Fisheries for this forward-thinking proposal, Tuna can do minus sharks, June 8, 2012.
Because of their high-value fins, sharks are threatened by unprecedented and unsustainable fishing pressure. Tens of millions of sharks are killed every year, including those in Fijis waters, to supply the global trade in shark fins. Some species are facing the threat of extinction. Many Asians, myself included, have eschewed shark fins out of concern for this majestic animal and for the oceans.
Sharks are revered and worshipped by many Pacific Islanders. While the US state of Hawaii and territories such as the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and Guam have banned the trade of shark fins, Palau, Tokelau and others in the region have gone a step further and created shark sanctuaries. Fiji can keep up this global momentum and continue the regional tradition by creating a shark sanctuary. Sharks belong in the ocean, not in a soup bowl.
IRIS HO
Wildlife campaign manager
Humane Society International
School bus music
I GOT on a bus that was full of schoolchildren in Nadi on Tuesday afternoon and was shocked by the lyrics of the song being played. It was all about sex, and in the most vulgar and loudest way. It was no different to what one would watch on a pornography movie. In fact, it was full of "pornography".
Everyone is so concerned about the behaviour of schoolchildren in buses or in general but fail to realise what their minds are being fed with every morning and afternoon for the whole school year. In my opinion, the type of music played in buses may have a large impact on these innocent minds and as a consequence affect their behaviour.
Can LTA look into this and can the public at large help put a stop to such a thing by simply asking bus drivers to change the music they play.
KITIANA CHUTE
Votulaevu
Nadi
Market matters
I THANK Gerhard Stemmier( FT 7/6) Donald Chan (FT 8/6) for sharing their views regarding the Lautoka Municipal Market.
The market has the potential to cater for all permanent vendors during the normal operating hours and selling outside is usually allowed after hours from Monday to Wednesday to cater for vendors who want to continue selling after the market closes at 5.30pm. However,outside selling is allowed during the whole day from Thursday to Saturday to cater for weekend vendors who come from other districts.
The Lautoka City Council is now working with UN Women to upgrade the market so vendors, particularly the women vendors, can enjoy better facilities and feel at home while at the Lautoka market.
By the way, the council is organising a clean-up campaign of the market today and tomorrow and we would appreciate if Messrs Stemmier and Chan can kindly lend us a hand in this worthy cause.
JONE NAKAUVADRA
Lautoka City Council
Nature vs nurture
DOCTOR John Money, an American psychiatrist, conducted an interesting experiment in the 1960s around the nature versus nurture debate. He sought to prove that nurture is everything in the makeup of men and women. As an ardent supporter of gender ideology, he wanted to eliminate natural differences, and determine the sexed condition of man and woman through culture.
For his experiment he took as a sample two man identical twin babies called Bruce and Brian Reimer in 1965, with the consent of their parents, who were required to keep the study secret. He submitted Bruce to plastic surgery to give him a womanly appearance and instructed the parents to treat and bring him up in every aspect as if he were a girl. Bruce came to be called Brenda. From a theoretical standpoint, the experiment was perfect: it started out from two siblings with identical genetic heredity and a different upbringing. Brian would end up being a boy and Bruce or Brenda a girl. The masculinity or femininity condition would be determined by culture and nurture rather than by biology.
But the experiment did not follow the paths expected by the doctor and eventually failed. According to Janet, the identical twins' mother, before turning two, Brenda violently rebelled when told to wear a dress. Janet said: "She tried to pull it off herself, tear it off. I remember thinking, my God, she is aware she is a boy and does not want to be dressed as a girl."
When Brenda went to school she was attracted to girls and was accused of "lesbian tendencies," despite the hormones she was forced to take. In spite of such evidence, Dr. Money was promoting the experiment as a resounding success in newspapers. Meanwhile, the twins were being forced by Dr. Money to undergo psychiatric treatment, where they were urged to take off their clothes and watch sexual images that eventually degenerated and seriously traumatised both of them. Along with this therapy they were being treated with oestrogens.
At the age of fifteen Brenda tried to commit suicide, shattered by the endless psychiatric sessions and by medication. Her parents told her the truth about the experiment and she decided to become a boy again, called David, undergoing further plastic surgery.
In 2002 his brother Brian, suffering from schizophrenia, killed himself and in 2004 David (formerly Bruce and Brenda) committed suicide. He had said: "I would give anything so that a hypnotist might erase all the memories of my past. It is a torture I cannot bear. What they did to my body is not so serious as the effects this had on my mind."
And this was the end of the medical experiment that sought to show the feasibility of gender ideology-the most radical step of radical feminism.
Arturo Ramo
Spain