Law should not be based on gender

In profiling two cases of manufacturing child pornography that have recently passed through the Nevada courts, it might be supposed they were an apple-to-apple comparison. I'll let you decide.

One case has a man convicted of secretly taking pictures of his daughter, using a Web cam and specialized software, and then editing them for sexual content. It was not reported if the pictures were publicly broadcast. In another, a woman school teacher coerced a girl to pose for an upskirt photograph using a web cam. She then published the picture on the Web, and e-mailed it to herself.

If I had to choose the worse of the two, I'd pick the teacher because of the child's awareness of being violated at the time of the offense. The courts, however, decided that the man get life in prison for his actions, which is in reality no less than 25 years. Meanwhile, the woman received five years of probation for her transgression. There are those who will say that there must be more to the man's case if he received this punishment, though it is unfair to presume this when it was not reported. It is, however, an expected response from that growing contingent whose purpose and good pleasure it is to paint all men as evil.

Truthfully, I believe the woman got the fairer sentence, but that's just my opinion. Certainly though, if we are going to have a society where women increasingly assume the positions of responsibility, leadership and authority, then they need to accept accountability for their actions the same as do men. Unless, of course, it is birthright to the matriarchy that they may both have their cake and eat it to.

WILLIAM JONES

Carson City

Bush's not setting a good environmental example

Bush a shining environmental example? The kind of convoluted logic it took to arrive at that conclusion is truly breathtaking.

Ms Jacobs cites the modest size of Bush's Crawford Texas house and criticizes Al Gore's travel on private jets. At least Al pays for his own. Do you have any idea how much fuel the largest private jet in the world burns? I won't bore you with fuel rate numbers. Suffice it to say every time Dubya fires up Air Force One for one of his jaunts to Crawford (more than 50 since he's been in office) it costs the taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million. I know, chump change compared to the hundreds of billions he's throwing away in Iraq, but still.

Dubya has spent a full year, more than 365 days of his presidency, (a new record, eclipsing Reagan and George the first) on vacation in Crawford. That's not even counting the 78 trips to Camp David and a dozen or so to Kennebunkport. I wonder if they turned down the thermostat at the White House ? (Which is bigger than Al's by the way). Do I even need to mention his refusal to send a representative to the Kyoto conference, the way he kowtows to industry on environmental standards, or his stance on global warming (head in the sand).

A shining example indeed.

Patrick mcguire

Carson City

Nothing newsworthy in Paris Hilton

What is with the news media? Do they think that everyone wants to know the up to the minute status of Paris Hilton?

Come on! Aren't there any other more news worthy incidents to report? Every news channel on TV this morning was reporting on the Paris Hilton "jail break."

I think that it is outrageous that the legal system gives such leniency to wealthy celebrities. They ought to throw that spoiled brat in the can and throw the key away until she has the respect of the law and issues a public apology.

KEITH BERRY

Carson City