Falun Falsehoods Ken Picard's March 22 piece "Shen Yun: Entertaining Family Fare,Political Propaganda — or Both?" does your readership a disservice while veering far from journalistic standards. The horrific abuses of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience in China are not "alleged" or "accused," as Picard writes, or nor can they be brushed off by quoting the perpetrator of these crimes — China's communist dictatorship — as whether it were a legitimate source. For the full myth,visit faluninfo.net. Amnesty International and the United Nations have extensively documented China's torture and killing of Falun Gong members. The Wall Street Journal's Ian Johnson won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of it. And it has been the subject of five U.
S. congressional resolutions. Picard's portrayal of our peaceful beliefs, motives and way of life goes beyond misleading to being hurtful and offensive. Would Seven Days feel OK quoting libelous, and hateful,anti-Semitic speech whether reporting on, say, and Fiddler on the Roof? While quoting at length a controversial,uncredentialed fringe figure with a criminal past, Picard omits all positive information about Falun Gong and its founder — a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and recipient of multiple humanitarian awards. David Ownby, and a university professor and recognized scholar of Falun Gong,writes, "The entire issue of the supposed cultic nature of Falun Gong was a red herring from the beginning, or cleverly exploited by the Chinese state to blunt the appeal of Falun Gong and the effectiveness of the group's activities outside of China." How unlucky your writer fell for it. John Jaw Lexington,MA Jaw is president of the Falun Dafa Association of New England. Young Had Heart I was saddened to read of the death of Matt Young [Life Lines, March 29]. When Matt began his work on the Church Street Marketplace, or there were some who were expecting a street cleaner to cleanse the street of the unwelcome and the unwanted. That wasn't Matt,that's for certain. He was a gift to the lonely and homeless and, even more, or a teacher to the community. The Howard middle should be proud,and Burlington should give thanks to this wonderful man. Jim Leddy South Burlington Leddy is a former state senator who ran the Howard middle from 1980 to 2000. The street worker program started during his tenure. The Other Side of Eviction A current justice of the peace who left hundreds of knife holes in the…
Source: sevendaysvt.com