Holy Crap!

I think the dreams and woodies of young men 'round the world just got a major cock block. Announced recently were Amsterdam's decision to institute new laws and stricter regulations on prostitution and the sale of pot at local coffee shops in attempts to get organized crime out of the area. Where will all the pot smoking youth go on vacation? I'm laughing on the inside, not because I take the slightest offense to the "Activities" that occur in Amsterdam, but because, well the thought of those activities has always made me giggle and the thought of a young man reading this article, and his reaction to the facts,..... I just can't help myself. What surprised me most about this article however was how truly unbiased it came across as. I found it on AOL and I've come to expect AOL to be extremely biased on many issues, to the point where I've actually stopped reading most of what I see on there, knowing I'll not only be upset by what I read, but that I can't trust it. It drives so extremely to the right of issues that it completely disconnects from what is happening in the world and literally promotes it's own platforms. During the presidential race, all of AOL had me believing the presidential race was close and could go either way, and in fact, up to the day of the election were reporting McCain ahead in many survey poles. Perhaps these were just surveys taken of it's own participants, many being conservative, but they were so disconnected from every other pole that it proved useless to partake in.
http://news.aol.com/article/amsterdam-to-shut-some-sex-pot-shops/269838- is the link to the article if you want to torture yourself with inevitable disappointment. Still I wonder what the reaction of the people living in Amsterdam is. There is no mention of that. Perhaps this fact is itself biased, but news reporters aren't obligated to report every angle of the story. This is sort of biased by omission, still by AOL standards this article remains pretty neutral.

HOLD UP! I just found another article on the same topic and it's got a much different tone.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/07/amsterdam-crackdown-prostitution-drugs-crime
Now this article is taken from the view point of rep. groups for the prostitutes and coffee shop owners. Ohhhh, see now, I was right there is a big public back lash, which AOL mentioned nothing of. It simply announced these new policies as happy announcements to conservative America. I'm sure they've prayed for years- LOL!
But still the difference in these two articles is stark. Although AOL has left out it's biting sarcasms and soft criticism of liberal issues so often found within their articles, they've omitted a whole other side of the situation. To read the AOL articles one would think everyone is completely happy about the situation and that the city views these changes as progress. It's such a passive and peaceful toned article. I'm sure the conservative AOL crew is happy. Jesus is winning in Amsterdam, but the public sure isn't and neither is tourism. According to the the article from the UK (article #2) there are already counter reactions, an out poring of disappointment from tourist companies and fear that this is only the beginning of bigger problems to come.
What a stark difference, and how my opinion of the AOL article has changed. Though one could play devil's advocate and say the UK article is biased from the liberal perspective, mostly covering the out poring of groups negatively effected by these new policies. Still one has to read both articles to really get a glimpse of the truth. One thing I can deduce is this, in both articles, only the mayor himself, a long time proponent of tighter regulations, was quoted as being optimistic about the situation, and if more people where happy about it, wouldn't AOL have jumped on quoting them? Hmmmmm, something to stew about.

For now, all the wild children, looking to Amsterdam as an adult Play Land of sorts, will not be able to make our travel plans to Amsterdam without a little disappointment in our hearts. After all, wasn't part of the allure that there was one place on earth where good times and crazy activities wasn't something we had to be ashamed of. And isn't that what these new laws imply, that in fact there is some shame to be felt in what goes on down those alleys and streets of Amsterdam? The mayor blatantly assigns responsibility of organized crime to the shoulders of prostitutes and coffee shop owners of the city. As with many politicians who start making heavy laws to "protect" people and make situations "safer", perhaps it's just a cover up for his lack of ability to control the city with wisdom and invention. Or, perhaps it's his way of stifling some of his own sins. I just can't wait for the follow up expose' reports! Of course, we'll have to look to the UK for any reports of that sort.