The first thing that I noticed on the cover of The New York Times this morning was the picture - it was much more colorful and captivating than the usual depictions of violence on the front page. Numerous rainbow-striped flags line the top edge of the photograph, with a Marine walking below them. This image, one that is contrary to the usual images, made me want to read the accompanying story.
The seeming brevity of the photo, however, was followed by a more serious subject: the end of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the United States military. A topic that I have followed occasionally over the years, the "don't ask, don't tell" policy has always seem distant and unrelated from me. This article gave a more personal feel to the affect of the removal of this policy, by quoting and describing a few gay women who now have opportunities that they had not been previously offered.
Being a photographer, I also appreciated the picture of Russian dancer David Hallberg on the lower half of the front page. The beauty of this photo drew my eyes toward the very bottom of the page, where I spotted a shocking headline for an article on page A4: "Child Wins a Grenade." In Somalia, in a "common" radio trivia contest, children were awarded typical Somalian prizes: AK-47s and live hand grenades. This article reminded me of the starkly different worlds between the United States and third world countries, like Somalia. Without directly having to say that this type of activity is beyond unreasonable, dangerous, and inhumane, the journalist lets the reader determine his or her own opinion on these actions, by using strong language and quotes. The most powerful quote in this article, in my opinion, is by Sheik Muktar Robow Abu Monsur, who said, "Children should use one hand for education and the other for a gun to defend Islam."
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