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May 31, 2005
Memorial Day thought
On this Memorial Day 2005, I listen to the planes overhead flying in formation on their way to ceremonies to honor our military, and especially those who were lost in battle. Memorial Day is Memory Day for me.
I remember the days I spent at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, N.C., and at the Naval Air Station on Coronado Island, San Diego, as a Marine lieutenant. I always had to answer roll call as “Barbara (None) Hudson,” for I had no middle name.
I remember the pilots who got into their planes, waved to me and gave me a big smile as they called, “I’ll be back!” And they did not come back. They crashed in the Carolina bogs due to sabotage of their planes, or they flew too low over Bataan and Iwo Jima. One spun in over Philadelphia. He didn’t meet me for dinner that evening. Vic Sardi from New York, who was in charge of our officer’s mess, came to me with the message.
One pilot wept as he stood with me on the porch of the Officer’s Club one moonlit night and said, “I’m not coming back. My brother just crashed in the Pacific. I’m going to fly lower and lower every time I drop my bombs on the target in memory of him.” He did not come back.
Big bright smiles. How handsome they were. How young we were. I’m now 84. Their faces never grow old in my memory.
How thankful I am for the times I said in farewell, “Believe in Jesus,” “God loves you,” “Pray!” “Trust God!” “We’ll live in eternity!”
Their faces will never grow old.
— Lt. Barbara (None) Hudson, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:36 PM
How convinced is he?
So Dick Cheney is “absolutely convinced we did the right thing in Iraq” and that the fighting will be over by 2009. I wonder if he is as certain about this as he was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
— Tom Vorgitch, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:31 PM
Equally outrageous
Re: your May 28 article, “Outraged Muslims protest”:
The bias shown by this lead headline was offensive to me.
The content of the headline, taken by itself, was not offensive. I presume that many Muslims were, in fact, outraged over a mishandling of their holy book. Whether the extent of that “outrage” is worth a lead headline in a major newspaper is at least questionable, but that is not the source of the offense.
The Torah and Christian Bible are both held in high honor by Jews and Christians, but I have never seen lead headlines reporting similar desecrations of their holy books in Muslim lands, no matter how “outraged” Jews or Christians might have been.
An even worse bias is that there have not been corresponding or larger lead headlines when actual Christian or Jewish (or Hindu or Buddhist) persons have been arrested, or worse, in Muslim lands for pursuing their own forms of worship.
How about a little — no, a lot — more balance in future headlines?
— Don Power, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:29 PM
Pensions too generous
Re: Jere Robings’ May 26 commentary, “Too-generous county pension plan needs fixing”:
Mr. Robings’ commentary was on point, but it highlighted only a few of the ways that government employee compensation and benefits are too generous.
— In the private sector today, it is increasingly rare to find defined benefit pension plans, the kind our government employees receive. These plans have been replaced with 401(k) plans, which are merely an employee’s own money put into a tax-deferred account, possibly with some matching money by the employer. (By the way, many of our government employees also have a version of this plan, with matching funds!) In other words, most private sector employees no longer have pension plan coverage at all. Most major public companies today fall into this category, including Cisco, Amgen and, soon, IBM.
— When a private sector employer does offer a defined benefit pension plan, it almost never has a cost of living adjustment feature, so the benefits received at retirement remain constant forever. This is in stark contrast to government employee pensions that often have a COLA provision that will ratchet their cost upward over time.
— Private sector plans generally pay out full retirement benefits only after an employee has reached full retirement age — 65 — so retirement benefits are paid out over a considerably shorter period than to government workers who can often retire with full benefits at 50 or so.
— Private sector employees are generally not permitted to accumulate sick or vacation time and carry it over to subsequent years. Though it is not legal to have “use it or lose it” provisions in California, most companies do have “use it or stop accruing it” plans which prevent employees from accumulating more than a year’s worth of sick and/or vacation time. This stands in stark contrast to the stories you hear about government employees using their hundreds of stockpiled days to retire still earlier.
— Lastly, government workers often receive medical insurance coverage after they retire, which is very expensive, and, as a general rule, no longer offered in the private sector, even by the dwindling number of companies that continue to offer a defined benefit pension plan.
Government workers today receive a package of current and deferred benefits that is more generous in almost every possible way than those received by the private sector employees who must foot the bill. As the number of retirees increases, these overly generous benefits will become an unsupportable burden on taxpayers. San Diego’s current pension meltdown should be a lesson to all of us.
— Jef Kurfess, Westlake Village
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:23 PM
Let kids be bad
Re: Wendy Dager’s May 26 column, “Don’t let those kids become statistics”:
I am surprised that The Star’s columnist would attempt to hold parents responsible for their kids’ actions while riding scooters in and around a school.
Does she not believe that these parents have counseled their kids dozens of times about riding scooters safely? But kids are kids, and at that age, many believe they are immortal. This thought stays with them for many years, sometimes into their 20s.
What she calls “crazy stunts” are simply kids trying to express their individuality. Let them be!
Would it really be necessary to call the police? Is the purpose of a “big, tough uniformed cop” to intimidate kids? How would she feel if she thought that a “big, tough uniformed cop” was intimidating one of her kids?
Yelling at kids is not the appropriate action either. If she felt compelled to share some information with these kids, she might have tried to reason with them, pointing out that not all drivers are as attentive as they should be, especially around schools.
Parents should not be held responsible for what their kids are doing after school. Parents have to work, usually both parents. Just because school gets out early doesn’t mean that the parents are able to leave work early. These kids were probably doing their best to go home, or maybe to the Boys and Girls Club.
Give the kids, and their parents, a break!
— Jerre Reimers, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:13 PM
Truth of ‘Star Wars’
A deceptive, conniving group of politicians and military leaders conspires to turn a free and vibrant republic into a warmongering, totalitarian regime.
Is this the latest “Star Wars” flick, or is it the extremist right-wing plan for America?
In "Star Wars," Emperor Palpatine pretends to love peace but advances war in order to consolidate his power and overthrow democracy. George Bush pretends to want peace while continuing to wage never-ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At home, Mr. Bush and his extremist followers like Sen. Bill Frist have waged war on our own democratic institutions. They seem to want a two-party system in name only, where the minority democratic party is completely repressed. The attempted nuclear option in the Senate was one example.
Also, consider the recent assault on the United Nations.
Darth Vader said to Obi-Wan, “If you are not with me, then you are my enemy.” Many of us see the “oil for food” U.N. investigation as revenge of the Bush administration to shame and discredit the United Nations for not backing our Iraq invasion. Furthermore, the John Bolton nomination as U.N. ambassador is a transparent attempt to bully the United Nations into a rubber stamp for the Bush foreign policy.
The final blow to freedom is the end of a free press. Early in his presidency, Mr. Bush put the media on the defensive by labeling them “biased” and “liberal.” Now they are attacking Newsweek. By harassing news people, the Bush sdministration is repressing dissent, not to mention the truth.
In “Star Wars,” Annakin Skywalker embraced the Dark Side out of good intentions, but this led to his own ruin and corruption. The final “Star Wars” movie is a tragedy. Have our own good intentions caused us to embrace leaders who will only give us an extremist agenda of repression and war? Are we creating our own American tragedy?
For our own democracy to survive, our leaders must be both as brave and as wise as the Jedi Knights in battling the right-wing extremists.
“Give ‘em Hell” Harry Reid has put up a valiant fight to save the filibuster. Our own senator, Barbara Boxer, has bravely spoken out against the Bolton nomination. Yoda-like Senator Robert Byrd wields his pocket Constitution like a light saber of truth.
These and other courageous Democrats, and some Republicans like John McCain and John Warner, are using the force of truth to save our democracy.
— Sue Gunther, Newbury Park
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:02 PM
Service irrelevant
Re: Ralph Belknap’s May 27 letter, “Wake up, take stock”:
I noticed that beneath the letter to the editor by liberal Bush-hater Ralph Belknap, a notation was added: “The writer is a veteran of the U.S. Marines. — Editor.”
So what? If in fact that is true, what does it have to do with the content of his letter?
For the record, I myself am a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. I don’t go around trying to add weight to my opinions about national or world events by citing my military service unless it is relevant, and generally not even then.
So, what is the purpose of your editor’s note? I don’t know if you are trying to bolster a liberal opinion or embarass the Corps.
— Cole Jacobs, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:51 PM
Just end the war now
I continue to be astounded by President Bush’s unmitigated gall and capacity for hypocrisy. He presides over Memorial Day ceremonies oblivious to the irony that it is his own administration’s failures that have led to the latest American casualties of war.
President Bush should be down on his knees begging forgiveness from the parents and spouses of those who have fallen in this unjustified and unnecessary war. And yet, there is no outrage. We are left to put ribbons on our cars to “support the troops.”
Ending this fiasco, which is costing so much in so many ways, is the only real way to support the troops.
— Frank O’Hanlon, Moorpark
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:44 PM
Amgen acting properly
Re: your May 29 article, “Amgen caught in dispute over drug’s safety, value”:
What in world do people want in this country? We have drug companies being sued because a drug has caused damage. Now we have people suing a drug company because it withdraws a drug that it feels could be dangerous.
Amgen is being responsible. We expect drug companies to be responsible. They certainly don’t need to be faced with lawsuits because they are responsible.
They certainly should withdraw the drug until they are sure is it absolutely safe.
— Jack Brewer, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:40 PM
Israelis not to blame
Re: William Sherman’s May 29 letter, “Full history”:
It appears the truth is, most of the time, not politically correct and not what the media want us to hear.
Mr. Sherman’s information is truthful. The spin doctors would like us all to all believe the Israelis are responsible for the Palestinians’ lot in life. With very few recent exceptions, their lot in life has been brought on by the actions of their fellow Arab countrymen and themselves, not the Israelis.
Mr. Sherman gets an “A” in history.
— Ron Patterson, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:36 PM
Effects of immigration
Re: Joe Howry’s May 29 essay, “Wrong spin on hospitals”:
Regardless of the accuracy of Madeline Cosman’s claims in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, the effects of illegal immigration on our neighborhoods, our schools and our social services, and the dramatic increase in racial tension, is easy for those of us who live in communities affected by it to see.
We don’t need statistics promoted by either liberals or conservatives to see the effects of our elected officials’ failure to enforce our laws and their inability to keep their word after the last amnesty in 1986.
Why must “we improve the conditions in the countries where illegal immigrants are coming from” when they refuse to help themselves?
How much more in U.S. foreign aid do we need to send to Mexico (over the $31 billion in 2004 and a promised $30 billion in 2005) to encourage them to take responsibility for creating a society that doesn’t depend on another country’s prosperity to give their unskilled, illiterate workforce hope for their future?
Why do the majority of us have to abide by the law, while illegal aliens, the majority of whom happen to be Mexican, aren’t expected to?
Those aren’t “racist” statements, but honest questions.
Does Mr. Howry have any answers?
— Judy McLaughlin, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:31 PM
Alternatives to combat
Re: your May 29 article, “Iraq war veteran describes its horrors at Ventura event”:
This story about the soldier who became a conscientious objector left out a very important fact. These people have a choice to be placed in the Selective Service Alternative Service Programs, where they will serve in non-combative jobs, conservation, caring for the very young or very old, education or health care.
It was unfortunate that this naive 23-year-old and his parents didn’t comprehend what enlisting in the armed forces of the United States of America is all about. Today, most 10-year-olds know what war is all about, including the results of hand-to-hand combat and bombings. They don’t have to go to a conscientious objectors seminar to find out.
Hopefully, once this young fellow matures and completes his history classes at college, he will understand why America finds it necessary to defend liberty at home and abroad, and why millions of courageous men and women volunteer to defend this beautiful country against invaders and terrorists.
As a final note, it’s disappointing that a fine newspaper like The Star would find it necessary to print this kind of story on Memorial Day weekend, when our country is honoring her fallen heroes, including those gallant men and women who have defended America in the past and today against invaders, terrorists and threatening dictators.
— Ray Holm, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:24 PM
Where’s autonomy?
Re: Terry Paulson’s May 30 essay, “Bitter battle over judges”:
Terry Paulson is correct to call on those of us who feel we are capable of morality without the government’s help to campaign as fervently as those who do not.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that social and religious conservatives maintain a downright medieval concept of the role of government in our lives.
One who would surrender his conscience to anyone else is a fool, but those who wish to turn yours and mine over to the government are criminals. Government must only be concerned with justice and preserving the rights of citizens. Judges should never be expected to abide by public opinion when the people’s will is contrary to the libertarian nature of our Constitution.
It is baffling to me that Paulson charges “liberal” judges with departing from the Constitution. The last time I took a look at that document, there were none of today’s “traditional values” to be found.
I am always amused by people who honestly believe that the government is a just and capable arbiter of morality. Equally amusing are Paulson’s remarks about being a modest, hands-off Christian in the midst of an article about evangelical-minded judges. If his claim about most Christians and their aversion to theocracy was correct, we wouldn’t be wasting precious time, money and energy trying to legislate who people can marry, what they can do with their bodies, and where religious icons and practices belong. We would all be happy practicing our beliefs and making our own moral choices with autonomy and respect for the rights of others, even if we do not appreciate the decisions they make for themselves.
I believed that this was the true traditional American value, but clearly that is no longer enough.
— Katie Ion, Moorpark
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:12 PM
Who controls whom?
The issues in the embryonic stem cell research debate are the same issues that are in the abortion debate. They do not involve questions of when life begins, whether every life is sacred, or whether an embryo or fetus is “life.” Those questions are irrelevant.
The real issues are whose lives and health we value more — embryos and fetuses who may be life but are not alive, or people who are alive — and whether either group should force its beliefs on the other.
Those who argue that life is sacred from conception, even if in a laboratory dish, to natural death, and that a life must not be destroyed even to save another life, are hypocrites. Our society has decided that homicide, the killing of a human, is acceptable under some circumstances, particularly to save our own lives or the lives or health of others (self-defense), even if the person killed proves to have been totally innocent. We call the death justifiable or excusable. Indeed, many of the same people who oppose embryonic stem cell research advocate laws to broaden self-defense and make killers less culpable.
Those of us who value the lives and health of the living, such as unwed girls or people with diabetes, Parkinson’s, or spinal cord injuries, over those of fetuses and embryos, do not impose our values on dissenters who are free not to have abortions and to reject any life-saving medical procedure. Our moral beliefs are no better or worse than theirs.
— Raymond Greenberg, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:03 PM
Evangelicals a threat
Re: Terry Paulson’s May 30 essay, “Bitter battle over judges”:
Paulson’s essay on the battle over judicial appointments reveals that Paulson has finally unsheathed his Christian sword in hopes of inculcating a 21st century crusade.
Paulson has always circuitously addressed the predominance of evangelical Christianity in his promulgation of his deeply conservative politics. In this essay, he finally laid bare how his evangelical Christianity will be deployed to proselytize our secular government.
His quotes reveal that he is not interested in dialectic polemics but instead on “converting one’s neighbor” and “preaching and presenting the Gospel.”
He leaves no rhetorical stone unturned in his inquisitional “auto-da-fe,” as denoted by the gold standard of all dyed-in-the-wool theocrats: that “freedom from religion” is rammed down their throats by liberal judges or Democratic senators.
There is a reason that the Constitution is devoid of all references to religious underpinnings and why there is no religious test for political office — and the reason for that resonates throughout Paulson’s essay.
Evangelical Christians who, by their Manichean viewpoints, insist on a religious test predicated on New Testament theology in order to anoint (sorry, I meant appoint) a member of the judiciary, are a fifth column that threatens not only American democracy, but also the freedom of religion of all those Americans who are non-Christians.
— Marc Rogers, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:56 AM
Parents control diet
My, my, my. In a scene straight out of an Orwellian- themed novel, parents in Marietta, Ga., now have the ability to monitor, via the Internet, whether or not their child is the guilty party who orders french fries, chips, a cookie and soda for lunch from the school cafeteria.
Georgia health officials actually believe this nonsense increases parents’ involvement in what their children eat at school? Whatever happened to parental responsibility and setting a good example by having healthy eating habits in the home? Whatever happened to teaching children how to plan ahead and pack their own healthy lunches? And, heaven forbid, whatever happened to good old-fashioned common sense by teaching our children moderation and portion control, and that now and then, having a cookie is not a mortal sin?
It’s rather fitting that the same technology highway (the Internet) that provides Georgia parents with this tool to spy on what their children are purchasing at school for lunch is the same source to report that Georgia adults, year after year, consistently rank as among the heaviest and most overweight in the United States. Those same parents who abdicate their parental responsibility at home by handing their children money for lunch, and expecting the schools to do their job for them, are the same ones whose daily routine no doubt includes the morning stop at the coffee shop for the 700-calorie super- sized mocha, the mid-morning trip to the vending machine at work, lunch out with co-workers, followed by the afternoon run for popcorn and/or the iced mocha.
What’s wrong with this picture?
— Rose-Marie Robinson, Newbury Park
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:42 AM
U.S. ignoring scandal
Why has The Star chosen to remain silent on the American Israel Public Affairs Committeee espionage story? It seems rather strange that The Star, along with the rest of the American mainstream media, would try to “sweep under the rug” one of the biggest espionage scandals that we the American people can remember and that almost every media outlet around the world is reporting.
In Israel, the AIPAC espionage scandal is headline news in the Israeli media (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/581788.html), yet not a single American newspaper finds this item worthy enough to print. It should be headline news for all Americans that our congressmen, senators and Bush cabinet members were at AIPAC’s latest convention to show support for the strong lobby group, which focuses exclusively on Israeli concerns, while at the same time the U.S. government is preparing to indict two prominent AIPAC members on charges of espionage. It is of note that AIPAC is paying to defend these two alleged spies and denies any wrongdoing.
Is this not a story worthy of reporting? You do a grave disservice to your profession, and, more importantly, to your readers by not giving this important story the attention that it deserves.
— Sarie Bryson, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:34 AM
Activism, reactivism
Re: Terry Paulson’s May 30 essay, “Bitter battle over judges”:
Once more, The Star has served us with a piece of Paulson’s political pap. This time, Paulson centers on “activist” judges, wanting us to believe that reactivist judges — those who would turn back the clock — have a less activist agenda in setting aside precedent and reinterpreting written law.
Then, while admitting that Christ advocated strict secularism, he supports self-appointed Christians whose belief of Christ does not translate to belief in Christ — to do as Christ would. It brings into question the basis for calling themselves Christian. Are they perhaps anti-Christian?
Paulson once more states that freedom “of” religion does not equate to freedom “from” religion. Of course it doesn’t. Religion is based on faith, on a belief system centered on an unprovable core. In that sense, atheism is as much a belief system as theism or polytheism, as much a religion as any other. However, my freedom of religion has to insure your freedom of yours, if different from mine. Thus that level of freedom “from” religion, of the protection of individual choice, must exist.
Actually, one can take the Bible seriously without taking it literally. If you take it seriously, particularly the teachings of Christ, then believing “in” him means behaving as he would.
At the top of his agenda we find individual choice — thus, the separation of church and state, to insure that the choice remains an individual one.
Conservatism coupled with precedent gave us slavery, along with the Dred Scott decision. Paulson may not appreciate the activists who got us off that path — those who learned from history and decided not to repeat it — but I, for one, don’t care for his conservative activists. Their understanding of the Constitution differs from mine, particularly in the area of individual freedom and equal rights for all.
In his book, “The Dinner,” Paulson counters his liberal companion’s emphasis on voting for a person with voting for a party. The one promotes diversity. The other does not.
Conservatives have a party line. Liberals have an individual choice. I’ll accept that — along with activist judges who promote individual freedom and hold people accountable for their actions.
— Lynn H. Maxson, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:22 AM
May 27, 2005
Santa Paula’s problem
Re: your May 24 article, “Downtown benches bring tension”:
This article was very successful in portraying the endemic racism that plagues Santa Paula.
This racism stems from an elitist faction of this city that has wanted to get rid of the unsightly Mexicans for years.
Despite all their efforts, they have been unable to legally achieve that desired change, which is why they have to recur to various feeble methods such as the one outlined in your article.
Santa Paula has always been a city fighting against itself, which has made it unable to achieve a desirable level of economic development.
If Santa Paula really wants to develop, it needs to provide a synthesis of both Hispanic and American cultural values that are reflected in the city’s commerce and infrastructure. This is necessary because both of these cultures have been an integral part of this city since its founding. If the city cannot do this, it will be relegated to suffer the same problems that have stunted its growth for decades.
Though racism isn’t the only problem we have to overcome, it is a problem in which the fate of this city rests. Hopefully those in the community, merchants and our elected officials, will realize this before it is too late.
— Andrew J. Gonzalez, Santa Paula
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:19 AM
Branching out
Re: Walter Card’s May 25 letter, “Demand grows”:
In reference to Card’s unflattering remarks about “tree huggers,” he should be informed that the indigenous people of Easter Island, who chopped down all their trees, wound up cannibalizing each other.
Mr. Card and his friends should learn to love “tree huggers,” because if they don’t, they just might wind up having to eat one for dinner.
Marcia Cummings, Oxnard
(The writer is with S. A. F. E. — Safe Air For Everyone. — Editor)
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:15 AM
Glorifying crime
Re: your May 22 article, “Legal drag strip being urged for street racers”:
I cannot express how mad The Star’s article makes me.
First off, yes, it’s a terrible tragedy for a younger person to die in this way, but he is completely to blame. The Star writes about how special this boy was and what a good kid he was; he was breaking the law! Does The Star not see that?
The comments made by his mother confirmed that he broke the law every weekend. How many good, decent, young people are up to just good things at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning?
Does The Star not realize that it’s against the law to race like that? Would The Star have written such a “sad” story if this man had crashed and killed a truly innocent person? What if he was racing and crashed into a friend or family member?
I guess I’ll just start looking for another article in The Star about a nice young drug dealer who was killed during a drug deal. How terrible for that poor victim.
What a disgrace of an article. The Star should be ashamed.
— Joshua Chapman, Camarillo
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:07 AM
The groups of T.O.
I read the letters with the name-calling by members of our community who personify the difficulties encountered in our city.
In Thousand Oaks, there are lower- and middle-class families, small business owners and a variety of working people who try to have a voice in their community. Then there are the big-money contributors who are used to getting what they bought and paid for in the City Council members they helped to elect by getting decisions made in their favor.
When anyone opposes these people, they resort to calling citizens “extremists,” "mean-spirited,” and “anti-business,” especially when people get together to speak at a public forum. I do not belong to any group, but I will not be intimidated by a group of powermongers who want to prevent me from speaking my concerns about the city where I live.
Fox is a behind-the-scenes operator who can now wield power through the triad of Fox, Dennis Gillette and Jacqui Irwin, and you bet I am concerned and hope my fellow citizens keep watching closely too!
— Patti Chiarelli, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 10:58 AM
Suicide isn’t answer
I’m sorry to see legalized physician-assisted suicide (AB654) moving forward for several reasons:
— Consistently, as nurses, we see that when symptoms are well-controlled, people want to live, not die, regardless of their prognosis.
— This bill turns the physician from healer to indirect slayer, but slayer nonetheless, in a breach of the historical patient-physician covenant.
— If the primary intent is to give patients autonomy in their care, then terminal illness has nothing to do with whether or not a person should receive lethal prescriptions.
— Research suggests that physicians are not able to accurately predict length of life.
— Will Medicare pay, and for whom?
— AB654 authors have asserted, but have established no connection between dignity and killing.
There are a host of other reasons.
Of course, I could hypothesize that AB654 has an economic upside for California. No longer will we need to pay expensive end-of-life care for those whom we can convince to die, nor will we have to spend resources to determine how to manage difficult symptoms.
Budget-conscious agencies and insurers can lower their costs by suggesting assisted suicide to their expensive patients, particularly those with few financial resources.
Patients, who fear being a financial burden to their families, may consider suicide their duty.
All of these things can be accomplished with “a wink and a nod” in undocumented conversations with patients.
I encourage you to oppose AB654 and to contact the governor about it by calling 916-445-2841, faxing 916-445-4633, or e-mailing http://www.govmail.ca.gov.
— Martha Highfield, Agoura Hills
(The writer, a registered nurse with a Ph.D., is a professor of nursing at California State University, Northridge. — Editor)
Posted by Andrea Howry at 10:40 AM
‘W’ prompts questions
As I drive on the streets and highways, I can’t help but notice some “W” stickers on bumpers and the back windows of SUVs. I have questions for these people:
When did you trade your family values for discrimination?
When will you wake up to the scientific facts about global warming?
When did you trade fiscal responsibility for a huge federal debt?
Why do you defend a president who led us into a pre-emptive war, which is against the Constitution?
When will you support our troops with money for veterans’ services?
When will you again believe in less government and more personal freedom?
Why do you think the government is better equipped than individuals to make personal medical decisions?
When will you realize that pro-life is more than pro-birth?
Where is Osama bin Laden, a very tall man who is on a dialysis machine?
Where do you stand on keeping the Constitution intact?
When will you, your children or grandchildren volunteer to serve in the military?
When will No Child Left Behind be funded?
Where are the ethics in the leaders of your party?
Finally, I saw a “W” sticker I could understand — it read “AWOL.”
— Sandy Emberland, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 10:33 AM
Questions for T.O.
There is an orchestrated letter-writing campaign of supporters of the new City Council majority — Andy Fox, Dennis Gillette and Jacqui Irwin. These letters have the same talking points and attack citizens who had the courage to speak out regarding the firing of Phil Gatch. They are trying to do damage control and an end run around the truth.
I checked out http://www.thousand-oaks.org (Gatch-Gate). There are smoking guns pointing straight at Fox. The attachment files on this site clearly show that Fox did much more than discuss the matter.
Fox’s faxes show that he went so far as to alter Gatch’s resignation letter, removing references that might implicate him. It is obvious to me that Fox violated Thousand Oaks municipal code. The new council majority has the right to fire the city manager but not by breaking city laws.
I want some honest answers to valid questions such as: Why aren’t these alleged illegal actions of Fox being investigated? Why was Fox allowed to vote against investigating his own actions? What is the tab to residents for this fiasco? Is there a game plan that will forever change the unique character of our city? Why did interim City Manager Scott Mitnick receive a huge raise from $10,000 to $15,000 a month plus bonus and perks? At the end of the day, will Mitnick be appointed the permanent city manager to facilitate Fox’s future plans?
I challenge Fox, Gillette, Irwin and their tag team to answer these questions. They need to stop attacking concerned citizens and quality-of-life groups such as Save the Conejo and focus on facts.
— John M. Davis, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 10:27 AM
Who can be so sure?
Re: Ralph L. Belknap’s May 27 letter, “Wake up, take stock”:
Mr. Belknap is “totally amazed” Americans believe Bush’s “lies.” He states “thousands of people are dying unnecessarily in the totally failed war in Iraq.”
Lefties like Mr. Belknap have been spewing this tripe so long they’ve actually begun to believe their own jingoism. The left repeats over and over that the war in Iraq is unjust and unnecessary, and that Iraq had nothing to do with September 11.
How is it they are so sure? It certainly seems odd that these people who have no problem believing that America supports torture, Koran desecration and the “shredding” of the Constitution with regard to civil rights cannot see Iraq as any kind of a threat at all.
“Everyone has died in vain, for nothing.” “Iraq has nothing to do with national security.” “There is no connection with the war in Iraq and terrorism.” Are these people, who see America as culpable and evil at every turn, so naïve as to believe there is no possibility that Iraq was a threat? No possible threat whatsoever?
I’m not willing to take the risk these “anti-Americans” might just possibly be wrong, and neither is an increasing portion of American voters. The majority of Americans are becoming increasingly unwilling to trust the Democrats on this issue. The consequences of being wrong are too horrible to contemplate.
There is so much upside to the war if we are successful, including democratization of the Middle East, the possibility of a Palestinian solution, keeping the war on terrorism off America’s shores, stabilizing world energy and world economic markets, providing stable and strong trading partners and a genuine lowering of terrorist activities aimed at America and its allies.
Bush haters say there is no evidence that Iraq was a threat to America. Given Iraq’s track record under Saddam Hussein, doesn’t it seem likely Iraq probably was a threat?
It’s ironic that people who have no problem believing the worst about America and its president can’t imagine the remote possibility that Iraq, under Saddam, might have been a threat to us.
I thank God our president did believe Iraq was a threat to us. The consequences of his being wrong on this point are too frightening to imagine.
Had Saddam blown off a nuclear device on American soil, Mr. Belknap and his ilk would have been the first ones to say, “Why didn’t Bush do something to prevent this?”
— David Charles Chrisman, Westlake Village
Posted by Andrea Howry at 10:26 AM
Gatch did a good job
I have heard and seen a lot of criticism of Debbie Gregory and her group, and I find the criticism to be unfounded.
I am not a member of any group; however, I do participate in causes whenever my interests are threatened and my views intersect with what any group is doing to protect our community.
Ms. Gregory heard from Councilman Ed Masry that Councilman Dennis Gillette had informed him that the City Council would be replacing City Manager Phil Gatch, and she acted upon it. She, nor her group, has anything to do with extremism.
Scouting principles include leaving a campground in better condition than it was when one arrived. In a city like Thousand Oaks, you want to preserve and add to the benefits of the community for the current population as well as our next generation. This includes good planning from the start and a constant review to make sure that the planning changes are beneficial for the community and that effective mitigation measures are taken to resolve the issues caused by the planning changes.
Mr. Gatch worked hard and succeeded in making Thousand Oaks a thrilling and amazing city to move into. In 1980, when I moved to Thousand Oaks into a tract named Suntree and my family shared our back yard with a family of quail, I had wished that my own parents had found Thousand Oaks long ago instead West Hollywood, where I grew up.
Clean air, sufficient and good quantity and quality of our water, keeping our community safe, keeping businesses from encroaching on residential areas or having an adverse impact such as noise pollution, maintaining and encouraging businesses to thrive, and reducing traffic congestion are all necessary objectives. We need smart and responsible development with additional school sites to accommodate students, instead of accepting mitigation funds which disappear and leave our schools overcrowded.
We need housing, especially single-story homes that were originally part of the plans for our city but have been ignored during the recent development of our city.
Our city needs to encourage businesses to come that our community needs, such as a bowling alley where the Parks Department can arrange activities and teens, seniors and families can come and participate in a sport that our community is missing out on, but which was once included in the Thousand Oaks landscape.
Mr. Gatch did a lot for our city. Although the City Council voted recently to accept his resignation and will be looking for a replacement, our city owes Mr. Gatch our gratitude for his wonderful service to our community.
— Sharon Miret, Newbury Park
Posted by Andrea Howry at 10:04 AM
May 26, 2005
How to ban steroids
Steroids are dangerous drugs, and Congress should ban their use by professional athletes. But why limit the ban to the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League? The law should be extended to other pro sports, including golf, tennis, beach volleyball, surfing and NASCAR.
We need to be certain that all playing fields are level and that young people can have role models free from drugs.
Yet must we single out only one segment of society? If steroids are bad for athletes, what about other career fields? The courts would agree that equal justice must apply.
So start with the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court and test everyone holding public office all the way down to school boards and special districts for any drug use, including alcohol.
The penalties must be as severe as for athletes: one failed test is a two-year suspension without pay; second failure is a lifetime ban from public office. The records of all candidates for office would be checked for prior offenses. If this law had been in effect six years ago, George W. Bush would not have been eligible to run for president.
After cleaning up sports and politics, lets get to the ruling class. Start with corporations and rid big business of junkies and alcoholics. OK, let’s include unions too, and anyone filing an itemized deduction tax return. Then check out all public employees such as teachers, cops and firefighters.
Oops, I almost forgot that everyone in organized religion drawing a paycheck must set a good moral example and be included.
Social Security retirees have been exempted. Allow them to be happy as they watch their benefits disappear. They can’t afford drugs anyway.
Finally, test everyone entering the United States. If we are to have illegal immigrants, let them be steroid- and drug-free as they help to rebuild our society!
— Jack Pinard, Port Hueneme
Posted by Andrea Howry at 02:18 PM
Shades of McCarthy
Re: Katie Teague’s May 24 letter, “Poor role models”:
This letter gives us glittering generalities without naming names. She resorts to lumping a bunch of groups together as a communist plot.
It is tragi-comic to think someone still cleaves to the past, the Joseph McCarthy era, when, if you didn’t agree with someone, you called him anti-American and made him part of a communist conspiracy. Well, I’m glad we’re beyond this sort of logic. Most of us who are aware of history know where it got us back then. It’s why most Americans shrug off the McCarthyistic tirades of today.
The tragic part of Teague’s discourse is that a group like Alternatives to Military Options and Resources is disparaged for no other reason than offering consumer advocacy to our children.
Rudyard Kipling once said, “Truth is the first fatality of war” (try this out on Iraq), and our children are the next in line to fall from the lies that follow. It is our young who will be asked to serve and who will be in harm’s way. It is our young who will die, and for what?
It is because our children are most vulnerable, and because enlistment is down, that AMOR suspects recruiters will take advantage of them.
— Grant Marcus, Ventura
Posted by Andrea Howry at 02:11 PM
Help island eagles
Re: your May 22 article, “Catalina might lose funds to restore bald eagles”:
The Associated Press writer makes the following points to support her thesis that Catalina should retain its funding:
Catalina is bigger than Santa Cruz Island, the alternative site for use of the funds. Santa Cruz Island is more remote and isolated. Catalina Island has more than a million visitors a year who enjoy seeing the bald eagles there. Santa Cruz Island has only a handful of visitors a year. The DDT levels on Santa Cruz Island may be just as harmful as the levels on Catalina. Finally, the article refers to a “council” that will receive input until Monday. No address is given, but two Web sites are listed at the end of the article.
The AP and The Star should do better, especially since the Northern Channel Islands constitute the national park that is located in and/or near Ventura County.
As a kayak guide for the last 16 years who spends more than 100 days a year on Santa Cruz or one of the other islands in the park, I can tell you Santa Cruz Island is the biggest island off the California coast. It is located closer to the mainland than is Santa Catalina. Catalina may have a million visitors, but very few will see a bald eagle.
Santa Cruz Island averages more than 100 visitors a day from Easter to Thanksgiving — a very large handful! The environment on and around both islands has been and is being monitored for DDT and other pollutants. Santa Cruz has a significantly lower level of pollution.
The reintroduction of the bald eagle to Santa Cruz Island will have a significant additional advantage. It will help the island fox survive. The island fox is unique to Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands. It is an endangered species with only a very few breeding couples left in the wild. Bald eagles will drive off the golden eagles, which are a recent arrival on the Channel Islands and are the island foxes’ only predator.
Certainly the funds should go to the site where they are most likely to be successful and where they will do the most good: Santa Cruz Island and Channel Islands National Park!
— A. J. Chapman, Camarillo
Posted by Andrea Howry at 02:01 PM
Separation is good
Re: Edward Wassell’s May 24 letter, “Religion and judges”:
May we suggest that if Mr. Wassell wants to shield his children from pornography on the Internet and television that he do what most parents do and turn off the TV and limit their access to the computer. The last time we checked, they can both be unplugged and removed from his household if they are offensive to him.
We are sure that his children will refrain from sexual intercourse before marriage due to his diligent instruction. We are also sure that his children have never been taught how to wear a condom by a public school teacher. This act would most likely result in the arrest and conviction of any teacher who dared show a 13-year-old how to wear a condom.
What he means when he says that the Democrats have used the courts to impose their morality on American society is that the Democrats want to impose their amorality on American society. In reality, what Democrats want is a judiciary that will uphold the U.S. Constitution as it has throughout the great history of our country.
The separation of church and state is one of the most important freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution because the founders of this nation realized that religious freedom is a basic human right, whether one be a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or atheist. In this great country of ours, we are free to believe in whatever God we choose to believe in or no God at all. And Mr. Wassell is free to believe in whatever he would choose to believe in.
As far as the judiciary is concerned, we do not want them to impose their religious beliefs on us; we merely want them to interpret and uphold the Constitution without religious bias.
If Mr. Wassell wants to live under a theocratic government, he can get out of the United States. Does he really want to raise his children in an American Taliban society?
— Lisa Fox and Michael Collins, Ventura
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:50 PM
Lawsuit is a waste
Re: your May 24 article, “S. Paula prepares lawsuit against hospital, trustees”:
I read this story in bewilderment. The Santa Paula city manager says they’re suing on behalf of the citizens of Santa Paula. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t it the fault of the citizens of Santa Paula that their hospital went under in the first place? If they had simply paid their hospital bills, then I don’t believe the hospital would have gone bankrupt.
The facts are, way too many people went to that hospital and never paid their hospital bill. It’s as simple as that. And because of patients not paying their hospital bills, the hospital had no choice but to go bankrupt. May I suggest the city manager find out who the deadbeat patients are and sue them!
And another thing: I thought the City of Santa Paula was broke! Isn’t it funny how they can find money for a baseless lawsuit but can’t find money to properly compensate any of their employees?
— Brianna Wilkes, Santa Paula
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:40 PM
Reject asphalt plant
Santa Paula has put the welcome mat out for Dirty Industry: a 14-acre asphalt plant in our back yards, one half mile from City Hall and a stone’s throw from the Santa Clara River.
This plant will operate day and night, six days a week, running 950 truckloads of asphalt each day and clogging Hallock Drive and Highway 126.
Who at City Hall is initiating these absurd plans? Are we destined to become the next Pacoima? Pick up your phones now and let them know what you think. Stop it dead in its tracks. This is the one thing all Santa Paulans must agree upon.
The environmental draft report is in, and there isn’t much time. The deadline for submitting comments is June 27. If you and your children want to be breathing asphaltic dust and staying awake nights tapping your foot to industrial noise, then I suggest you continue watching your reality programming.
Otherwise, get involved before we devolve.
Know also that this is one of a number of dirty industry projects being seriously considered.
— Lotar Ziesing, Santa Paula
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:35 PM
Control of the media
Nowadays, the gatekeepers of the truth, unfortunately, are not the reporters anymore. That distinguished title goes to the owners of the major news media.
These owners — ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc. — are all paid big bucks to advertise the products of the large billionaire corporations (BCs).
Lately, most of the small television and radio broadcasting stations have been bought up by the BCs, and the reporters and journalists who report the news are coerced into reporting what the BCs tell them to, or else they lose their jobs.
This places the BCs in an almost monopolizing position regarding what’s transmitted over the national radio and television stations. In essence, they control nearly everything the American public sees or hears anymore, which goes against everything the First Amendment to the Constitution stands for, “freedom of the press.”
This is abominable! Yet it is supported by President George W. Bush, his father, Vice President Dick Cheney and many other current and ex-U.S. cabinet members who are all heavily vested in BCs.
The media dances to the tune that Big Brother (the Bush administration) tells them to. That’s why we never see any negative or horrible acts being imposed on other people/nations throughout the world by Big Brother, such as the horrible mass murders and scenes created by the war in Iraq, the death toll of the Iraqi citizens there, the control of Iraq’s oil fields and the actual construction of the wall being built in Palestine by Israel — built, according to Israel, to keep Palestinian suicide bombers out of Israel. But this isn’t the case at all. This is just another scheme by Israel to occupy and take more land from the Palestinians as has been the case since Israel’s invasion and occupation of Palestine in March, 1948.
Now these kinds of important, newsworthy issues should be shown to the American public on a daily basis, yet they are not.
So why are we being deprived of seeing them? Because to do so would tarnish Big Brother’s image and expose it for what it really stands for.
I think it’s an outrage, a shame and a disgrace on the part of the media to withhold such evidence and hard facts from us just to march to the beat of Big Brother’s drums — all in the name of greed.
— Patrick Reel, Camarillo
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:30 PM
Stop spinning hatred
Reading the recent letters in The Star regarding Save the Conejo 2000, I am shocked. Opponents of Save the Conejo 2000 have singled out Debbie Gregory as a Charles Manson-like figure and the members of this group as the “family.” Get a grip, please, people.
Save the Conejo is a group made up of housewives, students, lawyers, teachers and even elderly people who have a difference of opinion regarding issues at City Hall. It is nothing more, nothing less.
As a young man in his early 20s, I am saddened and very concerned about what we as Americans are doing to each other. With people dying in the war, the racism that plagues our country, the anti-American beliefs that are run by real extremists, our crowded schools, our congested highways, our public lands that disappear every single day of our lives — we are going to spin hatred?
I’d also wish to say that I’d like to see these people who write the letters go down to the podium at City Hall instead of just writing the letters — like I am going to do. Hope to see you there.
— Clint Matkovich, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:23 PM
Charter school needed
Re: Arleigh Kidd’s May 25 letter, “Charter school wrong”:
Once again, Arleigh Kidd has demonstrated that teachers unions exist exclusively for the benefit of the teachers and not for the benefit of the students.
Kidd’s argument against the formation of a charter school, which is designed to provide classroom education for children with problems that are not handled particularly well by the public schools, is that it will “drain needed dollars from local districts.”
The fact is that if these students were being educated by the “local districts,” there would be no need for the charter school. Obviously, that is not the case.
It is interesting that when one of the trustees agreed with Kidd’s point of view, she “showed the kind of trust and responsibility expected.” But when other trustees did not agree with Kidd’s point of view, they were a “kangaroo court.”
The purpose of a union is to negotiate salaries and benefits when contract time arises; it is not to dictate educational policy at the local or county level. Unfortunately, the union has succeeded in getting its members elected to local school boards; fortunately, the county board of trustees is not under union control.
— Cecil Rhodes, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:18 PM
Principal issues
It has come to my attention through a barrage of flyers and signs outside my son’s school that the current principal of Cypress Elementary School will be moving to another school at the end of this semester.
This has caused a general air of indignation among some of the parents I encounter as I drop off my son each morning and slogans both predictable (“support our school”) and surprising (“Hell no! J-Bo won’t go!”).
My wife and I have discussed this issue in depth with many of our friends and find we do not agree with the agitated and noisy group of parents who object to the change in leadership at Cypress Elementary.
There is no doubt that Jennifer Boone is an excellent principal whose leadership has been an asset to the school, and her presence will be missed. However, the idea that our children are in jeopardy when she leaves pays great disservice to the rest of the staff at Cypress. These are a dedicated and capable group of educators who are good at their jobs and will continue to be so under another principal.
Our children come from privileged homes and enjoy more advantages than most of our neighbors. A great many of the Cypress students have a parent at home during the day to provide nurture and guidance and to reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom. None of this would be affected by a change in leadership at the school and, within reason, these are children who will thrive no matter who their elementary school principal is. To assert otherwise is to completely discount the dedication, skills and influence of the parents and teachers.
If, in contrast, there is a school where the students are at higher risk, and where their prospects can be significantly improved by a confident and skilled principal, then would it not make sense to provide them with that principal? And would it not be selfish to deny them such leadership simply because we like Jennifer Boone and it would make us feel good to have her around? And, more importantly, wouldn’t the entire community benefit from raising the level of education at the schools which need it the most?
We believe it is self-centered and short-sighted to deny strong leadership to the children who need it most simply so we can have somebody we like at our children’s school.
We may not carry picket signs or shout out during a board meeting, but we pay attention to what goes on in the world around us and in our community, and we vote. And all we ask is that in making decisions, the Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education consider the needs of the entire community, especially the needs of those at the highest risk.
If board members choose to keep Jennifer Boone at Cypress, I hope they do so only if they truly believe that’s where her skills are most needed and not because they have been bullied into it. If they feel she is most needed at another school, and if she is willing to go, then I hope they send her there in spite of the objections they will hear from some parents.
I thank the board for its service to our community.
— Jennifer and Vernon Williams, Newbury Park
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:09 PM
How dare Bush
Congratulations to President Bush. When he vetoes HR2520, I can assure him that I will not vote for the Republican Party in ’08. Who is he to impose his moral beliefs upon me, my family, and/or any American citizen?
I have a son who was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at 9 months of age. For the Republican Party, Bush, Sen. Tom DeLay or any others to inhibit any research that could result in a cure not only for my son, but for millions of Americans, is unacceptable. When 60 percent of the American people support stem-cell research, Bush’s actions are undemocratic.
How does he morally justify sending thousands of our country’s youth to die into a country based on a lie, spending billions of taxpayer dollars, but claim it is immoral to fund stem-cell research based on his religious beliefs? I can only hope he and/or his family experiences a disease that can be cured by stem-cell research. Did I mention that my grandmother has Alzheimer’s and my father has Parkinson’s?
What, in his mind, is his greatest achievement? Amassing the biggest deficit in history or imposing his Bible-beating values upon the American public? He is nothing more than a hypocrite, and I sincerely regret voting for him.
I have been a Republican all my life. I was raised Republican and have always voted for Republicans across the board. I will enjoy knowing I can now assist to return the power of the House, Senate, and the White House to the Democratic Party in ’08. Try not to do any more damage until then.
— Mark B. Webster, Camarillo
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:53 PM
Difficulties ignored
Re: Steve Greenberg’s May 25 cartoon on embryonic stem-cell research:
Ironic, using a genie in a cartoon supporting stem-cell research. The genie is shown granting “potential cures” for all sorts of human maladies. The dangerous side of this genie is left unmentioned, by ignoring difficulties encountered in such transplants, including rejection by the immune system of the recipient, and cancerous growths caused by embryonic cells that fail to differentiate properly.
To characterize the opposition as nothing but the ideology and religious views of one group deliberately ignores the reservations expressed in medical journals concerning the actual efficacy of these transplants. It also ignores the concerns of extreme utilitarianism of killing one or more humans for the benefit of another, by assuming a blastocyst/embryo is not a human.
The benefit of the doubt extended to the potential for cures is denied to an entity that has a human genome and fulfills the major definitions of life as defined in most science textbooks. Any cartoon will have a bias, but to assume that embryonic-cell research will bring nothing but benefits, while discounting the scientific and ethical considerations is irresponsible.
— Michelle Artran, Camarillo
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:48 PM
Frozen seed, not baby
Someone in the scientific community has to enlighten President Bush about the definition of frozen human embryos. Maybe drawing pictures would help.
First of all, embryo means: “the developing human individual from the time of implantation to the end of the eighth week after conception.” Implantation means “to insert in a living site, as for growth, slow release or formation of an organic union.” President Bush calls frozen cells babies? Twisted?
I do not know of any baby that can be put in a freezer and survive. The name “frozen embryo” has to be corrected; they are frozen seeds.
If anyone out there knows of a baby or any human life that has survived by being put in a freezer, tell it to the world. We would love to hear it.
— Judy Lakkis, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:36 PM
May 25, 2005
Wake up, take stock
I am totally amazed that the American people continue to be lied to wholesale by this corrupt administration in Washington and even more amazed that the lies seem to be believed.
Does anyone really know, or care, that thousands of people are dying unnecessarily in the totally failed war in Iraq? After so-called “democratic” elections, the tribes who still have the power there are unable to bring order, water, electricity, etc., to their own people. They are also, even with U.S. help, unable to stop the killing from increasing week by week.
Does anyone see the connection between our gigantic budget deficits each year and our failed efforts abroad? Does anyone understand that the continuing increase in terrorists and their terrorism is directly connected to the belligerent and arrogant attitude and retoric from President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, et al?
In their failed efforts to bully the world into their sick, neo-con beliefs of an extremely limited democracy, and to harass people of any other than radically conservative religion, they are, in fact, decreasing real democracy and increasing Islam and athiesm.
There are unlimited other examples, especially right now with the insane effort to appoint a totally anti-United Nations “ambassador” to the U.N., and doctrinaire judges to powerful postions.
It is all sad and beyond belief, but nevertheless actually happening to my once respected, intelligent, compassionate country. The negative impact of these failures will affect our grandchildren and beyond. Please, do not believe all the lies.
— Ralph L. Belknap, Camarillo
(The writer is a veteran of the U.S. Marines. — Editor)
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:42 PM
Tired of the gantlet
Re: your May 24 article, “Downtown benches bring tension”:
I can’t believe how shortsighted and ignorant the Santa Paula City Council and Jess Victoria can be concerning the benches in front of Brownie’s Basement. Playing the “race card” just shows how oblivious they are to the real issue, which they have totally ignored.
Brownie’s Basement is a quilting and gift store, which caters primarily to women. Customers of Cheryl Baudizzon (myself included) have been complaining for years about having to “walk the gantlet” of any number of as many as 10 men who sit smoking, spitting, catcalling and eyeing the women going into the store. What woman in this day and age doesn’t fear that “something” might happen — or to our vehicles while we are shopping?
Why not put the benches in the park, where park benches belong? I thought plazas traditionally had fountains and cafes? The area in front of Brownie’s Basement is more like a roomy piece of sidewalk.
Why don’t they put the benches in front of the bank, or the ATM machines, where everyone can feel intimidated?
Why don’t the merchants who own the stores have any say in the matter? How about putting one in front of Mr. Victoria’s store?
As far as Mr. Victoria’s racist accusation, I bet he hasn’t been inside Brownie’s Basement to see the line of greeting cards in Spanish, or the great fiesta fabrics that Cheryl stocks for her Hispanic (and Anglo) customers.
It is quite ridiculous. Cheryl is a businesswoman and cares about her customers. What is she supposed to do when they complain to her? Tell them to shop somewhere else?
— Gladys Racette, Fillmore
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:32 PM
Enhance, don’t entice
On April 25, the Ventura City Council approved $5 million to a couple of city staffers for use in attracting more clean business to the city. But the same council went begging to the public to donate about 1 percent of that amount to keep our libraries open.
All these years, I’ve thought the city government was responsible for providing and maintaining services to the citizens, not to go looking for more people to come and add to the already overstressed conditions of traffic, housing, utilities, smog, etc.
— Roger Muir, Ventura
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:17 PM
Embrace all cultures
Re: your May 24 article, “Downtown benches bring tension”:
I saw in this article about so-called “loiterers” in Santa Paula the same disturbing lack of cultural sensitivity as I’ve seen in many other places around California, especially where business revitalization is being attempted.
Business owner Cheryl Baudizzon was quoted as saying, “We’re trying to revitalize downtown and have people see we can have it be an inviting area for people to come.”
Congratulations! It appears they have succeeded. How many Hispanic people are there, anyway, there in Sant(a) Paul(a)?
Ms. Baudizzon says these people don’t come into her stores and buy things. Why not? Are their wants and needs still such a mystery, after having been among them for all these years? If so, why?
She says this has nothing to do with racial issues. I say it does, and the only one it will hurt is her. Those people’s ancestors lived here in California long before anyone not of Indian or Hispanic origin, and yet it seems that all over this county, as in many others, instead of becoming part of the business market, their needs and even mere presence become a perceived obstacle to progress.
I’m sorry if our Caucasian society has become so cloistered and paranoid that seeing groups of people simply talking to each other has come to have such a negative connotation. Many of the people there who are neighbors and possible customers come from places where people aren’t afraid of other people in groups.
Ms. Baudizzon calls it “loitering;” the others call it enjoying downtown. Perhaps downtown could in return, learn more about enjoying them.
For everyone’s good, Ms. Baudizzon shouldn’t join others around the county in working so hard to “gentrify” so much of her possible customer base away from her business.
— Greg Rush, Oxnard
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:13 PM
Extremists taking over
It seems to me that our current administration will lie, steal and ignore the true facts to accomplish its own political agenda.
While our country is monetarily going to pot — with a deficit so large I can’t even count the added zeros — with our dollar falling out of bed and our environment getting worse by leaps and bounds, the religious right is gaining more and more strength. I’m more frightened of them than the terrorists.
We are losing our country to our own extremists. We’re becoming a place where religious beliefs take precedent over common sense. It’s OK for one of these extremists to kill a doctor who might be performing abortions, but it’s not OK to remove the feeding tube from a person who has been brain dead for two decades.
And how about the continuous cover-up of priests who molested children?
It’s sad how the land of the free has changed and continues to move toward an extreme right-wing religious dictatorship.
What has happened to the separation of powers between church and state? I certainly don’t want our government eliminating freedom of religious choice, and I certainly don’t want the religious right to determine what candidates can run.
— Jack D. Prosen, Camarillo
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:57 PM
Tricky numbers
Re: Cathy Carlson’s May 25 letter, “Dubious honors”:
Armed with the mighty tools of subtraction and division, Cathy Carlson concludes that the Conejo Valley is lacking in excellent schools.
In judging Los Cerritos Middle School, for example, Ms. Carlson seems to believe that all measurements should be confined to A (90 percent and up), B (80 percent to 90 percent), and so on.
Obviously, if everything was put to that scale we’d have some erroneous conclusions such as:
— The baseball player hitting .400 who is considered “failing.”
— The politician with a 75 percent approval rating who is rated as “average.”
— The car company that recalls 1 out of every 10 vehicles and is given an A-minus.
Even knowing the challenges of achieving high standards and the federal money at stake, California chose to have very tough math standards for its students to work toward, tougher than most states. At the same time, we are near the bottom of per pupil spending. Now Ms. Carlson dumps on the schools that are actually doing a great job.
Well, my AP Calculus students at Agoura High School can handle math at a slightly higher level than Ms. Carlson. They do things like equate derivatives of trigonometric and polynomial functions to form infinite Taylor Series, and on their AP test, if they get 60 percent of the possible points (D-minus on Ms. Carlson’s scale) they receive a score of 5, which is the highest given. I guess those kids who are headed to the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UCLA, and other outstanding universities are just barely passing.
— Steve Bacharach, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:46 PM
Firefighters need help
Re: your May 23 article, “Firefighters lobby county for tax share”:
The Ventura County Fire Department desperately needs more firefighters.
Obviously, the Board of Supervisors does not care about public safety and firefighter safety. It appears that they are scoffing at the firefighters association in its quest to bring the Ventura County Fire Department into the 21st century — something that a progressive fire chief should be doing.
The National Fire Protection Agency adopts standards for the fire service. Four-person companies (fire trucks) is an NFPA standard that was adopted in 2000. NFPA 1700 is the standard for fire company staffing levels. NFPA 1700 requires four-person companies to be at the scene of a structure fire within 4 minutes, and 15 to 17 firefighters within the first 8 minutes, neither of which can be done throughout Ventura County.
It also addresses response times for Emergency Medical Services. I don’t know if the private-contract paramedic ambulance companies (patients for profit) can meet those times.
Many years ago, most fire departments throughout the United States had at least four to six firefighters on board each apparatus. Ever-increasing budget cutbacks have slashed staffing levels across the country. Firefighter fatalities and civilian fatalities, however, have increased.
In a nutshell, NFPA 1700 was introduced to allow firefighters to get water on the fire, saving lives and property, as quickly and as safely as possible, such as was done 20 to 30 years ago.
County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston believes that the increased staffing and Proposition 172 issue is a “political move” from the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Association.
Supervisor Judy Mikels thinks that the NFPA 1700 is “somebody else’s standard.” Well, yes dear, NFPA 1700 is somebody else’s standard, too! NFPA 1700 is very popular with attorneys representing the families involved in a fire fatality or a fallen firefighter. They will always ask, “What is the standard?” Many communities have paid dearly for non-compliance.
I hope that Chris Mahon, leader of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Association, fully educates our Board of Supervisors on the standard, and I fully support the 172 ballot measure. It’s about time.
— Brian Rowley, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:37 PM
Fans need to watch
Re: Paul Delaney’s letter, “Unfounded allegations,” and other May 24 letters regarding the resignation of City Manager Phil Gatch:
I read these latest “fairy tales” about what a terrific City Council we now have with the FIG (Andy Fox, Jacqui Irwin and Dennis Gillette) representing the citizens of Thousand Oaks.
Perhaps these people need to go to a few City Council meetings. Then they can watch the FIG in action and “feel good” about their city government.
They can see Fox talking about all of the open space that he was responsible for acquiring, Irwin taking credit for the rehabilitation of the stadiums at Westlake and Thousand Oaks high schools and Gillette claiming high-speed traffic on Lynn Road is due to the state not wanting “speed traps.”
Wow, am I impressed! I feel safe and secure now with the FIG in charge — especially now that they have eliminated an old and worn-out city manager, approved the Caruso project next to City Hall, which resembles “casino architecture,” and now want to reinterpret Measure E so we can have mixed use on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
I wouldn’t want to disagree with these or any other decisions by the FIG, or else Mr. Delaney might take away my “Civility Matters” button.
— Merle Duckett, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:10 PM
Split Prop. 172 funds
I agree with the Ventura County Fire Department: They do deserve a portion of the Proposition 172 money.
I also believe that the money should be evenly divided among each public safety agency serving Ventura County. Currently, only the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Probation Department, Public Defenders Office and District Attorney receive Proposition 172 funds.
The time has come to do the right thing and protect everyone. The time has come to give a fair share of Proposition 172 funding to the Ventura County Fire Department, Ventura Fire Department, Oxnard Fire Department, Santa Paula Fire Department, Fillmore Fire Department, Ventura Police Department, Oxnard Police Department, Port Hueneme Police Department, Santa Paula Police Department and the Simi Valley Police Department.
— Jim Wismar, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:01 PM
Incomplete essay
Re: Tom McClintock’s May 22 commentary, “A modest proposal to save our schools”:
My first reaction to this commentary was to give Mr. McClintock an “A” for creative writing. However, after some reflection, I was not sure whether I should sympathize with his lack of information or just be angry that he misconstrued so much information.
His $10,084 figure for dollars spent per pupil does not tell the reader that many of those dollars are earmarked for special purposes and cannot be spent at the district’s discretion.
He does not tell you that those dollars also reflect federal monies, and he misleads the reader into believing that it all comes from the state of California.
When he so humorously breaks the total amount into personal trainers and nutrition counselors, he very cleverly, or ignorantly, left out some key areas. I saw no money budgeted for maintenance for the leased facility, including painting, patching and desk repair. I also noted there was nothing set aside for computer repair and support.
Of course, there also was no mention of grounds upkeep, including athletic fields, lawn mowing or weed abatement. These are all part of what it takes to make a facility workable on a daily basis.
We could also talk about retrofitting the leased building if it does not meet the special needs of certain students.
I would ask Mr. McClintock to compare the maintenance budget of an office building and grounds in the private sector of 2,600 adults to that of a high school with a student body of the same number. I think you would find a huge discrepancy in the bottom line.
Mr. McClintock’s lack of understanding is typical of those who are so out of touch with public education, the governor included. Just putting a teacher and students in a room does not address all of the other issues confronting education today.
In Mr. McClintock’s perfect world, all students speak English, score 1,200 on the SAT, clean up after themselves and do not participate in co-curricular activities.
I must, however, give Mr. McClintock high marks on the math skills he exhibited in his article, as well as passing marks with grammar and spelling. I would tell him to thank a teacher for those blessings, but Mr. McClintock, by his own admission, learned very little while attending Thousand Oaks High School.
His was the immaculate education.
— Jerry Sawitz, Thousand Oaks
(The writer is a teacher at Thousand Oaks High School. — Editor)
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:58 AM
They’re a lot alike
John Relle accuses people who disagree with him of doing what the extremist Save the Conejo 2000 political action committee does: They line up people at City Council meetings to regurgitate talking points fed to them by Debbie Gregory, president of Save the Conejo 2000. The local newspapers are then barraged with phone calls and letters to the editor making every conspiracy claim possible.
Save the Conejo 2000 and Mr. Relle engage in this behavior year round; when an issue does not exist, they create one.
Mr. Relle finds the facts inconvenient and dislikes when anyone provides more in-depth responses that tell the whole story.
Save the Conejo 2000 and Mr. Relle never miss a chance to skew the facts against their more reasonable and professional political rivals.
Mr. Relle walks and talks like a duck. Whether or not he is actually a duck is a moot point.
— Anoma Perera, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:47 AM
Bring back the DJs
I’m wondering what happened to all the happy banter over at 92.7 FM radio. Now it’s an automated “Jill,” which has me feeling like I might as well listen to my own CDs.
What happened to the DJs? I want the DJs back. They made the shows funny, informative, and, most of all, personal. I’m ready to bail, and I’ve been listening since the early days when Dick Whittington was at the helm and helped pull up that radio station by the bootstraps.
Please bring the live DJs back. I’m really hating automated “Jill.”
— Jacqueline Boller, Moorpark
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:44 AM
Seniors’ health crisis
Re: Leila Masry’s May 24 letter, “Faiths back initiative”:
I agree: Justice means healthcare for all, not just for those who can afford it.
There is a growing number of Americans, as well as children, who are in desperate need of adequate health insurance. I call them the “invisible Americans.” You won’t find them at the theater, or the opera, on a cruise ship or even at a restaurant. They are the seniors who are shunted off to a side track and left to wallow in their painful and financially devastating end-of- life experience with an ailing loved one.
Too many Americans are one illness away from emotional and financial ruin, no matter how well they planned for their future. Spouses stick by their mates to the end. They cry in private or together in support group meetings.
As it is, only the rich can survive an “unearned” catastrophic illness unscathed.
Do we do more for other countries than we do for our own citizens? It seems that way.
Let’s hope SB840 can help.
— Elinor Gustafson, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:40 AM
May 24, 2005
Subbing for classwork
Re: Robert Brooks’ May 23 letter, “Too much homework”:
Do students really have too much homework? Maj. Brooks’ letter was noteworthy for missing the target.
My wife and I are retired teachers. One son is a California public school teacher and another son teaches in the California college and university system.
We see the increase in homework as a teacher reaction to the failed student discipline policies that effectively prevent teaching and learning in the classroom. When the results of a teacher’s classroom efforts are tested by the State of California, there is pressure to cause learning in any way possible.
What if the following scenario became the state norm? With the knowledge and support of the parents, the students come to school with a disinterested attitude. The teachers lack administrative support for disciplinary control. The superintendents are more interested in the voices shouting for mediocrity than scholastic excellence. The boards of education are similarly motivated by the loudest complaints and move at every juncture to lower standards and academic expectations.
I would submit the aforementioned scenario is very close to our California state educational norm.
Maj. Brooks mentioned kids needing time outside of school to develop into well rounded individuals and cited “a school district north of us” where homework has been outlawed. That school district is the Cabrillo Unified School District. The town in question is Half Moon Bay. The percentage of their students able to pass the 2004 state tests is telling to say the least:
English/language arts, 52 percent; math, 32 percent; science, 63 percent; and history/social science, 41 percent.
Look at those numbers, folks, and know that half the students in that high school are functionally illiterate. But then again, at least they don’t have homework.
— Meryl J. Wamhoff, Ventura
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:08 PM
Offended, but not hurt
Re: Nancy Ordonez Low’s May 23 letter, “Christian offended, too”:
Nancy Ordonez Low and the Christian right are offended because prayer was removed from schools. Which religion or which Christian denomination’s prayers would they suggest we recite?
Nancy and the Christian right are offended because abortion was legalized in the ‘70s. Did either have a problem when names and addresses of abortion clinics and their employees were published in Christian magazines and on Christian Web sites? It was not a surprise that Christians, blinded by their faith, went out and killed doctors and bombed abortion clinics.
Perhaps Nancy and the Christian right never realized that they were giving their community a reason to kill in the name of their God. Perhaps they said, “So what?”
Nancy and the Christian right are offended because they were asked to accept homosexuality. The laws state that you cannot discriminate against gays in employment and housing. The Christian right must believe that their rights were taken away because they cannot continue to discriminate and harass gay people.
It’s no wonder Nancy and the Christian right are living with disappointment. As more people get hurt or die, Nancy and the Christian right will sit back and say, “So what?” wondering why Christmas is no longer celebrated in public schools.
— Ron Fanelle, Ventura
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:00 PM
Honor the aborted
On Memorial Day, May 30, a short prayer service in memory of all babies killed by abortion will be held from 9:30 to 9:50 a.m. at the Tomb of the Unborn, located in the far east corner of Santa Clara Cemetery, 1270 North “H” Street in Oxnard.
If you have lost a child or grandchild through abortion, please name the baby and send the name to: Mothers for Life, P.O. Box 706, Oxnard, CA 93032. You may remain anonymous if you wish. The names will be placed at the Tomb of the Unborn.
Women and men suffering from grief and guilt after an abortion can find healing through post-abortion counseling. Contact Project Rachel (203) 251-2621 or www.rachelsvinyard.org, or the Life Centers at 484-1122. There is no charge. You will receive confidential, loving care.
— Margaret Queen, Oxnard
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:47 PM
Justifying actions
Imagine for a moment that you have discovered a very real plot by a group of sociopaths who were planning to murder your family, and you manage to capture one of the group who had information that would save your family. However, this individual refuses to supply any of this information, simply because he hates you and your family. What would you do?
Well, I don’t know about you, but I would do anything it took — anything to save my family. To do less would be immoral.
So what is the difference between this scenario and what we face as a nation from the religious fanatics from the Middle East? None that I can see.
If these sociopaths were fighting a contemporary war, where reciprocation of prisoner treatment was expected by both sides, you might have an argument for refraining from any and all methods in order to get them talking. But these people have no respect or love for life at all — not even their own.
— Bill Sekerak, Oxnard
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:39 PM
Base cuts hurt people
Re: your May 21 article, “Cuts at Naval Base won’t hurt county, experts say”:
I guess it’s true that journalists just regurgitate what the supposed experts tell them without trying to critically analyze what’s been given to them. If The Star’s reporter had thought about what she was reporting for even a few minutes, she would have seen that there were serious flaws in the experts’ reasoning.
The first two paragraphs claim that the increase in jobs in the private sector will easily make up for job losses at the bases. This might be true if a job working at Wal-Mart were equivalent to an engineering job designing weapon systems. The expert seems to think that $12-an-hour jobs and $40-an-hour jobs can be considered equal, since he makes no attempt to break down the job losses or gains by hourly rate.
On top of that, the expert failed to take into account that working on weapon systems doesn’t really translate into a non-military job very easily.
The unemployment rate that’s mentioned is another mostly useless indicator since it naturally leads people to believe that the rate only goes down because of an increase in the number of jobs. What this expert failed to mention was that people who use up their unemployment benefits or move away will also make the rate go down. There are large numbers of unemployed people who don’t get counted by the unemployment rate. Many close friends have been forced to move from the county to find jobs.
The people losing their jobs are going to suffer and probably be forced to move away, but their suffering doesn’t count. I guess when The Star talks about the county not getting hurt, it is only referring to those people fortunate enough to stay employed.
— Phillip Soltan, Camarillo
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:34 PM
Keep our teens safe
Re: your May 23 article, “Victim’s family seeks limits on teen driving”:
I think that most of the proposals in Sen. Jackie Speier’s SB806 will have a positive effect on the well-being of our teenager drivers.
Extending the provisionary period to one year is a good idea; our teens need as much driving experience without the distractions of others in the car.
I have one concern, and that is the proposal that “young drivers would have to display placards in their cars alerting other drivers and their passengers that they are under age.” I’m sure the intention, like the rest of the proposals in the bill, is to further the accountability and safety of teenage drivers. I do wonder if there is another possible ramification that has not been l looked at.
Unfortunately, there are individuals in our society who target teenagers. I would bet that many of us have experienced someone else driving aggressively or impatiently. In addition, according to the Megan's Law database, there are 687 registered sex offenders in our county alone.
For these reasons, I do not think that having teens display placards in their cars is a great idea. Advertising that there is a teen driving the car could have the opposite effect of what the proposed legislation intends. Let’s look at keeping our teens safe beyond just their driving practices.
You can share your concerns with Sen. Speier by e-mailing her at Senator.Speier@sen.ca.gov or writing to her at Senator Speier, Senate District 08, Capitol Office, State Capitol, Room 2032, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Mary Ann Downs, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:22 PM
Craft letters better
Re: Paul Delaney’s May 24 letter, “Unfounded allegations”:
Mr. Delaney, probably using talking points he was fed, lays out a scenario of how the Phil Gatch situation unfolded. He throws out names and facts with abandon, including the claim that I was a member of and helped form Save the Conejo 2000.
If the rest of Mr. Delaney’s facts are as inaccurate as that claim, he appears to have little credibility.
The truth is, I am not a member of the group and have never attended their meetings. In fact, if one questions those who formed the organization, they might tell you that I was not supportive of starting the group. I agree with their slow-growth goals as, I suspect, a majority of residents also do.
I suggest that Mr Delaney and other letter writers craft their letters a little better to disguise the origin of the thoughts expressed. Also, he should be a little less cavalier about arbitrarily throwing names and accusations out.
— John Relle, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:20 PM
Charter school wrong
On May 23, the Ventura County Board of Education went from a board of trustees to a “kangaroo court.”
In approving a charter for Vista Real Charter High School, the county board usurped local school board decision-making in Simi Valley, Fillmore, Santa Paula and Oxnard. The board also went against recommendations of its own staff that the charter violated state education code and opened the county school board to possible litigation.
Marty Bates, Dean Kunicki, Ron Matthews and Chris Valenzana made sure that opposition speakers had only three minutes to speak, while making sure the backers of Vista Real had almost unlimited time to speak. Only Mary Louise Peterson showed the kind of trust and responsibility expected of a county school board “trustee.”
The evidence presented showed that not only is Vista Real a sub-standard academic program, but that it will also drain needed dollars from local districts while paying large financial returns to its “investors.” Vista Real refused to disclose who these “investors” are that will be profiting from the education of our children.
Bates, Kunicki, Matthews and Valenzano have shown by their actions that, in my opinion, they are not worthy of the public trust or re-election to the county school board.
Arleigh Kidd, Simi Valley
Posted by Andrea Howry at 12:05 PM
Wrong target
The neoconservative administration in Washington has been yelling and screaming about the Newsweek story that was retracted last week and its effect on the view of America in the Islamic world.
The evidence is not that Newsweek got the basic facts wrong. It seems clear that there has been gross misconduct at Guantanamo. Newsweek probably erred in printing this story without the proper level of corroboration, but such an error in judgment by a news organization is nowhere near the level of duplicity and lies engaged in by the Bush administration.
Now we are informed that the story told by the administration about the Pat Tillman death was a pack of lies concocted to foster a spirit of patriotism and support for the bankrupt policies of a failed administration.
The Tillman family has it right. This administration was disrespectful to Pat Tillman and his family, and it has been no less disrespectful to the soldiers, sailors and airmen and women it has sent to war, to their families and to the public at large by its continual stream of lies on a daily basis.
Instead of asking for the resignation of Newsweek editors, it is time that the public start to demand the resignation of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the rest of the gang that couldn’t and can’t and won’t shoot straight with the American public or the world. Until they are gone, America will have no credibility anywhere in the world.
— Ira Cohen, Thousand Oaks
Posted by Andrea Howry at 11:56 AM
May 23, 2005
Significant election
Perhaps the election of Antonio Villaraigosa to be mayor of Los Angeles was significant in two ways. Neither ethnicity nor partisan politics was an important factor.
— Donald Driehaus, Port Hueneme
Posted by Andrea Howry at 02:11 PM
God created evolution
Re: The Rev. Leslie R. Lanier’s May 19 letter, “Faith needed”:
The reverend presents “a commonly accepted version of the theory of evolution,” which is common among uneducated people but not among biologists.
Evolution doesn’t postulate the “Big Bang Theory.” Evolution doesn’t claim life was magically created by lightning in a mixture of chemicals.
Evolution does attempt to explain natural genetic phenomena by four main ideas:
(1) Life reproduces itself through duplication of chemicals known as DNA and/or RNA.
(2) Through natural processes (e.g. genetic recombination), gene frequencies can become altered within a population.
(3) Over time, and with additional factors such as geographic isolation and genetic drift, a population’s phenotype (outwardly visible characters) and genotype (genetic makeup) can be altered.
(4) The natural processes in (3) can eventually lead to such pronounced genetic differences that new species arise.
The Rev. Lanier claims that evolution “cannot be proved.” This is false, at least regarding processes (1) through (3). The evidence for DNA and RNA as the genetic material is irrefutable. Genetic modification is also commonly observable, such as in the natural creation of insecticide-resistant insects, or in the unnatural (human-caused) creation of specialized breeds of dogs, horses, etc. The evidence for genetic drift is abundant in the studies of Darwin and many others.
The fourth process, the creation of new species, has solid evidence (but is not unquestionably proved) by various methods, such as DNA sequence similarities, organ and bone homologies, comparative embryology, skeletal remains, etc.
Creation myths of the world’s religions must be supported by faith, since these myths have no known scientific evidence. Evolution doesn’t need to be accepted by faith, because it is supported by an abundance of scientific evidence.
As a faithful Christian, I believe that God is perhaps smart enough to figure out how to make evolution work within the framework of the natural universe.
— Michael Sullivan, Ventura
Posted by Andrea Howry at 02:07 PM
We’re the guinea pigs
Re: Art Miller’s May 19 letter, “LNG is safe, clean”:
It sounds like Mr. Miller is getting all his information from the liquefied natural gas corporations or their public relations people.
There have been no evidentiary hearings to show that there is even a need to import LNG from foreign countries. There certainly is evidence that importing LNG will actually increase the price of natural gas.
We all must know by now that the last energy crisis was created by Enron’s manipulation of the energy supply. Steps have already been taken to drive up the price of natural gas by deliberately restricting the flow of cheap domestic natural gas into California.
The natural gas from the LNG tankers and terminals must go to the gas distribution center near Camarillo and then on to Santa Clarita for distribution to the Los Angeles area. That means running huge high-pressure pipelines on the ocean floor and onshore through Oxnard and Ventura County.
The pipelines will run by existing schools and proposed school sites. The pipelines will run by existing homes and planned home developments. Some schools will not be built, and others will need to be moved because of the hazard exclusion areas. It is questionable whether new homes can be built in proximity to the pipelines.
Certainly the proposed LNG offshore terminals and processing facilities would be guinea pig projects. Everyone who has seen BHP Billiton’s video demonstrating their project has seen that it is all animated. There is no “live” action because it has never been done before.
— Shirley Godwin, Oxnard
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:55 PM
No special election
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should abandon his intention of a special election — at the shameful cost of approximately $80 million — in favor of getting that money to children who go to bed hungry or without food entirely over a weekend.
The economy is not strong enough to indulge this form of campaigning toward the next election.
— Marise Cherin, Ventura
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:46 PM
Seismic study ready
A seismic study of liquefied natural gas terminals and their high pressure pipelines off Ventura County, which was requested by U.S. Rep. Lois Capps on June 25, 2004, has been released by the United States Geological Survey.
The study can be downloaded at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1286/of2004-1286.pdf .
This report clearly shows the inadvisability of placing the two proposed liquefied natural gas terminals off the coast of Ventura County.
Also of concern is the dispute over the amount of natural gas reserves in the Scarborough gas fields of Australia. This April 11 story in the Australian publication “The Age,” http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/BHP-and-ExxonMobil-in-gas-dispute/2005/04/11/1113071909344.html?oneclick=true# (registration required) raises serious questions about the ability of Australia to even deliver their domestic LNG to our coast.
I believe that both of the above stories deserve in-depth reporting, beyond the scope of letters to the editor.
The citizens of our affected area have a need and right to know.
— Eugene D. Hubbard, Oxnard
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:42 PM
Public input critical
I agree that the local community should have a say in the siting off liquefied natural gas terminals in Ventura County.
Already, the community input given on the BHP Billiton project has made them improve the project — such as their decision to move their proposed onshore pipelines away from most residential areas.
Luckily, the federal energy bill doesn’t change a thing about the process for Cabrillo Port, and when the time comes to review their environmental study again, the State Lands Commission and the Coast Guard will come back to us for our input again.
— Sharon Kloeris, Port Hueneme
Posted by Andrea Howry at 01:28 PM
Ignorance inexcusable
Re: your May 22 article, “Study: Errors thwart missing kids law”:
I was upset and appalled by this article, which stated, “Police officials around the country offered several excuses for their reporting failures, in