Category: srrojhysw

Granada Hills Is this an asylum? Re “Deal in LAFD-hazing suit” (Sept. 22): If City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo was not so busy with his wife and insurance problems, maybe this would not have resulted in this mess. Where is our mayor? Is he in another protest or chasing women around City Hall? Oh, don’t worry, we will post another bond or get it from the Department of Water and Power. You know, there are a lot of seniors who at the end of the month eat dog and cat food till they receive their check. Who is running this nuthouse? – Allen Karpinski Studio City No business driving Re “Back-in parking may go in reverse” (Sept. 25): People who cannot back their cars into angled, straight or parallel parking (or any kind of parking) have no business being behind the wheel in the first place. – Sheila Cooley Van Nuys Still on Skid Row Re “Satellite Skid Rows” (Our Opinions, Sept. 26): While the Los Angeles Mission has been and remains supportive of our police officers working the Safer Cities beat, we are equally concerned about the need for additional services for the homeless. The Los Angeles Mission does not receive government funding, so the effects of the lag in government services directly affects our ability to help those needing services. We have seen a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in various service requests by those coming in for meals, clothing, showers and other services over the same period last year. Our emergency beds have been full nearly every night this summer, this even after increasing our beds by 30 last fall and “our lobby nights” program also offers more than 100 additional people a place for safe shelter. There are those who moved out of Skid Row, but there are way too many that remain in need of help and hope. – Herb Smith President/CEO Los Angeles Mission It is not a right Re “Valley clergy unite to back gay marriage” (Sept. 27): Despite California (and other states) repeatedly rejecting any kind of homosexual unions, the gay-agenda people keep trying to foist it on us. It is not a right, certainly does not have anything to do with freedom of religion as per the Rev. Jay Atkinson, nor is it on a par with civil rights. I am appalled that anyone in the leadership role of a church would condone this. The Episcopal Church has been thrown into chaos because of its decision. It is clearly stated in the Bible that homosexuality is a sin so why would we allow a union? We will never approve of it. Give it up. – Sandy Mantik Sylmar Investing in libraries After California’s fourth-graders scored the lowest in the country on a national reading test (NAEP) in 1992, California blamed whole language and instituted intensive systematic phonics. Scores released Sept. 25 show that California’s fourth-graders scored a dismal 209, in a virtual tie for last place with Mississippi (208) and Louisiana (207), far below the national average of 220. Whole language wasn’t the problem, and phonics wasn’t the solution. California has the worst public and school libraries in the U.S. California continues to ignore research showing that investing in libraries results in higher reading achievement. – Stephen Krashen Rossier School of Education University of Southern California Showing the truth Re “De Palma’s planned film will hurt U.S. cause” (Viewpoint, Sept. 16): Hollywood production companies will release six new anti-war movies this fall film season, all demonizing the war in Iraq. How about a movie showing what it is like to be a woman or gay in Tehran? (Iran’s president says there are no gays in Iran, most likely due to the fact that they have all been hung or decapitated by the evil mullahs who run Iran.) My friends in Hollywood, who have enormous power to influence the world, now have someone to hate more than George W. Let’s get on with showing the truth about Iran and its crazy leaders. – David McCann Agoura Hills Low birth weight In his letter “Infant mortality” (Sept. 26), Paul Hutchinson states that “all the countries that are ahead of the USA in these very important areas have universal health coverage.” In the United States, very low-birth-weight infants have a much greater chance of being brought to term with the latest medical technologies. Some of those low-birth-weight babies die soon after birth, which boosts our infant-mortality rate, but in many other Western countries, those high-risk, low-birth-weight infants are not included when infant mortality is calculated. We can’t draw useful conclusions from incompatible data. – Ernst F. Ghermann Winnetka Consider the evidence Judge declares mistrial in case” (Sept. 26): If Phil Spector is retried for murder, his attorneys should try hard to find the jurors who acquitted O.J. Simpson to decide this case since they obviously chose to ignore the judge’s instructions to “carefully consider all the evidence” in that case. – Sol Taylor Sherman Oaks Back a generation Re “`The War”‘ (Your Opinions, Sept. 26): Louis Richter equates those who view the Iraq war as a total mess with the pacifists and isolationists from other eras. Wrong! According to all polls, most people who oppose the Iraq war are in total support of stopping al-Qaida. Iraq will set us back a generation from that effort. The only similarity of Iraq to World War II is that we have taken on the role of the Germans, whose mantra was “We must fight them there so we don’t have to fight them in the Fatherland.” They had Blitzkrieg. We had Shock and Awe. By the way, in regards to defending George Bush, you’re doing a heck of a job, Louis. – Chuck Heinold West Hills 10 more years I read that this administration will be asking for $50 billion for this so-called war. And speculation is that we will be in Iraq for at least 10 more years. It is getting to be like the Crusades. There is another item for which I fail to understand: If one does not think we should be in Iraq, then why is it assumed that one does not care for, and is against, those American troops there now? I feel deeply for all those men and women doing tours there. World War II had clarity attached to it. How unlike this Iraq conflict, which – to me, anyway – always seemed clouded. I think it is about time we begin making a concerted effort to extract our people from that area. – Leo Bertucelli Sherman Oaks George and Hillary I tuned in to the Democratic debate on Wednesday night and was both surprised and disappointed. I watched two hours of sidestepping and tap dancing around issues, no fresh new ideas on Social Security reform and health care, no real commitment to end the war and bring our troops home from Iraq or to keep them out of Iran, refusal to answer some questions and for other questions, dragged-out three-part nonanswers. I also saw hints of arrogance, smugness and stubbornness. All these things are my impression of only one candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton. From where I sit, she is nothing more than George Bush in a pantsuit. No thank you! – Eddie Johnson Panorama City Names and the games Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist.” – Beverly Triggs Granada Hills160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! Re “Deal in LAFD-hazing suit” (Sept. 22): I would gladly eat an entire case of dog food if I thought I could actually parlay it into a $1.43 million paycheck. While not desirable, the stuff isn’t at all toxic; it’s not even unhealthy for humans. This city sorely needs to reclaim its collective spine. – Thomas R. Atkins Sherman Oaks Ridiculous payoff Re “Deal in LAFD-hazing suit” (Sept. 22): Our mayor and City Council held a late Friday meeting to push through this ridiculous payoff to Tennie Pierce. This was done knowing that some of the council members opposed to this stupidity would be away for Yom Kippur. Pierce was a regular player in the frat-boy antics at his fire station. Our taxpayers do not wear T-shirts saying “Sock it to me!” – Emy Lenoir Blackwell