Lopez has been a role model for Vista
A letter to the editor the other day really saddened me. Such anattack on a man running for Vista City Council.
Frank Lopez is always a name I think of when I think of Vista,the city. He’s a hometown boy who has been in business in the samespot for the 35 years I’ve lived here and then some. Sure he’s hadhis problems, but who of us hasn’t? With the help of his friendsand his town he has weathered them.
He’s concerned enough about Vista’s kids that every fall he isout chopping and delivering firewood to raise money forscholarships. I know, he’s delivered wood to me for years. How manyother guys are out breaking their backs for his community?
On the Planning Commission he has stood up for some unpopularissues because he felt they were right. And I, for one, am glad tosee that he has the strength to side with churches who want toconstruct new facilities. It is still hard for me to realize thatmany in our community would rather have a shopping center than ahouse of worship, but I’m from another era.
Would Frank Lopez be a good addition to the City Council? Isurely believe he would. Would he be a positive role model for theLatino community? He has been for many years.
MARY FROESE
Vista
Ready to leave this hypocritical country
Life is precarious and the U.S. government can#’t be trusted.Last Memorial Day the talking hydrocephalics on the moron boxreminded me of dead cats pickled in formaldehyde, awaitingdissection in high school biology class. They prattled on aboutstiffs in uniform who gave their lives so we could live in freedom,a nation perpetually at war, and their banal, yellowing scriptstarted to crumble like incipient garden mulch imported from Pravdaor Izvestia, stillborn caviar and a late-term abortion of thetruth.
We’re not free and I don’t owe you squat, soldier boys andgirls. Think otherwise, come try and collect. Love it or leave it,you say? How starkly disjunctive #’tis of thee. Maybe this ditzynewsrag would care to sponsor an emigration lottery. I’ll buy thefirst ticket. I can think of a dozen countries I#’d rather live in,given a modest grubstake and a few business, friendship orpolitical connections.
And worry ye not, American clowns, I still move way too fast forthe door to hit me on the way out. I#’ll think of y’all on yoursilly jingoist holydays, besotted with flakily frosted shibbolethsand long-in-the-tooth cheerleader rhetoric, utterly disjointed fromthe freedom you talk and the de facto treadmill serfdom youwalk.
KELLY PATRICK
HENNESSY
Oceanside
Road to nowhere given to developers
Thank you for Paul Sisson’s interesting piece (“A bridge tonowhere,” July 6) on the Neptune Street bridge to nowhere. One ofthe other things that make us go hmmm about that bridge is that theOceanside City Council has in effect given it to the developer ofthe condos being built at its eastern end, in a curious kind ofreverse eminent domain. Now it will go nowhere except to thosecondos, and there will be no way to reach them except thebridge.
Although geographically located east of the freeway, these220-plus units will be accessible only from the west. The cityplans to route all traffic to and from that development through theresidential neighborhood west of the freeway.
The developer’s studies estimate traffic will at least double inthat neighborhood. The city intends no traffic light at theintersection of Neptune and Coast Highway, and no stop signs onNevada, Ditmar or Freeman.
Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen. We’re in for abumpy ride.
ELIZABETH BECK
Oceanside
The haves, and the have-mores
In an Oct. 20, 2000, campaign speech at the annual Al SmithDinner, a traditional forum for presidential candidates, George W.Bush gazed around the diamond-studded $800-a-plate crowd and said,”This is an impressive crowd ó the haves, and the have-mores. Somepeople call you the elites; I call you my base.” That remarkablequote was captured on videotape and appeared, among many otherrevelations of Bush’s personal philosophy, in Michael Moore’s”Fahrenheit 9/11.”
Well, he really delivered to his base, didn’t he? With but a fewcrumbs to the lower classes, he enacted unbelievably huge tax cutsto the multimillionaires ó the most outrageous, in my opinion,being the ultimate elimination of the estate tax, which will onlydevelop and perpetuate aristocracies, not of blue blood, but ofgreen money.
The gap between the rich and poor has been slowly widening, butBush is now truly dividing us into a two-America country. The richare getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. To me, this isimmoral, criminal, and can only lead to disaster in the longrun.
ROCKY VELGOS
Vista
We are robbing our schools for other priorities
Having read Peter Schrag’s July 17 column in the North CountyTimes, I am reminded how warped our sense of values is. We, as asociety, have plenty of money for casino gambling; billions arecollected annually in California. We want and can erect expensivestadiums for professional ball teams. Restaurants are full.Fairways, hundreds in this county, are not wanting.
Yet we don’t want to fund sufficiently our most preciousinstitutions, our public schools. They should be on the top of ourlist ó the most substantial buildings, the most far-seeing boardsand administrators and best teachers. Repairs, food supply andtransportation should be provided in the highest quality by thebest personnel whether within the institutional order or fromwithout.
This comes down to taxes. Ugly word. It should be recognized asinvestment, contribution, participation. Schools are our veryhighest priority. They create capable citizens who become the nexusof our nation. Otherwise we have degenerated to a stingy,self-serving, nearsighted, irresponsible cabal. What a shame.
WILLIAM D. BOYCE
Escondido
Liberals want to destroy America
As the U.S.S.R. had to be dissolved for the U.S. to survive, theliberals and their minions must also be dealt with. Civil war is apossibility because these hedonistic scavengers and theirpropagandists, the liberal media, distort and bias news in anattempt to denigrate honor, loyalty, responsibility andspirituality.
They’ve almost succeeded in destroying marriage with theirdebauched abortion, hom*osexual and freedom-for-immoralitypositions. They twist common sense into humanistic nonsense, andaided by guilt-ridden, neurotic, political and Hollywood liberals,they#’ve begun to dismantle this once great country.
You can’t harness leftists; they are incurable because they livein an affluent fantasyland led by such moral stalwarts as Bill andHillary Clinton, who have their own Mordor: CNN, the Clinton NewsNetwork.
Take a side! There are explosive times coming. If you wantnational accountability, strength, morality and heroic peopleagain, be prepared to fight. Like Arjuna, you can’t get out of itjust because you want to avoid the pain of conflict.
RICHARD COLE
Encinitas
Save Buena Vista Lagoon from saltwater
North County beaches are in jeopardy due to the planned regimechanges to the Buena Vista Lagoon. The entities considering changesto the lagoon have decided the favored change will be a saltwaterintrusion to the western lagoon basins. None of the studies showsthe changes to the beaches necessary to affect this change in watertype.
Questions about the changes to the beach are answered only ingeneralities. To allow saltwater intrusion, a system of jettiesmust be built similar to the system at Encina power plant. Alsonecessary is a deep, paved channel to and from the mouth of thelagoon and across the beach.
The resulting changes to tidal flows, sand scouring andaccumulation and surf patterns are not being considered. Therestricted north-south public access apparently is of no concern atthis point.
Our citizens should be aware of these plans and contact thestate Department of Fish and Game, cities of Carlsbad andOceanside, the Buena Vista Lagoon Foundation, Save Our Surf,Friends of the Beach and others involved. Don#’t wait for the EIRprocess to make your opinions known.
ALLAN J. WANAMAKER
Carlsbad
Illegal dumping makes Escondido stink
A July 2 article in the North County Times stated that Escondidofaces fines over illegal dumping. Green Tree Estates Mobile HomePark was the only area that the water district seems to feel wasaffected by this. I take exception to this since the whole areaaround Hale Avenue, Avenida del Diablo, Citracado Parkway and moreare affected by the rotten, foul smell on a daily basis.
The paper stated that this problem has only been occurring forthe last two months. Wrong! I live less than one mile from theplant. We have had to contend with this for the whole time I havelived here, which is a little over three years. Some days it is soobnoxious that residents are unable to be outdoors for any extendedperiod of time or to take daily walks. As you drive by the area youare overcome by the smell because it is so offensive.
Thanks to many of our residents who have written letters andmade phone calls to the water control district complaining of thesmell. I feel that because of their persistence we are finallygetting some action. I sincerely hope that we will hear more aboutthis and see some positive results.
MAXENE SEMMONS
Casa de Amigos Mobile Home Estates
Escondido
Do more research before reacting
I, too, like Evan Graham (Letters July 30), reacted to apparenterrors in Sam Hamod’s July 23 letter. I immediately composed aletter pointing out those errors. But then, on reflection, Irealized that there were two congresses of the United States; oneunder the Articles of Confederation and the present one under theConstitution. So I decided to do some research to verify ordisprove the claims I had written.
I was already aware that both Lincoln and John Quincy Adams hadserved in the House of Representatives, but I also discovered thatJefferson had served in the Congress under the Confederation. I wasunable to find any information that Washington had served in theConfederation Congress. I verified that John Quincy Adams ofMassachusetts was elected nine times to the House ofRepresentatives, where he served from 1831 until his death in 1848,and that Abraham Lincoln served one term as a U.S. representativefrom Illinois from 1847 to 1849.
I have reached two conclusions: 1) Mr. Graham should follow hisown advice and do more research, and 2) Mr. Hamod should clarifywhich one or both of the U.S. Congresses he was referring to.
MARSHALL BYER
Vista
Vegetables, beef have feminizing effect on males
It is discouraging to see the amount of energy being wasted ondebates about sexual orientation.
As long as we continue to fatten our beef cattle with feminizinghormones, our thick he-man steaks will have a feminizing effect onall who consume them. It was wryly amusing to watch conservativeswarmly defending DDT while remaining completely ignorant of thefact that it worked by feminization.
Our wholesome veggies are being defended by pesticides, whichwork by feminizing male insects. No one worries about contaminatingthe entire biosphere to the point where the last vestiges of malefertility are now expected by Earth Island Journal to disappearfrom Europe by 2010, and from the U.S. by 2020.
These suicidal policies are an integral part of agribusiness,and will persist until we achieve self-extinction.
SELMA VON HADEN
Vista
Constitution doesn’t call for political parties
There is a constant bleating (as in sheep) in the media aboutthe benefits of one political party or another.
There is nothing ó repeat nothing ó in the Constitutionrequiring that we have political parties at all. Can the Americanpeople be so stupid that they need to have someone tell them whatto think? Are they so brainwashed that they no longer can think forthemselves?
I have heard some people my age say that their party was goodenough for their grandmother or father or other relative, so it isgood enough for them. Ask them what the party stands for and fewcan tell you anything about the party’s objectives or platforms.They only parrot what they have heard on radio or TV. They do noteven realize that the party’s purpose has changed over the years.Today’s Republicans do not believe in the same things asRepublicans of 50 years ago.
Why isn’t it possible for politicians to stand on their ownaccomplishments? It should not come down to voting for the least ofthe two evils instead of voting for the best man for the job. Theyshould be working for the people, not the party.
WILLIAM EADE
San Marcos
Thank you to some really great people
My husband and I want to thank all of the people who came to myrescue on June 15.
I was attempting to board the North County Transit bus No. 322,to head home. I was carrying a load of groceries and, consequently,I lost my balance. The next thing I knew, my tail bone and skullbone, in that order, were being rudely introduced to the sidewalk(ouch!).
I believe the bus driver was out of his seat simultaneously withmy introduction to the cement, advising me not to move. Someoneelevated my head, while a gentleman took my pulse. Manyparishioners from the Pilgrim United Church ran to my aid. MaryTrotta, with her baby Luke in tow, called my husband and offeredhim a ride to the hospital, where the paramedics had taken me, andtwo hours later when I was released, with only a smattering ofbruises (thank God), she returned, with the young one in tow andchores to do, and drove us home.
To the medical people, the friends, neighbors and, of course, toMary and little Luke ó thank you, very much. All of you representthe true America that I know.
DONNETTE and ERWIN PIERCE
Carlsbad
Noise is out of hand
Every weekend hundreds of thundering motorcycles take to theroads. Having lived beside a popular route and hearing the thunderof 50 go by in a pack for five or 10 minutes and actually rattlethe glass in the windows I feel this situation needs to be dealtwith.
My sympathies go out to the beautiful mountain communities thatmust endure this nonstop symphony, not to mention the overpoweredrace bikes that pass on corners and into oncoming traffic. Can’tCHP set up decibel checkpoints and issue citations?
Limits apply to off-road equipment.
RICHARD HAMILTON
Escondido
Columnist on mark with Haynes critique
Paul Jacobs’ Aug. 1 column on Assemblyman Ray Haynes ignoringthe welfare of his constituents was right on the mark. Jacobs’column correctly discussed Haynes’ pandering to the extremists inthe Republican Party and doing little more than blame Democrats foreverything rather than working constructively on behalf of hisconstituents. Haynes doesn’t just pander to the extremists, he isone of them.
If there is a union out there, Haynes’ knee — the right one –jerks and he’s automatically against it, whatever it is or does forits membership or for America — except, of course the union hebelongs to. As Jacobs pointed out, Haynes would seemingly ratherhave unscreened daily hires — which could include sexual predators– providing services to children at schools than vetted, stable,reasonably compensated staffers.
I don’t favor a Democrat being elected, I only want theRepublican Party to bring forward a competent, electable andintellectually honest candidate.
Shouldn’t be hard.
Jim Horn
Temecula
Editor’s note: Horn is a former member of the RiversideRepublican Central Committee.
History paints dismal picture for liberalism
This being an election year, we will soon be knee-deep incandidates running for office, with each espousing allegiances invarying degrees to conservatism or to liberalism or to somewhere inbetween. As such, it may be instructive to look back in history andeven prehistory to see how mankind has profited from each of thesetwo approaches to managing our affairs.
I’m afraid to report that liberalism has not fared all that wellthroughout this extended period of time. When I look at thedisciplines of biology and genetics, I see immediately that mostexperiments of nature, which one would equate to liberalism, havefailed miserably.
However you may feel abut the concept of evolution, there can beno denying that some such force with equivalent properties toevolution is at work in nature and, over time, is responsible forchanges within and between species. That being said, by far themajority of these experiments, mutations by name, are detrimentalto the survival of the recipient. And, so, it can be seen thatnature’s experiments are rarely beneficial.
By analogy, any logical conclusion from this look back inhistory and even prehistory paints a dismal future for a liberalapproach in managing mankind’s affairs, whereas, it can beconcluded that conservatism is, at the very least, an endorsem*ntof mankind’s triumphs over the forces of nature.
Ron Edwards
Wildomar
Stem-cell research could cure diabetes
After watching the Democratic National Convention, I am evenmore certain that John Kerry should be our next president. Hisspeech was optimistic and reached out to those of us who want aunited America. Values, such as helping those in need around theworld, are important to me. We cannot be alone in this endeavor; wemust work with other nations to find the cure for AIDS and otherdiseases such as diabetes.
As a diabetic, I look forward to a cure; and if stem cellresearch will do that, I am for it. Diabetics are subject toamputation, blindness, heart attacks, strokes and a life of takinginsulin injections. When I see children suffering from this diseaseit breaks my heart, because I know from experience that prickingyour finger four to five times a day and giving yourself injectionsis painful.
The dangers of coma are always prevalent. When my blood sugargets too low, I feel horrible and it takes me two to three days torecover. I am lucky in that I have health insurance to pay for mymany medications and I take advantage of preventive medicine tohelp me fight the disease. This kind of help should be available toall through health insurance. I only ask that you take this intoconsideration when you cast your vote this November. Vote for JohnKerry.
Sylvia Avila
Murrieta
Republicans aren’t racists
This is in response to a letter from Leon Robison (Letters, Aug.4), regarding the enforcement of immigration laws. He refers to the”racist event outside the Border Patrol offices” and then says “Allthose white, Republican faces spewing their hate.”
Is the writer suggesting that being Republican means being aracist? This kind of “logic” is so warped that it discreditsanything else he had to say. I’m sure there are some racists in theRepublican Party, just like in any other party. I am a Republicanand I resent the implication that I am a racist. Wanting lawsenforced does not make one a racist.
I do firmly believe in following the law, not just the ones welike or the ones that are convenient. If people were allowed tobreak the laws they disagree with — instead of voting for change– this country would dissolve into chaos.
I don’t hate anybody, but I do want our existing laws respectedand enforced.
Greg Sullivan
Canyon Lake
City can take land, but not freedom
I would like to thank The Californian for allowing my opinion tobe posted in the newspaper (“Progress overwhelming Murrieta,” July27). I must add that our “Group of 5” has had an overwhelmingresponse, and we wanted to thank the community for theirsupport.
Due to the city of Murrieta invoking the power of eminent domainto take 25 feet of land from five property owners along JeffersonAvenue, Richard Ahn may lose so much property that the reminder maybe rendered useless, and his neighbor Laura Brandt may be lefthomeless. Bill Baldwin may stand to lose two feet of his home andall his fence. Gary Gwinn may have to turn over 6,000 square feetof his land, and we may be counting cars instead of sheep.
But to know we have the support of the people restores our faithin mankind. While the city of Murrieta can take away our property,homes and improvements without just compensation, there is oneright they cannot take away and that is freedom of speech!
Cathy Forkey
Murrieta
