PUBLIC FORUM : HOLLYWOOD'S RESPONSIBILITY.President Clinton's plan to convene an emergency summit of the entertainment industry will surely prove fruitless. Does he really think Hollywood entertainment industry ``bad boys'' are ever going to take responsibility for their role in the violent carnage expressed in Littleton? This is an industry steeped in fantasy and riddled with self-denial, one in which the practice of institutionalized in·sti·tu·tion·al·ize tr.v. in·sti·tu·tion·al·ized, in·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·ing, in·sti·tu·tion·al·iz·es 1. a. To make into, treat as, or give the character of an institution to. b. racism flourishes, thus limiting the chances for positive cultural portrayals while wanton Grossly careless or negligent; reckless; malicious. The term wanton implies a reckless disregard for the consequences of one's behavior. A wanton act is one done in heedless disregard for the life, limbs, health, safety, reputation, or property rights of mayhem permeates the silver screen and video games See video game console. . Perhaps it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a for the Commission on Human Rights to intervene. True, they would have to digress di·gress intr.v. di·gressed, di·gress·ing, di·gress·es To turn aside, especially from the main subject in writing or speaking; stray. See Synonyms at swerve. from solving global atrocities to facing the demons Demons See also devil; evil; ghosts; hell; spirits and spiritualism. ademonist one who denies the existence of the devil or demons. bogyism, bogeyism recognition of the existence of demons and goblins. of Hollywood, but it could be done. Another possibility is that the FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. could exact regulations mandating more violence-free programming. After all, how much longer must our youths and underrepresented un·der·rep·re·sent·ed adj. Insufficiently or inadequately represented: the underrepresented minority groups, ignored by the government. groups continue to be fed into the ovens of disparity, negative typecasting The word typecasting (past participle typecast) can mean more than one thing:
- Louisa B. Caucia Montrose Ban away I danced with delight when I heard the news that the president is going to put through new tough anti-gun laws to decrease the violence in our schools, since the laws we already have banning assault rifles A
Because you can never tell when a teen-ager is going to go berserk ber·serk adj. 1. Destructively or frenetically violent: a berserk worker who started smashing all the windows. 2. , I feel that now is the time for government to also ban the sale of black cars, trench coats, pipe bombs, knives, baseball bats, fireplace tools, matches, lighters, crossbows and flaming arrows. And, oh yes, the Internet. I feel safer already! - Mary Bempechat Van Nuys Jackson made it worse The good news is that the three POWs are free, the bad news is the Rev. Jesse Jackson Noun 1. Jesse Jackson - United States civil rights leader who led a national campaign against racial discrimination and ran for presidential nomination (born in 1941) Jesse Louis Jackson, Jackson had taken it upon himself to execute his notion of American foreign policy. I don't remember the people of this nation electing him to the presidency, I don't recall the president nominating him for secretary of state and the Congress approving his nomination. He is without portfolio, he has no credentials that say he represents the American people in any way. What he's done is taken it upon himself to undercut the president, the Congress and NATO NATO: see North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO in full North Atlantic Treaty Organization International military alliance created to defend western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion. . Milosevic, I'm sure, could hardly believe his good fortune when Jackson showed up, the perfect tool to pry a wedge in the resolve of NATO and the American people. This practitioner of genocide rode atop Jackson's back to glory. How magnanimous mag·nan·i·mous adj. 1. Courageously noble in mind and heart. 2. Generous in forgiving; eschewing resentment or revenge; unselfish. it was of him to release the three POWs. He is to be viewed as a modern-day saint. The reality of the situation is this - Jackson is a political animal, like his counterpart in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Al Sharpton, and he appears at every crisis like a genie out of a bottle ready to make the situation worse than it already is. - L.A. Calabro Northridge Wrong then, wrong now When people say that it was wrong to get involved in Serbia, they are really saying that it was wrong to be involved in Serbia, because getting involved is only a fleeting moment in time. And if it was wrong to be involved then, it is still wrong to be involved now. The moral and strategic issues haven't changed. Staying involved is even more wrong the longer we are involved, because whatever threat Milosevic might have posed to the United States has already been lessened, and the far more potent threats of Iraq, North Korea and China are less effectively countered while we are involved in Serbia. Support our troops "Support our troops" is a slogan commonly used in the United States and in Canada in reference to the United States Military and the Canadian Forces (Army, Air & Navy). The slogan has been used in the recent conflicts, including the Gulf War[1] and Iraq war. by pulling them back before Russia supports Serbia and World War III World War III (abbreviated WWIII), or the Third World War, is a term used to describe a hypothetical conflict on the scale of World War I and World War II, or even larger, such as a nuclear holocaust. looms on the horizon. Without a declaration of war, this war is Clinton's war. If we don't have the guts to declare war on Serbia, then let's cut the hypocrisy and get out of Serbia. - William O. Felsman Woodland Hills God-given ability Frances Flower says ``God created us, and it is not up to us to decide when this body should die'' (Public Forum, April 29). That being the case, shouldn't we die gracefully when we get a disease such as cancer, polio or even pneumonia, or when we fall off a fence and break our neck, or get bitten by a snake? After all, God didn't create modern medicine. However, if you want to say God gave us medicine to help us in our suffering, than I say that God gave us the ability to end our suffering when it threatens to rob us of our dignity, or when we find it too much to bear. - Diane Silver Arleta Bring back prayer The fundamental problem which is at the root of all the disasters that are affecting America's schoolchildren schoolchildren school npl → écoliers mpl; (at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school today is the elimination of prayer from the public schools of America. A majority of the justices of the Supreme Court were convinced by skillful skill·ful adj. 1. Possessing or exercising skill; expert. See Synonyms at proficient. 2. Characterized by, exhibiting, or requiring skill. mendacity men·dac·i·ty n. pl. men·dac·i·ties 1. The condition of being mendacious; untruthfulness. 2. A lie; a falsehood. into passing that dreadful decision in 1962. Public prayer must be restored to America's public schools; the sooner the better. - David Neiman Studio City Just a start Your editorial ``How to save the city'' (April 29) was outstanding. It gave me a lot of food for thought. It is not only informative, it would also make a great ``platform'' for anyone that is considering running for City Council of Los Angeles. ``Listening to and respecting the people and their values. ``The council will have to demand efficiency and accountability throughout the bureaucracy. ``It will have to free up millions of dollars in ineffective spending and target the saving to improving the quality of life in the city. ``Stop the giveaway of tax dollars to city employees. ``It will have to develop policies on growth, economic development and infrastructure repair that meet the needs of the people . . .'' You are right, this would be just a start! - Mort Diamond Canoga Park Vouchers work Steve Blazak, director of communications Director of Communications is a position in the private and public sectors. The Director of Communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. for United Teachers Los Angeles, says that Earl Hutchinson didn't bother with the facts (Public Forum, April 30). Blazak is the one who should examine the facts. For example, 1996 data from the Milwaukee school choice experiment by professors Jay P. Greene of the University of Houston Center for Public Policy and Paul E. Peterson Paul E. Peterson is a leading scholar on education reform.[1] His work has largely focused on the importance of parental choice for improving school outcomes. He is Editor-In-Chief of Education Next of Harvard University shows that the reading scores of private school children chosen from low-income households in their third and fourth years were, on average, from 3 to 5 percentile points higher, respectively, than those of comparable low-income public school students. Math scores, on average, were 5 and 12 percentile points higher for the third and fourth years, respectively. - Hal Netkin Van Nuys Evil does exist We do not need tougher gun laws; we need tougher parents. Children who are raised with a strong concept of right and wrong rarely commit crimes. We do not need school prayer; we need to pray at home, regularly. Children who pray usually grow up with the traits God desires us to have - compassion, responsibility, obedience of the law and a firm understanding of the ``golden rule.'' We do not need to ``understand'' the two murderers who committed this vile act; we need to acknowledge evil and continue to oppose it. Many have referred to these two monsters as ``the shooters'' and labeled them as ``misguided'' or ``left out.'' If they were not evil then we ought to add Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson to their company. Our children are not being schooled in the concept that evil does, in fact, exist. We are more and more frequently witness to the results of such foolishness. - Steve McCombs Chatsworth Product liability If a product is defective due to design or manufacture, and as a result of such defect, someone is injured or killed, the manufacturer's product liability insurance becomes the third party's recourse. However, to suggest that gun manufacturers' coverage comes into play when someone is killed by a gun is ludicrous unless the gun exploded and killed the shooter. Only gun control fanatics, together with our unscrupulous legal sharks ,could completely subvert the purpose for, and the intent of, product liability insurance. The tobacco companies sold a product that was known to be harmful, or even fatal to its users, even though they were warned of the risk. It cannot be denied that guns have the implicit capability to kill a human being, but that is not a design or manufacturing error. The anti-gun groups will go to any lengths, including baseless lawsuits against gun manufacturers, to ban the possession of guns by private citizens. - Harlan Campbell Tujunga Palmdale airport I am one of the many residents of Burbank and the Valley who are active in trying to limit the expansion of Burbank Airport. I was delighted to see the column by John Agoglia, ``LAX must be modernized to meet needs'' (Opinions, April 29) in which he indicated that Los Angeles World Airports Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA is the airport oversight and operations department for the city of Los Angeles, California. This department owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport, Palmdale Regional Airport, and Van is on the cusp of developing a commercial airport in Palmdale. Often when I mention an airport in Palmdale to a resident of Burbank or the Valley their reaction is, ``I don't want to drive to Palmdale.'' To me, the goal in developing a commercial airport in Palmdale is not to close the Burbank Airport but simply to relieve some of the pressure of increasing air travel from both Burbank and LAX. No one that I am aware of is trying to close the Burbank Airport, period. It makes much more sense for an air traveler from Santa Clarita to drive against traffic to get to an airport in Palmdale rather than sit stuck in traffic on the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. on the way to Burbank. - Ron Vanderford Burbank Then send money After reading two articles on illegal immigration, ``Costs, benefits associated with illegal immigrants,'' and ``Davis gives state a wedgie'' (April 18), wouldn't it be right and just to send the illegals back and let them take the necessary steps to become lawful citizens? The citizens that are against 187 could then send money to their countries until they become lawful members of this country. - Verna Guthrie Arleta |
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