PUBLIC FORUM : UNBEARABLE HEARTBREAK.One of the most difficult things in life to understand is why a young, vibrant person, such as Candice Kerns, loses their life (``Teen's family, friends mourn on her birthday,`` Dec. 18). I can't say how sorry I am to Candice's family. Their heartbreak must be unbearable. I recently read something, though, that has helped me make some sense ofsuch tragedies. I can't remember where I read it, but I thought if I ever lost a child or a grandchild it may help put my heart at ease. The itemsaid that when someone dies at a very young age, that person was sent to us as a ``master`` - someone that had a very important lesson to teach the world. I choose to believe that now Candice has taught the world the lesson she had to teach, she has returned to a better place. Nothing will fill the void Candice's passing has left in her family's heart. Perhaps knowing that Candice was a blessed angel with a very special purpose to fulfill will, in some small way, will comfort those who loved her. - Marilyn Dalrymple Lancaster Bush's belief Re Maureen Dowd Maureen Dowd (born January 14, 1952) is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times.[1][2] She has worked for the Times since 1983, when she joined as a metropolitan reporter. column ``Bush stakes his claim with Jesus supporters'' (Opinions, Dec. 16). Maureen Dowd's thinly veiled contempt for Christians and their belief system has reached a new low. She is outraged that George Bush had the audacity to answer honestly (and courageously) a question by stating that Jesus Christ Jesus Christ: see Jesus. Jesus Christ 40 days after Resurrection, ascended into heaven. [N.T.: Acts 1:1–11] See : Ascension Jesus Christ kind to the poor, forgiving to the sinful. [N.T. had changed his life. Note that he did not initiate the discussion, and when ``pressed to elaborate,'' he again simply stated his personal belief in Christ as Savior. Dowd is amazed to learn that the Christian belief in Jesus Christ as personal savior is ``exclusionary!'' Well, Dowd, perhaps you should take a few minutes to read just your prejudices and learn what Christianity is all about before you castigate cas·ti·gate tr.v. cas·ti·gat·ed, cas·ti·gat·ing, cas·ti·gates 1. To inflict severe punishment on. See Synonyms at punish. 2. To criticize severely. someone for simply stating what the Bible (and of course, Jesus himself) said. By the way, where are the politically correct politically correct Politically sensitive adjective Referring to language reflecting awareness and sensitivity to another person's physical, mental, cultural, or other disadvantages or deviations from a norm; a person is not mentally retarded, but police when this kind of religious bigotry is being propagated? The silence is deafening! - Michael O'Neill Michael O'Neill can refer to:
Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. Dowd as psychic Maureen Dowd's Dec. 16 column disqualifying dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. presidential candidates Al Gore Noun 1. Al Gore - Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton (born in 1948) Albert Gore Jr., Gore and George W. Bush because they ``wear Jesus on the outside as a designer label,'' makes it clear that she rejects the U.S. Constitution's Article VI, Paragraph 3: `` . . . no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. .'' Dowd, like many journalists, believes the First Amendment gives her license to violate other peoples' constitutional rights and display her own bigotry in judging who are ``genuinely religious people.'' She even claims the psychic power to see if they are ``humbled by religion and are guided by it on the inside.'' - Bill Starr Burbank Clueless clue·less adj. Lacking understanding or knowledge. clueless Adjective Slang helpless or stupid Adj. 1. columnist Many thanks to Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. as a bunch of unsophisticated rubes Rubes is a syndicated newspaper single panel cartoon created by Leigh Rubin in 1984. Leigh Rubin began making and distributing his own greeting cards in 1979 through his company Rubes. (Daily News, Dec. 17). His thoroughly ignorant column on taking a group of people to see the movie ``Magnolia'' makes us out to be a community of country bumpkins who seem unable to comprehend a film that is different (read: groundbreaking). No wonder everyone ``over the hill'' calls the Valley a cultural wasteland. It's people like McCarthy who perpetuate that belief. The best part is that ``Magnolia`` is accumulating awards left and right.In addition, the Daily News' own Bob Strauss calls the film a cinematicmasterpiece worthy of four stars. So tell you what, Dennis. Next time you want to write about a movie, do us all a favor and take your motley crew to a film that's more your speed - say, Pokemon. Or better yet - leave the reviews of films to writers who have some respect for the craft. - Michael Genrich Northridge Bit defensive, Dennis What has happened to Dennis McCarthy? His column, ``Hollywood gets it wrong in `Magnolia' '' (Dec. 17), sounded like a piece from a defensive fuddy-duddy. The movie is a fictional account of characters who happen to live and work in the San Fernando Valley, not a documentary. Anyone reading the newspapers in the Valley sees everyday stories about con artists, murderers, rapists as well as good, hard-working, charitable people. My only problem with ``Magnolia,'' is I must travel to West Los Angeles
- Jack McGrath Valley Village Fearless review Bless Dennis McCarthy, my favorite Daily News writer, and his fearless review of the film ``Magnolia'' in the Dec. 17 Daily News. I didn't see the movie, but his observations sound so much like two movies, ``There's Something About Mary'' and ``American Beauty'' (which we walked out of), that I knew I would not waste my money on it. I'm not a prude prude n. One who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous. [French, short for prude femme, virtuous woman : Old French prude - as a bomber pilot in World War II, I heard it all - but I don't want to feel embarrassed to watch it on the screen with my wife or grandchildren. - Rupert Ford Burbank Easy for her How easy and hypocritical it is for somebody who is surrounded by armed security guards to say they no longer need the protection of firerms. Prior to her heightened political success, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein possessed a gun and a permit to carry it for about a decade. Did it take her this long to see how ``obvious'' it was that carrying a gun did not provide her with additional protection? If her permit to carry a concealed gun had not become public knowledge, illuminating her hypocrisy, she would probably still have it. The point is that at some point Feinstein had the courage and wisdom to take personal responsibility for her own safety, but she doesn't afford law-abiding taxpayers the same decision. Why? - Jeffrey Ramadan Woodland Hills What to count Jeff Clarke in ``Still counting'' (Public Forum, Dec. 4) and others on both sides of the argument are being haughty haugh·ty adj. haugh·ti·er, haugh·ti·est Scornfully and condescendingly proud. See Synonyms at proud. [From Middle English haut, from Old French haut, halt and insolent in·so·lent adj. 1. Presumptuous and insulting in manner or speech; arrogant. 2. Audaciously rude or disrespectful; impertinent. by assuming that others and I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how to count. Contrary to Jeff's letter, it is not about the ability to count, but rather about deciding what to count. In the sixth century, Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. the Short proposed that the numbers of the years be changed to reflect the life of Jesus. He took what was believed at that time to be the year in which Jesus was conceived and born, and he suggested the following year be No. 1. Since life begins at conception, the first year in which Jesus was alive was the year before year A.D. 1. Thus, A.D. 1 was the second year in which Jesus was alive, and 1999 is the 2000th year in which he lived. But Jesus was in Egypt when Herod died in 4 B.C. We don't know for certain which year was the 2000th. It was probably before 1997, but certainly isn't 2000, so we simply use what Denis proposed. Had he chosen to call the year of Jesus' birth 1, we would now be at the end of A.D. 2000 and starting the third millennium next January. Because he called the second year 1, the numbers are in line with modern numbers systems, except for the B.C. designations. What would have been A.D. 0, if they had had a 0, became 1 B.C. So, both mathematically and historically, we celebrate Jan. 1, 2000, as the beginning of the third millennium. - Donald Norvell Sun Valley Why we have winter Your article on the larger than usual full moon on Tuesday, Dec. 22, states that at this point, the moon will be at its closest point to the Earth (apogee), and the Earth at its closest point to the sun. The first statement on the position of the moon is correct, but not the Earth in relation to the sun. At this point, the Earth's northern hemisphere will be at its farthest point from the sun, making this day the shortest of the year. That is the reason we have winter. At this point also, the celestial equator and the ecliptic ecliptic (ēklĭp`tĭk, ĭ–), the great circle on the celestial sphere that lies in the plane of the earth's orbit (called the plane of the ecliptic). equator will be at its farthest point. The ecliptic is the apparent annual path of the sun's center on the celestial sphere. It is inclined 23.5 degrees to the celestial equator. - Michael A. Campos West Hills CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Taylor Towne, left, comforts fellow L.A. Baptist High School student Emily Kerhulas, as Jenny Lenardson writes a message on the locker of their classmate, Candice Kerns, who died last week. Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer |
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