PUBLIC FORUM GOOD AND EVIL.In the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster, I waited for someone to say, ``We must understand their viewpoint ... They don't think as we think.'' these statements are usually made as part of a call for ``Let's be fair.'' The wait was not long, though the tone was more cautious, more rhetorical. I have no interest in understanding the rationale of evil, nor do I have an interest in understanding those who ask for it. There has always been, and will always be, good and evil. And good people anywhere in the world know the difference. Those who rejoice in the victories of evil are evil and the viewpoint of evil is evil. - Bill Clarke William Hillary (Bill) Clarke (born 5 July 1933 in Toronto, Ontario) was a Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a Chartered Accountant and businessman by career. Llano lla·no n. pl. lla·nos A large, grassy, almost treeless plain, especially one in Latin America. [Spanish, plain, from Latin pl Nothing justifies this It is true that there are real grievances which need to be addressed. There is no way in my mind, however, that any kind of lack of economic opportunity justifies the kind of depravity we all witnessed on Sept. 11. - Ron Presson North Hollywood Terrorism I watched on TV while a representative of the Trial Lawyers Association explained that they are preparing their briefs so that after the ``dust settles'' from the terrorist attack on 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 , they plan to file lawsuits against New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , their fire and police departments, the World Trade Center buildings' architect, contractors, materials suppliers, the involved airports and the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control . Outrageous. Together, with the sell-off in the stock market, terrorism does indeed also come wearing three-piece suits. - Louis Thompson Woodland Hills Broken moral compass I hope I'm not the only one fed up with people who are ``alarmed'' that President Bush is preparing us for war, or that we as a country must ``examine our meddling med·dle intr.v. med·dled, med·dling, med·dles 1. To intrude into other people's affairs or business; interfere. See Synonyms at interfere. 2. To handle something idly or ignorantly; tamper. , aggressive, expensive and incompetent foreign policy.'' People like these whose opinions were printed in the Sept. 19 Public Forum have a broken moral compass and I for one am grateful these types are not part of this administration. - Glenn Smith Woodland Hills Ultimate embarrassment For America's sake, I hope that those responsible for this cowardly act are identified and killed in swift fashion. For the ultimate embarrassment to our country would be to apprehend these villains alive. The many years of motions and appeals just to convict them would pale in comparison to carrying out a justified death penalty 10 to 20 years from now. (Remember, it took seven years to execute Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (aka Oklahoma City bomber April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001), was a former American soldier who was convicted of eleven federal offenses and ultimately executed as a result of his role on the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing. , and he waived his appeals to expedite his execution.) So perhaps in the next decade, the animals responsible for extinguishing over 5,000 innocent lives could be placed on a comfortable, padded gurney gurney /gur·ney/ (gur´ne) a wheeled cot used in hospitals. gur·ney n. pl. gur·neys A metal stretcher with wheeled legs, used for transporting patients. to feel the slight pain of a needle prick before slumbering off, knowing in their hearts that they have beaten 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. once again. - James L. Rahm Chatsworth Greatly mistaken Lois D. Glab may be correct (``Mideast involvement,'' Public Forum, Sept. 12) and perhaps the Israelis should leave the West Bank and give the Palestinians a homeland. However, she is greatly mistaken if she thinks that will put an end to terrorism in the United States A common definition of terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. or around the world. Whatever group perpetuated the tragic destruction Tuesday will not be placated by capitulation CAPITULATION, war. The treaty which determines the conditions under which a fortified place is abandoned to the commanding officer of the army which besieges it. 2. from Israel or the American Jewish lobby. These groups do not like our way of life or our form of government. They think it is OK to effect change by terrible violence. So, don't think eliminating our country or group of people is going to be a solution. - Elizabeth de Sosa Chatsworth Who's in charge Imagine if you will ... having Madeleine Albright instead of Gen. Colin Powell and Janet Reno instead of John Ashcroft ... while America is at war. - Gary M. Schechter Woodland Hills Blood donations Sept. 11 will go down in history as a day evil tried to overcome our nation. I will also remember this day as the day that America united itself in a ``call to arms.'' What began as a trickle of phone calls escalated into hundreds of citizens converging on Providence Holy Cross Medical Center Providence Holy Cross Medical Center is a hospital in Mission Hills, California, USA. The hospital has 254 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. History and Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a hospital in Burbank, California, USA. The hospital has 455 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. It's adress is: 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505. , extending their arms to donate blood. The Ralph M. Parsons Blood Donor Center expresses its gratitude to every individual who came to donate blood. We thank you for bringing your family, your friends, and your co-workers. We thank you for your patience as our staff worked exhaustively hour upon hour. We thank you for the doughnuts and well wishes you brought to us. And we thank you for allowing us to serve our community and our nation in a time of need. Your altruism has helped us focus our grief and energies. Your blood donations will be used in the coming weeks to lessen the need to request blood resources from American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. , which will assist them in their distribution efforts. Please continue your blood donation efforts by scheduling an appointment at (800) 469-9555 at our donor centers. We are currently responding as quickly as we can to more than 3,000 phone calls that have tested our resolve to meet this community response. - Mark Barglowski Director Laboratory & Respiratory Care Services Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Home-grown terrorism With the murders of so many people last week and the resolve of all free people to end the terrorism, let us not stop at just finding and obliterating o·blit·er·ate tr.v. o·blit·er·at·ed, o·blit·er·at·ing, o·blit·er·ates 1. To do away with completely so as to leave no trace. See Synonyms at abolish. 2. the factions that destroyed the World Trade Center. There have been, for years, ethnic gangs of young thugs that terrorize ter·ror·ize tr.v. ter·ror·ized, ter·ror·iz·ing, ter·ror·iz·es 1. To fill or overpower with terror; terrify. 2. To coerce by intimidation or fear. See Synonyms at frighten. our neighborhoods and kill and maim maim v. to inflict a serious bodily injury, including mutilation or any harm which limits the victim's ability to function physically. Originally, in English Common Law it meant to cut off or permanently cripple a bodily member like an arm, leg, hand, or foot. our citizens. Let us target them with the same intensity that we use in going after the perpetrators of last week's disaster. Five thousand people dying at one time or 5,000 dying over a year's span is not acceptable. - Conlee Clampitt North Hills Dangerous bill On Sept. 13, only two days after the infamous World Trade Center destruction in New York (and perhaps intentionally, in the wake of the confusion), California's Legislature handed Assembly Bill No. 60 to the governor for signature. AB 60 allows immigrant aliens of unknown status to acquire a California driver's license with only minimal and uncertified un·cer·ti·fied adj. Not officially verified, guaranteed, or registered; not certified: an uncertified teacher. Adj. 1. documentation. Basically, anyone could then acquire multiple IDs necessary for credit cards, bank accounts, etc., and 'blend in.' It is now known that an Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden: see bin Laden, Osama. cell was operating in San Diego and we are learning daily of other cells in California. AB 60 isn't even about a concern for undocumented Latinos, but rather self-serving bureaucrats dealing to receive political funds from such special interest groups as unions, restaurant, building and growers associations. On this issue, it is vital for all to contact Gov. Davis and demand a veto of AB 60. Later, we must follow up with voting out all these treacherous legislators who signed on to this and similar bills. - Jack Strelioff Woodland Hills Deliver us from evil When ending the Lord's Prayer, it is meant for God to keep us from being intrinsically evil, of which the terrorists are. Evil by nature, purpose or by motivation - essentially evil. Those who do wrong (sin) are not necessarily evil. Only in God's judgment is that determined. It is not for us to wish harm on anyone merely because of wrongs we feel they have done, so we pray for them. It is not for Jerry Falwell to say what's deserving, but for him to make sacrifices for them as 50,000 reservists have been called to do. - John J. Curti Tarzana Enough I think with all the ``real'' devastation that has happened last week, we do not need movies made with the high-tech special effects any longer. Let us get back to movies with cute love stories, musicals, cowboys, comedies, etc. I'm tired of all the explosives and ear-popping movies out there. Give us a break. - Linda Woods Westlake Village |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion