PUBLIC FORUM REDEVELOPMENT MONEY.``Agencies vow to fight money grab'' (Jan. 26) refers to the governor's proposal to take funds from cities' redevelopment agencies as a money grab; it is the redevelopment agencies that have grabbed billions of property tax dollars from schools and counties. Their current debt is $55 billion, including bonded indebtedness. Plus interest, this comes to $110 billion, all to be repaid with future property taxes. Not one dime of these taxes pays for schools or municipal services This article or section deals primarily with the United Kingdom and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . It's the public's property taxes, and Gov. Davis should ask us if we want our taxes to go for schools and to help bridge the budget gap or be used to subsidize developers, consultants, lawyers, big-box retailers and sports arenas. - Don Lippman Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Renegotiate salaries A short time ago United Airlines was in financial difficulty and facing bankruptcy. Recognizing that raising fares was self-defeating, United opted to go to the unions and renegotiate salaries and benefits as a cost-cutting measure. Given this as an example of what private enterprise can and will do to correct a budget deficit, why can't Gray Davis lay off civil service employees then go to the unions and renegotiate salaries and benefits for those remaining? Not too long ago he made a big deal out of his renegotiating state electrical power contracts to benefit the electrical companies. Why not do the same for the taxpaying state residents? - Steve Krogh North Hills A strong arm Re ``Federal war on gangs'' (Jan. 23): Three cheers for Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California . It is time that the federal government stepped in and took care of the gang problem. It is obvious that gangs and gang members are no longer afraid of the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . . Gang members do not need baseball games or lectures; they need a strong arm to come in and round them up. - Caroline Malloy Reseda Local failure It seems to me that Mayor Hahn's call for a ``Federal war on gangs'' (Jan. 23) is an admission that the city is failing at its most basic responsibility, which is to protect the lives and property of its citizens. It is the mayor and City Council that have failed repeatedly to adequately police the streets of Los Angeles. Mayor Hahn obfuscates the city's failure to police the streets. He calls for a new war on gangs by the same agencies that are losing the decades-old ``War on Drugs.'' Perhaps he should build a multilateral coalition by making allies of the many veterans of the ``War on Poverty.'' The bluster of these 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 ``wars'' is becoming boring. The closest analogy to a real war appears to be the Hundred Years War Hundred Years War, 1337–1453, conflict between England and France. Causes Its basic cause was a dynastic quarrel that originated when the conquest of England by William of Normandy created a state lying on both sides of the English Channel. . Even that war ended. - Bill Homan Granada Hills New name Our City Hall should be renamed Tammany Hall Tammany Hall Executive committee of the Democratic Party in New York City. The group was organized in 1789 in opposition to the Federalist Party's ruling “aristocrats. , and Mayor Hahn should now be called Boss Hahn. Bribery and corruption reign supreme - only now we call it political contributions and friendship. We could use a mayor like La Guardia now. - Gilbert Smith Encino These are games Until I read Joseph Honig's ``Super-spectacle, stupor-hype'' in the Jan. 26 Viewpoint, I thought I was the only person who is fed up with this ridiculous Super Bowl circus. The marketing of this event must be the envy of Madison Avenue. Football (and you have to include basketball and baseball, too) have long since ceased being ``sports'' and are merely big businesses, whose employees are grossly overpaid o·ver·pay v. o·ver·paid , o·ver·pay·ing, o·ver·pays v.tr. 1. To pay (a party) too much. 2. To pay an amount in excess of (a sum due). v.intr. To pay too much. and are given undeserved un·de·served adj. Not merited; unjustifiable or unfair. un  de·serv celebrity status. These are games, folks, not brain surgery, which certainly doesn't justify paying millions of dollars a year to someone for carrying a football down a field or throwing a ball through a basket. - Margot Trasatti Sherman Oaks Smallpox vaccinations As more and more hospitals assert their reluctance to vaccinate vac·ci·nate v. To inoculate with a vaccine in order to produce immunity to an infectious disease such as diphtheria or typhus. vac their staffs against smallpox, I think the rest of us must look at the risks, then figure one in 1 million adverse reactions adverse reactions, n.pl unfavorable reactions resulting from administration of a local anesthetic; responsible factors include the drug used, concentration, and route of administration. and one in 2 million fatalities dealt by statistics. In my family, the risk was three out of four. My sister Sheila died in 1942 of encephalitis encephalitis (ĕnsĕf'əlī`təs), general term used to describe a diffuse inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, usually of viral origin, often transmitted by mosquitoes, in contrast to a bacterial infection of the meninges when she was 9 months old, within three days of her vaccination. In 1947, at age 4, I had a condition called diffuse erythema multiforme Erythema Multiforme Definition Erythema multiforme is a skin disease that causes lesions and redness around the lesions. Description . And my father had a reaction involving severe swelling of the arm, very high fever and malaise lasting for weeks. Taking a smallpox vaccination definitely involves risks. - Richard Rofman Van Nuys Declining abortion rate Re ``What values?'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 26): I still find that the uninformed continue to hold sway over the right of a woman to choose. The quote of more than 2.5 million abortions performed in the U.S. per year is a falsehood. The Centers for Disease Control has been collecting data on abortion rates since 1970. The current report for 1999 states that only 862,000 abortions were performed in that year. The number of abortions performed since 1986 has on average declined every year. Sen. Joe Lieberman has proved himself to be a solid and compassionate man with strong moral values and belief in his faith. To taint taint an unpleasant odor and flavor in a human foodstuff of animal origin. Caused by the ingestion of the substance, commonly a plant such as Hexham scent, or while in storage, e.g. milk stored with pineapples, or as a result of animal metabolism, e.g. boar taint. the man as immoral because of his view on Roe V. Wade Roe v. Wade, case decided in 1973 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with Doe v. Bolton, this decision legalized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. is wrongheaded. - Robert R. Strong Burbank Valid reasons Re ``30-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade fuels competing protests'' (Jan. 23): Why does everyone assume women have abortions just as a method of birth control? There are many other valid reasons, such as rape, incest, congenital birth defects birth defects, abnormalities in physical or mental structure or function that are present at birth. They range from minor to seriously deforming or life-threatening. A major defect of some type occurs in approximately 3% of all births. that would lead to the eventual death of the child, or even a physical problem with the mother that may lead to both her death, and that of her baby. I think it's wrong to use abortion as a birth control method, but occasionally even birth control methods fail. If a person has taken every means available not to become pregnant, and they do, they should have the option to terminate. Not everyone should, or can be a good parent, and I believe it's a great crime to bring an unwanted child into the world. - Meg Francoeur Canyon Country Look for the cause Re ``Research finds why elderly fall'' (Jan. 21). Thurmon Lockhart finds that ``aging degrades the ability to recover and keeps a slip from turning into a full fall,'' but that ``the specific physical changes that determine why one senior who slips will fall while another won't are poorly understood.'' If, as may be suggested, the fall is triggered by ``the loss of automatic response,'' we need to know if this in turn is caused by a mental blockage, or physical impairment. - Ray Woolley Burbank Regime change indeed When is enough, enough? The perpetrators of 9-11, Bin Laden and fellow thugs, are still at large. The anthrax anthrax (ăn`thrăks), acute infectious disease of animals that can be secondarily transmitted to humans. It is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis mystery still is. Our civil rights are being expediently abridged by the Patriot Act (a duplicitous misnomer misnomer n. the wrong name. MISNOMER. The act of using a wrong name. 2. Misnomers, may be considered with regard to contracts, to devises and bequests, and to suits or actions. 3.-1. ) and other measures designated to privatize government. Our economy and stock market list like an upended tanker waiting to sink. The Bush Gang is leaving all children behind, and adults too for that matter, as it cuts back funds for social welfare programs. Roe v. Wade is threatened. Our country polarizes as the administration heats up its unnecessary war frenzy against Iraq. The stench of faith-based initiatives oozes like lava across our landscape, blurring the lines separating church and state. Face it, the United States is the country that needs a regime change. - Gary Miller Encino |
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