PUBLIC FORUM STILL CELEBRATING.Re ``170 school workers mailed layoff notices'' (March 13): The celebration over the passage of Measure R is still taking place. With the special interest groups, contractors, unions and vendors lining up to squander squan·der tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders 1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste. 2. the $4 billion, Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. starts its layoffs. The measure billed as ``safe, healthy neighborhood school'' is laughable if it were not for the seriousness of LAUSD's failure to provide safe or healthy environments. How safe or healthy is it to lay off 60 school nurses, 40 psychiatric social workers and 70 counselors? Who were the other 480 employees eliminated last week? Janitors? Oh, I forgot, the bathrooms could be inspected but no citations issued. Why waste precious funds which could go to campaign supporters? - David Hernandez Valley Village We had a chance Re ``70 cheap fixes for 101'' (March 15): Don't praise the work of the ``citizens task force'' for finding 70 cheap fixes. Remember that many of the people on the panel were the same people who blocked 101 Freeway improvements last year. At the task force meetings, Gerald Silver stated plainly that he was opposed to improving freeway capacity, instead favoring measures to get commuters out of his neighborhood only. A year ago, we all had a chance to have traffic flow improved, but the process was hijacked by Silver and company. Because of the delay and the budget crisis, there now is no money even for Silver's little fixes. Way to go. - Sean McCarthy West Hills Cause and effect Re ``Students to rally to knock fee hike'' (Briefly, March 14): So, a bunch of community college students are on a bus going to Sacramento to protest the third fee increase in three years. I don't blame them. Remember about a year ago when our state universities decided to charge illegal aliens attending those universities resident fees rather than nonresident fees. Cause and effect? Meantime, a study by City Councilman Tom LaBonge Tom LaBonge (b. Los Angeles 1953), member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 4th district. He has served since 2001, taking over the position upon the death of John Ferraro. found 70 cheap fixes for the 101 freeway. The city's portion would cost about $7 million. He says there's no money. Didn't the Daily News report about a week ago that certain managers in city government got substantial raises in salary? Most of whom already make considerably more than the average citizen around here? Can you say ``cause and effect'' another time? - Jerry Schwartz Granada Hills Our deep pockets Re ``$5.6 million awarded crash victims'' (March 13): Am I missing something here? An out-of-control vehicle causes the vehicle of the Cornetts to run into oncoming traffic on the 14 Freeway and, even though a judge found Caltrans not guilty, a determined attorney got a jury who found for the Cornetts to the tune of $5.6 million of Caltrans (read: taxpayer) money? What about the hit-and-run driver hit-and-run driver n → conductor que tras atropellar a algn se da a la fuga hit-and-run driver n → chauffard m hit-and-run driver hit n who caused the crash? Oh, that's right: Caltrans has ``deep pockets'' ... so we (taxpayers) get hosed again. Those barriers between freeways don't just appear overnight and without funding. Maybe if the Cornetts hadn't been there, the crash would not have happened. Same stupid logic. - Terri Andrews Castaic Heightening security Re ``No threats against transit here'' (March 12): Here we go again: I feel so safe and secure now that, since the bombing in Spain, our own authorities are now heightening security atthe Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Boy, do our elected officials make me feel safe. Seems like it happens every time a bomb goes off. - Ross A. Orcutt Tujunga Bias and blindness Re Bill O'Reilly Bill O'Reilly may refer to:
Robert Krol seems to believe that trillions in deficit don't matter - so why tax at all? Why not just spend however much anyone wants for weapons systems that can't work and claim there is not money for health care, education, caring for elderly, poor or Social Security and all. An illogical presentation for a professor of economics. Then O'Reilly actually says, ``we have now entered an age where character assassination character assassination n. A vicious personal verbal attack, especially one intended to destroy or damage a public figure's reputation. character assassin n. in the political arena is handsomely rewarded. ...'' This from one of the ``biggies'' at assassinating the character of those he disagrees with and being handsomely rewarded. Chutzpah chutz·pah also hutz·pah n. Utter nerve; effrontery: "has the chutzpah to claim a lock on God and morality" New York Times. , obvious bias and blindness masquerading as intelligent commentary. - Kenneth McClain North Hills It's not the food Re ``Obesity nearing smoking as top preventable cause of death'' (March 9): The obesity epidemic is still being blamed on excessive food consumption. But excessive eating happens to be a result of obesity - not the cause. Skinny people can eat excessively and never gain weight. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. medical science, it's our body's metabolism that controls how much fat is produced from each consumed calorie. This all-important and decisive metabolism is strictly genetic and unalterable. We really need to be more careful in selecting our parents and ancestors. - Fred Coble co·ble n. 1. Nautical A small flatbottom fishing boat with a lugsail on a raking mast. 2. Scots A kind of flatbottom rowboat. North hills Nation of laws 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. is a nation of laws. The California Supreme Court has rightfully ruled that the rogue mayor of San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden must obey California law California Law consists of 29 codes, covering various subject areas, the State Constitution and Statutes. See also
The mayor of San Francisco should be no exception. If gay marriages are permitted in this state, the day is not far off when polygamists will be seeking their day in court using the same rationale as homosexuals. - Maria Chaidez Mission Hills Crooks and liars Crooks and Liars is an American political blog founded by John Amato, with liberal/progressive political leanings. It first appeared on the Internet in August 2004 and contains an audio and video archive of political events, television, and radio shows. Vice President Dick Cheney and Justice Antonin Scalia go on a hunting trip together after the Supreme Court agrees to hear a suit to which Cheney is a party. Republican congressional staffers download memos and minutes of Democratic congressmen and say it is not a criminal act. Someone in the White House outs a CIA CIA: see Central Intelligence Agency. (1) (Confidentiality Integrity Authentication) The three important concerns with regards to information security. Encryption is used to provide confidentiality (privacy, secrecy). undercover operative in retaliation for her husband's critical remarks of the Bush administration. Kenneth Lay, a good friend of George W. Bush, has not been indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. in the Enron debacle. George W. Bush stated in his 2003 State of the Union that Iraq had banned weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or . How dare John Kerry call these fine Republican leaders crooks and liars? - Jean Strauber Encino Ventriloquist President Bush's television ads put words in his adversary's mouth. Unbelievable. I'd prefer to hear about Sen. Kerry's accomplishments and plans from Sen. Kerry's mouth. Let's hear President Bush tell us how he intends to restore the lost jobs, fix Medicare and 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. with the same or better equipment that we supply the other coalition troops. Please, Mr. Bush, tell us how you are going to restore Veterans Administration funding and stop shunting Shunting The act of connecting an electrical element in parallel with (across) another element. The shunting connection is shown in illus. a. our wounded to VA facilities. It's time to honor and support the returning wounded as we did when they served. President Bush has a tough job. Where in the world can he get the money to pay for America's needs after giving away his $1.5 trillion tax cut to billionaires? - Robert Kittner Granada Hills Roman realities Critics of ``The Passion of the Christ'' need to face Roman history realities. The Roman military crucified 6,000 prisoners along the Apian Way. The Romans' favorite entertainment was barbaric orgies of humans against humans and animals in the Colosseum Colosseum or Coliseum (both: kŏləsē`əm), Ital. Colosseo, common name of the Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, near the southeast end of the Forum, between the Palatine and Esquiline hills. . Only the naive would believe such a society would be gentle. The worst atrocities were committed by societies that claimed civilized superiority. Stop sugar-coating history. - Ken Garrison Rosamond |
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