PUBLIC FORUM THE UNCOMMON TOUCH.Re ``What drives California's new leader'' (Nov. 15): Well, well, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ] ``won't lower himself'' to drive a Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Continental, an automobile produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company, began for the 1939 model year. Over the next 63 years, despite these cars sharing under-pinnings with less expensive Ford automobiles, Continental was usually a distinguishly-styled, , but he will drive a Lincoln Navigator SUV. Jon Caldera caldera: see crater. caldera Large, bowl-shaped volcanic depression that forms when the top of a volcanic cone collapses into the space left after magma is ejected during a violent volcanic eruption. The term is Spanish for “caldron. , president of the Independence Institute, says, ``Driving SUVs connects Republicans to common people.'' Will someone please tell me how many ``common people'' they know drive Lincoln Navigators? I voted for Schwarzenegger and support him in his endeavor to fix California, but please don't equate ``common'' with luxury SUVs. - Trish Mortimer Tujunga They are lucky The grocery pickets are now yelling that the longer I choose to shop at Vons, the more likely I will be paying their welfare check. Either way, the consumer will be paying, either through higher grocery prices or through more welfare money. I mean no disrespect, but these pickets have no specialized skills and anyone could be trained to do their jobs in less than two weeks. Also, as to getting paid double time to work Sundays and holidays, many people work these hours in other retail jobs and they do not get extra money to do so. This is just part of the package when you are in a job that requires little education. The employees were lucky to get that extra pay for as long as they did, but they are in no way entitled to it. - Rachael Pillar Palmdale Settle already Please settle the strike already. My freezer is full, my refrigerator is overflowing, my pantry is overstocked and my clothes are getting too tight. Too bad these supermarket bargains don't have a longer shelf life. - Paula Dresser Burbank The process stinks Re ``Conservancy bill stuns some'' (Nov. 12): Are we back to Boston Tea Party Boston Tea Party, 1773. In the contest between British Parliament and the American colonists before the Revolution, Parliament, when repealing the Townshend Acts, had retained the tea tax, partly as a symbol of its right to tax the colonies, partly to aid the politics where the ``ballot'' is never publicized, not handled in the normal electoral way? Ballots were mailed and only to those who live in the hills? I guess there is no benefit for protecting ``open space'' or animals for those 13 million others who live in Los Angeles on the flatland flat·land n. 1. Land that varies little in elevation. 2. flatlands A geographic area composed chiefly of land that varies little in elevation. . This is hardly comparable to lighting assessments or other local assessments that directly benefit residents of the area. I never saw the ballot, never saw the arguments pro or con, never had the opportunity to vote or comment and yet I received some bogus assessment bill from the collection officer of the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. Who are the government people who were responsible for this debacle? - Patty Paul Studio City Bruce Cook Re ``Author, ex-Daily News book critic Bruce Cook dies'' (Nov. 11): I was sad to learn of the loss of author Bruce Cook. Anyone who revered his written works will mourn his passing. A book that Cook wrote called ``Listen to the Blues'' was the first book on this American musical form I ever read. To this day, ``Listen to the Blues'' remains a favorite of mine. - Jody Lawson Burbank Loading their trays Taxes are a politicians' open bar and all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. - Ken Garrison Rosamond Halfway measures Maureen Dowd's anti-Bush, anti-America diatribes, complete with her accompanying vacuous logic, have become predictable and so very tiring, yet in ``Iraq not Disneyland'' (Their Opinions, Nov. 16) she has finally made a valid point: Halfway measures in Iraq are a formula for disaster. Unfortunately, she supplies the wrong reasons. As long as the U.S. military is suspending operations during Muslim holidays while our enemies attack, avoiding collateral damage collateral damage Surgery A popular term for any undesired but unavoidable co-morbidity associated with a therapy–eg, chemotherapy-induced CD to the BM and GI tract as a side effect of destroying tumor cells is at the forefront of any planned operation, is condemned if any accident should befall be·fall v. be·fell , be·fall·en , be·fall·ing, be·falls v.intr. To come to pass; happen. v.tr. To happen to. See Synonyms at happen. an Iraqi, and are not wholly involved in achieving complete and total military victory, then our troops and their mission in Iraq are sitting ducks. - Michael G. Miller Los Angeles Vets and sports Re ``Saluting Vets,'' Nov. 11: What can we do that returning veterans would appreciate? Save the sports field at Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard. so they can play again and be inspired to graduate and get good jobs. As a veteran of World War II, baseball at LACC LACC Los Angeles City College LACC Los Angeles Convention Center LACC Latin American and Caribbean Center (Florida International University) LACC Los Angeles College of Chiropractic LACC Local Aid Coordination Committee helped me and many other veterans. So did football and track and field. But a parking lot will replace historic, beautiful Snyder Field in December unless we save it for the women and men who risk their lives for our country. Veterans need the sports to restart. There will be a rally to save the field at 10 a.m., Nov. 22 at 855 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood. Come and walk on the public sidewalk in front of this field of dreams. - Duke Russell Hollywood All are special The term ``special-interest group'' has gotten a bad rap and become polemic fodder for politicians and some of the media. We are all part of some type of special-interest group. We call them unions, guilds, associations, families, brotherhoods, gangs, parties, organizations, religion, societies, partisans, teams, clans. Whenever term is used, we need to identify the group by name and then assess how their needs and interests correlate with ours. Our diversity is the natural concomitant of a complex nation and protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We all want to be represented, however we choose. Lobbyist, bias, persuasion, orientations, right-wing, left-wing are not bad words. We need to respect each other for our differences, for what our forefathers forefathers npl → antepasados mpl forefathers npl → ancêtres mpl forefathers npl → Vorfahren established as the democratic process. - Hal Rothberg Calabasas Pain and addiction Having chronic pain and then getting addicted to pain killers is not as high a crime as people perceive it. There are many people who call this quagmire without knowing that dependency may occur. Yet it is illegal what Rush Limbaugh did, mainly because of the damage he might incur to himself, not others. I think he knew of his problem and was compelled to speak out to ``higher crime drug users,'' knowing the hell of drug addiction. I hope he can clean it up. - Daniel Jankalns Winnetka Appointing Riordan From 1973 to the election of Richard Riordan as mayor of Los Angeles, I was a member of the Metropolitan Water District Board, appointed by former mayor Tom Bradley. I was a member of the personnel committee and implemented an aggressive affirmative action affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. philosophy for 19 years. I was president of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley 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. Branch of the NAACP NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. , frequently writing to then-mayor Riordan to get off the fence and support affirmative action, and received no reply. Arnold Schwarzenegger may be surprised to learn that his appointee APPOINTEE. A person who is appointed or selected for a particular purpose; as the appointee under a power, is the person who is to receive the benefit of the trust or power. did not support affirmative action - as well as not supporting the 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. on important issues. The promises made by our new governor will not be fulfilled based on his choice of Riordan. - Edward Kussman Pacoima Lack of decency In Hillary Clinton's recent autobiography, she writes that President Clinton ``was raised by his mother to believe that you don't hit people when they're down, that you treat even your adversaries in life or politics with decency.'' Wouldn't it would be nice, therefore, if he wagged an admonishing ad·mon·ish tr.v. ad·mon·ished, ad·mon·ish·ing, ad·mon·ish·es 1. To reprove gently but earnestly. 2. To counsel (another) against something to be avoided; caution. 3. finger at his friends at the 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 Times and at Barbra Streisand, who screamed ``censorship'' when CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. canceled its scheduled derogatory presentation of Ronald and Nancy Reagan during their White House period? What a lack of common decency all around. - Lawrence Meyerson Encino Inconvenient When adherence to The Ten Commandments becomes an inconvenience, just ban them. Whatever happened to common sense? - Lawrence Keller Van Nuys |
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