PUBLIC FORUM THIS IS AMERICA.What is this country coming to when we allow protesters to be herded into ``designated'' protest zones? These men and women, no matter how much we may disagree with Verb 1. disagree with - not be very easily digestible; "Spicy food disagrees with some people" hurt - give trouble or pain to; "This exercise will hurt your back" them, are still Americans and have the inalienable Not subject to sale or transfer; inseparable. That which is inalienable cannot be bought, sold, or transferred from one individual to another. The personal rights to life and liberty guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States are inalienable. right to freedom of speech. If the fear of violence and property damage leads the rest of us to justify forcing unpopular opinions into the corner of national attention, if we are willing to label these Americans as ``rabble rousers,'' thereby giving us the excuse to deny them their rights, then we have no choice but to no longer acknowledge the 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 or the Boston Massacre Boston Massacre, 1770, pre-Revolutionary incident growing out of the resentment against the British troops sent to Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Acts. The troops, constantly tormented by irresponsible gangs, finally (Mar. as acts of patriotic fervor that led to our Revolution because they, too, were the acts of rabble rousers. For the record, I disagree with every issue these protesters stand for. - Donovan Weir Chatsworth Class envy Class envy is a pejorative term sometimes used to describe criticisms of the rich and powerful by the poor and less powerful. Criticism of excessive wealth and the wealthy has been a staple of political discourse for generations and many believe that societal imbalances in In ``Lawmaker weep for the very, very rich'' (Opinion, June19), Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman (born February 28, 1953) is an American economist. Krugman, a liberal, is currently a professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University. apparently feels that it is perfectly OK for the federal government to confiscate To expropriate private property for public use without compensating the owner under the authority of the Police Power of the government. To seize property. When property is confiscated it is transferred from private to public use, usually for reasons such as 39 percent of your accumulated assets should you have the audacity to die, as long as you have been particularly successful. The sad truth about this issue is that many thousands of families must sell the family business that their husband or father spent his lifetime building, in order to pay these hefty ``death taxes.'' No matter that the accumulated assets have already been taxed several times as profits and capital gains. Liberal thinkers like Krugman seem to believe that unfair taxation is perfectly acceptable as long as it is perpetrated against those terrible, greedy, rich people and not the humble masses. His diatribe di·a·tribe n. A bitter, abusive denunciation. [Latin diatriba, learned discourse, from Greek diatrib is nothing more than shameless class envy. - Don Brunson Moorpark Get on with it All this yammering about the Belmont High School Belmont High School may refer to:
v. o·ver·built , o·ver·build·ing, o·ver·builds v.tr. 1. To build over or on top of. 2. To construct more buildings in (an area) than necessary. 3. and overpriced o·ver·price tr.v. o·ver·priced, o·ver·pric·ing, o·ver·pric·es To put too high a price or value on. overpriced Adjective costing more than it is thought to be worth Adj. school and get on with it. - Ray Phillips Studio City Bred to it Re ``Pit bulls usually euthanized'' (July 3): L.A. County Animal Control must be commended for acting with courage and responsibility regarding pit bulls, public safety and taxpayer liability. Truly most pit bulls are lovable; however, most adopters are not prepared for the unique strength and animal-aggressive nature of this dog. This breed was originally developed specifically to kill bulls. Thus, it is genetics, not merely training, that cause pit bulls to attack savagely without provocation or warning. This characteristic, called ``gameness,''is highly prized by dog fighters and coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. for breeding. If we still believe attacks on humans are because of bad owners, not bad dogs, then clearly we need to restrict adoption and ownership of pit bulls to those who will not mistreat or mistrain them. - Phyllis M. Daugherty Director Animal Issues Movement Risky adoptions Regarding pit bulls being adopted after they have been given up to the shelter: I think it is an extremely dangerous Exteremely Dangerous is a 1999 four part series for ITV starring Sean Bean as an ex-MI5 undercover agent convicted of the brutal murder of his wife and child who goes on the run to try and clear his name. He sets out to follow up a strange clue sent to him in prison. policy. They do not know the breeder of these dogs, and they do not know how these dogs have been treated; therefore, they would be releasing a potentially dangerous weapon, not knowing when or if it will cause harm. This sets up the shelter for a very expensive lawsuit if this dog ever attacks. I can understand why they are euthanized. - Yvonne diFrancesco Moorpark Morals on the mat It's difficult to understand why anyone with any common sense would waste their hard-earned money to attend a so-called professional wrestling match or pay $29.95 to watch these scantily scant·y adj. scant·i·er, scant·i·est 1. Barely sufficient or adequate. 2. Insufficient, as in extent or degree. scant clad females and musclebound mus·cle·bound or mus·cle-bound adj. Having inelastic, overdeveloped muscles that function poorly together for concerted action. buffoons on television. Why haven't these boisterous, uncouth fans been able to determine that these violent and vulgar-acting opportunists are simply taking advantage of their ignorance? The most disturbing part of this charade is the degree of influence these money-motivated lunatics have on our younger generation. This so-called sport perpetuates ignorance, perversion Perversion See also Bestiality. bondage and domination (B & D) practices with whips, chains, etc. for sexual pleasure. [Western Cult.: Misc. and violence and has no socially redeeming value other than contributing to the continuing corruption of our society's declining morals. - Robert Dovidio Newbury Park Castro, again Elian Gonzalez is now back in Cuba, a communist country. Of course, this is not in the best interest of the child. Elian's mother gave her life to bring her son to the United States so he could grow up in a free country. Public opinion, politicians and the legal system did not care. Lady Liberty must be very sad. Castro got his way, again. - Juan J. Avila Newbury Park The possibilities Genetic mapping - tell the worrywarts to chill. Great benefits are in store. Imagine, for example, modifying the behavior of lawyers so that they only pursued objectives of honorable merit. Or a class of politicians who lived under the same laws as the rest of us. Or bureaucrats who actually did research before imposing regulations. The possibilities are endless. - Mike Savell Simi Valley Look around Look around. Our society is getting cruddier all the time because nobody seems to be looking forward to their next life anymore. Whether you believe there is one life or many after this one, we all know that what we do and learn in this present mansion has to do with where and how we will be in the next one. Should we bring back those old fire and brimstone fire and brimstone n. 1. The punishment of hell. 2. Homiletic rhetoric describing or warning of the punishment of hell. Noun 1. preachers to help to keep folks from conveniently and comfortably blocking out thoughts of the future? They are busy playing games with their temporal, worldly brains while ignoring their less obtrusive ob·tru·sive adj. 1. Thrusting out; protruding: an obtrusive rock formation. 2. Tending to push self-assertively forward; brash: a spoiled child's obtrusive behavior. eternal minds. If this is, as many believe, one grade in a big school, why don't we work harder to graduate? What could be more important? - Bill Beaver Lancaster Hey, you guys To you guys who gave $4 million to the Democratic National Committee: How about spending a little bit to fix Burbank Boulevard from Lankershim to the Burbank city line? That would be our money well-spent. - Joseph R. Nicoletta North Hollywood The triangle defense Now that the Lakers have won the top spot with the triangle defense, what is the Rev. Jerry Falwell saying? The triangle, he says, is a gay symbol. What can this mean? That basketball is gay? Can someone help? I'm losing sleep over this. - Sonny Klamerus Northridge Give Mitnick a job This computer hacker committed a serious felony crime. He plea-bargained, did his time, and now he doesn't want to live up to his end of the bargain and be banned from all computer use. Should we feel sorry for this ex-con? This convicted felon An individual who commits a crime of a serious nature, such as Burglary or murder. A person who commits a felony. felon n. a person who has been convicted of a felony, which is a crime punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison. feels cheated and his dad says, ``To say he should get a job pounding nails in construction -- that's just a waste of a very talented brain.'' Well, to the millions of us hardworking nail pounders who put a roof over our families' and your families' heads making an honest living, using our very talented brains to build for the future of this nation, this guy is nothing but a common criminal. But we nail-pounders would never turn someone away who is willing to put in a hard, honest day's work. So if Mr. Mitnick and his dad would like an honest job, just stop by any construction site you see. I'm sure someone will put you to work. - Mitch Sternbach West Hills Thrifty tip I have a great idea that could save the city money. When I phoned in a complaint, I was told that it was the homeowners' responsibility to have the curb and sidewalk fixed in front of their house, not to mention pruning roots or removing sidewalk-destroying trees, and I would need a permit to do so. I was also told that the city would come out to do the repairs, but it would be at a much greater expense to me than if I hired a civilian to do it. Instead of hiring four people to walk around with laptops to record the damages, the city could have a phone number that could be used to document the areas in need. Homeowners could have the work done privately for much less than the city could do it for and be given a property tax credit for the money spent to repair city property. The walks would be fixed much sooner than 100 years. I bet homeowners have the brains not to replant re·plant v. To reattach an organ, limb, or other body part surgically to the original site. n. An organ, limb, or body part that has been replanted. trees that grow to be 100 feet tall under power lines. - Laurien DuTremble North Hills |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion