PUBLIC FORUM WIDENING THE 101.Re ``Grinding to a halt'' (Dec. 30): Even though I do not own any property that would be impacted in the process, I am rabidly against destroying homes and businesses to widen the 101 Freeway. The only thing the widening plan would achieve would be the displacement of hundreds of home and business owners - with minuscule or no impact on traffic congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. . The horrendous traffic gridlock Gridlock A government, business or institution's inability to function at a normal level due either to complex or conflicting procedures within the administrative framework or to impending change in the business. in L.A. is caused not by too little freeway space freeway space space between opposing premolars when the mouth is closed. , but a combination of overpopulation overpopulation Situation in which the number of individuals of a given species exceeds the number that its environment can sustain. Possible consequences are environmental deterioration, impaired quality of life, and a population crash (sudden reduction in numbers caused by and shoddy mass transit mass transit, public transportation systems designed to move large numbers of passengers. Types and Advantages Mass transit refers to municipal or regional public shared transportation, such as buses, streetcars, and ferries, open to all on a . Real relief will come from people moving out of this area en masse en masse adv. In one group or body; all together: The protesters marched en masse to the capitol. [French : en, in + masse, mass. , combined with affordable, practical mass transit. The former is already happening (and ironically, gridlock is one reason why people are fleeing California in droves). When will we see the latter come to fruition? Hopefully it will be prior to every home and business in Southern California being destroyed to build more freeways - and all of them gridlocked grid·lock n. 1. A traffic jam in which no vehicular movement is possible, especially one caused by the blockage of key intersections within a grid of streets. 2. . - Teresa Caldwell Agoura Hills No vacancies Re ``Grinding to a halt'' (Dec. 30): The answer to this article appeared in the Daily News ``Their Opinions'' on Dec. 29. Rich Lowry's article, ``Immigration policy would be Bush folly,'' is right on! We definitely need a moratorium on immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. , and the law should be enforced by fining businesses who hire illegal aliens. I've said it before, but it needs to be repeated. It's time for the ``No Vacancy'' sign. - Caroline Wyman Studio City Do something Re ``Grinding to a halt'' (Dec. 30): Something can be done about it, including a concerted effort to increase ridesharing ride·shar·ing n. The act or an instance of sharing motor vehicle transportation with another or others, especially among commuters. ride and to encourage corporations, etc., to institute rideshare/carpool programs complete with incentives. Yes, some freeway widening and so forth will help ease gridlock, but it's time that we, as citizens, get into an ``I can do something about it'' mode, even if just a little bit. Use public transportation, form a carpool car·pool n. also car pool 1. An arrangement whereby several participants or their children travel together in one vehicle, the participants sharing the costs and often taking turns as the driver. 2. , ride in your company's van pool, whatever. However, let's not shove this down the throat of John Q. Driver. That's the wrong approach. Rather, a gentle encouragement will suffice. A good number to call for Rideshare info is (800) COMMUTE. They can help in doing something about gridlock. I'd say this is one heck of a New Year's resolution A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until the set for 2004. - Marc Ross Studio City Carrying an almanac almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. Re ``Almanacs tied to terror plans'' (Dec. 30): I find it an utter violation of rights if I am stopped by a police officer because I am carrying an almanac. I wish the hunt for illegal aliens would be as intense. How about police officers requiring proof of citizenship? - Caroline K. Malloy Reseda Generous to a fault The Department of Social Security Administration just informed me I'll be getting a whopping $20 per month in 2004. That's a 2.1 percent increase. I would like to know why Congress has voted themselves a raise for this coming year. What store would the Department of Social Security want me to spend it at or haven't the members of Congress gone to the markets and seen what it costs to live? With this 2.1 percent, I'll be living like ``The Rockefellers'' and eat an extra can of dog food. Better keep that increase down to only 2.1 percent as I don't want to overdo it - Congress might think that I cheat on my income tax. There is something wrong in working your whole life and paying into Social Security and getting a 2.1 percent increase in return. - Benjamin R. Laufer Sherman Oaks DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection increases Just received a nice Christmas present from the Department of Water and Power when I noticed on my bill that my taxes were 50 percent of my complete bill. One item of interest was my sewer charge which had increased from $12 to $20 in one jump and now they want to increase our bill another 18 percent. People, check your bills for the increases in your fees. This is absolutely disgusting. How are we supposed to pay all these increases on a fixed income? - Anne Shephard San Fernando The city norm Re ``Blocking superstores'' (Business, Dec. 18): I cannot believe that the City Council would even entertain blocking economic development. For some reason, these 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. buffoons seem to think that they have the right to limit my choices and ability to save money. Unfortunately, when it comes to spending, I don't have the ability to reach into someone else's wallet and spend their money as our elected officials do. The City Council has the misconception that everyone should earn a brain surgeon's salary for doing a janitor's job. Perhaps that is the norm when employed by the city or working on city contracts. Having said that, it is easy to see and understand why Los Angeles and the state of California are financially in dire straits. City officials should be grateful that Wal- Mart is even considering building superstores in the communist state of California. - Eric Dresser Burbank Was and will be The weather we are experiencing and the tragedies that are accompanying them are a constant reminder that there is no such thing as a ``dry'' riverbed. For many years people have been building and camping in these low-lying areas, thinking that the river no longer runs in that area. In the blink of an eye, however, that all changes when a rainstorm comes through and revitalizes the once-empty river. We see it every year with the cemented Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. , and now we are seeing it in the ``dry'' riverbeds in San Bernardino. People need to be ever cognizant that Mother Nature has a way of waking us up. There is a reason why the major highways are built above these riverbeds. Remember, if there was water there at one time, there will be water there again. - Carolyn Whitehead Canyon Country A good hand Re ``Arnold's big gamble'' (Dec. 29): Arnold knows the cards he is holding and knows that lately we citizens have been down on our luck. It is probably a good time for him to go with the odds. - Lloyd E. Schultz Tehachapi Next Several of the people responding to the Daily News have asked, ``Why cut the police and fire departments' budgets?'' It's simple politics. If you were to cut the recreation and parks budget, there would be no response from the public. Cut the fire and police, and they get just what they want, an outcry from the public. Now that they have taken the focus off the glut of Gray Davis appointees, they can continue to run the state into deeper debt, and the sheep in California will follow. People, use your heads for something other than a hat rack. We got rid of Davis, the other politicians had better be getting on the right track, or they could be next. Let's trim the Davis fat, then reconstruct the budgets. It's been done before, we can do it again. - Greg Beckman North Hollywood Teams needed here I read about sending our fire department teams to Iran for earthquake assistance. While I fully support sending humanitarian aid to other countries, regardless of our political or current relationships, it is not right to send them during a time when they may be needed here. Our tax dollars fund these disaster teams and they need to be available to the citizens of Los Angeles, especially during our country's heightened risk (code orange). With the most likely terrorism event being a bomb blast, the team may be required for urban search and rescue The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. operations, just what they were trained to do. Sending them away when they may be needed most is irresponsible. The same political deployment was done after Sept. 11. When we needed our team here in case of a terrorist attack in Los Angeles, they were sent to 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 where there was no chance of finding survivors. - Mark Hollinger Agoura Hills Egomania egomania /ego·ma·nia/ (e?go-ma´ne-ah) extreme self-centeredness; extreme egotism. e·go·ma·ni·a n. Extreme appreciation or preoccupation with the self. on steroids Not to impugn im·pugn tr.v. im·pugned, im·pugn·ing, im·pugns To attack as false or questionable; challenge in argument: impugn a political opponent's record. the people of the great state of Vermont, but the arrogance of Howard Dean thinking that he can run the most powerful government in the world after governing a state that has fewer people than the city of Los Angeles
This campaign is nothing but egomania on steroids. Howard Dean should not be running for president, he should be running for City Council. - Donovan Weir Chatsworth |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion