PUBLIC FORUM.It isn't Jimmy Re ``Council rejects cop tax'' (Feb. 10): Poor little Jimmy Hahn. He doesn't get his way and has a tantrum tan·trum n. A fit of bad temper. tantrum, n a sudden outburst or violent display of rage, frustration, and bad temper, usually occurring in a maladjusted child or immature or disturbed adult. on the evening news. What this guy just doesn't seem to understand is that voters are sick and tired of his lack of leadership and making pro-supporter choices rather than pro-city decisions. I am very supportive of law enforcement but additional taxes are just not the answer. This is one registered voter and property owner who simply cannot understand why a public agency has to have a P.R. firm, why trash truck drivers have cell phones and just why the trust fund only has $500,000. There needs to be someone in charge and it isn't Jimmy. - George O. Fodrea Tarzana You're welcome Re ``LAUSD's home run'' (Editorial, Feb. 11): You forgot to thank the teacher groups who fought to get rid of bilingual education bilingual education, the sanctioned use of more than one language in U.S. education. The Bilingual Education Act (1968), combined with a Supreme Court decision (1974) mandating help for students with limited English proficiency, requires instruction in the native over the last 20 years. We had to ``face off'' with LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) and UTLA UTLA United Teachers of Los Angeles (California) who refused to get rid of bilingual education. If we, as small groups, had not fought hard and long, bilingual education and its huge budget would still be in place. It took teachers who were willing to stand up and face LAUSD and UTLA and say, no this is wrong for change to take place. LAUSD and UTLA did not do this willingly. - Stephanie Schwartz Canyon Country Earned that pension Re ``Rules can slam retired public workers'' (Feb. 8): A great injustice had been done to teachers and public workers when the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset measures were passed by Congress. Two-thirds of the honestly earned Social Security income was taken away from hard-working and dedicated teachers and public employees who legally earned that income/pension. How can you call it double dipping Double Dipping For brokerage firms, when a broker puts commissioned products into a fee-based account. The broker makes money from both the client and the commission. Notes: There is more than one meaning for the term depending on the context. if it is only a 40-quarters earned pension? And is only a partial income/pension for a period of only 10 years. If one has worked for both systems, one has earned two partial benefits for the years worked for both systems. The total amount from both pensions is a person's retirement income, and no one should have the right to cut that pension. - Liubomyr Slowskei 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. We have to plead Re ``Council rejects cop tax'' (Feb. 10): We live in the second-largest city in the nation and yet our police chief, our fire chief and many residents have to attend City Council meetings to plead for more police. Residents of 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 , Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia don't have to plead for more cops. Their politicians ``get it.'' We live in a city where our City Council members have not made public safety the No. 1 priority. If Councilman Bernard Parks wants to find money to hire more police, he should agendize the CLA CLA, n.pr See acid, conjugated linoleic. report that contains recommendations on streamlining the Special Event Waivers that could save LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. millions. Its been sitting in his Budget Finance Committee for over a year. Parks and Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. should be ashamed of themselves. Whether you oppose or support an issue, as elected officials they owe it to their constituents to at least give them a voice. - Monica Harmon Los Angeles A great step Re ``Bush backs driver license ban'' (Feb. 10): The ban on the driver license to undocumented persons is a great step toward a stronger America. Many people do not know this, but the head of the 9-11 attacks, Mohamed Atta  To comply with Wikipedia's , the introduction of this article needs a complete rewrite. , was caught by a police officer
for a ticket in the states. The police officer did not know that he was
an undocumented person, and just simply gave him a ticket and let him go
a few months before Sept. 11.
These kinds of actions should not be tolerated by Americans. I believe that getting rid of licenses for illegal immigrants illegal immigrant n. an alien (non-citizen) who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa. (See: alien) would be a great step to a better America. - Gary Ohanian Panorama City Matricula consular ID Re ``Supervisors tangle over ID card fraud'' (Feb. 9): The matricula consular is in fact an easily abusable form of identification. Legal visitors to the U.S. or any other country can already use their passport, so there is no valid reason for them to be accepted. They simply enable illegal aliens to function more easily in our society when we should be deporting them. It also makes it easier for terrorism to operate as well. Furthermore, accepting a foreign ID for bank accounts makes tax evasion The process whereby a person, through commission of Fraud, unlawfully pays less tax than the law mandates. Tax evasion is a criminal offense under federal and state statutes. A person who is convicted is subject to a prison sentence, a fine, or both. easier, actually putting U.S. citizens at a disadvantage. - Richard Sol Los Angeles Who do they serve? Re ``Supervisors tangle over ID card fraud'' and ``Bush budget would cut county health system'' (Feb. 9): Various L.A. politicians were complaining that President Bush, under his new budget, would cut $240 million in county health costs. The adjacent article said county supervisors argued over the use of matricula consular cards by (supposedly illegal) immigrants for use of county services, including county health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract . Supervisor Molina wanted to continue the county services for these illegals. These partisan politicians should serve those who are citizens and not those who are not. - Joseph Nicassio Valencia Country's direction With the current racial situations that have plagued this state, (i.e., the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. beating of a black teenager and the killing of a 13-year-old boy), one has to wonder about the true direction of where this country is headed. This month, we are celebrating black history, and only nine days into the month, the community is mourning the death of a young black male, who was shot because an officer felt ``his life was threatened,'' and all the community hears is that another internal investigation is under way. It almost seems as if this is the rural 1960 South all over again. Well, like they say, ``the hands of time are slowly moving backward ...'' - Steven A. Webb Winnetka Assisted-suicide bill Re ``'Death with dignity' before Legislature'' (Feb. 6): This article should alarm all of us. The bill, co-authored by Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, will fundamentally change our relationship with our aging relatives. With the increasing cost of health care for seniors, the phrase ``death with dignity'' will be replaced by ``do the right thing.'' The frail will be encouraged by overburdened o·ver·bur·den tr.v. o·ver·bur·dened, o·ver·bur·den·ing, o·ver·bur·dens 1. To burden with too much weight; overload. 2. To subject to an excessive burden or strain; overtax. n. 1. relatives to end their lives sooner rather than later and, by the way, pass a little more along to their heirs. We should never balance the value of a life against the cost of preserving that life. The Legislature and the governor should reject Levine's assisted-suicide bill. - Sean McCarthy West Hills GOP not big money Re ``Destroying, not fixing'' (Your Opinions, Feb. 8): C. Myles Fowler's bitter letter bemoaning the age-old whining of the Democrats that the opposition party is the one of wealth and power is really quite sad. That perhaps was true in the 1930s. Today certainly all the voters in the red states down South, the Midwest and Southwest, plus all the California towns between 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 and Los Angeles are mainly Republican wage earners most likely making less than Fowler from Burbank. Big money has switched political parties. Unfortunately, some people just don't get that. - Paul Vaughn Paul Vaughn is an American actor, most notable for his recurring role as "Paul" on ten episodes of the American situation comedy, Cheers. He also made guest appearances on television series including Fantasy Island, Three's a Crowd, and I Dream of Jeannie. Van Nuys Is it human? Re ``Abortions are tragic'' (Your Opinions, Feb. 8): I have never understood why pro-choice people say abortions are tragic and sad. If they believe that it is just a bunch of cells, then it is no more tragic than having a tooth pulled. Tragedy usually refers to a loss of human life. Could it be that an abortion ends a human life? That is tragic, especially on the scale that it happens in this country and around the world. And if it is a human life, then there is no excuse for having this tragic destruction of life legal. Is it human? Yes. Tragedy. - Mary Kay Mary Kay is a brand of skin care and color cosmetics sold by Mary Kay Inc. Mary Kay World Headquarters is located in the Dallas suburb of Addison, Texas. Mary Kay Ash (d. November 22, 2001) founded Mary Kay Inc. on Friday, September 13, 1963. Hollinger Agoura Hills Pocket change Re ``Gross mismanagement'' (Your Opinions, Feb. 10): Roger Hull asks how $8 billion of taxpayers' money could be lost (re the Iraqi war). A good guess is that it was lost the same way that trillions of dollars of taxpayers' money was lost in the Education and Defense departments. It is still a mystery. Eight billion dollars, Mr. Hull? To our politicians it is pocket change. - Betty Arenson Valencia |
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