PUBLIC FORUM.

Get some backbone

Re ``DWP strike threat'' (Aug. 11):

I'm furious that Department of Water and Power Chief Ron Deaton, who pushed for this labor contract in his grossly overpaid position, remains silent as the threat of a strike looms over the city. As for the union chief Brian D'Arcy: How dare he try to force this contract of outrageous pay hikes onto the City Council and DWP customers? Does he have to pay for a Hummer somehow?

As for the ungrateful DWP employees who already enjoy enough perks in their cushy positions, what's wrong with the standard 3 percent cost of living the rest of us have to accept?

The City Council and mayor, they should get some backbone. If these cowards walk off the job, they should fire them all!

- Jim Rowe

Chatsworth

High time

Re ``Antonio's opportunity'' (Our Opinions, Aug. 8):

It's time for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to focus on the value received for salaries and costs spent on Department of Water and Power management. This bureaucracy has been an unaccountable sinkhole for years. I can't remember the last time managerial accountability for results has been practiced by DWP.

- Jerry Domine

Winnetka

Not payback?

Re ``Rumsfeld: London attacks not payback'' (Aug. 5):

What does Donald Rumsfeld think the London bombings were about, the price of fish and chips? Men of Middle Eastern ethnicity, though some were British citizens, set the bombs and in some cases blew themselves up.

If that isn't payback, the meaning of the word has changed from what is in the dictionary. That Rumsfeld could say such an utterly stupid thing just proves that this administration is neck-deep in the river called Denial, and God help the United States.

- Gary L. Helm

Lancaster

So-called vacation

I get very annoyed with people who complain that President George W. Bush is away from Washington for 30 days. The president's ``vacation'' includes a lot of briefings, planning meetings, etc. I would guess that he does a lot more work during his so-called vacation than most of the complainers do when they are working.

- Richard Kinsman

Chatsworth

Way of life

Re ``State government missing 30,000 vehicles'' (Aug. 9):

The state government is losing cars? It's no big deal. They will just soak us with a bill for more of them. How much are these cars costing us?

Obviously someone is driving these cars and putting gas in them. They have state license plates so they get free gas on us. Tack that on to the already big bill for the cars and insurance that we pay for them.

Being scammed is nothing new to us; it has become a way of life.

- Joe Pinoy Lozano

Mission Hills

No fooling around

Re ``Did I miss something?'' (Your Opinion, Aug. 11):

I am a recovering alcoholic (three years sober). I'm also one of those ``fools'' Chuck Heinold mentions he observed while driving across the country and down the street.

Nicotine is an addiction. It's a drug, just like alcohol, cocaine, pain killers and so on. Instead of labeling smokers fools, he should show some compassion for those of us who do smoke, and help educate the young so they do not become ``future fools.''

I am in the process of making my first real attempt to quit smoking, but like the disease of alcoholism, I have to take it one day at a time and one step at a time.

- Chris Kane

Winnetka

Uncommon nonsense

Re ``Hybrids on fast track to HOV lane'' (Aug. 11):

The state's rewarding drive-alone hybrid owners to use the superior car-pool lane in order to shape human behavior at the expense of citizens who choose not to own or cannot afford one of these cars. It is disgraceful under our so-called democracy.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thinks that tempting motorists to buy a hybrid by offering special privileges is a ``common-sense policy.'' Thomas Paine had a different opinion in his book, ``Common Sense,'' when he said: ``Where there are no distinctions there can be no superiority, perfect equality affords no temptation.''

Maybe us common folk who still believe in equal opportunity can find some solace in the late author Vernon Howard's advice: ``Never try to make sense out of other people's nonsense.''

- Robert L. Rosebrock

Brentwood