PUBLIC FORUM.Enough blame Re ``Storm engulfs Bush'' (Sept. 7): This blame game is pathetic. A comprehensive emergency plan was prepared by Louisiana. Why was it not executed? The plan includes evacuation of residents without transportation, thus significantly reducing the need for difficult and dangerous post-disaster evacuations and critical care. Furthermore, in an article from The Shreveport Times, ``Louisiana has 65 percent of its troops available for state missions,'' Guard officials said. What exactly did Gov. Blanco do with those thousands of troops? This catastrophe cannot be blamed on any one person or agency. Mistakes were made on every level, down to the individual citizens. - Michael G. Pantazis Van Nuys Local failures Re ``Storm engulfs Bush'' (Sept. 7): No doubt this morning's headline gratifies those already disposed to blame the Bush administration for everything from sunspots sunspots, dark, usually irregularly shaped spots on the sun's surface that are actually solar magnetic storms. The Chinese recorded dark features on the sun seen with the naked eye in 28 B.C. to gingivitis gingivitis (jĭn'jəvī`tĭs), inflammation of the gums. It may be acute, subacute, chronic, or recurrent. The gums usually become red, swollen, and spongy, and bleed easily. , but your bias is clear to the rest of us, who understand the abysmal failures of those in local Louisiana and New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded governments. - Pauli Carnes Woodland Hills Bush bashers Well, it didn't take long for the Bush bashers to blame the president for all the ills of the New Orleans disaster relief effort. Once again their pure hatred of the man has blinded their vision of reality and the truth: New Orleans was founded in 1718 under French rule. The Americans took control of the territory with the 1803 Louisiana Purchase Louisiana Purchase, 1803, American acquisition from France of the formerly Spanish region of Louisiana. Reasons for the Purchase The revelation in 1801 of the secret agreement of 1800, whereby Spain retroceded Louisiana to France, aroused under President Thomas Jefferson. So I say to the Bush bashers, if you insist on placing blame, be honest and place it where it belongs: The French. - Glenn Thornhill Sylmar Buck-passer Hurricanes are a national security issue. The Bush administration just showed us how it will deal with the next 9-11, global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. , declining oil production and epidemic outbreaks. Bush cut funds for the levees in New Orleans to pay for war against a country with no ties to 9-11, no ties to Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden: see bin Laden, Osama. , and no WMD WMD white muscle disease. . He gutted FEMA FEMA, n.pr See Federal Emergency Management Agency. and staffed it, like his other appointments, with people whose only qualification is loyalty to the Republican Party over and above loyalty to American people An American people may be:
- S. Michelle Klein-Hass Panorama City Reality denial Denial: the act of seeing, but refusing to acknowledge what one sees, or of hearing, but negating what was heard. Sometimes reaches psychotic proportions. Examples coming from our nation's capital: Global warming is not a problem. What melting polar cap polar cap n. 1. a. Either of the regions around the poles of the earth that are permanently covered with ice. b. A high-altitude icecap. 2. ? We need faith, not science. Invading Iraq will be a cakewalk. Insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. ? Bring 'em on. The Lord will protect New Orleans from a flood. Who needs barrier islands? Or beefed-up levees? OK, so New Orleans got a little wet. Those folks can manage without our help, so why ask the government to do what folks can do for themselves? We can spend all we want to and give tax breaks to the wealthy. Why worry about a budget? - Alan Pollack Woodland Hills Salt in the wounds I thought that the most outrageous statement regarding the disaster in the Gulf was that FEMA needed 48 hours to train and transport 1,000 relief workers after the tragedy. Today we learn that those workers were not being sent to save lives or relieve suffering, but to be P.R. representatives for the White House. This is most certainly more salt in the wounds for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. , and leaves the rest of us shaking our heads in disbelief. - Chuck Evans Palmdale PC and refugee When did the word ``refugee'' become a racist slur? Were there not refugees in World War II (my mother being one of them) or more recently, were there not refugees in Kosovo? True, you usually don't associate the word refugee with Americans (thank God), but nonetheless in no way is the word racist. Perhaps someone should explain this to the refugees in New Orleans as well as to our suddenly politically correct politically correct Politically sensitive adjective Referring to language reflecting awareness and sensitivity to another person's physical, mental, cultural, or other disadvantages or deviations from a norm; a person is not mentally retarded, but president. - Bobbi Leigh Zito Porter Ranch More than a life? When we see photos along with a caption such as, ``A dog vainly swims through floodwater flood·wa·ter n. The water of a flood. Often used in the plural. floodwater n → aguas fpl (de la inundación) floodwater n in New Orleans, hoping for rescue but given a wide berth by searchers,'' we know that the photographers are there. Are they saving these animals? I don't want to see photos describing an animal struggling for its life and then assume that no one is saving it. All of these photographers looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a photo opportunity are getting great photos at the expense of a life. Isn't anyone saving these animals that we see struggling in the water? It would be nice to see the before and after photo - with the animal being saved. What a sad commentary on the humans in our society. A photo is worth more than a life. - Susan Brandt Reseda Grading the president I watched how long it took to get help to the people of Louisiana CODE, OF LOUISIANA. In 1822, Peter Derbigny, Edward Livingston, and Moreau Lislet, were selected by the legislature to revise and amend the civil code, and to add to it such laws still in force as were not included therein. . I got angry at my government - until my 13-year-old A-student daughter explained it to me. She said: ``Dad, the president is doing the best that he can; he was only a C student in school. For four years he has been trying to find the guy that knocked down the buildings in 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 . I give him a C for effort. The war in Iraq another C, and now a C effort from his team to help the poor people of Louisiana. ``When the oil companies raised the price of gas so high that it is hurting all of the poor people in the country, all he can come up with is to tell them to only buy gas if they need it. The country should not expect A-team results, when a C team is running things.'' Now I understand that they are doing the best that they can. - Ron Moss Arleta Knabe responds Re ``Area code mayhem'' (Editorial, Aug. 25): Yes, I opposed the move last week by the California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC; also often commonly referred to as simply the PUC) [1] is a state Public Utilities Commission which regulates privately-owned utilities in the state of California, including electric power, to create a new overlay of the 310 service area. I opposed it because an overlay is not a split. Neighbors could end up with different area codes, despite living on the same street, and businesses looking to expand could have two area codes in the same office. Above all, anyone who pays a phone bill could end up having to pay more to make a call because of increased toll charges, all because the PUC (Public Utility Commission) A regulatory body in every state in the U.S. that governs public utilities within its jurisdiction such as electricity, gas, oil, sewer, water, transportation and telephone service. Some states call it the Public Service Commission (PSC). voted before completing a legally mandated study to see how many numbers were still left in the 310 block prior to ordering the overlay. Over 1 million people will be negatively impacted - over 1 million people living and working within the 310 zone, not just in Beverly Hills, but also Inglewood and San Pedro and Torrance and Compton and hospitals like King-Drew Medical Center. This fight is about protecting over 1 million residents and business owners in the 310 zone, as well as all 10 million residents of Los Angeles County from what amounts to nothing more than a rip-off. - Supervisor Don Knabe Los Angeles County Apples and oranges Re ``Conquered land'' and ``Returning land'' (Your Opinions, Aug. 31): Anthony Filosa and Richard Martin make apple-orange comparisons re Israel's return of Gaza versus the U.S. and Germany-Japan. Egypt attacked Israel from Gaza in four wars (allies: Syria, Jordan, Lebanon). Israel miraculously survived by winning all - then giving control to U.N./Palestinians - hoping for peace. To prevent future attacks, some Jews settled in Gaza, building homes, schools, lives - for two generations. Double standards: no country except Israel was ever forced to return land won in a defensive war; 1.5 million Arabs won't tolerate 10,000 Jews in Gaza, but a million Arabs live in Israel with full citizen rights, health care, Knesset membership, etc. - Aaron L. Kolom Los Angeles |
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