PUBLIC FORUM.

Poor Doug

Re ``Dowie says he was the fall guy'' (May 30):

My heart bleeds for poor Doug Dowie. He has months to prepare for a federal criminal trial, then offers no defense at his trial. He expresses his outrage in the Daily News that he has been convicted on 15 counts of conspiracy and wire fraud for overbilling the DWP while at Fleishman-Hillard.

For such a bright guy, you'd like to think he was capable of understanding right from wrong. Some people never take responsibility for their actions. He should have stayed at City Hall where such behavior is rewarded, not punished.

-- Ken Keller 

Valencia

Really dead heat

Re ``Capturing the center'' (Our Opinions, May 24):

Choosing between Steve Westly and Phil Angelides in the primary is about as exciting as choosing between two brands of wallpaper paste. The whole thing is a waste of time and money -- come November, neither one of them is going to beat the top Democrat in the state, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

-- Michael Guetzow

Woodland Hills

Lay and Skilling

Re ``Enron execs Skilling, Lay convicted of conspiracy'' (May 26):

Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling convicted: finally, some justice in this country. Now to stop this from ever happening again, don't sent them to Club Fed; let them serve their time with the general population in Huntsville.

-- Alan N. Toffel

Palmdale

Spinning too fast

``New Gore, same old alarmist'' (Their Opinions, May 29):

I wasn't aware that Rich Lowry is a leading authority on global warming or that Jason Lee Steorts and the National Review is a scientific publication. Sounds like ``global spinning.''

Al Gore has been studying global warming for 20 years and to suggest that he doesn't know what he's talking about is inane and inept. Why should we believe you when you have no authority on the subject? Al won the popular vote in 2000, not you. I think you're off your axis. Lastly, what's the condition of the West Antarctic ice sheet? Stop spinning so fast, you might fall off.

-- Erik Eskelin

Woodland Hills

Oropeza responds

Re ``Voter power'' (Our Opinions, May 25):

Regarding your editorial on Assembly passage of AB 2459, which would ensure signature gatherers for initiatives are California residents: Contrary to what was reported, current law precludes those outside California from collecting initiative signatures. Corporate interests, however, have found ingenious ways to circumvent the intent of our elections law.

My measure simply seeks to close those loopholes. In a political climate influenced by professional signature gatherers and paid political consultants, the current initiative process mainly empowers well-financed, special-interest groups and large corporations.

Unfortunately, the initiative process itself is now corrupt and is in need of reform because those with deep pockets can overwhelm the concerns of our friends, family and neighbors. Californians deserve better.

-- Jenny Oropeza

Assemblywoman

55th District

Same old (neo)cons

Rich Lowry's May 29 column, ``New Gore, same old alarmist,'' criticizes Al Gore for supposedly ``leaving out inconvenient facts'' and relies extensively on an article by Jason Lee Steorts in the National Review. But it's neocons Lowry and Steorts who have cherry-picked their facts. For example, they note that while in Greenland warmer temperatures are causing ice to melt at the edges, ice is building up in the interior -- thus portraying the total ice melt as insignificant and Gore's concern for global warming excessive.

But they fail to reveal what the scientists of the original study cited by Steorts emphasize: ``The thinning of the margins and growth in the interior Greenland is an expected response to increased temperatures and more precipitation in a warmer climate.''

-- Russell Lynn

Woodland Hills

Get your feet wet

Re ``And a raise'' (Your Opinions, May 25):

I welcome Tim O'Brien to take on a teaching position. There is a shortage of teachers. He can come to Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills and volunteer in my classroom just to get his feet wet.

Hopefully, he won't drown in the paperwork, parental neglect, administrative incompetence or the lack of educational values by identified populations of students. If I was a baby sitter, $56,652 a year would be a nice salary.

-- Barbara Herman

Chatsworth

Christian mythology

Re ``True to the original'' (Your Opinions, May 26):

Warren Thompson claims, ``The Gospel writers were eyewitnesses to Jesus' life and words, or were associates of the disciples. Even the most liberal among secular and religious biblical scholars agree that the Gospels were written within 70 years of the events they describe.'' This is simply not true.

Prevailing thoughts amongst biblical scholars say that 70 A.D. is the earliest any of the Gospels may have been written, and that at least some may have been written in the second century A.D. Most now also discount the notion that the authors were eyewitnesses or associates of eyewitnesses, as was once claimed.

The notion that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were eyewitness accounts is simply a case of Christian mythology.

-- David Holland

Northridge

Healthy profits

California workers' compensation insurance companies are raking in their healthiest profits in 30 years. All this while most workers' benefits after a job injury are way down with treatment being habitually denied and vocational retraining having been discontinued for 2004 and later injuries.

The governor, Sen. Chuck Poochigian and other gleeful politicians should note that when it comes to voters, there are more workers in California than there are insurance companies. May it not be long before injured workers can once again pay their mortgages, rent and food bills.

-- Emil Henen

Santa Clarita

Not in private sector

Re ``And a raise'' (Your Opinions, May 25):

Tim O'Brien asks the question about the teachers seeking a pay raise, ``Who gets those kinds of benefits anymore?'' Tim, the answer is police, firefighters, state workers, county workers and city workers. Have you noticed the lack of private industry in this list?

-- Robert Lauer

West Hills

Just disappeared

The TV commercials are getting more ridiculous every day. Each gubernatorial candidate is going to save California. How? They don't give specifics, just pie in the sky solutions. The mudslinging makes me wonder how come these people are still holding offices.

And then there's Proposition 82. Where are they going to get credentialed teachers for all the 4-year-old preschoolers when they don't have enough to take care of the K-12 students? Can anyone tell me what happened to the billions of dollars we voted in a couple of years ago for libraries?

-- Lucille Kassel

Granada Hills

Distraction

Gas prices are up 50 percent, while the oil companies report record prices. The war in Iraq continues to stumble along, out of control. Twenty-four innocent Iraqi women and children are murdered in cold blood by our gallant troops.

And the hot topic in America? Immigration! An issue that has been with us for decades has suddenly become paramount in the minds of middle America. These are nothing more than election-year bait from George W. Bush and the Republican party to avoid getting caught in November.

-- Denis Feehan

Simi Valley