PUBLIC FORUM.

Too late for some

Re ``Cell-phone bill set for signing'' (Sept. 15):

I see where they giving cell phone users (while driving) a fine, if caught. But not until 2008. Why?

So ... during 2007, those users will still be responsible for the thousands of crashes that are caused by those same idiots. Where's the logic?

-- Earl D. Horwitz

North Hills

With friends like this

Re ``Chertoff says hard choices looming for terror funds'' (Sept. 13):

Americans should understand exactly what Michael Chertoff, head of Homeland Security, recently told Congress: We can't spend a lot of money and protect everything from terrorist attacks, because that's exactly what Osama bin Laden wants us to do; bankrupt our country by spending on national security.

Really? We can afford to waste lives and billions -- with a ``B'' -- of dollars in Iraq, but spending billions on securing our borders, ports, bridges, transportation systems, chemical plants, nuclear power plants, and electrical power grids would be playing into bin Laden's hands. What an ally terrorist groups have in Chertoff.

-- Sandy Sand

West Hills

And be quick about it

Re ``Prop. R on ballot at least till Oct. 3'' (Sept. 9):

My opinion and advice to our City Council is this: Serve your term in office and leave. Two terms is the law. It doesn't need any changes -- Thank you.

Please tell the League of Women Voters and the L.A. Chamber of Commerce to bow out. We voters don't need their input for this election or any other. Finally, to our council -- there are potholes to be filled, freeway entrances to be cleaned and streets to be swept. Tend to this business for a starter.

-- Johnny Rotella

Van Nuys

Arnold's propensities

Re ``View from the Valley'' cartoon (Sept. 13):

All's fair in love and war, and politics ain't love. Did Angelides get Arnold in hot water? Of course not. The governor's insensitivity in making such crude remarks public was his own undoing.

We know that boiling water is not a foreign element to Arnold have been immersed in steam by several accusers on previous occasions. Now think about this: What if Arnold had such damaging information concerning Angelides? His opponent would have been drawn and quartered.

-- David Pine

Northridge

Freedom, fairness

Bush's military commission's proposal, which was submitted for congressional review last week, allows detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or in ``secret'' CIA prisons abroad, to be tried and convicted without access to the evidence against him. Denying such a fundamental right to defendants is a slap in the face to our system of jurisprudence and is contradictory to America's love of freedom and fairness.

Bush, in his speech to the nation on Sept. 11, 2006, spoke of the day when 'the people of the Middle East leave the desert of despotism for the fertile gardens of liberty.' The garden is fertile so long as it is cared for and protected. Denying a basic fundamental right is a seed of destruction.

-- David Calkins

Encino

Where's Osama?

I find it curious that Osama bin Laden's second in command, Zawahiri, manages to appear in a new video every 3-4 months on Al Jazeera, et al. His most recent, last week, mentioned the fighting in Lebanon, showing that the video is current. Yet the only videos of Osama are years old.

The one released last week was pre- 9-11. The audio tapes he releases are highly suspect. For some reason they are always of such poor quality he cannot be verified as the speaker. It is important for the Islamic jihadists to keep him ``alive'' as a unifying idolized symbol. He also serves Washington well as a personification of the evil multi-headed movement. In my opinion Osama had his 72 virgins long ago.

-- Dave Hadley

West Los Angeles 

Free Cuba

Just 90 miles from us, Fidel Castro is holding a nice little get-together with all of those countries that hate us. His buddy Hugo Chavez, and of course the Koreans and the Iranians, just to name a few, are sipping Mojitos and trying to figure out what to do next to destroy us and our way of life.

I say, let's take care of Cuba once and for all now that Fidel is in his death bed and give it's people a taste of freedom, something they have not had for over 45 years. Viva Cuba libre!

-- Santiago Rodriguez

Palmdale

Appalling idea

There has been a lot of controversy regarding ``The Assassination of the President,'' which depicts President Bush as the target. Frankly, even though I am a Democrat and categorically oppose Bush's policies (Iraq, in particular), I think it is an appalling idea to make such a film using Bush, rather than an anonymous president.

Actually, I pray for our president's safety, because the last thing this country needs is to turn this misguided and incompetent bumbler into a martyr.

-- Richard McCurdy

Burbank

It's a duck, people

After reading about several letters about Mallard Fillmore, I decided to see what exactly people were arguing about. After seeing what Mallard Fillmore was, I just had to laugh. Folks, it's a comic strip about a duck. So what if a duck doesn't agree with someone's political views. Were talking about a comic strip duck for crying out loud.

What were comic strips called back in the day? Oh yeah, the funny papers. But, feel free to continue to write those letters to the editor. That section of the paper I find is the most entertaining section of all. And remember to please thank a vet for the freedom of speech we enjoy so much.

-- Christopher Murray

Canyon Country

It's an insult

Re ``Coming attractions'' (Your Opinions, Sept. 14):

Although Marshal Barth has every right to voice his opinion, I find his letter extremely offensive. Disney planning an attraction called ``The Road to Iraq'' with all the ugly things mentioned is an insult and although ABC is ``owned'' by Disney, as a separate business entity, ABC chose to air the 9/11 program. Let's not forget ``Freedom of Speech.''

Get a clue, Marshal and direct your opinions to the entity who aired 9/11. Disney would never even consider such an attraction.

-- Bill Maez

Northridge

Selective memory

Republicans charged Democrats with First Amendment encroachment for asking ABC not to air ``The Path to 9/11'' mini-series, or to amend it. But Republicans saw no such problem when they demanded CBS not show the Ronald Reagan film. From this, one can only conclude that Republicans are hypocrites, flip-floppers, or have suddenly come down with a case of selective memory.

-- Hal Rothberg

Calabasas

9-11 Truth Movement

With very little publicity from the media, the 9-11 Truth Movement has reached the point where, by the fifth anniversary of 9-11, 30 percent of the American people believed the government had some complicity and 19 percent think that the WTC was brought down by pre-planted explosives.

An estimated 2,000 people gathered at the former WTC site this year, chanting ``9-11 was an inside job.'' The secretive manner in which the Bush regime conducts its business leads a lot of us to believe that if they act as if they are hiding something from the American people, they probably have something to hide.

-- William O. West

Reseda