PUBLIC FORUM.

Good for Bratton

Re ``Still rejects `MYOB' apology'' (July 20):

Kudos to you, Chief Bratton, for not apologizing for something you did not do wrong. Regarding prior hard drug use by police recruits, there is nothing more valuable than experience. A person who has tried hard drugs in a foolish youth can show tremendous strength of character and become an exemplary officer.

So good for you, Bratton. Bernard Parks and Dennis Zine really ``don't know what the hell they are talking about.''

-- Jane Saporito Stucker

Newhall

Bush's last chance

Re ``Bush rejects stem-cell legislation'' (July 20):

I was stunned to learn that President Bush had vetoed the stem-cell bill, given that it was probably his last chance to ever grow brains.

-- David Firtz

Reseda

Stem-cell veto

Re ``Bush rejects stem-cell legislation'' (July 20):

How dare President Bush presume to know more than all the noted scientists who agree that stem-cell research and trials should go forward?

-- Jane Shaughnessy

Northridge

Right on stem cells 

Re ``Bush rejects stem-cell legislation'' (July 20):

To further erode Bush's support, the liberal media is working hand-in- glove with the abortion culture to ensure a market for cannibalized baby body parts, i.e., stem cells. That is why the truth that all stem-cell successes have occurred using adult, autologous stem cells has been hidden from the public.

Bush wisely rejects wasting money on embryonic research because the patient's own stem cells are his best hope for healing.

-- Mary Horey

Northridge

Because we know

Re ``Bush's ratings'' (Your Opinions, July 20):

The argument that we have not been attacked in five years is absurd. After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, we were not attacked for another seven years during the Clinton presidency. Not until shortly after Bush took office were we hit on 9-11. By Zelenka's logic, I guess that means we were safer from terrorists under Bill Clinton.

The reason Bush's ratings are at an all-time low are because even the most simple-minded American is beginning to realize that the military was 100 percent correct when they told Bush before the war that invading Iraq would be a colossal mistake. Thank God, close to seven out of 10 Americans are beginning to understand what exactly is going on.

-- Wil Jones 

Calabasas

Transparent support

Re ``Panel wants noisy jets phased out'' (July 18):

Valley residents have waited 16 years for relief from life-stopping Stage II jets. Thanks to the Board of Airport Commissioners and certain elected officials, the issue is seriously on the table, a favorable ruling in the wings.

In reading Tony Cardenas' statement of ``support'' (the airport being in his district), it is apparent that he does not support such a proposal, his exact words being, ``... The issue is local for us here in Los Angeles, but the conflict is nationwide. It is imperative that a national strategy be proposed. ...'' Once again, he just can't ask those pilots to upgrade their craft. By proposing a national strategy, he's shifted the focus from Los Angeles to the U.S.

-- Ellen Bagelman

President

Lake Balboa Neighborhood Association 

IG reports

Re ``Report: MTA workers' OT unearned'' (July 21):

The findings of the MTA Inspector General's report are published in detail in the Daily News. Yet there's another high-profile government agency whose Inspector General reports you'll never see published openly. That's the Los Angeles Unified School District, whose current board members and bureaucracy are telling us how effective they've been.

Keeping the lid on LAUSD's IG reports is a major way of preventing the public from finding out what's really going on. This is another reason that a strong mayoral involvement has appeal.

-- Phil Pearson

Agoura Hills

Are they worth it?

The mayor and City Council put a plan in place to bring our trash-collection fees in line with neighboring communities. We should thank them for correcting the inequity, even though the Los Angeles Police Department will be the beneficiary of the additional funds.

Are they working on a plan to bring their salaries in line with another big city (New York), where a council person makes $90,000 as opposed to $162,000 per year? Gasoline prices and the city sewer service charge continue to skyrocket and all they worry about is a water rate hike of a measly 2.75 percent. It makes you wonder if they are even worth $90,000 per year.

-- Dennis T. Miller

Tujunga

Sovereignty?

Re ``Ridiculous reaction'' (Your Opinions, July 20):

Alex Bey writes, ``OK, the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier is wrong,'' before he continues to write about Israel's over-reaction. I'm curious, Alex Bey, as to why you didn't mention how wrong it was that Hezbollah also killed several Israeli soldiers in the process of the kidnapping and then fired over 50 rockets into Israeli neighborhoods at the same time.

If Cuba launched rockets into Miami, would Bey lament about Cuba's sovereignty as U.S. forces over-react against them?

-- Glenn Smith

Canoga Park

Fortunes of war

Re ``Ridiculous reaction'' (Your Opinions, July 20):

On July 12, Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in an unprovoked border raid. Israel is merely defending itself against these Iranian-backed terrorists. Lebanon Prime Minister Fouad Siniura's lament that Lebanon is paying a price for attempting to establish a democratic institution is also off the mark. Mr. Prime Minister, this is the price a government pays for harboring and giving parliament seats to an avowed terrorist group.

The Israeli army is attacking with surgical precision Hezbollah's areas in southern Lebanon and, unfortunately, as in all bellicose actions, innocent civilians will suffer as they did during the bombings of Hiroshima, Dresden and Berlin, etc., during World War II. It's called ``fortunes of war.''

-- Jason Miranda Levi

Northridge

Where does it go?

Every year, renters are assessed a ``registration fee,'' of which I am told, the landlord pays half and I pay half. Up to the last year, it was $7 and this year it's $9.35. What are these millions earmarked for? Also, a couple of years ago, we got assessed $2 for each utility meter once a year. Here is a few more million in the pot for whatever.

I've heard of creative financing -- is this creative taxation? I have lived in the Valley area for 50 years and have watched it deteriorate and nothing is being done, and yet we pay the highest taxes to the city and state. I hope I can get an answer before my time runs out.

-- Carmen Postrzech

Sylmar

Killer name

Re ``Foisted on readers'' (Your Opinions, July 14):

Concerning the placement of the Mallard Fillmore comic strip, and Bruce Tinsley's July 15 strip touting its appearance in Swedish and French papers:

I say, put the strip anywhere, but use the French title, ``Merde Fillmore.''

-- Frank E. Johnson

Hollywood

Once it was service

In years past, (in) the sale of gas a service station paid the overhead. The profit was made in the back room, i.e., lubes, oil and filter changes, hoses, belts, batteries, tires brake jobs, etc.

Now you rarely see a back room. When was the last time someone put gas in your car, checked your water and air or washed your windshield? Who is making the profit?

-- Thomas Carter

Santa Clarita