PUBLIC FORUM.Government stats Re ``Jobs added in `05'' (Jan. 7): One of the many areas that exemplifies the fact that the press is no more than a conduit between government handouts and the public is the reporting of employment statistics. To simply report the data as distributed by the government without delving into the details is terribly misleading. Since manufacturing has virtually disappeared from this country and so many technical jobs have been transferred overseas, one must wonder where these jobs are. Are they jobs for nursing-home employees, busboys, waiters, carwash attendants, short-order cooks, dishwashers, etc.? Also, since the Reagan administration Noun 1. Reagan administration - the executive under President Reagan executive - persons who administer the law , the government has listed the armed forces as part of our work force. - Russell Blinick Chatsworth Prescription plan The front-page article ``Medicare chaos puts poor at risk'' (Jan. 8) recites a story that should not have happened. The private insurers that accepted the responsibility of managing the Plan D prescription benefit had more than two years to study the plan and develop a smooth transitional protocol. There is no doubt that the Medicare recipients needed a prescription-benefit plan, but Medicaid recipients already had one, which was working. The Medicare Modernization Act was presented to Congress at the 11th hour before recess, before any member of Congress had a chance to read or evaluate it. It was at first voted down. Then recess was delayed until the members were bludgeoned into passing it. The true cost of the plan, though known by those who proposed it, was not revealed to the members of Congress. - Melvin H. Kirschner, M.D. Van Nuys Cesspool cesspool: see septic tank. to Jacuzzi Re ``Who is he?'' (Viewpoint, Jan. 8): The question of ``the real Schwarzenegger'' is not about whether he is a liberal or a conservative, but simply about what happens to all ``outsiders'' who get involved with politics. When they first arrive on the scene, they decry de·cry tr.v. de·cried, de·cry·ing, de·cries 1. To condemn openly. 2. To depreciate (currency, for example) by official proclamation or by rumor. the political environment as a ``cesspool.'' After being involved in it for a short while, they start to think of it more like a Jacuzzi. - George W. Harris Agoura Hills O'Reilly's off base Re ```Late Show' with culture warrior Dave Letterman'' (Viewpoint, Jan. 8): Bill O'Reilly Bill O'Reilly may refer to:
On Jan. 4 there was story about American warplanes killing nine members of an Iraqi family, including women and children. O'Reilly's reasoning makes the American pilots terrorists. After Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Dresden, etc., how can any American use O'Reilly's definition of a terrorist to describe others who sincerely believe in the cause for which they are fighting and dying? Terror has become a fact of war. - Jack Allen
Jack Allen is a major character in the Christian-themed radio drama/comedy Adventures in Odyssey - Pacific Palisades Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). No one more slanted Re ``News, not opinions'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 6): Reading John Green's response to my opinion made me chuckle. Green himself couldn't even stick to the facts when criticizing my letter from a few days ago. I never mentioned Fox News by name - just Bill O'Reilly. And anyone who has read or watched O'Reilly knows that his job is to receive the facts, then state his opinion. Those who disagree with Verb 1. disagree with - not be very easily digestible; "Spicy food disagrees with some people" hurt - give trouble or pain to; "This exercise will hurt your back" him are given a tongue-lashing. If reporters refused to exercise their right to dig deeper into the stories they report upon, then shady events such as Watergate would have never surfaced. If there's a columnist who's more ``slanted to a particular political and social agenda'' than O'Reilly, I have yet to hear from that columnist. - Kyle Laurent Newhall The smoker's card Re ``Helping illegal immigrants at smokers' expense'' (Jan. 8): Jill Stewart Jill Stewart is a print, radio, Internet, and television political commentator. From 1984 through 1991, she was a metro reporter with the Los Angeles Times. From 1997 through 2003, she authored a weekly commentary column on Los Angeles, southern California, and Sacramento politics is right - another sham, ignoring the real issues. Anyone who has been in an emergency room can see the facilities are overwhelmed with uninsured people. I accompanied others to three hospital ERs and found them all replicas of a Third World medical clinic, rather than places available for their intended purpose. I feel for the ER professionals who are overwhelmed by the need for nonemergency treatment. The ``smoker's card'' has been played out, and serious people need to find real-world answers to the problem. - Arnold J. Senter Chatsworth Birthright fight Re ``The birthright fight'' (Editorial, Dec. 9): One of the arguments the Daily News uses to favor automatic citizenship for children born in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. to illegal-immigrant parents is that the children shouldn't be punished for the parents' mistakes. If that argument were valid, then you must ask the question: Why, then, aren't the parents punished? Is a child who would be denied citizenship because he or she was born to an illegal-immigrant mother really being punished? No, there is no punishment of the child because the child is already a citizen of another country to which the mother should be made to return and take her child. - Hal Netkin North Hollywood Bernardi, Dedeaux Re ``Valley's ardent fighter, 94, dies'' (Jan. 6): One of my greatest memories is when I was 12 and on an East Van Nuys all-star baseball All-Star Baseball is a baseball video game series developed and published by Acclaim Entertainment. The series began in 1998 with the release of All-Star Baseball '99. team honored by Councilman Ernani Bernardi Ernani Bernardi (October 29, 1911-January 4, 2006) was a politician in Los Angeles, California. He represented District 7 on the Los Angeles City Council from 1961 to 1993, a district that covered the east San Fernando Valley. at City Hall. We took pictures with then-Mayor Tom Bradley Noun 1. Tom Bradley - United States politician who was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles (1917-1998) Bradley, Thomas Bradley and the councilman, and then we were introduced and honored before the City Council. I stood next to the great coach Rod Dedeaux as he introduced each one of us. A couple of years ago, I ran into Rod at a golf tournament, and he remembered the event! Two wonderful and great people, Bernardi and Dedeaux, will be missed. - Spencer Shiffman Calabasas Democrats too Re ``The money trail'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 8): Mike Kirwan ought not crow too smugly over the perceived ``Republican'' money scandal. Of the first 11 politicians exposed, five were Democrats. Cable news reported Patrick Kennedy got $131,000 from Abramoff and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid got $47,000. There's more to come. - Frank Arenson Valencia Conspiracy Bowl? Re ``Shame on Texas (Your Opinions, Jan. 6): William H. Link accuses the Texas team of dirty tactics and unsportsmanlike behavior. If this was the case, why doesn't he blame the refs for bad officiating - or was it supposedly a conspiracy to defeat the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission ? Both USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. and Texas played hard and did well, and both should be commended for a very exciting and interesting game. I'm glad not all USC fans are whining like Link. If they were, I would abandon them in a heartbeat immediately. See also: heartbeat . USC lost. Get over it and move on. - Ron Roth Northridge Judgmental judg·men·tal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or dependent on judgment: a judgmental error. 2. Inclined to make judgments, especially moral or personal ones: Re ``Robertson says God punishing Israeli'' (Jan. 8): The ``Reverend'' Pat ``Bigmouth'' Robertson inserts both feet into that mouth regarding Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's failing health. He calls it God's punishment. Has Christianity become so judgmental over the milleniums that we can no longer forgive anyone for anything? We have to be judges, juries and executioners while selling tickets on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. and making bets on who will survive the persecution and prosecution. - John C. Weaver Reseda Seriously, folks Re ``All the news that's fit to spoof'' (Viewpoint, Jan. 8): I realize that Steve Young spoofs the news; however, was he just spoofin' when he said that the Rose Bowl was played on Jan. 3, or was it because the third is ``left'' of the fourth? - Michael Lieberman West Hills |
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