PUBLIC FORUM.

And at the other end

Re ``MTA bullish on busway'' (Sept. 13):

So the overpaid geniuses at the MTA are finally realizing the obvious: Having the busway continue to the Chatsworth train station might make sense. But first they must spend a year or tens of thousands of dollars to ``study'' it. Gee, I wonder why the tracks were put there in the first place?

They connect an important gap in Valley transit? Duh! But who cares that many businesses will be displaced. That's what government likes to do: giveth and then taketh away. I wonder how many more decades it will take them to figure out they also blew it at the other -- Burbank -- end. But that's why they get the big bucks.

-- Dave Petterson

Sherman Oaks

Term expansion

Re ``Court upholds City Council's ballot language'' (Sept. 13):

The appeals court says it's OK for City Council members to do as they want, which is what they always do, except when it comes to doing what they are paid to do. It's funny how they can get things done quickly when it's something for their benefit. Two years ago the bus company in Mission Hills appealed a judge's order to leave. And that was the last thing we heard about it. They are still there, spewing diesel fuel fumes in people's front doors.

Term limits were implemented for a reason. Those in office get too complacent and sassy, and they don't do their job.

-- Joe Pinoy Lozano

Mission Hills

Taking kids

Re ``Law takes kids from parents'' (Sept. 9):

No truer words were spoken. It is an outright crime when government agencies override the constitutional rights of citizens for budget gain.

-- Carol Ann Ziehler

Sun Valley

That worked out well

Re ``Border crackdown rotten for farms'' (Sept. 8):

According to the farmers in this story, the 11 million or 12 million illegal immigrants currently in this country -- who presumably are here to do jobs Americans won't do, primarily farm field work (hence the liberals' reference to them as ``migrants'') -- have decided they would rather work in easier, higher-paying jobs, including construction and landscaping.

In other words, the illegals are here to do jobs that Americans will do and they no longer want to do jobs that Americans won't do. So can we send them home now?

-- Millie Derose

San Fernando

Coming attraction

I understand that Disney, the owner of ABC Television, is planning a new attraction at Disneyland called The Road to Iraq. You will enter a replica of an unarmored Humvee and, to the tune of ``It's a Small World,'' proceed to ride through a miniature devastated city, where the first thing you come upon is a statue of Saddam being pulled from a pedestal while a voice in the background repeats ``Mission accomplished,'' and then you will ride past bodies of dead soldiers and civilians while car bombs and other improvised explosive devices blast all around you.

Ultimately, you will arrive at the Hall of Presidents, where you will stop before an automaton of President George W. Bush repeating ``9-11,'' ``9-11,'' ``9-11,'' ad infinitum. The ride will, of course, be in Fantasyland, take all day and cost $5,000 per person.

-- Marshall Barth

Encino

Alas, poor Mickey

Re ``Path to 9/11'' (Sept. 10):

Obituary: Mouse, Mickey, Nov. 18, 1928 -- Sept. 10, 2006. The beloved cartoon character died at 8 p.m. Pacific time on Sept. 10. A popular symbol of Mouse's parent, the American Broadcasting Company, also known as ABC.

Mouse died due to partisan political propaganda and complications of prevarication, commonly known as telling lies and misrepresenting actual history.

-- Jerold Drucker

Tarzana

Speaking of lies

Politics aside, am I the only one who finds the irony in former President Bill Clinton's comments about only wanting the producers of the made-for-TV movie, ``The Path to 9/11,'' to tell the truth?

After all, isn't he the only president in U.S. history to have been found guilty in a court of law of ``willfully providing false testimony,'' resulting in his disbarment?

-- Stephen Wagner

Valencia

Bottom line

There are three sides to every story: your side, my side and the truth. Your friends don't come to your house to kill you for no reason. None of us has any idea what our government is doing to other countries. We only know what we are told. Americans are spoiled by our way of life, and it's up to our government to find ways to make sure we get it. It really doesn't matter which party is in office; it's a dirty job.

There's no difference between running a nation and running a corporation. So, whether you're a conservative, a liberal, an independent or anything else, the bottom line will always be the same. Another truth is that some people run their corporations better than others.

-- Tommy Howard

Glendale

Saddam no threat

Dick Cheney and the rest of the Bush administration continue to live in a fantasy world in which Iraq has always been the center for terrorist threats. Most of us know and have known that this is not true. Saddam Hussein was never a threat to the United States and had no reason to trust al-Qaida. Hussein was contained by a no-fly zone in the north and south of the country.

The Bush administration took troops out of Afghanistan to invade Iraq, a country that was not a threat, and caused untold destruction that will last for generations. The increase in terrorists alone in the region has shown how this administration has failed not only the American people, but also the world.

-- Paul Straughn

North Hollywood

No on Prop. 86

Some mean-spirited politicians and organizations are asking voters to discriminate against smokers by increasing the excise tax on a pack of cigarettes from 87 cents, to $3.47. Smokers, especially the poor, have a disease called addiction and should be helped, not handicapped by a 300 percent increase in the excise tax.

Since only smokers would be required to pay these taxes, it seems unfair that most of the tax funds would be allocated for purposes other than smoker-related health problems and anti-smoking education. I'm a nonsmoker who will vote ``No'' on Proposition 86.

-- Bill Zelenka

Granada Hills

Slip of the tongue

Re ``Arnold's Latina slip must spark dialogue'' (Their Opinions, Sept. 12):

It's funny, but I don't recall any howls of outrage from Enrique and Gilda Ochoa when Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante mispronounced the governor's name in 2003, substituting an ``i'' for an ``e'' in the penultimate syllable. Just a slip of the tongue, you see.

-- James F. Glass

Chatsworth

We need to act now

Our city is in danger. The medical-marijuana dispensaries are springing up all over our city, and young people are buying lots of it and going around schools and other places selling it to any kid with the money to buy it.

Of course that is illegal, but our police cannot catch all of them to put a stop to it. We have to tell our City Council to pass laws to keep the gangsters who are behind this out of our city. Please call and write the council now to make it against the law to open a medical-marijuana dispensary in our city.

-- Alonzo Minard

Sun Valley

Gas taxes

Who are politicians trying to fool? When gas was $1 per gallon, the tax was 8.25 cents per gallon. When gas went to $3, the tax went to 24.75 cents per gallon. What happened to this windfall?

Too bad we don't have a ``Mr. Smith goes to Sacramento.'' If these leaders had any feelings for the people, something would have been done. Memories are forever.

-- Joseph Morigi

Northridge