PUBLIC FORUM.

Kind words

Re "Gonzales latest to pull up stakes" (Aug. 28):

There's an old adage that states "If one can't say something good about the departed, one should say nothing at all." I've just learned that Alberto Gonzales has resigned and will soon be departing. Good!

-- Eddie Johnson

Panorama City

Greedy developers

Re "Sky's the limit" (Aug. 27):

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles. I remember driving through the San Fernando Valley when it was still populated with orange groves. I understand the need for progress and housing for an expanding city. However, I also remember the wanton demolition and slaughter of the cultural face of this city in the 1970s and 1980s, replacing beautiful architecture with chilly, tacky mini-malls.

Almost every holiday we celebrate is centered on a celebration of the past. If we allow all the history in this city to be dramatically changed by developers, there will be nothing to celebrate in Los Angeles. Are we really going to allow a handful of greedy developers to redefine Los Angeles? As citizens, we should be enraged.

-- Christina Schuch

West Hollywood

At what cost?

Re "Sky's the limit" (Aug. 27):

Housing is and will be a problem, but at what cost to the way of life for L.A. residents? The state is advertising a potential shortage of power and water. Look at Palmdale, on the verge of water rationing, while L.A. is still allowing the building of residential and commercial projects.

And what about the impact on garbage disposal, waste disposal, traffic, police, fire, to name a few? Is anyone looking at the total picture? Am I missing something here? Or is it the same old story: Money talks? I sure hope county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky can convince the City Council to do the right thing.

-- Raymond Balikov

Woodland Hills

Health-care bill

The Daily News article "Hope fades for Arnold's plan" (Aug. 24) also discusses the Perata-Nunez plan. But nowhere do I see any mention of SB 840, the Californian single-payer bill. Both the governor's plan and the Perata-Nunez plan rely on private, for-profit insurance to pay for health care. SB 840 is a single-payer system that does not use the insurance companies, thus eliminating their multiplicity of rules, staffs and profits. Californians can have such a program if state Sen. Sheila Kuehl's SB 840 passes.

The governor vetoed SB 840 last year, but recently admitted that he would sign it if the funding was available. The insurance companies are spending millions of dollars opposing the 840 threat to their "cash cow."

-- Melvin H. Kirschner, M.D.

Van Nuys

Arnold rigs the game

Re "Governor vetoes $702 million, signs new budget" (Aug. 25):

Midgame, Gov. Schwarzenegger changed the rules for injured workers with current cases. He reduced the benefits and allowed insurance companies to summarily deduct even for asymptomatic arthritis. Moreover, his 2004 intervention allowed insurers to easily review and then deny medical treatment. "Comp" has eliminated vocational retraining and artificially shortened the higher-paying temporary disability period to 104 weeks.

Talk of middle of the game! Even for incomplete cases, your law now deducts for past conditions in a manner specifically designed to hit the injured worker as hard as possible. Your new laws favor the insurers that are now raking in huge profits. You can fool some of the people some of the time -- but impoverished injured workers are living proof of the "middle-of-the-night," heartless changes you and your chamber of commerce supporters brought about.

-- Emil Henen

Valencia

Fluoride

Re "MWD to add more fluoride to local water" (Aug. 23):

Despite overwhelming research about its ill effects, the Metropolitan Water District is spending $5.5 million to add even more fluoride to L.A.'s drinking water. How much will it cost those of us who prefer our water without poison to buy only bottled water from now on?

But it will save lots of money for those in the aluminum industry, stuck with large amounts of the stuff as a byproduct of manufacturing. It's illegal to dump it in a landfill; it's too toxic. Luckily, they found a cheap way to get rid of it. But not to worry, the dental association says it's OK -- you know, the same people who told us we should put mercury in our mouths.

-- Elaine Berman

Sherman Oaks

John Walker Lindh

I believe that John Walker Lindh has been unjustly imprisoned and should receive a pardon as soon as possible. Given the climate this country was in after 9-11, I was a coward for not speaking out on this injustice.

I first saw John on a stretcher, wounded, on a CNN broadcast and believed then, as I do now, that John was a very holy person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The injustice already done to this young man is appalling. This was truly a case of mob rule.

-- Cindy Rutherford

La Crescenta

Elvira Arellano

When we choose to break laws and are apprehended, found guilty and incarcerated, we are separated from our families. This separation is a natural outcome of the risk we choose to take, because every illegal act carries with it this risk of separation from families and loved ones, and we have no right to demand leniency based solely on this separation. Our prisons are full of people who have been separated from families; this is no reason for our laws not to be enforced.

Elvira Arellano chose to break our laws and now demands that she be allowed to stay because she has a son who was born here. If she really wants to be with her son, she has the option of taking him back to Mexico with her.

-- Donald Kerian

Sherman Oaks

Selling us out

Re "Council hoards spare land" (Aug. 24):

It should come as no surprise that the City Council and the mayor are interested in selling city property. After all, they sold out City Hall and Los Angeles citizens more than once to the developers.

-- Sid Gold

Granada Hills

Political hypocrisy

Can you imagine if Roe v. Wade was about dogs instead of humans? Michael Vick would be free, not being brought up on charges of animal cruelty. Let me understand that a USC student can dump her newborn in a Dumpster without any outcry from the left, but animal cruelty, with gambling, is by its definition a punishable offense?

This is proof of the slippery slope that the late senator from New York, Patrick Monihan, predicted. Unfortunately his replacement was none other than the unfeeling Hillary Clinton -- God help us. Can I still say the word "God" without recrimination?

-- Michael Kelly

Stevenson Ranch

What respect?

Re "Blond justice strikes again" (Aug. 24):

That sounds like a pretty good deterrent. Eighty-two minutes for driving under the influence. That should make every person who might take the wheel after an extra martini at dinner, or who has one more for the road, think twice. Is it any wonder nobody respects the law?

-- John King

Granada Hills

Corporate welfare

Re "Should the city bail 'em out?" (Aug. 18):

Bailing out default mortgages is really bailing out the lender.

I thought the Republicans were the ones accused of "corporate welfare."

-- Greg Floor

Granada Hills

Tighten their belts

Re "Council hoards spare land" (Aug. 24):

With our city's paucity of parks, one would think that the mayor could think of other uses of surplus land instead of the usual uninspired idea of selling "surplus property to help ease Los Angeles' strained budget."

Perhaps if each one reduced his or her discretionary funds and perks, city officials could help the citizens they are ostensibly concerned about.

-- Barbara Starr

Encino

Market corrections

Re "Loan program is no homeowner bailout" (Their Opinions, Aug. 27):

City Councilman Richard Alarcon opines that the homeowners in foreclosure are victims. I say perhaps only of themselves. You have to be an adult to sign loan papers. Adults have to take responsibility for their actions. If these folks lose their homes, while it may be sad, in the long run it will be for the best.

Yes, foreclosures drive down prices, but that will open the market to many more folks who can't qualify for homes whose prices are astronomically high. Let the market correct itself. The tax base will be larger and healthier in the future as a result.

-- Rod Luedke

West Hills