Congress must show leadership on health care

Why are we the only industrialized country that does not have universal health care? During our extensive traveling days, we heard nothing but praise and pride in other nations' health care programs. Why do the myths about our "best in the world" health care continue when statistics reveal that we are far from the top in many categories?

It is time for the Congress to show some unity and override Bush's veto of the children's health care bill.

Betty Cahill

San Marcos

Horn was behind the scenes during wildfires

I was very dismayed to read Ray Carney#,s letter in the Oct. 30 North County Times regarding the whereabouts of Supervisor Bill Horn during the firestorm. I fear Mr. Carney has mistaken being on television with the actual work of being available to help in the district in any way possible.

Among other things, Supervisor Horn was visiting shelters, encouraging constituents to evacuate, working with firefighters and deputies to keep track of road closures and determining the best routes to take in order to fight the fires, evacuate citizens and keep evacuated neighborhoods safe from looters. Bill did not even leave the district when President Bush came to town. He knew his place was with his constituents and not in front of television cameras.

Funny, when I saw that Bill was not with the president and not appearing on TV at the OES, I knew right where he was. I called the office to express my admiration because he was doing the right thing. It pains me that Mr. Carney#,s impression was so different. I know Bill Horn to be a caring, compassionate, hands-on person whenever disaster strikes. He is my hero.

Dorothy Steinbeck

Escondido

Fires, Oakland and trees

The fire in the fashionable Oakland Hills (and, to some extent, in Berkeley) was at that time (Oct. 20, 1991) the most expansive property fire in our nation's history. The Oakland City Council promptly forbade the planting of eucalyptus and pine trees and ordered that such trees that survived the fire be removed. To this day, Oakland does not regret those decisions.

Please contact your California legislators and U.S. senators and representatives and urge them to consider carefully and then enact similar, far-sighted legislation for all of California.

The Rev. Frank Nouza

statewide police chaplain

Escondido

Barth is correct and courageous

Encinitas has it backward ("Encinitas councilwoman boycotting closed-session meetings," Oct. 18). The city routinely schedules "special sessions" such as water district meetings, joint powers meetings and, recently, workshop meetings, which are all designated "special," in every instance that we've seen, providing 72-hour notice. The city certainly can go above and beyond the minimum requirements, as it has for these "special meetings." The only time the city gives only 24 hours notice has been for closed sessions before regularly scheduled council meetings, which is against the law, period.

The city has a long history of using the Brown Act for its loopholes, rather than complying with the intent of the law requiring open meetings with few exceptions. Closed sessions are to comply with strict noticing and reporting requirements. Our current City Council members, including Mayor James Bond and Deputy Mayor Jerome Stocks, should face the facts and admit their error, apparently caused by bad advice from the city attorney and council's desire to continue in its pattern of executing secret backroom deals.

Teresa Barth shows wisdom and integrity and is a welcome exception to the Encinitas rule, which violates the rule of law.

Lynn Braun

Encinitas

Kit Carson now Hero Park

To the citizens of North County, I want to let you know that my family and I have renamed Kit Carson Park in Escondido to Hero Park. This is to honor the men and women in the fire, police and emergency services who saved lives and property in our communities. Next time you drive by Hero Park, honk your horn in appreciation.

Cameron Curry

Escondido

Flores should help fix Mexico law enforcement

Bill Flores' picture depicts a man of conviction ññ a true humanitarian ("Minutemen's tactics inflame hate," Community Forum, Nov. 1). I challenge Bill to use his heartfelt conviction. Stop insulting Americans by calling them racists, bigots and neo-Nazis and do something positive.

Bill should use his renowned expertise as a super-cop and help [Mexico]. He should volunteer to help fix corrupt law enforcement in Mexico. Corruption is one of the major reasons why Mexicans flee their country. Bill, as a former assistant sheriff, should be able to make a real difference, as opposed to just calling Americans names. Bill could be a hero on both sides of the border.

Dean Hardy

Carlsbad

Immigration debate shackled to race

It is so hard these days to have an intelligent conversation about our nation's illegal immigration problem because the pro-illegal alien folks always bring racism into the debate. Whether it is the latest piece about the San Diego Minutemen in the North County Times or the views of organizations like the National Council of La Raza, the pro-illegal side will never fail to start calling anti-illegal immigration patriots names like "racist" and compare them to the KKK. Clearly, the sign of a pathetic argument, or lack thereof, is name-calling. Never mind the fact that the patriots virtually never talk about race or ethnicity and have many multiethnic supporters who know that this debate is about law and order, not race, the pro-illegal group always makes this issue about race. Only racists consider race.

Now consider the fact that "La Raza" literally means "The Race" and that MEChA's slogan is "For the race everything. For those outside the race, nothing." It seems quite a double standard to align oneself with groups like that and to call people who just want very fair and reasonable laws enforced racists. Desperation is a stinky cologne.

Brian Berg

Rancho Bernardo

Groups put negative spin on everything

Regarding, "Handling of immigrants during fires questioned": 11 of 18 patients in the UCSD burn center being treated for burns caused by the fires are illegals; I guess that is "racist and discriminatory" too. The Border Patrol was responsible for getting them sent to the hospital.

How did the illegals who "did not speak English" find their way to the shelters and evacuation centers? Oh, they must have been listening to the numerous Spanish language TV and radio stations; Channel 7-KNSD ran their ticker in Spanish, which alerted people to the areas being evacuated and [told them] where to go. And everyone had to start showing ID after illegals from Mexico [according to a report in the L.A. Times] admitted removing disaster supplies from Qualcomm and admitted they were going to take them down to TJ for resale!

I suggest the ACLU, the Quakers, the Border Angels, the San Diego Catholic diocese, Contreras, Jillings, Morones, et al., get together and set up relief efforts for their people since they feel they were so badly treated.

This NCT article reflects the very egocentric and ethnocentric agenda of these groups. At a time when a lot of people in the county are suffering, they once again have to put their negative spin on the event.

Norma Parker

San Marcos

Lead, follow or get out of the way

Regarding the article in today's paper"State commission starts desal project review": I have read articles wherein NASA proposes to "mine ice from below the surface of the moon and on Mars and convert it into water and then rocket fuel." Good grief! And we squabble and dither on doing something useful with seawater?

There are pockets of habitat within the city limits that have not burned out for 30 years or so. The older and taller they get, the easier it is to catch fire. Why not cut this stuff back 12 or 18 inches? The roots would still be intact to prevent erosion, the stuff would be back in two years; you couldn't kill it with a jack hammer, it's so tough!

Who pays for cutback? I don't know. … Whether the property is owned by the city or private parties, letting it grow rampant is tantamount to stacking 50-gallon drums of gasoline around your neighbor's property. If necessary, the local officials should go head to head with state, county, Sierra Club, etc., to get this matter under control. Lead, follow or get out of the way.

George Bolton

Carlsbad

Pro sports should donate to fire fund

I am writing this letter on behalf of all San Diegans who have lost their homes to the fires. I must thank all who have donated toward the efforts in our recent tragedy, and I give my sincere condolences toward the families who were directly involved.

I wanted to suggest a program to help even more toward the efforts here in San Diego that maybe the commissioners of the NFL, MLB and NBA might consider participating in. I was thinking that any fines that take place up until the end of the year, a small percentage could be donated to the efforts here in San Diego on behalf of the player or players who are involved in these fines. These fines are inevitably going to happen, so why not have a small portion of those fines put toward those in need here in San Diego?

This is just a suggestion, but it would be a small solution to an unfortunate tragedy. …

Anthony Tidd

San Marcos

Will you vote for evil?

Soon, once more, we American voters will be asked to vote for the lesser of two evils. No matter which we choose, we will, as always, vote for evil - unless we opt for a third choice ññ good! This is a lose-lose proposition.

There are many American voters who do not choose either evil, but are increasingly choosing good. Do you really believe the Republican Party and the Democratic Party are not evil? Elections are not a sporting contest ññ us against them (pick a winner). Do you want to pledge allegiance to the North American Union? If not, what are you going to do about it? Change channels? Try to decide which evil you will vote for next time?

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" (Edmund Burke). The fall of America is very much like the fall of Rome ññ the barbarians are at the gates!

Jack Fulton

Escondido

Paper does a poor job on weather

Everyone's attention lately is concentrated on California's weather. The Weather Page in the NCT is inadequate for anyone wanting more than yesterday's temperature, and even that is sometimes far afield.

Today's weather section makes no mention of the anticipated Santa Ana winds in the county, yet manages a paragraph on marine conditions, "wind variable less than 10 knots becoming northwest 10 knots in the afternoon." Don't you feel a regional paper can do better than this?

Virginia Drake

Escondido

Media sinking to the level of ancient Rome

The content being spewed forth by Hollywood and the American news media would give Caligula and Nero pause. There is something quite disturbing at work in the popular culture. An unnervingly cruel, bizarre and voyeuristic element pervades much of the fare on modern television and movie screens.

For example, movies such as "Saw" and "The Silence of the Lambs" hold out sadistic murderers not as monsters but as noble Nietzschian supermen. MSNBC's programming seems to consist largely of shows on prison life, in which viewers are invited to watch men living in cages, fighting and stabbing each other and generally being reduced to the level of animals.

Across all of cable one can find countless documentaries on grotesque murders and other depravity, as well as crime dramas dealing exclusively with the activities of the morgue. The fourth estate distracts us with violence that would put the Roman Coliseum to shame, and the entertainment media have replaced religion as the opiate of the masses.

Meanwhile, our current Caesar vetoes a health care spending bill for children, advocates methods of torture for which Nazi war criminals were prosecuted at Nuremberg and engages in vicious warfare under the color of blatant lies.

Jeff Brownlee

Oceanside

Racist claim keeps media from reporting truths

As sure as the sun rises each morning, no doubt could exist that [some] illegal aliens would come to relief centers and grab every freebie they could, items donated for U.S. citizens who were displaced by the recent and horrific fires that spread across San Diego County. Undoubtedly local bleeding hearts and illegal alien advocates will say that illegal aliens are entitled to anything that is offered to deserving U.S. citizens in such a crisis. But stealing for profit and being entitled is another thing.

A local television station (7/39) reporting from Qualcomm Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 24, reported that for three days volunteers noticed several vehicles returning day after day, the occupants loading them with everything available. … They notified the San Diego Police Department. … The officers dutifully stopped the vehicles and questioned the occupants, not because they appeared to be Hispanic, but due to the complaint. Guess what? Illegal aliens! Further interrogation revealed they were selling the items to a third party, who was reselling them.

I seriously doubt this will be reported on national television for fear of racism, but before illegal alien advocates get too upset, I'm sure when the arrest total is revealed for this crime, there will be far more white criminals than illegal aliens in custody.

Leon Smith

Oceanside

Beginning of the decline of America

Once upon a time, immigrants came to America to assimilate and become Americans. They worked hard, learned English and bettered themselves and their families with a superior, English language education.

Today, illegal aliens have reduced the quality of that education. The curriculum is dumbed down to accommodate those who refuse to learn English, yet are entitled to an education. One aspect of legal immigration is learning English. Since illegals don't go through that process, they don't learn English. Then teachers are expected to teach in foreign languages and it is an untenable situation. Everyone suffers.

When immigration started making language requirements lax, when American businesses began hiring non-English-speaking illegals, paying slave wages and cheating America … that was the beginning of the decline of this once-great nation.

Unless illegals are repatriated, legal immigrants required to learn English and become Americans, this country is lost. This loss is the objective of those who demand slave labor. … As long as they can blame the "hateful, racist" Minutemen, who actively oppose the destruction of the American language and culture, they have achieved this objective.

Mari Hayden

Oceanside

Ignorance of history seen in letters

Three of the last letters by Gerald Summers (Sept. 12, Sept. 22 and Oct. 13) are such a classical display of profound ignorance of history that they cannot be understood by intelligent, well-educated people. They are the result, I believe, of atheism's pandering to man's baser instincts, among which Darwinism is high on the list.

How futile is the theory of Darwin; pandering to those baser instincts through the "survival of the fittest."

Those evolutionary instincts would surely have destroyed man had not God built within us the knowledge of Himself. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20).

Man's "reason" through Humanistic evolution cannot explain the altruistic desires within man's soul to come to the aid of the less fortunate or ailing, nor the human brain, arguably the most complex structure in the universe, designed in a far more complex manner than necessary for simple "survival," nor to even slightly comprehend the complexity of a God who has created all.

Evolution thus panders to those baser desires and atheism is the result. Man's "reason" cannot see the improbabilities of a chemical "first life" by its methodology but only his own selfish desire to do his "own thing" unfettered by any obligation to a higher authority.

Irvin H. Forbing

Escondido

Implication in editorial was wrong

On Sept. 28, an editorial entitled "Roses and Raspberries" commented on the efforts of several local Realtor associations to curtail real estate fraud in the Inland Empire, especially in Southwest Riverside County. As the corporate counsel for these Realtor associations, we believe it is our responsibility to correct an implication in the editorial that Realtors have not been aggressive while confronting suspicious real estate transactions. That is most certainly not the case.

Realtors and Realtors associations have actively and decisively responded to the suspicious and irregular real estate activities over the last several years by timely reporting them to the appropriate governmental authorities when they were discovered. Local Realtor associations have forwarded documents to the Riverside County district attorney's Real Estate Fraud Unit, the Department of Real Estate and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as early as a year and a half ago when some of these problems first became apparent. Some agencies took over a year to act and others have still not responded.

Realtors do not have enforcement powers. The associations we represent have responded to these failures to act by writing continuously, holding classes to educate Realtors, sending out written opinions and have now formed a Joint Task Force. They will continue to work to keep the integrity of the real estate business intact, but must have the support and assistance of the authorities charged with enforcement.

We applaud The Californian and its staff for the generally accurate reporting of these situations.

John V. Giardinelli

Canyon Lake

And the beat goes on

It seems the politicians are not able to say "no to any new tax idea. The recent enactment of a "Pumpkin Tax" in Iowa opens up a whole new area that can be mined for new taxes by state and federal taxers. The Pumpkin Tax is based upon the belief that most pumpkins sold around this time of year are used primarily for Jack-O-Lanterns and not for food. Hence the new tax on this non-food item.

Happily though, any real "pumpkin eaters" are allowed to file for a tax exemption by filling out a form. Can there really be an end to this, though?

Think about it; a "Tomato Tax." If you are buying tomatoes to throw at politicians you best bite them first and have a friend snap a photo of the bitten tomatoes before being tossed. Eggs! How about those eggs to throw at that nasty neighbor's house, how do I bite a raw egg before throwing it? Corn cob pipe makers; what happens to the price of cobs when the ears are taxed? Dunkin' for apples? Better eat them! I'm calling Arnold, this can get out of hand very quickly.

Jim Tierney

Murrieta

Don't let the polls confuse you

Get a grip. I can't believe how many I-hate-all-things-Bush non-thinkers are out there.

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa wrote a concise, well thought-out response in The Californian as to why it was unwise to pass the ill-conceived so-called children's health bill (Community Forum, Oct. 31, "Democrats put politics before children").

How many of us have read the entire text of the SCHIP and can testify from first-hand knowledge that this is a good solution with no problems? If you rely on CBS polls and biased news coverage for your information, then you are just the kind of voter the Democrats are targeting. Why do you think the Democrats are spending most of their time trying to demonize Bush and all Republicans?

You can't let yourselves be duped by today's new "poll-otics." Darrell Issa is one of the few politicians left who will vote on principal and what is right for the country and this region. The rest are a bunch of spineless poll watchers who have forgotten what the Party of Lincoln really stands for.

By the way, who are the Democrats going run against when they find out George W. isn't on the ballot next year? God bless our troops.

Randy Andrews

Temecula

Officials have varying viewpoints about fire damage at Blue Sky Reserve

Readers respond to our Nov. 5 story about some Poway city officials and outdoor enthusiasts mourning the loss of hundreds of acres of critical habitat in Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, which was devastated by the massive Witch Creek fire two weeks ago. Others are taking a more philosophical view, saying fire is a normal part of nature's cycle.

Nature cures all

Randy: "Look at Mt. St. Helens today!"

Not important

It will: "Grow back. What is the story? Try writing about something a little more important."

Nature is important

Resident: "Thousands of people visit Blue Sky each month. Now they can't - that kind of sounds important to me! Just the weekend after the fires the annual Blue Sky Halloween event, which is usually attended by hundreds of kids and their parents, had to be cancelled."

Don't overreact

Concerned-1: "It's a sad loss. I just hope the caretakers/public do not overreact to this natural disaster. If you want to retain the natural preserve let it take care of itself, wildlife included. Too much human intervention by well-meaning people could destroy it."

Rethink policies

Too bad…: "This was a nice trail system and, hopefully, it will grow back and be as good as before. One complaint I had was that they did not allow mountain biking on the trails because of possible danger to the plant life. In hindsight that policy seems kind of lame now.

Despite wildfires, yule trees will be plentiful

Readers respond to our Nov. 5 article on local growers and retailers saying the scorching of the Pinery in Rancho Bernardo, the county's largest Christmas tree farm, by last week's wildfires should not make Christmas trees especially scarce or expensive this holiday season.

Trees show no respect

jvc: "How environmentally destructive we are! We are going to grow and cut down trees for a few bucks that will last us a couple of weeks after seeing our homes burn down! We have no respect whatever for our planet!"

Chose fake

Dennis: "Right on to 'jvc'; every one likes a tree, but come on, I keep setting up peoples' fake trees every year and they look great, plus it's easier on the landfills; safety is an issue too Those so-call fakes always come out perfect, just like microwave pizzas."

A break from the hysteria

From the farmland says: "Give us a break from the 'save the planet' hysteria, please jvc. That's why they call it a tree farm, farms seasonally grow crops for harvest. They do not cut down the Amazon rainforest like the beef industry so you can have your drive-through burger in your SUV. But I guess by your comment you only ride your bicycle to get around, huh?"

Fake looks great

Bolte: "Spare the gloom and doom. That few bucks you opine about might be someone's livelihood, and besides, most if not all the live trees are recycled into mulch. No SUVs and buy artificial - artificial trees do look very nice!"

Oceanside rethinking disaster information strategy

Readers respond to our Nov. 5 story about Oceanside city officials putting together an action plan to address disaster communication with the county, employees and residents after receiving a barrage of calls from residents frightened by the disaster - even though the flames were miles away.

Clear out the riverbed

bat1: "OK, we've cleared the brush around our houses, how about the city getting the riverbed cleared out! Those of us living north of the river live in fear of that river going up like a tinderbox. Over 40 fires were set; the city said they would get it cleared out. WHEN? "

Use common sense

EVACUATE!!: "EVACUATE! Turn on the sirens! Everyone OUT! Fire Marshall Fred says everyone PANIC and EVACUATE! What a joke - use your own common sense and be ready to blow town if needed, and stop paying attention to the overinflated egos of the public officials!"

Good job!

tc: "Good job, Mr. Weiss, for evaluating this experience. KOCT's role should remain as running a ticker across the bottom of the photo. A disaster is usually regional, not local so the regional report is more important. NCTimes reporting online was good."

Clear out the river

Gretch78: "How about bulldozing and removing the huge amount of brush in the San Luis Rey River? Can someone on the council get on this? Had the fire come down the river, it would have been a disaster!"

Too much inaction

to Gretch78: "You are right on. I do not understand how we can keep protecting these endangered birds when they seem to be everywhere. The local, state and fed leaders need to get their act together and clean the river channel out NOW before homes go up in smoke because of their inaction!"

Recent fires spur efforts to bring TV news to Southwest County

Readers responded to an article Sunday about the strong interest in Southwest Riverside County in having local television news coverage:

Work with L.A.

Bam M.: If you want San Diego TV, move to San Diego. Temecula … and other Southwest (County) cities should work with the L.A. stations regarding coverage. …

Poor coverage

lori: The L.A. news stations should be ashamed of the poor coverage of this area. It was news. It seemed for the majority of the time they didn't even know any fires burned south of Orange County. A whole town was evacuated for goodness sake! …

Forget San Diego

kim: … San Diego never comes up here. We should work with Los Angeles to bring them over here more. Maybe we should be thankful we don't have more situations that would warrant us having more coverage over here, but again if you want San Diego news, move to San Diego!

Local stations needed

not LA or SD: We are Temecula Valley people. We need our own stations here in this area, as we are a unique area. …

Antenna power

Al: My wife was not pleased when I put a Channel Master long-range antenna on the roof of my Temecula home and pointed it SSW at Mt. Soledad. I get San Diego Channels 8, 10, 15, 39, 51 and 69. … She reconsidered her objection to the antenna when, during the fires, we picked up both San Diego and Los Angeles newscasts. …

Bottom line

Robin: I am curious … why there always has to be the comments, "If you want San Diego channels, move back to San Diego." That's not the answer. I don't care where my news comes from as long as I am kept informed and that's the bottom line. …