upervisors refuse to put cross issue on county ballot' (June 16):
How dare Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky use the word 'community' inreference to the cross controversy. He has refused to listen to thecommunity, denied the community the right to vote and obliterateddue process by circumventing the court system and taking it uponhimself to declare the cross unconstitutional.
ave three divisions of government to prevent minidictators fromforcing their beliefs upon the public. If you really believe in theConstitution, Yaroslavsky, give us our day in court!
- Michael Guetzow
Woodland Hills
County seal cross
Would any of you religious zealots out there be willing to addreligious symbols - such as the Star of David or the symbols forIslam or Hinduism, etc. - onto the county seal? Then more religionswould be represented, and that only seems fair. Or is this aboutmight makes right - i.e., because there are more Christians in thecounty, only their symbol should be shown?
I realize this has to do with history, the missions, ourforefathers and the principles this country was founded on, but ifthis is truly a democracy we live in, then all religions should berepresented. And may I remind you that Jesus didn't wear a crossaround his neck?
- Eric Hoffman
Valley Village
It can be fixed
The big controversy brought by the American Civil Liberties Unionover a tiny cross on the seal of Los Angeles County shows me thatthe ACLU members who want this cross removed suffer from a medicalproblem caused by seeing everything left-sided.
A good chiropractor could fix this problem with one trip to hisoffice. Their heads have been screwed on too much to the left.
- Benjamin R. Laufer
Sherman Oaks
Wellpoint/Anthem merger
Re 'Wellpoint/Anthem merger decried' (Business, June 14):
As an advocate, I am against this merger. I believe that, inspite of the statement that customers will not be paying for these'golden parachutes,' somehow and somewhere Anthem will increaseprices, rates, etc., to pay for the mega deal.
Sorry, but I don't buy the story that 'Anthem, not Californiahealth insurance customers, will fund any payouts to Wellpointexecutives.' Anthem will have to make up its loss some way and theonly way it can - increase payments for health care. LeonardSchaeffer will be the winner in this merger with $76 million. Thelosers will be the little people. Anytime you lessen competition,service usually slides.
- Eden Rosen
Burbank
Don't do this, too
Re 'LAX update closer to takeoff' (June 15):
Will the Tutor-Saliba people be awarded the contract to do thework on the Los Angeles International Airport expansion so that theycan again not perform? It would go along with the award they weregiven for the Van Nuys FlyAway terminal.
- Gene Goodwein
Van Nuys
Can't afford him
Re 'No match for Gipper' (Their Opinions, June 11):
It amazes me that readers don't realize that Maureen Dowd is notminimizing who and what President Ronald Reagan was and stood for,but rather just stripping away sentiment. And seeing PresidentGeorge W. Bush's attempt to capitalize on Reagan's death isappalling. But then again, what isn't?
I hope that this will be his last term and that the seat he nowoccupies is temporary. We Americans simply cannot afford him andjust about all he tries to prevent - to name just two, women's rightto choose and stem cell research. I won't even address his over-$5trillion deficit.
- Leo Bertucelli
Sherman Oaks
Too much ado
While in office, President Reagan did some good things, butinterest rates were extremely high, which made me money but broughtrampant inflation. I can't forgive him for what he did to theretarded and mentally ill, though. Now they are the poor homeless.He wasn't one of the greatest presidents like Harry Truman; yetthere was too much ado about his death and funeral.
- Roberta Weiss
Northridge
Bush's 'Wonderland'
Lately, listening to the leaders of this administration makes mefeel like I am living in Alice's Wonderland. There is a completedisconnection between what our leaders perceive as the Americanreality and the reality experienced by the majority of the citizens.
We are the richest country in the world, but we have 2.5 millionhomeless at the same time that we spend (and waste) billions ofdollars rebuilding Iraq. The government tells us the economy isdoing great, but there are millions of people unemployed, millionsof people medically uninsured (82 million to be exact) and millionsmore who, even though they are working, can barely afford to feedtheir children.
- Monica Gottschalk
Quartz Hill
Border security
Day after day, unknown terrorists kill Americans and their alliesin the Near East. The United States was attacked by terrorists on 9-11. We may have terrorists on our soil right now ready to strikebecause, for heaven's sake, we don't even know who is in thiscountry.
Only 48,000 people were deported from our shores last year out ofthe millions of illegal aliens. Does this say something aboutprotecting our borders? Under no circumstances should illegalimmigrants continue to rewarded with the benefits of this country -not the least of which is giving them driver's licenses as the DailyNews advocates. These law- breaking people are destroying ourcountry. Look around Los Angeles and see the destruction of thiscity if you don't believe me.
- Michael Patric Rives
Eagle Rock
The unthinkable
Call me crazy, but the way things are going in Iraq - the way thepeople are giving us 'support' to protect their own country and weare still losing our soldiers - after the government takes it over,we should cut and run.
I couldn't care less what the world thinks of us. It's not worthone other soldier's getting killed. We did what we had to do andthat is take that nut out, which should have been done in the early'90s. Now that it is done, let's get out.
- Frank Jacobs
Sylmar
Middle East peace
Peace will not come to the Middle East until there is justice onboth sides. Instead of giving billions yearly to Ariel Sharon:
Give it to the Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza so theycan move elsewhere in Israel. Then turn these settlements over tothe Palestinian refugees and immediately declare the West Bank andGaza as Palestinian states.
Or give the money to the Palestinians so they can move to otherareas - the United States, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, etc. - and let theIsraelis have the whole country, which is what they really want andare taking by building in Arab territories and constantly bulldozingPalestinian homes.
Either solution would create goodwill toward America - Lord knowswe need some - because it's our money creating the peace.
- Dorothy Sarnecky
Escondido
Smoking patio
I am a nonsmoker, and I just heard about the ban on smoking onthe beaches. My question is this: Why is it so easy to ban smokingon the beaches, out in the vast open air, but when you go to arestaurant that has a nice patio to sit out on, you are chasedinside because the patios have been taken over by the smokers. It ismy understanding that a patio is part of the no-smokingestablishment, so how is the patio exempt?
- Dean Somers
Toluca Lake
