New school bond?

I read in the paper that Valley Center High School is installing a new expensive track and football astro turf ("Valley Center High to get new $1.8M track, field," June 9). How can they afford this? Maybe it's because the taxpayers of Escondido will still be paying for their high school bond until 2020.

Escondido wants to pass a new bond in November. Are they crazy? Do they think we are made of money? Talk to us when we are out from under the Valley Center debt. Then and only then will I vote for a new school bond.

Julia Godinez

Escondido

Polygamy, too, may some day be acceptable

Ryan Smith (Letters, June 11) asks me to prove that gay marriage will lead to polygamy. Recall that the condition was we stay on the present course, which is erosion of traditional values, extreme emphasis on individual rights, judges legislating from the bench, advocacy groups for every cause and biased news media. This leads to court decisions unimaginable not long ago.

Polygamy may have few supporters, but it is more on the radar screen than gay marriage was 40 years ago. It is also illegal, and most, including myself, want it that way. … I see nothing to assure me that laws against polygamy will not eventually be overturned, and much to convince me that they will.

About the stories I mentioned, check out the NPR Weekend Edition report, "American Muslim Family Chooses Polygamy," Oct. 13, 2007, and the editorial in USA Today by Jonathan Turley, "Polygamy Laws Expose Our Own Hypocrisy," Oct. 3, 2004. See also "Polyamorous Marriage," www.redbookmag.com/love/types-of-marriages-3. And the Web site for the "Big Love" HBO series on polygamy says the show "continues to explore the evolving institution of marriage."

Richard Boonstra

Escondido

They didn't do this to our forefathers

Went to my great-granddaughter's graduation from fifth grade this morning at Crestview Elementary School in Vista. I am 76 years old. I was appalled. I had to listen to all speeches in English, a couple of sentences then in Spanish. Didn't listen as, after a while, the thought of sentences leaves you when they repeat them in Spanish.

What is this country coming to? Why are we catering to Spanish-speaking people? This is an English-speaking country and we should do school activities in English. If they don't understand, they might want to learn English. If we cater to them, we are doing a disservice to them. We encourage them to not learn the language.

Let's put a stop to this. You think they did this for our forefathers? I know they didn't do it for my German grandmother and grandfather. They were proud to be American, and learned the English language.

Marilyn Muntz

Oceanside

Someone was watching over us

This is a warning of one of the possible consequences of this slow real estate market. It is a true story. In April 2007, because of my husband's poor health, we downsized our living arrangements, moving into a one-bedroom senior residence facility. We had the house painted and spruced up for sale. Unfortunately, we couldn't have picked a worse time.

After we had lived in the new place for about three months, we received a letter from the company insuring our house saying that they were canceling our policy as of Sept. 27, which they did. … We decided that since we didn't have a mortgage, we would just move back in, which we did in November.

On a Thursday, I gave our 30-day notice of moving out. On Friday, I had a different company write a policy on the strength of our moving back in. Later that week, I stopped by to get the insurance papers and mentioned I was glad I had gotten the policy written on Friday. He said it was a good thing I did. That past Sunday, the fires had broken out and he couldn't write any new policies. Someone was watching over us.

Patricia Breedlove

San Marcos

Hard to understand recent changes

I am stunned at the recent changes [in the North County Times] and find I can no longer tolerate your strange choices. I always told myself that I would cancel if I ever saw a column by Michele Malkin or Ann Coulter. These two people do not deserve space or air time anywhere. They are beyond despicable. Then you drop the best column, "Miss Manners," and add a column by the notorious felon Oliver North. Couldn't you employ a far-left felon columnist for balance?

Because of your poor choices, I can no longer continue to support your newspaper. I have ethical standards that you no longer meet. You are only needed for extended reporting on local stories and excellent content. You no longer provide either of these.

Also, the anti-Semitic letters are just too repulsive and ignorant to read (Israel all bad, Palestine all good is an insane stance for a thinking or educated person). The only intelligent choice for any U.S. citizen is to be moderate, to consider each issue on its merits, not political identity. This is the only option for a decent community newspaper. If your intention was to boost readership, you have failed miserably.

Gwen Lee

Oceanside

The beginning of our eventual demise

Regarding Joan Horn's letter to the editor on June 18, "Stop discrimination against gays": (Dictionary) Discriminate: to note or distinguish as different. We are admonished by Horn and gays not to note them as different. Hello â€"â€" by choice, they are. All of them were given the physical means to reproduce, which is what God intended, and no one but themselves will keep them from that. It is their choice to be different.

Many of us had good friends or relatives who profess to be gay, and they are still friends and relatives, but we don't have to accept what God and we know is unnatural. In order for them to break us down to their thinking, they tear away at your belief system in God, which is your right. …

A marriage is not having a preacher say words and sign a paper, which doesn't make you one. It is the connecting of two different sexes that does that! Homosexual marriage is the right to have what the other has in case of â€"â€" and civil benefits if any nowadays. The unlearned and followers will follow their discrimination theme. The learned will see the error of it and our eventual demise.

Ruth Burkhart

Vista

Not impressed with offshore buzz

Lately there has been a press buzz pushing offshore drilling as an answer to the oil crisis. I'm not impressed. First of all, this does not address market manipulation. I do not believe added oil capacity will lower the price of gas at the pump.

Secondly, I do not expect adequate public compensation for the exploitation of public resources. I do not expect a fat check like Alaskans get. I do not expect an increase in public revenues equal to the benefit conferred upon oil companies. I do not expect the oil companies to pay for any disaster they create.

Indeed, I expect to get stuck along with the rest of the public for the bill to clean up spills. In short, if drilling is allowed, I expect to get shafted, along with everyone else.

Julian Turner

Escondido

Sounding just like a politician

Mr. Chuck Mol (Letters, June 20) says it's ridiculous to ban sunblock and perfume at the beach. Mr. Mol does not believe that toxic chemicals in both products can cause the lungs to shut down, causing death to children and adults that breath it. The North County Times should have no problem verifying this.

Mr. Mol wants no cigarettes or beer at the beach and supports this. The part I cannot stop laughing about is Mr. Mol's last statement of, "I think Mr. King needs to keep his nose in his own business and not worry so much about how other people choose to live their lives." As Mr. Mol crucifies Mr. King over sunblock and perfume, he blatantly supports taking away what he dislikes from the public. Is Mr. Mol a politician? Sure sounds like it to me, and I do not smoke.

Buddie Gran

Escondido

Stop fighting war that should never have begun

In his article of June 7 ("D-Day today in context"), Oliver North correctly gives credit to those who served in the military during World War II. But then he criticizes those who are opposed to the war with Iraq. Our Constitution says we shall not go to war unless we are attacked.

Next, North paints a positive picture concerning Iraq, despite the death of more than 4,000 military men and women and 30,000 injured. Our military personnel deserve credit for their sacrifices. Unfortunately, they have been called upon to fight a war that never should have been started. The people of Iraq have suffered greatly and deserve our help for their recovery.

Bill Wernett

Fallbrook

Casa child care needed on base

Casa de Amparo, the Oceanside nonprofit that provides child abuse treatment and prevention programs, is privileged to work with Marine families at Camp Pendleton to mitigate the negative effects of deployment, relocation and post-traumatic stress on the family.

Recent legislation has been passed to extend military family eligibility for state preschool programs. … However, the reform did not extend to the state contract covering Casa de Amparo's outstanding Child Development Center, which focuses its preschool care on children of families who are, specifically, at risk of abuse or neglect. Though Casa's program is nearly identical to the state preschool programs, the proposed regulatory reform does not include our Child Development Center. …

To help right this inconsistency, the Casa de Amparo board suggests letters to Ms. Debra Strain, California Department of Education, 1430 N. St., Room 5319, Sacramento, CA 95814, asking that the change in application of the Title 5 California Code of Regulations (5CCR, Section 18078) include programs operating under the general child care funding, thus allowing Casa de Amparo's Child Development Center to extend maximum aid to military families in San Diego.

For more information, please contact Casa's executive director, Sharon Delphenich, (760) 754-5500.

Melissa Hoffmann

president, Board of Directors

Casa de Amparo

Oceanside

How many more must die?

Iraqi police said a U.S. airstrike Wednesday killed a family of six in northern Iraq. Our military says one "armed terrorist" was killed. An Iraqi Interior Ministry official said U.S. soldiers shot dead a male banker and two female employees as they were driving to work in western Baghdad. A U.S. military spokesman said three "militants" were killed after a convoy came under fire.

This confusion seems to happen constantly in our surge toward winning the hearts and minds of the long-suffering Iraqis. Things are also getting much worse in our occupation of Afghanistan. Are we just going to allow our country to be in a constant state of war in Iraq and the Mideast for the next who-knows-how-many years?

I have children and a grandchild, and as the MoveOn TV commercial says, "You can't have them." Seven American troops have died this week â€"â€" so far. As of Wednesday, June 25, 4,109 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq â€"â€" for nothing. Only 209 more days left for the war criminal Bush as president. Then he can be tried for his crimes at the Hague.

Eric Parish

Vista

Drive slower, save money

The need to cut back on fossil fuels isn't just about global warming. As President Bush acknowledged, our addiction to oil has weakened our country by making us dependent on other countries that have oil. We have no control over the supply or the price. The only way out of this twofold perfect storm of economic and political decline is to shift to sources of energy that we actually have some control over.

There are multiple proposals about what the government should do to bring about this shift, but none of them will have an immediate impact. There is, however, one thing that we can all do immediately, without any help from government, that will: Drive slower.

Voluntarily cutting our driving speed on the highway from 75 mph to 60 mph will make a huge difference in the amount of gas we consume. We'll spend less at the pump, and by impacting the demand for gasoline, the price will come down and we'll strike a blow at oil speculators. How easy is that?

And by the way, for most short trips and commutes, it won't make any significant difference in your travel time.

Richard Hicks

Cardiff

Offshore drilling won't make gas cheaper

If Exxon and Chevron are permitted to drill for oil off the coast of California, don't expect them to sell it to us for anything less than the world market price. They are not charitable organizations, nor have they ever allowed patriotism to cut into their net profits.

Robert de Georges

Encinitas

Whose interests is the Latino caucus serving?

It's become apparent certain groups and individuals are out to get the San Diego Minutemen, which is basically a multiethnic neighborhood watch group that advocates enforcement of U.S. immigration laws and securing our open borders with Mexico. …

Now the Latino caucus in the California Legislature weighs in with a recent letter to Caltrans Director Will Kempton and signed by Sen. Gil Cedillo and Assemblyman Joe Coto saying: "The San Diego Minutemen is an organization that for many years has fostered violence and discrimination against Latinos." There is no validity to this slanderous statement. What is valid is the evidence that illegal aliens are committing terrible crimes against Americans as documented on www.alipac.com, www.usillegalaliens.com and www.immigrationshumancost.org.

There is also ample evidence that this same Latino caucus pressured Caltrans to violate the Minutemen's constitutional rights by forcing removal of their legally awarded Adopt-A-Highway sign on Interstate 5. Whose interests is the Latino caucus serving?

John and Suellen Shea

Vista

The truth about Jimmy Carter

The truth about Jimmy Carter: Jimmy Carter did not negotiate a treaty between Israel and Egypt. He bought it with taxpayer dollars: $4 billion a year to Israel and $2 billion a year to Egypt. That is $180 billion the taxpayers have paid for his Nobel Peace Prize. The reason for the increase in gas prices at that time was that by taking the lead out of gasoline, it cost more to refine a gallon of gas. When he left office, inflation was running above 10 percent. Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of England, said this about Jimmy Carter: "He is a nice man, but he had no business being president of the United States."

Doesn't Mr. Thomas Cowan Jr. know that the Saudis helped finance the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and, as now, are still financially supporting him? Why is that, sir?

Max Hagan

Ramona

Same ol' typical politician thing

Obamophiles are an amusing lot. So desperate for "hope and change" they will fall on their peace signs to elect a typical politician who has demonstrated masterful oratory skills and little else. (Good thing the peace sign is encapsulated in a "childproof" safety circle lest they do serious damage to themselves.)

Sen. Obama reminds me of the absent-minded professor. His speeches are well-delivered, but did anyone check to see whether he remembered his umbrella, and do his socks match?

It must be Sunday if we are supposed to believe the Obamessiah walks on water. Inexplicably, his sycophants are at a loss to explain how such a brilliant hero sat in a pew for 20 years and missed the overt racism and anti-Americanism of his pastor. If he's certain Iran is not a grave threat, this must be Tuesday. If he's pandering to the AIPAC crowd about the importance of preserving Israel, it must be Thursday. If he's softening the previous statement to an Islamic group, it must be Friday. Certainly the pace … of gas price increases bothers him â€"â€" it must be Wednesday. Denouncing drilling in areas of verified supply, he demonstrates zero knowledge of supply and demand â€"â€" it must be Saturday.

"Change"? Hardly! But I see a guy who hopes we won't notice.

Alexandra Cloney

Encinitas