Protecting your home from wildfire

Living in the Temecula Valley, especially up on the western edge near the untamed chaparral, one hears stories about homeowners who somehow saved their residences from the oncoming flames of a brush fire --not by wetting it down with water, but by spraying it with some kind of fireproof chemical. And the fire burned by, leaving the house intact, surrounded by ashes. These stories are not suburban myths. There are such chemicals, in the form of foam, gel or retardant, which have proven themselves under very frightening conditions and are available to consumers to protect their homes.

On Monday, Sept. 15, the Southwest Riverside County FireSafe Council has invited representatives of six fire protection companies to demonstrate their products at Bear Creek Fire Station No. 75. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. The station is two miles west of I-15 on Clinton Keith Road. The companies are:

- Barricade, fire-retardant Class A gel. www.firegel.com;

- Consumer Fire Products will introduce FOAMSAFETM, an automatic residential protection system, www.consumerfireproducts.com;

- No-Burn fire-proofing is applied to structures under construction, or after, www.noburnie.com;

- Phos-Chek AquaGel-K from ICL Performance Products LP, presented by Exit Safe Products, www.phos-chek.com;

- Safety-Pro will present Dri-1 and Hallon 1211 fire extinguishers, www.safetyproinc.com;

- Thermo-Gel spray-on fire retardant presented by Fire-Etc., www.fire-etc.com.

John Stickler

SW Riverside County FireSafe Council

Murrieta

Someone needs to get Palin some help

Most everyone now knows about global warming, and I might even say, most everyone is scared of the harm we have done and what the costs will be for our children and grandchildren because of global warming. I say "most everyone," because I only recently learned the nominee for vice president of our country does not believe that humans contribute to global warming. Sarah Palin, speaking about climate change, said, "I'm not one, though, who would attribute it to being man-made."

Come on, McCain, let's get this woman some help. Hey, why don't you call Al Gore for a session, or at least send her to see "An Inconvenient Truth"?

Maggie Homza

Temecula

Obama's speech was just a speech

I got a real good chuckle out of the letter by Anita Baysinger-Craycraft in The Californian on Sept. 4 where she says she was blown away by Barack Obama's rhetoric. Nobody denies his way with words, but in his own words "These are just words, just speeches."

She calls him the man from Illinois. Well, let's be specific: He is the man from Chicago, and everyone knows what Chicago politics are like. I know, I lived there for 34 years when the Kennedy presidency was bought by his daddy when ballots mysteriously disappear or appear, depending on what the powers that be want them to be. Where dead people in the cemetery are voting, and the motto at election time is "Vote early, vote often."

Mr. Obama's political life has been groomed in that environment and was nurtured by this type of politicians. He sat for 20some years listening to a pastor spewing hatred against white people and America; he has friends who are convicted criminals and unrepentant terrorists. And this is what touched this lady's heart and swelled her with pride?

World War ll is in a totally different time frame. Then, people pulled together for the common good; now, everyone is only interested in "what is in it for me." I have always admired the quote from President Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Sadly, few people strive to do this. If the political climate in the 1940s had been as it is now, I doubt America would have won that war.

Erika Hornisch

Temecula

McAllister, Lane would do city good

This year, Murrieta has some awesome choices for our next City Council. We have some pretty awesome people up there, and as you can see, they have really made a difference -- but I think that if we re-elected Doug McAllister and elected Randall Lane, we would be on the right track. Both of these men live, eat, and breathe this city, and I do believe they would make an awesome difference! That's my thoughts and I am sticking to it.

Cathy Bearse

Murrieta

Don't listen to biased sources of information

If you want to learn about evolutionary science, you'd best not rely on church bulletins, articles published by organizations dedicated to proving the mythology of Genesis, creationism or intelligent design. They know nothing of which they rant, have never succeeded in getting their work published or peer-reviewed, and have proven nothing. Science cannot be done with bias at its heart.

Until Stephen J. Gould came along, most evolutionary biologists believed the process of evolution was a gradual one whereby species grew into more effective forms. Gould demonstrated this was false. It does a small-beaked bird no good to evolve a mid-sized beak if its food source has evolved to require a very large one. Those small and mid-sized birds would simply die off, leaving no substantial fossil record. But the small-beaked bird that suddenly evolved a large beak would survive. It is the same with the giraffe. If its food source evolved to be much taller, a short-necked giraffe would need a much larger neck to reach it. A midsized neck would not be helpful. Natural selection works in this way. Only those mutations that are helpful to survival will continue.

The large jumps are described by Gould as "punctuated equilibrium." It is not a repudiation of evolution; indeed, it is a confirmation of it. It is too bad the Ten Commandments did not prohibit disingenuous statements, or lying in defense of the word. Our creationists would be in big trouble. Faith needs to be tempered by undeniable reality.

Gerald Summers

Temecula

Push needed again for flat tax

I thought that all citizens of the United States of America are supposed to be treated the same way, but when you look at all people in the U.S.A., I find that the lower your yearly income is, the higher your percentage of taxes on your income. Why? Isn't it about time that our lawmakers pass laws, that all people on all levels of income pay the same percentage of their yearly gross income, with the exception of the lowest incomes? This way we shall all have the same benefits! But then, since all our politicians get their pockets filled with "donations" by the rich, all our politicians will keep the rich from paying the same percentage of gross income from all the money they receive yearly, and thus they become richer and richer and richer and we, the low- and medium-income people, get to spend less and less on our families because we have to pay more and more of our incomes on taxes, rising utilities and food costs.

Aren't we all supposed to have the same rights, taxes and benefits according to our laws? Now is the time for all low- and medium-income people to contact the president, vice president, federal, state and local politicians to start turning the laws, so that we all have the same rights and regulations!

F.A. (Frederik) Rosenveldt

Murrieta

Sing along with me: No Quarry

This is a "No Quarry" parody to "Show Business." Music by Irving Berlin. Words by Natasha Ragland:

"The citizens of Rainbow and Temecula and Fallbrook Are obviously unhappy here tonight. A quarry proposal is threatening us all. Its consequences make us feel uptight. Must we bid our quality of life good bye For yet another quarry here and why?

"There's no room for another quarry here like no quarry I know. Everything about it is disgusting. Even though they tell us how they care. Should we really be naively trusting when they'll be dusting our precious air?

"There're no people like quarry people, they're in it for the dough. Imagine diesel trucks for 26 miles in line turning wildlife refuge into granite mines. 'Cause in their eyes they're only seeing dollar signs. Say 'No Quarry. No, no.'

"With water cutbacks, groves and crops are dying from drought Responsible folks like us must all conserve. The resource of water is fast running out This wasteful operation has its nerve. Consuming all the water -- a disgrace. And leaving gross pollution in its place.

"There's no room for another quarry here like no quarry I know. You will feel the shaking and the blasting While your property values tumble down. The dusty air's so dense you will be gasping, it's so long-lasting, You must leave town. They've no business with their pitsy business blasting a hole so low. Chopping up the passage where the wildlife's at. The last remaining link to their habitats. Will surely mean extinction of the mountain cats. Say 'No quarry! No! No!'"

Natasha Ragland

Fallbrook